I didn’t like set bonuses at all, personally. I much prefer the shadowlands direction. With set bonuses, you couldn’t equip upgrades that would break the set- it was really unintuitive. The only cool part of them were the transmogs unique to each class but those can exist without set bonuses.
There also wasn’t any choice to be made between bonuses. You either had the latest set or you didn’t.
The entire problem of this “borrowed power” is the time spent to build something only for one expansion. The entire expansion is Blizzard trying to fix a broken system.
It impacts DIRECTLY on how much content we’ll have. I would like them STOP to recreate these systems from scratch every single expansion and put effort and focus on new content.
We wait for 2 years to receive expansion and then you see “new zones, covenant, dungeons and raids, tower of the damned”.
We have only 1 new thing on this expansion the TOWER and that’s it. We will not have new classes, specs, races, new challenge modes, PVP content, housing, etc and etc. It’s a waste of time working in a feature that will be dead at the end of the expansion.
Seriously, just STOP" Put some effort and change the talent tree! Why add talents to the Artifact, Neck, Essence, Corruption, or Covenant? Doesn’t make any sense. Add this to the class talent trees and give us more options about how to play with our classes. Use the talents to create new specs for the classes we have today. Give us new classes!
They have a lot to explore for each class just take a look at the class areas, a lot of suggestions about new specs, some of them REALLY GOOD STUFF, it’s the “flavor” to the new expansion and keep the game identity.
If you have a balanced system you have time to think in other aspects of the game and not only how to fix a broken one. Also, you can better balance the classes and will not be mandatory to do raids as BM hunter because SURV is trash, or because only FIRE MAGE is viable.
I cannot even believe that someone would prefer these broken systems over a new spec to your favorite class.
Why do you people keep making the same debunked argument? No. No that wouldn’t happen. Wrong.
If we didn’t do this, then those systems wouldn’t exist and so they wouldn’t pile up on top of each other. Think. Use brain. Brain good. Think good.
I like borrowed power.
Because without it we have to read 1000x threads about X class dps being 2% lower than the top class and needing nerfs for “balance”
Legion had the artifact, relics, legiondaries, NLC, and tier sets…that’s a lot more borrowed power than just 1 system. And yes I agree, it was fine.
Fully agree with the OP here to a degree.
Said in other threads about the class and spec design issues, if Blizz would design fully realized classes and specs, then have these rental power systems as a way to compliment and enhance said classes and specs I wouldn’t have such issue with them. What we see now though is exactly what you describe, half-*** classes and specs that rely on these rental power systems to be complete, and when those systems are disabled classes feel terrible again. It’s honestly, IMO at least, laziness on the part of this current Dev team.
To those who point to tier sets, yes they were borrowed power, but they enhanced the class usually and weren’t required most of the time to make a class function properly. Also they stayed active until you the player chose to break them. Admitted there were a few occasions where some tier sets stepped way beyond, but honestly how many times did you need set bonuses make your class/spec to function properly.
Agree with this.
“Borrowed Power” has always been a thing, and I don’t think it taking the form of a system vs simple gear is that bad of a thing. Legion was kinda fun with it, and BFA’s big problem was too many systems and it just sucked. Azerite was too core to the character; if it would have been Corruption from the get-go, I think that would have been better, since they don’t feel like something you need to make your character function. It’s literally just added power.
Also making them usable while levelling would be great and help them not feel completely abandoned as soon as they’re not relevant. I hope this is a thing through Chromie Time.
How DARE you speak for me OP!
You are right though, I don’t like the whole borrowed power thing.
I wish they would work on making the classes interesting instead.
I don’t mind borrowed power.
It’s a way to test new things across the game, specs, and classes.
Thrall lost his shaman power in pandaria - there’s no reason we can’t gain and lose power as the world around us changes.
But those bonuses came and went and were replaced with new bonuses.
That’s borrowed power.
Hey at least it was actually fun
Sure, feel free to check my achievements. 
'member when borrowed power was just the raid tier of the patch?
Life 'members.
No one likes getting dazed either but Blizzard won’t remove that crap.
A reason why I also dislike how blizzard “buffs” random wildlife to match the power level of everything around it. Very lazy if you ask me. You can have a little crab that could solo onyxia running around in nazjatar…
But then taking away borrowed power would force Blizzard to actually change classes and make them engaging without means of another source, and we all now how AMAZING they are at doing that. You seem to be insinuating that I like these systems and that I think they place they have in the game, which I’m not, at all. I hate them actually.
Those aren’t borrowed powers that made your class functional. Those are just items. The legendaries had a talent tree.
There was only 1 system of borrowed power in Legion and it was given a massive catch-up mechanic so it didn’t even matter. I could hop on any level 120 and all I had to worry about was ilvl before declaring it my main. I could do that in every expansion for this entire game, since vanilla… Except BfA. In BfA if I want to play a different character, I need to sacrifice months of my life before it can surpass my main and the “catch up” mechanics we’re given are somewhere between an insult and a joke.
Well, I love it.
Just imagine, Zinrokh, Destroyer of Worlds from Zul Gurub (Classic). Yeah, with pure stats, it was awesome. But put a Twilight Devastation Rank 3 on it, it becomes twofold more amazing.
Just imagine how it procs on AoE then you follow up with your Rank 3 Focusing Iris, spectacular and immense beam melting down of mobs is so satisfying to behold.
Yup, I love it. Compare it to just plain Zinrokh… That’s plain boring.
You are just salty becoz your so called borrowed power is so few and weak. Unlike mine, it was amazing even before the Welfare Echos of Nyalotha.
You mean no one likes paladins and warlocks?
I like the “borrowed power” approach.
Ever since vanilla, it’s been nice having things change. Back then it was tier set bonuses. Now it’s much more than that.
It’s a great way to test out new things for each class/ spec.