Would this be more suitable as an honor talent? Could this be more suitable as an honor talent?
These two point options are making it an undesirable branch to pursue.
Instinctive Arcana
Inherent Resistance
Regenerative Magic
Great spell, unique mechanic.
Thanks!
You can get Unravel with just Inherent Resistance from Tip the Scales > Inherent Resistance > Blast Furnace > Unravel. Making it a PvP only talent would be bad because every now and then we wouldn’t get to use it on the occasional once-per-tier encounter with a shielded burn phase.
All three specs want Inherent Resistance because less damage taken is good, and most damage you’d take is magical. As for more damage and more leech depends on the spec. Damage is always taken for Dev/Aug. Leech is sometimes not taken but obviously it’s better for Dev than Aug, as for Pres I don’t dig too much into stuff I don’t play so it could be anyone’s guess.
It is a great niche and many bosses have some sort of shield to burn down. I don’t see the problem here. Warrior also has shield breaker in their tree.
I’d prefer not. I still make good use of it in PvE.
it is, actually, very undertuned especially for pres
Unravel is horribly tuned, making it barely worth casting in PvE. On paper it’s your most powerful spell against shields - 900% spell power ratio, instant cast - but it generally competes with a GCD of Disintegrate, which has far more support from talents. As Devastation, if you press Unravel on cd you simply end up casting fewer Disintegrates; if you hold it until you run out of other resources, you almost never cast it. Either way you do about the same total damage as if you didn’t talent it.
The short cooldown of Unravel is holding it back, making the damage per cast too low to justify the opportunity cost of pressing it often, even after buffs in S1
To be valuable, exciting, and fun in PvE Unravel needs:
This would make it your highest priority when you see a shield - especially small shields on mobs in dungeons that you can snipe for extra value - while reducing the opportunity cost. Devastation in particular needs Azure Essence Burst to include Unravel, so that casting it during Dragonrage doesn’t cost you a Disintegrate. Pres and Aug would also like this, since otherwise it’s a pure-damage gcd that doesn’t generate resources for healing or extend Ebon Might.
I don’t PvP much, but I think this would also be good for PvP, having a powerful option to burn through Oracle shields or AMS for example. Either way it should not be a PvP talent, that would take away any option to use it in PvE and make it compete with other PvP talents where you only get 3 choices. We are getting more class talent points in Midnight, we want more options not fewer.
I would like to see a new Class Talent in Midnight upgrading Unravel to make it more valuable against raid boss shield phases, where total damage over the phase matters more than any single spell:
This would give Evoker a mini raid buff and a strong reason for Pres/Aug to talent Unravel situationally, and prioritizes casting it over any other damage spell, regardless of tuning.
Another option I would like to see, especially for Devastation, is an effect that grants you a shield equal to part of the damage done by Unravel. We don’t lack for defensives, and don’t need a general Soul Leech / Mental Fortitude type overshield, but thematically it fits for Unravel, encourages sniping shields similar to Mage’s Spell Steal in M+, and further prioritizes Unravel during boss shield phases where you suffer pulsing aoe until the shield breaks.