Analyzing How Shadowlands DPS Classes Have Changed From Pre-Patch to Launch

Live Geposted 29.11.2020 um 15:26 von Anshlun

Frost Death Knight DPS Shadowlands Changes2H frost was rather underwhelming in the pre-patch. As we level up in shadowlands this will change. Verbessertes Auslöschen rank 2 and Tötungsmaschine rank 2 makes 2H Frost Auslöschung builds viable on single target. We still have issues with AoE scaling, but the fact that you can output comparable single target DPS is a big gain.

These two leveling passives also heavily buffs Auslöschung It is now 100% viable for pure single target, competing with Sindragosas Hauch! Great to see some talent diversity in the final row.

Finally, Icecap lost the Azerit trait that was carrying it on their shoulders. This is a huge nerf to the overall output of the talent and it won't be viable in Shadowlands at all.Unholy Death Knight DPS Shadowlands ChangesWith the loss of Erinnerung an den Klartraum, players will notice a significant slowdown in the gameplay, especially in AoE. Until we pick up the Mantel des sicheren Todes legendary and gain some haste, the rotation will feel rather sluggish on prolonged single target fights.

As we level up, we gain Dunkle Transformation rank 2. This provides 100 energy to our pet when we use Dunkle Transformation. Because of this, we want to macro the Claw ability into our frequently used spells so as to maximise the value from this energy gain. Usually, the pet doesn't use Claw unless it's above 70 energy and we'd therefore lose out on some possible energy gain if not using this macro!

We also gain the Opferpakt ability. This isn't awfully useful since it doesn't deal enough damage in single target to be worth pressing. It does present an emergency heal and a good AoE nuke though!Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Shadowlands ChangesFor Havoc, not much has changed. Dropping Essences basically removed 2 abilities that were set and forget for the most part, CLF for ST and Iris for AoE. Same thing for Azerite, our most impactful trait was Wildes Starren which was made into a passive gained at level 58. The other transformative Azerite, Chaotische Verwandlung, was also made into a passive gained at level 52.

TLDR:

Essences are replaced with Covenant abilities, use on cooldown for the most part.
Azerite was baked into passives gained while leveling.

Balance Druid DPS Shadowlands ChangesI think overall Balance Druid feels a bit slower, but more interesting. I personally did not feel as if Azerit and Essences did Balance a ton of favors as it just ended up adding what I would argue is a more gimmicky style of play in the form of Streifende Sterne and Vision der Perfektion. While they were okay, I generally think the new style of Eclipse is far more engaging spec wise.

On top of that I think a majority of players have selected Night Fae or Kyrian for balance which as a whole feels better to play than BFA moonkin whenever these two are compounded with legendaries such as Gleichgewicht aller Dinge and Urzeitlicher Arkanpulsar. Of course we will still be slow in M0's and low level M+ content as our lack of instant AOE damage is problematic, but once you start doing competitive level dungeons then everything will work itself out similarly as it did most of BFA.Feral Druid DPS Shadowlands ChangesSo Shadowlands has launched and we've all had the week to sink our teeth into the game and get started on endgame systems. I'm sure everyone playing Feral has enjoyed the reasonably chunky drop in secondary stats (particularly crit) which certainly impacts the pacing of the spec. More than anything that's what makes the spec feel "slow" when you're stuck casting 5 shreds in between each Wilder Biss. This will be a short-lived problem though as before you know it we'll have much more comfortable levels of Crit (and Erinnerung an eine Katzenaugenkuriosität).

For the most part Feral's gameplay feels broadly the same after launch as it did in the pre-patch, there's a few differences but broadly the spec continues to be Feral. Berserker: Verheeren feels like a more cohesive CD at maximum level where you really can cycle generator and finisher if you get a bit lucky. Konvokation der Geister (the covenant ability buffed shortly before launch) is an enjoyable and powerful CD that boost throughput a significant amount, either in Cat Form on single target or on big dungeon pulls with Herz der Wildnis and Gleichgewichtsaffinität.Beast Mastery Hunter DPS Shadowlands ChangesMechanically, Beast Mastery is a remarkably similar spec to how it played in both BFA and the Shadowlands Pre-patch. The core kit has not changed, and the spells you use are mostly the same except for the addition of your new covenant ability. The major difference however is scaling; we gained several important systems over the course of BFA that gave us incredible amounts of secondary stats, specifically from the Azerite Traits Totentanz and Urinstinkte. Beast Mastery scales incredibly well with secondary stats, more so than almost any other DPS spec. In the Pre-Patch, we still had access to an abundance of Haste and Crit which allowed us to maintain Raserei very easily, and overall made the spec extremely fast paced, powerful, and fun to play.

