Extensive Epic 2.0 Feedback for All Classes (Constructive)

Hey there!

I wanted to do a bit of brainstorming on ideas to improve the QOL around Epic 2.0 buffs as WELL as to offer suggestions as to how to help make the Epic 2.0 buffs that are a bit lacking more meaningful/stronger, from a long-term perspective. I'll be giving my impression of each buff, rating for each buff, and a small-picture fix vs big-picture fix.

The small-picture fix ideas are meant to be easier solutions that also balance the Epic 2.0's in quality. They may require touch ups due to stat-flation from time to time, to account for said inflation.

The big-picture fix ideas are meant to be fixes that might be a little more complicated, but are intended to stand the test of time and require less Dev involvement in the future.

I do not want BOTH fixes. My preference would be that if a fix type would be implemented, it would be implemented consistently across the board: Aka either all small-picture fixes implemented or all big-picture fixes implemented. Of course, I would prefer the big-picture fixes.

New Term: For Big-picture fixes, you'll regularly see "Epic Fervor". This functions the same as regular Fervor, but is calculated AFTER regular Fervor. The purpose of this is to prevent stat-flation from causing some Epic 2.0 abilities to scale **significantly worse** than others, as Fervor continues to grow. Epic Fervor would not be itemized on ANY other items/abilities, and would therefore retain their values despite inflation.

This is a long post. Many players can confirm I have solicited their feedback specifically about their class and have worked with them in order to create suggestions around each class Epic 2.0 abilities.

All feedback/numbers provided are based on Ancient tier Epic 2.0 abilities.



Assassin:

Shadow Agent:

Rating: B+/A-
Small-picture fix: None, this is a pretty solid ability, the pets do good damage.
Big-picture fix: Possibly add "any stealth ability used while player is in stealth AND Shadow Agent is active hits twice"
Reason: Big-picture fix rewards skillful play, while not being OP.

Shadow Trickery

Rating: B-
Small-picture fix: Increase the Fervor granted by Whirling Blades to 25.
Big-picture fix: Whirling Blades now also grants 15 Epic Fervor. Positional requirements are changed to grant an additional hit when performed correctly, but are no longer required in order to land the initial hit.
Reason: Big-picture fix also rewards skillful play, and is intended to be more "inflation-proof".


Beastlord:

Altered Beast:

Rating: C
Small-picture fix: Also increases Fervor of qualifying pets by 40.
Big-picture fix: Increases Epic Fervor of qualifying pets by 20.
Reason: Beastlord pets aren't what they really should be. Yes, the class might need to be tuned down at some point, but right now, their pets are far too inconsequential.

Savage allies

Rating: B+/A-
Small-picture fix: Reduce hate gain of Savage Allies by 50%.
Big-picture fix: Reduce hate gain of Savage Allies by 50%.
Reason: This ability doesn't really need any fixing, but a small adjustment would improve Beastlord QOL.


Berserker

Battle Coordination

Rating: B+/A-
Small-picture fix: None. This provides significant dps in the right situations.
Big-picture fix: None. See above.
Reason: Several Zerker's I've spoken with REALLY like this ability, it provides a lot of waffle-stomping ability and tons of damage. I've seen it first hand, it is pretty darn solid.

Battlemaster

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor granted to be 20.2.
Big-picture fix: Grants 10.1 Epic Fervor.
Reason: Inflation-proofing.


Brigand

Crimson Swath

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Change ability to be instant-cast.
Big-picture fix: Change ability to be instant-cast and add about 50% more damage to the AOE.
Reason: Adding a little more instantaneous damage/value, large-scale changes not needed.

Riot:

Rating: A
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of caster by 20.2
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of caster by 10.1
Reason: Inflation-proofing


Bruiser

Brutal Stand

Rating: A
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of caster by 91, Increase Fervor Overcap of caster by 91.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of caster by 45.5
Reason: Inflation-proofing

Void Strike

Rating: B-
Small-picture fix: Give about 30% more damage to Lightning Fists than currently given.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This ability needs a little more... fist.


Channeler

Combat Awareness

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Increases Fervor of caster by 30.2
Big-picture fix: Increases Epic Fervor of caster by 15.1.
Reason: Inflation-proofing

Emergency Power

Rating: B+/A-
Small-picture fix: The heal on this ability should be allowed to crit.
Big-picture fix: In addition to the heal, grant 3 seconds of damage immunity on cast, and remove the cast time.
Reason: The heal needs to crit to give this ability the wow-factor. The immunity/insta cast factor play more into the immediate "emergency" reaction. Nothing too severe, but this would make the few Channelers left happier.

