Should Mastery be removed as a stat?

[Shelly]

When Mastery was first introduced it was going to be the "tuning knob" for classes. The stat that Blizzard could adjust up and down easily to quickly tweak damage, healing and defensive numbers to quickly balance classes and specs, at one point in time Mastery was a really cool stat for a lot of classes too.

The stat failed at the intended goal of being that tuning knob though and instead Blizzard introduced the incredibly boring stat of Versatility to the game and made pretty much all the masteries "do X more damage of Y type or during Z." Which wouldn't be so bad except that the damage type was either so rare that it didn't really matter to the rotation or the amount of mastery required per point of damage increase was stupidly huge to the point of being irrelevant compared to other easier to obtain stats.

Meanwhile they added in straight class auras that handle damage and healing that all figure versatility into them and while the general rewards for stacking vers for most classes are like getting socks for Christmas there's no denying that practicality can win marathons.

So is there really any point in retaining Mastery at this juncture? I can't really think of any class that favors it over any of the other secondary stats and how most of the heavy lifting it used to do has been picked up by Versatility.

[Trend]

Mastery is far and away the top stat for brewmaster. That's just one example.

And no, they should not prune more from the game regardless.

[Stacko]

I'd rather see them remove Versatility or Haste.

[StillMcfuu]

When Mastery was first introduced it was going to be the "tuning knob" for classes. The stat that Blizzard could adjust up and down easily to quickly tweak damage, healing and defensive numbers to quickly balance classes and specs, at one point in time Mastery was a really cool stat for a lot of classes too.

The stat failed at the intended goal of being that tuning knob though and instead Blizzard introduced the incredibly boring stat of Versatility to the game and made pretty much all the masteries "do X more damage of Y type or during Z." Which wouldn't be so bad except that the damage type was either so rare that it didn't really matter to the rotation or the amount of mastery required per point of damage increase was stupidly huge to the point of being irrelevant compared to other easier to obtain stats.

Meanwhile they added in straight class auras that handle damage and healing that all figure versatility into them and while the general rewards for stacking vers for most classes are like getting socks for Christmas there's no denying that practicality can win marathons.

So is there really any point in retaining Mastery at this juncture? I can't really think of any class that favors it over any of the other secondary stats and how most of the heavy lifting it used to do has been picked up by Versatility.

I think the initial purpose of Mastery was faulty from the get go, I sort of remember the "tuning knob" language they used. But the problem is... and still is, if you start changing the effectiveness of secondaries and their diminishing returns, other stats just become the desired stat.

They could either go back to mastery being unique, or just tie the few remaining special mastery stats to main stats.

[Gestopft]

Adding mastery wasn't a failure; it's more interesting than versatility, multistrike was kinda dumb, and having a stat that affects every spec differently is pretty cool imo. However, thinking it could be a 'tuning knob' was misguided from the start, and they realized it pretty much immediately.

[Onikaroshi]

Hell no, they should be ADDING back more of the removed stats... spirit, parry, dodge, mp5, etc.

[Darththeo]

Honestly, Stats are stats. You can make things simpler ... like why bother with Strength and Agility ... just make an attack called Power or something like that. There, now you just need to focus on weapons with tanking stats vs damage dealing stats. That makes things way simpler.

Simpler doesn't not equal better. And Mastery is a cool concept that at least gives some flavor to the classes, it should stay. Yes, it is nothing special, but how many stats are?

[Varolyn]

Don’t think it should be removed imo. Though it is funny that most people seem to prefer basic flat damage masteries over more “interesting” variants. For example, many outlaw rogues want Main Gauche gone and replaced with something more like the sub and Assassin mastery, even though Main Gauche is kind of interesting with how it works with energy regen. But a lot of players just seem to care about numbers.

[Mirishka]

I'd rather see them remove Versatility. It is the most boring thing they've ever added to our characters, I groan whenever I get gear with Vers - even when I'm playing a class where Vers is a strong stat.

I prefer the stats that have a tangible effect on the way we play, e.g. haste, more crit, etc.

[Onikaroshi]

Honestly, Stats are stats. You can make things simpler ... like why bother with Strength and Agility ... just make an attack called Power or something like that. There, now you just need to focus on weapons with tanking stats vs damage dealing stats. That makes things way simpler.

Simpler doesn't not equal better. And Mastery is a cool concept that at least gives some flavor to the classes, it should stay. Yes, it is nothing special, but how many stats are?

Strength and agi used to be a lot better before they stripped them to the abomination they are now, might as well just have "power" at this point.

[gd8]

Hell no, they should be ADDING back more of the removed stats... spirit, parry, dodge, mp5, etc.

yeah no. realistically we dont even need stats they add nothing to the game

[Puupi]

Remove versatility. Mastery is the only spec defining stat so it's by far the most "interesting" out of them.

[Onikaroshi]

yeah no. realistically we dont even need stats they add nothing to the game

you can go play hello kitty island adventure if you want, but stats used to actually mean something, i'd rather go back to that then make them mean even less.

[Marxman]

Mastery is the only somewhat interesting stat left in the game. Obviously it's more or less interesting depending on spec... but no, it should not be removed. We need more stats and fewer random procs/attached gear systems.

[Wyrt]

Mastery is a boring stat for the majority of specs since it's just a damage increase. It may as well be merged into versatility.

Haste is probably the only fun stat that noticably changes the feel of what you're playing. And crit can be fun if you like seeing the big numbers. Mastery and versatility are just boring.

[Nynax]

Don’t think it should be removed imo. Though it is funny that most people seem to prefer basic flat damage masteries over more “interesting” variants. For example, many outlaw rogues want Main Gauche gone and replaced with something more like the sub and Assassin mastery, even though Main Gauche is kind of interesting with how it works with energy regen. But a lot of players just seem to care about numbers.

That's because those unique masteries generally have to be overpowered to be "worth" their inconsistent nature. Otherwise min-maxers tend to prefer consistency.

[FuujCraft]

We should go back to more stats not less. Give me back Multistrike, Hit, Expertise, defense and Arnor Penetration. Also I wouldn't mind reforging to return as well.

[Sorshen]

Mastery is one of the better stats (design-wise), so no.

[ATZenith]

Mastery is an actually interesting stat. I’d rather it not be removed.

[Ryzek]

Hell no, get rid of Vers and give me back Multistrike, Armor Pen, MP5. Fuck Hit and Expertise though.