Let’s talk about modifier bloat, button bloat and dead globals
So after taking a look at some spec talents for the next expansion
We’re going to have to be tracking 500 different interactions and modifiers
1. Let’s start with modifiers.
It’s a well-known fact most people are sick and tired of having 10 different spell damage or healing modifiers which create an artificial mandatory rotation, which is too complicated for new players (or older ones returning to the game) or simply too annoying for the people who managed to learn it.
In older expansions, you would have 1-2 modifiers and the main spell you are using would be tied to consistency. We are talking about CORE spells which you are always going to be using when playing your spec.
So for example, a Frost Mage would do bonus damage to a target who is frozen. Simple enough right? Well these days the talent trees of specs rely way too much on:
- Flat damage buffs to core spells which you will ALWAYS be using anyway (therefore it is not a choice at all, and talents are supposed to be a choice for each point you spend)
- Class-specific procs / stack tracking
- Spec-specific procs /stack tracking
- Trinket procs
- Enchant procs
- PvP talent procs / stack tracking
- Tierset procs / stack tracking
The above is simply way too anoying.
I will give Ret paladin as 1 example.
I quite literally started playing Ret paladin this season 5 times better the moment I added myself a bunch of different proc / buff / stack trackers. My damage went up by a huge margin.
Some Ret main might correct me, but you have to
- Track Divine Arbiter stacks for when your next Verdict will do a lot of bonus damage
- Keep Judgement debuff before that happens
- Make sure your Crusade (Wings) is stacked up fully
- Look at the rotation between your tierset effects, e.g track that too
Now you will tell me “well, most people don’t care, they just do 1 2 3 and still do a lot of damage anyway”. Well, while that may be true, the little (sometimes more than little) damage which you are missing from a perfect rotation is the reason why you lost a game (or wiped in PvE). I found that out the harder way by having people survive on low HP multiple times because I was just spamming 1 2 3 and tracking nothing on my DPS rotation’s stacks / procs / etc.
So my point is, a lot of the flat DMG buff talents to core spells need to be removed in all talent trees, and the damage from them added baseline to the abilities.
Of course you will use Judgement as a Ret, Mortal Strike as Arms, etc. This isn’t a playstyle choice, these are your core spells.
And the amount of proc / stack amplifiers need to be reduced by at least half, while giving more damage to the baseline ability, e.g the player is doing more consistent damage and not just fully relying on CDs, stacks and procs - most people are tired of this playstyle.
2. Let’s continue with button bloat and dead globals.
In my opinion, a lot of spells in the game should have double functionality, e.g they should be combined into a singular spell.
An example I will give is having to press Hamstring as Warrior or Disable as Windwalker vs. having a baked in slow on auto attacks as Rogue, or the automatic slow from Throw glaive on DH after tierset procs a baby throw glaive which mainly just serves as a slow
I find it extremely annoying how much this affects quality of life for some specs.
Hamstring is a dead global, yes, it is required most of the time so your target doesn’t run away too easily, despite having other tools like Bladestorm Slow and Piercing Howl.
Yet it feels awful to press. Same goes for Disable on Windwalker. Sure, you’re going to root a guy if you spam it a few times, but the root is very short duration.
Why are such spells not just baked into things like Mortal Strike or Rising Sun Kick?
Similarly, I see no problem with a Destruction Warlock applying his slow via Conflagrate, instead of pressing it separately. To me this feels like outdated design which only SOME specs suffer from still.
One other topic related to button bloat AND balance - choice node CC talents.
These should be brought back to reduce the overall frustration the game has, as well as unnecesary complexity. There is no reason for a Shaman to have 4 different knockbacks and roots, there is no reason a Mage should not have a choice node between Dragons Breath and Blast Wave (the knockback), Rogue specs having both Gouge and Blind, etc.
And while most of this is tied to PvE, which the game is obviously balanced around, there are definitely instances where a lot of this is not required. You are looking at 0.00001% situations where a Mage not having both knock and DB is going to result in a failed key. Quite literally a lot of the time some of this CC isn’t even picked up by PvE players, because there’s damage talents instead. For the other 99.9999% of scenarios, that Mage’s dungeon group will wipe for a different reason than not having both DB and knockback.