Tbf, even if we assume it generates insanity (Not an assumption I’m comfortable making), how does this interact with “Void bolt can now be cast while channeling mind flay”
Do we just lose efficiency during boon of the ascendant, does void bolt get pushed out entirely, doesn’t sound fun to sit there mashing 1 button for 10 seconds.
Again, not sure. I do think it’s reasonably safe to assume it’ll generate insanity (as this is a CD specific to us, not a generic one that multiple classes have to share), but I don’t know how much. 6 Insanity/cast seems like the safest assumption for now, just kind of fitting in half a Mind Flay as a spammable hard cast instead of a Mind Flay channel.
It could be higher. If I wanted to be optimistic, I would guess as high as 10. If I wanted to be absolutely unrealistically optimistic, I could go as high as 16+. The spell obviously wants us casting Ascended Blast as much as possible for big explosions at the end - so if they really, really want us doing that, they’d make AB generate more Insanity than MB and VB even.
6 is safe for now though.
6 would put it on par with flay per global, and the standard set by hallucinations for every none rotational spell shadow has.
Mann, I’m at a crossroads here with these new spells that they’re adding. I’d love to just say, “I’m going Kyrian” because I love them aesthetically, and their ability doesn’t seem that bad either, but that Necrolord ability is making me think twice about going Kyrian.
When I look at these abilities, they’re mostly coming from a PvP standpoint. A bit from a Mythic+ standpoint as well since I do high keys for gear, but mostly PvP.
When it comes to PvP, I want to be dealing the most damage I can as possible while providing a good amount of healing to my allies. When I look at Unholy Nova, while it may not deal the most damage with just a initial hit + DoT, I can focus a bit more on just dealing damage while my allies can heal themselves with this active, as well as through Atonement.
Kyrian on the other hand also seems pretty decent though. It gives us access to Ascended Nova and Ascended Blast, two abilities that replaced old ones. I wish I knew what these new spells did though, such as how much damage they deal, new effects, if it transfers to Atonement, etc.
Smite for Discipline puts an absorption shield on the enemy, absorbing the next amount of damage they deal. Will Ascended Blast have a similar effect? Will it be stronger? What about Ascended Nova, and will the explosion of damage at the end be transferred over to Atonement as well?
So many questions to decide what will be good and what won’t be. 
At the moment, UN is definitely the strongest for healers mechanically (unless BotA’s Ascended abilities are actually broken). There’s just way too much value packed into it as is.
Mindgames is also really good but I think it’s more of a tank healing tool than a raid healing tool. Assuming it splits itself evenly across AoE damage events (so if 20 targets got hit at the same time, it would reverse 1/20th the cap for each person) anyway.
These are supposed to be balanced. They aren’t yet, but we’re nowhere near a numbers pass. So the best you can do is look at how they’re currently designed and try to infer the developer intent.
Well, because I’m looking at this from mainly a PvP perspective, UN could easily be dispelled and be negated entirely if it’s magic. If it can’t be dispelled, then yes, this would probably be the best option.
Ascended Blast and Ascended Nova are supposed to be a sort of upgraded version of their original spell, atleast that’s what I’m assuming. It should be dealing more damage and have a better effect on top of that. (such as how Smite absorbs damage, would Ascended Blast absorb even more damage or would spread?)
Yeah, we will have to wait to see where the numbers land. It also probably depends on the content and change for the different specs.
If the dot from UN transfers to atonement healing then that one might be very strong for Disc in M+ but I think it likely wont. I also have a feeling that Boon of the Ascended is going to be god-mode and become the strongest, it could also be pretty nice for Shadow if it works as a legitimate 3m DPS cooldown.
I think Mindgames is going to be more of a PvP thing as it looks like it has a maximum amount of damage/healing converted.
Well hey, look at that, I found Ascended Blast/Nova on WoWHead.
https://shadowlands.wowhead.com/spell=325315/ascended-blast
https://shadowlands.wowhead.com/spell=325041/ascended-nova
So bad news. They don’t currently appear to generate Insanity. Womp womp.
On the other hand, they look to be spammable instant casts that do a ton of damage. 250% SP/Global for Blast with all of that being transferred Cata-Atonement style to random nearby targets. I’m not sure how accurate that tooltip is, because it also lists having a 100 yard range.
Honestly, at that level of damage, it might be worthwhile even for Shadow even without any Insanity generation? Pop it after exiting VF to capitalize on the haste from LI, or just before exiting just because, and actually have some respectable burst damage for once.
I do think it should generate insanity though. If anyone gets alpha access, I’d double check that.
I’m kind of hoping that ascended blast and ascended nova are just temporary replacements for mind blast and holy nova when the boom is active. If I have to put two more abilities on my bars that are only going to be used during a cooldown window, I’m gonna go mad.
Nova replaces (I believe) the cooldown button itself, kind of like Void Eruption gets replaced by Void Blast. Blast Replaces Mind Flay for Shadow and Smite for Holy/Disc.