Coercer

Charged Warding

Rating D+
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of caster by 32.4, Multiplies the base ratio of manaward by 10, increases Potency by 6 for every 400 power spent if the caster is not the target, increases Potency by 2 for every 400 power spent if the caster IS the target.
Big-picture fix: Name-Change to Hateful Psychic Master: All stun/stifle/charm/mesmerize abilities are impossible to resist. (vs PVE only) Sever Hate now makes the target generate no threat at all for 10 seconds in addition to it's normal effect. Coercive Shout now triggers twice, and has it's duration increased by 5 seconds. In addition, it's base reuse is reduced by 1 minute. Peaceful Link now grants a chance to proc a 1 spot positional de-aggro when target attacks.
Reason: Coercers absolutely hate this Epic 2.0 ability, and they deserve a little love. This allows them to get a little damage and removes a lot of the dumb-luck factor that can frustrate Coercers.

Mastermind

Rating: C
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of caster's pet by 50.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of caster's pet by 25
Reason: Coercer pets should be better than they are, this also provides a little bit of inflation-proofing as well.


Conjurer

Conflagration

Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Increase the Fervor of target by 20.2 as long as the target is not the Caster's Pet.
Big-picture fix: Increase the Epic Fervor of terget by 10.1 as long as the target is not the Caster's Pet.
Reason: This ability is good, but it promotes selfish play from the Conjurer that is likely not intended. Also, inflation-proofing.

Planeswalker

Rating: A+
Small-picture fix: None, Conj's love this ability. Perhaps allow the pet to split hate with the caster once again.
Big-picture fix: It might actually need to be toned down a little bit, but I'm not going to advocate for a nerf to anyone in this thread. Perhaps allow the pet to split hate with the caster once again.
Reason: This is a great ability. I'm not advocating for nerfs here.


Defiler

Progenitor Spirit

Rating: B-
Small-picture fix: Add 30 Fervor to qualifying pets.
Big-picture fix: Add 15 Epic Fervor to qualifying pets.
Reason: Needs to make pets a little more special. Also, inflation-proofing.

Retribution of the Fallen

Rating: B (was A+++ until change)
Small-picture fix: Remove casting time and increase duration to 22 seconds
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: To help offset the sting of the big nerf, give it a little more love to find a happy medium.


Dirge

Anthem of Battle

Rating: D+/C-
Small-picture fix: Add 25% increase to base weapon skills to group.
Big-picture fix: Same as above, but also add 3 Epic Fervor to group.
Reason: Defensive-only buff is extremely unpopular. Add a little extra to this to make it more versatile.

Anthem of War

Rating: B
Rating C+/B-
Small-picture fix: Change to temp buff that instead gives 20 Fervor.
Big-picture fix: Change to temp buff that instead gives 10 Epic Fervor.
Reason: Severe scaling issues otherwise. Inflation-proofing.


Fury

Embodiment of Nature

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Make this buff instacast, and instead of 303 potency, grant 10 fervor to the group whenever one of the 3 spells is cast.
Big-picture fix: Make this buff instacast, and instead of 303 potency, grant 5 epic fervor to the group whenever one of the 3 spells is cast.
Reason: Providing a little more value and inflation-proofing

Vortex of Nature

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of group members by 20.2
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of group members by 10.1
Reason: Inflation-proofing


Guardian

Guardian

Rating: B-
Small-picture fix: Increase duration to 16 seconds
Big-picture fix: Increase duration to 16 seconds, grant 3 Epic Fervor to both caster and target while buff is maintained
Reason: Nerf his this one pretty hard, give it a little something more back.

Irresistible Force

Rating: A-
Small-picture fix: No changes.
Big-picture fix: No changes.
Reason: This one is pretty darn strong. Wouldn't touch it.


Illusionist

Chronal Mastery

Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of the group by 50.4, increase duration of Time Warp by 3 seconds.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of the group by 25.2, Increase duration of Time Warp by 3 seconds.
Reason: Time Warp needs a little love. Also, inflation-proofing.

Timelord

Rating: A-
Small-picture fix: Targets may only benefit from this effect once every 20 minutes.
Big-picture fix: Same as above
Reason: 30 is a little too severe, 15 would be a little too frequent, 20 seems to be a better sweet spot.

