Shadowlands Changes to Combat Potions, Demon Hunters, and New Runeforge Abilities

[chaud]

Shadowlands Alpha - Build 34972

Changes to Combat Potions

In this next build of the Shadowlands alpha, combat potions, such as primary stat potions and mana potions, now have a 5 minute cooldown. Additionally, they are no longer limited to one use per encounter. This is intended to make potion use less of a hassle, less expensive, and more decision-oriented in various situations throughout the game.

In raid encounters, players will still have the option of using a potion at the start of an encounter, but using a potion just prior to and as close to the pull as possible will no longer be required. Longer encounters will now offer up more than one moment to use a potion for maximum tactical advantage. Ending a raid boss encounter with a wipe or a win will reset the potion cooldown.

In dungeons, spacing out potion use will place more emphasis on deciding the most important times to use them.

In PvP situations where combat potions are allowed, such as War Mode, Battlegrounds, and Epic Battlegrounds, the rate at which you drop combat can vary greatly. This change will bring a consistent expected cooldown to combat potions when you see enemies consume them.

Please feel free to share your feedback on this change in this thread. Thank you.

FEEDBACK: Demon Hunter Class Changes

Fair tidings Illidari. The next build of the Shadowlands Alpha will have a number of changes based on your feedback. We’re generally happy with the core kit of both Demon Hunter specializations, but want to improve talent diversity.

Havoc

• Demonic Appetite - Consuming a soul fragment no longer reduces the cooldown of Eye Beam.
• Cycle of Hatred - When Chaos Strike refunds Fury, it will reduce the cooldown of Eye Beam (was Metamorphosis) .
  
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve reconsidered the addition of Eye Beam cooldown reduction to Demonic Appetite, believing it will make that talent a dominant choice in the row. Instead, we’re placing that benefit on Cycle of Hatred, which is competing against other options for AOE damage.
• Insatiable Hunger: Demon’s Bite deals 20% more damage and generates 5 to 10 additional Fury.
  
  • Developers’ notes: Since this ability only increased the maximum additional Fury that Demon’s Bite could generate, it was possible to frequently see no noticeable benefit. The talent will now always result in at least 5 extra Fury generated.
• Immolation Aura now generates 20 Fury when cast.
• Burning Hatred: Immolation now generates an additional 60 Fury over 12 seconds.
  
  • Developers’ notes: We added Immolation Aura back to Havoc baseline because it was a nice mid-tier AOE damage ability that could be shared across the specs. Player feedback made it clear that Fury generation was an important part of the ability, so we moved the initial burst of Fury to the main ability. The Fury generation over time will remain in the talent.
• Fel Mastery has been replaced with a new talent, Unbound Chaos.
• Unbound Chaos: While Immolation Aura is active, your inner demon slams into nearby enemies at the end of your Fel Rush, dealing Chaos damage.
  
  • Developers’ notes: Fel Mastery was a simple buff to Fel Rush damage that required frequent reorientation to your target and as a result primarily saw play alongside Momentum. By binding the damage bonus to Immolation Aura, we feel like the talent can be taken on its own or alongside Momentum.

Vengeance

• Immolation Aura and Fiery Brand tooltips were changed to show the total amount of damage done over the duration of the spell.
  
• Soul Cleave damage increased 20%.
  
  • Developers’ notes: We often see feedback that Soul Cleave is a low priority button because the passive consumption of soul fragments means no healing is lost if it isn’t pressed, and Spirit Bomb offers more damage and healing per soul fragment. We made a change already that adds additional healing to Soul Cleave for each orb consumed, but also we’re increasing the damage of Soul Cleave as well. We’d like to see Spirit Bomb used intermittently to apply Frailty, but Soul Cleave to be the spec’s primary source of healing and damage.
• Agonizing Flame no longer increases the damage of Immolation Aura. It now increases its duration by 50%.
  
  • Developers’ notes: Increasing the duration of Immolation Aura increases the value of the talent’s movement speed buff and creates synergy with other talents like Infernal Armor and the re-design of Charred Flesh mentioned below.
• Feast of Souls healing increased by 25%.
  
