Artifacts are bad and blizzard lied

[pagepro]

I'll start with the lie. They said that they would not make any big changes to classes in the expansion. This is due to the artifacts.

But what did they decide to do? Nerf hunters aim shot nerf mage pyroblast. Buff frost buff arcane buff fury warriors. All of these changes may seem minor to you but they influence dps.

Now what are we supposed to do? Arcane is now better than fire. What's that? You already sank thousands of artifact power into fire ? Too bad.

You have a legendary that is tied to that spec and you want to change specs? Too bad.

What gets me is that these nerfs are unwarranted.what if some of us play specs based on how well they perform?

If artifacts are locked behind massive time gates like this then there shouldn't be any changes to classes at all.

[Deleted]

in what world is arcane better than fire now? and if so i'd like to see proof of that

[Larynx]

Nerf hunters aim shot nerf mage pyroblast. Buff frost buff arcane buff fury warriors. All of these changes may seem minor to you but they

So nerf the strongest specs and buff the weakest specs. How audacious.

[Relapses]

in what world is arcane better than fire now? and if so i'd like to see proof of that

Arcane isn't better than Fire. Dude saw a post with about 150 Arcane Mages compared to 20,000 Fire Mages and decided that the 150 Arcane Mages parsing .05% better than Fire meant the spec is dead.

Pointless QQ threads like this make my brain hurt.

[Summer]

Frost probably is better than fire though and yeah a bit annoyed myself.

Mages have always been on a spec roller coaster, I knew this was going to happen when they introduced the artifacts. When they repeatedly kept saying they won't do this to fire mages I had hope but nah. Time to grind up Ebonshit and enjoy a playstyle where 10 seconds out of every 40 you stand still channeling ray of frost, can't wait.

[Xerra]

Legendary tied to a spec? You could easily be fire mage main and get some frost artifact as your only drop.

[Kuniku]

You're just being pedantic. They're always striving to make class balance as close as posisble. Their goal has always been, and will probably always be, to let the player choose their class and spec based on what they want to play, not what they feel forced to play. If, for example, fire was the highest DPS spec for mages by a long shot, then most mage mains would feel pressured to go with fire, even if they prefer another spec. My mage alt shouldn't be penalised for being Frost, just because its the spec I prefer to play.

Their goal will be to make all of the mage or all of the hunter etc specs around the same output, possibly with slight variations between AOE/Cleave/ST fights.

Big changes are going to be changing the way a class plays, like an overhaul. Tweaking numbers isn't a "big change" its class balancing. There was no lie.

[Zerenty]

The ideal, which is what i think Blizzard is aiming for with the tuning they are doing, is that every spec is equal. So it should only come down to personal choice when choosing a spec to play.

The tuning that have been done so far in Legion, is some of, if not the best tuning Blizzard has ever done. I am very happy with the way things are going, and if you are not a top world raider, it does not really matter that you are playing an inferior spec, so why not just pick the one you want to play and enjoy it!

[Teranzil]

So you think it's okay to have such a massive disparity between high performing specs and low performing specs? To the point where a 95 percentile Fury Warrior is out damaged by a 40% parsing Mage/Enhance/Spriest etc etc. Lets start with Mages, Arcane may be on top for pure single target fights (I haven't seen the numbers for Arcane since the changes) but I doubt very much it'll ever stand up to the cleave that Fire has. And lets be real for a minute, how many pure single target fights are there really? Arms will still be better than Fury with BiS, even more so when tier sets come out. The actual nerfs to the abilities you've listed are so incredibly small. I play an MM hunter as well as Fire and it's barely noticeable, if at all. They didn't lie at all, these aren't big changes. They're small number tweaks.

[Mormolyce]

I'll start with the lie. They said that they would not make any big changes to classes in the expansion. This is due to the artifacts.

"Big changes" = talent redesigns and the like. Rebalancing obviously still needs to occur.

[tikcol]

We have to understand that we're hostages of Blizzard, we have to accept that reality

[Battlemaster]

Just be happy that you are a raid viable class... I wish Demon Hunters had an offspec that got buffed that I could switch to and be a real dps

[Koloss]

Arcane does 10k more in simulationcraft with 1 target and standing still and an exact item level = Arcane better everywhere

I see the logic there, go on with rerolling then, have fun!

[Ewyndall]

I'll start with the lie. They said that they would not make any big changes to classes in the expansion. This is due to the artifacts.

1) Big changes usually mean a change to the core gamestyle, rotation or something more substantial (like they did in the prepatch to most specs). Nobody ever said that you will maintain a solid, unchanging position on the dps charts for 2 years.
2) Tweaking numbers is essential and I remember them saying artifacts allow them to fine tune spells even more to maintain a balance.
3) Did you seriously thought that throughout an entire expansion they will not play around with numbers? You must be new.

If artifacts are locked behind massive time gates like this then there shouldn't be any changes to classes at all.

4) Yes, that is a legitimate concern we all had and I still believe the Artifact Power grind is a terribly annoying feature. In the past if I wanted to change specs (not just to wank at the damage meters but, you know, variety maybe? Fun per chance? Just saying you don't even need changes to a class to warrant an interest in a different spec) I could do so easily. With some luck and help from the guild I could get geared for that new spec in 2-3 weeks to be on the same level as my main-spec was.
Try doing that now. Yes, Artifact Knowledge helps but it's still a huge chore.

[Deleted]

Spotted the FOTM-player.

It really shouldn't be that troublesome to catch up to the initial artifact.
I mean, the simplest WQs nowadays award 2k AP... which is the amount you got from doing all AP WQs on a given day.

[Fenzha]

Arcane isn't better than Fire. Dude saw a post with about 150 Arcane Mages compared to 20,000 Fire Mages and decided that the 150 Arcane Mages parsing .05% better than Fire meant the spec is dead.

Pointless QQ threads like this make my brain hurt.

The reason fire is so high in comparison to the other specs is because those 20,000 mages are playing it. Once the best mages flock over to a spec it performs better. Im sure if they were playing frost or arcane instead right now that fire would be lower and the others would be higher than they currently are.

[mireigi]

The ideal, which is what i think Blizzard is aiming for with the tuning they are doing, is that every spec is equal. So it should only come down to personal choice when choosing a spec to play.

Equal only so far that they are competitive. Certain classes, and specs for that matter, should be slightly ahead of others for their designated role. That in turn means that any class that can fill multiple roles, whether through a different spec, or through cross-role abilities within the same spec, should be slightly behind classes that can only perform a single role, regardless of spec. Otherwise, why bother playing a pure class?

[Doctor Funkenstein]

in what world is arcane better than fire now? and if so i'd like to see proof of that

He wasn't saying that it was. He was using that as an example, saying that IF Arcane became better than Fire (or if you just wanted to change for any other reason), you're screwed because of the way artifacts work.

Learn to comprehend what you fucking read.

[Tyrathius]

No spec is always going to be at the top, that's just the way it is.

Either pick what you enjoy and stick with it through the ups and downs, or be ready to reroll every time a patch comes out.

[DesMephisto]

Frost probably is better than fire though and yeah a bit annoyed myself.

Mages have always been on a spec roller coaster, I knew this was going to happen when they introduced the artifacts. When they repeatedly kept saying they won't do this to fire mages I had hope but nah. Time to grind up Ebonshit and enjoy a playstyle where 10 seconds out of every 40 you stand still channeling ray of frost, can't wait.

Or you can get good at the spec you want to play, and eventually buffs will come?