BloodHoof Brigands Warcraft Blog

Back in January of this year, I wrote a post about some aspects of changes that I was hoping for in terms of what we will see happen within the (Arms) Warlords of Dreanor expansion.

Recently, there has been some new information released in regards to specific alterations taking place throughout the various classes. In looking over the list of modifications and reworking of the Warrior class, Arms spec in particular, I have to say not only how impressed I am by what the Dev’s are doing, but I think it is a positive movement forward overall in terms of the class design.

What we know so far, along with my two coppers within parentheses.

Upcoming Warrior Changes:

Battle Shout now lasts 1 hour and no longer generates Rage. (Good Change, nice to no longer have to be micro managing the buff duration of Battle Shout)

Berserker Rage no longer generates Rage or increases Physical damage dealt. (Seems kinda strange, why was this altered?)

Berserker Stance has been removed. (I rarely used this stance while in Arms, so fine with me)

Cleave has been removed. (Nice pruning, I didn’t even have Cleave on my Action Bars)

Commanding Shout now lasts 1 hour and no longer generates Rage. (Makes sense, glad it has a long duration)

Demoralizing Banner has been removed. (Banners seemed more of an afterthought to me, they need to be reworked still, having said that I rarely ever used Demoralizing Banner, so good riddance)

Hamstring is now a passive ability that causes Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst, Revenge, and Raging Blow to also reduce the target’s movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds. (Nice, glad another ability is removed from the Action Bar…very happy about this)

Rallying Cry is no longer available to Protection Warriors. (I actually make use of this while in raids as an Arms Warrior, so glad it is not being totally removed)

Recklessness is now available only to Fury and Arms Warriors. (Makes sense, I am ok with this)

Skull Banner has been removed. (Again, I rarely made use of this particular Banner, fine with me)

Throw has been removed. (Throw does seem to have a use every so often, so I would like this to remain)

Thunder Clap is no longer available to Fury Warriors. (Makes sense, I am ok with this)

Whirlwind is now available only to Fury Warriors. (As an Arms Warrior, I am ok with this change, helps to make Fury feel unique and difference from Arms)

Charge now Roots the target (instead of stunning). (I can understand why this change is taking place, but I am still opposed to it, this has been a core ability of the Warrior design, so my wish is that it would be left as it is)

Disarm has been removed. (Happy with this change)

Intimidating Shout now has a 6 sec duration in PvP. (Too much CC in PvP, so I am ok with this, just as long as they keep all class CC down across the board as well.

Haste has long been a problematic stat for Warriors, usually being of little value. As part of our commitment to ensuring all secondary stats are valuable (except Bonus Armor for non-tanks and Spirit for non-healers, of course), we’re making a significant change to Warriors, to ensure that Haste has strong, competitive value. We’re giving all Warriors a new passive, which lets haste affect their global cooldown, and the cooldowns of their very-short-cooldown rotational abilities. (Finally! I have disliked Haste ever since it was introduced, for it just never did anything for our class per se, so quite happy to see a total reworking of how it will benefit us. Thank you!)

Draenor Perks for Arms Warriors:

Improved Charge – Increases the range of Charge by 10 yards.
Improved Heroic Leap – The damage radius of Heroic Leap is increased by 2 yards.
Enhanced Sweeping Strikes – Sweeping Strikes now lasts 5 sec longer.
Improved Mortal Strike – Increases the damage of Mortal Strike by 20%.
Enhanced Slam – Increases the radius of the splash damage dealt by Slam while Sweeping Strikes is active by 3 yards.
Improved Overpower – Increases the damage dealt by Overpower by 20%.
Improved Die by the Sword – Increases the damage reduction from Die by the Sword by 10%.
Empowered Execute – Increases the damage of Execute by 50%.
Improved Colossus Smash – Colossus Smash now generates 10 rage when hitting a target.

I really like what they are doing here in terms of adding “value” and ‘capability” to ones toon. Now, when a player levels up from 90-100, there is unlocked a new random Perk to be gained. It is a brilliant way to address the sense of making a player feel like there is something actually being gained when leveling, as well as a further enhancement to the ability of the class itself. This is a really interesting, fun and cool design approach, so kudos to the Dev’s for implementing it.

There will be obviously more changes taking place, for that is the nature of the working of a pre release of an expansion. This expansion is looking to be one that I am really jazzed about, from gaining more open bag space to the really epic garrisons that they are including, along with the overall storyline of going back to Draenor, I just can’t wait to run amok and carry forth of a whole host of new misadventures!

Hopefully everyone has had a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a festive New Year. Now that the holiday season has come to a close, daily life has returned to its more normative state and with that, I can once again spend some time in writing out some thoughts I have had for a while now in regards to what changes and alterations I would like to see the Warrior class procure within the upcoming expansion.

In no particular order here are some aspects of change I hope for:

1. Rage Generation-While I can appreciate the dev’s adjusting the rage mechanic so that there is no longer the “feast or famine” spectrum that was par and parcel of how Warriors lived with the unique resource that rage is, it really needs to be tweaked so that the mechanics works with a much better flow. As a decently geared level 90, quite often I feel rage starved. I understand the reality that rage, similar to energy or mana is a resource to be managed though it seems to me as I have played my Warrior over the course of this current expansion that there is an erring too much upon the side of rage containment.