  • Developers’ notes: This talent is intentionally straightforward, offering an option that makes Vengeance’s primary consumer Soul Cleave better. It’s a fine option, but may need additional tuning to close the gap with the more active options in the row.
• Charred Flesh has been redesigned: Immolation Aura damage now increases the duration of your Fiery Brand by 0.5 seconds.
  
  • Developers’ notes: Fire damage alone was not an attractive option when compared to the other options in the row. This interaction with Immolation Aura can significantly increase the uptime of a key defensive ability while also increasing its overall damage. This creates interesting synergies with anything that modifies Fiery Brand or Immolation Aura such as the talents Agonizing Flames and Burning Alive.

Please continue to reply with your thoughts on Demon Hunters in Shadowlands!

Shadowlands Alpha - Runeforge Legendary Abilities
You can see the Death Knight, Warrior, and Mage Runeforge Legendary Abilities here.

Shaman (Elemental, Enhancement, Restoration)

• Ancestral Reminder Bloodlust or any similar effects last an additional 20.0 sec on you, and you gain an extra 10% Haste from any Bloodlust type effect. (Hand, Trinket slot)
• Deeptremor Stone Earth Elemental has a permanent Earthquake attached to it. (Legs, Wrist slot)
• Deeply Rooted Elements Casting Stormstrike has a 5.1% chance to activate Ascendance for 6.0 sec. (Neck, Body slot)
• Chains of Devastation Casting Chain Heal makes your next Chain Lightning instant cast. Casting Chain Lightning makes your next Chain Heal instant cast. (Shoulder, Waist, Weapon Main Hand slot)

Shaman (Elemental)

• Skybreaker's Fiery Demise Flame Shock damage over time critical strikes reduce the cooldown of Fire Elemental by 1.0 sec, and Flame Shock has a 30% increased critical strike chance. (Waist, Trinket, Weapon Main Hand slot)
• Elemental Equilibrium Dealing direct Fire damage increases the damage of your next Frost spell by 30%. Dealing Frost damage increases the damage of your next Nature spell by 25%. Dealing Nature damage increases the damage of your next Fire spell by 20%. (Feet, Wrist slot)
• Echoes of Great Sundering When you consume 6 or more stacks of Fulmination with Earth Shock, your next Earthquake will be instant cast and deal 6% additional damage. (Body, Finger slot)
• Windspeaker's Lava Resurgence When you consume 6 or more stacks of Fulmination with Earth Shock, gain Lava Surge and increase the damage of your next Lava Burst by 6%. (Wrist, 2H Weapon slot)

Shaman (Enhancement)

• Doom Winds Dropping Windfury Totem grants you 100% inceased chance to gain Windfury Weapon for 8 sec. This can only occur once every 60 sec. (Neck, Legs slot)
• Legacy of the Frost Witch Consuming 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon will reset the cooldown of Stormstrike and cause your next Stormstrike to deal 100% increased damage. (Shoulder, Hand slot)
• Witch Doctor's Wolf Bones Increases the chance to gain a stack of Maelstrom Weapon by 5%, and whenever you gain a stack of Maelstrom Weapon, the cooldown of Feral Spirits is reduced by 2.0 sec. (Body, Trinket slot)
• Primal Lava Actuators Each time Flame Shock deals Periodic damage, increase the damage of your next Lava Lash by 10% and reduce the cooldown of Lava Lash by 0.5 sec. (Hand, Finger slot)

Shaman (Restoration)

• Jonat's Natural Focus Healing Wave and Healing Surge increase the healing done by your next Chain Heal by 0%, stacking up to 0 times. (Legs, Feet slot)
• Spiritwalker's Tidal Totem After using Mana Tide Totem, the cast time of Healing Wave and Chain Heal is reduced by 50%, and the mana cost of Chain Heal and Healing Wave is reduced by 100% for 10 sec. (Feet, 2H Weapon slot)
• Primal Tide Core Every 4 casts of Riptide also applies Riptide to another friendly target near your Riptide target. (Neck, Finger slot)
• Earthen Harmony Earth Shield healing is increased by 300% if your Earth Shield target is below 50% health, and Healing Wave adds a stack of Earth Shield to your target, up to 9 maximum stacks. (Waist, 2H Weapon, Weapon Main Hand slot)

