Monday, August 18, 2008

Ultimate Class Balancing: by D

So when the Beta key was graciously extended our way, D graced my account with it. Amazingly sweet, huh? In turn, I've tried to keep him up-to-date on the changes that Wrath is bringing. He was a bit rocked by the "Spell Power" combination of +damage & +healing, but Blizzard's treatment of downranking spells just sent him over the edge.

Downranking: used by casters and healers. Casters may use a low-level rank of a spell for its primary effect, saving a great deal of mana. Ex: PvP Mage casts Arcane Explosion to draw a Rogue out of stealth. Healers may use lower-level ranks of healing spells, combined with a high +Heal stat, to achieve the same amount of healing for considerably less mana.

Did I ever mention that D had a Resto Shaman? Who raided pre-BC? You can imagine what this piece of information did to him.

D: That's it - I've solved it. There will be no more "unintended strategies" used. All stats will be combined into one - called 'Leetness.'

(This is where I started to giggle.)

D: And all classes will have only one spell - called 'Leetness.' "I'm going to cast 'Leetness' on the mob." "Oh, your health is low - I'll grant you some 'Leetness.' " "Wait - everyone 'Leet' up for this next pull."

(I'm now laughing uncontrollably.)

D: No more bitching about class balance. No more "That's Druid gear," or "look, a Priest ring." We'll just sit here and wait for Blizzard to tell us the only approved way to play, and not try to be creative.

All I know is that they had better come up with some way to improve mana efficiency, regeneration, and pool-size - or I'm going to be consoling one VERY perturbed Resto Shammy.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking this is gonna effect twinks as well...
/cry I use my downranked renew on my 19 twinked priest for top/ups or for people who don't have the stamina to utilise a rank 2...

Anonymous said...

Yeah... I feel there are legitimate times where the game could/should be tweaked to alleviate some "This isn't what was intended" issues. But this one just takes the cake. An integral part of my playstyle across all of my toons has been downranking of various spells for mana conservation.

This one truly feels like a "difference between good players and weaker players" nerf. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's an improvement to the game.

I mean let's face it... WoW isn't a HARD game to play in the first place. Blizzard has removed so much of the challenge already :( Making the climb from 20-60 a total breeze has just (imho) created an ocean of players who get to high-level without really having learned to play their class well. There's a time for improving that which is imba, but sometimes making everything simpler or "easier" for everyone just makes the whole game weaker imho.

/end rant

Anonymous said...

good picture