I feel like next expansion we are going to see other classes get support roles similar to Augmentation. Blizzard is already terrible at balancing classes, and only having the one Support role in game means either they will keep nerfing Augmentation into the ground until it is useless, and no one brings them, or they give similar specs to other classes so you have different comps that can achieve pretty much the same thing for more class diversity in groups.
I knew as soon as the whispers of a support class came out it was going to be a balancing nightmare and Augmentation literally has caused a whole group of classes to be nerfed strictly because blizzard didn’t anticipate how good the synergy would be between them and the evoker.
This is where blizzard needs to come out and be clear: either they keep this uphill battle of trying to keep everyone balanced ( which right now it does not matter because people still complain about 1% here or there or about ST vs cleave vs AOE)
OR… they embrace what they had a long time ago and just let pve be “unbalanced” in the context of of allowing all specs and classes be Unique in whatever they bring to the table.
I remember when they made the argument for, “bring the player, not the class”, as a way to address those that picked and chose certain specs or the “meta/FoM” of whats “good” each tier. I get the point for those that want to min/max and hardcore progression but that’s a minority group of the player base (case in point the old less than 1% seen end tier raids of BC argument)
The issue is every step they took/take to make all dps equal to all other dps then someone is going to lose something from their spec that makes them unique. Thats why we have some of the issues today where you often hear,: why should we bring XXX when YYY can do the same thing BUT BETTER and MORE utillity". This ussualy tends to be damage as anything other than high damage/bust has tended** to be cast to the wayside ( further made a problem from timed keys that favor anything that boosts how fast you complete/kill the enemy mobs).
TLDR: so look blizz needs to decide if they want to try and balance all tanks/dps/healers to be equal among each other with no real difference but looks/animation OR go back to it’s roots and embrace all classes/specs having Strengths, Weakness, Differences in whatever they do or provide as a spec/class/package and be done with it.
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i think the idea of a support class could be the answer to thier balancing issues as well, its another level of complexity but having more than one viable penultimate group because of the way they interface with different support specs makes the conversation more like
“I’m doing low dps!! my spec needs tuned”
“Well have you tried getting a [insert specific support class here} with you? as it is demonstrably good at that point”
The over all question being : Should a support role be the fourth required role for any group?
They could easily change disc priest to a dps role instead. The whole spec is very solid, it brings nice dps and returns heals in that form. This is totally a support spec.
Same goes with fistweaver, it needs some work but could be a nice dps that heals through kicks and fist hitting. Boost a bit more the passives “auras”
Next Ret pally should debuff mobs when hitting them either decrease armor or attack speed, and buff up auras, give back old blessings
Shaman, bring back the old totems and give attack speed to raid when hitting with weapons or spell cast speed when hitting with spells
“Balance” isn’t a goal, it’s a tool – and that tool has to be used via shifting balances and imbalances to retain player interest. The game would be incredibly boring if it was perfectly balanced and never changed.
The design intent now leans towards a seasonal meta. This is far more interesting than the old way of most major shifts constrained to the pre-patch through first major patch.
Aug released a bit OP and you can be sure they knew that would happen. I will not be surprised if we see more support specs added. I really hope we do.
I expect some big stuff for 11.0 since it’s WoW’s 20th and WC’s 30th anniversaries in 2024. I hope some of this stuff is part of it!!
I give Blizzard 1-2 more expansions before Augmentation becomes a regular dps spec.
They signed themselves up for probably the most difficult spec to balance since legion shadow priest.
Augmentation is a spec that’s not only balanced around how well you play it, but how well your group plays their specs.
If they balance augmentation to be good for the average player, it’s god tier for a group of good players. Inversely if it’s average when in a perfect group it’s going to be garbage in an average group.
Basically to balance Aug they have to consider not only the spec itself but everyone the Augmentation Evoker plays with. Eventually they’re going to get tired of the headache of it
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Fist weaver should definetely be its own spec, the mw mastery doesnt match it at all, plus the intelect main stat.
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Add 2-3 more support specs, as extra specs to existing classes. Probably Shaman, Monk, Pally? Though I would love to see a try at support spec for Hunter or Warrior.
Expand small group content to 6 players, with one roll as support. Support competing with DPS is a very hard to balance design. Just make it it’s own thing.
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