Friday, August 15

Whoa Be The Warrior

NOT REALLY BY KINDA WRATH OF LICH KING SPOILER WARNING.

I'm not really gonna get into a lot of Wrath stuff today, because it's being done everywhere else much better. Just kinda gonna go into a Warrior issue that relates. Sorta.

Basically, Arms and Fury Warriors are not really getting a lotta love yet in the Beta. QQ. But then again, we haven't really seen a lot of love in a Very Long Time anyway. So nothing new. Pally's got some great upgrades. Druids got some great upgrades. Prot Warriors are looking better, but still need a bit more. So are we going to run into the same situation as BC where Bears, Rogues, Pallys, Hunters, and Warlock Pets can be better Warriors than Warriors?

Okay, I've gotten more cynical about this sort of thing. Which is not really me, so it bugs me a little. I really do think that Blizzard's designers have a love-on for hybrid classes, and don't give a crap about the "regular" classes. That's overstating, a bit, but look at the patch notes over the past two years. Mages get a lot of fixes (because they never have gotten that class right), and Warriors and Priests get... very little, compared to hybrids, either buff or nerf.

But in a way that's a good thing. The regular classes SHOULD be regular. They should be mainstays. Warriors should not have a cheap escape from combat, they should not be sneaky cowards, and they should not be able wiggle thier fingers in a prissy manner and magically heal themselves. (I love Rogues and Palladins. I kid because I care. :P)

On the other hand, they should be FAR tougher than they are currently. Taking down a proper Warrior should require several mobs/players working in conjunction. I have no problem biting it in a battleground when a Rogue, Palladin and Lock all tag team me, like last night in AB. (I have a problem with the dumbass Shammy standing right behind me trying to DPS and not bothering to slap a heal on himself, much less one on me. Dumbass Shammy.) I do, however, have a problem when a naked Undead Lock in WSG can fear kite me, dot me up and take me down in 15 seconds. Did I mention he was NAKED. As in, wearing his undies. No gear kinda naked. That's ridiculous. I'm thinking there might be a balance issue there. (He was funny, though. As the Horde planted the third flag, me, the lock and troll hunter danced in front of thier base until the end screen. If ya can't beat 'em, dance naked with 'em!)

Anyhoo... Arms and Fury might be getting a couple of new abilities, but so far they feel gimmicky. Titans Grip might be good, but no way to know for sure until the beta reaches Level 80 (it's at 77 as I write this). Bladestorm isn't getting any love at all so far. I'm still rooting for Rend in the Arms tree. A major dot would be an awesome addition to the Warrior class. A longer term stun would be neat too. Something like Knockout, Left Hook, our Roundhouse that knocks the target silly for 30 seconds or so (lot less in PvP, obviously). It should be melee oriented and require "refreshing" but it would give Warriors a little cc action.

As it stands right now, we Warriors go into an instance and there's always one butthead worriorphobe in the PuG. Every Warrior who's ever heard these (or some variation) raise your hand:

"Man, we need a Pally tank."
"I wish we had a Rogue/Hunter/Mage for DPS"
"We can't go in this configuration because we don't have enough cc..."

And so on... That ain't right.

In some creative, Warrior-like way, Bliz needs to add solid cc, stamina, and DPS to the Warrior class though Arms and Fury. All I'm thinking is... can they (and stay true to the class)? Do they want to? Do they even care?

Guess we'll find out soon.

-Fri

4 comments:

  1. Well so far, Blizzard has done a review on a few of the classes (similar to the old, pre BC, reviews they did with each patch). Mages, Hunters and Pallies have each received this review and Blizzard have stated that they will review the Warrior before release. I wouldn't get too worried abut it yet but I do see the reason for your concern.

    Apparently Threat is a problem at the moment for Warriors so I hop that they fix that up.

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  2. I agree, although it's a little too soon to write off the class just yet. Having said that, Titan's grip will still endure the slow speeds on the 2h weps. It'll be like having 1 two-handed sword with it's time cut in half. And the enchants are twice as expensive.

    But you really know what your talking about. Glad to see more meat on your topics :) Keep up the good (and humerous) work.

    -MB
    http://paladinner.blogspot.com/

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  3. Ya TW, I know. :) And I'll be playing Warrior straight through Wrath... three times as each spec!

    When I wrote that I was coming off a bad run of instances. Makes me nuts. It DOES look like Blizz is putting in the extra time on itemization and balancing the Dungeons and Raids for more class variety than in BC.

    I'll stay optimistic. For now... >:)

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  4. Well, mind... I try not to put TOO much meat in my topics. :) But thanks. I'm not too sure about Titans Grip yet. But I'm more interested in Bladestorm. With luck they'll be visiting that one soon. If they'd give me a beta I could tell 'em what's what. :D

    Thanks for dropping in!

    -Fri

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