Augmentation Evoker Hero Talent Showdown in The War Within - Chronowarden vs. Scalecommander

The War Within Publié 13/08/2024 à 08:17 par Jereico

Not sure what Hero Talents to play for your spec in The War Within? Check out all the released articles in the 'Hero Talent Showdown' series:
Hero Talent Showdowns in The War Within
Blood DK
Frost DK
Unholy DK
Havoc DH
Vengeance DH
Balance Druid

Feral Druid
Guardian Druid
Restoration Druid
Augmentation Evoker
Devastation Evoker
Preservation Evoker
Beast Mastery Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter
Survival Hunter
Arcane Mage
Fire Mage
Frost Mage
Brewmaster Monk
Mistweaver Monk
Windwalker Monk
Holy Paladin
Protection Paladin
Retribution Paladin
Discipline Priest
Holy Priest
Shadow Priest
Assassination Rogue
Outlaw Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Elemental Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman
Affliction Warlock
Demonology Warlock
Destruction Warlock
Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Protection Warrior

For more information on Hero Talents coming in the War Within, check out our Hero Talents Overview.

The War Within Hero Talents Overview

Augmentation Evoker in the War WithinPuissance d’ébènePartenaires de couvéePuissance d’ébènePartenaires de couvéeHarmonisation avec le Vol noirFaveur de l’Aspect du Vol noirHarmonisation avec le Vol noirFaveur de l’Aspect du Vol noirParadoxe spatialSpirale temporelle

It still buffs tank and healer throughput with Puissance d’ébène.

It still improves tank survivability with Écailles torrides.

Sables changeants still provides your DPS with extra Versatility (although noticeably less at the start of the expansion).

Soulèvement is still a strong rotational knock-up.

Chrono-protection can still make a difference when timed just right.

It's still only Evoker spec with access to Conférer la pierre de weyrn and Défi au destin.

Hero Talent Showdown: Chronowarden vs. Scalecommander Souffle des présages Chronowarden

Strengths

Weaknesses

Puissance d’ébènePrescienceSables changeantsFils du destinPrescienceOccasion en orFlamme temporelleFlamme vivanteFrappe d’azurRetour de bâtonDistorsionTemporalitéSurvolerDistorsion Scalecommander

Strengths

Weaknesses

BombardementsÉruption de masseBombardementsCommande d’escadreSouffle des présagesManœuvrabilitéSouffle des présagesWhat's Changed? Chronowarden

Distorsion now has a noticeably shorter animation time, and feels better than it did earlier in the Beta.

Temporalité was changed from 30% to 20%.

Tempo doublé was reworked (was Careful Contemplation, passive Intellect and Stamina at the expense of longer cooldowns).

Convergence temporelle was changed from 10% to 5% and had its defensive effect removed.

Explosion temporelle now starts at 30% and ramps down over 30 sec, instead of ramping up to 40% over 20 sec.

Fils du destin now lasts 10 sec instead of 15 sec.

Maîtrise du destin was reworked (was Empower spells buff Fils du destin effect).

Occasion en or was reworked (was 25% chance for Prescience to have its cooldown reset).

Matrice d’instabilité now provides up to 6 sec of cooldown reduction instead of 10 sec.

Occasion en or swapped positions with Matrice d’instabilité.

Scalecommander

Éruption de masse was changed from 25% to 15%.

Puissance du Vol draconique noir was changed from 10% to 20%.

Écailles renforcées was changed from 5% to 10%.

Bombardements was changed from 10 sec to 6 sec duration, but now deals significantly more damage per hit.

Siège impitoyable maximum value was changed from 50% to 15%, but also now benefits Éruption.

Manœuvrabilité damage increased by 25%.

And the Winner Is...

Class Fantasy & Visuals: Chronowarden & Scalecommander (Tie)

Both Chronowarden and Scalecommander feature a nice mix of unique visuals and twists on existing spells that enhance the Bronze and Black dragonflight elements as well as the support identity of the Augmentation Evoker.

Chronowarden truly leans into the feel of Bronze time magic, with talents like Explosion temporelle making you move and cast noticeably faster, and Distorsion making Survoler feel special and unique. Flamme temporelle brings a substantial visual upgrade to Flamme vivante, which makes it extra clear that you're playing Chronowarden.

Scalecommander does have a bit of a missed opportunity, in that Éruption de masse is much less visually noticeable than the Devastation counterpart Désintégration de masse. That said, from a visuals standpoint Bombardements truly caries the Scalecommander aesthetic, as the dracthyr aerial support swoops in to dispatch your enemies. Additionally, Manœuvrabilité does significantly change the feel of casting Souffle des présages, providing an additional new gameplay experience.

Fun & Rewarding Gameplay: Chronowarden (Winner)

While the difference in gameplay is definitely minimal and somewhat nuanced, in my opinion the combination of Distorsion along with slightly faster gameplay during cooldowns causes Chronowarden to edge out ahead overall. That said, the elements of buff RNG inherent to the Chronowarden tree shouldn't be overlooked, and certainly may contribute to a somewhat frustrating experience in raid.

Difficulty: Scalecommander (Winner)

I expect players to find the direct damage tilt of Scalecommander to generally result in a slightly more consistent damage output that is somewhat less reliant on elements of RNG, or the performance of your allies in Raid or Mythic+.

