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Blue Notes: Pallies and Shaman are not for (that much) DPS
We have a couple items of note from Tseric as regards everyone's favorite hybrid classes that don't start with D. First off, Tseric defines a Paladin's role as: A healing/tank hybrid. Every class needs some capacity to deal damage, as that is the primary component for the solo game, but Paladins have always placed fairly low on the damage spectrum. Rogues define the baseline measurement and, on average, all classes fall below that baseline. Now, in certain cases some classes may exceed that baseline, whether they be a Mage in a particular raid encounter or a Fury Warrior having a good run in a BG, but on average that is the way damage is arranged. Burst damage and big crits are harder to control and design from a development perspective, due to the number of random or unpredictable elements in any formula. Therefore, crit-based abilities and burst damage tends to see more fine tuning and tweaking than sustainable damage. As far as tanking and healing, the Paladin has been given plenty of tools for healing and threat gain/management. I didn't actually know that Rogues were meant to be top damage, though that makes sense given that they're the most likely class to take damage in a party situation (besides the tank, of course).
Step number two appears to be rioting
Here's an interesting bit of devil's advocacy for you. It seems that the best way to get what you want for your class is to hold a riot. Observe:First, nerfs are announced to the priest class that hit Vampiric Embrace and Prayer of Mending hard.Then, priests riot across the servers, as Blizzard promises to ban those involved.But a few days later, priests profit, and un-nerfs appear in the patch.The Inciter (Time for fun!) inside me says the evidence is clear: riots are how you get your way. Of course I'm sure that's not the message Blizzard wanted to send (has anyone heard of any major bans that went down because of the priest ingame and forum riots?), but, as Relmstein hints, the evidence kind of speaks for itself.I should point out that priests didn't completely get what they want-- Vampiric Embrace, a staple of facemelting, is still getting a fairly harsh nerf, and PoM is still feeling that cooldown. But it's not nearly as bad, and while I'm sure Blizzard will claim the changes came down as a result of playtesting, it makes you wonder. I don't condone rioting or any kind of griefing, but as I said, this is devil's advocacy. Maybe the only conclusion Blizzard should take from this is simply to not release the patch notes (as they would say) until they're done.
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Updated 2.0.10 patch notes [Updated]
Blizzard has updated their 2.0.10 patch notes to include the recently announced changes to paladins and priests -- as well as a few surprises. Complete patch notes are after the jump (with changes from the previous notes in bold), but here's the unexpected bits: The effectiveness of priest's "Fade: Rank 7" has been increased by approximately 25%. This doesn't address concerns about Fade's uselessness in PvP and solo situations, it should help priests in some group situations. Per Nethaera, the priest's Circle of Healing spell mana cost will be reduced by 25%, not 33% as the patch notes say, or 30% as Eyonix mentioned recently. (Yes, I'm confused too.) The bonus of shaman's "Wrath of Air" (currently increases spell damage by up to 101) totem now applies to healing spells as well. Not a bad buff for healing shamans or any healers grouping with shamans. Increased the health bonus from warrior's "Commanding Shout" by 50%. The should increase the health bonus from 730 to 1095. The warrior's "Improved Battle Shout" talent has been renamed to "Commanding Presence" and now increases the health bonus from "Commanding Shout" in addition to increasing the melee attack power from "Battle Shout". Many dungeon tweaks. Update: Changed info on Circle of Healing's mana cost reduction, thanks, Synapse!Update 2: Changed the numbers on Commanding Shout in a weak effort to prove I can do math. Thanks, Beldoro!
