Project Lore

Now that 3.1 has been out for a while, and the dust is at least starting to settle, I think its time to take a step back and discuss how much impact the patch has really made on the game.

While the introduction of the Ulduar raid was obviously a big deal, I want to take a moment to examine how dual-specs has changed the way that we play. This feature, after all, changes the basic mechanics of how we play and will affect the game well past Ulduar and into future expansions.

At this point, I feel many of us have seen both the advantages and the pitfalls of this is action.

First the good, the increase is raid utility is undeniable. Instead of needing to sub people out for encounters because we need more heals, DPS, tanks or whatever we now just need to ask people to switch specs. I have found this to be particularly useful in 10 mans, where we can balance for 2 or 3 healers depending on the encounter.

Beyond that there are some unexpected advantages. For example the shaman who dual spec’d enhancement/elemental. While initially I thought this was the worst idea ever (great you can be DPS or DPS), it has turned out to be incredibly useful on several occasions. Sometimes having DPS at range vs melee, or having an extra buff can make all the difference in a close encounter.

There have been drawbacks too. As I think we all expected loot has been an issue. There are some players that are legitimately splitting their time between two specs. But does that mean they have a right to accumulate two sets of tier pieces while everyone else is working on their first? I certainly don’t think so, but they can make some convincing arguments. Additionally this added flexibility leaves some of the “bubble” players out of raids. Players that are used to being number 1 on the standby list are getting used less and less, as more people can fill more roles.

Personally I find myself changing specs much less often than I expected. While I can now go ret at anytime, I still find I am a tank 99% of the time, and often forget I can switch if need be. Although, being able to PvP whenever I want is certainly nice.

What do you guys think? Have dual specs been working out they way you imagined? Or are you using them much less or more than you expected?

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No one will deny that the impending release of dual specs in patch 3.1 will be a game changer, particularly for the hybrid classes out there. The ability to easily change specs based on an encounter (we need more healers!) or for an activity (no more tank farming!) will make many people's lives much easier, not to mention save some cash at the trainer. As someone who respecs once a week to do PvP, I was very excited about this announcement. Now I'll be able to PvP whenever I want to! Not only that, but I get to save the 100g I spend a week on respecs. It did get me thinking, why is Blizzard stopping there? They have made it clear they don't mind people changing spec mid raid, and they do not plan on balancing encounters around this new dynamic, so why not let us have more than 2 specs? On my Paladin I could easily have 5 specs, and I wouldn't mind one bit paying 1000g a piece for them! I can see it now, with the push of a button I could be a tank, a healer, DPS, or even a PvP healer, or PvP Ret Pally. It would be great! Maybe I'm going a little overboard here, but you see my point. While this benefits hybrid classes over the pure ones, if Blizzard is going to take away limitations, why not take them away completely? What do you guys think? Would you use tri specs, quad spec, or even the dreaded quintuple spec? I know I would.

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Ghostcrawler made an interesting comment on the official forums the other day which has sparked lots of conversation lately. In a thread discussing DPS among the different classes. He states:

Our logic is actually pretty simple. If hybrid classes can do the same dps as pure classes, then why have pure classes in the game? So we design the pure classes to do slightly higher dps.

He continues on to say that they define slightly as somewhere around 5%. The debate is around if this should be the case - should some DPS roles be higher than others by design? This is something I have debated with my friends on and off for years now. I remember one particular instance where a fury warrior friend went on a screaming tirade about how Ret Pallys need to be nerfed and how one class shouldn't be able to "do it all." As someone who plays a class that can "do it all," it is hard for me to say. In the end I do think I agree with GC. There should be a reward for giving up flexibility. It seems like the easy conclusion to make, but I do feel like I need to play devil's advocate a bit here. There are downsides to playing the hybrid classes, among them are having to collect and maintain all the gear sets (I think we all know a druid with 8 gear sets) as well as deal with all of the respec fees. After all, while hybrid classes can take on multiple roles, they cannot do them all at the same time! That being said if you want to do as much DPS as possible, it only makes sense that you should roll a pure DPS class. There is something to be said about a pure class with one designed role, and there are actually not many of them in the game. For me I enjoy the flexibility that hybrid classes allow. Where do you stand on the issue?

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I'll admit that Dual Spec is going to be a game changing mechanic.  There is no denying that.  The ability to trivially change from one layout to another, glyphs, button layout and talents all together, is an exciting idea for most classes.  While appealing to the PvP/PvE crowd - that is, the players that switch back and forth around their raid schedule - Blizzard also believes that the changes will create more tanks and healers per realm.  How many people will go DPS with a Tank/Healer off-spec, rather than a PvP survivability or solo PvE off-spec remains to be seen.   Then there is the issue of one's ability to play their vastly different spec... I'm not saying that the idea isn't a valiant effort on Blizzard's part to fix the various issues it's tackling.  If anyone can pull off such a drastic change, it's Blizzard and their slew of talented designers (oh, right).  My pessimism creeps in because Blizzard and the general WoW populace seems to think that the mechanic will fix all of these issues.  Poof, everything is perfect.  Hasn't Patch v3.0.8 taught us anything? All things considered, I think these problems will be eased, not solved.  The PvP/PvE crowd will be the only sect entirely satisfied.  Although they may start wanting a Tri Spec setup, ya know, for solo PvE.  The quantity of tanks and healers will be split with the PvP crowd, while quality comes with practice.  The first few months could be rough as new or rusty tanks and healers get back into their groove.  I still expect to see plenty of LF2m Tank/Healer either way. Then there is my concern for SolidSamm.  What about the non-hybrid classes?  Warlocks, Hunters, Mages and Rogues are all designed to do one thing, DPS.  Without the ability to offer drastically different specs (don't forget, pet tanking is going bye-bye) we could be left fighting for far fewer spots in raids than before.  If you had the option to take a geared face-melter who could also heal if someone leaves, or an arrow-flinging Hunter, why would you confine yourself to just the Hunter?  Dare I say that the feature will create more homogenization? Scary thought indeed. Initially, I was ecstatic about the Dual Spec feature.  After mulling it over with a certain Horde buddy, I wouldn't mind it not coming with Patch v3.1, or at all in its present condition.  Are you as paranoid about the change as I am, or are you entirely for it?  There are also the issue of Dual Speccing loot drops.  I won't even get into that.  This is one of those things were I hope I am wrong, but I can't see all my points being incorrect.

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