Defensiveness & Utility: Chronowarden & Scalecommander (Tie)

When it comes to defensives, even at 20% Temporalité is a particularly standout node and makes Chronowarden that much more attractive. However, the ability does have to be carefully timed in order to have a meaningful impact. Having to manage your usage of Distorsion between mobility and cast-while-moving while also saving charges to use defensively may take some adjustment. Additionally, this is basically the only defensive node for Augmentation in the Chronowarden tree.

On the other hand, Scalecommander has Écailles renforcées, which provides around 17% additional Effective HP while Écailles d’obsidienne is up. It also has access to Vol agile, which actually provides a similar average benefit to Temporalité, restricted to area of effect damage.

It could be said that Chronowarden might pull slightly ahead if Temporalité is played perfectly, while Scalecommander still provides solid alternatives with a much higher margin for error.

Leveling: Scalecommander (Winner)

While I would not generally recommend leveling as Augmentation Evoker, particularly while questing in the open world, Scalecommander is somewhat better suited for this style of gameplay with its higher direct damage and lesser focus on buffing allies.

Mythic+: Chronowarden & Scalecommander (Tie)

At the moment there really is no clear winner when it comes to performance in Mythic+. In practical gameplay, both hero talent options seem to provide similar overall damage output on average, and neither tree is especially advantaged from a utility standpoint.

As it stands, it could very well come down to personal preference, or it could depend on your specific group members (ie. if you happen to be running with specs that have mostly 90 sec major cooldowns, you may consider Scalecommander for its shorter cooldown on Souffle des présages).

Raid: Chronowarden & Scalecommander (Tie)

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to Augmentation Evoker in Raid, as the spec's performance is especially dependent on your ability to buff strong allies at specific times. Under current tuning, Chronowarden looks like it may edge out slightly ahead in the hands of top players, however players with a less flexible roster, less willingness to optimize cooldown timings, or who are easily frustrated by having to track RNG buff effects may just as easily prefer Scalecommander.

Best Overall: Chronowarden & Scalecommander (Tie)

While I would love to award one of the two hero talent choices the title of "Best Overall" winner, the fact is that both hero talent trees for Augmentation Evoker bring unique twists to the spec without dramatically altering the spec's base gameplay, and are at the moment tuned to a roughly even degree in terms of overall throughput in Raid and Mythic+ (pending further analysis and potential tuning). The fact that Chronowarden directly affects the spec's group buffs, while Scalecommander is slightly more focused on direct damage means that different players may inherently have different preferences depending on their level of skill or preferred playstyle.

At the end of the day, metas invariably emerge, players will establish preferences, and perhaps we may even see strategies involving specific interactions or timings which could cause one to emerge victorious. As it stands, only time will tell.

Hero Talent Feedback Chronowarden

Optimal gameplay with Explosion temporelle encourages you to cast and immediately /cancelaura Retour de bâton, in order to avoid upranking Souffle de feu. Cancelaura gameplay is cumbersome and unintuitive at best, and should be revisited.

The recent undocumented change to Distorsion shortening its animation time is a great change and one that we're quite happy to see. This makes the spell feel much more responsive than before.

It is difficult to track when Puissance d’ébène has been buffed by Tempo doublé. This is a problem because re-casting Puissance d’ébène too early can potentially overwrite a buffed Puissance d’ébène with an unbuffed version of the spell.

Scalecommander

Commande d’escadre remains deeply situational for Augmentation Evoker, as Souffle des présages still needs to be timed with allies' cooldowns. This means that Augmentation often gets no value from this particular node. Devastation on the other hand has access to a 1 min base cooldown Souffle profond which can be reduced to 30 sec and does not need to be aligned with others' cooldowns.

It is worth noting that Devastation also has naturally significantly higher uptime on Bombardements compared to Augmentation, due entirely to its significantly lower cooldowns on its Empower spells. This isn't necessarily an enormous problem on its own, but given that hero talent changes often affect both specs at once, this is an important fact to highlight.

Bombardements also has relatively poor target scaling, and as a major component of the Scalecommander damage breakdown, may present some challenges in overall tuning.

Manœuvrabilité is definitely a focal point of the Scalecommander hero talent tree, but the cumbersome flying controls still leave something to be desired. Perhaps this one will feel better with practice.

Base Augmentation Evoker Gameplay & TalentsBraises en fusionSouffle de feuPuissance d’ébèneTerre grondanteBraises en fusionPerception de puissanceShould You Play Augmentation Evoker in the War Within?best About the AuthorJereicoCommunity DiscordTwitterYouTubeTwitchHero Talent Guides for the War Within Launch

Blood DKFrost DKUnholy DK

Havoc DHVengeance DH

Balance DruidFeral DruidGuardian DruidRestoration Druid

Aug EvokerDevastation EvokerPreservation Evoker

BM HunterMM HunterSurvival Hunter

Arcane MageFire MageFrost Mage

Brewmaster MonkMistweaver MonkWindwalker Monk

Holy PaladinProtection PaladinRetribution Paladin

Discipline PriestHoly PriestShadow Priest

Assassination RogueOutlaw RogueSubtlety Rogue

Elemental ShamanEnhance ShamanRestoration Shaman

Affliction WarlockDemo WarlockDestro Warlock

Arms WarriorFury WarriorProtection Warrior

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