New Shadowpriest resource confirmed: Insanity

[Theed]

Shadow orbs are gone in Legion. "Some resources renamed. One is becoming Insanity for Shadow Priest." #DragonCon2015

https://twitter.com/mmoc_events/stat...06319986388992

[Jibberjabber]

Please enjoy your new Insanity Globs all of you Insanity Priests.

[Deleted]

yoogi sarooni is amused

[Isheria]

Not very shadow related but multistrike is also completely removed, other secondary/tertiary stats will receive substantial changes as well.

[Deleted]

The true question is whether building up Insanity is beneficent or maleficent?

Both maybe? I can imagine some form of meter similar to boomkins where rather than simply force it in one direction and aim for the end asap you have to actually 'keep it between the lines' Arguably that favours discipline more though.

Or maybe you have % Insanity so to speak and your abilities are locked to specific ranges. Controlling how insane you are so you can trigger the abilities you need at the right time for your rotation would be cool. Almost like how arcane mages manipulate their rotation based on what 'phase' they are in.

[Caladia]

2 more long months until Blizzcon and most likely the bulk of the data for Legion released. ><

[Sluvs]

Maybe it will replace mana? That would be cool.

[Ringthane]

Maybe it will replace mana? That would be cool.

It sounds like they're playing with a lot of the resources, so I'm taking it to mean it would either replace mana entirely, or be something like Holy Power or the Warlock thing. But from what it sounds like, it seems like it would more be a replacement for mana.

[Tradu]

The true question is whether building up Insanity is beneficent or maleficent?

Might be interesting with a mechanic sort of like Rumble in LoL, where you want to keep it at a certain level, but can "overload" to get more damage RIGHT NOW, but losing damage in the long run. They did something along those lines on a few bosses already(Cho'gall in BoT springs to mind)

[Sluvs]

Might be interesting with a mechanic sort of like Rumble in LoL, where you want to keep it at a certain level, but can "overload" to get more damage RIGHT NOW, but losing damage in the long run. They did something along those lines on a few bosses already(Cho'gall in BoT springs to mind)

That would be really interesting! And a new gameplay mechanic

[Manhands]

Might be interesting with a mechanic sort of like Rumble in LoL, where you want to keep it at a certain level, but can "overload" to get more damage RIGHT NOW, but losing damage in the long run. They did something along those lines on a few bosses already(Cho'gall in BoT springs to mind)

I would like to subscribe to your ideas. It could even be like arcane mage, where high insanity increases damage of certain abilities (like single-target) but has a negative side-effect (like dot damage).

Other options are less interesting than that, but also likely:

* Similar to burning embers (destro lock) where you build it with most abilities and spend it with MB, DP, etc.
* Like demonic fury (demo lock) where you build the resource with abilities, and when it reaches 100, damage is increased by 20% (increased with mastery, say), changes the nature of some abilities, and then depletes down to 100.

I could actually see the 2nd one being likely if they are also changing demo lock.

[Thelxi]

I don't like it.

[TylerWildstar]

I don't like it.

You don't even know what it is.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

At full insanity, you'll see bugs crawl across your screen and get fake BSODs.

[ceall]

IF it turns out to be druid style, I quit my spriest and won't look back. I hated the Eclipse mechanic from moonkins this xpac.
It would hurt to leave my spriest behind, as I have been maining it since wrath.

[Thelxi]

You don't even know what it is.

I don't like the name.

[Eliot123]

Mm, insanity sounds good to me. As someone said though, I hope it won't be like the balance eclipse system, that is so annoying.

[Kilee25]

A few weeks go when we were talking about what Bliz might do, I proposed an Insanity bar that would slowly build, and increase your damage, but penalize you if it filled by making you temporarily "insane". You would only decrease insanity by doing something helpful - ie heal a raid member with actual healing vs overhealing - or simply refrain from casting certain damaging spells. The play style would likely be similar to old Arcane, where mana was a limiter that needed to be carefully balanced in order to do the best dps. The difference is that whenever you go into an "insanity saving" mode, you would spend some time helping the raid - casting VE, dispelling people, shielding people, etc. etc..

Then VE would end up being some kind of indirect damage cooldown.

I still think that they are going to do something like this, based on their blue response to Twintop's post a while back. I think it is funny if I will have ended up guessing correctly based on a single sentence in their blue post. :P

[Yvaelle]

It could also be like the resource Blackmorgrim proposed a couple weeks back, I think word on that got around a bit too with the devs.

