Enhancement & Boulderfist UPDATED

#1 - Dec. 7, 2016, 9:44 p.m.

Per Sigma (Page 5): https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20752555084?page=5#post-89

12/08/2016 12:59 PMPosted by Sigma
12/08/2016 12:47 PMPosted by Halpal
While I can appreciate that there was an original design intent behind Boulderfist, the spec as it currently exists on Live is as enjoyable to play as it's ever been since I rolled my Shaman back in BC.

We've heard it reiterated over and over (and over) again by the developers that if something about a spec felt too mandatory, it would just get rolled into the spec. I play this spec as my main because it is fun; if I cared strictly about maximum overall damage output, I'd focus on my Rogue instead. Changing a mechanic like this runs counter to the design philosophy that's been so oft repeated.

Thanks for all the feedback; this has been a consistent theme throughout the thread and elsewhere. And we don't want to disrupt the familiar playstyle of 7.1 Enhancement, if in fact the specific pacing of Boulderfist's recharge time is a major part of what makes it work so well. We will still have to address the power level in some way without diluting the feel that's been discussed here. We are currently planning the following for PTR (uncertain on timing):
--Boulderfist recharge time back to 6 seconds
--Boulderfist no longer gives a bonus to critical strike
--Rockbiter generates 20 Maelstrom (from 15)

Original Post:
Still waiting, Class Team/whoever is responsible for getting their words to us.

Emerald Dreamcatcher got specific feedback with its recent change on the PTR that it hurt the playstyle of the spec and people liked what the legendary provided. Subsequently, Blizzard said "Ok, get that, we'll tweak it in another way".

Good for them, glad to hear that.

Enhancement Shamans have been saying the same thing about the PTR changes to Boulderfist since they were pulled out of the first version of the 7.1.5 PTR.

Can we get some insight on why this is happening and why?

With a pretty large outcry on "this makes the spec incredibly slow and boring to play" having already happened, seems like Enhancement Shamans have met the same criteria as the Dreamcatcher using Balance Druids.

The only difference between us is that one is a group of lucky legendary drop owners and the other is everyone playing the spec right now.

Lore

Community Manager

#18 - Dec. 8, 2016, 4:57 a.m.

Boulderfist is intended as a talent choice that creates some gaps in your rotation, by replacing your no-cooldown resource builder with something that’s overall stronger, but has charges. In 7.1, the recharge time isn’t long enough for those gaps to ever actually happen, especially with the most popular Enhancement talent build adding several more active abilities to your rotation. Its power level was also simply too high, and in this case, we’d rather let this talent have its intended effect on the pace of your rotation and buff the spec as a whole to compensate.

Our intent is that if you want to use an ability every GCD, you should choose one of the other options in that row. Boulderfist should result in an overall more methodical pace that is more about having a little time to plan upcoming abilities. When Boulderfist is the hands-down best option in that row, that doesn’t feel like much of a choice, and as we continue tuning for 7.1.5, we hope to address this by bringing it in line with the others.

Sigma

Game Designer

#89 - Dec. 8, 2016, 8:59 p.m.

12/08/2016 12:47 PMPosted by Halpal
While I can appreciate that there was an original design intent behind Boulderfist, the spec as it currently exists on Live is as enjoyable to play as it's ever been since I rolled my Shaman back in BC.

We've heard it reiterated over and over (and over) again by the developers that if something about a spec felt too mandatory, it would just get rolled into the spec. I play this spec as my main because it is fun; if I cared strictly about maximum overall damage output, I'd focus on my Rogue instead. Changing a mechanic like this runs counter to the design philosophy that's been so oft repeated.

Thanks for all the feedback; this has been a consistent theme throughout the thread and elsewhere. And we don't want to disrupt the familiar playstyle of 7.1 Enhancement, if in fact the specific pacing of Boulderfist's recharge time is a major part of what makes it work so well. We will still have to address the power level in some way without diluting the feel that's been discussed here. We are currently planning the following for PTR (uncertain on timing):
--Boulderfist recharge time back to 6 seconds
--Boulderfist no longer gives a bonus to critical strike
--Rockbiter generates 20 Maelstrom (from 15)