Those of us who like and want the new Lightning Bolt animation to stay, please chime in. I really don’t want a repeat of the last time, we NEED an updated visual and this is a step in the right direction.
I understand the issues that people have with it from a practical perspective (it has a travel time now) so it’s not perfect but we need something more than the 2d .png animation we currently have in game and I think this is a huge improvement.
It looks beautiful. W from Blizzard.
I loved the new shaman animations. Much better.
And I hope the developer who made these new animations for the shaman/DK/Hunter (did I forget a class?) makes new animations for the other classes as well. They were all very good.
I think it looks sick, def beats the old animation that looks like its from a windows 95 game.
I think it looks fantastic for sure, way better than what we have now.
I do understand the people that 1. want it to not be a travel time, that is very understandable and I’m not a fan of animation changes being a slight ‘nerf’ to an ability, but they can solve this without changing the new animation. 2. Want it to be an actual lighnting bolt/strike that connects from you to your target, and we did have a really good version of this in 7.3 ptr that looked great.
I actually agree that it should retain the connection between the shaman and the target, that is a very unique aspect of Lightning Bolt that is now gone in exchange for kind of being another variation of shadowbolt/frostbolt/etc. I can understand wanting to make all of the bolt spells kind of similar, but the uniqueness of lightning bolt came from it being a very fast lightning strike.
I didn’t get to spend a huge amount of time on my shaman on the ptr yesterday, but first impression of it was good. Although I thought maybe the travel time on the bolt felt a bit slow. It’s good to see it, but a bit quicker to be more electric would be nice.
Oh man, crash lightning though. Fantastic!
Yeah, its cool but now my Shaman doesn’t feel like they’re a master of lightning. They feel even more like they’re a bargain basement mage chucking icebolt and fireballs.
Edit: Give me a glyph to keep the old animation so I can feel like a proper stormbringer, not Khadgar’s cousin Jimmy.
It looks upgraded, for sure, and doesn’t look bad.
But for Lightning Bolt specifically, I’m not a fan of the extra particle effects. It doesn’t look like an immediate electric shock, it’s closer to throwing lightning like Raiden. Which feels a little off.
I like the new animation. I’ve always preferred it when Lighting Bolt had a projectile. I have fond memories of Shamans firing an endless stream of lightning bolts during raids in Burning Crusade and I always thought it looked so cool.
I also think its good to differentiate it from Chain Lightning
I like it. I know some don’t because they are thinking of lightning strikes from the sky which chain lightning still emulates but when I think lightning bolt, I kind of think of Zeus all pissed off gripping an actual “bolt” of lightning and throwing it and seeing it travel.
Not saying one interpretation is better than the other but I do like the currently-on-PTR version. Live’s lightning bolt is too outdated to keep and I did look into the 7.3 Lightning Bolt people talk about but to me it looks like a single target chain lightning. I might be missing something with it.
I definitely agree that this feels more like a missile than a bolt/strike and less unique than what we have on live.
I would’ve liked this animation to keep the connection between the shaman and our target, just with much better effects. The casting animation is absolutely amazing though. I would prefer this to retain the uniqueness it has on live in comparison to the other -bolt spells ie shadowbolt or frostbolt. Lightning bolt is a very fast strike of lightning and this should showcase that imo, which the new animation doesn’t really because it is a slow moving projectile.
Also the travel time thing is a slight nerf to lightning bolt (and messes with farseer for ele) which is odd to have happen from an animation change. Dont like that a whole lot.
It’s well made, but I feel it’s misplaced. It looks like a frost mage projectile with electricity.
I actually enjoy the current one more because it feels a bit more realistic to how lightning bolts behave.
It looks good just add a glyph for people who prefer the old visual
I’d be fine with that, though Blizzard seems to have forgotten about the glyph system.
It’s such a criminally under utilized system and its so frustrating
Shoot, if they add more glyphs then I want them to add glyphs for classic versions of all spells like frost bolt, shadow bolt, etc.
Doubt it happens though.
Those Who Like The New Lightning Bolt Animation probably also like Comcast, warm beer, and cold burgers.
I love the wonky 2d png animation
The crash lightning animation is great.
The lightning bolt animation is… almost good. All they need to do is make the new particle effect instantly extend from the shaman to the target just like it currently does in game, problem solved. The updated effect should not nerf/alter gameplay. The projectile also imho takes away from the class fantasy, it looks like a mage spell.
Also I was doing the intro quest on a new toon the other day and the quest where you enlarge the boar has a lightning bolt animation that looks just like what we have now except a little more detailed, I would honestly rather have that than the projectile one. But converting the new one into a instant cast actual bolt would be preferred.
It’s absolutely fantastic and much needed. I was so mad when the Legion graphic enhancements got scrapped because of whiney loud people.
The only issue with the current lightning bolt is that it extremely highlights just how outdated chain lightning looks, lol. CL needs an overhaul now too!