State of Enhancement in WoD

[Wowforlife79]

Asperger syndrome is a disorder affecting social interaction and nonverbal comunication, so Schizoide kinda doesn't make sense, as "aspergeristical" isn't a word in the first place, but if it were an actual adjective, it would mean someone who's negatively impacted in social interaction.
What you're thinking of, Wowforlife79, I think, is tourette syndrome.

As for Schizoide's point about a recource: I can sympaphise with that. Keep in mind though that a "real" recource like focus would've required a complete overhaul of our dps system, and likely would've cost us a lot of abilities, as recource classes tend to have just 3 or so important abilities (Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Revealing Strike for combat), and you tend to spam the same ability.
So it would've come down not to the hunter, but paladin treatment for a 2ndary recource.

My 1st beef with the cata/mop shaman dps design was that the prio is to...predictable. Hit cooldowns as they become avaiable and throw in some msw, done. Blizz adresses that with
1) a buff to msw to make it higher prio, plus taking wf of the icd to increase msw procs
2) ll refreshes through fs
3) ll/ss/fn/shock usable twice before setting off cd with EotE
So enh will be much less predictable

My 2nd beef with enh dpsing was that we did not, in a nicely noticable way, benefit from haste all that much. With msw gaining importance through the perk, that's an increase in haste being better through haste. FS ticks faster meanwhile (more ticks during the duration), hence increasing ll refresh-rate, and more msw procs mean more msw casts, mean more EotE procs, mean more SS/LL not triggering cooldowns.
Theirs is not the strict road I'd have tried, but it may just work out as I hope.

My 3rd and 4th (minor)beefs were to few frost damage sources. We have FrS in our prio now as a filler. Not happy with that though, I would've preferred them removing its damage to make it utility only. Instead, they could've added a new melee strike, frost based even to kill two birds with one stone...maybe a finisher ability to make it three birds, and instead of working as a finisher on low hp, is like a dk's runestrike at higher percentages (4 birds).

I was just joking as aspergeristically, is not a word used commonly/everyday in my regular banter

[Refridge]

Asperger syndrome is a disorder affecting social interaction and nonverbal comunication, so Schizoide kinda doesn't make sense, as "aspergeristical" isn't a word in the first place, but if it were an actual adjective, it would mean someone who's negatively impacted in social interaction.
What you're thinking of, Wowforlife79, I think, is tourette syndrome.

As for Schizoide's point about a recource: I can sympaphise with that. Keep in mind though that a "real" recource like focus would've required a complete overhaul of our dps system, and likely would've cost us a lot of abilities, as recource classes tend to have just 3 or so important abilities (Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Revealing Strike for combat), and you tend to spam the same ability.
So it would've come down not to the hunter, but paladin treatment for a 2ndary recource.

My 1st beef with the cata/mop shaman dps design was that the prio is to...predictable. Hit cooldowns as they become avaiable and throw in some msw, done. Blizz adresses that with
1) a buff to msw to make it higher prio, plus taking wf of the icd to increase msw procs
2) ll refreshes through fs
3) ll/ss/fn/shock usable twice before setting off cd with EotE
So enh will be much less predictable

My 2nd beef with enh dpsing was that we did not, in a nicely noticable way, benefit from haste all that much. With msw gaining importance through the perk, that's an increase in haste being better through haste. FS ticks faster meanwhile (more ticks during the duration), hence increasing ll refresh-rate, and more msw procs mean more msw casts, mean more EotE procs, mean more SS/LL not triggering cooldowns.
Theirs is not the strict road I'd have tried, but it may just work out as I hope.

My 3rd and 4th (minor)beefs were to few frost damage sources. We have FrS in our prio now as a filler. Not happy with that though, I would've preferred them removing its damage to make it utility only. Instead, they could've added a new melee strike, frost based even to kill two birds with one stone...maybe a finisher ability to make it three birds, and instead of working as a finisher on low hp, is like a dk's runestrike at higher percentages (4 birds).

