Early spell ranks scale more smoothly for five classes

The October 8 beta build adjusts the low ranks of several damage and healing spells so that their power grows more evenly and every new rank is an upgrade on the last:

• Druid: Wrath, ranks 1 to 5.
• Mage: Frostbolt and Fireball, ranks 1 to 5, and Arcane Missiles, ranks 1 to 3.
• Priest: Smite, ranks 1 to 4, plus Lesser Heal ranks 1 to 3 and Heal ranks 1 and 2, smoothing that family up to Heal rank 3.
• Shaman: Lightning Bolt, ranks 1 to 5.
• Warlock: Shadow Bolt, ranks 1 to 4.

Discipline Priests also see Penance retuned. Its damage and healing are lower, fixing a bug that treated it as a 3-second channel rather than a 2-second one. Its mana costs are adjusted so that it stays more mana-efficient than the Heal and Greater Heal family, with rank 1 costing 50% more, and ranks 2 and 4 heal for more. Mage’s Impact can no longer trigger from Flamestrike’s periodic damage, and a Warlock’s current pet is now stunned while a new one is being summoned.

Why it matters: a newly trained low rank of these spells is no longer a step sideways from the one before it.