FEEDBACK: Mists of Pandaria Class Changes

[Linxy]

Greetings,

As we have been reviewing the class design in the original Mists of Pandaria, we recognize that classes changed, sometimes substantially, over the course of the expansion from phase to phase. For our Classic expansions, we start with the class design of the final patch of the original expansion, and for Mists of Pandaria Classic, that is patch 5.4.8. Unfortunately, classes in 5.4.8 were not designed with each phase’s content (such as the first raid tier) in mind, and with no changes to classes, this would leave some in an odd state in each phase. To address this, we have gone class by class, spec by spec, and made changes.

Many of these changes are simply reverting updates to classes that were made throughout the original Mists of Pandaria. In some cases, we also brought forward fixes to classes that were not made until the Warlords of Draenor expansion pre-patch. We have indicated the source of each adjustment at the end of each class change, noted below.

Some classes have also received an early buff, despite being expected to scale well as the Mists of Pandaria Classic expansion progresses. Our intent here is to give certain specs more power to balance them early in the expansion, but we already plan to revert many of the buffs made to these specs as the expansion progresses, and these specs naturally scale back up to their expected levels.

We have also made changes to the functionality of certain abilities, glyphs, and talents for specific specs within a class. To be clear, this means that if other specs within a class also have access to the same abilities, glyphs, or talents, they will only function in a changed manner for the spec specified.

Specifically regarding PvP: All of the following changes will have no impact on instanced PvP. These class changes, including changes to Masteries and Glyphs, will revert back to their 5.4.8 functionality when characters enter PvP instances, such as Arenas and Battlegrounds.

• The only exception to these changes reverting to their 5.4.8 state are changes that include items and set bonuses. Those changes will not revert upon entering PvP instances.

Finally, although we feel all classes will benefit from these changes throughout the expansion, we will continue to monitor the classes and update them further if necessary. We are particularly eager to see how they perform in the Beta, and most importantly, we are very much looking forward to your feedback.

Druid

• Balance
  • Moonkin Form’s increase to Nature and Arcane damage has been raised to 20% (was 10%). New
  • Shooting Stars will no longer split its chance to activate across multiple targets. 5.4 Revert
• Feral
  • Ferals once again learn Nature’s Swiftness, but it cannot be used in Arenas or Battlegrounds (previously, Ferals did not learn or have access to Nature’s Swiftness). 5.4 Revert
• Guardian
  • Maul’s Rage cost has been lowered to 20 (was 30). 6.0.2 Change
• Restoration
  • Naturalist’s increase to healing has been raised to 15% (was 10%). New

Hunter

• General
  • The Sporebat pet’s Energizing Spores can now only be activated while inside of a Battleground or Arena. Sporebat’s now additionally know a new spell called Frenzying Spores. This is an active ability that grants the same effect as Serpent’s Swiftness but can only be activated outside of Battlegrounds and Arenas. New
    • Developers’ notes: Hunters perform well, but rather than nerfing them, we felt allowing them to cover less buffs was a better approach to opening up group compositions.

Mage

• Fire
  • Combustion % of Ignite’s tick damage per second raised to 50% (was 20%). 5.4 Revert

