Dragonflight 10.2 Classes Nerfs: 4 Classes That Could Use a Rework in Dragonflight 10.2 Season 3

Dragonflight 10.2 Classes Nerfs: 4 Classes That Could Use a Rework in Dragonflight 10.2 Season 3

8/15/2023 11:07:48 AM

Tag: WoW Dragonflight

Dragonflight 10.2 patch Season 3 is coming soon, the second major patch of Dragonflight and will mark the beginning of Season 3, bringing with it a new raid, a new zone for questing, changes to the Mythic+ dungeon pool, and the start of a new PVP Season and the opportunity to earn its associated rewards. In this article, we're going to go through 4 classes' nerfs that we would likely to see for WoW Dragonflight 10.2 Season 3, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, and Warlock.

Dragonflight Season 3 10.2 Classes Nerfs: 4 Classes That Could Use a Rework in WoW Dragonflight 10.2

Patch 10.1.7 has finally got a release date with a smaller Dragonflight update set to arrive in just a few weeks on September 5th. And with the release of 10.1.7, we will likely see the patch 10.2 in tow, as the next major content update of Dragonflight will likely arrive to the PTR shortly after it officially goes live. And just like every other major content update, 10.2 is going to bring with a brand new raid tier, likely seemed around the Green Dragonflight and the Emerald Dream, as well as a brand new Mythic+ season, even more PVP Season 3 updates, new crafting changes, and a ton of class changes often welcomed by the community. So far, Dragonflight has been able to deliver on a series of class updates which have massively overhauled many of our playstyles. Anything like reworks to the specs of Paladin, as Retribution gained a brand new talent tree for 10.0.7, as well as the most recent Holy Paladin and improvements of 10.1.5 and with many other classes benefiting from much simpler talented reworks with most of these classes seeing adjustments thanks to the invaluable feedback of their respective class communities. Patch 10.2 is yet another chance for even more improvements and some classes are set to get reworks on the horizon, reworks which are yet to reveal themselves over on the 10.1.7 PTR.

Today we put together a guide highlighting the 4 classes people would love to see either reward or revamped as we head into the 10.2 Season 3, primarily highlighting the issues that are widely shared by the general community.

1. Hunter Class Changes for Dragonflight 10.2 Season 3

The class of Hunter saw a ton of changes during the development of Dragonflight and has even seen its spec talent trees get a few more iterations since the release of this expansion. And we are enjoying the overall classes structure either as a Marksman or as the Survival aspect, and 10.2 could be their time to shine with even more additional improvements.

- First, the survivability of Hunter is notably lower than most of the classes. Some playstyles have naturally armor, additional health or even passive reductions or even a cheat death mechanic, which keeps them sturdy in some of the high-end content. And Hunters generally struggle when matched at a similar level, notably less durable than most other classes.

- Hunters also don't come with any specific party utility, which will separate them from other playstyles. Most Hunters are skilled at their craft as they trap their foes while providing additional support for allies and raids and dungeons, but nothing makes them stand out like a Mage or a Warlock in their own unique way.

- In the Beast Mastery's Hunter talent tree, we see two nodes which receive very little gameplay. Even with its most recent improvements, the aspect of the wild still falls short as a viable option, same can be said for Call Of The Wild as it captures the thematic mastery of animals on paper, but not so much when it comes to direct practice.

2. Rogue Changes in Dragonflight 10.2 Patch

The next class that's already planned to receive a revamp is the Rogue, though no specific details have been given on just yet. All three specs of Rogue - Outlaw, Subtlety and Assassination offer plenty of compelling gameplay flavors. But not every class is perfect and Rogue could definitely use a sharper pair of daggers.

- Starting with Assassination, which is the master of the craft, capable of specializing for a variety of encounters whether it is AOE dungeons or single target raid fights. But the current iteration of Assassination can either expect to become a master of one or a novice at both. They can enhance their single target or AOE damage, but have a hard time finding a good spot in the middle. With cap zones that are just not as competitive for that specific purpose. The spec also has an affinity for single target damage thanks to the design of deathmark, the primary offensive cooldown which marks a single target, synonym for an execution. But it has big limitations when it comes to big group environments.

