No more class reviews, says Blizz
by Eliah Hecht 
Jan 27th 2007 at 3:55PM
In a "fix warriors" thread last night, Tseric stated that class reviews, as we know them from the 1.x patches, are not going to be happening any more. To quote:- 'Class Reviews' as they have been known in the past, are a thing of the past. The devs will make adjustments as they feel are merited, but they will likely be sprinkled between classes and delivered over patches. There will not be a future patch which will be deemed a 'class patch'.
I'm really of two minds about this. On the one hand, I like to think that the "class patches" gave the devs a chance to sit down and really concentrate on one class at a time, getting it all out there and considering many possibilities. However, we really don't know anything about the development process, so it could be that they do this all the time, and having a monolithic class patch just means (a) we wait longer than we have to for class changes and (b) the changes come all in a rush, which means that we all have to learn to play the class over again. Incremental changes could be easier to get accustomed to, as well as easier for Blizz to roll out. And perhaps even more importantly, incremental changes could make balancing much easier. If Ability X is changed, and that class subsequently becomes totally overpowered, it's pretty clear that Ability X is to blame; this might be harder to figure out if a whole slew of abilities were changed at once.
So I have to conclude that this is probably for the best, provided that it doesn't lead to class stagnation (because we all know there are some issues that could really use addressing). What do you think?
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Heyasuki Jan 27th 2007 4:20PM
Good, that means less "NERF so and so" crap =D.
chris poloncic Jan 27th 2007 4:39PM
Uh #1, have you paid attention to the last two patches at all? Both have had nerfs in them. Chances are this will mean more nerfs more often.
FadedReality Jan 30th 2007 11:26AM
@1: lol yeah right. people will still QQ about wanting *spell or ability* nerfed, whether they think it might happen at all or not :)
Octagon Jan 27th 2007 6:16PM
I prefer the lack of sweeping changes. Tweaks are much more comforting, whether it's a buff or a nerf. Ripping everything out and starting over makes a bit of a mess and leads to more imbalance.
It will hopefully increase the interval at which problems with talents are addressed since they can focus on one particular trait. Frost Bolt 12, for instance.
freehugz Jan 27th 2007 6:29PM
#2, i don't think that's what #1 meant
Jamus Jan 27th 2007 11:13PM
Hmmm, does that mean we may actually have the chance for a NEW class at some point? That would be a huge undertaking. Much more so than simply adding jewelcrafting was to the profession lineup.
tobin92 Jan 28th 2007 12:34AM
If this is true, then there is no hope......The Warlocks have won :(
Matthew Rossi Jan 27th 2007 11:28PM
Obviously anyone who has played a warrior knows this is bad news for that class, as it is horribly, horribly broken. My new Draenei Shaman, on the other hand, he doesn't care much one way or another.
Thomas Jan 28th 2007 10:12AM
Considering the T4 and T5 sets are rather specific to your spec, I'm all for this. I'd hate to log in and need to either try to respec my warrior back the way they were or experiment with some new spec. The amount of time required to gain these two sets would preclude such sweeping changes.
exodus Jan 28th 2007 11:32AM
Then I guess Shamans will remain a weak class with the same problems it's had since release: no totem UI, short immobile buffs, unused talents such as shield specialization and toughness, and no CC or way out of it.
Paladins are the way of the Horde now!
Eric Hadley Jan 28th 2007 11:55AM
@#6 - Warriors are not "horribly, horribly broken" With only medium level gear I can take down 3 same level mobs at the same time easily. This is not broken.
Respec, change your playing style, get some new weapons. These are all easy ways to feel out your class and get the most enjoyment from the game.
Eric Hadley Jan 28th 2007 12:08PM
additionally i will say that PVP can be a bit rough as a warrior but I chalk alot of that up to being the huge Tauren always charging in first :)
since BC though i haven't touched the battlegrounds (other than trying out Eye of the Storm a few times) so i'm not sure how my new gear would perform...
CrimsonHavoc Feb 1st 2007 4:31AM
I think this is a great thing...I just weant to set up my tolon and play... respec'ing every 3 weeks has gotten old... especially consicdering that Blizz never gives respec discounts afterwords... if they want to change my stats they should let me adapt for free...
