World of Warcraft revises the affixes for dungeons. A part of the player base cheers – another group is furious.
The beta of World of Warcraft: The War Within has been running for a few days and many already have access – not least because of the Epic Edition, which allows one to simply purchase beta access. Many have already reached the maximum level and the next phase of testing is upon us: Mythic+.
Blizzard presents a number of new affixes and removes old ones.
What new affixes are there? In total, Blizzard is bringing 4 new affixes that will appear starting at the difficulty “Mythic+4”. They are designed to be simple in their design and to act more passively than actively. This way, the focus should be more on the dungeon and the creatures rather than on the affixes. The new affixes are:
- Reckless: Non-bosses without mana ignore 20% of armor with their attacks, but their armor is reduced by 30% and they take 10% increased Arcane damage.
- Thorned: Non-bosses without mana deal physical damage to their attackers, but take 10% increased Holy and Shadow damage.
- Attuned: Non-bosses without mana deal 20% additional magic damage, but take 10% additional Nature damage and 30% increased damage from bleeding effects.
- Focused: Non-bosses without mana have 30% increased speed but take 10% increased Frost and Fire damage.
All these affixes only affect “enemies without mana” that are “not bosses” – apparently, enemy spellcasters are not meant to be strengthened, which has previously led to very nasty “one-hit” abilities.
Which affixes are disappearing? As part of this overhaul, some other affixes are being completely removed from the system and will likely not be used in the near future. The removed affixes are:
- Afflicted
- Incorporeal
- Entangling
- Storming
- Volcanic
These affixes significantly influenced gameplay and caused some dungeons to be entirely avoided during their respective weeks.
What is the problem with the new affixes? The new affixes are being heavily debated in the community. While many view it positively that affixes also have a strengthening component, most find this limitation rather problematic. In weeks when, for example, the Shadow damage taken by enemies is increased, one would gladly take a Shadow Priest – in all other weeks, this character could have trouble finding a group.
The same problem is likely to affect most DPS characters, who ultimately are particularly in demand only in one of four weeks.
As the community tends to orient itself towards the optimum, which is usually demonstrated by the professionals, there is great concern that all classes that cannot currently fulfill the “affix of the week” will no longer find a group. However, one should keep in mind that this is still beta testing. By the release at the end of August, a lot can change and if the feedback is accordingly, Blizzard will likely make adjustments.