What is a solution? Why not take a step back and allow for one of the original properties of how we gained rage be reinstated, that of obtaining rage when having damage delt to us. I can fully appreciate the tricky balancing act that the rage mechanic encapsulates and how it can sway too far one way or the other in terms of too little or too much rage. I just believe that at this point and time it needs to be honestly examined at by the dev’s going into the expansion and adjusted or reconditioned the mechanic so as to make it a more enjoyable and less frustrating class mechanic.

2. Healing-While there are three healing talents to choose from currently within our talent tree, I would argue that Warriors need a minor boost within this particular area. Earlier on at the beginning of the Pandaria expansion, I noticed that Bloodhoof Village was under attack by an Alliance. Obviously, I went to go check out what was going on and to see if I could lend my steel to help ward off the particular Alliance aggressor. It was one lone Paladin who was running amok. I figured that I would go down swinging, since there was no other Horde who was there to lend assistance, let alone a healer who could provide me the heals necessary to take on the Paladin and potentially win.

But something happened which was unexpected! To my utter amazement and ecstatic, unabashed joy I found that I was going toe to toe with the Paladin in a solo fight! This was a battle royale! We fought for over fifteen minutes. I remember looking at the in game clock right as I landed to engage him just on a whim to see how long I could last against him. Holy Moo Moo! We fought back and forth for over fifteen glorious minutes!!!! I would get him down and he would heal back up. He would get me down and I was able to heal back up. IT WAS SO AWESOME to finally feel like a Warrior again. Meaning that the victory could go to either player, but it was in a very tangible sense all about “skill”. I can’t answer for what was going through the mind of that Paladin player, I suspect he was nerd raging over the fact that I was not going down and actually not only holding my own but giving it to him in return. When I finally landed the killing blow, he must have been utterly incredulous!

I relate this totally stupendous moment not to gloat over the fact that I actually, finally beat a Paladin, but to highlight the fact that what allowed me to do so and to do so with so much glorious fun and full relish of battle was being able to go up against a Paladin in solo combat and potentially win. It goes without saying that soon after there was a nerd to Warrior heals, for the community of players practically had a meltdown with this utterly ridicules and preposterous notion that Warriors could be self sufficient in a one to one fight.

As much fun as it was to plant my Flag of Ownership in that Paladins back, it really didn’t matter per se. What was so awesome was that I could go toe to toe and finally have a “fair” fight in a sense. I am not looking to be overpowered or “A-Number 1”, but my hope is that Warriors can be provided with an innate, perhaps passive healing talent along with which ever particular healing talent we choose from our class talent tree.

Allow us to be more self sufficient and to be feared on the field of battle.

3. Nix Redundant Abilities-It goes without saying that this will happen, for the dev’s have made mention of it for quite some time now, both before Blizzcon and on numerous postings afterwards. Sunder Armor and Cleave are my top choices off the bat. I don’t even have these on my action bar to be honest. Obviously, I am sure there will be some pruning of abilities, so it will be interesting to see which ones are kept and which go poof.

4. Warrior Banners-I remember when banners were originally announced to the Warrior community and there was a mixed response as to those who thought that the idea was interesting and cool and those who thought it was lacking and unimaginative. I was “ok” with us getting banners, though I think there needs to be a refinement and modification to the banner system per se in so far as at least visually.

Why not have the banners fly upon our back. That would look way wickedly badass! Back in the days when playing Warcraft 2 and 3, there were units that had banners positioned on their back, even within the Seige of Orgimmar you have Orcs that have banners upon their back. Visually it is really cool and impressive and would give Warriors a feel and vibe of being more “Warriorish.”

On a side noteI would love to see Heroic Leap adjusted a bit to allow us to make use of it in a more free fashion in various environments.

5. Duel Wield as an Arms Warrior-Why do you ask? Simple! I have some weapons that I would like to not only be able to wield so as to show of, but to be able to use them for fun.

As an Arms Warrior it makes no sense as to why I can not equip my Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Moreover, I have Thekal’s Grasp and Arlokk’s Grasp. I spent so much time farming for them back in the day that I would like to enjoy them within the spec that I play.

I think that those who choose to play Arms will be smart enough to know that our primary weapon is a two hander. This is an outdated mechanic, which places a hindrance or unfounded limitation on our class. It is high time to remove this weapon impediment and allow us to enjoy our hard won weapons.

6. Uniqueness-What is unique and different about the Warrior class these days? I remember when wearing plate provided us with a larger hit point pool. I remember when as an Arms Warrior, I could reduce the healing of my opponent by Mortal Strike which was an exclude and distinctive Arms ability. With there being so much class homogeneity we have lost that element which provided us as playing the Warrior as something which felt distinct and contrasting to the other classes. We need something fun, distinctive and class specific to retain that which has been lost.

Suffice to say, I love my Taruen Warrior. Realistically, no matter what happens to the Warrior class within the expansion, for better or worse, I will be playing my Warrior as my “main” just as I always have. While I have leveled up other classes to 90 and do enjoy their particular play style, it is my Arms Warrior Kernhoof who is the cornerstone of my WoW playing experience.

I am eagerly anticipating this upcoming expansion and have been totally jazzed for it since attending Blizzcon. When the expansion is finally released, you can bet that my beloved Warrior will be representing the embattled Horde charging ahead upon the lands of Draenor against those of the Iron Horde!