At level 60, all of that is gone. Beast Mastery at its core is the same, but now you are struggling to maintain Raserei. Focus is now your limiting factor instead of being GCD-locked. You are forced to watch your casts carefully since you can easily start missing out on Tötungsbefehl usage from overusing Kobraschuss. Beast Mastery still plays well as a spec, but you now are forced to think about the buttons you press instead of pressing them as quickly as possible.

The biggest shift overall however is going to be the meta, specifically the opportunity cost for playing Beast Mastery. Beast Mastery dominated the late BFA and Shadowlands Pre-Patch meta, but Marksmanship is now possibly the strongest DPS specialization in the game at level 60. While Beast Mastery is still a solid spec, it is currently vastly overshadowed by Marksmanship in every PvE situation, which is something to consider if you are a Jäger looking to get into raids or dungeons at max level.Marksmanship Hunter DPS Shadowlands Changes
Marksmanship Hunter feels quite a bit different from its BFA counterpart, despite having the same feel conceptually. With the loss of Azerite and nearly a full talent rework, some of our talents have changed pretty dramatically, filling in some of the gaps we lacked in BFA aiding our cleave and AoE (Volley, Chimaera Shot, Explosive Shot, etc). A few essences such as Blood of the Enemy and Condensed Life-Force which aided our burst windows will hurt, but luckily the Shadowlands systems offer similar abilities such as Kyrian's Resonating Arrow. Defensively, Shadowlands continues to fill in the lack of mitigation we suffered in BFA with conduits such as Resilience of the Hunter and Markman's Advantage.

One of the major differences heading into Shadowlands is our Focus. You'll notice that the way we spend Focus is pretty different than how we approached it in BFA. Our two core abilities Aimed Shot and Arcane Shot are now more expensive to use. This means that while the rotation remains similar, we spend more time casting Steady Shot to regenerate that Focus. Additionally, in BFA we had Master Marksman, which gave us free casts of Precise Shots quite often. All of these changes force us into a more "bursty" playstyle. Essentially we dump our Aimed Shot charges and Precise Shots and follow up with a period of time where we generate Focus. This is even more true when we pick covenants such as Kyrian or Nighy Fae with abilities like Resonating Arrow and Wild Spirits respectively. Our damage is concentrated during this short burst window, while damage outside of that window is significantly less.
Survival Hunter DPS Shadowlands ChangesOverall very little changes from Pre-patch. The class will play almost* the same way, there will be the loss of Azerite Traits and Essences, however it does not affect survival as much as some of the other classes.

However you will effectively replace your Essence with the damaging covenant ability, and you are extremely likely to end up having to use your traps rotationally (depending on which legendary you choose to craft), so it might be worth to reconsider those keybinds for easy access (especially with the macros that automatically drop traps at your feet, which removes the need to aim the reticle).Arcane Mage DPS Shadowlands ChangesThe loss of Azerit changed one major thing for Arcane: the Arkane Geschosse spam rotation that dominated in the pre-patch is now inferior to regular Arkanschlag, at least in longer fights. While Missiles is higher damage-per-cast-time than Arkanschlag, it also consumes much more mana, and our gear isn't currently at a level to sustain it.

On the other hand, our sustained AoE has become more competitive thanks to the Adept des Manas levelling perk. Using this brings more mana efficiency to the base rotation and allows us to swap to Amplifikation instead of Dreisatz.

The other point to bring up is the lack of Haste. Our Haste at level 60 is much lower compared to the end of BfA, making Arcane feel like it plays at a snail's pace at low Arcane Charge stacks (which reduce Arkanschlag's cast time).Fire Mage DPS Shadowlands ChangesFire Mage was very poorly tuned in the Shadowlands pre-patch so it didn't get much play. Because of this it's kind of hard to compare it, but I will say that generally Fire Mage feels about the same in single target. Even though we lost Erinnerung an den Klartraum, combustion doesn't feel worse, it just feels slower. Losing Blaster Master also feels a bit different but Höllische Kaskade is basically a watered down version of the same thing. Since this buff is only maintained inside combustion, it requires a lot less managing.

