Dragonflight Patch – PvP Balancing, Mage & Hunter Buffs, Demon Hunter & Rogue Nerfs

We’re working on a slate of tuning adjustments to classes in Dragonflight. The following changes are scheduled to be implemented with weekly maintenance, Tuesday, December 6 in this region.

Tank Specializations

• Tank-specialized characters now generate 650% additional threat (was 550%).
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve heard feedback that on-pull burst in dungeon content is causing damage dealers to pull threat more often than is desirable. This change represents roughly a 15% increase to tank threat generation, which should help alleviate these cases, while still requiring tanks to actively engage with enemies to hold threat.

Demon Hunter

• The Hunt damage reduced by 10%.
• Fodder to the Flame proc rate no longer scales with Haste.

Druid

• Restoration
  • Regrowth healing decreased by 6%.

Hunter

• Steel Trap damage has been reduced by 20%.
• Explosive Shot damage has been increased by 15%.
• Barrage damage has been increased by 15%.
• Marksmanship
  • All damage increased by 10%.
  • Heavy Ammo now causes Trick Shot ricochets to deal an additional 25% damage (was 10%).
• Survival
  • All damage increased by 5%.

Mage

• Fire
  • Flamestrike damage increased by 8%.
  • Pyroblast damage increased by 5%.
  • Fireball damage increased by 10%.
  • Scorch damage increased by 10%.
  • Ignite damage increased by 5%.

Rogue

• Assassination
  • Exsanguinate cooldown increased to 3 minutes (was 45 seconds) and bleed effect magnitude reduced to 80% (was 100%).
    • Developers’ notes: Recent data indicates that Exsanguinate is drastically overperforming its historic and intended power level. We recognize that this is a heavy nerf for an individual talent, but it is important that Exsanguinate’s power be similar to alternative available talent choices. We see this as a temporary measure as we head towards the opening of Dragonflight’s first season, and we will reconsider Exsanguinate’s position and role as an available talent for Assassination. We may move, replace, or redesign it in a future patch.

Monk

• Brewmaster
  • Brewmaster’s Balance now grants 45% increased stamina (was 30%).
• Mistweaver
  • Awakened Faeline Spinning Crane Kick now heals 3 nearby allies for 60% of the damage done (was 50%).
  • Vivify heal to primary target increased by 20%.
  • Peaceful Mending now increases healing received by Enveloping Mist and Renewing Mist by 15/30% (was 10/20%).
  • Yu’lon’s Whisper now heals 5 targets (was 6), and healing increased by 15%.

Paladin

• Protection
  • Aegis of Light now grants 50% increased stamina (was 45%) and 30% increased armor (was 15%).

Shaman

• Restoration
  • All healing spells healing increased by 5%.
  • Acid Rain damage increased by 50%.

Warlock

• Soul Leech now converts 3% of damage dealt to an absorb shield (was 6%).

Warrior

• Arms
  • Fueled by Violence now heals for 85% of the damage done by Deep Wounds (was 65%).
• Protection
  • Fueled by Violence now heals for 85% of the damage done by Deep Wounds (was 65%).
  • Brutal Vitality now causes 15% of the damage you deal to add to your active Ignore Pain (was 30%).

Player versus Player

Thank you to those who participated in and provided feedback during the Play with the Blues event in the Dragonflight Beta a few weeks back, as it gave us valuable data and information. That, alongside what we’ve observed on live realms since Dragonflight’s launch, contributed to these PvP adjustments as we head into Season 1.

Death Knight

• Anti-Magic Shell absorption amount reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
• Will of the Necropolis damage reduction reduced by 50% in PvP in combat.
• Anti-Magic Barrier increase to Anti-Magic Shell duration and amount absorbed has been reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
• Abomination Limb will no longer pull individual enemy players more than once over its duration (was every 4 seconds).
• Improved Death Strike increase to Death Strike’s healing has been reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
• Frost
  • Death Strike’s healing increased based on recent damage is reduced by 50% if the damage was dealt by players or their pets.
• Unholy
  • Death Strike’s healing increased based on recent damage is reduced by 50% if the damage was dealt by players or their pets.
    • Developers’ notes: Death Knight survivability has been substantially higher than we’re comfortable with, so we’re targeting several aspects of their defensive kit. We feel that with these adjustments, Death Knights will maintain durability with options to counterplay defensively. Additionally, the multiple grips from Abomination Limb created scenarios of unfun gameplay with minimal counterplay in PvP. We’re changing this talent to be able to pull in a unique player in once per talent usage. We believe this change will allow the talent to be an attractive talent to pick while maintaining counterplay options for opponents.

Druid

• Restoration
  • Budding Leaves is now 70% effective in PvP combat.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Focused Growth’s buff to only apply to one Lifebloom at a time while using the Undergrowth talent.
    • Developers’ notes: Lifebloom has been a higher percentage of Druid healing’s breakdown in PvP than we’d like, so we’re reducing Budding Leaves to bring it more in line.

