At what point did Blizzard abandon the whole ranked spell concept? I thought it was in vanilla, but not sure.
10/30/2018 08:52 AMPosted by ThundertotemAt what point did Blizzard abandon the whole ranked spell concept? I thought it was in vanilla, but not sure.
I know spell ranks were still a thing when BC launched
Wotlk if I remember right. Still had them in BC
I think it was Cata.
They nerfed downranking once or twice in Vanilla I believe and again in TBC. They killed it off in wrath. I don't recall when ranks were actually removed. Cata?
Nerf downranking... Nerf it to hell...
10/30/2018 08:56 AMPosted by ConiferousThey nerfed downranking once or twice in Vanilla I believe and again in TBC. They killed it off in wrath. I don't recall when ranks were actually removed. Cata?
Yeah, I remember downranking in BC raiding, but what they did in Wrath to kill it was make the mana cost a percentage (of your total mana) rather than a set cost per rank - which removed the mana-saving value. EDIT: And, yes, Cataclysm is when they did the spells leveling with character level instead of being separate ranks, just like the heirloom stats.
The wowwikia article actually has a pretty good breakdown:
http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Downranking
A penalty for downranking to spells below level 20 has been present since early in the game's development. Shortly before the release of the 2.0 content patch, an additional downranking modifier was added in order to combat significant downranking of healing spells in raiding.
As it was "shortly before the release of the 2.0 content patch", some might argue this was in vanilla - but I notice it is not a part of 1.12 and thus not entirely between the 1.1 to 1.12 parameters most of us are using.
By that logic, the ONLY downranking penalty would be the same one as vanilla had all the way through - affecting ranks of spells learnable below level 20.
10/30/2018 08:58 AMPosted by FallanaaNerf downranking... Nerf it to hell...
its fine for healers, but OP for for mages. shaman could get solid use out of it too, but they had legit mana issues
I know down-ranking spells wasn't a bug, but it always felt like a clever use of game mechanics to me. Like the ONLY way some classes could endure at max was to use down-ranked spells. That reflects an oversight on Blizz's part to not allow for better mana regen tools to stop people wanting to down-rank. They eventually wizened up about it.
Blizzard likes to refer that as a exploit if past history has shown us. It's why they killed wall walking and a few other "clever use of game mechanics"10/30/2018 11:40 AMPosted by ShadowstalkxI know down-ranking spells wasn't a bug, but it always felt like a clever use of game mechanics to me.
10/30/2018 11:40 AMPosted by ShadowstalkxI know down-ranking spells wasn't a bug, but it always felt like a clever use of game mechanics to me. Like the ONLY way some classes could endure at max was to use down-ranked spells. That reflects an oversight on Blizz's part to not allow for better mana regen tools to stop people wanting to down-rank. They eventually wizened up about it.
Nah, they just decided they didn't want to balance around it and clever use of regen mechanics as it rewarded skill and that was a no-no in Wrath design. Hence downranking and 5 second rule regen got axed and healing turned into DPSing against your raid frames instead of being interesting...
10/30/2018 12:22 PMPosted by Ellilainehealing turned into DPSing against your raid frames
LOL. Nailed it. +1
10/30/2018 12:22 PMPosted by EllilaineHence downranking and 5 second rule regen got axed and healing turned into DPSing against your raid frames instead of being interesting...
I think you just described in one sentence why I enjoyed healing in vanilla/BC and haven't enjoyed it since Wrath.
It's flavor. Leave it alone.
They where still in wrath that I remember. It was sometime in Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria when they revamped the mana system so spells used a percent of your total mana instead of a fixed number, then there was no need for ranks anymore.
The ranks existed in Wrath, but they just did less for the same amount of mana as max rank. People ran addons to whisper you that you were shooting yourself in the foot with a downranked spell.
However, clever use of game mechanics utilized downranked power word: shield on the Lich King fight. Rapture restored the mana cost of power word: shield when the shield was completely used with a cooldown of once every X seconds. However, if multiple shields were absorbed at the same moment, all of the mana costs were returned. Thus, for the Lich King fight, platform portion, starting 18 seconds pre-pull, discipline priests cast down ranked power word: shield to negate infest. I know that when we first hit the fight I was at max minus 1 and after more gear I was at max rank minus 2.
I think that the ranks themselves were removed in Cata or Mists.
However, clever use of game mechanics utilized downranked power word: shield on the Lich King fight. Rapture restored the mana cost of power word: shield when the shield was completely used with a cooldown of once every X seconds. However, if multiple shields were absorbed at the same moment, all of the mana costs were returned. Thus, for the Lich King fight, platform portion, starting 18 seconds pre-pull, discipline priests cast down ranked power word: shield to negate infest. I know that when we first hit the fight I was at max minus 1 and after more gear I was at max rank minus 2.
I think that the ranks themselves were removed in Cata or Mists.
10/30/2018 02:08 PMPosted by MightylinkThey where still in wrath that I remember. It was sometime in Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria when they revamped the mana system so spells used a percent of your total mana instead of a fixed number, then there was no need for ranks anymore.
That happened at the release of Wrath. Which effectively killed it.
10/30/2018 11:40 AMPosted by ShadowstalkxI know down-ranking spells wasn't a bug, but it always felt like a clever use of game mechanics to me. Like the ONLY way some classes could endure at max was to use down-ranked spells. That reflects an oversight on Blizz's part to not allow for better mana regen tools to stop people wanting to down-rank. They eventually wizened up about it.
I was always convinced it was 100% intended and not an oversight. Think of the spell ranks as positions on the throttle pedal in your automobile or motorcycle (if you know how to operate a motor vehicle) The more throttle you give the engine, the more power you have, and the more fuel you use.
Same as the cost of spells, higher ranks = more throttle = more power.
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10/30/2018 11:40 AMPosted by ShadowstalkxI know down-ranking spells wasn't a bug, but it always felt like a clever use of game mechanics to me. Like the ONLY way some classes could endure at max was to use down-ranked spells. That reflects an oversight on Blizz's part to not allow for better mana regen tools to stop people wanting to down-rank. They eventually wizened up about it.
I don't think it was really intentional or a bug, like a lot of things in vanilla I think they just threw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what would happen.
In some cases it actually worked out well, down ranking healing spells was nifty you basically ended up with two healing spells. Your max level spell for maximum healing and whatever your most mana efficient rank was for spamming. Similar with things like some aoe spells like blizzard max level for damage and whatever effects level 1 for just the added benefits of the spell(freeze knocking things out of stealth etc..) But then some spells made you wonder why they made more than 1 rank.
I don't think some of those things or those break points were intended, they just happened because blizzard thought every spell should have ranks and then picked values that sounded right for mana, healing damage etc...
Loss of clever down ranking was one of the 1000 self inflicted cuts to fun from blizzvision.
I loved down ranking consecrate to sniff rogues out without going OOM
I loved down ranking consecrate to sniff rogues out without going OOM
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