Un-nerfing for priests and paladins
Paladins rejoice, because Blizzard has decided to reverse the two changes that were planned to be implemented in 2.0.10. Eyonix informs us that they felt "the adjustments were too imposing on the class' ability to tank in dungeons." So Avenging Wrath won't be sharing a cooldown with Divine Shield (but will invoke Forbearance) and Forbearance won't give the player a -15% damage debuff. This should mean that paladins will be unchanged in patch 2.0.10.While it's not clear if this is the mystery buff Nethaera was telling us about, Eyonix let us in on some interesting changes. In addition to looking at improving Lightwell and analyzing priest survivability in PvP and PvE, Blizzard is planning on making the following concrete changes: The cooldown on Prayer of Mending has been reduced to 10 seconds (instead of the planned 20 second cooldown). The damage mitigation of Power Word: Shield is being improved by increasing the bonus it gains from +healing gear by 10% (to 20%). Circle of Healing will now cost 30% less mana. And while these are certainly improvements, I can't say that they excite me terribly much. The lessened cooldown for PoM is certainly better, but still worse than it is on live. And while PW:S will scale better than it does now, it still won't scale very well. And I'm not sure I'll want to spec for Circle of Healing regardless of how much mana it costs. So, yes, these are buffs -- but not particularly strong buffs and not buffs that seem to address priests' primary concerns. However, if they're still looking at priest survivability, we may yet have good news coming.
Mystery buff incoming for priests! [Update 2]
Yep, a mystery buff -- doesn't that sound exciting? We have no idea what it is, because the CMs don't have the go-ahead to tell us yet, but Nethaera claims it's "a positive change." And though she's trying not to overplay it, there are a lot of hopes riding on it being something good. Nethaera hopes to have more information for us on Tuesday -- but until then, it's speculation run wild! Do any of you have predictions for the priest's mystery buff?Update: Nethaera is currently telling us that we may get news tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th. Sorry to get everyone's hopes up, but hopefully we'll have some official news soon.Update 2: I believe we have the final word on improvements for priests this patch via Nethaera.
A realistic look at druid tanking
Druids have received some significant changes in the coming 2.0.10 patch, but while there's lots of complaint and speculation, there's little agreement on what the changes will actually do for druids. But the loudest complaint is that druids will no longer be able to tank and will be once more reduced to a pure healing role. Note that there are no changes to cat or moonkin effectiveness or damage output, which does leave DPS as an option (in both PvE and PvP) -- but with so many classes able to DPS and so few classes able to heal, druids are reasonably concerned about being marginalized. The facts on bears from the patch notes are as follows: Bear/dire bear form's health bonus has changed from +25% health to +25% stamina. While this sounds like a non-change, this means that +health enchants and health-increasing potions or flasks are no longer considered in the bonus calculation, resulting in a loss of health for some druids. Dire bear form's armor bonus has been reduced from +450% to +400%. The talent Savage Fury no longer affects mangle (bear), maul, or swipe. Savage Fury previously increased damage done by those abilities by 20% for two talent points. The ability lacerate is the only bear ability that is not effected by this change, but only because it wasn't effected by the talent previously. (This talent will still have benefits to cat form, but no longer benefits any abilities in bear form.) The talent Predatory Instincts has been changed from a critical damage increase of 3/6/9/12/15% to a critical damage increase of 2/4/6/8/10%. The rage normalization equation has been adjusted to grant more rage. While we won't know the full story until the final changes hit the live realms, by piecing together some of the data coming from players on the PTRs, I think we can make some reasonable guesses. Curious? Keep reading.
Re-evaluating item stat values
Blizzard is looking at the value of sockets on items (currently, the value per socket is slightly higher on higher quality items) and standardizing it throughout the game in an upcoming (but unspecified) content patch. In addition to this, they're also going to reviewing the expansion armor sets -- Drysc says it's not the intent for higher tier sets to be poorer quality or side-grades to previous sets, and that some sets may see changes in the future.While Drysc seems to be talking about future changes, some re-evaluation of item values seems to have already happened in patch 2.0.10, however. This list of undocumented patch changes, compiled by Ramiel, contains numerous item tweaks -- some good and some not so good.
