January 29th 2019 Class Tuning - Azerite Tuning and Mythic Balance Changes

Live Posted 2019/01/28 at 9:02 PM by Anshlun

THESE ARE 2019 CHANGES AND NOT SEASON 4 CHANGES

UPDATED JANUARY 28 18:45 PSTWith scheduled maintenance this week, we're going to make some adjustments to several specs in PvE and PvP, as well as a number of Azerite Traits. We're keeping a close eye on both early performance in the new raid as well as how things have been going in Mythic Keystone dungeons in Tides of Vengeance.Our usual disclaimers apply - these may still change slightly:Classes

Death Knight

Unholy

Death Coil damage increased by 20%.

Hunter

Marksmanship
All damage and pet damage increased by 3%.
Developers’ note: Marksmanship damage has been a bit too low when not using Unerring Vision. With the reduction to Unerring Vision’s effectiveness, this increase brings Marksmanship up to a more appropriate overall level.

Druid

Restoration

Efflorescence healing increased by 15%.
Lifebloom and Wild Growth cost reduced by 7%.

Warrior

Arms

Mortal Strike, , Slam, Overpower, and Rend damage increased by 8%.

Based on data observed since Tides of Vengeance launched, we have a number of tuning changes for Azerite traits. The goal of these changes is to improve the usability of some class traits, as well as rein in the power of some of the newer traits in a way that still preserves their core coolness. Additionally, some Azerite traits changed value dramatically with changes to specs in Tides of Vengeance, so we're taking this opportunity to rebalance those traits as the Mythic Raid opens.Items

Heart of Azeroth
All Classes
Dagger in the Back effectiveness reduced by 10%.
Champion of Azeroth effectiveness reduced by 10%.
Treacherous Covenant effectiveness reduced by 10%.

Druid

Streaking Stars effectiveness increased by 15%.

Hunter

Unerring Vision effectiveness reduced by 33%.
Blur of Talons effectiveness reduced by 33%.
Rapid Reload damage increased by 100%.
Feeding Frenzy damage increased by 30%.
Dance of Death agility increased by 20%.
Serrated Jaws's Kill Command damage increased by 40%.
Focused Fire damage increased by 15%.

Mage

Wildfire damage reduced by 30%.
Equipoise damage increased by 200%.
Arcane Pummeling damage increased by 50%.

Monk

Fury of Xuen chance to spawn Xuen reduced by 33% per stack.

Paladin

Light's Decree damage reduced by 30%.
Fixed an issue which caused Light's Decree to deal less damage than intended when your Holy Power costs were reduced by effects like Divine Purpose or Fires of Justice.

Priest

Searing Dialogue effectiveness reduced by 35%.

Rogue

The First Dance haste reduced by 40%.
Replicating Shadows shadow damage increased by 30%.

Shaman

Echo of the Elementals damage reduced by 33%.
Primal Primer effectiveness reduced by 30%.
Strength of Earth effectiveness reduced by 30%.
Igneous Potential damage increased by 150%.
Ancestral Resonance mastery increased by 10%.
Thunderaan's Fury totem spawn chance reduced to 8% (was 10%).

Warlock

Pandemic Invocation damage increased by 15%.
Explosive Potential effectiveness increased by 100%.
Umbral Blaze effectiveness increased by 100%.

Player versus Player

Gladiator's Safeguard trinket's absorb amount reduced by 33%.
Gladiator's Emblem trinket's maximum health buff increased by 20%.
Druid
Restoration
All healing increased by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
Focused Growth (PvP Talent) increases the healing of Lifebloom by 20% (was 15%).
Focused Growth (PvP Talent) reduces mana cost of Lifebloom by 20% (was 15%).
Overgrowth (PvP Talent) mana cost reduced by 25%.

Hunter

Marksmanship
Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, and Steady Shot damage increased by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Warlock

Destruction
Rain of Chaos increases Chaos Bolt damage by 4% per Soul Shard spent when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 8%).
Chaos Bolt damage increased by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

As always, we'll post here and elsewhere if the above changes, and final adjustments will be in the next hotfixes update after maintenance.

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Comment by RoktarVDH and Guardian untouched after such low representation in yet another raid tier from BFA. This representation will be even less in Mythic.Comment by RazaronStrength of Earth effectiveness reduced by 30%.
Thunderaan’s Fury totem spawn chance reduced to 8% (was 10%).

ack.. thats going to really hurt enhancement's rockbiter builds and Thunderaan’s Fury is really low rng chance already! Can't understand Blizzard's thinking at all with that one.Comment by heghow122Lol war azerite changes... nadaComment by SchpookyOh man good thing ww's trait gets nerfed even though it's already at 1.5% per stack instead of the described 2%, they're way too OP sitting on the 17th spot of dps rankings. I know i'm salty but i don't understand the decision here.Comment by heghow122Dont forget prot war lack of representationComment by JaigarWhy would they nerf Champion of Azeroth trait? What gear even has that?

Well, Shamans and spriest are back in the bin, at least they will be from the community perspective. The best azerite traits getting hit that hard hurts ele a lot, and shadow will still be decent, just less dominate in AoE.

Welcome back to the affliction domination.. again.. for what, the 5th raid tier in a row?Comment by ZeheveBlur of Talons effectiveness reduced by 33%.

Awesome, thanks. So much for not doing massive changes to traits again.Comment by PortergaugeHappy to see they decided to just buff resto druids, those nerfs would have been painful, especially in PvP.Comment by HipzYou can't get gear with Champion of Azeroth trait on it that is over 355 item level LOL

What are these class design people thinking...Comment by Skyrei"Hold up. Enhancement can pull respectable numbers with certain traits? Better put a stop to that. "Comment by Agentkillerlee Wildfire damage reduced by 30%.Comment by ChuckaduckEnhance was starting to look viable until someone realized Enhance was starting to look viableComment by CharakFIX/REMOVE Siesmic Wave, its trash and its taking up arms trait slots.Comment by altieri43MM HUNTER PVE NERFS! WTFComment by ladilock Wildfire damage reduced by 30%.Enhance was starting to look viable until someone realized Enhance was starting to look viableComment by AntarysFire Mage is not even close to be the top dog in BoD or M+ and they nerf our best talent once again.
Buff on Arcane not going to change anything about its utility in M+ or the few fights in BoD that are single target. How ^&*!ing bad a talent must be to be buffed by 200%!Comment by VibrissThey nerfed traits that were way ahead, not the classes. See, for example, how Blur of Talons, Unerring Vision, Fury of Xuen, Wildfire and Echo of the Elementals sim at the moment. Having one trait stacked be ahead of the closest competitor by almost 1.5k DPS is problematic, to say the least.

I am not sure the compensatory buffs to other traits are enough to maintain power level though.Comment by deathlavitzMM HUNTER PVE NERFS! WTFComment by IronymanThey nerfed traits that were way ahead, not the classes. See, for example, how Blur of Talons, Unerring Vision, Fury of Xuen, Wildfire and Echo of the Elementals sim at the moment. Having one trait stacked be ahead of the closest competitor by almost 1.5k DPS is problematic, to say the least.

I am not sure the compensatory buffs to other traits are enough to maintain power level though.Comment by RawrexedeeI am so glad to see Feral getting any sign of improvement. Messed up the spec and still suffering :^).

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