Monk

• Mistweaver
  • Teachings of the Monastery’s Crackling Jade Lightning damage bonus lowered to 25% (was 100%). New
  • Mana Tea’s mana return per charge increased to 5% (was 4%). New
  • Surging Mists cost lowered by 13%, moving its cost to 7.65% of base mana (was 8.8%). New
  • Rushing Jade Wind will now be canceled on the Mistweaver Monk when they enter Stance of the Wise Serpent. New
    • Developers’ notes: Players could enter Stance of the Fierce Tiger to activate Rushing Jade Wind for 40 Energy and then go back into Stance of the Wise Serpent without having to spend the mana cost of Rushing Jade Wind. We want to alleviate the Mistweaver mana concerns, but we don’t want the optimal way to play to be going into Tiger, casting Rushing Jade Wind, and going back into Serpent. This was considered optimal because of high mana costs and subpar mana return for Mistweaver. If those issues are solved, this should feel fine. If they aren’t, we’d rather revisit and reduce the cost of RJW/SCK for Mistweavers than perpetuate stance dancing. So no matter which way we sliced it, we didn’t want this work around to be the most efficient way to play.
  • Jab cost lowered by 25%, to 6% of base mana (was 8%). Partial 5.2 Revert
  • Enveloping Mists healing raised by 48%. 5.1 Revert
  • Eminence healing raised by 68%, moving it to a 42% conversion of damage to healing (was 25%). 5.2 Revert and 6.0.2 Change
    • Developers’ notes: Eminence benefits from the healing bonus granted by Stance of the Wise Serpent, so this translates to ~50% of damage dealt to healing.
  • Revival’s healing raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert
  • Glyph of Targeted Expulsion retains its original effects in PvP, but morphs to have the old effects from the previously removed Glyph of Uplift while outside of PvP instances. While not in a PvP instance: Glyph of Targeted Expulsion changes Uplift to no longer cost Chi, but instead cost 10% of base mana. 5.4 Revert and 5.2 Partial Revert
• Windwalker
  • Mastery: Bottled Fury changed to increasing the damage of your Tigereye Brew by 0.2% per Mastery (was Mastery gives a chance to gain an additional charge of Tigereye Brew when you gain a charge of Tigereye Brew). 5.4 Revert
  • Tigereye Brew starts with 3.5% damage per stack, plus 1.6% from base Mastery (was 6% damage per stack unaffected by Mastery). 5.4 Revert and New
  • Tigereye Brew gains a charge after spending 3 Chi (was 4 Chi). 5.4 Revert
  • T15 Windwalker Monk 4 set bonus reverted to “You have a 10% chance to gain an additional charge of Tigereye Brew every time you gain a charge of Tigereye Brew while not inside an Arena or Battleground” (was “Increases the damage of your Tigereye Brew by 0.5% per stack consumed”). 5.4 Revert

Paladin

• Holy
  • Eternal Flame’s periodic healing lowered by 28%. 5.4 Revert
  • Eternal Flame’s Periodic can activate Illuminated Healing. 5.4 Revert
  • Illuminated Healing’s base value has been raised to 12% (was 10%). 5.3 Revert
• Protection
  • The damage reduction from Sanctuary has been raised to 20% (was 15%). New
  • The shielding on Sacred Shield has been raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert
• Retribution
  • Divine Storm, Crusader Strike, Judgment, Hammer of the Righteous, Hammer of Wrath, and Exorcism have all had their damage raised by 10%. New
  • Templar’s Verdict damage raised by 20%. 6.0.2 Change

Priest

• Talents
  • Divine Star and Halo now obey AoE cap rules (20 targets for damage, 6 targets for Healing before they start splitting the effect’s total numbers). 5.4 Revert andIssue Originally Moved to 6.0 Pre-Patch`
  • The maximum times Cascade can bounce has been lowered to 3 (was 4). 5.4 Revert
• Discipline
  • Divine Aegis lowered to 80% of the Heal’s value (was 100%). New
  • T14 set bonus Penance cooldown lowered to 1 second (was 3). New
    • Developers’ notes: This bonus brings Penance to 8 seconds, like in the original 5.0.
  • Atonement healing from damage lowered to 70% (was 90%). 6.0.2 Change
  • Divine Star for Discipline Priests has had its healing lowered by 25%. 6.0.2 Change and 5.1 Partial Revert
  • Spirit Shell’s active duration raised by 50% to 15 seconds (was 10). 5.4 Revert
• Shadow
  • Generates Shadow Orbs passively while outside of combat, arenas, and battlegrounds. New
  • Shadow Form’s damage increase has been raised to 30% (was 25%). New

Rogue

• General
  • Sinister Strike’s Energy cost lowered to 40 (was 50). 5.4 Revert, Buff
  • Sinister Strike’s weapon damage lowered to 192% (was 240%). Partial 5.4 Revert, Nerf
    • Developers’ notes: This overall is Sinister Strike’s cost and damage both lowered by 20%. This allows for more fluid gameplay with cycling Insight, and an overall buff.
• Assassination
  • The damage increase from Assassin’s Resolve raised to 25% (was 20%). 5.4 Revert
• Combat
  • Added a counter for Bandit’s Guile that will track your sinister strikes and revealing strikes, showing how close you are to gaining Insight. New

