Class Tuning Incoming -- 25 January

In addition to the class changes that are part of the 10.0.5 patch, during scheduled weekly maintenance on 25 January, we will make a number of tuning adjustments to specializations based on their performance in Raid and M+ content. It’s our intent that these changes help make these specializations viable options for raid and dungeon content.

Druid

  • Balance
    • Fixed an issue where Cosmic Rapidity did not increase the frequency of Shooting Stars to occur based on the increased rate of Moonfire, Sunfire, and Stellar Flare.
    • Lunar Eclipse now increases the damage Starfire does to nearby enemies by 30% (was 50%).
      • This is an adjustment to the 10.0.5 PTR values for this ability.
  • Developers’ notes: The redesign of Lunar Eclipse proved to be a bit overtuned during testing so we’re reining it in a bit. The current tuning should still make Lunar Eclipse the ideal state for when you’re dealing with multiple enemies at once. Additionally, we’re fixing an unintended bug caught during testing that caused Shooting Stars to not benefit from Cosmic Rapidity.
  • Restoration
    • Verdancy healing reduced by 10%.
    • Adaptive Swarm now increases the effectiveness of periodic effects by 20% (was 25%) for Restoration druids.
    • Adaptive Swarm healing and damage reduced by 10%.
    • Dreamstate now reduces cooldowns by up to 20 sec while channeling Tranquility (was 15).
  • Developer’s notes: We are making targeted adjustments primarily aimed at Restoration Druid’s Mythic Plus performance. Our goal is to also avoid much impact to their raid performance.

Mage

  • Fire
    • All ability damage increased by 5%.
  • Frost
    • All ability damage increased by 5%.

Monk

  • Mistweaver
    • Lesson of Despair now increases critical strike while above 50% health (was 80%).
    • This is an adjustment to the 10.0.5 PTR values for this ability.

Paladin

  • Holy
    • Barrier of Faith now accumulates 50% of effective Flash of Light and Holy Light healing (was 40%).

Priest

  • Discipline
    • Flash Heal healing increased by 25% (Discipline only).
    • Renew healing increased by 25% (Discipline only).
    • Power Word: Radiance healing increased by 100%.
    • Ultimate Radiance increases the healing done by Power Word: Radiance by 10% (was 100%).
    • Sins of the Many increases damage dealt by 40% at its highest effectiveness (was 30%).
    • Divine Aegis create a protective shield for 3%/6% of critical healing done (was 5%/10%).
  • Developers’ notes: Our changes to Discipline are aimed at improving the spec’s ability to react to burst damage, especially in dungeons. At the same time, we’re tuning down a talent that’s contributing more than intended to Discipline’s overall healing. Between these tuning changes and talent changes in 10.0.5, we expect Discipline to be slightly more effective in raids and significantly more effective in dungeons.

Rogue

  • Outlaw
  • Combat Stamina stamina bonus reduced to 5% (was 10%).
  • Developers’ notes: Outlaw’s survivability in challenging content has been consistently higher than what we expect and intend. As a result, we are reducing Combat Stamina’s bonus to a value more appropriate for its position and single-point cost.
  • Killing Spree (newly added for 10.0.5) damage reduction value reduced from 65% to 35%.
    • This is an adjustment to the 10.0.5 PTR values for this ability.

Shaman

  • Healing Surge healing increased by 15%.
  • Mana Spring now restores 400 Mana at level 70 (was 200).
  • Totemic Surge reduces the cooldown of Totems by 3 seconds/6 seconds (was 2 seconds/4 seconds).
  • Elemental
    • Flame Shock damage increased by 10% (Elemental only).
    • Chain Lightning damage increased by 10% (Elemental only).
    • Lava Beam damage increased by 10%.
    • Earthquake damage increased by 10%.
  • Restoration
    • Healing Wave healing increased by 6%.
    • Acid Rain damage increased by 120%.
    • Flame Shock damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
    • Lava Burst damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
    • Master of the Elements increases the effectiveness of the Shaman’s next Nature, Physical, or Frost spell by 20% (was 10%).
  • Developers’ notes: These changes for both Elemental and Restoration are aimed at improving their capabilities in dungeon content. We feel Restoration is lacking in reactive healing as well as damage contribution, so we’re increasing single target heals and a few damage abilities and talents. We’re also increasing the effectiveness of Master of the Elements, which is intended to encourage weaving in damage spells while healing.

Warlock

  • Affliction
    • Harvester of Souls damage increased by 25%.
  • Demonology
    • Reign of Tyranny causes Demonic Tyrant to deal 7% additional damage for each stack of Demonic Servitude active at the time of his summon (was 5%).
  • Developers’ notes: Overall, we’re happy with Demonology’s AOE capabilities. However, we feel their single-target profile needs a bit of help. We’re increasing the damage output of Reign of Tyranny to accomplish this. Ideally, Reign of Tyranny serves as a strong single-target oriented choice in comparison to Grand Warlock’s Design which works well in content like M+.

Warrior

  • Arms
    • Thunder Clap damage increased by 30%.
    • Cleave damage increased by 5%
    • Whirlwind damage increased by 10%.
    • Bladestorm damage increased by 5%.
    • Rend initial damage only (not periodic) increased by 15%.
  • Developers’ notes: The 10.0.5 talent tree update for Arms will make for more flexible builds, however, their performance in AOE in Dungeons and Raids hasn’t been where we would like relative to other specs, so we’re additionally making some tweaks to improve things.
  • Fury
    • Raging Blow damage increased by 10%.
    • Execute damage increased by 15%.
    • Rampage damage increased by 10%.
    • Annihilator damage increased by 15%.
    • Bloodthirst damage increased by 10%.
    • Bloodbath damage increased by 5%.
  • Developers’ notes: Despite a strong start to Season 1, Fury’s performance has fallen behind where we’d like it to be. 10.0.5 will see some minor changes to their talent tree but these are more related to encouraging build diversity than providing more throughput so we’re making some additional changes to help their damage output.
  • Protection
    • Brace for Impact now increases block value by 3% (was 5% per stack).
    • Brutal Vitality now causes 10% of the damage you deal to add to your Ignore Pain (was 15%).
    • Shield Specialization now increases block value by 12% per rank (was 15%).
  • Developers’ notes: Protection Warriors are currently dominating tank populations. While we do want all tanks to feel powerful, our data and overall perceptions of tanks put Protection Warriors ahead of the pack. We’re making some small talent adjustments that are overbudget to help address this.
22 Jan 2023