Newest patch notes and casting-on-the-move

[Shamran]

First off, this is a crap long post. To those who make it to the bottom, I commend you for your patience.

This is not an evaluation of how you can maximize your on-the-move dps or how to carry out the optimal dps rotation while moving. It's an evaluation of the options that each caster class has at their disposal to actively deal damage while moving in a PVE environment. It's meant as feedback to Blizzard's oft stated design intent to reduce those options across the board and similar posts have also been made on the official EU and US fora. I've previously claimed that the WoD changes does not make Warlocks unplayable. I stand by that, but I was very surprised by the disparity with which each ranged class has been hit by this so-called design intent.

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Good folks at Blizzard… How’s it going? A tad busy at the moment, I take it? That’s fine, I won’t take up much of your time (this is a blatant lie and you should get out while you still can).

I’ve sat down and read the most recent patch notes thoroughly and especially two statements caught my eye. They were from the class specific sections of Shamans and Warlocks respectively:

“In Warlords of Draenor, we're pulling back on the ability for many casters to deal damage while moving, and that includes Elemental”.

“We've reduced the ability for ranged damage dealers to deal damage while moving in Warlords”.

I’d seen this before in various blue post and to my recollection, these statements fell in line with Blizzard’s general rhetoric concerning this issue: A design ambition to ensure that casters/ranged had less options to deal damage while moving.

However, I am - mostly by choice - a hairsplitting moron, so I decided investigate whether or not this was actually the case. And as chance would have it, a closer look at the different caster/ranged classes told a different story. I apologize in advance if I along the way made typos, misread a few tooltips or perhaps misunderstood when various changes were implemented. It was a fair number of spells to keep track of. If you’ll indulge me, please:

Balance Druid
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Starsurge (Conditional – requires charges generated automatically Moonfire and Sunfire tics).
• Moonfire/Sunfire (Unconditional).
• Starfall (Conditional - requires charges generated automatically Moonfire and Sunfire tics).

WoD-change in terms of being able to deal damage on the move:

1) Added that Starsurge is always instant.

Shadowpriests
Options to cast and deal damage while moving:
• Devouring Plague (Conditional – requires Shadow Orbs).
• Shadow Word: Pain (Unconditional).
• Mind Spike (Optional/Conditional – requires Surge of Darkness proc).
• Mind Blast (Optional/Conditional – requires Shadowy Insight proc).
• Mind Blast (Optional/Cooldown 6 sec – with the Clarity of Power talent, Mind Blast is always instant).
• Cascade, Divine Star or Halo (Optional/Cooldown 25, 15 or 40 sec.).
• Shadow Word: Death (Conditional – requires target to be below 20% health).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) Added ability to make Mind Blast instant.

Frost Mages
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Ice Lance (Unconditional)
• Frostfire Bolt (Conditional – requires Brain Freeze proc).
• Cone of Cold (Cooldown 10 sec.).
• Ice Nova (Optional – Cooldown 25 sec, 2 charges).
• Comet Storm (Optional – Cooldown 30 sec).
• Freeze (Cooldown 45 sec).
• Water Jet (Cooldown unknown).
• Icicles (Conditional – requires stored Icicles; only mentioned because you can actually choose when to release Icicles).
• Ice Floes (Optional/Cooldown – 3 spells castable while moving every 20 sec).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) Added Water Jet to pet abilities.
2) Fire Blast removed, Ice Lance buffed to compensate.
3) Added Ice Nova
4) Added Comet Storm.
5) Removed PoM talent

Fire Mages
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Refresh or apply Living Bomb (Unconditional – Haste can reduce GCD below actual Cooldown of 1,5 sec., though).
• Scorch (Unconditional).
• Pyroblast (Conditional – requires Hot Streak).
• Inferno Blast (Cooldown 8 sec).
• Meteor (Optional/Cooldown 45 sec).
• Combustion (Cooldown 45 sec (can be reduced)/Conditional – requires a large crit).
• Ice Floes (Optional – 3 random spells every 20 sec).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) Added Meteor.
2) Removed PoM talent

Arcane Mages
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Arcane Barrage (Conditional/Cooldown – 3 sec CD, requires Arcane Charges).
• Arcane Explosion (Conditional - melee range).
• Nether Tempest (Optional/Unconditional) or Supernova (Optional/Cooldown 25 sec, 2 charges).
• Arcane Orb (Optional/Cooldown 15 sec.).
• Ice Floes (Optional – 3 random spells every 20 sec.).
• Presence of Mind (Any spell made instant every 90 sec.).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) Added Arcane Orb.
2) Added PoM as baseline.

