Mechanic change for dps AM/SH

[Murador]

Hey - I know this might be not ontop of the developers priority list. But I think the change the AM/SH mechanic made dps AM/SH less fun to play - I'm not saying it's weak. It was clearly done as heal AM/SH basically didn't interact with the mechanic and the new mechanic works a lot better for the healing spec.

For DPS AM in solo small scale it's a downgrade - atleast for me:
Before it was often worth it to weave heals and damage abilities enabling a dynamic and fun rotation - now we basically just press dots and hots and will always end up at 5 dots and spend it either on SoC/Scuse me or Searing Touch/Bunch of Waaagh. With the higher scaling of heals with willpower now - many heals are also very underwhelming to use. So int AM/SH lost a lot of good buttons aswell - it's still strong just less enganging to play.

Some ideas - not sure how feasible/balanced:

- They could change the mechanic back to work on heals and dmg abilities ONLY for int AM?
- Make some of the bonuses on dots a lot stronger so it's worth it to precast a direct heal?
- Make I'll take that/balance essence generally casteable while moving or if you have 1-4 of the hot path.

Maybe I'm the only one thinking like that, lets find out . Maybe someone has better ideas than me.

[saupreusse]

I thought the mechanic works a lot better for dps spec than heal spec from what ive heard?

For me the AM dps spec is really straight forward: load up your dots an then do a quick burst using asuryans fury and searing touch. Only downside: getting to 5 tranquility is really a lot, if anything i would reduce the points you can go in each direction by 1.

[Gladiolix]

I thought the mechanic works a lot better for dps spec than heal spec from what ive heard?

For me the AM dps spec is really straight forward: load up your dots an then do a quick burst using asuryans fury and searing touch. Only downside: getting to 5 tranquility is really a lot, if anything i would reduce the points you can go in each direction by 1.

I'm on this opinion as well. Bunch o Waaaagh!/Empowered lores build hits very hard with a very good burst(shaman can go even higher dmg with Nuthin' But Da WAAAGH! tactic, AM is more defensive/better self sustain with Arcing Power tactic).

Healing shaman in smallscale is a complete hot-spam-bot, very boring to play IMO, AM feels a lot better with group wide hot and channeled ST heal. FodG/EoV are only usefull in WB scale play, not worth it small scale anymore, which in my opinion made both a lot less fun to play.

[Murador]

I thought the mechanic works a lot better for dps spec than heal spec from what ive heard?

For me the AM dps spec is really straight forward: load up your dots an then do a quick burst using asuryans fury and searing touch. Only downside: getting to 5 tranquility is really a lot, if anything i would reduce the points you can go in each direction by 1.

That is basically the point - we dont play around it - it just happens. Weaving between direct and hots/dots is not really a thing.

[BluIzLucky]

I think the main problem with the new mechanic is that the value you get from it is not only lower, but also stays the same even if you ignore it.
Before you'd get a big boost if you used it right and it felt fun.
Now as long as you use an opposite every 6 casts (which you naturally do), you get pretty much the same value, so the new mechanic can safely be ignored, which makes it; not a mechanic lol...

It's also heavily skewed towards instant casts, very rarely in either DPS or heal will you actually do 5 slow cast abilities in a row.

Said it before when the changes were fresh, but will say again:
Max stack: 5 -> 3 or 4
Reset Stack: 0 -> 1

This will give much more value to either using the max stack buff OR constant switching, while punishing both over use of one side or not switching at correct stack.

[vanbuinen77]

Revert the mechanic.

This new one is a nerf.

[Murador]

I think the main problem with the new mechanic is that the value you get from it is not only lower, but also stays the same even if you ignore it.
Before you'd get a big boost if you used it right and it felt fun.
Now as long as you use an opposite every 6 casts (which you naturally do), you get pretty much the same value, so the new mechanic can safely be ignored, which makes it; not a mechanic lol...

It's also heavily skewed towards instant casts, very rarely in either DPS or heal will you actually do 5 slow cast abilities in a row.

Said it before when the changes were fresh, but will say again:
Max stack: 5 -> 3 or 4
Reset Stack: 0 -> 1

This will give much more value to either using the max stack buff OR constant switching, while punishing both over use of one side or not switching at correct stack.

This is a really good idea - I wouldnt mind a small nerf to dots in return and putting some power in the mechanic. It's just feels so much less engaging to play now.

Maybe it needs some slight number tunings especially on empowered lores.

[anstalt]

I only play shaman, but I feel the new mechanic is working great for DPS spec. Mostly I DoT people up, which gets me high up the mechanic, then get to 5 with either heal debuff, bubble or a HoT. Its very quick imo, can be done whilst on the move which is important, and gets my core damage going.

Then when I hit 5, I got a bunch of useful options. FotG being instant cast - combined with improvements to heal scaling with intelligence and the heal crit now working of magic crit - is awesome, especially solo. Burst of waaagh does more damage, and gives me a damage buff for 5 seconds. Bunch of waaaagh giving a slow is very useful at times too. Extra damage and strike through on 'scuse me is nice too.

Sure, I very rarely ever go the other direction - getting up to 5 using direct damage skills. And the bonuses for DoTs aren't great either.


Where I've been struggling is when im specced for healing. The mechanic changes, combined with the FotG changes, have screwed me up. FotG feels basically useless now, so I've dropped it from my build. My overall healing feels way down compared to before.

I am aware that some of this is a personal issue - I just haven't figured out how to heal well with the new mechanics. I've seen a few shamans out there that are still kicking out awesome healing numbers. Problem im having is that our two biggest heals require us to be stationary and have long cast times, so i rarely get a chance to use them. So, I basically just spam HoTs, mostly relying on Gork'll Fix It as it can crit for 1k. Combine that with the pass it on tactic and it can kick out some OK AoE healing at the same time.

[Murador]

Sure, I very rarely ever go the other direction - getting up to 5 using direct damage skills. And the bonuses for DoTs aren't great either.

I think I never actually did that - maybe with that you can use waaagh frenzy/expanded control. You then drop sticky feetz for your build - otherwise I dont see how it would work. But I still think that reducing max charges and changing the reset stack could be rly fun gameplaywise with slight nerfs to the baseline performance of the skills.

[shoelessHN]

Odd post. It's catered to dps specs. Yeah you do less random healing than before while doing dps but oh well.

I don't think I've ever gotten to 5 force or morks waaagh since the patch. Dropping max to 3 could end up in more incidental max stacks but still don't think the "mechanic" is working all that great.

And gutting fotg/eov, while putting in some rando heals no one likes or uses didnt do it -- from a "fun to play or use" perspective.