ghostcrawler on class updates

[warcraftmew]

source: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/7923993861#20

Paladin
- We like our recent change to a lower cooldown on Avenging Wrath for Retribution in PvP. We like it so much that we want to make it a baseline change for Retribution and not a set bonus, since many PvE paladins are benefiting from shorter wings today, and our recent DPS testing suggests that Ret needs a DPS buff. However, this does mean changing the existing T14 4pc PvE bonus.

So the list of changes reads like this:
- Retribution has a two minute cooldown on Avenging Wrath baseline.
- We are reverting the PvP set bonus change. The Retribution set bonuses remain as they are on live. This line will no longer appear in patch notes.
- We are changing the T14 4pc PvE bonus to +10% damage on Seals and Judgment. We want you to graduate to the T15 set bonus fairly quickly and you won't be losing the shorter Avenging Wrath cooldown.

Tuning Adjustments
- These are in addition to any previous changes, unless specifically noted.
- You can't just apply these to 5.1 numbers. You need to keep the entire suite of changes in mind. I say this because we always get a few players who only see -20% on some ability and get all "Don't nerf me, bro."
- That said, feedback on these changes is always welcome. Numbers are more persuasive than feelings. PTR logs are better than simulations, since the latter are very dependent on the talent and time of the person doing the simming.

Death Knight
- Might of the Frozen Wastes to 20% melee damage, up from 10%.
- Icy Talons increases attack speed by 30%, up from 20%.
- Blood Plague and Frost Fever damage +30%.
- Howling Blast damage to primary target +23%. Damage to secondary targets remains unchanged. Note: the tooltip for secondary damage says 0.5 but it has been 0.8 for some time.
- Scourge Strike damage +7.7%.

Paladin
- Retribution damage was too low, but as I mentioned above, we buffed it through more frequent use of Avenging Wrath.

Rogue
- Envenom damage +20%.
- Dispatch damage +15%.

Priest
- Shadowform increases damage by 25%, up from 20%.
- We have heard some concerns that Atonement damage is higher than intended, so we are checking that out, but no changes to announce yet.

Shaman
- Shamanism increases Lightning Bolt damage by 70%, up from 50%.
- Elemental Focus now increases spell damage by 15%, up from 10%.

Hunter
- Aimed Shot damage +10%.
- Chimera Shot damage +50%.
- Steady Shot damage +20%.
- Black Arrow and Explosive Shot damage +15%.
- Hearing lots of concerns about Power Shot in PvP, so we may need a PvP-specific tweak there.

Druid
- Rip damage +15%.

Warrior
- Reduced damage of Bloodthirst, Colossus Smash and Raging Blow by 10%.
- Yes this is a nerf in a sea of buffs, but the Bloodsurge and Arms Deep Wounds changes ended up being too much of a buff.

Warlock
- Hand of Gul'dan, Shadowflame, Shadow Bolt, Touch of Chaos and Wild Imp Firebolt +15%.
- Soul Fire damage +22%.
- Conflagrate and Immolate damage +20%.
- Incinerate damage +10%.

[Asur]

This is on the front page FYI.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

I like the warlock changes.

[docterfreeze]

Hey guys! Let's buff everyone's damage for no reason! "YAAAAAY!"

This is how I imagined this was brought up.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Hey guys! Let's buff everyone's damage for no reason! "YAAAAAY!"

This is how I imagined this was brought up.

Okay poopy pants. Lets nerf all classes but Warlocks. This will fix everything ^_^

[docterfreeze]

Okay poopy pants. Lets nerf all classes but Warlocks. This will fix everything ^_^

Your avatar made me smile

[grumpyoldman]

Hey guys! Let's buff everyone's damage for no reason! "YAAAAAY!"

This is how I imagined this was brought up.

During the PTR, people complain all the time that class X or spec Y is doing too much/few damage. They always give the same canned response: that "number tweaking" is being left for later, that for now they're focusing on skills functioning and mechanics, and so on.

The PTR is almost finished, 5.2 is upon us. So now is the time for number tweaking.