Thule
08-12-2008, 12:40
WotLK - Monster timers changes
Blizzard changed the name of the enrage/frenzy/etc ... timers, Daelo made a post to explain the new wording for these effects.
Quote from: Daelo (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/8765572905-curious-about-tranq-shot-changes.html))
Enrage
Creatures that used to "Frenzy" like Magmadar, Gluth, Princess Huhuran, Halazzi, etc. now "Enrage" instead. Tranquilizing Shot has been changed to dispel Enrage effects, and the wording on all those spells and associated emotes has been changed to reflect the name change to Enrage.
Frenzy
Creatures that used to "Enrage", now "Frenzy" instead. This is the type of effect that typically happened at low health or some other combat trigger. Examples of this would be all the Blackrock Orcs in Redridge, Jan'alai's low health/timed increase in damage, Maexxna at low health, etc. These effects are not dispellable, you are meant to deal with the increased damage as part of the fight.
Berserk
Many of our boss encounters have timers where if you do not defeat the encounter within the allotted time, the boss will suddenly do RADICALLY more damage. Players are not intended to be able to deal with the damage dealt by a Berserk boss, and a wipe should be around the corner. We try not to use the "Berserk" term for nothing else but these kinds of timers.
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staff
Buffs / Debuffs and Raid Composition in WotLK
We don't know yet which buffs / debuffs will stay class specific. Class-specific buffs mean that if you're the player, you're happy and get invited to a lot of raids. If you're the raid leader, you may be less happy because you have to stack the raid with the perfect set of buffs.
Ideally around 2 of each class should be in a raid. It can't be 2.5 because most raids require 7-8 healers and not 5. Changing this would be pretty difficult as it would mean adding stiffer enrage timers and other penalties for bringing too many healers. Shamans, paladins and druids (and maybe priests) are probably going to be closer to 3 per raid because their specs are so different and one of them can heal. The question remains of who goes home if the DK comes in? Though a just as valid question is who goes home if the moonkin comes. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/18/8765610573-death-knight-viability-question.html))
Casting interruption changes in WotLK (See this news (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=12659.0))
If you avoid pushback from the first two hits there is still a chance pushback will occur. This change is simply a guarantee that you will not get pushback more than twice during any cast or channeled spell.
With this being said, the existing talents (such as fel concentration for Warlocks) that increase the chances a player will resist pushback are in the process of being reworked in light of this change. We'll provide more information on this as development progresses. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/8765632946-question-about-the-lich-spell-pushback-change.html))
Blizzcon Ticket Sales
We have appreciated everyone’s patience as we've worked to address issues with the BlizzCon ticket sales today. To avoid having people stay up into the early hours attempting to make ticket purchases, we will take ticket sales down and continue implementing optimizations through tonight and tomorrow morning.
There are still plenty of tickets available, so if you weren't able to purchase tickets today, please check back tomorrow. We'll continue to provide updates on the World of Warcraft forums here. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/8765642208-blizzcon-ticket-sales-update.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ihunters.gif Hunter (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=620) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?hunter))
Pet Abilities focus cost changes
I like the idea of removing more pet abilities from Focus. It's kind of a weird energy source since it fills so quickly in most cases. Growl and Cower might be trickier, but perhaps they could just be really cheap. Making the Focus dump abilities (Bite etc.) relatively expensive could do unpredictable things to threat or dps, especially very early in a fight. It's worth considering though since then they would typically only get used if the other autocast stuff was on cooldown. Leting some specials be free would help balance utility specials with pure dps specials (which could still have a Focus cost).