We could just have ascendance function similarly to demonology's form! I really think that would be much better for us, and might not even require a nerf to ascendance's damage since they already did that.

[Grimbold21]

What's with the haste "obssession"?

[Schizoide]

What's with the haste "obssession"?

It's not about total damage scaling with haste. It's about gameplay. Most specs in WoW play substantially differently as they gain haste. That's because they either rely upon cast-time spells, which cast faster with haste, or have ability usage constrained by resources, which generate faster with haste.

In 6.x, Enhance is the only spec in the entire game that has a 1.5s GCD, doesn't use cast-time spells, and is constrained by cooldowns rather than resources.

Since these cooldowns are not affected by haste (unlike Paladins and Warriors, in 6.x) and Enhance doesn't have a resource, an Enhance shaman will play substantially similarly at the end of patch 6.4 as they do when they first hit level 100 in 6.0. Maelstrom Weapon will stack faster and Flame Shock will tick faster, so you'll use Lightning Bolt and Lava Lash more frequently (and the latter is a small improvement over 5.x) but Enhance will still be casting Earth Shock every 6 seconds and Stormstrike every 8, etc, and melee abilities will all still create the same 1.5 second GCD.

Compare that to DPS warriors, who were essentially in the same spot as Enhance in 5.x. Their cooldowns and GCD will both scale with haste in 6.x. They will generate their resource faster, consume it faster, and the GCD will scale to allow them to use more abilities in the same period of time. IMO, that's how haste should work.

Putting in the work to give Enhance a real resource, like Paladins got in 4.x, is a bit much to ask. That's rehaul territory, and the devs steadfastedly maintain they aren't doing rehauls. But allowing Enhance cooldowns and melee GCD to scale with haste is not rehaul territory, and IMO, it just plain makes sense.

[Hekili]

Mm, I wouldn't want Enhancement to get a resource. As it is, our resource is our GCDs, and that works well enough for me.

Totems need overhauled, not resources. I'm still bent out of shape that Monks have cooler totems that we do (their statues). We should smash down a totem and have our abilities interact with it meaningfully. Totems shouldn't be linked to elements, as totems should be tied to the ancestral part of Shaman lore.

- - - Updated - - -

Since these cooldowns are not affected by haste (unlike Paladins and Warriors, in 6.x) and Enhance doesn't have a resource, an Enhance shaman will play substantially similarly at the end of patch 6.4 as they do when they first hit level 100 in 6.0. Maelstrom Weapon will stack faster and Flame Shock will tick faster, so you'll use Lightning Bolt and Lava Lash more frequently (and the latter is a small improvement over 5.x) but Enhance will still be casting Earth Shock every 6 seconds and Stormstrike every 8, etc, and melee abilities will all still create the same 1.5 second GCD.

Is it confirmed that Readiness (new secondary) will only apply to our same longer cooldowns, and not our primary rotational abilities?

If Readiness could affect Stormstrike and Lava Lash, we could see Stormstrike's CD drop as low as ~5.3s and Lava Lash at ~6.7, if Readiness capped around 50%. That could be interesting.

[Omanley]

The thing I am unsure about in relation with lowered cds through haste (as in generally lowered), is being gcd capped. If we were able to get LL and SS down a couple of secs, our rotation would consist almost only of hitting those two, squishing other stuff inbetween. During BL, we probably wouldn't hit anything else even.

A ret or warrior has like 4 regular dmg skills they hit. Enh has FS/ES, SS, LL, UE, MSW, additionally FN when aoe, different fire totems, now also FrS on seperate cd...
Not counting totems and dmg cooldowns, that's 5 cooldowns to manage, and one ability more avaiable through haste (MSW). I haven't played for a while, but isn't enh close to gcd-capped on higher levels already? It will be even more so the case in WoD already.
WeÄd definately also would need that lowered gcd (nothing to say against that one for a more faster paste playstyle, though it would also be nice to have with their current blueprints).