I really hope it's not a Sanity/Insanity mechanic that is similar to Balance Lunar/Solar energy.

It shouldn't be our primary resource, being insane isn't a great source of power - our font of power is our willpower. But, you could use a two resource system that would be Willpower vs. Insanity, without a Lunar/Solar design.

Willpower should function somewhat like Rage for warriors, dealing Shadow damage builds Willpower, Mind Blast could build lots of Willpower.

Using our best attacks, causes Insanity - since we draw on our darkest sources of power (our connection with the void / old gods). So they aren't mutually exclusive the way Lunar/Solar are, if you are dot-cleaving on a fight, you are building Willpower - but until you use a Finishing Move (like Devouring Plague, or Psychic Horror) you don't gain insanity. So to maximize damage on a DoTcleave you would want to space our your Devouring Plagues (or whatever finishers we have), to spread out your Insanity.

However, you could also save up a lot of Willpower, and drop all your damage back to back (I'm assuming we get multiple Finishing Moves next expansion finally, beyond just Devouring Plague) - which might max out your Insanity - and it would be up to the devs to make this worthwhile under some circumstances.

When Insanity maxes out, this could be both a good and a bad thing - what I envision could be called:

Apotheosis - At full insanity, the Shadowpriest loses control and begins ascension into godhood, all Shadow damage deals % increased damage, but the Shadowpriest is unable to move for the duration (10 seconds).

Apotheosis Definition: 1) the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax. 2) the elevation of someone to divine status; deification.

Lore Implications: Our Willpower is our aegis against Insanity, it is the teachings of our various faiths that imbues in us with determination and humility: we are priests who use our faith to bulwark ourselves against an unstoppable inevitability that we Shadowpriests are all drifting toward - our Insanity. Our Insanity comes from our contact with the darkest powers in Azeroth - we have drawn upon the Void to imbue us with power, but that same power is also what drove the Old Gods insane: everytime we use our Finishing Moves, we touch that insanity - and when our Insanity should finally break, we take the first steps upon our dark ascension - we are each becoming demigods of the void: not by choice.

This means that as Priests, we are actively trying to prevent our own dark ascension - that's what our Willpower represents - our commitment to our faith and to our former lives as mortals, unwilling to become such a vessel of destruction and maleficent entropy against our own people, and our world. We are actively battling against ourselves, but when we face our greatest challenges - knowing we have such power at our fingertips - we choose to touch that insanity again (by using our Finishing Moves), to throw the power of the Void at our foes - even if it means we slip just that much closer to what we fear becoming.

Perhaps the Old Gods were like us once, perhaps they too fought to save a world in peril - and drew upon powers they could control, but couldn't escape (we're not Warlocks in a Faustian bargain, we know the risks each and every time we build our Insanity meter). Perhaps, as strange eons pass, that may become our own fate: that we too may become some incorporeal, insane, will - drifting across this world like a sombre ghost - manifesting our physical form, covered in eyes or mouths, guarded by tentacles and teeth, beckoning the adventurers of tomorrow with our power when they may need it most. Perhaps, in a strange sense - the old gods returned to Azeroth to help us in our hour of need - to give Azeroth's priests the power to shape the world with a thought.

Would you lose yourself to save the world, as they once did, as we Shadowpriests are doing now?

Gameplay implications:

It would be beneficial during sustained DPS phases to not break our insanity meter - we would want to remain in control, expending our Finishing Moves and building Insanity in a sustained fashion so that it could decay safely to our Willpower. However, during a burst phase - we would want to trigger Apotheosis by consuming all our willpower (via Finishing Moves) and hit full Insanity: during which we could deal very high burst, but would be unable to move for mechanics (so we would need to plan ahead or die).

This gives us burst damage on call, but at significant personal risk, and the cost of building up our willpower afterward. It should not be worth triggering Apotheosis unless we really need that burst damage right now, so it's not a burst cooldown in the way that Elemental Shamans Ascendance is - we don't want to blow it on cooldown and do big numbers as often as possible. Instead, it's a damage consolidator - it time shifts future damage forward as burst damage now - but at the cost of preparation (maxxed willpower to trigger full insanity), personal risk (rooted for the duration), and future damage (0 willpower upon exiting Apotheosis).

[Kithelle]

Not very shadow related but multistrike is also completely removed, other secondary/tertiary stats will receive substantial changes as well.

I wonder what will happen since they changed the mastery in WoD since it was functionally just like multistrike...