#0 - Sept. 1, 2006, 1:03 a.m.
Q u o t e:
I love this idea, I like the fact that most, not all, but most other classes don't really need their 31 point talents to be a viable build. Unfortunately warriors aren't one of those classes. No matter which tree we decide to go down it doesn't change the fact that we are gimp without our 31 pt talent of our chosen tree.
The reason is because all of our 31 point talents are some form of instant attack. Without these we are left with very few options to function as warriors. We get auto attack, on swing attacks (which gimp rage generation), whirlwind, and slam which has a casting time. That leaves us with 1 instant attack. While it may not sound "gimp" in this post, when it comes to actual game play it's a different story.
I chose this comment because I think it's important to consider this fact when looking at future talent additions and changes and the path of the Warrior in general.
In trying to cultivate variety of choice when speccing, Warriors have been very dependent on 31-point talents; Mortal Strike, more specifically.
Overall, the philosophy is, in fact, to make all three trees appealing while also trying to dispense of the necessity of speccing deep into a tree. While we do not intent to discourage speccing deep into the tree by making filler talents or weak abilities, spacing out useful talents between the three trees encourages tough choices and can make 'must-have' talents even more desirable.
Consider the fact that there is one very valuable talent at the first tier of every tree. The other two don't get talked about much, because it is assumed every Warrior takes them, much like Tactical Mastery. A cookie for those that know or can guess what they are.
This layout will likely promote filling out talents in ways that were previously considered gimped. This provides some encouragement for dabbling in trees.
As for 41-point talents, it is quite possible they could be buffed. There are devs playing with 41-point builds now and talents like Endless Rage are seeing a lot more play options than may have been anticipated. If you think this ability might be on the weak side, consider that you are stockpiling rage while it's active, so the majority of cases will see a full rage bar when it's duration runs out.
Rampage may undergo some changes between now and release, but I have mentioned concerns that players may not see the full stacking of it and other possible situations where it might not be terribly useful.
Overall, Warriors are at the top of the food-chain in PvP and pretty much a necessity in PvE. The devs are also quite aware of your opinions on Tactical Mastery. Probably moreso than you give them credit for. However, the classes are not designed in comparison to each other and issues like this are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. At the end of the day, you aren't wasting points by speccing TM, your spending talent points on what you feel is an essential talent. Another reason for this is that the necessity of Mortal Strike also contributes to the necessity of TM. That is why you want it moved back, right?
Also, protection appears to be shaping up to be quite a viable PvP tree. Claims of Protection being the tanking tree aren't really spot on. Again, we are looking for viability from multiple trees for multiple situations. And hey, we looked into the Protection tree like I said we would. ;)
I kinda rambled here, so I'll just close it out with a summary.
- Viability for more specs than traditionally available
- Talents are still under review and subject to change
- The above point should not be regarded as 'We can still get TM as trainable if we scream enough'
- Protection tree is stronger, not just for tanking
- This is still one of, if not the most rump-kicking classes in the game. If you forget that, you might be missing the big picture. We don't want to nerf warriors. We take no pleasure in it. However, we don't want to go overboard with changes in the future. The class is strong now and will continue to be in the future. You may just have to make some different decisions to realize this new potential.