New in Alpha build: Warlock Spec attunements

[xskarma]

From the build datamining:

Affliction

Haste Attunement (New) You gain 5% more of the Haste stat from all sources. Warlock - Affliction Spec.


Demonology

Mastery Attunement (New) You gain 5% more of the Mastery stat from all sources. Warlock - Demonology Spec.


Destruction

Critical Strike Attunement (New) You gain 5% more of the Critical Strike stat from all sources. Warlock - Destruction Spec.

Anyone any idea what this is about, and what it will do with our stat preferences? It would seem to further push apart the gear sets needed for the different specs.

Thoughts?

[ComputerNerd]

It seems contradictory to the idea of all secondary stats being roughly equal, only being a case of supply or playstyle.

[Count Zero]

Looks like every spec is getting these. Or at least all the ones I glanced at on the notes.

We'll see if it makes it live. Kinda doubt it.

[Zinnin]

They have wanted warlocks to pick a spec and stick with it more or less for awhile now, and have tried to purposefully balance each spec to want a different stat. That has always been a little out of reach due to things like DoT snapshotting, and just balance not quite reaching where they want. If you look at stat weights right now for the 3 lock specs they are already extremely close, this will just put the weights more in line with where they want them.

TL DR - They don't like the fact that we get to play all three specs with nearly the same gear and gain the strengths of all three specs and no downside.

This was kind of show in MoP with the different Dark Souls giving different bonuses, looks like they are just strengthening their design choices.

[Tradu]

It seems contradictory to the idea of all secondary stats being roughly equal, only being a case of supply or playstyle.

Pretty sure this is their way of balancing the stats. Maybe crit ends up being slightly weaker point-for-point than mastery/haste as destro, and they're making up for it by making you get more crit from each crit item.

[Netherspark]

Seems more like they want every spec to have a permanent main stat that "defines" the spec.

I don't like the idea of being shoehorned into specific stats or playstyles.

[ComputerNerd]

Pretty sure this is their way of balancing the stats. Maybe crit ends up being slightly weaker point-for-point than mastery/haste as destro, and they're making up for it by making you get more crit from each crit item.

Its a straight 5%.
Balancing has nothing to do with it, especially as the numbers pass on the abilities has not happened yet.
This is simply the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

This is nothing more than pushing you towards certain stats, completely against the one of the big ideals of the expansion.

[Deleted]

Seems more like they want every spec to have a permanent main stat that "defines" the spec.

I don't like the idea of being shoehorned into specific stats or playstyles.

Yet you have been following specific stat formulas for the past decade, no difference with how it's currently on live.

[Count Zero]

I do think it's counter to the "take the biggest ilvl upgrade" approach they seem to be shooting for, but for most folks it's not really gonna change a whole lot.

I think they should just bake in a flat bonus to our main secondary stat. It looks like they want it to be a bonus for taking the "right" stats, but for most players it's just going to feel punitive for not having the whole instance on farm on whichever difficulty you do. Just creeps closer to a poisonous "BiS or GTFO" mentality.

[Manabomb]

Yet you have been following specific stat formulas for the past decade, no difference with how it's currently on live.

And there are some of us who are fury warriors that want to look at a haste mastery piece and be like "I wish that was an upgrade over my 12 item levels lower crit+x piece".

There are ret paladins that want to look at a crit and multistrike piece and be like "I really wish that was an upgrade over this 12 item level lower haste mastery piece."

The list goes on.

[Tradu]

Its a straight 5%.
Balancing has nothing to do with it, especially as the numbers pass on the abilities has not happened yet.
This is simply the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

This is nothing more than pushing you towards certain stats, completely against the one of the big ideals of the expansion.

There are specs in the game already that have something like this, to make stats slightly less trash for them(Enhancement gets 50% more benefit from haste or something silly like that, for example). I agree it's not an ideal way of making all items somewhat equal in terms of desirability, but it's better than just leaving stats as they are and having them have very different statweights.
Of course you could be right, but until we actually see some real stat weights and a proper tuning pass, I'll stay positive and try to understand why they might be doing it.

[Grizelda]

Yet you have been following specific stat formulas for the past decade, no difference with how it's currently on live.

With reforging gone it would be a bit harder to optimize gear sets. It's a hurdle of debateable size.

[xskarma]

They have wanted warlocks to pick a spec and stick with it more or less for awhile now, and have tried to purposefully balance each spec to want a different stat. That has always been a little out of reach due to things like DoT snapshotting, and just balance not quite reaching where they want. If you look at stat weights right now for the 3 lock specs they are already extremely close, this will just put the weights more in line with where they want them.

TL DR - They don't like the fact that we get to play all three specs with nearly the same gear and gain the strengths of all three specs and no downside.

This was kind of show in MoP with the different Dark Souls giving different bonuses, looks like they are just strengthening their design choices.