The next build will look something like this:
15 Focus
Growl
20 Focus
Anything you want to prioritize, like Demoralizing Screech
Any family ability with a short cooldown, like Fire Breath
25 Focus
Claw, Bite, Smack
Family abilities with a decent damage component and no cooldown, like Gore
Family abilities that represent a decent dps increase, like Savage Rend
Free
Most abilities with cooldowns of 30 sec or more
Cower
Most pet talents
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/images.gif Mage (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=670) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage))
DPS / Utility balance in spells
Players are right that Mages are in some cases getting more utility now with new talents. We'll evaluate the strength of classes utility when we tweak DPS output numbers. If a Mage spell is giving more utility than a Warlock spec, obviously the Warlock should be doing more DPS. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/4/8765638232-why-warlocks-outdamage-mages.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ipriests.gif Priest (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=640) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?priest))
Raid-Wide Vampiric Touch
We're still in talks about how to consolidate buffs/debuffs between classes. Making VT raidwide is a possibility, but yes it would mean the value of multiple Shadow Priests in a raid is somewhat diminished. In a lot of ways we're okay with that (you shouldn't *have* to have multiple specs of one class in a raid), but there are a lot of other side effects we're not sure about right now. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/6/8765571157-stop-the-presses-whut.html))
Vampiric Touch nerf to 2.5%
To be honest, 2.5% still might be too high. In our tests, Shadow Priests were still providing around the same amount of mana to their party (if not more) than before because of their increased damage output. Not to mention the Priest wasn't going out of mana at all because of Spirit/Improved Spirit Tap. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/6/8765571157-stop-the-presses-whut.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ishamans.gif Shaman (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=660) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?shaman))
Static Shock
I think the talent's design is fine. Whether it does enough damage or not, that can be tuned later. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/8/8765742024-static-shock.html))
Eye of the Storm not working
Data was pulled before we got this implemented, should be working in the next build... (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/8/8765639923-thank-you-very-much-koraa.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/iwarlocks.gif Warlock (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=680) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?warlock))
DPS / Utility balance in spells
Players are right that Mages are in some cases getting more utility now with new talents. We'll evaluate the strength of classes utility when we tweak DPS output numbers. If a Mage spell is giving more utility than a Warlock spec, obviously the Warlock should be doing more DPS. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/4/8765638232-why-warlocks-outdamage-mages.html))
Haunt Hotfix
We had to do a hotfix for Haunt which will unfortunately probably break the spell again. It should be all fixed up soon.
Imp's Firebolt Coefficient
Coefficient wasn't changed for Fire Bolt. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/9/8765641903-damage-reduction.html))
Imp's Firebolt casting time nerf
Not sure if we're going to keep this or not. I was toying with it's cast time because there was a huge discrepancy in the Imp's regen/throughput when you a 2.0 cast time vs a 2.5. So much so that you'd you want to have a 2.5 cast time instead of the improved 2.0 because it would run OOM. (More... (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/9/8765632205-imp-nerf.html...
[url=http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=12760.0)
Blizzard changed the name of the enrage/frenzy/etc ... timers, Daelo made a post to explain the new wording for these effects.
Quote from: Daelo (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/8765572905-curious-about-tranq-shot-changes.html))
Enrage
Creatures that used to "Frenzy" like Magmadar, Gluth, Princess Huhuran, Halazzi, etc. now "Enrage" instead. Tranquilizing Shot has been changed to dispel Enrage effects, and the wording on all those spells and associated emotes has been changed to reflect the name change to Enrage.
Frenzy
Creatures that used to "Enrage", now "Frenzy" instead. This is the type of effect that typically happened at low health or some other combat trigger. Examples of this would be all the Blackrock Orcs in Redridge, Jan'alai's low health/timed increase in damage, Maexxna at low health, etc. These effects are not dispellable, you are meant to deal with the increased damage as part of the fight.
Berserk
Many of our boss encounters have timers where if you do not defeat the encounter within the allotted time, the boss will suddenly do RADICALLY more damage. Players are not intended to be able to deal with the damage dealt by a Berserk boss, and a wipe should be around the corner. We try not to use the "Berserk" term for nothing else but these kinds of timers.
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staff
Buffs / Debuffs and Raid Composition in WotLK
We don't know yet which buffs / debuffs will stay class specific. Class-specific buffs mean that if you're the player, you're happy and get invited to a lot of raids. If you're the raid leader, you may be less happy because you have to stack the raid with the perfect set of buffs.
Ideally around 2 of each class should be in a raid. It can't be 2.5 because most raids require 7-8 healers and not 5. Changing this would be pretty difficult as it would mean adding stiffer enrage timers and other penalties for bringing too many healers. Shamans, paladins and druids (and maybe priests) are probably going to be closer to 3 per raid because their specs are so different and one of them can heal. The question remains of who goes home if the DK comes in? Though a just as valid question is who goes home if the moonkin comes. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/18/8765610573-death-knight-viability-question.html))
Casting interruption changes in WotLK (See this news (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=12659.0))
If you avoid pushback from the first two hits there is still a chance pushback will occur. This change is simply a guarantee that you will not get pushback more than twice during any cast or channeled spell.
