Upcoming Preservation Evoker Changes - 30 Yard Range and More

[chaud]

Upcoming Preservation Evoker Changes - 30 Yard Range and More

In the next beta build, we are making some updates to address concerns regarding Preservation Evoker’s healing range. We have been reading feedback and observing playtests, and agree that the 25 yard range is a little too prohibitive when combined with the frequent casting requirements of empower spells. To address this, we’re doing the following:

• All of Preservation Evoker’s healing and utility spells will now be at 30 yards baseline.
• The cooldowns for Dream Breath and Spiritbloom are being increased slightly, with Preservation’s overall healing efficacy being increased to compensate.
  
  • This should mean you have to stand still and cast empower spells less often, but when you do they will be more impactful, and your healing in-between those moments will also be more impactful.
• Hover will now have a shorter lock-out time, so you can more quickly cast spells after using Hover.

We are interested in delivering on a mobile, mid-range healer. We want to make sure tools like Hover, Verdant Embrace, Echo, and Rescue are flexible and powerful enough to compensate for a lower range. Please continue testing and providing feedback, and let us know if these tools are working well alongside the changes above. We will continue to listen to feedback and make sure Evoker is a powerful and exciting new class to play!

[Puxycat]

As long as you can not cast empowered spells during hover ggs.

[Biomega]

I don't get their obsession with the "midrange" thing. That's just designers focusing on an element they want to push because it looks unique, without thinking about what that actually means for the mechanics of playing the class or the actual player experience. "Midrange" is not a thing. It's an annoyance. It doesn't add anything, it only takes away and disrupts. It's beyond stupid.

[TbouncerT]

Sheesh, better than the 10yd limitation on H-Pally Mastery.

[Hitei]

I don't get their obsession with the "midrange" thing. That's just designers focusing on an element they want to push because it looks unique, without thinking about what that actually means for the mechanics of playing the class or the actual player experience. "Midrange" is not a thing. It's an annoyance. It doesn't add anything, it only takes away and disrupts. It's beyond stupid.

Of course it adds something. It's a constraint that has to be played around just like any other aspect. It influences how you position and where you want to group and how you want to move in an encounter.

By your logic there's zero reason for there to ever be melee--all a melee range requirement does is "take away and disrupt", preventing you from standing where you want to and using abilities freely. Ditto backstab's previous lockout and current positional buff, or the inability to use charge when you are already standing on top of a target. There's also zero reason for any spell to not be castable while moving, since all that does is "take away and disrupt".

This is just another case of people dogpiling a relatively harmless flavor thing because it's the current go to thing to bitch and whine about, even though positioning requirements didn't suddenly make Paladins totally unplayable, or stop melee from existing during even the most melee-unfriendly periods of the game.

Midrange means that an Evoker player has to think and plan a bit more spatially to be at their most effective, much like a paladin, and much like disc player has to think more about enemies and damage prediction.

[Gorsameth]

Of course it adds something. It's a constraint that has to be played around just like any other aspect. It influences how you position and where you want to group and how you want to move in an encounter.

By your logic there's zero reason for there to ever be melee--all a melee range requirement does is "take away and disrupt", preventing you from standing where you want to and using abilities freely. Ditto backstab's previous lockout and current positional buff, or the inability to use charge when you are already standing on top of a target. There's also zero reason for any spell to not be castable while moving, since all that does is "take away and disrupt".

This is just another case of people dogpiling a relatively harmless flavor thing because it's the current go to thing to bitch and whine about, even though positioning requirements didn't suddenly make Paladins totally unplayable, or stop melee from existing during even the most melee-unfriendly periods of the game.

Midrange means that an Evoker player has to think and plan a bit more spatially to be at their most effective, much like a paladin, and much like disc player has to think more about enemies and damage prediction.

slots are limited, all the different healer specs are already fighting for less slots then there are specs. A spec that is handicaped for flavour will be a serious issue. Why would any guild bring an Evoker when their limited range is a serious issue for a healer?

its not a harmless flavour thing. 30y vs 40y range is still almost half of the total area they cover without having to move, and even with movement enhancements your going to be slower to heal who is in need compared to a healer that can just immediately reach and cast.

