Zarhym: Soulstone combat resurrections in the works
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Mar 8th 2011 at 3:00PM
Since combat rezzes appear to be considered mandatory by many raid groups, says Zarhym, Blizzard wanted to make the ability available to more classes. Certainly, this would fit with the modus operandi it's long had of granting abilities to multiple classes to allow for more flexibility in raid makeup. Zarhym also answered concerns that spreading battle rezzes would contribute to class homogeneity by noting that he's never felt like his warlock plays exactly like a druid, and giving warlocks a combat resurrection shouldn't change that. In fact, one of the reasons Blizzard gave battle rez to some non-healer classes was to avoid the threat of class homogeny.
While Zarhym says Blizzard hopes to have the change in for patch 4.1, it is still trying to get the code straightened out. Regardless, it looks it's only a matter of time now. As soon as Blizzard works out the kinks, we can expect to see yet another class with the ability to give raids one more chance to down the boss.
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you. From previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new Valor point mechanics to the new Archaeology items.
Filed under: Warlock, News items, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
TinyLittleRobot Mar 8th 2011 3:02PM
First my DK and now my Warlock!?!? Plus my Shaman gets a new cooldown?!
*Does the happy dance*
Noyou Mar 8th 2011 5:20PM
Don't soulstones work in combat now? I know they worked in BG's I mean technically you die so you are "out of combat" but it asks you if you want to rez via soulstone and bam you are back. Does the new change mean you don't have to soulstone someone prior to them dying? If that's the case it's kind of weird. I also agree all healing classes should get that before locks. Nothing against a lock (I have a lvl 85) but it should be in their toolbox before it is in a DPS class toolbox. Holy specs can have a 1-2 point talent so Prot/ret/feral/boom aren't able to use it. It should totally be a heals only tool in my opinion.
Deathknighty Mar 8th 2011 7:28PM
I do love the fact that out of the three classes that now have combat rezzes, two of them are the "evil" classes of the game! :D
Methuus Mar 8th 2011 7:45PM
Next: new hunter pet that can combat rez players!
Make it happen Bliz!
Revynn Mar 8th 2011 8:51PM
@ Noyou -
"Don't soulstones work in combat now? I know they worked in BG's I mean technically you die so you are "out of combat" but it asks you if you want to rez via soulstone and bam you are back. Does the new change mean you don't have to soulstone someone prior to them dying?"
That's exactly what it means. If you put a soulstone on a dead person before this it would not give them the option to rez until the next time they died (or would just give you an error message, depending on when we're talking about). Now it will allow us to place it on someone who has already died and let them resurrect immediately. This was actually planned functionality for 4.0's launch, but the code was bugged and it was reverted until they could get it straightened out.
johnthediver Mar 8th 2011 3:03PM
When do shaman get a combat rez then? Ours is now pretty damned useless with the 3 rezzes per attempt. Nobody wants the enhance or ele shaman to pop bacause a more "important" class like healer or tank may need to be brought up later.
T Mar 8th 2011 3:24PM
Didn't they fix that? I seem to be able to self rez when needed (even if the 1 rez has been used in 10 mans).
Hih Mar 8th 2011 3:37PM
"Ankhing" doesn't count against the one/three limit. It used to, but that was a bug. It's been fixed. Have you even played the game in the last couple months or do you instead troll websites/forums spouting incorrect information?
Mr. Crow Mar 8th 2011 3:43PM
You can't really say "shaman combat rez is useless because DPS shamans are discouraged from using it." In some situations, you want to save the combat rez for the tanks or healers because in most situations, losing one of those means you lose the fight.
But I can think of plenty of situations where you're not in danger of losing the tanks or healers, and instead you're butting up against an enrage timer (Maloriak is a good example). Losing a DPS shaman's contribution is going to trigger the enrage, and you lose. If the raid leader isn't capable of recognizing when DPS is more necessary than ensuring that a tank can get back up, that raid leader needs to re-evaluate the mechanics of the fight. Are the tanks properly mitigating damage spikes? Are the healers overtaxed because of fight-specific mechanics?
And it goes both ways: did the DPS shaman die because he didn't have situational awareness? Was it just RNG?
Combat rez is an important tool, but you can't give the tool to more classes without limiting it. Otherwise you have encounter designers putting instant-kill mechanics back into encounters, because that over-emphasizes the importance of those classes in encounters. It violates "Bring the Player." The shaman's self-rez is a valuable that shouldn't be dismissed because it's not automatically useful 100% of the time.
johnthediver Mar 8th 2011 3:43PM
@ Terrant - Guess I am wrong about Anking. I admit it has been a while since I participated in guild raids.
@ Hih - Wow who peed in your Wheaties this morning? There is no need to get so angry over a simple mistake.
johnthediver Mar 8th 2011 3:49PM
@ Mr. Crow - I agree with you and I was speaking in hyperbole. I guess what I am really getting at is I feel the whole "bring the player" design philosophy is hurting the uniqueness of classes.
I really enjoyed the days of each class bringing a specific buff. Some raids we complained we didn't get kings, or wisdom. sometimes there wasn't a bloodlust or battle rez. These were things you adjusted your strategies around and brought a manageable variable to our raids.
I guess I liked this because I always raided with groups that usually had one or two from every class available if needed and was never hurt by lack of bloodlust, or druid only brezzez.
richardjarrell Mar 8th 2011 3:53PM
I run 10 mans and we get one rez per attempt. My group has two shamans in it and their ahnk doesn't seem to count against that rez count. I have gone over deaths after a wipe and have seen shamans dying twice on one attempt.
richardjarrell Mar 8th 2011 3:54PM
And I forgot to refresh before posting and didn't see that all I managed to do was repeat what others already said.
Hollow Leviathan Mar 8th 2011 4:26PM
Prior to potion cooldown consolidation raiders were expected to bring 4-6 different kinds of healing potion-ish items to raids, and raid encounters were balanced around that. Now it's easier to just bring a potion and be as prepared as world first guilds.
Prior to buff consolidation, there was an optimal group comp that got the best buffs and raid encounters were balanced around that. Now you can bring your friends instead of that jackhole named Lolcowheals and still have a chance of having a competitive raid composition.
I don't see the downside.
mark Mar 8th 2011 4:38PM
i find the shaman res interesting for dps comparison though
as a mage - if theres a big danger of dying i go fire
i get to avoid death with cauterize - paladins get to if they bubble early - subtlety rogues get to avoid death
others get similar ones - shamans get to use up a BR...
loop_not_defined Mar 8th 2011 5:07PM
Adding to Hollow Leviathan's comment....I do not miss farming Whipper Root Tubers for raids. Ugh.
Carune Mar 8th 2011 3:12PM
This would be nice for ten mans who don't have a druid or a death knight in the group.
Othgan Mar 8th 2011 3:17PM
What 10m wouldn't have a DK? There are enough of them. (Coming from a DK main)
Amanda A. Mar 8th 2011 3:41PM
@Othgan-- Melee is a liability in a lot of raid fights, and death knights have a reputation as being a class that draws bad players. (My main is a DK; I know DKs have about the same talent spread as any other class now that they're not brand new, but bad DKs are... highly visible.) I can see why a raid might lack DKs, especially if the leader has an anti-DK bias formed in Wrath. (You'd be surprised at how many people hated this because obviously no DK is good enough to know when and how to brez someone. -_-)
Carune Mar 8th 2011 3:46PM
Actually I say that since the main dk we have in our group is moving/ looking for a job. So, can't be on right now. Then the druid got a new job so can't raid with us.