In AoE, Fire Mage feels quite a bit different. Since we hard-cast Wogende Lohe with Flamepatch on two targets, the playstyle for dungeons is a bit odd. I don't mind this playstyle personally, but it's definitely something you have to get used to.

In terms of new stuff, I think all of the covenant abilities feel pretty good for Fire Mages. Machtverschiebung feels especially nice thanks to the CDR it provides and the damage it does. Spiegel der Qual and Strahlender Funke also feel good but are definitely nowhere near as awesome as Machtverschiebung.Frost Mage DPS Shadowlands Changes'Standard' Frost gameplay never changed much based on BfA systems like Essences and Azerite, so plays much the same in Shadowlands as it did in the pre-patch. Alternate builds like Orb Build and No Ice Lance, however, are dead with the loss of traits like Weißer Tod, Gebündeltes Eis, Blitzeis and Eistunnel. Losing Flash Freeze also kills off Glacial Spike builds - using the spell is at best DPS neutral, and at worst a loss compared to not taking a talent on that row.

None of the leveling perks Frost picks up change our gameplay, but we do gain a new spell at level 58: Zeitverschiebung. This is a great increase to Frost's mobility and defences, so make sure you have it keybound.Windwalker Monk DPS Shadowlands ChangesWindwalker plays largely the same as it did in Shadowlands pre-patch and Battle for Azeroth. With the loss of Azerite Traits like Handflächenschläge, Xuens Zorn, and Chi-Jis Tanz, Windwalker lost some of its random resource generation, which will make the rotation feel more consistent but result in slightly more downtime in long fights.

The addition of Covenant systems have an effect on the spec depending on which you chose. Those that chose Kyrianer will have periods of increased burst and more intense button pressing every 2 minutes with an accompanying large boost in single target damage. Nekrolordss will experience a slight increase in how many buttons their pressing every 60s, but not to the extend of Kyrianer unless they're in an AOE situation where they can spam more Wirbelnder Kranichtritts and an large increase in AOE damage to match. Nachtfae users, essentially, have another rotational button which will cut down on the overall downtime of the spec, especially if they can stay on the line for resets; this results in more damage overall with less peaks and valleys. Those that chose Venthyr won't see any real difference as that button has a longer cool down and is largely uninteractive but deals a decent amount of damage every 3 minutes.Retribution Paladin DPS Shadowlands ChangesDespite losing Azerit and essences, this hasn't had a significant effect on gameplay, since the Azerit traits with the largest impact like Himmlische Macht and Erlass des Lichts have been turned into talents. Losing Vision of Perfection has an impact on how Zornige Vergeltung lines up with other abilities like Heiliger Rächer, but apart from the shorter cooldown, its procs didn't usually have a large impact on your rotation itself.

In terms of what's been added to Ret, the talents that were made baseline were mostly auto picks in their rows, so having theses abilities baseline doesn't feel like a big change. The ability to use Göttliche Bestimmung with either Kreuzzug or Geweihter Zorn is a fun addition, but overall the spec feels very similar to how it played before Shadowlands. The Covenant abilities gained also don't significantly alter Ret's playstyle, since they're mostly just abilities you use on cooldown and then continue your rotation as normal.Shadow Priest DPS Shadowlands ChangesShadow feels identical to how it did in the pre-patch. While the loss of haste from higher levels of gear is noticeable, it's not something that Shadow Priests are unfamiliar with when starting a new expansion. The loss of Essences and Azerite Powers feels a bit rough, but Shadow no longer needs borrowed power from external systems to be competitive.

Covenant abilities haven't impacted the rotation that much. All of our covenant abilities are quite close to one another. It's still worth waiting for the raid to craft our BIS legendary, Ewige Anrufung der Leere. Torghast feels nice as a Shadow Priest, but the abilities can feel a bit lack luster. Gedankenbesänftigung is especially useful in Torghast for skipping packs. Overall, Shadow plays identically to how it did in the pre-patch, with no big changes.
Assassination Rogue DPS Shadowlands ChangesCompared to the end of Battle for Azeroth, when it comes to the toolkit, there is pretty much no difference at all. Zerhäckseln is a new maintenance button and there are covenant abilities as cooldowns, but none of that really changes how the spec works. Tückische Klinge took the spot of former go-to talent Vergiftete Klinge to keep that aspect the same as well.

