Massive Class Tuning Pass Coming September 22nd: 23 Specs!

Our tuning pass this week is mostly targeted at low performers across Mythic+, Raid, and PvP. In addition to helping low performers, we are looking at some hero talent disparity to see if we can create a little more competitive balance between the options to better facilitate more gameplay options.

CLASS CHANGES

DEATH KNIGHT

• Blood
  • Developers’ notes: San’layn is dealing quite a bit more damage in AoE than our intended target for tanks. We will be reducing their overall damage to reduce the disparity. However, we will be increasing Death Strike’s damage and reducing its cleave effectiveness to buff Blood’s single target which is a little on the lower end of tanks. In addition, we are making some Deathbringer specific targeted buffs to counter the overall aura nerf and be a small net positive buff to both their AoE and single target damage.
  • All ability damage reduced by 6%.
  • Death Strike damage increased by 25%.
  • Deadly Reach now causes Death Strike now to deal 60% of its damage to 2 nearby enemies (was 75%).
  • Deathbringer
    • Exterminate damage increased by 25%.
    • Reaper’s Mark damage increased by 20%.
    • Wave of Souls damage increased by 20%.
    • Bind in Darkness now increases Blood Boil damage by 50% (was 30%).
    • Deathly Blows now increases Death Strike damage by 20% (was 12%).
    • Swift and Painful now increases Strength by 15% (was 10%).
• Frost
  • Developers’ notes: Frost Death has been lacking in single target and two target cleave scenarios.
  • Frostreaper damage increased by 100%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Obliterate damage increased by 10%. Does not affect PvP combat.
• Unholy
  • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Unholy Death Knight’s damage output in raid. In parallel, we’re aiming to bring Blightfall build back to where it was prior to the bug fixes that made it no longer viable.
  • Scourging now causes your plagues to erupt at 65%/100% (was 50%/70%). Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Blightfall deals 200% of the plague damage remaining (was 100%). Does not affect PvP combat
  • San’layn
    • Infliction of Sorrow causes Vampiric Strike to erupt plagues with 75% increased effectiveness (was 30%).
    • Thrill of Blood increases Dread Plague damage by 20% (was 10%).
    • Frenzied Bloodthirst now increases Death Coil and Death Strike damage by 5% per stack.

DEMON HUNTER

• Devourer
  • Developers’ notes: These changes are intended to primarily benefit the raid and single target performance of Annihilator hero talent builds and improve Annihilator’s viability in more content.
  • Collapsing Star damage to primary target increased by 25%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Consume/Devour damage increased by 8%. Does not affect PvP combat.
• Havoc
  • Aldrachi Reaver
    • Developers’ notes: Aldrachi Reaver has fallen well behind the alternative hero talent options for both specs it is available to. We are improving some of its core effects for both specs, and for Havoc specifically the soul fragment generation from Broken Spirit is increasing to give a small boost to Fury generation and hasten the cycle of Reaver’s Glaive and its bonuses.
    • Art of the Glaive now increases the damage of enhanced strikes by 15% (was 10%) and 30% (was 20%).
    • Reaver’s Glaive damage increased by 25%.
    • Reaver’s Mark now increases your damage to the target by 7% (was 6%).
    • Broken Spirit chance to shatter a Soul Fragment increased to 20% (was 15%).
• Vengeance
  • Aldrachi Reaver
    • Developers’ notes: Aldrachi Reaver has fallen well behind the alternative hero talent options for both specs it is available to. We are improving some of its core effects for both specs.
    • Art of the Glaive now increases the damage of enhanced strikes by 15% (was 10%) and 30% (was 20%).
    • Reaver’s Glaive damage increased by 30%.
    • Reaver’s Mark now increases your damage to the target by 8% (was 7%).

DRUID

• Hero Talents
  • Wildstalker
    • Bursting Growth damage increased by 15%. Not applied to PvP combat.
• Feral
  • Wildstalker
    • Patient Custodian increases bleed damage by 10% (was 8%). Not applied to PvP combat.
• Restoration
  • All healing increased by 4%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Fixed an issue where Photosynthesis could trigger from other players’ heal over time effects.

