Soul Leech nerf in 5.4 PTR (Stealth Nerf)

[Norp]

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this on the PTR but Soul Leech now stacks to 30% of the lock's max HP. On live, Soul Leech stacks to 100% of the locks HP. So if you go by the PTR patch notes, it looks like SL received a small buffed by adding in Shadowburn for destro but the sad truth is that they nerfed it and didn't post a note for it. If you have a weakaura for this just pay attention to the strength of the bubble when you get on the PTR or you can mouseover the buff while hitting a raid dummy.

[Kashii]

Did you post this in the PTR forums? I feel like it would be more useful there in order to get a confirmation of the nerf or to verify it as a bug.

[Norp]

Yeah, I made a post on the PTR forums. It's my gut feeling that this isn't a bug since Holinka mentioned that lock defensive abilities made us too attractive in raids (ie nerfs inc). I hope to get a confirmation on this but with the flurry of KJC threads it may be a while till we do.

[Soulzar]

Well, from 1.3m effective HP to 845k

I guess its not so bad.....but more than I thought they were going to chop it.

[RaoBurning]

I'd say bringing it in line with Priest bubbles would be fair, whatever those might be. It's nice as is, but I don't often come close enough to capping it to think it'll be that big of a deal. Though maybe making it heal once the bubble is maxed, maybe? /Zoidberg voice

[Zinnin]

I am surprised it wasn't nerfed lower then that TBH. 30% still gives me almost a 200k shield maxed out, which is a huge buffer for any damage we have incoming. Being able to have 1.2m effective health because a boss has a damage increase mechanic or a long down time was outright overpowered, locks are basically immune to damage on some fights right now.

[Soulzar]

I am surprised it wasn't nerfed lower then that TBH. 30% still gives me almost a 200k shield maxed out, which is a huge buffer for any damage we have incoming. Being able to have 1.2m effective health because a boss has a damage increase mechanic or a long down time was outright overpowered, locks are basically immune to damage on some fights right now.

Agreed. The max cap was not so much the most powerful part of the talent, but the speed at which you can build up the absorbs, which got buffed for the spec that already gets the most out of Soul Leech. Constant 15k Absorb per second.... either way

I had a good laugh when I watched our first Horridon kill video, and the whole raid would get to 50% hp every time war god would do his AoE... locks didn't take any dmg at all. It was def in line to get tuned down...

Ironically, the talent is best for Destro due to speed at generating shells, where as Demo and Aff could use the shield more as safety net for life tapping HP hits.

[Deleted]

I don't know if I have ever (ever) capped my shield in a raid situation... So as far as nerfs go, this is exceptionally irrelevant to me.

[Deleted]

It's been mentioned in the 5.4 thread iirc.

The nerfs frankly justified as is, but it'll also be counteracted to some extent by our increased damage output and max hp brought by the new tiers gear, I wouldn't sweat it so much - still going to be a strong talent.

[Gohzerlock]

We all knew it was overpowered, one of the only lock nerfs I feel were justified.

[Deleted]

I don't know if I have ever (ever) capped my shield in a raid situation... So as far as nerfs go, this is exceptionally irrelevant to me.

As Destro you can cap on all the fights I think. The ToT farming has turned into a "0 damage taken challenge" for me, this is quite fun on some fights.

With Sacrificial Pact it's possible to take 0 damage on (at least) Jin'rokh, Horridon, Tortos, at least half of Megaera, Ji'Kun, Durumu, Primordius, Lei Shen P1 and P2, Ra-Den P1 (all that on HC mode, and probably possible on the others as well)... This is obviously overpowered

With 650k base hp => 845k with the 30% of Shadow Bulwark => 2M5 temporary HP with maxed Soul Leech + Sacrificial Pact

[Thelxi]

Well we all saw it coming. It was fun while it lasted. It might mess a bit with soloing challenging stuff though

[darkminaz]

well with exeption of horridon and tortos i never had a 600k schield up. 200k will still be ok, and they add shadowburn so it won't drop at lowhp fights or while finishing off adds

well i like to play with imp out+ sac pact + imp heal .. in the end i still get way less dmg inc then any other caster, so meh :P
might hurt my aoe bombing selfheal @trash from primo .. damn now i have to let the paladin tank again :<

[kendro1200]

I am surprised it wasn't nerfed lower then that TBH. 30% still gives me almost a 200k shield maxed out, which is a huge buffer for any damage we have incoming. Being able to have 1.2m effective health because a boss has a damage increase mechanic or a long down time was outright overpowered, locks are basically immune to damage on some fights right now.

Yeah, seeing other people sitting at 15% health while I'm still at 90%-100% with no external heals is kinda broken. The cap is needed, glad they just didn't go overboard.

[Vulcanasm]

Honestly, it was long overdue. I'd think 35-40% a better number, but ... whatever. This was coming. It's exactly why we have absurd survivability.

[Count Zero]

Yeah, seeing other people sitting at 15% health while I'm still at 90%-100% with no external heals is kinda broken. The cap is needed, glad they just didn't go overboard.

I think they did go overboard @ 15%. Maybe if it builds up much faster ...

[shinewaylee]

isnot it 15%? where is 30%?

[Norp]

isnot it 15%? where is 30%?

in the initial build it was 30%, with the new build that came out today it is now 15%.

[snaxattax]

15% is about as big as a non int proc PWS for a shadowpriest. i don't see where it's not out of line. soul leech was insane (especially when stacked with sac pact once you got soul leech larger than sac pact, which i think many of the posters never realized was the key to OP). shields are consumed smallest first, so you wound up building your leech bubble while sac pact blunted any damage coming in.

[Deleted]

As Destro you can cap on all the fights I think. The ToT farming has turned into a "0 damage taken challenge" for me, this is quite fun on some fights.

With Sacrificial Pact it's possible to take 0 damage on (at least) Jin'rokh, Horridon, Tortos, at least half of Megaera, Ji'Kun, Durumu, Primordius, Lei Shen P1 and P2, Ra-Den P1 (all that on HC mode, and probably possible on the others as well)... This is obviously overpowered

With 650k base hp => 845k with the 30% of Shadow Bulwark => 2M5 temporary HP with maxed Soul Leech + Sacrificial Pact

shadow bulwark plus sac pact doesnt work for me on live atm. It was working 4-5 days ago. I tried it after the reset i get the same shield whether i uses shadow bulwark or not. Did they pass any stealth nurf on live as well regarding this?