Thread: Changes I would like to see in 3.15 Patch Notes

Originally Posted by Sylve

That said, I do think Bloodletter needs to have "Charges" instead of a flat cooldown with the River of Blood proc adding a charge rather than replacing the cooldown. The charges would recover on their own at the same rate BL currently does, but it would essentially allow the River of Blood to give us 2 uses of Bloodletter (3 if it happens at the same moment Bloodletter naturally resets) if we get lucky enough that both DoTs crit AND trigger. Place a cap on the charges or a duration on them so you can't prestack or save up dozens of shots.

I think that'd pretty much eliminate the one 'bugbear' Bard currently suffers.

Just a small note: DoT timers already occurred simultaneously prior to having IJ. IJ hasn't increased BL waste. Only using WM poorly (not keeping track of our the 3-second tick timer compared to offset + GCD + x oGCDs) has made any changes in regards to BL waste. The charge suggestion, if it were to take advantage of simultaneous procs, could easily increase our BL dps by an additional half our crit rate x # of double-dotted targets. If the same were applied to Rain of Death, it could well become an AoE king...

Moreover, even if it didn't take advantage of simultaneous procs, instead simply allowing for a bit more leeway, is that really something we want? At worst it would take away from the constant decision checks of WM Bard, and at best it would simply delay them those decisions by a GCD + 1.5 oGCDs. (This would let you use CDs in a more prompt manner, but unless you proc a Straighter Shot that GCD, you're still going to lose a BL or have to clip GCD on the next.)

Apart from making up for lost uptime on a melee (where rotations are finally not perfectly consistent), I typically find Bard the physical dps class of those I've leveled (all but MCH) that takes the most effort, or at least consciousness, to maximize the dps of, but I like it that way.

Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Just a small note: DoT timers already occurred simultaneously prior to having IJ. IJ hasn't increased BL waste. Only using WM poorly (not keeping track of our the 3-second tick timer compared to offset + GCD + x oGCDs) has made any changes in regards to BL waste. The charge suggestion, if it were to take advantage of simultaneous procs, could easily increase our BL dps by an additional half our crit rate x # of double-dotted targets. If the same were applied to Rain of Death, it could well become an AoE king...

It's only really applicable on single target mobs (and a good handful of fights allow you to multi-dot, and outside of raiding, I just don't have a fun time multidotting on my BRD), and even then it's still a pretty shoddy feeling to have your oGCDs reset mid-cast, let alone trying to make empyreal arrow make properly inbetween your GCDs.

Having oGCD resets is fine and makes for a frantic, situational awareness gameplay (which I enjoyed in 2.0), it just doesn't work or flow very well for a job that uses cast times and really just feels like they didn't put any thought into it. I'm also against your idea of wild shots on BRD, if only on the basis that I don't want them to be even more homogenized with MCH gameplay by having procs for (stronger) instant shots. Numbers should really be the least of the concerns for making these sort of suggestions, since those factors are probably the easiest to change inbetween hotfixes; the changes should be more toward making the two different from each other (like...not giving bard WM when it's functionally the same as GB).

Originally Posted by RiceisNice

It's only really applicable on single target mobs (and a good handful of fights allow you to multi-dot, and outside of raiding, I just don't have a fun time multidotting on my BRD), and even then it's still a pretty shoddy feeling to have your oGCDs reset mid-cast, let alone trying to make empyreal arrow make properly inbetween your GCDs.

Having oGCD resets is fine and makes for a frantic, situational awareness gameplay (which I enjoyed in 2.0), it just doesn't work or flow very well for a job that uses cast times and really just feels like they didn't put any thought into it. I'm also against your idea of wild shots on BRD, if only on the basis that I don't want them to be even more homogenized with MCH gameplay by having procs for (stronger) instant shots. Numbers should really be the least of the concerns for making these sort of suggestions, since those factors are probably the easiest to change inbetween hotfixes; the changes should be more toward making the two different from each other (like...not giving bard WM when it's functionally the same as GB).

What I was going for with Wild Shots was mostly just more double-weaves per EA/IJ/rotation and the ability to store at least one so that these opportunities can be more tactical in nature, rather than mostly just RNG (holding onto SS+ for no more than a single additional HS before EA or double-weave). I see how that could feel like Slug/Clean Shot procs though, and therefore without identity, even if Straighter Shot came first.

Tbh, ideally I'd have liked WM to be a stance variance for Archer that is only situationally stronger (at certain points of the rotation) actually requires the Archer to weave in and out of the stance for max damage. The only major issue with that is that I find the current non-WM Bard gameplay a bit flat; it would have to be adjusted to a similar intensity in some way. Rather than getting WM or anything like it later on, I'd have preferred that each song interact in some way with our actual combat rotations, likely modifying Blood Letter and Rain of Death, and allowing us 'spot' adjustments, such as specifically helping out the mana of one healer over another, or secondary effects, Windsong, for instance, being a movement (Swiftsong) or Attack Speed/Cooldown-reducing buff, Paean being a TP regen and debuff/knockback/DoT-mitigating resistance buff, etc. Something that makes our combat itself potentially feel more supportive, and varied, with the addition of songs.