Priest (Discipline, Holy, Shadow)

• Cauterizing Shadows When Shadow Word: Pain expires on a target, 5 allies within 20 yards of the target are healed for 6% of their maximum health. (Legs, Wrist slot)
• Priest - Restored Faith Leap of Faith instead causes you to leap to your target, and has 2 charges. (Hand, Trinket slot)

Priest (Discipline)

• The Penitent One Power Word: Radiance has a 50% chance to cause your next Penance to fire 3 extra bolts. (Wrist, 2H Weapon slot)
• Crystalline Reflection Power Word: Shield instantly heals the target for [ 30% of Spell Power ] and reflects 30% of damage absorbed. (Body, Finger slot)
• Kiss of Death Reduces Shadow Word: Death's cooldown by 8 sec and causes its damage to trigger Atonement. (Feet, Wrist slot)
• Clarity of Mind During Rapture, Power Word: Shield costs 20% less mana and applies 6 second longer Atonements. (Waist, Trinket, Weapon Main Hand slot)

Priest (Holy)

• The Alabaster Lady Prayer of Mending healing has a 8% chance to grant you Apotheosis for 8 sec. (Hand, Finger slot)
• Harmonious Apparatus Circle of Healing, Holy Fire, and Prayer of Mending reduce the cooldown of Holy Word: Sanctify, Holy Word: Chastise, and Holy Word: Serenity by 4s. (Body, Trinket slot)
• Flash Concentration Each time you cast Flash Heal, your next Heal cast within 15s has its casting time reduced by 0 sec and healing increased by 10%, stacking up to 3 times. (Shoulder, Hand slot)
• Priest - Divine Image When you use a Holy Word spell, you have a chance to summon an image of a Naaru at your side. For 15 sec, whenever you cast a spell, the Naaru will cast a similar spell. (Neck, Legs slot)

Priest (Shadow)

• Priest - Painbreaker Psalm Shadow Word: Death consumes 6 sec of Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch, instantly dealing that damage to the target and generating 10 Insanity. (Waist, 2H Weapon, Weapon Main Hand slot)
• Shadowflame Prism Your Shadowfiend or Mindbender deals 20% additional damage as Shadowflame damage, and the cooldown on Shadowfiend and Mindbender is reduced by 40%. (Neck, Finger slot)
• Call to the Void Mind Flay has a chance to spawn a Void Tendril that channels Mind Flay at your target for 10 seconds, generating 3 insanity when it deals damage. (Feet, 2H Weapon slot)

[arr0gance]

Well shit, guess I won't be prepotting for WQs anymore.

Not really sure how I feel about this change. On one hand, it'll be nice to feel less burdened by potions but on the other, I really hope they increase the potency of the potions to make the longer cooldown worth it.

[Agrias2x]

Great change with potions imo.

[Clozer]

"less expensive" How is using more potions making them less expensive?

[Onikaroshi]

"less expensive" How is using more potions making them less expensive?

Using more? It should be around the same amount for most fights. Which isn't less expensive, but still not more.

[Khestral]

"less expensive" How is using more potions making them less expensive?

In M+ you will definitely be using fewer potions and while in raids it will be about the same unless there are 10+ minute fights (other than a few endbosses, this usually doesn't happen). So I have no idea what you mean by using more potions. The "less expensive" argument is stupid tho since that can be managed a lot more easily with reagent requirements.
A good change tho in my opinion since ninjapullers can no longer fu your prepot.

[Mouri Kogorou]

really good change for potions.

now make them a bit stronger not much but a bit more.