Elemental Shamans
Options to deal damage while moving:
• [Flame Shock] Earth Shock (Cooldown 5 sec/Conditional – requires Fulmination charges.
• Frost Shock (Cooldown 5 sec.).
• Lava Burst (Conditional – requires a Lava Surge proc).
• Spiritwalker’s Grace (Baseline Cooldown – spells castable for 15 second every 2 min).
• Unleash Flame:

I can’t quite figure out what’s going to happen with Unleash Flame/Weapon/Elements. From the patch notes:

“Unleash Flame has been made into a separate ability available only to Elemental Shaman, and now increases the damage of the Shaman’s next Fire spell by 40% (up from 30%), but no longer deals direct damage or requires an enemy target”.

A few lines lower in the same patch notes:

“In Warlords of Draenor, we're pulling back on the ability for many casters to deal damage while moving, and that includes Elemental. They will still have some ability to deal damage while moving, through Shocks, Unleash Weapon, and instant Lava Bursts”.

For now, I’ll assume that it no longer deals damage.

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) Removed Unleash Flame’s damage component.
2) Removed ability to cast Lightning Bolt on the move.
3) Added Frost Shock as an extra instant cast by taking it off shared Shock cooldown.

Affliction Warlocks
Options to deal damage while moving:
• No direct damage options.
• Refresh or apply Corruption (Unconditional).
• Refresh or apply Agony (Unconditional).
• Refresh or apply Unstable Affliction (Conditional – requires Soul Shard).
• Kil’Jaeden’s Cunning (Optional/Cooldown – spells are castable while moving for 8 sec every 60 sec.).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) KJC-change. Can no longer cast Malefic Grasp (Drain Soul) on the move. Instead a 1 minute CD ability with a 8 sec. duration to cast any spell while moving).
2) Removed Fel Flame.

Demonology Warlocks
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Apply and refresh Corruption/Doom (Unconditional bar Metamorphosis).
• Hand of Gul’Dan/Chaos Wave (Cooldown – 2 charges on 15 sec. recharge).
• Touch of Chaos (Conditional – requires Demon Form).
• Kil’Jaeden’s Cunning (Optional/Cooldown – spells are castable while moving for 8 sec every 60 sec).
• Hellfire (Conditional – melee range).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) KJC-change. Can no longer cast Shadow Bolt on the move. Instead a 1 minute CD ability with a 8 sec duration to cast any spell while moving).
2) Removed Fel Flame.

Destruction Warlocks
Options to deal damage while moving:
• Conflagrate (Cooldown – 2 charges on 12 sec recharge time).
• Rain of Fire (Usable every 6 sec since it doesn’t make a difference to re-cast RoF if one is already running).
• Shadowburn (Conditional – 1) requires target to be below 20% health.
• Kil’Jaeden’s Cunning (Optional/Cooldown – spells are castable while moving for 8 sec every 60 sec).

WoD-change in terms of being able to cast and deal damage on the move:

1) KJC-change. Can no longer cast Incinerate on the move. Instead a 1 minute CD ability with a 8 sec duration to cast any spell while moving).
2) Removed Fel Flame.
3) Removed Backlash.

Conclusions
I raid on a mage, a Warlock, a Hunter and an Elemental shaman. As such, I’m not without bias, and this is a subjective evaluation, of course, but among those four classes, I’ve got no clear favourites.

Now, provided you can agree that the above compilations are an accurate portrayal of each caster class’ options to move and deal damage, please revisit the statements from the patch notes:

• “In Warlords of Draenor, we're pulling back on the ability for many casters to deal damage while moving, and that includes Elemental”, and

• “We've reduced the ability for ranged damage dealers to deal damage while moving in Warlords”

The rhetoric you employ make for a glaring misrepresentation of what is actually going to happen. It’s not a general design strategy, but more accurately, a reduction of on-the-move options for Elemental Shamans and Warlocks, most notably Destruction Warlocks. And not to sound overly conspiracy theoretical, but it does speak volumes that the only places in the patch notes that statements like these are made, are in the Shaman and Warlock sections.

