Hi there,
This patch, our beloved WW Monks got a new, “super-mega-cool” ability called Slicing Winds.
But is it really as crazy good as people say?
I’d like to discuss it a bit and hear other people’s opinions.
Let’s break down the spell:
First of all, it replaces Flying Serpent Kick, which is a great mobility tool.
So, what do we get instead?
Slicing Winds charges us forward while dealing damage—basically the same as Flying Serpent Kick, but with added damage and a lot of downsides.
Pros:
Hits really hard (at least for now).
Deals Nature damage – can be used to surprise Bopped Paladins who think we can’t touch them.
I think it ignores things like Evasion (if I’m not mistaken).
Syncs well with Strike of the Windlord – lets us do two back-to-back kill attempts in a short window.
Cons:
Needs to be fully charged for max range.
Goes on cooldown if interrupted by CC.
Goes on cooldown even if the Monk cancels it manually.
Can be spell reflected for some reason.
Doesn’t work while rooted. Even if all we need is to spin in place
Sometimes fails to deal damage for no reason.
Shorter distance than Flying serpent kick.
If used as an escape with people around you, as it needs to be charged as you need distance, it will be interrupted most of the times making it useless
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve given up on trying to charge it—because most likely it will be wasted.
People can dodge it with mobility, interrupt it with any micro-CC putting it on cooldown. So, outside of niche situations, I just use it as a 0.3 sec cast “Whirlwind” on a 30-sec cooldown—except it does 5x more DPS than any other ability in my spellbook.
Of course, Blizzard could decide tomorrow that it needs to hit for less than Blackout Kick. Happened to Strike of the Windlord in the past. Remember it did good damage when was introduced?
So in the end, we’re losing a great mobility tool and replacing it with a “clunky Whirlwind” that has a long list of downsides. The only real benefit? It does huge damage (until Blizzard inevitably nerfs it. Dont think it will only be nerfed once this wednesday).
Now imagine if Flying Serpent Kick dealt 2-4M damage on landing. Wouldn’t that be better? We can control where we land, we don’t need to charge it, and we could even make it adjust its trajectory mid-flight—how cool would that be?
So, what do you think? Obviously, it’s worth taking because of the damage, but is it really that great and overpowered to deserve a quick nerf? Why would anyone replace Flying Serpent Kick with this one if it did no damage?
Or is it just me? Is there a better way to use this spell? Or a better way to make Monks stronger—rather than just adding an ability that deals 5x more DPS than anything else in our spellbook?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!