Edit: So, Molten core still sucks. The ability’s cooldowns are way too long, the cooldown of MC istelf is too long and it takes way to long to get decent range. When you activate it, you can barely do anything unless the emenies are already around you (in which case you’ll probably die) And the stun at the end is reallt not necessary.
Going to start by pointing that one out before someone complains about nerfs.
- Explosive Rune [Molten Core E]
- Now deals 75% reduced damage to Structures.
That ability currently deals ZERO damage to structures. So this is a net buff. It is NOT a 75% nerf.
Most of Rag’s changes are to Molten core. Which is a super situational trait, so it didn’t give you much to make up for how often it had no value.
- Living Meteor [W]
- Damage increased from 104 to 120.
Good since it’s a pretty bad damage dealing ability and W build sucks. Not sure it’s enough to make it shine though. A mage build on a bruiser is kind of counterproductive since ot forces your tank to be the only frontline with 4 backliners. (To be fair, no matter the build Rag usually needs assistance often)
- Molten Core [D]
- Cooldown increased from 120 to 180 seconds.
- Health increased from 3996 to 5000.
- Duration increased from 18 to 23 seconds.
- Ragnaros is now Stunned for 1 second upon exiting.
I know they inreased the cooldown because the new “Heroic difficulty” at 20 reduces it by 100 seconds. But now you’re being punished for not picking that heroic which sucks.
Health increase. Sorely needed. I keep telling everyone I play with to attack Rag’s molten core form instead of running away. Because you can burn it REALLY fast. Then he’s screwed. I guess people wised up to that so they made it beefier.
They buffed the duration, which is nice. Butthe stun is really unecessary. Ragnaroe reappears in the exact spot he was when he activated it. So unless there’s someone to peel for him, if enemies are near, he’s dead when it ends since they know exactly where he’ll be. There’s really no need for a self stun.
- Meteor Swing [Molten Core Q]
- Damage increased from 161 to 250.
- No longer deals increased damage to Minions.
- Cooldown increased from 6 seconds to 9 seconds.
- Now also knocks enemies back.
Can’t complain about a damage increase. But this was already his longest cooldown ability. I’m sure it’s due to the added knockback. But I’m not sure I want to knock my enemies away from my allies right as I stun them. And depending on the distance, it might require camera adjustment each time to target them with your other abilities. It’s now a mainly peel tool, but an AoE stun already worked as peel. I wonder why they added that knockback.
- Meteor Shower [Molten Core W]
- Damage increased from 151 to 200.
- Cooldown increased from 2.5 to 6 seconds.
- Area of effect increased by 66%.
- Delay between hits significantly increased.
- No longer deals increased damage to Minions.
- Slow increased from 25% to 35%.
- Range reduced from 35 to 20, but now it extends up to 35 over time.
- Now deals 75% reduced damage to Structures.
So the damage is increased, and the AoE is 66% larger. This wasn’t the easiest ability to land if you didn’t have plenty of practice. But the cooldown is almost double now, and the added delay between hits means it’s easier to dodge. The slow is increased though, which makes you more useful to your team when using it. The 75% reduced damage to structures though really sucks. The structure damage this dealt was the best part about it. You could contribute Core damage from a safe position.
- Level 1
- Engulfing Flame
- Damage bonus reduced from 75% to 50%.
I always figured this might happen. I don’t think our janitors understand that the reason we pick that talent so much is not because it’s really good, but because the other options have very low value.. I don’t think the talent’s pick rate is going to change one bit. Rag is a pretty weak hero overall. So I don’t see many nerfs being warranted.
- Level 10
- Sulfuras Smash
- NEW MYTHIC QUEST: Hit 8 enemy Heroes with the center of Sulfuras Smash. Mythic Reward: Sulfuras Smash gains an extra charge.
On paper this seems like all upside. A second charge is a REALLY good reward. The only problem is that this will encourage players to spam an ability that should be used at key moments, usually as a follow up.
Level 20
- Lava Surge
- No longer reduces the cooldown of Lava Wave by 30 seconds.
- Now also gives +200% Movement Speed to allied Minions and Mercenaries in its path.
The usefulness of LAva wave can tend to get worse late game. Especially if you don’t already have lane advantage. This could help with that. 200% is a pretty big boost, so you won’t have to wait 5 years for the enemy to be threatened by your ability after casting it. They’ll need to respond to it faster.
- Heroic Difficulty
- NEW FUNCTIONALITY: Decrease the cooldown of Molten Core by 110 seconds when used on a dead Fort or Keep. In addition, the starting range of abilities in Molten Core are increased by 100% and will continue to grow.
So, you get a cooldown reduction that offsets the longer cooldown nerf. But only if used on a dead structure. So if your allies refuse to push structures, which is often the case. This part of the text on the ability does not exist. And even if you’ve taken down structures, you won’t always be fighting on the lane where that structure is, so again that text won’t exist. Can’t complain about a range increase though.
The overall range increase on Molten core is nice, as it was pretty easy to get ouf ot its AoE. But I wonder if it’ll feel like Hammer’s graduating range where it often happens too slowly.
Thoughts?
