So it’s Cataclysm Timewalking, and as is tradition at this point there’s an item from it that’s way too good for how miserable it is to acquire. The Matrix Restabilizer is BiS for at least Feral (1, 2), even at 476 ilevel (that’s 13-23 lower than the alternatives), and you only get 2 attempts at it across the whole TW event. One from killing Ragnaros and one from the quest for doing the same thing. If you don’t hit that item, you will not get another chance this season.
We’ve had similar incidents in the past, for a variety of specs, and it always feels incredibly bad. It’s fine for TW trinkets to be competitive with equal ilevel trinkets, so maybe Matrix Restabilizer could be similar to a heroic Pip’s. The big issue however is when the TW item is the best, especially by far the best like in this case.
There’s also a 2 different ways for TW items to be available. One is the Matrix Restabilizer/raid trinket method, where you get 2 attempts per season and that’s it. This is the worst one by far and should never be the best trinket. It also leads to degenerate behavior where people will either buy the trinket off others or organize entire runs with people that can trade the trinket.
The other method is dropping from a dungeon. This means you can repeatedly attempt to get it, meaning generally it’s just a question of throwing time/attempts at the problem, but you’ll likely get it if you just keep trying. This one is okay, but also not great because it’s still limited to 1-2 weeks of the entire season.
Other examples from the past include:
- Necromantic Focus (Firelands), got nerfed before it became a problem
- Moonlit Prism (Vault of the Wardens), being BiS for a lot of casters (and Enh?) but generally not by a huge margin
- Faulty Countermeasure (Vault of the Wardens), BiS but not by a huge margin
- Jeweled Signet of Melandrus (Court of Stars), this one was… a mess, including being a 10-15% DPS increase for Feral for an entire season in Shadowlands
- Amalgam’s Seventh Spine (Blackrook Hold), BiS by a solid margin for multiple specs
So basically, could we please just have TW gear nerfed down to a level where it’s good, but not BiS? The nerfs to Necromantic Focus achieved this quite well, putting it in the tier of trinkets that you’d be fine equipping but wouldn’t chase. This extends to other limited time events as well, like the Anniversary neck that was super good for some melee specs thanks to the completely free +damage on hit.