Shaman

• General
  • Healing Rain healing lowered by 25%. New
• Talents
  • Healing Rain’s maximum duration through Conductivity lowered to 30 seconds (was 40). New
  • Ancestral Guidance’s healing and damage conversion lowered to 20% (was 60% for healing and 40% for damage). 6.0.2 Change
• Elemental
  • Lightning Bolt damage raised by 10%. New
• Enhancement
  • Stormstrike weapon damage raised to 450% (was 380%) 5.4 Revert
• Restoration
  • Chain Heal’s fall off per target lowered to 20% (was 0%). 5.4 Partial Revert
  • Riptide mana cost raised by 15%. 5.4 Partial Revert

Warlock

• Affliction
  • Malefic Grasp damage raised by 50%. 5.4 Revert
  • The damage your Malefic Grasp causes your other DoTs to deal raised to 50% (was 30%). 5.4 Revert
  • Drain Soul damage raised by 50%. 5.4 Revert
  • The damage your Drain Soul causes your other DoTs to deal raised to 100% (was 60%). 5.4 Revert
• Demonolgy
  • Wild Imp damage raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert
  • The number of Imps summoned by Glyph of Imp Swarm raised to 5 (was 4). 5.4 Revert
  • Hellfire and Immolation Aura damage raised by 25%. 5.4 Revert
  • Chaos Wave damage raised by 50%. 5.4 Revert
• Glyphs
  • Glyph of Eternal Resolve retains its original effects in PvP, but morphs to have the old effects from the previously removed Glyph of Everlasting Affliction while outside of PvP instances. While not in a PvP instance: Glyph of Eternal Resolve now increases the duration of the damage over time spells associated with the old Glyph of Everlasting Affliction by 50%, but decreases their damage by 20%. 5.4 Revert

Warrior

• General
  • Absorbing damage or taking damage while in Berserker Stance now grants the Warrior Rage (previously, only taking damage to your health bar granted Rage). New
• Fury
  • Crazed Berserker auto attack damage increase has been raised to 15% (was 10%). New
  • Crazed Berserker offhand damage increase has been raised to 30% (was 25%). New
  • The Duration of Berserker Rage and Enrage have been raised by 33%, to 8 seconds (was 6). New

[Nakke-draenor]

possible to save frost death knight from being perma behind unholy in dps and utility for the third expansion in a row?

[Bushido-pyrewood-village]

Pandora’s box successfully opened.

Please assume crash landing positions and hold on to your butts.

[Shadowsome-firemaw]

Would be nice to have a detailed list of the obtainable mounts from the new Celestial Dungeon Satchel

[Stahlreck-venoxis]

Fantastic changes thank you already for not being so passive with MoP as you were for Cata.

Now I hope y’all are ready though for the anger storm once you revert some of the class buffs later on as you say in that post

[Clampr-draenor]

These are absolutely amazing changes to see and I am all for it, keep up the good work, Blizzard!

I have further suggestion for Holy Paladins that I believe make sense and are in-line with the current changes that the Blizzard team has brought forward:

• Seal of Insight - 5.4.0 Revert: Previously, Seal of Insight gave Holy Paladins a chance to return 4% base mana on melee hit. However, this was removed in Patch 5.4.0 and wasn’t that hard-hitting of a nerf precisely because Spirit was in abundance because of T16 gear. However, going into T14 where Spirit levels are lower and in abundance, I believe that this will give Holy Paladins extra longevity in raid encounters.
• T14 4P Revert - Similar to the reverting of the Discipline Priest’s T14 4P, reverting the T14 4P for Holy Paladins from reducing Holy Shock by 1 second to 2 seconds will indefinitely provide a significant boost in strength for Holy Paladins.

[Kovalos-nethergarde-keep]

The Disc and Restoshaman changes are welcome. They were broken classes.

The Holy Paladin changes might be too much. We need to test it.

Mistweaver and Restodruid changes are good.

But no buffs to Holy Priest? That’s absurd. Holy priests need to have at least some utility buff like make Hymn of Hope a 3 minute cool down.

Also they need buffed hps output so they do the most raw healing output from all classes. Give them archangel or buff base chakra healing. Chakra CD reduction would also be welcome.

Buff Holy Priests!