With this being said, the existing talents (such as fel concentration for Warlocks) that increase the chances a player will resist pushback are in the process of being reworked in light of this change. We'll provide more information on this as development progresses. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/8765632946-question-about-the-lich-spell-pushback-change.html))
Blizzcon Ticket Sales
We have appreciated everyone’s patience as we've worked to address issues with the BlizzCon ticket sales today. To avoid having people stay up into the early hours attempting to make ticket purchases, we will take ticket sales down and continue implementing optimizations through tonight and tomorrow morning.
There are still plenty of tickets available, so if you weren't able to purchase tickets today, please check back tomorrow. We'll continue to provide updates on the World of Warcraft forums here. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/8765642208-blizzcon-ticket-sales-update.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ihunters.gif Hunter (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=620) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?hunter))
Pet Abilities focus cost changes
I like the idea of removing more pet abilities from Focus. It's kind of a weird energy source since it fills so quickly in most cases. Growl and Cower might be trickier, but perhaps they could just be really cheap. Making the Focus dump abilities (Bite etc.) relatively expensive could do unpredictable things to threat or dps, especially very early in a fight. It's worth considering though since then they would typically only get used if the other autocast stuff was on cooldown. Leting some specials be free would help balance utility specials with pure dps specials (which could still have a Focus cost).
The next build will look something like this:
15 Focus
Growl
20 Focus
Anything you want to prioritize, like Demoralizing Screech
Any family ability with a short cooldown, like Fire Breath
25 Focus
Claw, Bite, Smack
Family abilities with a decent damage component and no cooldown, like Gore
Family abilities that represent a decent dps increase, like Savage Rend
Free
Most abilities with cooldowns of 30 sec or more
Cower
Most pet talents
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/images.gif Mage (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=670) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage))
DPS / Utility balance in spells
Players are right that Mages are in some cases getting more utility now with new talents. We'll evaluate the strength of classes utility when we tweak DPS output numbers. If a Mage spell is giving more utility than a Warlock spec, obviously the Warlock should be doing more DPS. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/4/8765638232-why-warlocks-outdamage-mages.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ipriests.gif Priest (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=640) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?priest))
Raid-Wide Vampiric Touch
We're still in talks about how to consolidate buffs/debuffs between classes. Making VT raidwide is a possibility, but yes it would mean the value of multiple Shadow Priests in a raid is somewhat diminished. In a lot of ways we're okay with that (you shouldn't *have* to have multiple specs of one class in a raid), but there are a lot of other side effects we're not sure about right now. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/6/8765571157-stop-the-presses-whut.html))
Vampiric Touch nerf to 2.5%
To be honest, 2.5% still might be too high. In our tests, Shadow Priests were still providing around the same amount of mana to their party (if not more) than before because of their increased damage output. Not to mention the Priest wasn't going out of mana at all because of Spirit/Improved Spirit Tap. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/6/8765571157-stop-the-presses-whut.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ishamans.gif Shaman (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=660) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?shaman))
Static Shock
I think the talent's design is fine. Whether it does enough damage or not, that can be tuned later. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/8/8765742024-static-shock.html))
Eye of the Storm not working
Data was pulled before we got this implemented, should be working in the next build... (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/8/8765639923-thank-you-very-much-koraa.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/iwarlocks.gif Warlock (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=680) / Talent Calc. (8770) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?warlock))
DPS / Utility balance in spells
Players are right that Mages are in some cases getting more utility now with new talents. We'll evaluate the strength of classes utility when we tweak DPS output numbers. If a Mage spell is giving more utility than a Warlock spec, obviously the Warlock should be doing more DPS. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/4/8765638232-why-warlocks-outdamage-mages.html))
Haunt Hotfix
We had to do a hotfix for Haunt which will unfortunately probably break the spell again. It should be all fixed up soon.
Imp's Firebolt Coefficient
Coefficient wasn't changed for Fire Bolt. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/9/8765641903-damage-reduction.html))
Imp's Firebolt casting time nerf
Not sure if we're going to keep this or not. I was toying with it's cast time because there was a huge discrepancy in the Imp's regen/throughput when you a 2.0 cast time vs a 2.5. So much so that you'd you want to have a 2.5 cast time instead of the improved 2.0 because it would run OOM. (More... (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/9/8765632205-imp-nerf.html...
[url=http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=12760.0)