Here are some takeaways from this week’s 9.0.5 PTR build. Keep in mind that number tuning is happening on a regular basis, whether your class got buffed or nerfed or neither, there is always next week.
VALOR 0:25
The Valor point system is starting to come together. The dungeon journal reflects the new upgrade path for mythic gear that starts at 184 which we know already. Telling us we can sort of target our gear by running a mythic zero for a piece that we really really want and develop it from there.
For efficiency’s sake, we want to pick up that piece from as hard of a difficulty as we can get away with and we can save on precious valor points. Consider that valor is capped each week and that there is a finite amount of valor that will be made available in the season. The cost of upgrading valor doesn’t seem to have changed from what was data mined by WoWHead but turning in covenant callings will award a small chunk of valor- 35 for normal callings and 50 for epic callings. This tells us that callings alone will get us to roughly half of the weekly cap which is 750. Seems it won’t take too much in order to cap weekly valor but it is much too early to determine how long it is going to take to upgrade to a full set of gear especially because by the time 9.0.5 releases, we are going to be at least 3 months into season 1 which considerably cuts into the effectiveness of the valor point system.
A small concern would be the finite number of valor points. Pretend you put in the time to upgrade a piece to a 213. Meanwhile maybe you excel at running 15s but you never make time. And in the following week you open your weekly chest and you see that it is the same item but it is a 226. What happens to that 213 piece that you put all the points into is a wasted valor. Will there be a way to scrap that gear and get some or all your valor back? Obviously one would not be able to scrap any old mythic dungeon gear with no valor points but knowing would really help. Let’s hope that the kinks will get worked out sooner than later but definitely before 9.1 when we get a fresh season and these answers are really going to matter.
CLASS AND COVENANT CHANGES 2:25
It has been a little light this week which may or may not spell doom for your class that has not been given enough attention.
The Feral legendary Cat-Eye Curio had its energy regeneration set to 30% down from 35%. Closing some opportunities to use some extra energy.
Beastmaster Hunters had its legendaries nerfed slightly as well with a small proc reduction to dire command and a small crit damage bonus nerf to Rylakstalker’s Piercing Fangs. And the damage from Spitting Cobra has been increased by 260%.
Xuen’s Battlegear got another buff, now the quick strike chance of rising sun kick is increased by 50% up from 30%.
The PVP talent for Holy Paladin’s Ultimate Sacrifice had its duration reduced by half. Maraad’s Dying Breath no longer makes the caster take extra damage from Land of the Martyr and turns the self-damage into a damage over time. The Prot Paladin legendary The Ardent Protector’s Sanctum, will now heal for more and if the proc is not used the cooldown is reduced by 40%. For Ret Paladins, Final Verdict was given a 15% buff.
Assasination Rogue energy regeneration was given a buff with Venomous Wounds giving one extra energy from DoT ticks. The Night Fae ability, Sepsis, will work with the dread blades talent. The Concealed Blunderbuss legendary was buffed to proc pistol shot 3 times up from 2.
The Echoes of Great Sundering for Shaman will buff earthquakes by 120% up from 100%. Affliction Warlock gets a little more longevity with a strong demon armor talent. Demonology Warlock gets a small buff to their puppy damage and Curse of Tongues duration has been doubled.
In general covenant abilities, Flayed Shot is getting a small buff to proc more kill shots. Fleshcraft is being returned a little bit, the defensive benefit was nerfed from 30% to 20%.
In Dungeonville, there was a bit of re-tuning. In Halls of Atonement, the melee damage from the gargoyles that Venthyr can temporarily control have been nerfed. Making us rely on our actual class abilities a little bit more.
In Sanguine Depths, though the other Venthyr buff is being buffed, the cans that do anima drain now last for 60 seconds up from 45. The actual buff you get now lasts for 1.3 minutes up from 1 minute.