by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

World of Warcraft’s 5.3 Escalation patch brings with it a solid amount of new content, as well as some balance changes. Always a precarious topic, balance changes can topple the mighty and give life to the more downtrodden classes. Did your favorite class win, lose or stay about the same in 5.3? Find out below!

WINNERS

HUNTERS

While Hunter pet crowd control abilities are taking a decent nerf in 5.3 with most abilities having their cooldowns increased from one minute to two minutes, (the exception being the worm family’s burrow attack, which is actually receiving a cooldown buff) Hunters are getting some love. Aspect of the Hawk and the Aspect of the Iron Hawk Glyph are bumping up ranged attack power from 25%, from 15%. Hunters utilizing the Marksmanship specialization will see an increase in multishot damage, up to 60% from 30%. Beast Mastery’s Beast Cleave is getting a 25% damage upgrade, but Exotic Beasts no longer reduces the cooldown of special abilities. Mixed in with all of this is that all Hunters will now have access to Intimidation, as opposed to just Beast Masters. This, an increase in stable slots from 20 to 50 and a couple of other minor buffs combined make Hunter a clear winner this time around.

SHAMANS

With the exception of one sidegrade, Shamans are making out pretty nicely in 5.3. Yes, Lava Burst’s cast time will be increased by half a second, but it will also do an additional 25% damage. Beyond that, Lightning Bolt will no longer require Shamans to stand still. The Gylph of Unleashed Lightning is being tossed out in favor of the new Glyph of Lightning Shield. This  Glyph will offer Shamans more durability with a 10% damage reduction for six seconds after Lightning Shield is triggered. Lava Lash, Mental Quickness and Stormstrike are all receiving flat damage buffs, making this a good patch to be a Shaman, but an even better one to be an Enhancement Shaman.

RESTORATION DRUIDS

While 5.3’s kind of a mixed bag for Druids, Restoration Druids in specific are receiving some solid buffs. The cooldown on Ironbark is being halved and Swiftmend’s area-of-effect component is being buffed from 8 to 10 yards. Wild Mushroom: Bloom will do 100% more healing total and have its radius buffed from 8 to 10 yards. Are these the most dramatic of upgrades? No, absolutely not, but they’re something, and something’s always better nerfs.

LOSERS

ROGUES

Escalation will not be a fun patch for Rogues. All across the board the leather wearing assassins are being nickel and dimed. Cloak and Dagger will require a rogue to actually be stealthed, and unfortunately for them Shadow Dance will not remove that requirement. Gylphs of Cheap Shot and Garrote will both prove to be slightly less effective, with Gylph of Cheap Shot now increasing stun duration by .5 seconds, as opposed to 1 second. Glyph of Garrote will similarly be causing the target to be silenced for an additional second, rather than 1.5 seconds. Subtlety rogues will enjoy bypassing 100% of armor on PvE targets, but only 50% of armor on PvP enemies. All in all, the changes probably won’t prove to be too noticeable, but they’re absolutely not buffs, and that’s what makes them the losers in 5.3.

EVERYONE ELSE

By in large, 5.3 shouldn’t cause a lot of headaches. Most classes are receiving buffs and nerfs going both ways, but they’re generally minor. While on the subject of buffs, Blizzard has decided to bring the mana cost of raid buffs such as Power Word: Fortitude, Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Might, Legacy of the Emperor, Arcane Brilliance and Mark of the Wild down a fair bit. Again, nothing crazy, but players can look at the changes and go, ‘Oh, well that’s nice’.

Curious about the specific changes to your class? Check out Blizzard’s official patch notes here and be sure to watch for 5.3 to drop on Tuesday, May 21st.