Dont get me wrong: it sounds good on paper, but it may either lead to a dumb-down in ability usage or lead to holding off abilities very often because they are ready at the same time/being gcd capped.
I agree that FS/LL, new EotE and buffed MSW are maybe not the (in our POV) ideal implementations. I must say though, having more procs to give us more unpredictability through resetted abilities or ignored cds and such feels better than ever so slightly lower cooldowns.
Enhance will always have to be a proc based spec, and I'm personally happy with that. There's RNG involved, but bad RNG will not be the end of the world as it used to be, while good rng will continue to feel awesome.

Just my two cents and personal POV though.

edit: And as always, I agree on totems being in dire need of improval.
First step would be a no brainer: removal of elemental restrictions. New: You're able to have down four totems at the same time, but you're freely able to mix and max
Second step: Elementals are no longer tied to totems, but retain their cooldown restriction.
Third Step: Totems are designed more individually (GT either survives eating non-damaging casts again(old version), OR reflects spells baseline now and is unattackable(SR copy). CPT has 5% of shaman's health and a 4 sec stun now, but charge up is lowered to two seconds, instant with glyph, EBT becomes unattackable...and so forth)

[Schizoide]

@Hekili: GCDs are not a resource. Enhance has no resource. Ability usage is constrained by cooldowns.

Nothing is confirmed, but Readiness is supposed to work on longer cooldowns, yes.

@Omanley: I specifically addressed GCDs in my post. The melee GCD should scale with haste also.

[Grimbold21]

So haste = faster stuff. Never been a fan of haste, i prefer mastery.

[Refridge]

If our GCD was reduced by haste our rotation would be an ABSOLUTE shit show. Weaving Frost Shocks? We still dont even know about our MSW math and whether we should be hard casting LB at all

[Throdin]

With windfury off icd, multistrike and flame shock refreshing LL, I doubt hard casting will an issue for us this xpac.

[Hekili]

@Hekili: GCDs are not a resource. Enhance has no resource. Ability usage is constrained by cooldowns.

What is a resource if not a constraint on ability usage?

[Advent]

Is that so? You really think someone uninterested would have written that aspergeristically intricate post on the spec's mechanics?

No. Reference the posts in the warlock forums about Cata>MoP Affliction spec. Blizzard has this way of alienating players by changing play styles, and many of us who play enhancement would rather not see it changed from something we're already accustomed to. Even if it means remaining a "cooldown-constrained" spec.

[Schizoide]

No. Reference the posts in the warlock forums about Cata>MoP Affliction spec. Blizzard has this way of alienating players by changing play styles, and many of us who play enhancement would rather not see it changed from something we're already accustomed to. Even if it means remaining a "cooldown-constrained" spec.

That is your opinion and you are allowed to have it. I'm allowed to have mine too without being falsely accused of being "uninterested in the class". Besides, like I said, they aren't doing revamps and I don't expect to get a resource. It would be nice for the GCD and cooldowns to scale with haste, though.

@Hekili: Abilities are constrained by resources and/or cooldowns. While the GCD is obviously a cooldown, it's shared between all abilities, so it's not intended to guide ability usage/priority.

@Refridge: If the GCD and cooldowns scaled with haste, enhance gameplay would be basically unchanged as you get gear from 6.0 to 6.4. It would just get faster with haste. Which makes sense because, well, it's called haste. And that's how every other spec in the entire game will work in 6.x.

[Refridge]

That is your opinion and you are allowed to have it. I'm allowed to have mine too without being falsely accused of being "uninterested in the class". Besides, like I said, they aren't doing revamps and I don't expect to get a resource. It would be nice for the GCD and cooldowns to scale with haste, though.

@Hekili: Abilities are constrained by resources and/or cooldowns. While the GCD is obviously a cooldown, it's shared between all abilities, so it's not intended to guide ability usage/priority.

@Refridge: If the GCD and cooldowns scaled with haste, enhance gameplay would be basically unchanged as you get gear from 6.0 to 6.4. It would just get faster with haste. Which makes sense because, well, it's called haste. And that's how every other spec in the entire game will work in 6.x.

