Frost has received new target caps on a total of three abilities. This is both big nerfs (
冰霜之镰) but also big buffs (
冰龙吐息).
冰霜之镰 is now capped at 5 targets, a significant nerf to the ability on multiple levels.
- Damage doesn't scale past 5 targets.
- 锋锐之霜 application isn't done as effectively (Previously spread to all targets with 锋锐之霜 equipped on your mainhand).
- Fewer hits means fewer crit opportunities. 冰盖 CD reduction now doesn't scale past 5 targets.
The damage reduction is in itself very significant. With a 2H equipped, the total damage of a
杀戮机器 buffed
冰霜之镰 on 5 targets is only ~25% more than a single target
湮灭 杀戮机器 Critical Strike. With Dual Wield, the damage difference is 55% in
冰霜之镰's favor. This will definitely open up for other talent combinations. Neither
雪崩 nor
冰霜脉冲 has an AoE cap.
锋锐之霜 application can be done with
冰川突进 instead, pushing this talent forward in the new meta!
冰龙吐息 and
凛风冲击 now follow the sqrt-formula
The total damage output of an ability that scales with the sqrt-formula is the following:
damage ~ 1 + (n - 1) / sqrt(n)
Where n is the number of targets. The abilities deal the same amount of damage to a single target, but scale differently on subsequent targets. This used to be linear.
In our case,
凛风冲击 will be somewhat better at 3 or fewer targets, equal at 4 and worse beyond.
冰龙吐息 will be significantly better at low target counts. It's only at 11 targets that it'll deal less damage than the BFA version. The overall output at 2 targets is
30% higher compared to BFA. It looks to me like
冰龙吐息 will be the king of cleave in Shadowlands!