Quiet paladin nerfing
After reading the patch notes, you may have come away with the impression that paladins made it out relatively unscathed. However, players hitting up the test realms have discovered that this isn't entirely the case. Paladinsucks is reporting that Forbearance (a debuff left for a minute after being affected by one of the paladin's bubbles) is also applying a -15% physical damage debuff (conflicting reports say this may be all damage). If this makes it onto the live realms, that would certainly put some hurting on the paladin class.However, not even Tseric seems to know if this is an intended change. On the forums he tells paladins that he won't be able to confirm whether this should have been in the notes or is a bug until after the weekend. Seems like a terribly odd bug, if it is...
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Breakfast Topic: The class to be in 2.0.10
Love it or hate it, everyone's got opinions on the 2.0.10 patch -- not all of them positive. So with some classes going up and other classes going down, what do you think is the class to play this patch, in PvE, PvP, and anything in between? Some classes -- druids and priests -- seem to come out the clear losers in this battle, but the question of who comes out on top is less clear-cut, with no single class receiving overwhelming improvements. One class to rule them all -- but which do you think it is? Let us know what you're planning on playing by the time 2.0.10 makes the live realms in the comments.
The return of the return of the Luffa
It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the Searing Gorge quest reward the Luffa and how useful it could be for an encounter in Karazhan. I, of course, was off silently cursing the fact that I'd vendored mine ages ago, being unable to think of a single use for it that was more important than the free inventory slot. However, it looks like I didn't need to be so sad about that -- because apparently the Luffa has been changed in 2.0.10 to not work on bleed effects cast by monsters over level 60. [Via official forums]
Is there hope for the priest class?
After seeing the latest patch notes, there are plenty of unhappy priests out there. Not only was Vampiric Embrace -- a key talent for shadow priests attempting to maintain group utility and solo viability -- reduced in effectiveness by a forth (and its ability to crit removed completely), but shadow priests also lost threat reduction and holy priests lost Prayer of Mending -- a low-cost instant-cast heal that was excellent for priests trying to heal in PvP combat that is now rendered mostly useless by its new 20 second cooldown. Many priests seem to think that these changes are the death of PvE shadow priests and PvP holy priests. Is there a reason for priest players to have hope? Well, Nethaera says there is. On the priest forums she's reassuring players that their feedback is important and saying that Circle of Healing is being looked at and Lightwell may be looked at. And while I'm happy the class is still under review for possible tweaks, I wonder if they don't need a little more than what Nethaera says Blizzard is offering. And like the many other players who have attempted to post well-reasoned and constructive feedback on the priest forums, I feel ignored, despite Nethaera's assurances that all feedback is read. But if that's the case, I have to wonder why abilities that made life easier for priests are nerfed while complaints on countless other topics produce neither response nor result. Thank goodness I've been leveling a paladin -- with strong healing talents and great PvP survivability, they're everything I used to think my priest could be.
Breakfast Topic: Patch 2.0.10, thumbs up or thumbs down?
You've seen the patch notes and had a bit of time to think about them. And while I imagine your opinion of the patch will highly depend on what class you play, what do you think of the patch? As someone who plays a priest and a druid, I can't say I'm terribly enthusiastic -- but that's what I have other alts for, after all!
Patch 2.0.10 patch notes are upon us!
