Jun 30

World of Warcraft’s default UI updates your action bars when you learn a new rank of a spell. For example, when you train from Wrath rank 1 to Wrath rank 2, the button where Wrath rank 1 was located on your action bar automatically becomes Wrath rank 2. It’s important to note that each rank of a spell, each training level of a skill, etc. has a unique ID number. So when the UI updates your action bar from Wrath 1 to Wrath 2, it’s replacing the spell ID 5176 on that button to spell ID 5177. Same thing for professions; when you move from Enchanting (Apprentice), spell ID 7411 to Enchanting (Journeyman), spell ID 7412, you actually unlearn the former spell and learn the latter one. WoW automatically updates your action bar for you.

However, WoW does not update the action bar for your second spec. I leveled through my 60’s mostly healing instances on my priest. Almost every time I visited the trainer, I was in my healing spec. During those visits to the trainer, I learned all my new spells, not just my healing ones. So, when at level 68 I finally switched back to my shadow spec, none of the action bar buttons for this spec had the correct rank of the spell on them. I did not notice for a level or two, after I was becoming frustrated with how hard it was to kill mobs.

So remember–if you’re leveling up with dual specs, each time you train, it’s worth it to switch to your alternate spec and check to see if any of the skills you just learned need to be updated on that particular set of action bars.

This public service announcement is brought to you by BinaryMuse.

Related posts:

1. Dual Specs Not Dead Yet
2. Clarification on Dual Specs at the Class Panel
3. The Death of the Epic Mount Quests
4. My Day as a Tree
5. Double-Specs Not Dead Yet