Dragonflight Class Feedback: Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter and Shaman

[Lumy]

Feedback: Demon Hunter

Still concerned about Burning Wounds (BW) and how you have to apply it.

This is a concern we’ve heard echoed from many sources and have been thinking about as well. When it is one legendary choice among many and contained to a limited window of time as with the Shadowlands version, the divergent rotational gameplay required by it can be novel and appropriate. But we are less comfortable carrying that gameplay forward as a more permanent talent choice, and will be testing a slightly modified talent version of Burning Wound that intends to streamline gameplay and solidify an identity as an effect that is at its best in low target count scenarios.

So, the following adjustments are currently planned (and as always, are subject to change):

• Burning Wound DoT applied by Throw Glaive (was Demon’s Bite)
• Burning Wound DoT damage reduced by 25%
• Immolation Aura bonus damage on Wounded targets reduced to 45% (was 65%)
• May be applied to a maximum of 3 targets

This updated talent version will be available for testing in a future update, and we’re hoping you’ll try it out and let us know what you think. Cheers.

Feedback: Druid

Greetings, Feral Druids! We’re excited to share that there is a new version of the Feral tree in the next Beta update. These are some meaty changes you can really sink your claws into, with new talents, lots of revisions, and changes to the tree layout. Here’s some of what we’re intending with these changes.

Identity

At its core, Feral’s gameplay is about applying and maintaining powerful bleeds on enemies, then spending additional combo points on Ferocious Bites for more damage. In 9.2.5, Ferocious Bite is extremely powerful (and extends Rips with Sabertooth), which can lead to it taking over your rotation. Our goal for this tree is to get back to bleeds, especially Rip, being the center of your damage and gameplay again, with Ferocious Bite adding additional damage when you have the combo points for it. We’ve changed or removed any effects that dynamically extend bleed duration, so maintaining bleeds will always be a part of your rotation.

We’ve added several options to make Bleeds more interesting or useful in different situations. Primal Wrath has been moved near the top of the tree to give Feral an AOE combo point spender early. There are also new talents to do things like briefly increase all Rip damage, consume part of Rip’s duration to deal some of its damage instantly, or make Ferocious Bite hit nearby bleeding targets. These new tools should also enable you to get full value out of every combo point in AOE combat.

We’ve also returned a lot of Berserk’s current power to the first point you spend in it, while keeping some additional talents to make it stronger (and adding some new ones).

Complexity

We pay a lot of attention to gameplay complexity. Feral has some talents that increase the complexity of its rotation in exchange for power. The challenge with these types of abilities, especially in Dragonflight’s talent trees, is that if they’re strong, they can feel required. In the case of Bloodtalons and Brutal Slash, we added alternatives for players who want most of the power without the complexity. In the case of Savage Roar, we removed it. We prefer Feral’s combo point spenders to focus on maintaining bleeds and weaving in Ferocious Bites when possible.

Choice

Many of the new talents are about giving Feral players tools to customize their gameplay in the direction they prefer. There are, of course, talents that strengthen AOE or single target damage (though you should always feel capable in both scenarios). But other options allow you to customize how much energy regeneration you have, how powerful your combo point builders are, how often you need to refresh your bleeds, or how powerful your Berserk & Tiger’s Fury cooldowns are.

We’re excited to hear your feedback on these changes and for you to have an opportunity to play them. Here’s what’s coming:



Protective Growth. New talent, row 2. Your Regrowth protects you, reducing all damage you take by 3% while it is on you.

Improved Bleeds. Changed to 1 rank (from 2).

Pouncing Strikes. New talent, row 3. Grants extra damage & combo points to Shred & Rake when striking from stealth.

Tireless Energy. Renamed from Max Energy, changed to 2 ranks (from 3) and grants 2% haste per rank.

Sabertooth. Now increases Ferocious Bite damage by 20% and increases damage dealt by Rip by 4% for each combo point spent for 4 seconds.

Piercing Claws (2 ranks). New talent, row 4. Critical Strike chance increased by 2%.

Double-Clawed Rake. New talent, row 4. Rake also applies Rake to 1 additional nearby target.

Sudden Ambush. Changed to 2 ranks (from 3) and grants 5% chance to strike as if from stealth per rank (up from 1%).

Dreadful Bleeding. New talent, row 5. Rip damage increased by 15%.

Berserk. Replaces Berserk: Relentlessness. Berserk now grants combo point refund on finishing moves and causes Rake & Shred to deal damage as if stealthed.

Tear Open Wounds. New talent, row 5. Primal Wrath consumes up to 4 sec of Rip damage on targets it hits and deals 75% of it instantly.

Taste for Blood. Changed to 2 ranks (from 3).

Ferocious Frenzy. New talent, row 6. Ferocious Bite also hits nearby enemies within 8 yds afflicted by Rip for 25% damage. Deals reduced damage over 8 targets.

Infected Wounds. Now also increases Rake damage by 20%.

