The idea behind "Bring the player, not the class" is that raid stacking shouldn't be as big of a deal as it was during, oh, say, Sunwell. For each buff and debuff, we have a few different classes that can provide it, so raid leaders don't have to go too far out of their way to get good coverage.

However, what single buff was the biggest factor causing guilds to stack a particular class in Sunwell? Ten points if you said "Bloodlust/Heroism." And that is, irritatingly enough, one of the few remaining buffs that no other class has; if you want Bloodlust, you need a shaman, period.

They have toned down its stackability - at the moment, one shaman is sufficient to provide Bloodlust to the entire raid whenever possible, and adding more shamans doesn't help you get more Bloodlusty. However, why is this still a shaman-only property? Bloodlust is arguably the most significant buff in the game when you're up against an enrage timer. Why require shamans, and only shamans, in that situation?

My proposal is to give Bloodlust to Rogues as well. Although Tricks of the Trade has helped, Rogues are still pretty low on the spectrum of raid utility. They're also one of the least played classes right now, according to both my personal experience and the Warcraft Realms census, which has Rogue as the single least-played class at 80. Let's give raid leaders a reason to bring our stabby friends, while cutting down on the "no shaman? we're screwed" factor. Who's with me?

Tags: bloodlust, bring-the-player-not-the-class, btpntc, heroism, opinion, raid-buffs, raid-stacking, rogue, rogues, shaman

Filed under: Rogue, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Buffs