[Biomega]

Of course it adds something. It's a constraint that has to be played around just like any other aspect. It influences how you position and where you want to group and how you want to move in an encounter.

By your logic there's zero reason for there to ever be melee

You're equating GAME mechanics with CLASS mechanics.

They're not the same thing, and they don't work the same.

If midrange was a GAME mechanic and the entire game had it as an element to consider, that would be different. But it isn't. That's what I mean when I say it's "not a thing". This class is the only time this becomes a concern, and as a result, it disrupts what everyone else is doing just to have one class be doing something different in ways that affect everyone else.

That's toxic design.

[Yakut]

Of course it adds something. It's a constraint that has to be played around just like any other aspect. It influences how you position and where you want to group and how you want to move in an encounter.

It adds nothing of value to the raid or party. Most mechanics require one of two things: be in melee or ar max range. Having played this on beta, I was not pleased that I was constantly at a disadvantage at mid range. In fact, it caused me to abandon dps evoker entirely.

There's value to playing devil's advocate. But only to a point. Rhetorical or philosophical arguments always give way to reality.

[Hitei]

slots are limited, all the different healer specs are already fighting for less slots then there are specs. A spec that is handicaped for flavour will be a serious issue. Why would any guild bring an Evoker when their limited range is a serious issue for a healer?

its not a harmless flavour thing. 30y vs 40y range is still almost half of the total area they cover without having to move, and even with movement enhancements your going to be slower to heal who is in need compared to a healer that can just immediately reach and cast.

Why would any guild bring a caster when their inability to move while doing full damage is a limiter? Or any melee to an encounter where cleave is a danger? Or ever stack anything besides the top 5 throughput specs?

You're acting like the past two decades of this game haven't involved all but one spec being the most optimal for any given role, and innumerable specs and classes having aspects that are less effective than their peers. Again: this isn't some unknown. We have literally already had a healing spec that was range dependent, and a healing spec that's raid output is dependent on setup casts, and many DPS specs that are harshly punished by movement, and many DPS specs that have not "half of the total area they cover" but a fraction of the total area because they have to be in melee range to do anything worthwhile.

If you are having to move, you're already positioned wrong. The fact that positioning is something you have to play around is neither new, nor some massive issue. Are top 50 guilds going to bring a preservation evoker? Maybe, who knows? Who gives a shit? They are going to stack classes and ignore half the game's roster regardless. 99.9% of groups are going to give their slots to whoever has the higher parse or itemlevel, not worry about how there's a 10 yard window on the far side of the boss arena where a poorly positioned healer won't reach, a thing which 40 yard healers ALSO have to deal with--seriously, what world are you living in where everyone is always in range of every healer in the raid?

This whole thing is hilariously retread from last expansion, when people were convinced that if covenants weren't free-swappable, there would be no slots or groups available for anyone who wasn't Venthyr, because "how could you possibly justify taking anyone who doesn't have the ability to teleport past mob groups!?". It's nonsense. No one actually gives a shit beyond the people at such a high end that they are going to class stack regardless of this specific aspect existing or not, and the people who are bandwagoning a non-issue because it's the latest thing to moan about.

You're equating GAME mechanics with CLASS mechanics.

They're not the same thing, and they don't work the same.

If midrange was a GAME mechanic and the entire game had it as an element to consider, that would be different. But it isn't. That's what I mean when I say it's "not a thing". This class is the only time this becomes a concern, and as a result, it disrupts what everyone else is doing just to have one class be doing something different in ways that affect everyone else.

That's toxic design.

Do you think that class mechanics are not game mechanics? Hello? This class is NOT "the only time this becomes a concern", because there have been range and general class disparities since Vanilla.

