Why?
This idea is to address the 3 most common pain points I see for Colossus Arms players;
- Demolish adds too many active buttons on top of Arms already having too many buttons this expansion when compared to Dragonflight
- Demolish “locking” you is lame
- The hero tree doesn’t feel very “Colossal” & lacks focus on anything besides Demolish
Proposed Solution:
- Rework Demolish into an ability that replaces another Arms ability to reduce clutter (inspired by Thunder Clap/Thunder Blast replacing Cleave & Whirlwind for Mountain Thane)
- Add more emphasis to the “Colossal” fantasy about being gigantic
(1) Here’s the proposed Demolish ability rework:
Demolish
20 Rage
Instant
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Slams an opponent brutally with your weapon, causing x Physical damage. Also causes the [Rend] Bleed effect if you have the ability talented.
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At 10 stacks of Colossal Might, Demolish becomes [Colossal Impact], costs no Rage, and becomes available to cast for the next 10 seconds. Consumes all 10 stacks of Colossal Might upon casting.
Replaces Slam & Rend
Colossal Impact
No Rage Cost
25 yd range
Instant
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You harness your colossal might to lunge towards your target and unleash a series of 3 precise and powerful strikes against them, dealing X damage. For the third strike, slam your weapon into the ground with such impact that the very ground shatters, dealing X damage to enemies within 8 yds of it. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
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If [Rend] and [Thunder Clap] are selected talents, the third strike also afflicts the 8 closest enemies with the [Rend] bleed effect.
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While channeling Demolish, you take 10% less damage and are immune to stuns, knockbacks, and forced movement effects.
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You can block, parry, dodge, and use certain defensive abilities while channeling Demolish.
(2) So here’s the proposed remedy for the “Colossal” Fantasy:
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Mountain of Muscle and Scars:
- Now increases size by 5% for Zandalari Troll, Tauren, Highmountain Tauren, Draenei, or Lightforged Draenei.
- By 20% if you’re a Dwarf, Earthen, Dark Iron, Gnome, Mechagnome, Goblin, or Vulpera.
- If you’re none of those races, increases size by 10%.
- Additionally increases the size of your Avatar form by 10%
- Now changes your Avatar form from a basic dark brown tint, to a chipped rock/granite texture. And, just like Colossus Hero Spec artwork, your eyes now glow Red too.
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Replace “Precise Might” with new talent: “Spirit of Strom’kar”
- Your Colossus Smash is replaced with Warbreaker, and grants the benefits of [Blunt Instruments], regardless of talent selection for that node.
What these changes accomplish:
- Demolish replaces Slam & Rend, instead of adding an additional button to the hot bar, it now removes one and replaces another
- Integrates the 4-set bonus of the Arms Warrior Amirdrassil set into it as well, so there is a greater emphasis on the fantasy of causing an earth-shattering impact like one would expect from a Colossus
- To compensate for being locked into a cast, Demolish now functions similarly to abilities like Fyr’alath’s active, Harpoon, Coordinated Assault, & Flanking Strike (SV Hunter), allowing the Warrior to cross distances to ensure the move’s power is delivered if they’re within range
- You quite literally feel “Colossal” now in both your gameplay fantasy and character size fantasy
- Outside of Demolish itself, these abilities empower Colossus Smash and Avatar, the 2 abilities that already line up with the fantasy of being giant and powerful
For the sake of keeping discussion on the design factor, let’s assume that balance is not an issue, and these changes have Arms Warrior being in a good spot.
Would love to hear thoughts. Personally, I think many Arms Warriors, like myself would enjoy these changes substantially. For me personally, this would make me return to playing them again over Mountain Thane & Slayer (both of which I am very much enjoying)