Inquisitor

Divine Righteousness:

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Change cast time to .5 seconds, and duration to 45 seconds.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This ability isn't very "fun". It is strong but not fun. Making it cast faster and have to be recast less often is a significant QOL improvement for Inquisitors.

Fanatics Focus:

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Add 20 Fervor to caster, in addition to prior effect.
Big-picture fix: Add 10 Epic Fervor to caster, in addition to prior effect.
Reason: This ability is good group utility, but it should give the Inquisitor a little something extra.


Monk:

Master's Interpose

Rating: A-
Small-picture fix: Pretty strong. Nothing really needed.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This ability is still strong. Permanent 10 DR + Intercept buff is solid.

Perfect Form

Rating: A+
Small-picture fix: Incredibly strong. So strong I wouldn't buff the Fervor at all.
Big-picture fix: Same as above. For consistency, I could see maybe giving the ability 35 Epic Fervor. But it is super super strong.
Reason: Strong.


Mystic:

Strength of the Ancestors

Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Fix duration increase on Bolster, as currently does not correctly apply. Also remove the increased casting time of Bolster. Lastly, increase target's Fervor by 40.4.
Big-picture fix: All of the above, except increase target's Epic Fervor by 20.2.
Reason: This is an epic 2.0 ability, it doesn't need the drawback of increased casting time. Also, inflation-proofing.

Wendigo

Rating: F
Small-picture fix: Remove the beneficial restriction, add 20 Fervor, improve base auto-attack multiplier of caster by 50.50, keep heal proc.
Big-picture fix: Remove the beneficial restriction, add 10 Epic Fervor, improve base auto-attack multiplier of caster by 50.50, keep heal proc.
Reason: This is both not very strong AND has a significant drawback. Possibly the worst epic 2.0 out there. Needs a lot of love.
Alt Option: Scrap altogether.

Replace with Dire Wolf Champion: Upgrade to Caster pet. Similar in attack strength to Ranger Hawk, with all of the normal power/abilities of Mystic Pet. (I think they'd like this a lot more than Wendigo)


Necromancer:

Reap:

Rating: B
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 4.04 per increment.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 2.02 per increment.
Reason: Inflation-proofing

Reaper:

Rating: A
Small-picture fix: None needed, strong pet.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: Strong pet is strong.


Paladin:

Divine Will

Rating: D+
Small-picture fix: Double the pet's damage, and make the swarm pet immune to damage and add a 30% DR to the Paladin when the pet is active.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: The pet is pretty lackluster. Giving it some sort of defensive value would likely make Paladin's a little happier.

Pass Judgment

Rating: D+
Small-picture fix: Increases Fervor Overcap of **raid** by 40.4. Increase Fervor of raid/group by 40.4. Increase Crit Bonus Overcap by 200. Increase Crit Bonus granted by Heretic's Destruction by 200. Increase duration of Heretic's Destruction by 5 seconds.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of raid/group by 20.4. Increase Crit Bonus Overcap by 200. Increase Crit Bonus granted by Heretic's Destruction by 200. Increase duration of Heretic's Destruction by 5 seconds.
Reason: Anything weaker than this makes for just a weak overall Epic 2.0 ability. Big-picture is more of an attempt to future-proof it, of course.


Ranger

Heartseeker:

Rating: A+
Small-picture fix: This is super strong. No changes.
Big-picture fix: See above.
Reason: Hawk is truly... an animal.

Unfetter:

Rating: B-
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 10.2, Increase Fervor Overcap by 10.2
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 5.1. Removes all positional/stealth requirements for Bow attacks. However, all such positional and stealth attacks gain an extra hit when executed in their proper position/stealth.
Reason: Inflation-proofing AND similar to assassin, reward skillful play.


Shadowknight

Death's Devotion:

Rating: B-/C+
Small-picture fix: While pet is alive, Shadowknight gains 10% DR.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: Pet is underwhelming for a tank class that deserves a little extra tank to go with the spank.

Gravebond:

Rating: C-
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 12.12, Bloodletter now grants 100% DR for 6 seconds when it triggers, and also temporarily allows all attacks to hit for maximum damage during that duration.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 6.06, Bloodletter now grants 100% DR for 6 seconds when it triggers, and also temporarily allows all attacks to hit for maximum damage during that duration.
Reason: Again, show the SK's a bit of love!! Plus a little inflation-proofing as always.

