I believe a lot of issues regarding Obliteration is not necessarily the damage but rather the tip toeing around BoS balancing, resource inefficiency and lack of talent synergy of the gameplay style. Runic Power and Killing Machine procs tend to be wasted and the build loses out on a lot of damage.
In this case, we need to avoid buffing abilities that affect BoS otherwise BoS would inadvertently be buffed and overshadow Obliteration still. Thus it makes most sense to purely target Frost Strike/Glacial Advance (BoS uses very little of FS/GA due to their rotational windows), Killing Machine (BoS has minimal loss of KM procs as they are ALWAYS spamming Obliterates during BoS windows) and Runic Power usage (BoS is fuelled by RP and so the less RP they have, the worse their situation will be)
As it’s deep in to the expansion already and it is unlikely to see major overhauls, tweaking small talents and numbers is the direction I went with when putting some thought into this. One gameplay similarity both Obliteration and BoS play styles should draw from is that Runic Power should be used to power more damage through avenues of dumping RP - the difference being that BoS is the more proactive playstyle and Obliteration is the more reactive playstyle. That’s why the following changes are things I would consider extremely helpful towards 2H and Obliteration builds and would not deeply affect BoS builds:
- Frost Strike buffed
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Glacial Advance buffed
VFX changed to that awesome alpha version or Jaina’s spell from Battle of Da’zar Alor
In order to increase FDK damage, these abilities need to be buffed as the damage profiling for Obliterate is already very high and is in a good place. This is probably one of the few established avenues where we can buff Obliteration while touching BoS at a minimum.
Unleashed Frenzy
Duration increased to 10 seconds
As a maintenance buff, it shouldn’t be something we need to constantly think about for such a miniscule buff. UH got Plaguebringer to 10s, it is only fair that UF is increased to 10s.
Frostscythe
Rune cost increased to 2 rune cost and damage doubled. Damage normalised and doesnt require crit to cause 4x damage. MotFW now increase Frostscythe damage
I’d almost consider to remove Frostscythe from the game and turn Obliterate into the main cleave where DnD leaves a buff on you if you step out of it or have a completely new DnD like Defile where it instead follows you and increases duration by 1 second for every KM consumed
Biting Cold
Baked into Remorseless Winter
Gathering Storm and Everfrost moved up by 1 position respectively
Way too many talents to invest into Remorseless Winter - this should help ease the planning of talent builds
Frostreaper
Added: Increase maximum stack of Killing Machine by 1.
Obliteration suffers too much from wasted natural KM procs meaning there is a massive loss of potential damage due to RNG as well as latency playing a role. This should give players enough reaction and latency time to play effectively.
Might of the Frozen Wastes
Baseline. Possibly 15%+ frost ability damage that isn’t Obliterate. Dual Enchants allowed or Razorice baked into MotFW or Frost Strike.
Razorice is basically a part of the spec identity at this point and can be acquired without the rune through Avalanche and GA now. Flat 15% Frost damage buff assists with 2H AoE damage.
Icecap
Add Glacial Advance and Soul Reaper to the talent. Glacial Advance critical strikes reduce cooldown by 1 sec instead of 2.
These abilities should not be exempt from Icecap and should play apart within Frost synergy.
Shattering Blade changed to new talent: Hungering Blade
While you have 75 Runic Power or more, your next Frost Strike will consume an additional 25 Runic Power and deal 100% more damage.
Counteracts the RP overflow issue Obliteration builds would see. This will assist in making RP → damage conversion much more efficient while keeping the similar functionality of Shattering Blade. Could even be a Frost Strike replacer. Anything to help us maximise our Runic Power.
Or could even be this:
Shattering Blade changed to new Frost Strike replacer: Hoarfrost Strike
Replaces Frost Strike. Costs 25RP. Same damage as FS but for every excess 1RP, increase damage by 5%. Maximum excess 25RP consumed.
Cold-blooded Rage
Changed. For every 1 RP spent with Frost Strike/Glacial Advance, you have a 0.5%/1% chance to gain a stack of KM. This chance is increased by 100% for FS and 50% for Glacial Advance on critical strikes.
Adds value to the new Hungering Blade talent where it makes it more dependable as opposed to the RNG of a crit of a Frost Strike. Also assists with FDK Obliteration sustain. A talent needs to be here that either generates KM or powers up FS/GA.
Obliteration
Base talent unchanged. Soul Reaper added for granting KM on hit. Grants an extra maximum stack of Killing Machine during PoF.
New Frostreaper and Obliteration KM stack changes helps the Obliteration build to not waste KM procs. Total of 3 max stacks of KM if talented properly. This is a huge boon for low latency players and allows an easier time when putting out damage.
PvP Talent: Icy Grip
While Pillar of Frost is active, you are immune to disarm effects.
It’s one thing to be stunned but disarms are one CC too much and FDKs are heavily affected by physical comps. This will assist DKs to fight against them.
PvP talent: Unbreakable Ice
Increases the effectiveness of the Permafrost talent by 200%. Shield granted up to 10% of your maximum health.
120% shield of auto attack basically. Another talent to allow FDKs some survivability by fighting against melee comps by being active in the fight.