EVOKER

• Augmentation
  • Developers’ notes: We’re making some targeted adjustments to parts of Augmentation’s kit that have lower representation in their breakdown than they should be relative to their intended strength or time spent performing them.
  • Eruption damage increased by 15%.
  • Fire Breath damage increased by 60%.
  • Upheaval damage increased by 40%.
  • Blistering Scales damage increased by 100%.
• Devastation
  • Developers’ notes: Devastation’s overall damage in M+ is slightly lower than we’d like, so we’re broadly targeting AoE abilities for buffs. We’re increasing Unbound Flame’s damage to maintain its appeal as the focus of the Apex talents. And finally, we’re increasing Shattering Star’s damage so that players talenting for their tier set can feel confident they are making a competitive character building decision. We anticipate this package giving a larger buff to Flameshaper than to Scalecommander, as we’re seeing Scalecommander outperform it in most content.
  • Pyre damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Unbound Flame damage increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Fire Breath damage increased by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Azure Strike damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Azure Sweep damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Shattering Star damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

HUNTER

• Marksmanship
  • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase the area damage capabilities of Marksmanship Hunters with these changes.
  • Trick Shots now causes Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire ricochets to hit for 75% of damage (was 60%).
  • Volley damage increased by 10%.
• Survival
  • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the damage that Wildfire Bomb deals to all targets, but reducing the bonus damage to the primary target. This should be a neutral change against a single target, but an increase to area damage when fighting more than one enemy.
  • Wildfire Bomb damage increased by 20%.
  • Wildfire Bomb now only hits the primary target for 50% additional damage (was 80% additional).

MAGE

• Developers’ notes: For both Fire and Frost, these changes are intended to primarily improve performance in M+, with a smaller impact in raids.
• Fire
  • Meteor’s damage over time increased by 100%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Frostfire
    • Dualcasting Adept now increases Flamestrike damage by 15% (was 10%).
  • Sunfury
    • Burden of Power now increases Flamestrike damage by 6% (was 3%).
• Frost
  • Frozen Orb damage increased by 15%.
  • Comet Storm damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Frostbite’s Shatter damage to nearby enemies increased by 10%.
  • Glacial Assault icy comet damage increased by 50%.

MONK

• Mistweaver
  • All healing increased by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Vivify healing increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Sheilun’s Gift healing increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Windwalker
  • Melee auto-attack damage increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Dual Threat damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Rising Sun Kick damage increased by 8%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

PALADIN

• Protection
  • All ability damage increased by 6%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Retribution
  • Templar
    • Developers’ notes: Templar has been underperforming compared to Herald of the Sun this season. We’re increasing its throughput to make it a more viable option against Herald of the Sun, for those who enjoy Templar’s playstyle.
    • Hammer of Light damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
    • Empyrean Hammer damage increased by 12%.

PRIEST

• Discipline
  • Developers’ notes: Discipline isn’t able to dish out proper healing in dungeon environments due to how strong Atonement is in raids. We’re reintroducing an Atonement healing bonus outside of raid environments and significantly increasing Atonement healing outside raid to help Discipline shine in dungeons.
  • Atonement healing is increased by 40% when not in a raid or battleground instance.
  • Atonement healing is no longer increased by 40% in PvP combat.
  • Penance mana cost reduced by 20%.
• Shadow
  • Developers’ notes: We feel Shadow is lacking in single target damage, so these changes are intended to improve Shadow’s damage against singular targets while remaining neutral in multi-target situations.
  • Mind Blast damage increased by 15%.
  • Void Blast damage increased by 15%.
  • Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 15%.
  • Shadow Word: Madness damage increased by 15%. Not applied to PvP combat.
  • Mind Flay damage increased by 15%. Not applied to PvP combat.
  • Mind Flay: Insanity damage increased by 15%. Not applied to PvP combat.
  • Psychic Link now causes direct damage spells to inflict 20% of their damage to all other targets afflicted by Vampiric Touch (was 25%). Not applied to PvP combat.
  • Shadeburst damage reduced by 5%. Not applied to PvP combat.

ROGUE

• Subtlety
  • Trickster
    • Developers’ notes: Trickster has performed well below Deathstalker for Subtlety this tier and is receiving damage boost to its core effects to make Trickster a more reasonable choice in a wider range of content.
    • Unseen Blade damage increased by 50%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Coup de Grace damage increased by 30%. Does not affect PvP combat.

WARRIOR

• Developers’ notes: Warriors are in a good state overall, but we feel that Mountain Thane is a bit behind their partner hero specs on both Fury and Prot, so we’re giving a small boost there to help Mountain Thane enjoyers.
• Fury
  • Mountain Thane
    • Lightning Strike damage increased by 50%.
    • Ground Current damage increased by 50%.
• Protection
  • Mountain Thane
    • Lightning Strike damage increased by 50%.
    • Ground Current damage increased by 50%.

