Blizzard is doing everything they can to make sure that World of Warcraft is in as good of a shape as it can be for the upcoming release of the new expansion, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
Earlier today, we discussed a few changes coming in a large patch that they’ll be releasing on November 17th. The patch consists of a variety of hotfixes, making alterations both in and out of the title.
One of the changes we discussed was some alterations coming to the World of Warcraft Companion App to get it ready for the content in the Shadowlands. Others have focused more on the classes and balancing them out.
Of those classes, Enhancement Shaman and Shadow Priest have some of the most dominant changes. There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s hop on in!
Enhancement Shaman has been one of the weakest specializations for quite some time, meaning it’s a good thing to see these buffs coming in. There are eleven changes, with two being nerfs – slight decreases to the damage of Forceful Winds Windfury and Hailstorm Frost Shock. Aside from that, we have the following buffs:
- Windfury Weapon proc damage increased by 240%
- Healing Surge healing increased by 50%
- Maelstrom Weapon spending abilities have had damage/healing increased by 30%
- Feral Spirit’s pet damage increased by 270%
- Hot Hand resets the cooldown of Lava Lash when activated
- Ice Strike and Fire Nova damage increased by 75%
- Elemental Blast damage increased by 25%
- Lashing Flames duration increased to 20 seconds
Shadow Priest has a bit more of a mix of buffs and nerfs. The following changes are planned:
- Dark Thoughts duration increased to 10 seconds
- Mind Flay and Mind Sear damage reduced by 15%
- Devouring Plague’s initial damage and periodic damage reduced by 15% and 12% respectively
- Searing Nightmare Insanity cost reduced to 30
- Auspicious Spirits generates 2 Insanity, damage increase towards Shadowy Apparitions reduced to 15%
- Shadow Crash no longer has 3 charges and no longer applies vulnerability debuff. However, damage has been increased by 100% and cooldown reduced to 30 seconds
- Void Torrents duration reduced to 3 seconds, damage increased by 20%. Now generates 60 Insanity, no longer refreshes DoTs, and has had its cooldown reduced to 30 seconds
These changes are a powerful arrangement between the two. Enhancement Shaman has been weak enough lately that these sizeable buffs are a breath of fresh air for the specialization.
Shadow Priest has been in the opposite position – prepatch has seen them as one of the strongest specializations in the game. This mix of nerfs and buffs will keep them in a better balance with the changing meta coming with the new expansion.
