With the Season 12 PTR starting tomorrow, players have started to look at the balance changes, and the results are really minimal. For all the old classes, almost every change is just to paragon nodes, with no skill updates. Paladin is the only exception, getting some meaningful adjustments, but Paladin is also only in early access for now.
Everyone else, from Rogue to Sorcerer, is mostly seeing small percentage changes.
Tiny Changes but Big Reactions
Here is a quick look at some of the Paragon changes across classes:
- Rogue: :Tricks of the Trade (+50→60%), Deadly Ambush (+50→60%), Cheap Shot (+30→40%)
- Barbarian: Fury and damage changes across Weapons Master, Warbringer, Hemorrhage
- Druid, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Spiritborn: Mostly small percentage adjustments to damage or duration on specific nodes
Balance Updates
Spiritborn
In-Fighter Legendary Paragon Node
- Bonus damage increased from 30%[x] to 45%[x].
Bitter Medicine Legendary Paragon Node
- Poisoning damage bonus increased from 60%[x] to 80%[x].
Drive Legendary Node
- Duration reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.
- Maximum stacks increased from 10 to 20.
- Updated the tooltip to clarify that the buff does not refresh while at maximum stacks.
Barbarian
Paragon
Weapons Master
- Fury gain reduced from 12 to 4.
- Damage bonus against Injured and Healthy increased from 45%[x] to 75%[x].
Warbringer
- Previous: For every 300 Fury you spend, gain 10% of your Maximum Life as Fortify.
- Now: After spending 300 Fury, gain 2% of your Maximum Life as Fortify. Deal 45%[x] increased damage while Fortified.
Hemorrhage
- Damage bonus increased from 60%[x] to 75%[x].
Druid
Paragon
Lust for Carnage
- Damage bonus increased from 50%[x] to 70%[x].
Thunderstruck
- Previous: Storm Skills deal increased damage equal to 20%[x] of your Damage vs Close and Damage vs Distant bonuses, up to 60%[x].
- Now: Storm Skills deal 60%[x] increased damage, and 15%[+] chance to Critically Strike.
Untamed
- Duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.
Guzzler Glyph
- Capped at 20% increased damage and Potion Healing.
Necromancer
Paragon
Blood Begets Blood
- Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%, and maximum bonus increased from 50%[x] to 60%[x].
- Duration increased from 5 to 10 seconds.
Flesh-Eater
- Previous: Consuming 3 Corpses grants 40%[x] increased damage for 6 seconds.
- Now: Consuming a Corpse grants 60%[x] increased damage for 8 seconds.
Scent of Death
- Critical Strike Damage bonus increased from 30%[x] to 45%[x].
Bloodbath
- Previous: Deal 40%[x] increased Overpower damage. After Overpowering, you deal 25%[x] increased Blood Skill damage for 5 seconds.
- Now: Deal 20%[x] increased Overpower damage. After Overpowering, you deal 50%[x] increased Physical damage for 5 seconds.
Wither
- Damage bonus increased from 300%[x] to 400%[x].
Frailty
- Previous: Cursed enemies take 10%[x] increased damage from you and your Minions. This bonus is increased by 10%[x] each second they are Cursed, up to 40%[x].
- Now: Deal 50%[x] increased damage to Cursed enemies.
Imbiber Glyph
- Capped at 20% increased damage and Potion Healing.
Rogue
Paragon
Tricks of the Trade
- Damage bonus increased from 50%[x] to 60%[x].
Deadly Ambush
- Damage bonus increased from 50%[x] to 60%[x].
Cheap Shot
- Damage bonus increased from 30%[x] to 40%[x].
Sorcerer
Paragon
Burning Instinct
- Previous: Your Burning damage is increased by 20%[x] of your Damage with Fire Bonus, plus 2%[x] for every 30 Intelligence you have, up to 90%[x].
- Now: Deal 90%[x] increased Burning damage.
Frigid Fate
- Previous: You deal bonus damage to Vulnerable enemies equal to 20%[x] of the total amount of your Bonus Damage with Cold, up to a maximum of 60%[x].
- Now: Deal 60%[x] bonus damage to Vulnerable enemies.
Elemental Summoner
- Previous: Your Conjuration Skills have a 10%[x] reduced Cooldown or Mana cost. They also deal bonus damage equal to 10%[x] of the total amount of your Bonus Damage with Fire, Lightning, and Cold, up to 60%[x].
- Now: Your Conjuration Skills have a 20%[x] reduced Cooldown or Mana cost. Casting a Conjuration Skill increases your damage with their element by 50%[x] for 6 seconds.
As a Rogue main, those patch notes are particularly painful since Rogue only got three tiny buffs. Many players are already joking (or venting) that Blizzard “does not care” about the class, especially compared to others. It is not the first time that Rogue feels like it is being entirely left out of the picture.
Players keep asking for changes to the class season after season, but we often only obtain small, insignificant modifications.
The “Placeholder Season” Theory
The community seems to have a pretty good idea of why the PTR is so light on actual class changes:
- Season 12 launches in March, only a month before the Lord of Hatred expansion in April
- The expansion will bring massive skill tree overhauls for all classes
- Making big skill changes for S12 now might be pointless. They would just get replaced in a few weeks.
On Reddit, one player summed it up: “This is a placeholder season.”
Other comments also pointed out that the actual season launch patch will not be known until 1 or 2 weeks before the season starts. While this is true, it is fair to point out that most of the time we still get more changes than that in our PTR patch notes.
However, the consensus is clear that the PTR changes are minimal on purpose, mostly just testing paragon changes, and the bigger skill and balance updates are saved for the expansion.
Why Some Players Are Worried
Even if it is “placeholder” content, the reactions from the community show a few interesting points:
- Both Rogue and Sorcerer mains feel ignored. Even if they are good, powerful classes, they still have a few things that need to be addressed sooner or later, and the fact that they received no meaningful attention in a long time makes some players slightly worried.
- Paragon-only changes are unusual. As mentioned, PTR updates for a new season typically include a mix of skill, spec, and paragon changes. This time, it is mostly just numbers, and that feels a little bit off.
- Expectation vs reality. Players are used to Blizzard releasing more substantial adjustments after PTR feedback, but this time, the PTR feels unusually small.
Again, there is probably nothing to worry about since we do know that skill trees are being changed for the expansion, so the lack of meaningful class modifications is most likely due to Blizzard keeping those for the expansion. It makes much more sense to have everything changed at once in this situation, especially since Lord of Hatred drops very shortly after Season 12.
It is definitely going to be a calm Season 12, with the real changes likely coming with the expansion launch in April. Until then, expect minimal class changes, tiny paragon buffs, and plenty of community speculation about what is really coming!
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