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

DEATH KNIGHT

• Unholy
  • San’layn
    • Developers’ notes: We would like to push for the San’layn hero talent tree to be a more viable option for Unholy Death Knights in PvP.
    • Inevitable now causes plagues to deal up to 60% increased damage based on the target’s missing health (was 30%).
    • Vampiric Strike damage increased by 100%.

DRUID

• Feral
  • Druid of the Claw
    • Ravage damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
    • Dreadful Wound damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
    • Exacerbating Wounds increases damage taken from your bleed effects by 10% in PvP combat (was 8%).
• Restoration
  • Developers’ notes: Restoration Druid’s burst healing and instant crowd-control capabilities have limited counterplay for other players, so we’re targeting these aspects to decrease their overall performance.
  • Call of Ohn’ahra increases the cooldown of Nature’s Swiftness by 60 seconds (was 30 seconds).
  • Swiftmend healing reduced by 20% in PvP combat.

EVOKER

• Augmentation
  • Ebon Might grants 12% primary stat in PvP combat (was 10%).
• Preservation
  • Flameshaper
    • Consume Flame healing reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

HUNTER

• Beast Mastery
  • Dark Ranger
    • Developers’ notes: Dark Ranger has been underperforming for Beast Mastery, so we’re adjusting their Black Arrow damage to increase their performance.
    • Black Arrow damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
• Survival
  • Developers’ notes: Survival Hunter’s burst window has been particularly powerful this season, so we are targeting reductions in that area to allow other players more time to react.
  • Takedown Hunter damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.
  • Takedown Pet damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.
  • Sentinel
    • Moonlight Chakram damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.

MAGE

• Fire
  • Developers’ notes: We feel Fire Mage burst damage continues to be too high even outside of Combustion, so we’re further reducing the damage bonus from Pyroclasm to lessen its potential to lead to quick kills.
  • Pyroclasm now increases the damage of Pyroblast or Flamestrike by 160% in PvP combat (was 180%).

MONK

• Windwalker
  • Developers’ notes: We’re decreasing the performance gap between Windwalker’s hero talent trees as Shado-pan has been overperforming and Conduit of the Celestials has been underperforming.
  • Conduit of the Celestials
    • Celestial Conduit damage increased by 50%.
  • Shado-Pan
    • Flurry Strikes damage reduced by 15%.

PALADIN

• Retribution
  • Templar
    • Developers’ notes: We’re bringing Templar’s performance up also in PvP, but we believe the gap to Herald of the Sun is less drastic compared to PvE.
    • Hammer of Light damage increased by 20%.

PRIEST

• Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the effectiveness of Mindgames once more in this pass to solidify its usability. We’d like for it to be able to compete with other powerful PvP talent options in Priest’s kit.
• Mindgames direct damage and reversal increased by 50%.
• Holy
  • Developers’ notes: We feel Oracle Holy is in a good place, but Archon has difficulties keeping up, so we’re targeting buffs to its throughout and offensive potential.
  • Archon
    • Halo damage and healing increased by 30% in PvP combat.
    • Focused Outburst now reduces the cast time of Prayer of Healing by 40% in PvP combat (was 15%).
    • Realized Potential now increases Flash Heal healing by 20% in PvP combat (was 10%).
• Shadow
  • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the damage of Shadow Word: Death significantly in addition to the Mind Blast changes above to allow for more opportunities to finish enemies off.
  • Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.

ROGUE

• Assassination
  • All damage reduced by 4% in PvP combat.
  • Deathmark now shows as a large aura on raid frames.
• Outlaw
  • All damage increased by 5% in PvP combat.

SHAMAN

• Elemental
  • Developers’ notes: We feel Elemental should shine more in their damage against their primary target and less in their cleave, so we’re making some improvement to core spell damage and reducing the effect of the Voltaic Blaze and Purging Flames combo.
  • Lightning Bolt damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
  • Lava Burst damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  • Voltaic Blaze instant damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
  • Purging Flames now causes Lava Bursts to fire at 25% effectiveness in PvP combat (was 40%).
• Enhancement
  • All damage increased by 3% in PvP combat.

WARLOCK

• Affliction
  • Agony damage increased by 40% in PvP combat.
  • Unstable Affliction damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.

WARRIOR

• Arms
  • Colossus
    • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the effectiveness of Colossus for Arms in PvP to increase hero talent viability with a focus on improving the effectiveness of your post-Demolish window.
    • Practiced Strikes increases the damage of Slam and Mortal Strike by 40% in PvP combat (was 25%).
    • Arterial Bleed now increases Rend and Deep Wounds damage by 5% per stack in PvP combat (was 3%).
    • Cut to the Bone now increases Rend and Deep Wounds damage by 30% in PvP combat (was 15%).