The new animations of the wizards in World of Warcraft work wonders. Especially the Shadow Priest is now even darker.
Actually, one could say that the playstyle of the Shadow Priest in Patch 7.3 of World of Warcraft has absolutely not changed. The rotation is the same, the spells used are the same, and from pure “button pressing” one does nothing different than before.
And yet Blizzard has succeeded in making it feel completely different to play a Shadow Priest now. The reason for this is the new animations.
Priests received new animations, just like mages, druids, and elemental shamans.
And although they are basically just movements of the character, the feel of the class has changed drastically – and for the better. Every spell now conveys a real “feeling” of what the character is actually doing. When he transforms into Voidform, he lets the madness of the Void flow through him and lifts off the ground. The character “floats” or “glides” on a wave of madness until Voidform ends. During this, he even leans into the direction he wants to fly.
Especially cool are most instants like Shadow Word: Pain or Void Bolt. Here, the character no longer raises his hands theatrically, but instead, with a swift hand movement, hurls a quick curse towards the enemy. This looks much more fitting and logical. An instant spell should indeed “come off the hand easily” and not be unleashed like a long channelled spell.
The Whispers of Shadows
All the changes to the animations pale for me personally against another fact: The new sound effects. No matter what spell you cast as a Shadow Priest – Mind Blast, Shadowform, Void Eruption, Mind Spike – every spell has received new sounds. I do not mean the normal “spell sounds” of flying Void Bolts or the quiet “whoosh” when activating Shadowform, but whispers.
Whenever the Shadow Priest casts, you can hear quiet voices in the background, speaking just loud enough to be noticed, but never exactly what they are saying. They probably say nothing, yet I sat in front of the PC for several minutes trying to understand it. This exact balance between “quiet murmuring in the background” and the feeling that you can understand what is being said makes these sounds perfect.
I now feel as a Shadow Priest truly driven by powers that promise me power and at the same time repeatedly warn me that all others will betray me.
I firmly believe that there are already numerous threads in the official priest forums complaining that the whispers are annoying and disturbing.
It is absolutely amazing to me how such small changes have completely redefined the feel of a class. Hats off, Blizzard. Now I don’t feel like playing my twinks anymore.
How did you Shadow Priests experience the changes? Annoying or good? And what do the other casters say about their new animations and sounds? Let us know in the comments!
What we think of the new Patch 7.3 can be found in this article.
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