Devastation nerfs

[Xhaal-the-forgotten-coast]

Newest build has nerfs to Shattering Star (cooldown increased from 15s to 20s) and Scintillation (60% damage to 50% damage). In an effort to manage my despair and immanent freak out, could someone who has looked at PTR stuff explain why we are taking these nerfs (I mostly pvp). Thanks.

/cries in dragon

[Happywing-proudmoore]

I believe they’re making a bunch of 2 point talents into 1 point talents, along with some changes to choice talents. The nerfs are there to balance for the new cost.

[Shamblewing-arthas]

I don’t think the Scintillation nerf is that big a deal. Hopefully it opens up additional room for Disintegrate to be buffed baseline. As for the Shattering Star nerf, I think it’s because probably because of the reworked version of Arcane Vigor.

I just left some feedback on these changes on the PTR forums, so feel free to add your voice there if you agree/disagree.

@Shamblewing-arthas

Just reviewed the upcoming changes, which include a slight nerf to Scintillation and Shattering Star.

Overall, I think these are healthy changes, as I feel Scintillation is too mandatory and Shattering Star could sometimes feel a bit odd to squeeze into the rotation every 15 seconds, but I would like to raise my concerns.

1) Disintegrate should stand on its own

The changes in 10.1 are looking good, but rather than simply nerfing the proc component of Disintegrate, it would be nice to see the baseline damage brought up slightly to compensate single target and reduce the “lottery effect” of machine gunning ES procs. It can feel unsatisfying to press when no procs happen, especially in PvP.

2) Arcane Vigor and Shattering Star

The reworked Arcane Vigor is great. I’m assuming that part of this nerf is to reduce the frequency of Essence Burst while also making the additional 2 second duration from Focusing Iris more competitive, but I feel that the guaranteed EB is always going to win out here. I think Shattering Star should be brought up to 6 seconds baseline and the choice node reworked to something more dynamic, such as increasing the damage modifier slightly or adding some form of interactivity with our kit.

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Furthermore, I’d like to add that our class tree is still bloated with low-value or mandatory talents that add very little to gameplay. Some examples are Draconic Legacy, which adds a measley 6% stamina for 2 talent points, the abundance of mandatory Hover talents, and the bland 4% damage modifier of Instinctive Arcana. There are also a number of high-potential talents like Source of Magic and Regenerative Magic that would benefit from redesigns in order to make them more attractive choices. The Devastation spec tree is looking much better, but the class tree still feels very thrown-together by comparison.

I’m also still hoping that our survivability sees a slight buff, as we lack personal defensives that can be used reactively in response to spikes of damage. A bit of passive tankiness would help compensate for our reduced range, which frequently puts us in danger (especially in PvP, where our range makes it impossible to outrange melee gap closers like Charge or 90% of Ret Paladin damage).

To reiterate, we’re definitely headed in a good direction here. I think the above changes would round out the class and make it feel much more complete.

[Malexia-zuljin]

Furthermore, with these changes they plan to make it so you no longer need to cast/cancel disintegrate to extend (or try to) dragonrage, so players are expected to spend more time full casting disintegrate.

[Malexia-zuljin]

I really don’t like the idea of disintegrate being our main damage source and head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest most often cast spell. I wish it was better blended with living flame and pyre. Constantly spamming one spell with the occasional breath for optimal single target seems like pretty boring PvE to me.

[Shamblewing-arthas]

@Malexia-zuljin

I really don’t like the idea of disintegrate being our main damage source and head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest most often cast spell.

I don’t see Pyre becoming more relevant in single target or Living Flame becoming more substantial than it already is, especially since they just nerfed Engulfing Blaze. Disintegrate is our spender, and it should be impactful.

That being said, I find Devastation tremendously boring in PvE. I mostly PvP, so it’s not an issue for me, but I do find the PvE rotation extremely bland.

[Eradawn-sargeras]

The only damn thing keeping Devoker interesting is the burst. Now they nerf it and for what reason? It’s a Debut Class/Race they should hold precedence and prestige in their Debut Expansion. Idiots. Demon Hunters during Legion were highly competitive and interesting. This is lazy game design on their part for making Evokers absolutely boring and shallow mechanically. Also Shattering Star only goes on two targets. Even tho Eternity’s Surge should allow it to reach twice as many which is 4 and I’ve yet to see how the talent tooltip matches the output.

[Eradawn-sargeras]

@Shamblewing-arthas

I don’t see Pyre becoming more relevant

I don’t even touch Pyre, it’s a waste of essence resources. And does very little damage.