I know what youre trying to say, but I believe youre incorrect. It would not stay the same, We have certain buttons we, at the moment, push. UE, SS, LL, Fs, Es, then we add Frs, and LB. Currently there arent very many lulls in our rotation. Now reduce shocks to 3 seconds, SS to 5, LL to 5. You've maintained the rotation, but because certain abilities have priority over others, and because those abilities come off of CD before those of lesser priority, you basically get to a point where you're maintaining Fs and spamming SS and LL. Forget about maelstrom or LL procs. I think youre assuming that the GCD will scale down in parallel to the abilities CD's. If you spend an hour or two in LFRs as Ret, you'll understand.

[Schizoide]

I think youre assuming that the GCD will scale down in parallel to the abilities CD's.

Why would you think that? Wait, is it because I said so in every single post in this thread?

[Futhark]

[...]you basically get to a point where you're maintaining Fs and spamming SS and LL. Forget about maelstrom or LL procs. [...]

Since I don't think the second statement quoted will be true, I actually hope your first statement comes to fruition. Why would I want to continue to "play-piano" to maintain baseline damage, when I can have go-to abilities that actually feel powerfull instead? Elemental's rotation plays great even though at its core it's "maintaining Fs and spamming LvB and LB". I want SS and LL to be the standard damage dealers so I can weave in other buffs and spells; to do other things that the encounters call for. (and again, I don't feel MSW and other procs in the rotation will be tuned to be less than the main blows)

[Refridge]

Since I don't think the second statement quoted will be true, I actually hope your first statement comes to fruition. Why would I want to continue to "play-piano" to maintain baseline damage, when I can have go-to abilities that actually feel powerfull instead? Elemental's rotation plays great even though at its core it's "maintaining Fs and spamming LvB and LB". I want SS and LL to be the standard damage dealers so I can weave in other buffs and spells; to do other things that the encounters call for. (and again, I don't feel MSW and other procs in the rotation will be tuned to be less than the main blows)

I've always appreciated the relative difficulty of top-tier enhancement play. I don't like seeing my spec, or any spec dumbed down. RIP DoC Feral.

And to have our GCD go from 1.5 to .75 s, assuming we were able to attain 50 percent readiness ( i know this isnt proper AoC math, but bear with me) would be stupid.

[Schizoide]

First, while enhance does have a very high skill cap, that skill is not rewarded with higher performance. The devs are looking to fix that in 6.0.

https://twitter.com/Celestalon/statu...80163733262336

Second, Readiness works on long cooldowns, not priority/rotation ones. Current Enhance Readiness is the link below, although the devs have said that all Readiness effects are likely to change before release.

http://wod.wowhead.com/spell=145986

Third, I proposed haste impacting the GCD, and haste doesn't work the way you think it does in WoW. 50% haste would drop the GCD to 1.0s. not 0.75s. Melee and spell haste works the same way; 50% haste drops a 2.6s weapon's attack speed to 1.734s, not 1.3s.

[Futhark]

First, while enhance does have a very high skill cap, that skill is not rewarded with higher performance.

Just emphasizing this.

[Refridge]

First, while enhance does have a very high skill cap, that skill is not rewarded with higher performance. The devs are looking to fix that in 6.0.

https://twitter.com/Celestalon/statu...80163733262336

Second, Readiness works on long cooldowns, not priority/rotation ones. Current Enhance Readiness is the link below, although the devs have said that all Readiness effects are likely to change before release.

http://wod.wowhead.com/spell=145986

Third, I proposed haste impacting the GCD, and haste doesn't work the way you think it does in WoW. 50% haste would drop the GCD to 1.0s. not 0.75s. Melee and spell haste works the same way; 50% haste drops a 2.6s weapon's attack speed to 1.734s, not 1.3s.

Youre right, I misspoke, i meant if haste functioned with the GCD, the way readiness functions with CDs blah blah blah. Which isnt exactly what youre saying, but its close enough. I think lowering the CD on enhance is unnecessary. Thats just my opinion.