[Clozer]

In M+ you will definitely be using fewer potions and while in raids it will be about the same unless there are 10+ minute fights (other than a few endbosses, this usually doesn't happen). So I have no idea what you mean by using more potions. The "less expensive" argument is stupid tho since that can be managed a lot more easily with reagent requirements.
A good change tho in my opinion since ninjapullers can no longer fu your prepot.

The majority of pulls happen on those "10+ minute endboss fights", at least for the average cutting edge guild meaning you will end up using more potions than before.

[Jamie081]

'This is intended to make potion use less of a hassle, less expensive, and more decision-oriented in various situations throughout the game.'

I'm confused. Won't lowering the demand for potions actually drive up the prices because of less demand and therefore less supply? BFA mission follower equipment is an example of this. The mission table is almost entirely useless this expansion and so there is no market for the BoE follower equipment. You can check the AH and the equipment is selling for 5k a piece.

Combat potions are already super cheap also. Demand for them is high because players currently have to use many of them if they want to perform optimally.

[Easo]

I do like the potion change... Should feel less restricted.

[Saltysquidoon]

Removing pre-potting is a pointless QoL change that doesn't actually improve QoL. Realistically the only time you'll be 'tactically' using pots now will be with lust unless the fight is long enough for an early pot's CD to be up for lust (so mythic prog). Call me an elitist but it seems like the only reason this change was made is someone got assblasted for not knowing what a prepot was.

Also what are those Havoc 'changes'. More like it's fucking nothing the blue post.

[Daan]

I like the potion change. No more issues with pre potting when someone pulls the boss too early.

[Clozer]

'This is intended to make potion use less of a hassle, less expensive, and more decision-oriented in various situations throughout the game.'

I'm confused. Won't lowering the demand for potions actually drive up the prices because of less demand and therefore less supply? BFA mission follower equipment is an example of this. The mission table is almost entirely useless this expansion and so there is no market for the BoE follower equipment. You can check the AH and the equipment is selling for 5k a piece.

Combat potions are already super cheap also. Demand for them is high because players currently have to use many of them if they want to perform optimally.

That's now how this works. "less demand and therefore less supply" Why would you think that? A few people might stop farming herb if the prices drop, but the supply should still remain stable and nearly as high as it is now. Considering the supply is also heavily dependent on other factors such as herb accessibility and flask costs etc.

And your mission table comparison is stupid, they go for 5k because they are extremely expensive and time-consuming to create. If they only cost a couple of ore they would sell for 20g.

[Nnyco]

'This is intended to make potion use less of a hassle, less expensive, and more decision-oriented in various situations throughout the game.'

I'm confused. Won't lowering the demand for potions actually drive up the prices because of less demand and therefore less supply? BFA mission follower equipment is an example of this. The mission table is almost entirely useless this expansion and so there is no market for the BoE follower equipment. You can check the AH and the equipment is selling for 5k a piece.

Combat potions are already super cheap also. Demand for them is high because players currently have to use many of them if they want to perform optimally.

You compare follower equipment which you use once with potions which you drink every fight.

[MrLachyG]

Well shit, guess I won't be prepotting for WQs anymore.

you're joking right? tell me you're joking.....

[Lanrefni]

Now if they'd just take Engineering tinkers off the same damn cd...

[deadman1]

Isn't it just a direct M+ nerf? Raids should be about the same. But you can't pot on hard pulls or stuff anymore.

[Stormykitten]

I personally like it, but it would also be pretty cool if they made potions that really catered to being used as pre-pots. Let's say you, as a slow setup class with heavy resource demands like Demo, could opt into a potion that instantly gave you resource with some drawback like a -damage aura for a few seconds. So you can choose to kickstart the fight, or a key add spawn at a slight cost, over another combat potion to use during lust or whatever.

[Blowmeup]

So they really going to leave Shadow as trash arent they?

[Clozer]

Isn't it just a direct M+ nerf? Raids should be about the same. But you can't pot on hard pulls or stuff anymore.

Well, you can.. every 5 minutes.