It's not on the live realms yet, but these patch notes are as official as they come: straight from Blizzard's own mouth. In the mix is the usual assortment of bugfixes and nerfs. I imagine some people in the audience (those who have been screaming "NERF DRUIDS" lately) will be happy, and others not so much. My inner shadow priest is crying.Complete notes are after the break, but I've got your highlights below. Across the board reductions for druids, including: Dire bear form armor bonus reduced from 450% to 400% Base damage multiplier for mangle (bear) reduced from 130% to 100% Predatory Instincts talent changed from +3/6/9/12/15% crit damage bonus to a +2/4/6/8/10% crit damage bonus. Improved Leader of the Pack can no longer crit A buff to moonkin, with moonkin form's armor bonus changed from +360% to +400% A couple of shadow priest nerfs, including: Reduction of Vampiric Embrace's healing from 20% to 15% Vampiric Embrace can no longer crit The threat reduction talent Silent Resolve no longer affects shadow spells Not a shadow priest? No worries: Prayer of Mending now has a 20 second cooldown Some interesting shaman changes, including: The clearcasting effect from Elemental Focus now procs on all (yes, all!) spell critical strikes An Unleashed Rage proc will no longer generate additional threat The free lightning spell cast from Lightning Overlord will now cause reduced threat Stoneclaw totem now has a 50% chance to stun attackers for 3 seconds when struck The warlock talent Demonic Tactics now grants the warlock and pet with increased critical strike chance instead of increased damage (no numbers given) Rage changes should grant an overall 15% to 20% increase in rage generation for warriors and bear druids A handful of interesting warrior changes, including: An approximate +1% critical strike chance overall Thunderclap now usable in defensive stance and causes additional threat The cooldown on Victory Rush has been removed Unbridled Wrath now has a fixed chance to generate rage (higher with slower weapons) Charge, Intercept, and Intervene will remove all snare effects (this isn't in the patch notes, but was confirmed by Tseric in the warrior forums). Update: Drysc says this change isn't actually going to make it into 2.0.10. Update: Added a warrior change via Tseric that did not make it into the patch notes.Update 2: Added extra points to the overview, as noted in the comments.Update 3: Apparently the changes to Charge, Intercept, Intervene, etc aren't going to make it into the patch.
LFG channel to return
Wow, this is honestly surprising to me. After having stated in no uncertain terms that the LFG channel would not be coming back, Blizz apparently changed their mind. From Drysc: We're making many improvements to the Looking For Group tool, most of which are still in production and can't yet be discussed. Player suggestions and feedback are playing a large part in the changes we're making and we want to emphasize that we are indeed making improvements. The change we can talk about right now is indeed the return of the looking for group channel in the next major content patch. With it comes a rather significant requirement, and that is that you will have to be in the LFG system set to looking for a group or looking for more to see and use the channel. The global LFG channel will only be viewable and available for use to players while they are in the LFG system. We hope to see the combination of the LFG tool coupled with the ease of use of a global channel help to improve the LFG tool and players use of the tool. Again we're making other improvements based on feedback and suggestions which we'll be able to discuss in the near future.In my opinion, this is actually a really good move. It gives the people who want the channel back what they want, but at the same time it forces more people into the LFG system. In my opinion, the biggest problem with the current LFG system is that not enough people use it, and this should remedy that. What do you guys think?[Thanks, Kyle]
Blizzard updates Under Development page
For the first time since before the Burning Crusade was released, Blizzard have updated their Under Development page to tell us that the Black Temple is going to be opened soon, and will contain Tier 6 armor. We knew it was going to be opened eventually, given that the physical edifice is already in the game, and even the instance portal (though it tells you that the instance isn't available yet), but this probably means it'll be in the next content patch. Here's Blizz's text:Originally founded as a Draenei temple, this plot has been conquered and despoiled many times throughout the history of Outland, removing any spiritual grace it may have once held. The Black Temple has been the stage of the Orc Horde's blood curse, a fortress for the then-mortal Ner'zhul, and a prime staging ground for the Burning Legion's campaign of destruction. Most recently, it has been claimed as home by Illidan, where he and his minions make their bid for power over the remnants of the shattered planet. Now, it is up to you to face the malefic forces of Illidan and his minions in hopes of freeing Outland from chaos and tyranny.Black Temple is a 25-person raid dungeon located in Shadowmoon Valley. Explore an ancient site steeped in Warcraft lore Gain access to more than a hundred new rare and epic items, including tier-6 armor sets Choose your path through a nonlinear level-70 raid dungeon, as you make your way to... Face Illidan himself! I'm interested to learn more about the nonlinearity of this place, although it probably just means that you don't have to do all the bosses. Also, note that we almost certainly won't be able to destroy Illidan -- Blizz have hinted that he's too powerful to be destroyed by mere level 70s. The usual guess is that it'll go something like the Majordomo Executus fight in MC. And the stats on T4 and T5 are already pretty crazy -- anyone have any info on what T6 is like?
