WoW 12.1 is on the way, and Blizzard released the PTR class changes we can likely expect, and there are some significant buffs and nerfs on the way. In general, the really bursty classes received nerfs, especially when it comes to cooldowns. Other classes received some much-needed love, while others, like Warrior and Warlock kind of feel like they were largely untouched. I admire the goal being to reduce the reliance on incredible burst, and making DPS more consistent. Will it work out though, and will it be fun? That’s the real question.
Other changes don’t appear to make much sense to the community at large, like adding a little bit of healing to Enhancement Shaman. While I think the class/spec is already decent, that change didn’t click with me. Either way, here’s where we’re going to be, in terms of buffs and nerfs for WoW patch 12.1.
Note: The changes proposed by Blizzard could very well be adjusted between now and patch 12.1.
Which WoW specs received decent buffs in patch 12.1?
- Blood Death Knights
- Frost Death Knights
- Vengeance Demon Hunters
- Balance Druid
- Restoration Druid
- Feral Druid
- Guardian Druid
- Augmentation Evoker (and sort of Devastation)
- Preservation Evoker
- Hunters (All of them)
- Mages (All of them – for now)
- Monks (All of them)
- Paladins (All specs for Healing)
- Discipline Priests
- Shadow Priests
- Assassination Rogues
- Outlaw Rogues
- Elemental Shaman
Blood Death Knights saw quite a few buffs in WoW patch 12.1, but I don’t know that it’s quite enough to make it a good, viable build. Frost Death Knights is a bit of a mixed bag. It was nerfed in a few ways, but also received some positive changes overall.
Players will also see fewer of your army, which is nice to remove screen clutter. In general, I like the Haste buff from Magus of the Dead, and some of the damage increases, but they also lost, too.
Vengeance Demon Hunters mostly saw healing increases, which is nice, but some of the numbers are tiny. They also saw a tiny boost in Revel in Pain, adding 1% more to the shield. I really don’t get that.
Balance Druids saw quite a few positive changes I think, and while some of the changes are nerfs, I think overall, it’s a positive set of upgrades. We’ll have to see if it really makes them pop off, especially in the healing department. Rejuvenation, Wild Growth, and Regrowth all saw big number boosts. Honestly, it looked like Druids overall saw lots of important changes. Lots of redesigns and updates, though we’ll have to see if those redesigns are ultimately positive ones. I’d like to be positive about them right now, though.
Sadly, no more Duplicate – Upheaval knock-ups for Augmentation Evokers, but they did receive some really solid Healing buffs. That seems to be a pattern across these patch notes, for most classes that can heal.
While Dream Breath on Preservation Evoker was nerfed in WoW patch 12.1, their Periodic Healing on Dream Breath was increased significantly, so I think overall it could be a positive change. They received quite a few decent changes.
While I wish Hunters Mark would apply to 5 targets automatically, because casting it 5 times is tedious, at least it’s a step in the right direction! In addition, Hunters ranged auto-shot damage was increased by 600%. Now, is Hunter still an incredibly boring class to play? Yes. But is it getting positive changes? Also yes.
From the Bleak Arrows increase on damage by 300%, to a litany of changes in Beast Mastery to make it so they aren’t only dealing damage during Bestial Wrath, I think Hunters may have received some of my favorite updates. There were again, some minor nerfs, but I think overall, it was a list of positive changes to all three specs.
Mages will receive some much-needed love in the defensive department in WoW patch 12.1, and I love that. The Sunfury Hero Talents were also largely reworked, but since we haven’t gotten hands-on with these yet, it’s uncertain how much of an improvement it will be.
Pretty much all three Monk specs received buffs too in WoW patch 12.1. Brewmaster in particular received lots of improvements all around, and you can also track its buffs on the Cooldown Manager, which is just a nice QoL change.
One of the new Protection talents, Blessed Word, is something I’m a huge fan of on Paladins. It makes Word of Glory no longer crit, but it increases its healing by your Critical Strike Chance, and 80% of its overhealing done to you grants an Absorb Shield. Less RNG, more usefulness. Big-time love that.
While they lose Sanctified Wrath (Prot Paladins), they received some major buffs all across the board, from increased self-heal, absorb shields, and damage. The burstiness of Retribution Paladins is also being smoothed out in WoW patch 12.1. It’s going to be less about consumgin Art of War/Righteous Cause, and should overall feel like the build is more flexible.
Windwalkers lost a little damage too, but the goal is to increase their overall damage outside of high-burst moments. That’s what the big takeaway for a lot of classes are, and some people see burst-class changes as nerfs, but I think it’s more balancing their damage out, so they can do decent damage all the time, instead of just every two minutes.