Really, the main difference why Assassination can feel different in Shadowlands comes from two things. First, the loss of the amazing Erinnerung an den Klartraum essence, that sped up the rotation by a lot. The spec is back to being very slow again, despite the new Inbrunst and rank 2 on Zerhäckseln trying to remedy that. The second one is simply tuning. While tuning does not really affect the feel of gameplay, it can certainly affect how players feel about a spec. And currently, Assassination is in the position that Subtlety was in at the end of Battle for Azeroth: undertuned.

Also, it may be noteworthy that Schurkes in general can feel very squishy in the new world content. We have almost no self-heal baseline and getting some requires picking specific talents or conduits. Egelgift is very weak at the current DPS vs HP levels and Blutrote Phiole was nerfed too. Some passive healing that used to be on Azerit pieces is gone as well. Schurkes may want to pull carefully or look out for other players they can accompany for world quests.Outlaw Rogue DPS Shadowlands ChangesFor Outlaw, playing the spec in Shadowlands should also feel mostly the same. Sure, there were target caps and some changes like the debuff from Zwischen die Augen or the new cooldown approach on Schicksalswürfel. These changes can make it more enjoyable but are also offset by slower pacing from the loss of the Erinnerung an den Klartraum essence. Less re-rolling can feel better, but then being stuck with bad buffs can also feel bad. Give it a try and decide for yourself, I believe it is mostly neutral. If you enjoyed it before, you will enjoy it now. Nice to see that Gesetzlosigkeit numbers look better on Single Target too though, making it not "just an AoE spec".

Also, it may be noteworthy that Schurkes in general can feel very squishy in the new world content. We have almost no self-heal baseline and getting some requires picking a specific conduit. Re-rolling for leech is not really possible anymore. Some passive healing that used to be on Azerit pieces is gone too. Schurkes may want to pull carefully or look out for other players they can accompany for world quests.Subtlety Rogue DPS Shadowlands ChangesOne might say Subtlety feels a lot better because it is leading as top single target spec again after suffering from being undertuned in Battle for Azeroth, a place that was now passed on to our poor Assassination friends. But this numerical thing aside, there was little change to Subtlety gameplay. Not having the Erinnerung an den Klartraum essence anymore makes the spec slower, which is something we try to offset by going with Schattenfokus instead of Nachtpirscher in competitive content. Other than that the main difference you may enjoy is the addition of our new AoE finisher Schwarzpulver, which is an AoE alternative to Ausweiden. The autocrit from Symbole des Todes together with the new rank 2 on Shurikensturm is great to apply Schwäche finden to many targets and allows the spec to have more competitive AoE damage. Rotationally, you're not doing anything different than before though except having a choice of which finisher button to hit.

Also, it may be noteworthy that Schurkes in general can feel very squishy in the new world content. We have almost no self-heal baseline and getting some requires picking specific talents or conduits. Some passive healing that used to be on Azerit pieces is gone too. Schurkes may want to pull carefully or look out for other players they can accompany for world quests.Elemental Shaman DPS Shadowlands ChangesElemental feels largely the same in Shadowlands compared to the pre-patch. There are three small differences to touch on though!

The first is the fix to the interaction between Widerhallender Schock and Sturmhüter. This was not originally working as intended, as the echoed Tobende Stürme benefitted from Sturmhüter but did not consume a charge, and this was fixed in the final days leading up to the expansion. The second change comes from our level 58 leveling perk, which doubles the length of Flammenschocks cast while Feuerelementar is up. This makes us refresh Flammenschock just before Feuerelementar ends. The final change comes from gaining our covenant abilities, which are largely cast on cooldown!
Enhancement Shaman DPS Shadowlands ChangesEnhancement at launch really doesn't have a huge amount of sweeping "feel" changes, because most of that happened with the onset of the pre-patch and the rework being set into motion. Azerit was mostly tied to stat boosts (sans Grollender Sturm which is sometimes missed) and Essences were mostly just layered on top of our cooldowns anyway. The only major loss comes down to the reduced Haste which has slowed the pace down and created a bit more space in the rotation which, much like every previous expansion, feels a bit rough but will smooth out.

