When we got the first rebalancing to the set on the PTR for season 25 the dev team intention was to first halve all the set values to make the FB-Mirror Images combo less OP. Remembering that the MI play style was actually encouraged by the dev team when they introduced the MI count on the UI. Now all of sudden they don’t like it anymore… Odd.
Then people were crying saying that the change to the set values would destroy the set. Which is a fair point because what really makes it OP was the Mirror images crazy damage.
So we got the final patch notes that is what we have today: the 6p bonus is no longer triggered by pets.
But I don’t think it’s a good solution tho… Here’s why:
• Desintegrate being part of the set implies that you have to keep constantly channeling to keep your toughness and your combustion stacks.
• Explosive Blast right now is the only skill that don’t interrupt your Desintegrate channeling. All the other you have to stop to cast the spell.
• If you stop channeling to cast other skills you not only lose combustion stacks but also some other bonus that help with wiz toughness like Taeguk.
• You could look at all other 34 dedicated class sets and NONE makes you choose between damage or damage reduction, only Firebird’s.
• You devs talk so much about the fantasy of each set, of Firebird’s being that fire mage that resurrect from the ashes and spill crazy powerful scorching skills. But right now you’re a melee char that have to choose between igniting monsters or attack with magical blades or explosions at close range… Totally not the fantasy of the wizard class.
And that leads to one of my suggestions:
Instead of axing the pet interaction completely, just halve the benefit pets would get from the set, like it was the intention before the final patch notes. This way we have to keep channeling Desintegrate and keep our damage and toughness bonus.
Make more skills able to be cast while channeling Desintegrate.
Let us auto cast some equipped fire spells while channeling Desintegrate as a feature of the 6p bonus. Let the Desintegrate be the aim for our other spells.
Remove Channeling spells completely from the set bonuses. Let the combustion stacks be applied by all fire spells and the combustion stacks being timed based, like Valor 4p bonus.
From all these suggestions, only the fourth I think is somewhat difficult to implement, having in mind that the set was revised not long ago. But even then it’s better than what we have now.
If the past is any indicator, when a set shines in any particular season or two, you can almost bet it will suck the following seasons, almost purposely. Firebirds had their time in the sun so did the DH Dreads. This season it’s Monk’s Innas time to shine. I bet it will suck next season.
My vote for next season is for the Barbarian. Give the poor barbs something to play for God’s sake that can rival the top builds.
It’s not the pets that made the build op, the issue is Deathwish. So if you can keep channeling the problem would return.
The correct change would probably be to limit Deathwish buff to the channeling skill itself. (Or just remove it.) But this would require rebalancing a bunch of other skills, like Hydra.
I Know Deathwish is a issue for a long time now but the problem with the set still remains… You have to choose between doing damage or survivability and no other set in the game forces you into that choice. Not to mention that the melee aspect of the build is the most stu.pid thing.
I also would like to see Teleport buffed in one way or another instead of just via the Firebird set.
Maybe lower the Cooldown to 6-8 Seconds or give it 2 Charges with a recharge time of 8 seconds )just like the Monks Dashing Strike) and let the Wormhole rune give it a 3rd Charge and another rune that lets Teleport cost Arcane Power instead of Charges.
Been saying this for several seasons:
Blizzard, instead of axing a build, fine-tune it. By axing it, you are seriously upsetting your customers, who have spent MANY hours to make that particular build and get appropriate gear.
Ponchik refers to the spell itself. Personally I find the monks dash work much better. It’s something that has been talked about for ages, I doubt there will be an improvement.
Yes, but movement / maneuverability is one very specific and important thing that should be tackled, because in the case of the Wizard, it would greatly improves the gameplay of all Wizard builds, instead of leaving this improved mobility (mostly) to the Firebird set.