- Outlaw is another spec, it could use a few more fixes. Roll the Bones is a unique mechanic which provides you with a variety of combat enhancements that cause you to make subtle changes within your rotation. But it also comes with some randomness as part of its gameplay which is very off-putting for some of the newer players even with all the increased tools to help you better control of the dice of fate. And over the last few expansions, its array of combat abilities has grown over time, leading to it feeling fairly bloated. Another aspect which isn't super attractive to some of the new players first time picking up the spec.

3. Dragonflight Priest Revamps for 10.2 Patch

The next class is the Priest with his two healing specs, feeling even stronger thanks to the most recent class buffs, as well as a speck of shadow which continues to dominate within Mythic+ dungeons. Overall, Priest is an experience that's easy to recommend, whether you want to support your allies, tear down your foes, or something in between, the classes got you covered on all fronts.

- The one ability that still plagues the class community and that is of Power Infusion, a holy buff which enhances another increasing their haze by a generous amount. The infusion haze buff is quite potent with certain classes getting far more value than others. While this isn't an experience of every Priest, lots of reported unfortunate social interactions over its usage, with the inside of an organized raiding guild where everybody is fighting for its benefits or angry whispers inside of dungeons because you buffed the wrong target.

- With the newest addition of Augmentation Evoker proven to be mostly a success as the spec is buff focused with its primary role on enhancing your allies with buffs that rival power infusion. Though most of its benefits feed a large group of allies and allows for a smart targeting feature, making it much less cumbersome to manage. Power Infusion could potentially mimic by spreading its wealth amongst a handful of allies, while potentially enhancing the Priest damage or healing abilities.

- But besides base class changes, we do know that Discipline has a talent revamp in its future which will likely bolster the Shadow and Holy healing elements.

4. Warlock Changes in Dragonfight Patch 10.2

The class of Warlock has always been a welcoming experience, whether you're reigning fire as Destruction, slowly defiling the defiers as Affliction or overwhelming them with increasingly powerful demonic forces as Demonology. And the most recent changes of 10.1.5 has left each spec feeling a little bit stronger than ever before as more quality updates have greeted every single playstyle. Though as fun as they are, they could be further improved combat 10.2, with some of the much requested community changes.

- First, in the Warlock class tree, talents like Soulburn, Inquisitor’s Gaze and even at times Summon Soulkeeper can all feel quite potent. But the talent of Grim Feast falls short as a Capstone option, it does gain quite a bit of value within PVP, but its overall placement feels a little bit low in the talent tree and most Warlocks agree that it should be made easier to access.

- Then we have the spec of Destruction which is easy to get into especially if it's your first time exploring the class of Warlock. The chaos bolts are incredibly satisfying to cast as they explode upon your targets with massive critical strikes, though the spec does lack mobility that still plagues Destruction. Unlike Affliction and Demonology, Destruction’s performance does take a notable dip whenever you can't hold steady, and the most recent tier set hasn't made him any more mobile. Alternative instant cast options aren't nearly as potent which can create some punishing scenarios where high movement is absolutely necessary. A

- Another spec that's actually recently received some new improvements is Affliction. As the Weaver Corruptions and agodies did see some nice talented changes, with better support for this dot management as well as some bolstering towards its AOE elements. Though many believe that Affliction could still gain even more quality of life changes specifically in the content like Mythic+ dungeons. The talent of Vile Taint makes spreading your agonies a whole lot easier, similar to how you could spread corruptions with theater corruption. Though unlike seed, Vile Taint's cooldown makes agonies spread feel a lot less fluid as it creates a gap where your agony stacks will eventually fall off. Similar to The Shadow Priest’s Shadow Crash’s design, which refreshes your periodic effects entirely while still maintaining the full value, Vile Taint could be tweaked a bit to gain a very similar benefits. Vile Taint's cooldown and damage could be adjusted to have a much shorter downtime which will allow for much better AOE damage overtime management.