A close look at the new changes to Bloodlust and Heroism
by Adam Holisky 
Mar 3rd 2008 at 7:00PM
Tharfor (I can hear him purr, can you?) tells us today of two changes that we'll see on the PTR soon (Drysc announced this earlier):- Bloodlust/Heroism will, again, stack with Icy Veins.
- Bloodlust/Heroism will not stack with [the new] Power Infusion, however.
For those that don't know about Shamans, Bloodlust and Heroism are Shaman abilities (Bloodlust is the name of the spell for the Horde, Heroism is the name of the spell for the Alliance) that decrease casting time by 30% for 40 seconds. It is often used in raids to get that extra "umpf" necessary to get a boss down quickly.
Icy Veins is a Mage talent based spell that decreases casting time by 20% for 20 seconds (and increase the chance the target will freeze by 20%). The combination of Bloodlust/Heroism and Icy Veins is a very potent combination.
Power Infusion is a Priest talent that will have some changes come patch 2.4. It will now decrease casting time by 20% as well as decrease the mana cost by 20%. It's interesting that Blizzard decided to allow the stacking with Mages, but not with priests. The difference in the two spells is that Power Infusion can be cast on other targets, while Icy Veins can only be cast on yourself. Indeed, this follows with what Tharfor said in his post (which Drysc left out).
What do you think of these changes? Any major issue with them?
Filed under: Mage, Priest, Shaman, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Smee Mar 3rd 2008 7:14PM
I wonder if bloodlust does/will stack with the LW drums...
Flambeau Mar 3rd 2008 7:52PM
Doubtful as those are both party buffs, but why anyone would want to swing so fast that they out aggro the tank and have to basically loose the buff's beneficial time limitations, actually looks like blizzard is helping people to understand that burst damage is good, but in the long run not effective (boss fights aren't your standard 2 minute 5-man fights).
also with that much drop would be about 45% and so close to the 1 second GCD from bloodlust alone, stacking it any further isn't all that productive, especially with how haste seems to be the get some stat of 2.4.
synack Mar 3rd 2008 8:38PM
If Power Infusion is cast one oneself--which in the majority of times it is--then it should behave the same as Icy Veins, in that it should stack with Heroism/Bloodlust. If Power Infusion is cast on another, then it should behave as they explained.
Jordrah Mar 3rd 2008 8:46PM
power infusion is pretty deep in the disc tree so why would a disc priest cast it on themselves instead of on someone that could do more with it?
Kadamon Mar 3rd 2008 11:14PM
Minor mistake
From Icy Veins tooltip: "...increases the chance your chilling effects will Freeze the target by 10%..."
I sure wish it was 20% though.
Amux Mar 4th 2008 3:32AM
I though Icy Veins will change to.
Decreases casting time by 20% for 20 seconds.
and 100% castingtime reduction for 20 seconds.
Or i heard something false.... iam not sure.
Amux Mar 4th 2008 3:34AM
100% casttime interuption. Sry for doublepost ;)
I saw the mistake too late.
DaleMox Mar 4th 2008 8:44PM
The new Icy Veins is 20% reduction on cast time and 100% cast time interruption. Well, that sucks :P
Epiny Mar 4th 2008 7:29AM
Priests use to cast Power Infusion on themselves when being focused to help make their instant heals a little stronger.
Now they will use Power Infusion to spam Mana Burn.
What Tharfor says doesn't actually make sense. Power Infusion and Icy Veins should stack by his explanation but the new tool tip for Power Infusion specifically says they do not. Power Infusion should also stack with Troll Berserking by his rule of thumb, but again, the PI tool tip says "This will not stack with other haste effects, such as Heroism, Bloodlust, or Icy Veins."
Rob Mar 5th 2008 4:58PM
Sorry, but nothing is different about Bloodlust/Heroism. The only real change is going to be Power Infusion (Not even Icy Veins, since they only changed it on the PTR, then changed it back)
Anyhow, be careful with titles like that... you'll give Shaman brain clots!