I still cannot post in the Development forums even though I’m playing beta, so I have to post here.
In light of Ion’s recent blue post
None of this is to say that development on covenants and their powers is finished, or that we are not open to further changes. Far from it. We understand that when we offer a choice between competing packages of strengths and weaknesses, if we’re not careful, especially given social and community pressures, weaknesses can easily overshadow strengths. The satisfaction of having an edge in one type of content doesn’t make up for the frustration of being excluded entirely from participating in another. But while tearing down the entire system may seem to some like the simplest way to avoid that pitfall, we’re committed to working with the community to ensure that players feel viable regardless of their covenant choice.
Monk is my main, and I have always tanked dungeons and DPSed in raids, therefore my view comes solely from PVE perspective of a Brewmaster and a Windwalker. I play both specs equally, and I feel the following change is important to make sure that Necrolord’s Monk Ability “Bonedust Brew” is equally valuable for a Brewmasters and Windwalkers.
Bonedust Brew reads as follows for Brewmasters :
Hurl a brew created from the bones of your enemies at the ground, coating all targets struck for 10 sec. Your abilities have a 35% chance to affect the target a second time at 35% effectiveness as Shadow damage or healing. Tiger Palm and Keg Smash reduces the cooldown of your brews by an additional 1 sec when striking enemies with your Bonedust Brew active
This works great for a Brewmaster. You throw down the Bonedust Brew, and you naturally go into using Keg Smash and Tiger Palm, which will benefit you with that extra Cooldown reduction. And of course, extra damage. This is great. This will work. No complaints here.
It’s the Windwalker’s version that needs a small change.
Windwalker’s Bonedust Brew has the following difference :
…Spinning Crane Kick refunds 1 Chi when striking enemies with your Bonedust Brew active
A Necrolord Windwalking monk’s rotation will look something like this : acquire 5 chi points > throw down Bonedust Brew > Fists of Fury > Rising Sun Kick > Whirling Dragon Punch > and then, and only then Crane Kick…
Any sensible Windwalker will want the extra damage Bonedust Brew provides during the main rotation. NOT during Crane Kick spam.
Also, the FoF > RSK > WDP combo take 6-8 seconds (haste dependent) . By the time a Windwalker naturally reaches a point to benefit from the extra chi from Crane Kick, the Bonedust Brew’s duration will pretty much run out.
I can see what the design team was thinking here: they wanted the Windwalker to throwdown Bonedust Brew, and go into Crane Kick > Tiger Palm > Crane Kick > Tiger Palm kick spam. Which would leave the Windwalker with full chi points in time for FoF/RSK/WDP coming off cooldown. But this won’t be the way Bonedust Brew will be used because of the 35% chance for an extra attack.
Blizzard team, thank you, it’s clear you guys have been listening to the community.