Magtheridon re-evaluated, Magtheridon hotfixed
Maybe these two are related, and maybe they aren't -- but this morning Tigole announced that the Magtheridon encounter was going to be re-evaluated over the next few weeks, as Blizzard had expected to see players progressing more quickly than they are. Just over an hour later, Tigole returned to announce a hotfix for a bug that was causing the Hellfire Channeler's "Dark Mending" spell to heal for more than intended. Of course, considering the number of complaints on the forums about the encounter, I doubt this will be the last change Magtheridon will be seeing.
Stealth patch! 2.0.8 is upon us.
I was waiting for our fifth to come back from AFK so we could summon him to Steamvaults. I logged out to load a new AddOn, logged back in, only to find "downloading update!" Of course, that means my other group members are probably sitting there wondering what the heck happened to me...So what's new in build 6403? All of one item:Bug Fixes Fixed several display issues with the arena battle final scoreboard. Yeah. Good times.
Thoughts on guild halls in Azeroth
There's not much new to say about this (Blizzard is still stonewalling on any plans for development), but players are still very interested in getting some form of player housing in the game, and one interesting form of that would be the idea of guild halls, an instance or a place ingame for a guild to make their own.Drysc gives a standard response on this one: it's a good idea, but there are no plans to implement it or anything like it in the game. But he does encourage discussion on it, and players have some interesting ideas. First and foremost would be a way to recognize the guild's accomplishments ingame-- trophies or heads of defeated bosses on the walls or in the building.Another purpose of such a place might be a few items of convenience, including a physical guild bank, and maybe even special vendors or profession workspaces. Drysc does say that if Blizzard did create something like this, and if it was guild halls, they wouldn't want to include anything that would take players away from the main game-- if they did put NPCs in the guild halls, it wouldn't likely be anything like trainers or auctioneers that kept players away from the main cities.Other interesting ideas include guild buyable portals to cities or even instances, an area for PvP-- either within the guild or between guilds, and even a raid signup system or scrimmage area of some kind. All interesting ideas-- what have you got? This is complete and total speculation, but it could be that Drysc is fishing for feedback because Blizzard is poking around at this idea to see if it's viable. If they included a guild hall area in the game, what, within reason of course, would you want to see there?
Patch 2.0.7 live
Well, now we know why they had to bring the realms down for maintenance today: to implement the most boring patch in WoW history. As far as I can tell the patch notes are the same as those from the test realm (except for a slight change in the fix to teleport to the Shade of Aran). They're after the cut anyway, because I love you readers too much to make you go clicking too far to get your patch notes.P.S. I suppose technically the patch isn't "live" yet, because the realms are still down, but "Patch 2.07 now available via Blizzard Downloader" sounds like a bad radio ad, so I had to take a little headline liberty.
2.0.7 PTRs now live
The public test realms, everybody's favorite WoW sandbox, are now up and running for patch 2.0.7: The 2.0.7 Public Test Realms are now live and we invite all players to help test the upcoming changes by copying characters and downloading the PTR client. You can find the most current 2.0.7 patch notes here. You can begin copying your characters and downloading the 2.0.7 client through Account Management here: https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ptr/ As always please use the Test Realm Forum for any reports of bugs or issues with the patch being tested, as well as any conversation concerning the PTRs. Test Realm Forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11572 As ever, full patch notes after the cut. The most interesting items to my eye are "The amount of haste granted by a point of haste rating has been increased by about 50%" and, following up on the "Argent Dawn" scam, "Players can no longer send gift wrapped packages via COD."
