In-Game Fixes -- 1/7/10 (Rogues, Meet Nerf Bat)
Amatera
[caption id="attachment_9609" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Rogues: The Glass Joe to Blizzard's Little Mac"]
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Just when I was getting used to being on top of the world again, Blizzard had to go and burst my bubble! Like a screaming hot uppercut to the chin, Rogues are getting knocked to the mat because their DPS is quote-unqoute "too high." Is it? Of course it is. Should it be nerfed? Trying my best not to sound like I'm advocating for the class that I play: NO! But it is nonetheless one of several balance changes currently on the slate, according to Ghostcrawler:
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Just when I was getting used to being on top of the world again, Blizzard had to go and burst my bubble! Like a screaming hot uppercut to the chin, Rogues are getting knocked to the mat because their DPS is quote-unqoute "too high." Is it? Of course it is. Should it be nerfed? Trying my best not to sound like I'm advocating for the class that I play: NO! But it is nonetheless one of several balance changes currently on the slate, according to Ghostcrawler:As many of you have suspected, we think rogue damage is too high. We will be making hotfixes to lower the maximum damage output of Assassination and Combat rogues. The Combat nerf will be slight. Both specs should still do just fine on damage meters (assuming skill, gear etc.) but shouldn't be beating out other specs to such a large degree. Other things on our radar that you might see soon -- none of these are promises and we have no specific changes to announce yet: Warlock damage in PvE is a little low.Some of these changes, should we decide to pursue them, can be handled via hotfix and others will be made in an upcoming patch. We usually don't make such general announcements before we're ready to share the specifics, so we'll see how this works out.
- Protection warriors have too much utility and damage for PvP. (We don't want to hurt their tanking in PvE of course.)
- We are considering adjusting (not replacing) the Elemental 4 piece Tier 10 set bonus.
- We'll continue to refine and look at the Icecrown weapon procs.
- Other stuff (yes, we've heard your concerns), but these are the big things we are focusing on at this time.
All throughout Wrath, changes to Rogues have traditionally been made because they were overpowered in PvP. Though I hate Blizzard has to balance around that, I can understand why they do and it's a valid reason; when fighting against another human being, it's best to level the playing field and let quick thinking and smart play determine the victor. Not to say those aren't important assets to have in a boss fight, but you also tend to follow a more general, planned out strategy. That's just the nature of the game.
The fact of the matter is, this particular round of nerfs comes as a result of people getting their e-peens in a knot (or rather, jealous that theirs aren't long enough to tie it into one). Rogues do need to be balanced, but in acooperative atmosphere like a 25-man raid, wouldn't you want as much possible damage on the bosses as possible right now? The content is new, and it's tough, and at least a couple fights are huge DPS races. They aren't buffing other classes to meet that (and why would they, it takes a lot more effort to modify ten classes than nerf one), so it would seem evident that maximizing output right now would be your raid's top priority.
Once the dust settles, and the bosses are on farm, that's the time to nerf Rogues. We knew it was coming, and in the long run, they do need it. But in the meantime, it was a true asset.
So what, precisely, is going to happen to Rogues? In the actual list of changes yesterday, the solution appears to be: nerf Hunger for Blood, which reminds me what a horrible, horrible mistake it was to add that skill to the game. It has not gone untouched for very long since it was implemented, and the fact that it provides an across-the-board damage increase when active makes it a very convenient place to shave some numbers. It now only provides a 5% buff (8% with the glyph), which while still necessary to keep refreshed, makes me wonder if we will soon see the day when it is dropped from the rotation and Rogues are made even more simplistic to play. But hey, at least we get to disarm traps again, right?
I'm getting long-winded so let's cut to the chase! The complete list of in-game fixes follows:
So, readers, is this Rogue nerf something you can get behind, or would their high level of damage have been worth stringing along in Icecrown Citadel until gear started to even things out a little bit? Do you think Blizzard knows what they're doing with the class, or have they painted it into a corner over the course of the expansion? If the latter, can it be saved with a Warlock-style revamp in the expansion?Listed below are recent fixes we have applied to the game. Keep in mind that some of these changes may not be active until after the realm has been restarted. To review previous in-game fixes, please visit: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21723843880&sid=1 01/07/10
- Rotface’s hit points have been reduced in the 10 person encounter.
- Stealthed rogues should no longer trigger traps in Ice Crown Citadel from long range.
- The base damage bonus from Hunger for Blood has been reduced from 10% to 5%.
- The bonus damage rogues gain from attack power for poisons has been decreased. This applies to Instant Poison, Deadly Poison, and Wound Poison.
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