Ok, now that I’ve played with the spec a little on the PTR I’d like to consolidate some thoughts there that essentially fall into three big categories.
- Execute is underwhelming & Raging Blow
- The capstone section of our spec tree is horrendous
- Lack of options in class tree
EXECUTE & RAGING BLOW
I’ve tied these two together because they are roots of the same problem. Raging Blow has an absurd amount of effects tied to it: Cruelty, Wrath and Fury, Slaughtering Strikes, Bloodcraze, Critical Thinking, Slayer’s Malice, and Lightning Strikes
I think Execute could most likely use a damage buff no matter what, but it also has to engage with the spec. Execute should replace Raging Blow during its availability, but its current design and damage output fail to justify this. Raging Blow’s interconnected effects are great, but Execute needs something similar to feel relevant.
Slaughtering Strikes - Top of my list to be looked at - because Rampage needs to feel good when you press it. Not only would I like to see execute be able to stack this, but maybe it also needs to be nerfed so it can be a choice to not take it.
Looking specifically at Slayer split some Execute bonuses in the Slayer Hero tree between Sudden Death procs and Marked for Execution.
- Sudden Death procs are more flexible and rewarding than the streaky Marked for Execution.
- This would make Sudden Death worth taking while reducing frustration with mark munching.
CAPSTONES
The capstone section of the Fury spec tree is in rough shape. While baseline abilities like Bladestorm, Reckless Abandon, and Odyn’s Fury are solid, their follow-up talents are lacking. Out of six, only Unhinged is worth taking. Deft Experience feels mandatory, which restricts choice further.
Onslaught - needs to be redesigned. A random button that’s basically just a longer cooldown execute isn’t exciting - even if it gets tuned up into relevancy.
Odyn Fury - Titanic Rage needs to be baked into the ability and new capstone options need to be designed. Draw inspiration from the Dragonflight Season 3 tier bonus, or back to aspects of what made it so cool in Legion (guaranteed crit, damage amps, big boom). Having to spend that second talent point is a key factor in the balance of OF being strong - especially now that Titan’s Torment no longer interacts with Odyn Fury. Which is fine I think, but OF absolutely needs large buffs to be relevant in light of that.
Unbridled Ferocity - Just needs to be rebuffed slightly to 8-10% the potential interaction with the new Reck Abandon could be cool if it ever actually procced.
Depths of Insanity - This just feels like a different flavor of Unbridled Ferocity and I think most players would prefer this talent be redesigned instead of UF - because regardless of design this talent is currently horridly weak.
Reckless Abandon - I like the intent of the change here to make it be more about Recklessness. The warrior discord is saying the Bloodbath DoT not cleaving is intended which I’m not sure I’m sold on. I believe the DoT has an additional issue in being so lengthy. If the DoT is tuned to be strong - but over 50-60 seconds that will be problematic. At the same time if the DoT is tuned weak enough to not really matter - why do we have it in the first place?
Unhinged - This talent really helps add some oomph to Bladestorm. I like the interactions with the new Reckless Abandon. My one big ask here is to give it back some kind of cleaving ability. I’m not sure it has to be the full 4 extra targets granted by Whirlwind, but maybe 2 additional targets at least? If coding it like this lets it continue to not consume whirlwind stacks there is obviously additional value there even at a lower target count. We are a target capped spec on a huge portion of our damage - let us be AMAZING at those lower target counts!
CLASS TREE
While I appreciate getting 10% more stamina. That’s really all this amounts to. Further, it’s not like we really have that great of utility to try and grab to begin with, but the current layout of the tree barely even gives us the option to try lol. My two biggest asks:
- Buff Rallying Cry - at the very least do something for it outside of raids like literally every other ability that is similar has.
- Give Warriors Bloodlust/Heroism - It’s a highly valued piece of utility that could help warriors get invited to groups. I don’t care if this won’t change much in the high end level of play - for people just trying to fill vaults this will help. And to be honest it feels like a thematic ability for warriors to have anyway.
Beyond that the Thunderclap talent tax for Mountain Thane essentially eliminates the 1-2 talent points of choice we do have as warriors. We have some at least moderately interesting talents to pick up in the fringe of the tree, but the option is not a realistic one competing against throughput and other talents that are always good.
SEASON 2 TIER BONUS
2pc bonus - I have no real issues here, and rampage damage is good. There’s some variance, whatever. A solid universal bonus for both ST and AoE, but it does seem to be tuned rather weak at the moment.
4pc Bonus
I think this is “ok”, but it’s also a bonus you’ll largely never care about and tuned quite weak at the moment. You’ll continue to hit your buttons and your combat log will say you got some random buffs while you were going about your business. I also think the last thing this spec needs right now is YET ANOTHER effect tied to Raging Blow. If nothing else I would advocate the Raging Blow bonus be changed to literally anything else.
While the winning streak bonuses feel more lame than the other variants I also think the Fury bonus is perhaps the most unnoticeable of even those more forgettable sets of bonuses. The Ret Paladin bonus for example seems like a pretty cool take on this formula.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Fury spec has a solid foundation, but it needs significant work to feel competitive and engaging. Execute should be impactful and interconnected with the rest of the spec. Capstone talents need substantial redesigns to offer meaningful choices, and Warriors need better utility options in their class tree.