WoW Forever haste explained: GCD, DoTs, parry haste and haste gear

WoW Forever haste makes you attack and cast faster. Blizzard confirms the stat exists, but it hasn't published how it works in detail, so most of what's known about the global cooldown and DoTs comes from beta players and guide sites. Here's each question, with how sure we are.

Where Blizzard mentions haste

Confirmed:

• Wind Blessed, the Skyborne racial: +1% melee, ranged and spell haste (Skyborne post).
• Spellstone (Warlock): grants spell haste.
• Nature's Grace (Druid): grants spellcasting haste and reduces your global cooldown (Blizzard).

For melee, faster swings mean more Rage for a Warrior and more poison procs for a Rogue. For casters, it means more casts from the same mana bar.

Does haste lower the global cooldown (GCD)?

Beta data. Players testing on the beta report that it does (thread on Blizzard's forums), and guide sites agree. Blizzard's Nature's Grace wording only covers that one talent. We haven't seen a Blizzard statement of the limit, so we don't give a number.

Does haste speed up DoTs?

Beta data: no. Player tests and guide sites agree that DoTs and HoTs don't tick faster with haste. Haste affects your casts and swings, not the damage over time you've already applied. That makes it weaker for specs built on DoTs, like Affliction. We'll test it on live servers.

What is "3 haste"?

Unknown. People search for "3 haste", but we can't find that figure in anything from Blizzard. The only flat number we have from Blizzard is the Skyborne racial's +1%. If you've seen it on an item or talent in game, tell us in the comments and we'll check it.

What is parry haste?

Unverified. In older versions of WoW, parrying an attack speeds up the parrying side's next swing, which is why tanks want you to stop attacking from the front. A guide site describes the same thing for Forever, and Blizzard hasn't confirmed it. Whichever turns out true, standing behind the boss as DPS is still good practice.

Is there haste gear?

Unverified. Blizzard's posts don't list items with haste, and players asking on the forums haven't found a confirmed list. Don't sell or replace gear because of haste yet. Our item database fills in from the live client. Take haste when it comes on an upgrade, and don't chase it over your main stat. Each spec's provisional order is on its Stats page, for example Fury Warrior stats.

Expertise and weapon skill

Blizzard's panel recap confirms that weapon skill items give less skill per item, and that some items reduce your chance of being parried or dodged. Beta players and guide sites call this stat expertise, replacing the old weapon skill on gear. Blizzard's own posts we've read only use the word in a Rogue talent, Weapon Expertise, so we keep it labelled Unverified on stats pages until it shows on live item tooltips.

Hit and crit each work as one stat across melee, ranged and spells now, according to the same recap.