Row 7 choice node:

• Raging Fury. New talent. Finishing moves extend the duration of Tiger’s Fury by 0.2 sec per combo point spent.
• Frantic Momentum. New talent. Finishing moves have a 3% chance per combo point spent to grant 10% Haste for 6 seconds.

Berserk: Heart of the Lion. New talent, row 7. Each combo point spent reduces the cooldown of Berserk by 0.5 seconds.

Berserk: Frenzy. No longer causes combo point generating abilities to reduce the cooldown of Berserk.

Wild Slashes. New talent, row 7, choice node with Brutal Slash. Swipe and Thrash deal 20% more damage.

Bite Force. New talent, row 9, choice node with Bloodtalons. Ferocious Bite and Rip deal +10% damage.

Row 9 choice node:

• Veinripper. New talent. Rip & Rake & Thrash last +25% longer
• Rip & Tear. New talent. Applying Rip to a target also applies a Tear that deals X Bleed damage per combo point spent over 6 sec.

Feral Frenzy and Apex Predator are now standalone talents.

Ashamane’s Guidance. Was Modal Cooldown Bonus. Gives auto attacks a chance to trigger Incarnation for 6 sec, or reduces Convoke the Spirits’ duration by 25% and gives it an increased chance to trigger a powerful ability.

Removed Talents

• Improved Tiger’s Fury. Tiger’s Fury now always grants 50 Energy.
• Improved Shred.
• Improved Prowl.
• Berserk: Jungle Stalker.
• Savage Roar.
• Draught of Deep Focus.

Thank you for your patience and your feedback!

Feedback: Druid

And hello, Restoration Druids! A new Restoration tree will be sprouting into the next Beta build with spell changes, layout adjustments, multi-point node reduction, and new abilities! Players can also expect many previously Not Yet Implemented (NYI) talents to be ready for testing. We would like to give our thoughts on some of these upcoming adjustments.

Build Diversity and Support

A good amount of feedback for the Restoration Druid tree has been it felt very similar to the current Shadowlands build and there weren’t many variations to playstyle throughout the tree. To open build diversity we’ve focused on adding new tools to existing builds to change their gameplay and creating spells to support new playstyles. Lifebloom, for example, is seeing more talents throughout this tree now.

Mastery Mattering

Restoration Druid’s Mastery is a very compelling stat, but generally does not have a lot of areas of the game where it gets to shine. We are looking at old bonuses and new effects to incorporate Mastery further into the spec and give players more reason to think about their Heal over Time placement as they parse their group’s damage intake.

Layout Changes

The layout of the Restoration Druid tree has changed significantly from its previous iteration. The new layout is intended to provide more options and improved pathing. Here’s what players can expect to see:



New Talent Additions

Nature’s Splendor. New Talent, row 3. The healing bonus to Regrowth from Nature’s Swiftness is increased by 50%.

Flash of Clarity. New Talent, row 3. Clearcast Regrowths heal for an additional 30%.

Waking Dream. New Talent, row 4. Ysera’s Gift now heals every 4 seconds and heals for an additional 5% for each of your active Rejuvenations.

Nurturing Dormancy. New Talent, row 6. When your Rejuvenation heals a full health target, its duration is increased by 3 seconds, up to a maximum total increase of 9 seconds per cast.

Dreamstate. New Talent, row 6. While channeling Tranquility, your other Druid spell cooldowns are reduced by up to 10 seconds.

Verdancy. New Talent, row 7. When Lifebloom blooms, up to 3 targets within your Efflorescence are healed for X.

Budding Leaves. New Talent, row 9. Lifebloom’s Healing is increased by 6% each time it heals, up to 90%. Also increases Lifebloom’s final bloom amount by 15%.

Embrace of the Dream. New Talent, row 9. Wild Growth has a 100% chance to momentarily shift your mind into the Emerald Dream, instantly healing all allies affected by your Rejuvenation for X.

Regenerative Heartwood. New Talent, row 9. Allies protected by your Ironbark also receive 75% of the healing from each of your active Rejuvenations.

The complete list of changes will be released with the next beta build. Thanks so much for your continued feedback!

Feedback: Hunter

Hello Hunters,

Some quick notes on changes coming in a future build:

Class Tree:

• Hunter’s Agility is being changed from a 2-rank node down to 1 rank, and will reduce area of effect damage taken by 6%.
• Improved Traps and Rejuvenating Winds will have their positions switched.
• Note on Arctic Bola: The snare value is 20%, and should not be changing per rank, the tooltip showing 50/100% snare per rank is incorrect. This is not intended to be a big snare or something you are relying on to kite enemies around.

Marksmanship:

• Windrunner’s Guidance is having its design changed to: Each Wind Arrow has a 3% chance to grant you 10 sec of Trueshot.
  
  • This includes Wind Arrows from either Aimed Shot, or from Windrunner’s Barrage below Wailing Arrow.

Survival:

• Ferocity lowered from 2 ranks down to 1.
• Intense Focus lowered from 2 ranks down to 1.

Thanks for your continued feedback and testing.