Do you say this based on your own conclusions, or have you spoken to people within Blzzard that said this? I mean it's a logical conclusion to make, and it sounds almost like this is some design intent you have heard directly from them.

The point for me with knowing this is, if this is indeed a design intent then we, as Warlocks, get to push harder at them to make sure all specs perform at least passable in all situations. It's a whole lot different if you approach the content with the idea you can switch specs for certain fights then you would if you know that you will most likely have a superior gear set for 1 spec which doesn't work as well for another, or simply have a second gear set that's less optimized and any spec switching you do is going to mean you are doing it handicapped.

[Dnusha]

Stack Mastery and Crit! Play Demo Destro like a baws!
Alright, alright 5% is not really that much.

[Grizelda]

Regarding whether or not Blizzard wants us to commit to a spec:

Based on the changes made so far I bet you would get a different answer depending who you asked on what day under what phase of the moon.

[Netherspark]

Yet you have been following specific stat formulas for the past decade, no difference with how it's currently on live.

But they were always flexible, and tended to change over patches and expansions or with playstyles and talents. Variation was possible (and was refreshing).

With a stat that is forever going to be the clear best, no matter in what situation, I worry we'll be permanently locked into it and things will start to feel stale.

Though the removal of reforging helps a bit, but also will make gear choices more limited.

[Zinnin]

Do you say this based on your own conclusions, or have you spoken to people within Blzzard that said this? I mean it's a logical conclusion to make, and it sounds almost like this is some design intent you have heard directly from them.

The point for me with knowing this is, if this is indeed a design intent then we, as Warlocks, get to push harder at them to make sure all specs perform at least passable in all situations. It's a whole lot different if you approach the content with the idea you can switch specs for certain fights then you would if you know that you will most likely have a superior gear set for 1 spec which doesn't work as well for another, or simply have a second gear set that's less optimized and any spec switching you do is going to mean you are doing it handicapped.

It is something I have talked to devs about in the past, and am speculating they are moving further in that direction. Keep in mind however that our stats are EXTREMELY close, a small jump to push us to a specific stat per spec isn't going to mean that we can't switch specs, just that it isn't 100% optimal. Right now you could stack mastery and be close to optimal for all three specs, this change just means (I am assuming they hope) that instead of being able to gear all three specs 100% optimal you have one that is 100%, and then two at 95% or so.

Currently people feel the need to shift specs based on a 5% jump in sims, having to gear towards on spec lessens that obsession slightly.

[Mormolyce]

Yeah it's across all classes, no idea what they're up to. Might just be a testing thing, it'd create unnecessary clutter in the spell book passive section if it went live.

Seems more like they want every spec to have a permanent main stat that "defines" the spec.

I don't like the idea of being shoehorned into specific stats or playstyles.

Isn't this the case already? Apart from some borderline cases or scaling breakpoints most specs have one stat with the highest weight.

[Deleted]

But they were always flexible, and tended to change over patches and expansions or with playstyles and talents. Variation was possible (and was refreshing).

With a stat that is forever going to be the clear best, no matter in what situation, I worry we'll be permanently locked into it and things will start to feel stale.

Though the removal of reforging helps a bit, but also will make gear choices more limited.

Idk about you but 90% all of the classes have been linear in stats since the start of mop for the entirety of the expansion.

Looking at all classes, specs, most of have been stacking the same stats since they started the expansion.

The only difference is healers going for less spirit, tanks dropped more stamina.
Casters went for a bit more stats other than haste due to reaching breakpoints.

[xskarma]

It is something I have talked to devs about in the past, and am speculating they are moving further in that direction. Keep in mind however that our stats are EXTREMELY close, a small jump to push us to a specific stat per spec isn't going to mean that we can't switch specs, just that it isn't 100% optimal. Right now you could stack mastery and be close to optimal for all three specs, this change just means (I am assuming they hope) that instead of being able to gear all three specs 100% optimal you have one that is 100%, and then two at 95% or so.

Currently people feel the need to shift specs based on a 5% jump in sims, having to gear towards on spec lessens that obsession slightly.

We would probably be less tempted to change specs if all specs performed at least passable in all situations. Blizzard are now basically further handicapping us when our main spec is bad at something. We are usually allready not in an optimal gear set up when we change specs to do certain fights, and that now gets worse, meaning we are going to be forced between being in good gear set, but bad at what we are trying to do, or a bad gear set in a spec that's good at what we are trying to do.

I feel this change makes it all the more reasonable for us to tell Blizzard to make sure our main spec (whatever that spec is) performs at least passable at everything. I hate harping on about Destro mobility issues, but this change makes it all the more annoying that Destro has basically no buttons to push while moving, and is in so many ways hindered by increased movement in fights, a requirement usually employed in the more difficult fights in a tier and in PvP.

Blizzard really needs to make sure glaring problems like that are fixed, or else certain specs in the game will simply not be played, since the price for respeccing is too high and it's just better to stay in 1 spec that does everything passable then it is to play the spec that is patently bad at certain things.