Several Class Balance Changes Coming Next Week – World of Warcraft

Hunters, Mages, Monks, Priests…

As Kaivax stated in a post tonight, several balance changes will be rolling out to classes next week in Patch 9.2.5 of Shadowlands. Find all the details below.

Classes

• All classes now generate more threat in Tank specialization.
• Developers’ note: We’ve heard a lot of feedback regarding threat drops from the community (and our teammates) since the start of this season. Our design intent is that a Tank that is actively directing its damage rotation at an enemy should be able to maintain threat on them, but simple area effect spells (like Consecration or Death and Decay) should not. not be sufficient. We’ve analyzed this situation and believe that a small tweak to Tank threat modifiers should help maintain this balance for the rest of the set.

Hunter

• Beast Mastery
  • All skill and pet damage increased by 4%.
  • Bestial Chain now causes your pet to strike other targets for 100% of its damage (up from 90%).
• Developers’ Note: Beast Mastery hasn’t received as much AoE benefit for its set bonus as other specs and has been moved back as a result. We’re increasing his pet damage and Bestial Chain damage transfer to help his overall performance.

Mage

• Gift of the Lich (Intermediate Necrolord) duration reduced by 33% in PvP.
  • Developers’ note: Deathbringer is one of the most impactful cooldowns in the game, but with the current Intermediate scaling, this one regularly lasts over 50 seconds. We think it is necessary to reduce this duration in PvP.
• Arcana
  • Arcane Missile damage increased by 8%.
  • Arcane Blast damage increased by 10%.
  • Bright Ideas can no longer be dispelled.
• Developers’ Note: We think Arcane’s single target damage would benefit from an increase, but also want to provide dispel protection for one of their spin crit buffs with Clearcastings. This is a change we’ll be evaluating further with Dragonflight, as we generally want magic buffs such as these to be dispellable. In this case, we think it is necessary to help specialization in the short term.

Monk

• Mistweaver
  • Reduced cooldown of Zen Focus Tea (PvP Talent) to 30 seconds (was 45 seconds).
    • Developers’ note: Mistweavers struggle to respond to damage bursts reliably, regularly having to open their main school in an effort to catch up. Giving them more access to interrupt protection is meant to let them respond to damage bursts more easily.
• windwalker
  • Rising Sun Kick damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Fists of Fury damage to primary target increased by 20% This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Blackout Strike damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Tiger Palm damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Fist of the White Tiger damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
• Developers’ note: In the interests of balance, we’re taking a more aggressive approach to improving the Windwalker Monks’ single-target damage so that their performance is more competitive in raid situations where their unique strengths might not. be in the foreground.

Priest

• Discipline
  • Torrent of Light (PvP Talent) increases Smite and Penance damage by 30% (down from 15%).
• Discipline, Ombre
  • Power Word Absorption Amount: Shield increased by 10% in PvP.
  • Fixed a bug that reduced the critical hit value of Power Word: Shield in PvP.
• Developers’ Note: We’re looking to give Disciple more offensive options in PvP but also feel that Power Word: Shield has fallen behind in relative power compared to other kit items.

Thief

• Scavenger (Medium) healing reduced by 50% in PvP.
• Outlaw
  • Between the Eyes damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Pistol Shot damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Sinister Strike damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Blade Flurry damage increased to 60% primary target damage (was 50%). This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Endurance Brawler (PvP Talent) stacks up to 15 times (down from 20).
• Developers’ note: Our intent with these changes is to buff Outlaw in both single target and 5-6 target cleave situations where Blade Flurry should shine. Outlaw doesn’t stand out enough in these times and hopefully these changes go in the right direction. However, in PvP, Endurance Brawler and Scavenger gave Outlaw more survivability than intended, and we’ve decided to lower the max stacks accordingly.

Shaman

• Healing Totem healing increased by 20% in PvP.
• Elementary
  • Raging Bumblebee Vortex (Kyrian Legendary Power) damage reduced by 33% in PvP.
  • Earth Shock damage is no longer reduced by 10% in PvP.
• Improvement
  • Chain Harvest (Venhyrs) damage and healing reduced by 15% in PvP.
• Restoration
  • Earthen Wall Totem Absorption (Talent) is no longer reduced by 30% in PvP.
• Developer Comments: For Shaman, we want to address some of the pivotal moments created by Chiming Totem and Chain Harvest but compensate for them with more sustained healing, damage, and debuffs.

Warlock

• Destruction
  • Ritual of Ruin (Bonus 2P) now lasts 30 seconds (was unlimited).
  • Summon Blasphemy (4P Bonus) no longer stuns enemies in PvP.
• Demonology
  • Felguard Legion Strike now reduces healing effectiveness on target by 25% (was 10%) in PvP.
• Developers’ note: With these changes, we want to resolve a combat exit strategy with the exception of rare times when the Warlock can set up a large burst via his set bonus. At the same time, we’re trying to give the Warlock enough time to respond to the Ritual of Ruin proc with a 30 second duration. Additionally, we are increasing the Mortal Strike effect of the Demonology pet in PvP to help their effective damage.

Warrior

• Armes
  • Mortal Strike damage increased by 10%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Overpower damage increased by 10%. This change does not apply in PvP.
  • Execute and Blame damage increased by 15%. This also applies to Protection Warriors. This change does not apply in PvP.
• Developers’ note: These changes are intended to increase the single-target performance of Weapons by not affecting situations where they already excel.
• Fury
  • Depths of Madness (Medium) effectiveness reduced by 50% in PvP.
  • Battle Trance (PvP Talent) now generates 3 Rage (down from 5) every 3 seconds for 18 seconds following using Raging Blow twice in a row on a target.
• Developers’ note: 9.2.5 comes with a fix where the Battle Trance PvP talent was not being activated by the Raging Blow replacement spell, Crushing Blow, via the Reckless Spirit talent. The above changes are intended to address the buff Fury will receive through this interaction.

Objects

• Gladiator’s Distinction Stamina Bonus (PvP Set) increased to 500 (was 350).
  • Developers’ note: In general, damage exceeds survivability in PvP, leading to a volatile gameplay experience. We are increasing the Endurance of the PvP jewelry set bonus to reduce the effect of in-game damage.
• Cosmic Gladiator’s Resounding Resolve no longer procs via or grants immunity to interrupt effects. The description will be updated in a future patch.
  • Developers’ note: Although the description explicitly mentions interrupts, we’ve heard feedback that this trinket removes counters that players appreciate. We will resolve the description in an upcoming patch.