Hypothetical Augmentation rework

[Sondrelk]

Now that Augmentation has finally unquestionably fallen off the meta. I think it's a good time to ask the question of whether the spec will get reworked.

While I enjoy the playstyle. It being why I swapped to an Evoker in the patch it came out. It's no secret the spec has been controversial.
From the beginnings with being horrendously OP, all the way until the last patch. It proved that what made it good was the one thing it needed to be viable. The ability to trade a consistent DPS profile like what other specs had, with lots and lots of utility. Both CC and defensives.
The utility got picked apart piece by piece to try and make the spec less OP, and now that basically all of it has disappeared we are left with only a sub-par DPS that is heavily dependent on other good DPS to carry it.
And while this makes it easier to tune. It also leaves the uncomfortable question of why pick it at all when other specs don't become neutered when someone dies, or you have mechanics like the ones we see on Xav the Unfallen in Theater of Pain.

The question then becomes. Assuming the developers are reworking Augmentation heavily in some future expansion. (With maybe some support spec flavor remaining, like Power Infusion or what have you). Would people prefer the spec to become a proper DPS, stay as it is, or become a Tank like some players speculated before 10.1.5?

[Teriz]

Tank.

I fear if it goes straight DPS it'll run too close to Devastation, and also lose its support angle. As a tank, not only would it be the first mail-based tank, but it would also be somewhat ranged and caster. Not to mention that the new spec could take elements from the current spec like Blistering Scales and Defy Fate, and stuff from Deathwing HotS who was a tanky bruiser.

[Ersula]

People keep saying its fallen off, but really its just become as desirable as any other class. Instead of stacking them, at least one is still desirable, like most classes. Raids & Groups still want them in general.

[Sondrelk]

Tank spec would probably be my choice as well. Most of the abilities Augmentation currently has fits better with a Tank mindset, what with loads of AoE. And the most consistent piece of Augmentation support has been the Tank buff, which could easily be reworked into a self buff. Even if it might end up maybe a bit too similar to the Blood DK bone shield mechanic.

Not sure what the niche of the Tank spec would be though. Feels like most avenues of a tank being effective have already been covered, what with DK having lots of stamina, DH having self heal, Monk having the stagger mechanic. etc.

[Mysterymask]

I think maybe return of a stance system to have the best of both worlds...

Earthbreaker: actually a pure dps stance utilizing earth spells making your more Nelthatian like able to be mostly on par with Deveststion maybe a little weaker to make up for the utility

EarthWarder: Retains the buff style and like now better your fellow DPS are the better you are.

Of course you cannot change your stance in combat but say you get in a pug kill a trash pack or 2 as Destroyer "Hey these guys are pretty decent" change to EarthWarder and your doing a bit more dps or stay as Destroyer and only have a slight dps loss overall

[Sondrelk]

People keep saying its fallen off, but really its just become as desirable as any other class. Instead of stacking them, at least one is still desirable, like most classes. Raids & Groups still want them in general.

That's true. And like all classes, you can easily make it work on most content. Problem is that a spec like Augmentation is inherently one of those where it's either great, or a liability.
If you tune it assuming perfect play, then it's always going to suffer and be terrible in more casual settings. Whereas if you tune it assuming more average players use it, then it will easily dominate top level play.

Admittedly. They could rework it so it gives flat damage procs as buffs rather than main stat or crit or what have you. That would technically solve most of the issues. Even if it would still probably suffer the usual issues of being OP if it's good, and trash if it's not.

- - - Updated - - -

I think maybe return of a stance system to have the best of both worlds...

Earthbreaker: actually a pure dps stance utilizing earth spells making your more Nelthatian like able to be mostly on par with Deveststion maybe a little weaker to make up for the utility

EarthWarder: Retains the buff style and like now better your fellow DPS are the better you are.

Of course you cannot change your stance in combat but say you get in a pug kill a trash pack or 2 as Destroyer "Hey these guys are pretty decent" change to EarthWarder and your doing a bit more dps or stay as Destroyer and only have a slight dps loss overall

While I like the idea. I think the developers have made their stance clear on the topic of having such vastly different play styles within a single spec. Having to accomodate both is a nightmare for balancing, and leaves the talent trees anemic for either option.

[Teriz]

Tank spec would probably be my choice as well. Most of the abilities Augmentation currently has fits better with a Tank mindset, what with loads of AoE. And the most consistent piece of Augmentation support has been the Tank buff, which could easily be reworked into a self buff. Even if it might end up maybe a bit too similar to the Blood DK bone shield mechanic.

Not sure what the niche of the Tank spec would be though. Feels like most avenues of a tank being effective have already been covered, what with DK having lots of stamina, DH having self heal, Monk having the stagger mechanic. etc.

They can continue the general gist of the current spec by having a tank that boosts the power of their allies, and being a caster.

For example, if I were designing the spec, I would retain Draconic Attunements and continue to have it increase the move speed or increase the health pool of the party. I would retain Blistering Scales and make it one of the main forms of mitigation for the tank. I would incorporate Incinerate from Deathwing HotS and Alexstraza HotS' ability Blessing of the Red to give more mitigation functionality, and have it replace Upheaval as the Empower ability for the spec. I would also incorporate Bellowing Roar from Deathwing HotS into the class and have it reduce the armor and up the threat to enemies in radius. Defy Fate already makes a great passive tanking cooldown, as does the motes that Augmentation produces.

As a tank, it won't be in competition with other DPS specs, it'll just be in competition with other tanks, and I believe having support aspects works a little better in that role than it does DPS.

[KYZ123]

Absolutely keep it as is. I'm all for new tank specs, but not at the cost of removing existing specs, nobody wants a tank Shaman if that means current Enhancement gets deleted. As for pure DPS, Devastation already exists, along with another 24 DPS specs - those are not in short supply.

When people talk about "support" specs, they're quite often conflating a bunch of different definitions. Are we talking about specs with strong utility - does Paladin count as a support with all their utility? Are we talking about specs which have external damage, like Power Infusion or pre-TWW Blessing of Summer? Does the external damage have to scale from the buffed target, or are abilities like Blistering Scales, Bombardments and beta Sacred Weapon also fine? Do we mean support as a sub-category of DPS, or is support its own new role along with tank, healer and DPS?

Augmentation in its current state is balanceable, but it needs more of its power moved into buffs that scale from the caster, like the previously mentioned Blistering Scales and Bombardments. It probably also needs a few more of those abilities, either via adding more or reworking existing abilities. Its current utility (Chrono Ward and occasional Vers procs) is arguably worse than Mage, Paladin, or Priest, so that's also fine, although I'm not personally a fan of it being brought for "We Have Mass Barrier At Home".