P.S. I hope you all have a nice weekend every week, even if I don’t post that here.

Feedback: Shaman

Enhancement Shaman,

Some changes are coming to a build you will receive next week, and we wanted to discuss that here.

• Stormbringer is now just something you know starting at level 10 as an Enhancement Shaman alongside your Mastery.
• New 1-point talent in Stormbringer’s Spot: Storm’s Wrath. Increases the mastery bonus chance for Stormbringer and Windfury to activate by 100%. This is a multiplier, not additive.
  
  • Note, this only increases the bonus proc chance from Mastery, which is 0.64% without any gear, and does not affect the elemental damage bonus from Mastery.
• Improved Maelstrom Weapon is now a 2 rank node, up from 1, for the same total benefit.
• Focused Maelstrom has been removed.
• Raging Maelstrom now increases the damage bonus to Maelstrom Weapon by an additional 5% in addition to increasing maximum stacks by 5.
• A fair number of talents in rows 4-8 on the right side of the tree have shifted around in position.
• Lashing Flames has added as a talent on the right side of the tree.
• Alpha Wolf now procs from either Crash Lightning or Chain Lightning, rather than just Chain Lightning.
• Legacy of the Frost Witch has had its design adjusted a bit and is still 2 ranks: Every 10 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon consumed resets the cooldown of Stormstrike and increases the damage of your physical abilities by 5%/20% for 5 sec.
• Feral Spirits, and the Elemental Spirits talent have been adjusted:
  
  • Each Feral Spirit type now grants you +15% damage to the related element. Normal Feral Spirits count as Physical.
  • The extra frost damage from the frosty feral spirits has been removed, but frosty feral spirits now increase your frost damage by 15%.
  • The extra Lava Lash damage from fire feral spirits has been removed.

Thank you for the continued feedback and testing.

[Flame6]

Still sad to see some classes get hundreds of words and some just a few. I believe them when they say they're working on it. At least its not just radio silence about a class.

[kiramon]

Yay more bleed focus -_- cough refreshing dots is not particularly a "fun" mechanic, especially when you build up 5 combo points to do it.

[Delever]

Still sad to see some classes get hundreds of words and some just a few. I believe them when they say they're working on it. At least its not just radio silence about a class.

Unless that class' name is retribution paladin but at this point its a given.

[Masternewt]

Feedback: Paladins

Please check that your subscription doesn't run out while I work on Brewmasters.

[Buffbringer]

Meanwhile, paladin talents are still a huge mess, specially concerning ret, and it's complete radio silence from the pally devs...

[Cyi]

Kind of sad to see them put so much into bleeds, which arguably is the worst kind of damage since it takes so long to ramp up. Time will tell if this works out, but as a feral main this looks like a way to slow down our damage and add more work to the rotation.

[Infernoxas]

Yay more bleed focus -_- cough refreshing dots is not particularly a "fun" mechanic, especially when you build up 5 combo points to do it.

I'd argue that refreshing an already existing bleed to an infinite amount is even less fun.

[Austilias]

Seems like a backwards step from Blizzard with Feral Druids.

Feral having most of its damage in Ferocious Bite wasn't the problem. As with Affliction Warlocks, Feral Druids being too bleed/DoT heavy is the problem - it screws them out of competitive M+/PvP because burst damage is always more valuable than bleeds/DoTs/ramp-up in game modes where time is money.

The problems with the Feral talent tree were simply that is was too clunky and unintuitive. Very basic components of the Feral toolkit were locked away in faraway corners of the talent tree, often behind talents that didn't sync/meaningfully interact.

Feral being more Ferocious Bite-heavy than bleed-heavy wasn't the problem. It was part of the solution.

[kiramon]

I'd argue that refreshing an already existing bleed to an infinite amount is even less fun.

That's fine. Everyone's allowed to be wrong.

[Niwes]

Still sad to see some classes get hundreds of words and some just a few. I believe them when they say they're working on it. At least its not just radio silence about a class.

sounds in my ears like you are talking about Rogue and Warlock, and to a degree DH. or Ret. or Elemental to a degree.

at least from Rogue i saw nothing besides „hey, we converted the talents and everything 1:1 and that’s it.“

maybe they are just that happy with Rogues, they try to change not the slightest bit, convert them, and call it a day. don’t know.

and maybe 4 weeks before release they quickly go „oh, yes, Ret, ehrm we quickly give him 5 halfassed talents next week, that can never ever be balanced into the right spot, besides either being way too overpowered or way too underpowered“. yeah baby.

[Clawsout]

Rogue does not update with blue notes the devs constantly on the rogue discord

[Unholyground]

Meanwhile, paladin talents are still a huge mess, specially concerning ret, and it's complete radio silence from the pally devs...

They are probably working on it.

[Feril]

Oh goodie, reapplying bleeds the olden way... yaaaaaay gooood gameplaaaay

Thanks for the "gift" Blizzard, thanks.

[Celement]

It's interesting to see how they are cobbling together a rotation for dh for the first time that isnt reliant on borrowed power.