Its not. It used to be OP back when rogues were the only one with a group stealth. Not only do mages now have it, a lot of dungeoen mobs now have true sight so you simply cant make use of it in combat. Even rogues dont really benefit from it anymore cause Rogue stealth is just so finnicky.
Use it to dodge a targetted spell ability every 2 minutes. Who cares?
Its not. If it werent for Shadowmeld half of the Nelf population would be playing something else… and since Meld just isnt strong anymore ive already done so.
Night Elves have literally always been popular, even when shadowmeld wasn’t good, night elves are always a top 3 played race along side humans and blood elves.
Shadowmeld is insane right now. For rogues and ferals it’s just mandatory from a min/max dps standpoint, then there is the PvP utility of instant drinking for healers, immunity to a big damage spell or CC, it’s nuts. The only racials that even come close to it are dwarf and Orc.
Back when Meld wasnt good Allied races werent even a thing. I promise you a lot of nelfs would switch off if it wasnt for meld (and the fact that race changing costs money tbh). Theres just better looking races now even though nelf is one of the better ones. There isnt even a faction restraint anymore.
No its not. Funny how youre telling a rogue that.
To add onto this i could name multiple ways in which Void Elf teleport is just as broken for PvP or PvE between combat uptime, gap traversal, and juking players. All of which can allow you to do the same things as Shadowmeld even before the buff
Im just going by population statistics over the years and what current high level players actually play which seem to me to be more reliable than promises.
If void elf was as effective as night elf, more people people be playing it. Why wouldn’t they?
It took literal years even after the implementation of M+ for Nelf to become the standard for key runners. It required more coordination within groups and you were just not seeing that benefit unless you were bleeding edge.
Please come back to me 6-12 months from now when you start seeing MDI groups using Velf to skip true sight mobs, then shroud or invis. Youre really acting like the capability doesnt already exist for Rift to be used in ways as OP as Shadowmeld. Its just gonna require more coordination same as Shadowmeld initially did.
Feel like the only reason shadowmeld is OP in arenas is cause rogues/druids can abuse it. I feel like if they tuned it down so those classes couldn’t proc class stealth abilities off it then it’d be fine
That would help, but it’s still used by pretty much every class that has access to it. Being able to immune a Cc is huge in PvP. Being able to immune a massive burst of damage even in melee range is also incredibly valuable. So is being able to instantly drop combat to drink.
Basically, depending on your opponent and your comp, you choose between shadowmeld, stoneform, or Stun reduction+primary stat burst which is just a very universally potent combo, and it looks like shadowmeld just wins out most of the time.
Shadowmeld is the most broken/best racial in the game and the fact it’s not being nerfed is insane. Of course, followed by Stoneform/whatever the dark iron one is too.
Legit making meld not drop combat would fix everything. It’ll still be a really good racial, but eliminate its necessity and annoyance.
Shadowmeld in PVP is used for defensive purposes even for Rogues/Ferals more so than DPS honestly. Non Feral/Rogue NEs use it purely for defensive purposes (eg Frost Mages).
Nerfing a defensive racial is very tricky and I don’t think it needs to be adjusted. The other racials need to offer just as much utility as Shadowmeld.
A good example is that Blood Elf Racial was changed from a small AoE Silence to a Purge but left in the extra resources granted so it has dual usage which is very good. A model that other racials should follow.
More racials should be like that honestly because making racials about pure DPS ends up in a situation of playing musical chairs and nothing is ever resolved in terms of racial balance.
If its ao strong go play a Nelf then. Youll quickly realize exactly how limited it is.
Cause everyone loves to hate for some reason. Like i stated earlier, Void Rift is just as OP as Meld. No one cares though cause its not generally used.
So you’re telling me they literally couldn’t just cap it at 2-3 targets? Instead they had to completely redesign the entire thing?
And I was replying to someone who’s argument boiled down to, “its been this way since Wrath, there’s no need to change it!” If they want to use that argument, I can use that argument too:
“Belf racial was that way since Wrath, there was no need to change it!”
Not really. It’s a melee range purge. Shamans, priests, and mages can literally spam purge and hunters can cast it every 10 seconds.
Wanna know what’s better than a free melee range purge though? An instant, 2 minute cooldown vanish that also negates the next incoming spell/attack.
I still think Shadow Meld could be redesigned to the following:
Yes. Cause even a 2-3 target interrupt would be broken when most characters only have 1 interrupt. Off the top of my head the 3 that have more than 1 (or can interrupt more than 1) are Prot Pally, Sin Rogue, and Balance Druid as a part of their kit.
And once again, its extremely limited in its use. Go ahead. Swap to nelf and see how often youre able to benefit. Its rare.
I have a Night Elf Hunter. Name is Syloort on Sargeras. I know how much of a better racial it is than any of the current racials. It needs nerfed lol.
Most characters don’t have a free vanish either, but one race does. It also serves to negate the next spell/attack when timed correctly. Everyone has an interrupt at the very least. Not everyone has a vanish.
If you want to use the argument of “it’s been this way since Wrath”, Belf racial was that way since Wrath. If you wanna ignore logic then so be it.