[Yakut]

Why would any guild bring a caster when their inability to move while doing full damage is a limiter? Or any melee to an encounter where cleave is a danger? Or ever stack anything besides the top 5 throughput specs?

Your responses are the same: false equivalency, conjured statistics, hyperbole, and outright assumptions. Which, ironically, you are railing against. Don't become what you're complaining about, it's not a good look to be a hypocrite.

[Relapses]

Your responses are the same: false equivalency, conjured statistics, hyperbole, and outright assumptions. Which, ironically, you are railing against. Don't become what you're complaining about, it's not a good look to be a hypocrite.

It's only hyperbolic if you assume that "the game doesn't need a mid-range healer" is an universally accepted inarguable truth.

Outside of ridiculous negativity echo chambers like Reddit and this forum... it isn't.

[Biomega]

Do you think that class mechanics are not game mechanics?

You think I made that distinction for shits 'n giggles? Think about it for a second before blathering on.

[Polybius]

I don't get their obsession with the "midrange" thing. That's just designers focusing on an element they want to push because it looks unique, without thinking about what that actually means for the mechanics of playing the class or the actual player experience. "Midrange" is not a thing. It's an annoyance. It doesn't add anything, it only takes away and disrupts. It's beyond stupid.

Lots of frontal spells, changing to max range would risk pulling mobs or making them more powerful than say... H Pally. Evoker plays like a combat medic under the right conditions (that is... adjusting your UI and mouseover settings).

[Biomega]

Lots of frontal spells, changing to max range would risk pulling mobs or making them more powerful than say... H Pally. Evoker plays like a combat medic under the right conditions (that is... adjusting your UI and mouseover settings).

This explains how Evoker does things at midrange, not why they are trying to make midrange a thing to begin with. It's a major disruption in group content, for no reason other than "this is the gimmick of this new class, we decided".

[Freighter]

This explains how Evoker does things at midrange, not why they are trying to make midrange a thing to begin with. It's a major disruption in group content, for no reason other than "this is the gimmick of this new class, we decided".

How is it a major disruption?

[Hotmail]

This was not a bad idea, but in this age of post-homogenization players are going to keep complaining about how it makes them 5% less effective than another healer on certain fights or something.

[Biomega]

How is it a major disruption?

Because group content is built around two specific ranges, and adding a third one just for a single class throws stuff into so much disarray many people are already considering not taking evoker healers AT ALL because why would you mess up all positioning just for a single person.

People seriously underestimate how much range affects healing. The difference between 25 yards and 40 yards isn't just 15 yards - it's MASSIVELY less coverage because of the effectively circular range and its associated quadratic scaling with the radius.

It adds enormous problems in organized group content for no payoff other than Blizzard getting to say "this class does this!".

[Freighter]

Because group content is built around two specific ranges, and adding a third one just for a single class throws stuff into so much disarray many people are already considering not taking evoker healers AT ALL because why would you mess up all positioning just for a single person.

People seriously underestimate how much range affects healing. The difference between 25 yards and 40 yards isn't just 15 yards - it's MASSIVELY less coverage because of the effectively circular range and its associated quadratic scaling with the radius.

It adds enormous problems in organized group content for no payoff other than Blizzard getting to say "this class does this!".

Many people considering not taking evokers at all? I think this is a you thing, I haven't heard anyone, in my guild or among my friends or in communities I'm in state that they won't take evokers to their groups.

[Biomega]

Many people considering not taking evokers at all? I think this is a you thing, I haven't heard anyone, in my guild or among my friends or in communities I'm in state that they won't take evokers to their groups.

Likely because those aren't super competitive groups, in which case who cares what's good, do what's fun. Clearly not the target audience for detailed mechanical discussions. "But me and my friends don't care!" stifles any argument, so why even bring it up tbh.

[hulkgor]

slots are limited, all the different healer specs are already fighting for less slots then there are specs.

I see where you're coming from, but isn't that the case with ... every role?