I love the Evoker playstyle and theme and could easily see it as a new main for me but I’ve never played a class that felt so weak. I didn’t expect Paladin levels of tankiness but I expected a mail class to feel tankier than my cloth toons. And to clarify I have no problem with my dps on Devistation, even if I feel some of the cooldowns are a tad longer than they should be. I just feel like I could die to a critter if I am not playing attention. I know kiting is a big part of the Evoker kit with the mobility they have, but the shorter caster range coupled the length of defensive cooldowns means when hover isn’t up I just die. Hover does have decent uptime but it feels so crucial to the kit it needs to have 100% imo. I am currently level 66 and some quests I have just chosen to skip cause mob density is to high in their areas so I can’t kite effectively without taking a year to clear the entire zone as carefully as possible. Is it just a matter of gear and skill or is Evoker just that fragile of a glass cannon?
I make sure Azure claws are up for the slow. There’s a talent that can help you hit more than 1 target. Landslide to root. Also use your tail whip and the wing one ( forgot the name ). Make sure to use Obsidian Scales when you can’t run. You also can use your heals. I haven’t really had any issues questing, but better gear definitely helps too.
Hope this may help you love it a bit more as it is a fun class.
Devastation is really good at solo gameplay, you just need to pull things one by one. Generally this is bad on most specs, but devastation just MELTS them, so it’s not a problem.
You can make bigger pulls when breath is up. Generally breath into living flame will clear everything.
Are you using your self heals? You have a bunch.
Evoker is a weird class where you should try to not being hit and kite. Which is usually something you do with ranged classes… however evoker is limited to 25 y… very very weird.
At least it has huge burst so they usually dont get the chance to hit you.
I would say devas shines on single target where Aug shines on grouped targets.
All aug spells are AoE and Aug has better surv. It’s closer to a “tank” spec.
It’s worth trying both see what suits you.
Personnaly since i like fast move class i prefer Aug for 10% more.
I didn’t even think of permeating chill working with azure strike cause I’ve only been using it for multi targer. That will make kiting a lot easier.
Leveling evoker is a bit rough, tbh. It’s way better when you have gear, but at level 66 your gear is almost certainly gonna be garbage.
I found that leveling on this new Death Knight isn’t much easier. I still felt really squishy for a good while.
As everyone suggests, slows and roots play a big role. I believe there’s a talent that gives Disintegration a slow as well, so you can keep enemies at bay while melting them.
Slows, roots, make good use of defensives. Renewing blaze is very nice, so is obsidian scales.
The defensive toolkit is completely proactive and requires a good understanding of when you’ll be taking big chunks of damage.
The spec is actually pretty survivable if you use everything well in concert.
Being sub-70 with leveling gear on is also not indicative of how the class is intended to perform. Once you have gear you’re best survivability comes from just nuking everything down.
Our defensive could use some improvement. As an Aug, I find myself struggling and healing myself quite often in places like Everbloom and Blackrook on the larger trash pulls. This is at higher keys though. I’m finding some healers flat out ignore me and just say “use your defensive” as if its some impenetrable buff.
Idk man Aug is in a far better place than dev in terms of tankiness. If you’re struggling in 16s to stay alive that’s both a healer issue and taking unnecessary damage/not using defensives proactively.
I’m by no means doing truly high keys, but I’m rarely dying in 20-22 keys.
Ive been playing evoker since it came out and its really not bad most people making it out to be. Your survivabilitiy is kiting melee targets or interupts cast with queel, tail whip, and tail knockback (forgot the spell name). You have 2 obsidian charges that should be used when you taking having damage. You have instant heal procs when you use rank 1 fire breath. (Keep in mind its not free. Uses alot of mana) you have multiple of other talents that help niche survivabilities as well. But the bulk is just kiting as most npc are melee. 2 hovers plus slow with disentrgrate. Also, mastery helps big damage. Use that to your advantage. Drawn out fights is bad.
At half health you have a few options:
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Blossom + the other burst heal I can’t remember the name of (the one where you fly to them but can use on your self) This will normally restore you to full. I keep both of these spells on middle mouse and alt+middle mouse.
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Obsidian scales + renewing blaze. This is generally what you will do on your second engagement since you already know you’re going to take damage. This will negate it.
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Hover away and have a self cast living flame macro as a last resort. Takes a couple but you can get back to full life pretty quick. (Ctrl+thumb mouse button)
If you are at half health and have no burst healing CDS or scales/blaze you need to run.
If you need to run:
Use the wind burst to push them away or tail swipe to launch them while you escape.
Other notes:
Consider casting landslide as your 2nd spell after your initial attack and make distance again.
Evoker really has no justification for the short range. It’s a handicap for no reason. A little bit of lag can get you hit with melee when it doesn’t look like they’re in range at all.
Evoker is actually pretty tanky if you play it and use your CD’s properly (assuming you are talking PvE that is).
With evoker, you have to use your defensive CD’s before the damage happens, not after. If you do that, with kiting and self heals, you will feel tanky.
Renewing Blaze is a perfect example of the defensive play style you need to approach the spec with. It heals you for 100% of the damage you take over 8 (4 if talented) seconds, but only while the buff is active. If you use renewing blaze too late, you will not receive the healing you need.
Best advise I can give for devastation, Augmentation is much tankier for obvious reasons.