Swashbuckler

Privateer's Flourish:

Rating: A
Small-picture fix: Increases Fervor by 20.2
Big-picture fix: Increases Epic Fervor by 10.1.
Reason: Super awesome ability. Just a little inflation-proofing.

Ruthless Finesse:

Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Nothing needed
Big-picture fix: Nothing needed
Reason: Overall another strong ability. Unless Ability-Double-Cast itemization changes, this should remain pretty inflation-proof.


Templar

Impart Faith:
Rating: A-
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 30.3.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 15.15.
Reason: Already strong, doesn't need as much of a Fervor boost.

Unbroken Faith:
Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 8.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 4.
Reason: Also solid, just inflation-proofing.


Troubador

Impassioned Rousing:
Rating: B+
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor by 18.18
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor by 9.09
Reason: Solid. Inflation-proofing.

Maelstrom of Sound:
Rating: C-/D+
Small-picture fix: Remove Root/Daze, Increase Crit Bonus Overcap by 300. Increase Crit Bonus by 300.
Big-picture: Both of the above, but adjust to have the Crit Bonus Overcap increase and Crit Bonus Increase always equal at least 7.5% of game's current Crit Bonus Cap. Anything less than that is too weak.


Warden

Nature's Grace:
Rating: C+
Small-picture fix: Improve base auto-attack multiplier of caster by 40.40. Increase duration to 24 seconds.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This is ok, but from a purely offensive-only boost, it is a bit lacking.

Tunare's Chosen:
Rating: C+
Small-picture fix: Increase pet damage by 25% and have the pet improve the range/radius of all Warden beneficials by 6m.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: Just add a little flair to this. Office Space Style.


Warlock

Draw from the Void:
Rating: C-
Small-picture fix: Triple the damage and remove the casting time.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This ability is very weak in practice. In addition, the casting time is pretty annoying for a class that already has a lot of temps.

Alt Idea: Replace altogether. New Name: Eldritch Void. Negative Void changes damage based encounter AE spells into target-based AOE spells, improving damage by 50%. Absolution's base cast time is reduced to 3 seconds, Rift's base cast time is reduced to 4 seconds, and now hits twice.
Alt Reason: One less thing to click, alters and improves Warlock functionality, pushing class a little closer to mainstream T1.

Void Mastery:
Rating: C+/B-
Small-picture fix: Void Surge increases Fervor by 50.50, and also triggers from Eternal Damnation.
Big-picture fix: Void Surge increases Epic Fervor by 25.25, and also triggers from Eternal Damnation.
Reason: Eternal Damnation should trigger this, because it is the upgrade for Netherealm. Beyond that, inflation-proofing.


Wizard

Fury of the Magelords:
Rating: D+
Small-picture fix: Ditch the power/health consumption. Change cast time to .25 seconds. Double the duration, halve the reuse. Increase Fervor by 50.6, Increase Fervor Overcap by 50.6.
Big-picture fix: Ditch the power/health consumption. Change cast time to .25 seconds. Double the duration, halve the reuse. Increase Epic Fervor by 25.3.
Reason: This is pretty darn weak as it is right now. It needs a lot of adjustments. Also, inflation-proofing.

Magistratus:
Rating: D
Small-picture fix: Increase Fervor of caster by 20.2. Make this maintained so the buff doesn't need to be clicked on and off. Apply Fusion Buffs to Blast of Devastation and Firestorm as well, all 3 triggering Mana Mastery, which will buff Fervor by 20.2, and can stack up to 4 times.
Big-picture fix: Increase Epic Fervor of caster by 10.1. Make this maintained so the buff doesn't need to be clicked on and off. Apply Fusion Buffs to Blast of Devastation and Firestorm as well, all 3 triggering Mana Mastery, which will buff Epic Fervor by 10.1, and can stack up to 4 times.

Thanks for feedbacking my class for me. I wasn't capable of doing it. I like how you gave Void Mastery a lower ranking than Reap when Void Mastery gives more and can also be maintained. The issue with your pet ranking is that the upgrade from the ancient scout pet is miniscule. The only portion gained was a minor boost to hp of like 20k or more and then soul drain. You could count the auto attack but it only works on t1 encounters, after that it is terrible even on expert.

