In WoW Season of Discovery Phase 4, players got new runes in two equipment slots that previously had none: the Ring and Cloak slots. Though every class in WoW SoD has new Runes to play with in Phase 4 when they get to max level, not all of them are up to par compared to powerful offerings from previous phases. Still, there are some standouts.
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Druid's new Starfall Rune is among the best in Phase 4 and has quickly become a staple for Boomies, for example, while the new Rune specialization runes are useful across the board. Though there are not many new options that can be considered the best Runes available to each class, there are a few that have become integral to specific builds, or are proving to be among the best Phase 4 Runes for other reasons.
This guide will be updated as more hotfixes and patches change how each of these Runes works. This guide to the best Phase 4 Runes, ranked is based on the overall benefits that each Rune provides its class compared to others. With the release of Molten Core, we are likely to more fully understand which Runes are actually useful in endgame Raiding and which should be avoided.
Arcane Barrage
Mage - Cloak
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Arcane Barrage Effects
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- Launches missiles at your target, dealing immense Arcane damage
- Arcane Barrage has a 20% chance to trigger the Missile Barrage ability
Arcane Barrage is a particularly great spell for Mages in Phase 4 because it deals a ton of damage on a cooldown that's low enough to cast back-to-back. And with all the new ways to regenerate and restore your Mana in Season of Discovery, the base 8% of Mana cost is very manageable.
Though this is one of the best Phase 4 Runes for Mages mostly for its large base damage, its 20% chance to proc an additional Missile Barrage cast for free is the icing on top.
It's become a staple of Arcane Mage builds, and it's one that Frost and Fire Mages should try to get sometime in this phase to give the Arcane specialization build a try – it's one of the best Mage builds for mana recovery, which means you won't have to take breaks to drink as often without sacrificing damage output.
Coherence
Shaman - Cloak
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Coherence Effects
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- Chain Heal effectiveness is improved to 35% Healing loss per jump
- Chain Lightning effectiveness increased to 20% damage loss per jump
- Both Chain Heal and Chain Lightning can jump to one additional target
Generally, Shamans have become one of the most sought-after classes for all three roles. They are arguably the best Tanks in WoW SoD, they consistently rank highly on DPS charts, and their Healing potential is about as good as it gets, aside from a well-geared Holy Priest.
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Though they are already sitting on top, this best Phase 4 SoD Rune makes the Shaman's primary healing ability even more effective. Coherence is nothing revolutionary, but its triplicate improvements to the Shamans' most-used healing ability turn them from a good healer into an even better one with no downsides.
Divine Light
Paladin - Cloak
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Divine Light Effects
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Heal a friendly target for an immense amount of HP and convert all excess healing into a Shield
- Shield lasts 15 seconds
- Cannot be stacked with itself to extend Shield time or value
- Benefits from all talents and effects that trigger from or modify Holy Light
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Heal a friendly target for an immense amount of HP and convert all excess healing into a Shield
Another healing Rune, Divine Light is one of the most useful for Paladins because it is an instant-cast, enormous heal that scales off of the same talents that affect Holy Light – another one of healer Paladins' most-used spells. But the real draw of this new Rune is its Overheal effect.
If the Paladin uses this ability on a target, and there is healing left over, that overheal value is transformed 1:1 to a protective shield. You can't chain cast this spell to build the shield even further, and it costs an enormous amount of mana. But having another emergency heal in the toolkit is incredibly useful, especially when its closest equivalent Lay on Hands has such a long cooldown.
Starfall
Druid - Cloak
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Starfall Effects
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Summon a flurry of stars over 10 seconds, striking all targets within 30 yds of the caster
- Deals large Arcane Damage to the main target and a small amount of Arcane damage to enemies within 5 yds of the target
- Can summon a maximum of 20 stars
- Benefits from and triggers most talents and effects that trigger or benefit from Moonfire.
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Summon a flurry of stars over 10 seconds, striking all targets within 30 yds of the caster
So far in Season of Discovery, the Boomkin build for Druids has seen some improvements that make the specialization much more viable for endgame content, but nothing so far has been quite as useful as Starfall. This spell is not mana hungry, can be channeled over and over again, and deals a huge amount of Arcane damage over its 10 second duration.
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It also benefits from all talents and effects that benefit Moonfire, one of the most iconic spells of the Boomie build, so it naturally slots right into the playstyle. Starfall is seeing a lot of use in dungeons for big, clumped-up AoE pulls, but it's just as useful for single-target boss encounters, too.
All Ring Rune Specializations
+5 To Weapon Skills, Or +6% Spell Hit
Arguably the best new Runes in SoD P4 in general are the fifteen Ring Runes introduced in the phase. Each Ring Rune grants either a Weapon Specialization boost, a boost to your chance to hit for a specific Spell type, or increases your Defense.
You can equip two different Ring runes at once, and they cannot stack with each other – you can't put Dagger Specialization on both of your Rings to get a +10 to your Dagger skill, they must each be unique. These benefits also do not stack with inherent Racial bonuses, so Humans will still only be able to get to 305 base Swords skill.
But the benefit of this system is that Races that do not start with an inherent Weapon Skill bonus now have access to one at endgame, leveling the playing field. This is important because endgame bosses can be several levels above max, and having a higher weapon skill means having a higher chance to hit on your attacks and spells (and makes it easier to heal allies, too).
Normally in vanilla WoW, only select Races would have increased skills for specific weapons or spell types, and you would be pigeonholed into one of these race/weapon combos for certain builds. Now, it doesn't matter which starting race you pick as you will be able to access Specialization runes for every weapon (or spell) type your character can use.
World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
- Released
- November 30, 2023
- ESRB
- T FOR TEEN: BLOOD AND GORE, CRUDE HUMOR, MILD LANGUAGE, SUGGESTIVE THEMES, USE OF ALCOHOL, VIOLENCE (ONLINE INTERACTIONS NOT RATED)
- Base Game
- World of Warcraft Classic
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
