#78 - Dec. 17, 2010, 11:27 p.m.
And I'm saying it's unfortunate to view difficulty in such a black-and-white way. We've also made changes that affect difficulty in the other direction that I wouldn't necessarily call buffs.
Nerf is Nerf. Stop trying to get around it : / ANY changes made to dungeons that affect heroic difficulty, are Nerfs. Damage reduction from creature spells is a Nerf, However slight it is. That's all they are saying : /
- Ripsnarl's Summon Vapor mechanic now ignores line of sight and correctly spawns a Vapor in regardless of where players are standing.
Players were able to bypass Vapors using line of sight. This was fixed.
- Impaling Slam by Forgemaster Throngus now does much less damage, but is no longer mitigated by fire resistance.
Yes, this was a reduction in damage to Slam, but damage was reduced so that we could change the ability so it ignores all resistance modifiers, which makes it easier for us to keep the ability tuned how we want.
- The "corpse-catching" mechanic now properly teleports players to the entrance platform of the dungeon.
This didn't necessarily buff difficulty, but it was a change to prevent players from skipping certain trash pulls.
- Troll druids in particular, when shapeshifting into Cat/Bear form, were dealing an extra 5% damage to themselves via Beast Slaying when afflicted by Barion Ashbury's Asphyxiate. This caused them to die instead of being taken down to 1 health. This has been corrected and Asphyxiate now properly ignores damage modifiers.
This one doesn't really reinforce my point, but I thought it was a slightly hilarious issue. :p
We've also removed experience, reputation, and sometimes loot from several creatures in dungeons which were too easy to farm.
I just want you to know that you bring me a bit of joy every time I read the hotfix notes. Your wit and clever sarcasm have turned something that's ordinarily a boring chore into a fun read. Please continue!
Thank you! Verifying and compiling hotfixes can be very time-consuming, so I decided to spice up some of the notes (where appropriate) to keep myself sane, and hopefully give players a chuckle. ;D