Shadowlands systems mostly just add an extra button that deals damage in a variety of ways but is still just that, a damage cooldown that slots into your rotation whenever possible to augment your damage profiles. Without legendaries being available yet, the whole package doesn't really come together as Conduits are a very minor piece of the puzzle for us, while some of the effects we'll be equipping soon have major impacts on our damage output and gameplay, so that's something to look forward to soon!Affliction Warlock DPS Shadowlands ChangesMost specs feel this way in the transition from pre-patch, but Affliction has definitely felt a lot slower than I would say the norm is. Not only do we lose a large amount of our enormous secondary scaling that we accrued over the course of the expansion in BfA, but we also lost a large portion of that from Azerite Traits such as Herz der Dunkelheit or Zermürbende Brillanz which we had stored up. Because of this, Affliction has gone from a Mythic+ powerhouse spec that can do good damage in most situations, to a lethargic spec that struggles to keep up on anything other than single target boss fights in Mythic dungeons.

And while it may actually be able to keep up with some of the stronger specs in the game right now, unfortunately the scaling options really aren't there for Affliction. Our DPS and conduit choices don't really fill the void of the Azerite Trait options we had in BfA, and will likely continue to lag behind the OP specs unless we see some sort of a buff in the future.Demonology Warlock DPS Shadowlands ChangesOverall Demonology does not feel different at all for Shadowlands compared to pre-patch. Rotational and overall gameplay is all the same; the biggest difference you will notice is the lack of Haste makes Demonology play quite a bit slower. However relative to the meta of burst damage in Mythic 0 and Heroics, Demonology is noticeably strong due to consistent AoE through Hand von Gul'dan and Implosion and being able to carry AoE over from the end of one pack to a new group of mobs. Without any major spec changes Demonology is just as it was, a somewhat confused, misunderstood step-child of the Hexenmeister specs.Destruction Warlock DPS Shadowlands ChangesOne of the strengths in Destruction during the pre-patch was the Vision der Perfektion essence with Chaosregen being able to proc off of it. This also resulted in a 5% nerf to the Chaosregen talents proc chance. The loss of Brennpunkt is also significant as this was a major part of our strength.

When leveling through Shadowlands you obtain new ranks of certain spells. This includes an extra 2 second duration on Verwüstung. While this might look like a minor buff, it's both a damage buff and a quality of life change. It gives you more time to set up during your havoc window and feels amazing to play with

Overall, the only gameplay change is the addition of Covenant Abilities. We're playing the same talents and the rotation is mostly the same. Arms Warrior DPS Shadowlands ChangesArms has changed considerably between pre-patch and the expansion, despite none of the spells or the primary rotation really changing at all. Losing the essence Erinnerung an den Klartraum slowed the spec down considerably, while losing the Machtprobe Azerite Trait has a profound impact on the specializations performance and gameplay approach. The result is more simplified gameplay, which many players have found rather bland and unengaging, although covenant abilities do a good job of replacing some of that lost interest.

Gearing wise, Haste and Critical Strike reign supreme as they did before Machtprobe, and overall the specialization is not unfamiliar, just a little less engaging than before. That said, it still manages to feel good with covenant abilities, particularly Verurteilen, which uses an entirely different set of talents than the normal rotation, creating two distinctly separate playstyles.Fury Warrior DPS Shadowlands ChangesFury is largely unchanged from the pre-patch to expansion, although the spec is a bit slower both due to stat inflation and losing several Rage generation increasing Azerite Traits: Kalter Stahl, heißes Blut, Ungezügelte Wildheit, and . The spec is still GCD locked and very active, but it means slightly less frequent Toben casts, and a bit lower Enrage uptime as a result.

Gearing wise, the biggest change is the shift away from Critical Strike due to the loss of Kalter Stahl, heißes Blut, over to an almost entirely Haste driven spec. That said, all secondary stats are very close to one another, so there is a lot less emphasis on stacking just that one stat than in previous expansions. Likewise, Strength is worth more than previous, so item level can play a slightly bigger role.

Overall though, the spec plays almost exactly the same, with nearly every ability contributing rage generation in order to build up to Toben, dealing high damage and triggering Enrage for increased damage and Haste. While simple, it's a very active and satisfying gameplay loop, which goes to prove that a rotation does not need to be complicated in order to be engaging.

Frost DKUnholy DK

Havoc DH

Feral DruidBalance Druid

Beast Mastery HunterMarksmanship HunterSurvival Hunter

Arcane MageFire MageFrost Mage

Windwalker Monk

Retribution Paladin

Shadow Priest

Assassination RogueOutlaw RogueSubtlety Rogue

Elemental ShamanEnhancement Shaman

Affliction WarlockDemonology WarlockDestruction Warlock

Arms WarriorFury Warrior

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