Evoker

• Scarlet Adaptation’s cap is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
• Fire Breath’s initial damage is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
• Disintegrate and Pyre deal 15% increased damage in PvP combat.
  • Developers’ notes: The goal of this tuning change is to reduce the very high burst from fully charged Fire Breath, which we felt was unfair, as it had the potential to kill enemy players without any time to react. Living Flame also had the potential to deal high burst with all of its modifiers combined together, so we’re reducing Scarlet Adaptation’s cap in PvP. To compensate for the lost power, we’re increasing the damage of Disintegrate and Pyre so that Evoker can contribute more meaningful consistent damage. Note that this will affect both Devastation and Preservation specializations.
• Preservation
  • Mana regeneration is reduced by an additional 10% in PvP combat.
  • Developers’ notes: All healers have reduced mana regeneration in PvP, so that fights end after a reasonable period of time. Preservation receiving this reduction brings them closer in line with the other healers so that mana is relevant in PvP.

Mage

• Arcane
  • Nether Precision is now 75% effective in PvP combat.
  • Prodigious Savant is now 80% effective in PvP combat.
  • Arcane Bombardment is now 65% effective in PvP combat.
    • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to address Arcane’s instant burst damage through adjustments targeting Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage modifiers. Arcane Bombardment in particular has been too powerful of an execute effect in PvP for its current availability.
• Frost
  • Piercing Cold is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
  • Ice Lance damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  • (PvP Talent) Snowdrift no longer has a cast time (was 1.5 seconds).
  • (PvP Talent) Snowdrift’s cooldown reduced to 45 seconds (was 60 seconds).
    • Developers’ notes: Glacial Spike critical strikes are hitting harder than we would like, despite the long cast time attached to this spell. We’re reducing Piercing Cold’s critical strike damage modifier in PvP to help address this without impacting the base damage of the spell. We’re also increasing the damage of Ice lance as the Splitting Ice talent is less valuable in PvP, given the unpredictable and constant movement of players. Additionally, Snowdrift has been requiring more ramp up than intended, so we’re removing its cast time and lowering its cooldown.

Monk

• Mistweaver
  • Ancient Teachings of the Monastery now heals for 375% of damage done (was 240%) in PvP combat.
    • Developers’ notes: We would like to see more aggressive playstyles from Mistweaver Monk to be possible in PvP, so we’re targeting Ancient Teaching of the Monastery to bolster the playstyle.

Rogue

• Echoing Reprimand damage is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve seen that the ability could have extremely high burst, more than we’re comfortable with, so we are partially reverting the change made in last week’s hotfixes, where Echoing Reprimand’s damage was no longer reduced in PvP.

Shaman

• Enhancement
  • Improved Maelstrom Weapon increases the damage and healing of spells by 8%/15% per stack of Maelstrom Weapon in PvP Combat (was 10%/20%).
  • Raging Maelstrom increases the effectiveness of Maelstrom Weapon stacks by 3% in PvP Combat (was 5%).
  • Stormstrike and Windstrike damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
    • Developers’ notes: Damage and healing from fully stacked Maelstrom Weapon are higher than intended in PvP, so we’re reducing the value of the associated talents. Separately, we’d like for Enhancement’s sustained damage to be more well-rounded in PvP, so we’re increasing Stormstrike’s damage.
• Elemental
  • Magma Chamber effectiveness reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
    • Developers’ notes: Earth Shock and Elemental Blast from Elemental Shamans deal more damage than intended with high stacks of Magma Chamber, so we are lowering its effect in PvP.

Warlock

• Curse of Tongues reduces cast time by 10% in PvP combat (was 15%).
• Curse of Tongues applied through Amplify Curse reduces cast time by 20% in PvP Combat (was 35%).
  • Developers’ notes: We’re reducing the overall power of Curse of Tongues in PvP. We’d like for the spell to be valuable to cast, but not cause casters to have a frustrating time trying to cast spells.

Warrior

• Arms
  • Mortal Strike’s damage is no longer reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  • Sharpened Blades now increases critical strike damage by 5% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
  • Martial Prowess now increases Mortal Strike’s damage by 15% per stack (was 30%) in PvP combat.
  • Execute damage increased by 20% in PvP combat (Arms only).
  • Rend damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat (Arms only).
  • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Mortal Strike’s consistent damage while keeping its burst potential in line through targeted adjustments to its modifiers. We’re also reducing Rend’s damage in PvP as Skullsplitter has been a culprit for one-shots.

We’re finalizing additional tuning, and we will continue to keep an eye on class balance over the next week, as we have additional adjustments planned for the week of December 13 (the beginning of Season 1).