New Shawl Nerf is Clownshoes

So the main complaint about the prayer shawls was that you could MGB Group symbol etc, and it would proc instant mana feeds netting you 40-60% mana back depending on how many people it hit, I can understand wanting to nerf that it was ridiculous. What I can't understand is why nerf the basic function and benefits of the shawl after all this time. It may have been unintentional but the new shawl effects have reduced the mana regen benefits of it for clerics by approx 80%

On an average high damage fight, I cast approx 35 single target heals in 120 seconds. This is important information for later, but lets focus on the best case scenario mana returns for me from the shawl pre and post nerf casting nothing but single target spells.

Pre Nerf:

35 casts, 80% Proc Rate 250 mana per proc -> 7,000 mana returned over 2 minutes.

Post Nerf: 35 casts, 80% proc Rate 125 mana per proc (Not really will go over this below) -> 3500 mana returned (Not really).

I say not really and said dont take that number at face value earlier because If you average it out, the buff you proc for 125 mana lasts 6 seconds and it only updates off every server tick limiting you to no more than 125 mana back every 6 seconds regardless of how often you cast which really the horseshit part of this. Not that something completely broken (MGB/Group Mana return) was fixed, but that its functionality was severely crippled with this.


Actual Post nerf Mana back adjustment: 1500.

7,000 Mana over 2 minutes -> 1500 mana

80%~ nerf in intended functionality. Clownshoes.

You can flag spells to only function on single target only, why was this method not explored before hitting the best caster item in the game with the biggest nerf I can remember ever in the history of this game.

It's "supposed" to give a phantom tick of of the value listed, but there's there's the problem of any procs while you have the buff lose at least half their effectiveness. Any double procs off twincast spells have the second one completely negated.

This has really been a significant nerf to the mana regen for plenty of classes and is hitting those of us without burst mana returns VERY hard.

The fact that the patch message had the balls to call this an increase when it is 100% a nerf and never better than the old version in any circumstances while being much worse in real use makes me so pissed.

Oh yes good point, I didn't even note that forcing twin-heals would bring your spellcount up to somewhere in the 45-50 range, so In actuality its about an 85-90% nerf in functionality.

I don't personally support clerics having their own mana fun factory with two seperate timer mana-feeds, but that's clownshoes for another discussion. Regardless even though druids feel it worse than I do, it's a ridiculous amount of nerf. This can't even be called a Nerf at this point, it should be called a colonoscopy.

It's worse for damage casters.

Pre-nerf the shawl proc worked like this:

Cast damage spell, get a buff that adds 5/600 damage AND get 200/250 mana back instantly. This buff lasts 1 tick and if it is not used, procs an instant 200/250 mana return.

Post-nerf the shawl proc works like this:

Cast damage spell, get buff that adds 5/600 damage and 100/125 mana/tick. This buff lasts 1 tick and if it is not used, procs an instant 200/250 mana return.

Think about this: If we nuke while the damage bonus spell is active, the buff disappears AND SO DOES THE 100/125 MANA/TICK ON IT. This means casters will NEVER get the mana regen from the shawl now because what caster is going to stop nuking for 6 seconds to make sure the regen ticks?

Any melee have feedback on this?

Rune shawl procs just fine. They just utterly ****ed casters/priests with these "adjustments".

Really should be looked into so everyone can enjoy the item equally.

Since some people are asking how to factor in how it impacts them do the following;

For

Pre Nerf:
Take the Number of times you cast in 2 minutes, Multiply it by .8, then Multiply that by the regen component, for priests this is 250.The number is your mana regeneration per 2 minutes using the old shawl.

Post Nerf: priests its a flat 1,500 mana, Casters got an even worse colonoscopy if thats even possible, Apparently the second they nuke it strips the regen buff.

For Mages most of our spells cast little spheres so if we proc the buff on that nuke, it automatically gets eaten when that nuke lands. Making it pretty much impossible to hold onto the buff even if we wanted to.

If this was a boost, I hope they nerf some abilities to make them worse /nod.

this nerf is bad!

I got the raid aug the other night, while the stats on it are decent, the proc on the caster version is just not very good. This needs to be looked at.

Seems like they decided to let the shawl procs "die" due to people no longer using it because the shawl stats were so bad (notwithstanding the fact people would use it forever regardless like the necro epic), and when they agreed to turn it into an aug decided to "balance" the effects so it was not worth as much. Melee and tank ones were not upgraded so relative to underfoot gear and content, is no where near as powerful as it was, and maybe they decided to force casters into the same situation.

Not saying I agree, just saying I'm not sure they are going to listen much to the complaint since they didn't in beta.

Due to the change in effect, is the int caster one still the best choice for a ranger? Should I pick something else?

Also, is there a way to exchange your aug in game?

The caster proc has been a minor detriment to dps for a wizard for awhile, but the mana portion in theory made it worthwhile in the long run. This really pushed it into the irrelevant category. I was expecting to see an upgraded proc with the augs to give new life to the shawl, but instead it went the other direction. I would almost be happier to see the proc removed entirely as it just interferes with much better procs that are out there.

Caster one would be okay for me, if it could be changed BACK to working on dots.

Melee effect on shawl is totally useless : add 35 dmg per hits for 10 hits = 350 dmg total per proc and some heal. 350 dmg is less than a regular weapon proc...

Well, the obvious Warrior 2.0 Shawl could proc a 750HP Rune on a successful Dodge check. Which is better than Icepaw Defending Stone's ~400HP Rune I suppose - at the time maybe 20% of 1 hit rather than 10% of 1 hit. A promise of less pain (Rune) rather than actual less pain (heal), but w/e.

And the 3.0 Shawl is......wait for it, it's well worth the wait...........an 850HP rune!!!! Yep I can get smacked around for on the order of 14K hits on occasion and that rune is 850HP's.

The aug itself is very nice. The proc is what Warriors usually get - not very darned much.

Sorry if casters are getting treated like Warriors. I hope you enjoyed the I win button while you had it. Hey, it could have been worse - epic clicks could be on those ornaments. I'm sure there's plenty of Warriors that'll sympathize. I've just been stunned for so long over what's happening to my class I'm running a little low on it atm.

And yet half the melee out there would mess their pants at the thought of a 350 heroic strength aug. Which does the exact same thing (without the hit limit). I'm not arguing its good. Its not. I'm arguing that most melee dps raiders are dumb and have some bizarre obsession with heroic strength =P

Yea i agree heroic strength is kinda useless but thats another subject =)

That's a big debate in the monk forums. It's not so much that anyone thinks it's that great, but when you're that far behind on dps (and that's what you care about), you'll take any scraps you can get.