Edit: Increasing the base amount an ability will give for fervor doesn't "inflation-proof." Just like CB they could raise the cap per expansion (they have already done so once for fervor) or give a ton of items with fervor overcap (we are already seeing). How to inflation proof would be to make it increase base fervor by a % so the ability is always relevant and never add in another modifier for that. That way if fervor ever does spike it, the buff is still relevant. Who knows, we could be pushing 1000 fervor mext expac. At that point, would you really care about 50 fervor? Probably not.

Only Big-picture feedback was intended to give Epic Fervor, which would be inflation-proof.
Small-picture increases to fervor only "inflation delays" - I explained this.

I gave Void Mastery a lower ranking because it forces the Warlock to invest a pretty significant amount of time into casting undesirable abilities.

I'd be completely willing to call Necro Fervor gain and Warlock Fervor gain a bit of a wash all things considered. Sorry this post upset you.

Reap is incremented by Vampirism, Mortality Mark, Siphoning of Souls, and Lifetap. Of those, only Lifetap will be used. If an ability is desired by %output, it is usually only 1-3% of my overall dps.

How many of these abilities do you need to cast to keep the increments progressing?

Feedback re: Guardian Abilities

Guardian has a long recast which happens if I or my target dies. Secondly, when Guardian is running I cannot use intercept (It's greyed out) and if I do, then guardian AND intercept go into a cool-down with Intercept now taking 2 or so minutes to cool-down. As such, I rarely use the Guardian spell in its current form.

Irresistible Force - target lock only works on trash - not on named. so, it's just another target snap with combat mastery attached... I guess it could be worse, but the target lock is what I was excited about and it being of limited use has made me a sad panda.

Cheers for reading

Nature's Grace:
Rating: C+
Small-picture fix: Improve base auto-attack multiplier of caster by 40.40. Increase duration to 24 seconds.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: This is ok, but from a purely offensive-only boost, it is a bit lacking.


I'm not sure how much base auto-attack will do as, in my opinion, auto attack isn't that great for dps any more unless they made a substantial increase to the base auto attack (and why doesnt attack multiplier never apply to spell weapons?). I will agree that the duration must be increased. The modification to base reuse of CA's is nice

Tunare's Chosen:
Rating: C+
Small-picture fix: Increase pet damage by 25% and have the pet improve the range/radius of all Warden beneficials by 6m.
Big-picture fix: Same as above.
Reason: Just add a little flair to this. Office Space Style.


Oh this pet....I posted in another forum that I'd like to see the dps increase and for further usefulness, the heal component of the pet should be subject to crits and make the proc heal raid wide. I should also be able to cast Fairy Ally as well...but it seems I can either choose one or the other. Improving the range/radius would be a welcome added bonus...and increase it by 10m!

Let me rate your rating on the channeler epic buff : C-

Failed to realize Emergency power is pretty much just a useless pet heal, allowing the heal to crit ... omg so who cares ? It is still useless ! They could up the dmg part of it however it is still a very short duration buff, and still pretty bad.
The proper rating for Emergency Power is : F

Thanks for playing.

My apologies. The channelers I spoke w/ stated that it isn't any good unless it crits. I imagine because it lets you full green your construct in difficult damage fights.

I'd definitely support a duration and damage proc improvement as well.

Just 1, but it is obviously ramping increments not cast an ability and get the full amount, until it is capped. A warlock only has to cast 1 ability every 30seconds to keep it maintained and get a full amount, which is greater. The ability one chooses to cast will probably parse the same as lifetap. Having the larger amount, which can be gained immediately and with pre-casting, at the start of a pull is obviously better due to initial spikes, comboing, etc. From the start of the pull, assuming I only use stuff to increment it instead of bursting, it would take me roughly 25seconds or more, (2 maintained + 4 lifetap casts or 1vampirism pre-cast + 1maintained + 4lifetaps) to get it ramped to full. That route is not efficient for obvious reasons.

We've gotta cast every 10 seconds.

tl;dr

Battlemaster needs to be 100% ability doublecast chance.

Thorough feedback. However, if all of your suggestions were taken, we'd have about a fajillion Fervor floating around, so I dunno if that's practical.

Fury of the Magelords/Void Mastery: Grants the sorc a level 100 beastlord if not purchased on their account.

Did Mogrim just rate me a Double-D?

The one thing I was hoping for on the wizard epic was cast speed overcap. But no. Just fervor. I agree with the DD myself