Discipline Priests and Shadow Priests saw some solid reworks and buffs, making Discipline Priests less reliant on Shadow Mend and Void Shield to heal worth anything. Shadow received a cool new talent in Shadowburst, and Improved Voidform was redesigned. It’s not much for Shadow Priests, but it’s better than a nerf. Some players think Blizzard are scared to nerf Shadow Priests.
Assassination Rogues received quite a bit of damage, an improved Raid Buff, and overall improvements to their talents. While I still think the class isn’t fun to play, I do appreciate these changes to the build. The same goes for Outlaw Rogues, with changes like Hidden Opportunity’s chance for Ambush to grant Opportunity now being 100%. It should really help.
The vast majority of changes to Elemental Shaman were to improve their non-burst damage, so while Ascendance is still good, and useful, they can still feel powerful outside of their cooldown window. That’s a common theme in this patch.
Which WoW specs were nerfed in patch 12.1?
- Havoc Demon Hunters
- Arcane Mages (sort of)
- Mistweaver Monks
- Rogues (Fatebound)
- Subtlety Rogues
- Elemental Shaman
We’ll miss you, Dash of Chaos. It’s really the only major nerf among the Demon Hunter specs, but I count it because I rather liked Dash of Chaos. The new Arcane Mage Apex Talent I feel like could be considered a nerf, in that it reduces damage beyond 5 targets, and only has a 1% chance per Arcane Salvo stack consumed to trigger in the first place. It might wind up being incredible, but I’m not a lucky man. So while Arcane Mage was buffed in some ways, I also worry this is a nerf. We’ll have to wait and see.
While it’s not a huge change, Mistweaver Monks saw a 3% reduction in all healing, and Spinning Crane Kick was decreased by 15% in terms of damage. They had other decent buffs, and I don’t think they’re game-breaking nerfs, but still worth discussing, I think.
Fatebound (Hero Talents)’ Deal Fate now only has a 60% chance to grant extra combo points when you Seal Fate instead of 100%, which, while might be good or bad, is still very much a nerf. I’ve heard a few Rogues say that it now feels like they have much worse energy/combo usage now. They did receive some damage buffs in a few specs, at least, but will it be enough? Personally I think Assassination Rogues have a lot to look forward to in the Energy space, thanks to Dashing Scoundrel’s update.
However, Subtlety Rogues lose out on energy generated per combo point on finishing moves via Relentless Strike, and Shadowcraft doesn’t store an additional combo point anymore. Many players see this as a decent nerf. While they did receive other positive changes, the lack of combo points may upset you.
While again, WoW patch 12.1 does buff Elemental Shaman in quite a few ways, Ascendance now only increases the damage of Elemental Overload by 30%, instead of 75%. I get the why, but there will no doubt be Shaman who feel this is an unnecessary nerf.
Which WoW specs and classes feel like they received a lot of nothing?
- Frost Death Knights
- Devourer Demon Hunters
- Holy Paladins (Technically)
- Holy Priests
- Enhancement and Elemental Shaman
- Warlocks (just in general)
- Warriors (just in general)
Frost Death Knights received one tiny change in WoW patch 12.1, and while it is a positive one, it really doesn’t amount to much. I like Frost Death Knights either way, even if I prefer Unholy. Blood still feels the worst, though (as a Tank and DK spec).
Though Devourer Demon Hunters were buffed, the general consensus is once again, it wasn’t enough. There were some large percentage damage buffs (all ability damage, Consume), but again, they saw a bit of a nerf too, to Void Metamorphosis and Impending Apocalypse. It is kind of a balancing bit, but I don’t think it really goes one way or another enough.
While Holy Paladins didn’t see any direct changes to their build, several healing powers were improved (Golden Path, LIghtforged Blessing, Brought to Light), but nothing that specifically targeted the Holy Paladin build.
Speaking of specs in WoW that didn’t really get very much in terms of love, Holy Priests, you’re still going to be mediocre in patch 12.1. I think the changes to Divine Hymn and Resonant Energy are interesting, but that’s it.
I don’t get why Enhancement Shaman only received some minor to moderate healing buffs. Was their healing really that abhorrent? Restoration now has a 12 second cooldown/18 second duration for Healing Rain, which is certainly nice, but it’s really all they received.
While Hellcaller received some updates and redesigns for Warlock, in general, they really didn’t get much of anything. I love Warlock, don’t get me wrong, but couldn’t they have seen some love, somewhere else?
There were several changes to Arms Warrior, sure, but I don’t think they were good, positive, or even necessary perhaps. One of the goals for Arms Warrior going into Midnight was to cut back on modifier bloat, but that seems to just keep on happening.
Warriors saw some redesigns, and that’s honestly it. It feels like, now that we’re at the end of the patch notes, nobody had the energy to work on Warriors or Warlocks alike. I don’t know, I feel like these could be interesting, but we’ll just have to see them in action in the PTR.
Check out our other WoW guides and features
Edited by Jason Parker