The evaluation outline that:

• Other ranged classes and specs have actually had their damage-while-moving toolkit expanded in WoD. Only in very few cases is status quo maintained, but in no cases aside from Shamans and Warlocks, has the damage-while-moving toolkit been reduced.

• The loss of running Lightning Bolts hit Elemental Shamans hard, but strides were taken to compensate by a new Mastery and taking Frost Shock off the shared Shock cooldown. Additionally, it helps that Spiritwalker’s Grace is baseline and syncs perfectly with Ascendance.

• Destruction Warlocks have had running Incinerates, Fel Flame and Backlash removed. They’re left with Conflagrate (if it’s off CD and BD charges allow them to use it), a tad clunky two-button RoF every 6 seconds and Shadowburn, only to be used when very specific conditions are met.

• As for KJC, I don’t think anyone finds it reasonable that it should stay in its MoP form. However, the soon-to-be downgraded version KJC is in competition with Archimonde’s Darkness and that has seized to be a real contest. In a PVE environment, I suspect AD will become very close to mandatory. This is just conjecture, of course.

I’ve not included my evaluation of Hunters since they’re unique in being the only ranged, physical damage dealer. However, suffice it to say that their abilities to deal damage on the move have not been impaired going into WoD.

Now, I’m generally not in the habit of screaming CLASS BROKEN or CANCEL ACCOUNT!!11, but I do implore you to at least acknowledge the following:

1. WoD does not herald a general design approach to reduce damage-while-moving toolkits. That’s only the case for Shamans and Warlocks, who have, to use a popular phrase, simply been nerfed.
2. Every other ranged class and spec have had their damage-while-moving toolkit expanded.
3. Elemental Shamans, Warlocks in general and especially Destruction Warlocks are now left with a quite lackluster damage-on-the-move toolkit compared to every other ranged class and spec.

Likely, this’ll remain unheeded and the game will move on. So be it – Shamans and Warlocks aren’t the first classes to feel like they’ve been mistreated in a decade of WoW. To nerf a class is Blizzard’s prerogative. However, when that’s so clearly the case, it is bad form to try and pass these changes off as something that all ranged damage dealers must suffer. So, it’d be nice to at least have Blizzard come clean, label this a nerf to Shamans and Warlocks and make it clear that this is just how it’s going to be.

If that’s not the intent, I’m not sure what the practical solution is. It’s, of course, naïve to think the hardworking people at Blizzard haven’t already considered all ends of this disparity amongst the classes. And I realize it’s generally easier to make a case for abilities based on arguments made up of ones and zeros. That’s not what I’m doing since I don’t have the background knowledge to do it, and since this has an awful lot to do with the feel of gameplay. That doesn’t render this approach any less analytical, though. It’s just a vivisection of descriptions and statements rather than numbers.

To that end, I’ll take a stab at it:

To simply reinstate Fel Flame is the most straightforward solution I can think of. If it has implications on PVP, or if Fel Flame's resource generating component is a problem, surely that can be solved. Make it out to be the equivalent of an FoF-less Ice Lance and tune the damage around that. Or give it a cast time and make it castable while moving, like Scorch, so that it can be interrupted if that’s needed.

As for Shamans, perhaps the Frost Shock and Mastery changes are enough. If that isn’t the case, simply not removing the damage component of Unleash Flame appears simple. At least then there’d be a number of short cooldown instants to bring them closer to other classes.

If you made it all the way to end, I thank you for your time. And I’ll see you all in Draenor come November 13th!

[Lodreh]

I have mained a Warlock since before the Burning Crusade... these changes do not make me feel as though I'll be significantly impaired compared to other ranged casters. On PTR I really haven't noticed much of a difference. I have a Shaman alt that grew very attached to through Cata to current... but I never liked the lightning bolt spam while running. Just didn't feel right... ended up going Enhancement. Point is neither of those changes are going to break those classes.

[Ryuushima]

I completely agree with your post.
I mainly play a Hunter/Monk/Dk/Warlock as my classes and it is very clear that warlock for example is super gimped now concerning combat while moving. Sure they might have been overpowered wit the previous KJC but they now left warlocks with basically nothing on the move.

Let's look at it from a PvP perspective in ranged vs melee using two of my main classes warlock and monk.
My warlock lost basically all of his movement abilities to escape melee while my monk which to me feels like the most mobile class in the game but I can be biased didn't lose any movement abilities to stay close.
To make matters worse warlocks also lost their baseline howl of terror which otherwise could be used to take a few steps distance again.