[Linxy]

Hello adventurers. We have decided to not move forward with the Hunter Sporebat pet change and will revert it off of Beta tomorrow.

[Roffejow-firemaw]

The 5% increased damage for Shadow Priests seems low compared to the buffs received by other specializations.

My main concern with Shadow Priest is the clunkiness of the class in Mists of Pandaria.

What could be improved?

• The DoTs are weak (SW:P, VT) and have a short duration, forcing us to reapply them constantly (for mediocre damage).
• Orb generation is sluggish, with only one way (beyond execute phase), to generate them, giving us a few seconds where we deal actual damage.
• We have to be very precise on your DoT timings and reapplications to not interfere with your 6 second burst window after having applied DP.
• Players “mastering” Shadow Priest will do decently (at best), but the punishment for a “mediocre” player is extreme. DoTs lasting longer could help offset this, helping “mediocre” players better time their burst window (insanity mind flay) with reapplication of DoTs.

[Kwozie-draenor]

With the sporebat revert, please consider toning down Survival Hunter a bit. They are already being stacked, and just take raid spots away from other classes (such as Shadow Priest, which received a laughable “buff”).

Most of the other changes are fine. But were you high when you decided to give Warlock a MASSIVE buff over a spec like Shadow which is underperforming?

Also, the Ancestral Guidance change is so big that you might as well have just removed it as a selectable option. I cannot fathom why this even came up as something that needed to be adjusted. But whoever suggested it has absolutely no place in a balance team.

[Asmode-argent-dawn]

These Disc/Rshaman changes are too much some of these need to be reverted. Just buff the other healers and why are there no buffs for holy priest?

[Duskyheart-ravencrest]

Holy Priest has been the lowest performing healing spec with minimal utility since Wrath, and you’re not even attempting to fix this horrible balance.

And to add that Holy Priest is also one of the weakest (if not the weakest) healers in Retail, this attitude is just an insult to all players devoted to holy priest spec.

[Theoa-golemagg]

Disc and rshaman nerfs are way too much. Bring the rest to their level instead. Also consider hpriest buffs.

[Acidog-ravencrest]

WOD Ancestral Guidance’s nerf was totally uncalled for, elemental shaman is an utility class and with this nerf they get their biggest utility removed from the picture, the 10% lightning bolt buff is laughable

[Cheaplove-golemagg]

Divine Star nerfed to 6 targets for healing is pulling the plug for Holy Priest who was already on life support. How can the design team be this ignorant?

[Enerion-alonsus]

• Protection
  • The damage reduction from Sanctuary has been raised to 20% (was 15%). New
  • The shielding on Sacred Shield has been raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert

Honestly, back in retail MoP one of the most known paladin tanks, Slootbag talked about the issue of threat as Protpaladin.
I think you should boost the conc threat.
Like you can take a pack of mobs and have them stand in conc for 20sec and your brewmaster tank comes and does one kegsmash to take aggro.
You cant overtake aggro from any other tank as a prot paladin in aoe situations and you lack so much damage compared to the other tanks in the last patch of MoP as prot paladins really got the nerfbat in 5.4

[Busig-everlook]

These Restoration Shaman nerfs are far too much. We have been at the back of the heal-pack for 2 expansions. Why aren’t we allowed fun? I’m literally thinking about just not playing MoP beacuse of this.

[Bifxoc-blackhand]

The new Mastery scalling seems pretty low, got 5081 Mastery without raid buffs and getting 6.8% more damage from it thats an increase of 0.8%. At puppet i do even less damage than before the changes.

[Trixibelle-firemaw]

I’m curious how well these changes plays out in regular heroic and Celestrial dungeons.
I may be biased as I play both Discipline Priest and Restoration Shaman and while I do agree that the classes should be better balanced, nerfing classes is just not always a good idea.

It’s not like healers are plentiful, so nerfing them does risk that less wants to play them.

I get that we shouldn’t be OP healers, and these changes might actually feel right when we test them out, but I see many “new” changes and changes brought forth from “WoD”.

All these changes are a mix of all phases, new and future stuff, so completely different from OG MoP.

I fear Pandora’s box has been opened with many of these nerfs, instead of just boosting the classes that was lacking. Like how Holy Priest is lacking from the balance list.