10-30-2006, 10:56 AM
Quote:The problem is they stand to severely change the difficulty curve of the game if they plan on those larger health pools, since no one pre-expansion is going to have the benefit of that. Long fights like the Emps are going to see an increase in difficulty with the new system, and people attempting them will not have twice the stamina they currently do.
I think if you're talking about the brief window in December - January where we will have 40 man level 60 end game instances and the BC game mechanics and talent trees then you need have no fear of the downranking nerf making these fights too hard
Raids are going to be exponentially more powerful. 51 point Protection Warriors will hold aggro better and mitigate more damage while 51 point Resto shamans and druids will heal them better. Fights will be ended sooner too - I mean have you seen the new Mage Fire tree?
Even a full Resto spec like me can drop talents that help very marginal skills like Tranquility and pick ones that will boost all my healing
I won't go so far as to say end game content will be trivialised but it will certainly become much easier for those who spec for raiding. It's almost a Christmas present:- there ya go, for all those who woulda missed it have a gallop through the end game on the house!
In the longer term I just don't see how you can feel a game mechanic which effects everyone makes the game too hard. They adjust the difficulty to suit the players. New content is generally released hard enough that only the fanatical can conquer it then nerfed to broaden its accessibility.
Remember too that the cost of these downranked spells is static while the items that support them will inflate. Currently most raid healers can't cast their downrank spell infinitely. In the Expansion with some care over gear selection and spec most raid healers will be able to cast their downrank spell infinitely. It's unlikely that there will be major boss fights relying on doing steady damage for a long time simply because it won't be a challenge. There's a lot more mana per 5 seconds gear and talents in the Expansion
I have to say the change feels about right. I always saw it as flawed game mechanics that lower level spells were better than high level spells. If a can of beer costs a dollar but you can get six for 10 dollars how many six packs would sell? It's just backwards
With the new system there's a more strategic choice between a lower rank spell which risks less overheal and a higher rank spell which while more efficient is a bigger mana sink if other healers land their heal first. It seems to me there is more strategy in this than in the current system of Healing Touch Rank 4 is always correct unless it's not enough to keep the tank up