I am absolutely not saying that warlock is unplayable and honestly the chance is big I will still play warlock in WoD but it is silly to see a warlock fall down to a level where all he can do is stand still to cast or if he is lucky use conflagrate on the move.

Heck thinking about it more realistically, I might be better off just going with my hunter. Not looking at what is overpowered or underpowered damage-wise but when looking at fun and playstyle a moving class sounds a heck of a lot more interesting than one standing still.

[Nerraw]

You forgot the removal of Backlash for Destruction.

[Jessicka]

Globally:
- The change to snapshotting opens up SWP and Moon/Sunfire for unconditional use beyond 'Live' levels by removing the risk of overwriting a strong version of the DoT.
- Pandemic for all classes' DoTs allow more flexibility all around for their use while moving; this was in fact 'nerfed' for Warlocks.

Moonkin:
- Glyph of Astral Communion allows another optional cast-while-move effect.

Warlocks:
Demonology/Affliction
- add Life Tap

Demonology
- add Hellfire (melee range conditional)

[Kash]

Looks accurate to me. It is pretty ridiculous how Blizzard tried to state all caster mobility as getting nerfed when that is clearly not the case. I would fully support this post on the official blizz forums. Make sure to post a link.

[Deleted]

swg is 2 min cd not 20

- - - Updated - - -

1) Removed Unleash Flame’s damage component.

is imbue weapon component and it is beaked into UE

[Fyla]

Just to have it all you forgot the removal of Presence of Mind for Fire/Frost Mages and the addition of (have neither tested nor read anything about it so just my personal opinion fom reading what the takent does) another talent in T15 wich is a very strong defensive cooldown and should be superior to Blazing Speed/Ice Floes especially for Frost/Fire which have plenty possibilitys to cast damage while walking marathons in boss fight

All in all, this sums it up and in combination with our newly crippled raid support (=none at all) i personally can't see why any raid would want to take even one warlock.
But, as i dont want to start crying until i really tested, i'm gonna wait for the release of 6.0 and keep on pleasing it wont be as bad as i imagine it.

Greetings

[fguru482]

I have mained a Warlock since before the Burning Crusade... these changes do not make me feel as though I'll be significantly impaired compared to other ranged casters. On PTR I really haven't noticed much of a difference. I have a Shaman alt that grew very attached to through Cata to current... but I never liked the lightning bolt spam while running. Just didn't feel right... ended up going Enhancement. Point is neither of those changes are going to break those classes.

I was a warlock before humans evolved and we all looked like monkeys. But like "most" humans i evolved and i can honestly say. Learning how to cast on the move was the best thing that ever happened to warlocks. Are we just getting too old to do two things at once? Id like to think im still fairly young!

[Baconeggcheese]

I honestly screamed bloody murder about destruction at first because it absolutely felt awful, not because my dmg was suffering during testing but because it *felt* awful.

I have since adjusted and it doesn't really bother me anymore. It's a different mindset and a huge leap to make but its doable in pve.

I haven't pvp'd at all, but tya I think it was showed screenshots of how dumb our healing gets which means he's obviously getting casts off so.

The mechanics are very unlikely to change at this point, all we can hope for is better tuning than what we're getting.

[zoomgpally]

It’s hard to figure out exactly what’s going to happen with Unleash Flame/Weapon. From the patch notes:

“Unleash Flame has been made into a separate ability available only to Elemental Shaman, and now increases the damage of the Shaman’s next Fire spell by 40% (up from 30%), but no longer deals direct damage or requires an enemy target”.

5 lines lower in the same patch notes:

“In Warlords of Draenor, we're pulling back on the ability for many casters to deal damage while moving, and that includes Elemental. They will still have some ability to deal damage while moving, through Shocks, Unleash Weapon, and instant Lava Bursts”.

Which is it? For now, I’ll assume that it no longer deals damage.

Quite sure they meant it was an instant that could be used on the move that indirectly does damage by buffing next fire spell.

[Shiekyerbooty]

Wait....Blizzard feeding us Bull$hizzle while ruining our Class ? It's like a broken record...

They already ruined Demonology, now they are out for Destro and Affliction too ?

[Shamran]

Just to have it all you forgot the removal of Presence of Mind for Fire/Frost Mages

True. Good point. Will include that.