Matthew Rossi Jan 28th 2007 3:32PM
Eric, I have the best gear in the game for my level. Just replaced my Sulfuras with a Honed Voidaxe, plenty of BWL, AQ and even Naxx gear plus whatever quest or instance drops were upgrades. Taking on 3 even level mobs is not 'fine', even if it were so, which it often is not.
Warriors are skullfucked, to be frank, and as one of my friends put it, if you think differently than you drank the Kool-Aid.
As for your respec argument, I have four level 60+ warriors, so I've tried several specs, and I stand by my horribly, horribly broken comment.
Matthew Rossi Jan 28th 2007 3:35PM
Also, to be honest, where warriors are REALLY broken is in their tanking role, where a feral druid or protection/retribution paladin can easily out-tank us in a five man unless we take off our mitigation gear in order to make up for the hideous rage nerf. With a mix of Wrath and Dreadnaught, I simply cannot hold aggro: when I put on my DPS gear, I can, at the cost of massive healer mana. This is, in fact, broken.
GamerJunkie Jan 28th 2007 5:56PM
#13, Blizz addressed the shortage of tanking by allowing other classes spec for tanking roles.
Have you ever spam LFG waited for a tank for Scholo or Strat? Warriors no longer "necessary" for tanking 5-man instances.
Allowing hybrid classes ability to tank, DPS, or heal gives the game more flexsibility than singular roles.
What this does mean is that fewer warriors are needed at 25 man raid slots.
I don't think warriors are broken but they weren't blessed with newer abilities compared to other classes that are able to solo PVE better than warriors.
Trudie Jan 28th 2007 5:56PM
I agree with Matthew, and I basically think Eric is either exaggerating or outright lying. If you take on three same level mobs at a time, and you win, you must have taken a potion, and burned your intimidating shout. Either that, or you won the fight on a few lucky crits and still barely survived with like 300 health left.
Warriors are an awful soloing class. I've died so much trying to solo in Outlands on my warrior that she (who does nothing but herbalism and skinning to make money) is profiting LESS goldwise than my gold-sucking warlock who is a tailor. Repair bills for the lose!
My warlock, on the other hand, can pull a whole camp and still survive through chain fearing, voidwalker tanking and sacrificing. Not to mention healthstones and draining life.
It's sad, sad, sad, because my warrior has always been my main, and this warlock was always an afterthought. Now my lock is two levels ahead of my warrior, because I simply don't have the patience to die so much doing quests. I recently got moved from a day job to a night position, so the hours that I spend online are usually in the wee hours of the morning, and my guildies have already gone to bed. So the majority of my Outlands time is soloing at the moment, until I make some more late-night friends who want to group with me.
Why can't Blizzard make my warrior easier to solo with? You can nerf my warlock a little bit. I don't care. Just fix my warrior. Please.
Eric Hadley Jan 28th 2007 7:15PM
Meh. I'm having fun. Sorry to hear about your "horrible, horrible" experience.
As far as the three even level mobs, Hellreaver (70 dps polearm from HFR) + Sweeping Strikes + Whirlwind + Cleave will bring all three down to 60% before I drop to 95%. All cooldowns considered, I can do this combo twice during battle and easily finish them off with Victory Rush and MS. With Last Stand I've taken on 4 and with Retaliation and a trinket I can take 5. For reference, my spec is 33,5,16 at level 63.
I will agree that multi-mob tanking in dungeons is difficult and an adjustment to our rage and threat generation is probably in order.
I'm sure Blizz will tweak warriors in the near future but for the time being this is still an amazing game to play and explore in.
uncaringbear Jan 29th 2007 3:46AM
My main concern with this news is that class changes will occur in small increments without any notice from Blizzard. If any class changes are made, it should be done in a transparent process so everyone is aware of the changes. Worse, it's easy to misconstrue that this means that Blizzard wants to implement class 'balancing' changes with as little community input and debate as possible. It would be a shame if this were a "We know what's best for you" strategy on Blizz's part.
biddle Jan 29th 2007 6:20AM
nerf devs!