Currently Arms is in a really bad spot both PvE and PvP and also completely lacks the dynamic and proccy playstyle it used to make it fun. Fortunately in PvE we have Fury, which is a decent Alternative, being alright in single target dmg and all.
Now i've thought about possible Solutions how to fix Arms, making it more fun and less stale in PvE while not buffing it to stupid OP levels in PvP again.
Here is what i'd like to see atm. Those suggestions are purely mechanic wise, numbers would ofc have to be adjusted.
Give Arms a real Raid Role:
Currently its Role is being the spec for ppl who dont have 2 2Handers yet or lack gear. That is really boring. On the other Hand switching Specs depending on Encounter is fun and other classes certainly do that aswell (Many other classes do it).
-So why not make Arms the AoE-Centered DPS spec, thats slightly behind Fury in Single Target. The Tools are certainly in place (except for the horrible Mastery for AoE). For this Sweeping Strike would certainly have to be fixed. Currently its completely useless in PvE and even more useless in PvP since it double Dips Resilience. Also Whirlwind is rather pathetic for Arms. Make it hit harder, just as Arms spec.
Overpower:
Im sick of Overpower being the Button that hits for exactly the same dmg every time, even during Recklessness. Its also the single Reason why we are scaling like shit in the Endgame but at the same time have way too much Basedmg both in low ilvl and PvP. I propose the following changes:
- Remove the Bonus Crit.
- Make it cost 5 Rage.
This would make it scale better with crit, decrease pvp dmg from OP drastically and on the same time free up some rage to use on other abilities.
If it truly has to be a crit centered ability it should function like chaosbolt, with maybe 80-90% Weapondmg or so.
Taste for Blood:
I think the basic concept of Taste for blood procs is pretty good. The problem is that atm its not a real proc anymore and thus completely stale and boring. I understand that the old Version doesnt work, making it a proc of a proc that triggers a strong off-GCD attack, but there are better solutions than making it a static mechanice like it is atm:
-MS only procs 1 Taste for Blood stack
-Slam has a 50% Chance to proc OP aswell
No we would actually weave in Slams outside of Recklessness once in awhile, since there is less Taste For Blood procs overall and we also have the Rage since OP only costs 5 Rage now.
Slows:
Currently Harmstring feels really bad. The effect is really nice being physical and all, but its a pain in the ass to apply, yet mandatory. We are the only melee class who's slow requires a GCD, primary Ressources and melee range to be applied. On the same time we are the class that relies the most on having the slow up. This makes the whole concept of sticking to a target really frustrating. I understand that an autoslow combined with our mobility and our current pvp dmg we would be too strong (thinking 5.0), but combined with the pvp dmg nerfs mentioned above i suggest the following solution:
- Harmstring stays like it is
- Piercing Howl applies same Harmstring effect
- Cleave and Heroic Strike extend the Harmstring effect to its natural duration (yet they dont apply a slow)
Now you would still have to apply it manually once in awhile, but would also have the option to invest a bigger amount of Rage on HS/Cleave for gaining an additional GCD every 8 Secs.
Final Thoughts:
So this would be my suggestions of an easy way to bring back the fun to arms, without introducing completely new mechanics. What are your thoughts on this? Do you guys have any ideas what can be done to adress our problems? One thing is clear to me, Arms cant stay like it is and has to be fixed. After all the spec is the real reason why i rolled warrior...