Globally:
- The change to snapshotting opens up SWP and Moon/Sunfire for unconditional use beyond 'Live' levels by removing the risk of overwriting a strong version of the DoT.
- Pandemic for all classes' DoTs allow more flexibility all around for their use while moving; this was in fact 'nerfed' for Warlocks.

Moonkin:
- Glyph of Astral Communion allows another optional cast-while-move effect.

Warlocks:
Demonology/Affliction
- add Life Tap

Demonology
- add Hellfire (melee range conditional)

Thanks for your keen observations. Will include those.

You forgot the removal of Backlash for Destruction.

I hadn't even noticed. Thanks. Will include that.

- - - Updated - - -

Quite sure they meant it was an instant that could be used on the move that indirectly does damage by buffing next fire spell.

In that case it's a rather odd way to phrase it, I'd say. If that's what they meant, perhaps "You'll still be able to deal damage while moving through Unleash Weapon. Except, you know, you won't, really. But if you can stop running inside the next few seconds, *then* your next firespell will deal additional damage" would be more fitting. :-)

- - - Updated - - -

I have mained a Warlock since before the Burning Crusade... these changes do not make me feel as though I'll be significantly impaired compared to other ranged casters. On PTR I really haven't noticed much of a difference. I have a Shaman alt that grew very attached to through Cata to current... but I never liked the lightning bolt spam while running. Just didn't feel right... ended up going Enhancement. Point is neither of those changes are going to break those classes.

That wasn't the point. As I emphasized, I'm not going to scream CLASS UNPLAYABLE. It's doable. In fact, on live, I've simply specced into AD and removed Fel Flame from my bars. With adjustment, it works. The point was - is, rather - that Blizzard has opted to giftwrap all of these changes in a rhetoric based on a general ambition to reduce casting on the move for all ranged classes. However, that's not what they're doing in any way. On the contrary, the vast majority of changes made to casters in that regard point in the opposite direction granting most other caster classes additional options to deal damage while travelling. To that end, compared to every other ranged damage dealer, Warlocks have been left with a decidedly below par cast-on-the-move toolkit.

[crimsonhead]

You forgot the removal of Backlash for Destruction.

son of a.....Here I was thinking "well at least we have backlash on a random hit proc" but we don't even have that anymore?! Whats left for us are but scraps and a shell of what we once had. This makes me more sad than angry.

[Filabane]

None of this strikes me as surprising. We've been going on for quite a while how this "nerf to all mobile casting" seemed to be disproportionately aimed at us, as well as Shaman. And really it has so little to do with the damage and more the feel. Having so little/nothing to do while moving just feels bad. It would be one thing if movement was rare, but it isn't. The new boss fights make SoO almost seem like MC by comparison.

[Avikur]

Good summary, it's not that I want to be able to keep up my normal rotation while moving, I agree there should be a penalty for moving, however, I'd like something to use, like Scorch for Fire Mages, not part of the standard rotation but something that does damage so you at least feel like you're doing SOMETHING.

[Viradiance]

Ah, Warlock tears. Only redeeming factor of the expansion.

Infracted

[pokeadott]

Good write-up, but I feel like the complete lack of response at this point is just their way of saying 'NO'. The new (ie old) devs are great at finding new and exciting ways to make caster gameplay less fun.

One quick extra note on Conflag - the removal of FF and KJC have made Conflag yet another unfun ability. The Conflag rotational gameplay is now going to be "Cast before you cap your second charge in case you need to move" - how unfun is that? I'm going into the way back machine, but it literally was my favorite spell in all of WoW at 60. Lighting someone up with Immo and then having a searing pain and conflag land at the same time as no travel time dmg was super satisfying (that was basically what I used to grind out Rank 12 in AV back in the day). Now it's just another semi-maintenance spell.

[RH92]

I think they should redesign Fel Flame rather than remove it. Just give it a cast time and make it cast-able (Right word?) on the move. This way it could be interrupted in PvP if anybody wanted to complain.

My main concern with it's removal is I have no option to interrupt Flag Capping in BGs as Affliction unless I use wand or pet. DoTs and Channeling Spells do not interrupt it.

[Deleted]

Nice write-up indeed, interesting to see all the movement changes summarised. As you state, I'm not sure if I agree that the ability to deal damage while moving has in fact been nerfed across the board. Seems to me like it's more focused around a few classes.