I’ve been thinking a lot about the current state of Tier Sets in retail WoW, and I can’t help but feel that they are doing more harm than good. One of the biggest issues is how these sets often pigeonhole us into specific builds just to maximize the set bonuses. This, in turn, makes other builds less viable, narrowing the diversity of playstyles.
But what’s the purpose of Tier Sets today? In the past, they were prestigious and challenging to obtain, serving as a marker of achievement. Now, they’re incredibly easy to acquire, which makes me question why they’re still such a focal point in the game.
The impact on class balance is another major concern. Blizzard often seems to overlook that the Tier Set bonuses are the real reason behind a class’s overpowering performance. Instead of adjusting the Tier Set effects, they end up nerfing core abilities. Then, when the Tier Set is gone, that class often ends up feeling underwhelming or outright weak.
So, I’m left wondering: Why are Tier Sets still in the game? Are they really adding anything meaningful, or are they just making things worse, especially when it comes to balance?
To sum up my points:
Forced Build Diversity
Tier set bonuses often force players into specific builds that maximize the set’s effects. This approach:
Reduces build diversity and player choice
Makes alternative builds less viable or even obsolete
Limits creativity in character optimization
Loss of Prestige
In the past, acquiring a full tier set was a significant achievement. Now:
Tier sets are easily obtainable through various means
The prestige associated with these sets has largely diminished
Their ubiquity raises questions about their continued relevance
Balance Nightmares
Tier sets create significant balancing issues:
Some classes become overpowered due to their tier set bonuses
Blizzard often responds by nerfing core abilities instead of adjusting the set bonuses
When tier sets rotate out, affected classes can suddenly become underpowered
Design Constraints
The constant need to create new tier sets:
Puts pressure on designers to come up with unique effects each patch
Can lead to power creep or recycled ideas
Takes development resources away from other potential gear innovations
IDK maybe it is time for Blizzard to explore alternative gearing systems…
I’m not a fan of set bonuses that force you into specific talent builds, but I like having some kind of bonus that makes you feel like you’ve taken a big step toward increasing the power of your character. I also prefer class-specific appearances vs armor-specific appearances. Feels more thematic.
Double edged sword. Make them good set bonuses and people whine it’s too strong so it’s mandatory. Make them too weak and they will whine they are too weak
That’s kinda the goal to have tier sets switch how you play, because some talents will always be worse.
The problem with keeping prestige is it doesn’t work with M+ and encouraged a lot split running raids.
To some point also having tier sets change class balance a bit each patch can be welcome, the problem is when tier sets become too powerful that they become class defining which certainly happened a couple time when they’ve made tier sets be a 20-30% dps upgrade. Which also seem to be something they care about with tier sets in TWW S1 being way more minor than in DF.
Tier sets for me also can be great because they’re class tmogs, that shouldn’t be put down. It’s probably one of the more interesting rewards because when they removed them they made armor type sets only which felt worse.
I adore the fact that the catalyst has made the set bonus very easy to attain regardless of level of play. It does make them part of the spec sure but it is a good step IMO.
Tier sets allow for experimentation; there have been some tier set bonuses that were so popular and deemed integral to the class that they eventually became incorporated into the talent trees.
Where else can Blizzard cook with experimental talents? Should we bring back Covenants and Covenant abilities?
You point out a lot of good things and they are all worthwhile to consider. There’s elements two it but to answer this question of yours…
Two reasons, and virtually no other reasons at all:
They provide a seasonal goal and something more unique to look forwards to. Due to their strength they need to at least be partially deterministic but in actuality, past the first week of raiding on any character you are likely and expected to be in if not full 4-piece but at least 2-piece. Which further reinforces the idea of them needing to be deterministic.
When Blizzard tried to improve on tier sets they discovered that people are far too nostalgically attached to tier sets, because Azerite Armours were objectively better tier pieces AND could be acquired deterministically without limiting people’s ability to experiment and change up their different kinds of Azerite Armours.
Most folks go “Oh my god, you liked Azerite armours?!” and… yes. Obviously I did, and still do to this day. Because they were designed so everyone got access to them, they had the ability to be upgraded, positively influenced your gameplay OR just simply provided you with boosts, and they could be added both as seasonal improvements or as part of mini events, professions, or other areas.
Basically… they did everything players had been asking for for a while, but folks just simply like the idea of tier sets and bonuses so… folks made an explicit choice to dislike 'em.
So … yeah. Those two are largely the entire reasons why tier sets still exist in WoW, regardless of whether they provide a good gameplay experience or not. Because players are too stubborn to look at good changes and give things an honest try.
In my opinion they should use tier sets as soft lockouts for content…
Instead of coming up with Talent point style bonuses that add to your combat, make the set bonuses a passive buff of some sort that is require to handle certain raid mechanics.
This is my biggest issue with tier sets, I get Blizz wanting to try and change things up and make people try different builds, but that kind of ruins the point of talent trees. They bring the trees back so players can experiment, then force you to play with certain talents, we might as well just go back to the MoP-SL talent grids, and make more abilities baseline again.
Yes making tier sets that wouldn’t force you into certain builds would be boring because they would most likely be based around early talents or simple damage buffs, but I would rather have that then being told to play a certain way which I may not enjoy, and possibly even stop playing that class/spec for that patch cycle.