at certain levels of M+, having an Aug evoker is basically required to survive.
We see proof of this in both the logs and The Great Push where things like Zephyr and Rescue are needed as defensives for group survival.
Could this just be solved by capping the amount of dmg mobs do at a certain key level so that you need to prioritize damage output at higher key levels instead of requiring one specific spec/class to get farther?
I’m just trying to imagine a level of key where it is still difficult for the party to survive on their own, but does not REQUIRE an aug evoker. Just as an example, maybe cap damage intake at somewhere around 15-18? Maybe even make the health mob scale a bit more to compensate for capping the damage intake?
IDK, just spitballing here, but having every single meta for the highest keys always revolve around 1 spec is kinda boring.
99% of aug players are terrible and are less effective than bringing a 3rd DPS. This is also something that effects less than .25% of M+ players seeing how you don’t need Augs for even +15 keys.
it’s not about if you can do a 15 without an aug. it’s more about prioritizing to have 3 strong DPS to maximize the damage the players output. also, the key level is arbritrary. IDK why you mentioned 15 specifically when I was putting a range of somewhere 15-18 or even higher. I’m not sure at what level exactly start requiring an aug evoker, but there is a very high correlation between the highest keys being done and needing an aug evoker for their group dmg reductions to be able to survive.
basically, it would be nice to see a change of pace at the highest levels of M+. Ever since aug was released, it was used to help people survive mechanics that would otherwise cause a wipe, or even move people into safe spots to be able to free cast on mobs. if you focus more on needing the absolute max possible damage from all 5 players in the group, you release the need for an aug because a 3rd dps could output more than what the aug provides.
There are other specs that have had this problem, but none quite so much as aug. For example, resto druid was meta in high keys during DF because they output the most damage as a healer, and Prot Pally is meta right now because they do the most damage as a tank. There has at least bit a slight change in tank/heal meta with having Holy Paladins, Prot Warrior, MW monk, etc., but it seems the 1 slot that’s basically guaranteed is Aug when it comes to pushing keys to the highest level possible.
It would be really interesting to see the most non-meta classes be played at a high level to see what they are capable of. The most non-meta I can think of off the top of my head would be, Brew, holy priest, havoc, Marks, aff.
it’s weird that you cutoff the quote there and left out the rest of the sentence. you’re focusing too much on the 15 specifically. ok, change it to 16, 17, 18…, whatever. at a certain point if you do not have an aug, you just can’t complete the key because of taking in too much damage. let’s move past that.
even if it only affects a small portion of the player base, there are a lot of people who watch streams of that .25% of players. seeing a change in requiring an aug and finding out what different classes you could experiment with is the interesting part.
do you think it’s a good idea for 1 slot in the highest M+ groups to be guaranteed as an aug is a good idea? since the release of augmentation, it has been the meta/required spec for the highest keys. there’s no other class that has that much representation. some come close, but aug is 100% guaranteed.
It’s also true that at a certain point you can’t complete the key unless you have X comp. It’s simply inevitable. Does that mean that we should fund more dev time to tackle that, when it affects 0.00001% of players?
You’ll have to set a cutoff for how much of rhe population that has to be impacted before you make a change. Given that less than 0.25% (idk the actual number but I’m willing to guess it’s around 0.05%) of the population are restricted to needing an aug. What percentage is the limit for how few it can affect before we ignore it?
For example, if aug was only needed for 0.000001% of the keys, do you still think developers should concern themselves with that, I.E. work to implement perfect balance?
Edit:
Managed to find +19 keys being done with aug, so aug is really just necessary for those doing +20 or higher right now, which is an absurdly small part of the population.
When you reach that level, there is a set meta anyway, and that will never change without 100% homogenization.
I literally explained why I focused on 15s, because I have experience in them and don’t want to speak for levels that I don’t. It’s not that complicated. You on the other hand are hiding behind a level 12 classic toon with 4 posts.
Exactly, this is a fringe issue that isn’t an issue for almost the entire M+ population. It doesn’t even apply to the .1% title runners because they don’t even need Augs. It’s only the ones competing for the top of the top.
DF S2 (Introduction of Aug)
DF S3
DF S4
TWW S1
The spread isn’t even that bad. I think the community recognizes that most Augs are bad.
I sincerely doubt it, people generally want scapegoats and something to complain about. Plus it’s hard to judge an augs performance and group contribution since most people only check details.
