The class changes in patch 7.1.5 of WoW are drastic. Priests need to brace themselves, mages rejoice.
Blizzard wants to respond to class changes in Legion much more quickly than during the earlier “World of Warcraft” expansions. This means that the developers will tackle a lot of balancing issues in the interim patch 7.1.5. In the official forum, community manager Ornyx commented on the visions and goals of individual specializations. In particular, 6 specializations are expected to undergo fundamental changes.
Protection Warriors should rely less on Focused Rage and use Revenge more often, which is why the damage of this ability is increased. In addition, there is a talent that triggers Devastate directly with automatic attacks to allow more freedom in ability choices.
Survival Hunters can look forward to improvements in traps. Since all hunters will regain access to traps, Blizzard wants to ensure that the Survival Hunter remains the master in this area. Therefore, the Survival Hunter receives improved effects when luring enemies into traps instead of just throwing them “at their feet”.
Marksmanship Hunters currently have to rely too heavily on Patient Sniper, which is simply not possible in most fights due to the high movement requirements.
Shadow Priests need to brace themselves, as they will lose Insanity – the haste buff that was available after the end of Void Form. This means about 20% less haste on average. To somewhat compensate for this, the generation of Insanity will be increased. Mind Explosion will be removed and replaced with a new passive effect of Mind Rend. Additionally, Void Bolt will no longer fully refresh DoTs on the target but will only extend them by a few seconds (currently 3).
The main goal for Arcane Mages is to be less reliant on the talent Unstable Magic, which currently overshadows all other alternatives. There will also be a specific Arcane Shield that replaces Ice Barrier and a talent that allows casting Arcane Missiles while moving. And Presence of Mind is free for everyone. Great, right?
Fire Mages are currently too reliant on critical strike rating and the ability Conflagrate. Changes are planned here, but the overall damage of Fire Mages will remain untouched, so the base damage of most abilities will be increased.
Cortyn says: As a Priest, “Descent into Madness” is slowly getting on my nerves. The entire class seems to be balanced around this talent, so it should simply be removed and replaced with something else. The current changes on the PTR are a joke, as they not only reduce damage (which is okay) but also make the playstyle of the Shadow Priest annoying. I can only hope that a lot changes before release… but that is exactly what a PTR is for.
