The huge 9.0.5 patch will be shaking things a bit with their nerfs and buffs on the different classes! It’s looking at a bit of the specs that have been underperforming with the previous season so far, they might be able to take back their thrown. This will be all about breaking down the newest patch and discussing which changes are relevant to know which exactly what to expect when the patch goes live.
BUFFS
Demon Hunter Buffs
Unbound Chaos: it’s damage increase has seen a significant buff up from 300% to 500%.
Glaive Tempest Issue: the enemy players can move out of it so if you don’t use it with the stun, it would be completely wasted.
The Hunt: DH’s will be able to also pair this up with Unbound Chaos buff up using the Hunt and immediately following with Fel Rush.
With these altogether, the Unbound Chaos would likely give more of burst potential. However does not fix the issue that the class already has which is just how frail they are. Still, these changes will still push DHs more to the direction of a hit-and-run class where they can come in with huge bursts and leave the rest of their time running around and focusing on staying alive.
Restoration Druid
Germination: this has seen more than just a 12% buff; allows Restoration Druids to use two rejuvenations to each target. This alone can is a significant buff to their single target and spread pressure healing.
Overgrowth: the buff with this spell will definitely make this cooldown more reliable for quickly backing up people’s health who have quickly dropped.
Adaptive Swarm: at face value, this buff may not be too big but when you consider the Evolved Swarm conduit which also exceed the period effects so that Resto Druids will have a better time healing their teammates.
Up until now, Resto Druids felt like their missing out on some throughput which would tip them over the edge and bring them up from irrelevancy being one of the best healers and this change might be the one needed to happen.
Mistweaver Monks
Vivify & Renewing Mist:
They’ve already seen a buff to their mana and cooldown of Life Cocoon which has been enough to at least to see life at high rating. In addition to these, Mistweaver’s legendaries are also receiving a buff of choice: Clouded Focus; increases throughput while being yet another source of mana reduction.
Still, this spec has still some glaring weaknesses beyond just their mana bar so looks like theses changes are here to further reduce their mana consumption won’t be too huge in most match ups. With that being said though, Mistweavers have been considered one of the better healers and casters. These mana changes will make this spec one of the better healers into spell cleaves.
Warlock
Demon Armor: They’ve received a much needed buff to Demon Armor. There’s no doubt in any player’s mind that this buff was necessary even how Warlocks are easier to kill now than ever before.
Amplify Curse: not as important as the Demon Armor but is certainly a nice addition that will offer Warlocks a better outplay potential whenever they choose to use this talent.
The main combination of Shadow Aura Resistance and the increase to Demon Armor changes alone are more likely enough to start seeing Warlocks perform much better in than in the previous season.
Assassination Rogues
This time though instead just seeing just a direct damage buff, we’re seeing Slide and Dice are made available to all Rogue specs. They’re also getting a passive that allows them to refresh Slice and Dice whenever they’re using venom.
When you pair the Slice and Dice to an Assassination Rogue’s toolkit with the small tweak to Venomous Wonds, its possible that their DPS will become much stronger and allow the spec to start flourishing in Arena.
Though, Slice and Dice seems to have been changed to no longer increase energy regeneration to just increasing attack speed. This is not a nerf to Assassination as they previously did not even have access to the buff.
Shamans
Elemental Shamans are getting a slight rework on where there damage comes from with Lava Burst damage being reduced and Earth Shock damage being increased. This change may affect how Elemental Shamans set-up their burst with Echoing Shock and Primordial Wave that may hurt their consistent damage a bit.
The 10% nerf to Lava Burst for Restoration Shamans considering they do damage with this pretty hard, this is still a meaningful nerf. Even if it won’t be a difference to the teams winning or losing games very often.
Suprising changes when it comes to Enhancement Shaman with Lava Lash getting a massive buff of 40%. Right now, Enhance totally relies on Wind Fury and Storm Strike for their damage with Lava Lash being more of an after thought. However, this change may put Hot Hand in front of Stormflurry which would buff sustained damage. Also, Stormkeeper has been buffed which will give Chain Lightning a lot more damage but it is not that relevant in PvP.
NERFS
Holy Paladin
Divine Vision: a huge indirect buff to Shadow Priests and Warlocks.
This nerf focuses on their mana which clearly is an issue to sustain for so long while also having incredible throughput. Noting this change though this feels quite minor and seems unlikely to make much of a difference.
LEGENDARY CHANGES
Surging Shot and Latent Poison Injectors: the DPS legendaries of choice for MM and Survival Hunters respectively. Certainly a noteworthy buff that will make the offense side of these specs much stronger which is definitely a plus due to offense is where they often lack.
Freezing Winds: during the beta this was considered the best legendary for Frost Mages so we definitely start to expect this to show up for Frost Mages who want to play aggressively. Giving their legendaries a lot of buffed combinations giving them more offensive options outside of simply sticking to the defensive side of things.
Exploiter: not PvE oriented that has recently proved to be a vital part of a Venthir’s Arms Warrior’s kit. While this legendary does not work too well in PvE given the bosses do not spend much time in execute range, enemies are healed in PvP. Meaning. they spend more time being able to be hit by Condemn making this a very meaningful buff for Venthir’s Arms Warriors who are already proving to be one of, if not, the best melee in the game right now.
COVENANT CHANGES
Necrolord: Fleshcraft ability: this change is a huge buff to Resto Shamans who will pair it with Ancestral Gift and a 30% damage reduction while giving themselves a 40% absorb. This combination will make it almost impossible for Resto Shamans to die in swaps as they can preemptively pull this off or by burning their trinket to do so.
As for the covenant class abilities, we have seen a handful receive some buffs in an attempt to get the representation closer together. However, none of the buffs really stand out and cause a huge shift for the best covenant for each class, at least in PvP. While covenant choice in competitive PvE is primarily locked in numbers, the utility is also a huge consideration in PvP.
VIDEO CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Intro
0:36 – Demon Hunter Buffs
1:50 – Resto Druid Buffs
3:03 – Mistweaver Monk Buffs
4:07 – Holy Paladin Nerfs
4:50 – Warlock Buffs
5:30 – Assa Rogue Buffs
7:00 – Shaman Changes
9:40 – Legendary Changes
10:58 – Covenant Changes