31/03 Alpha Design Notes

#1 - March 31, 2016, 4:16 a.m.

Hey all,
We have another alpha build going up today. Some fairly significant updates are included:

New Specialization Unlocked – 1 more additional specialization is ready for testing. We’d love any and all feedback about gameplay, artifact quest line, abilities, etc.
Brewmaster Monk – Note: The designs of the enemies you fight in this questline are still incomplete. Also note, Brewmasters are likely very overpowered in this build; we plan to increase the base recharge time of Ironskin and Purifying Brews substantially in the next build.
Class Status – We’ve made many iterations based on feedback and testing. Here are some highlights:
Taunts – Taunt abilities are now once again class-wide, instead of only available on tank specializations.
Retribution Paladin – Several talents revised and rearranged.
Subtlety Rogue – Level 30 talents adjusted to work with Shadow Dance.
Blood Death Knight – Adjusted and clarified how Death and Decay interacts with single target abilities.
Unholy Death Knight – Revisions to several rotational abilities, and several talents.
Fire Mage – Living Bomb changed; it now spreads automatically on explosion, rather than when you cast Inferno Blast.
Feral Druid – Area damage abilities increased in effect significantly.
Windwalker Monk – Storm, Earth, and Fire damage increased significantly, making them useful on 2+ targets.
Marksmanship Hunter – Lone Wolf has moved back to being a talent, instead of baseline. Several talents rearranged and revised.
Balance Druid – Moonfire and Sunfire now generate Astral Power on cast. Couple revisions to talents.
Beast Mastery Hunter – Several talents revised. In particular, Exotic Munitions has been replaced with Dire Frenzy, a replacement for Dire Beast for those Hunters that prefer to focus on improving their main pet.
Shadow Priest – Void Bolt now refreshes, rather than extends, Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain. Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain now generate Insanity on cast, and their durations have been adjusted. Dominate Mind renamed back to Mind Control, and usable on players. Psychic Horror removed.
Vengeance Demon Hunter – Significant rearrangement of the talent tree and some new talents added, including the final level 110 option. Empower Wards, a new baseline ability, added as an active defense against magic damage. Siphon Power replaces Scorched Ground on the artifact, to interact with Empower Wards.
Artifact Trait Status – Nearly all traits are implemented at this point; only a few remain non-functional, or to-be-redesigned. (Tuning is still yet to come, of course.)
Havoc Demon Hunter – Several traits revised.
Retribution Paladin – Wake of Ashes redesigned.
Unholy Death Knight – Apocalypse active ability redesigned. Several traits redesigned.
Demonology Warlock – Several traits revised.
Windwalker Monk – Several traits revised.
Feral Druid – Several traits revised.
Restoration Shaman – Several traits revised.
Affliction Warlock – Several traits revised.
Frost Death Knight – Several traits revised.
PvP Talent Status – We’ve also revised several PvP talents:
Retribution Paladin – Several talents revised to be more attractive choices.
Protection Paladin – Several talents replaced with new ones.
New Zone: Azsuna!
This zone is now open and ready for testing. Please give it a try and let us know what you think!
New Feature: Order Hall Campaigns!
We’ve added the Order Hall Campaigns for all currently available specs of the Monk (including Brewmaster), Shaman, and Warlock.
Accessing these new campaigns and missions will require you to create new characters to experience this new content.
Feedback on these campaigns and missions would be especially valuable right now!

Thanks, and we look forward to your feedback!