Only a handful of classes & comps are viable

#0 - May 2, 2009, 9:19 p.m.

Q u o t e:
GC said:

We want Arenas to be a part of the game where more than just a handful of classes, specs or comps are viable.

The Problem

GC, please ask yourself why only a handful of classes and comps are viable right now?

Hold that thought, and let me explain. Class design shortchanged large number of classes in PvP by not giving necessary PvP tools to function. Arena isn’t a solo experience, but when you bring a knife to a gun fight you will quickly find yourself gunned down.
Just like a tank class won't be viable in Uldar without damage reduction cooldowns, just like a healer won’t be able to group heal effectively without AoE heal or HoTs... there are some classes that will never be balanced in the Arena until they are given access to bare-minimum of PvP tools. You can make them OP by cranking up damage or burst, but there will be no 'balanced', it will be ether OP or UP.

If you really want to make Arena viability your priority (I am very skeptical of your demagogy) then you should first focus on giving PvP toolset to every class. Yes, this means giving out more healing reduction powers, more interrupts, more CC and anti-CC powers.

What matters in PvP:

A) Abilities that lead to success
-spammable or short cooldown CC (polymorph, cyclone, stuns, roots, fear)
-low maintenance healing (druids, priests)
-high mobility (resto druids, resto shaman, warrior, rogue)
-low maintenance damage (warlock)
-high utility (mana drain, buffs, debuffs, dispels)

B) Things that hinder success
-low mobility (non-resto shaman, hunter, mage)
-long cooldowns/No spammable or instant CC( hunter, shaman)
-long windup for healing or damage (druids, death knights, warriors)

C) Qualities in each sub-role that lead to success
1)Melee
-high mobility
-sustained damage output
-control over target (snares, close-distance powers, stuns)
-healing reduction powers, interrupts, silences

2) Ranged damage
-sustained damage output
-instant spells and abilities
-disengage powers
-burst damage

3) Healing
-instant heals
-emergency defensive cooldowns
-mana regeneration/recover options
-ability to exploit line of sight

D) Problems in each role that lead to failure
1) Melee
-lack of mobility
-lack of healing reduction powers , interrupts or silences
-inability to close on your target
-lack of CC

2) Ranged damage
-line of sight issues
-long cooldowns
-lack of on-demand burst

3) Healing
-lack of HoT spell
-lack of instant heals
-lack of mobility
-lack of mana regeneration abilities

#6 - May 2, 2009, 10:14 p.m.

I don't think it's that formulaic. I'm not going to list the classes or specs that have historically been powerful in the various Arena seasons, because that will just turn this thread into various players jumping in to argue about how they really weren't that powerful. But many of them did not have every item on your list. Sometimes a single powerful ability can make up for a lot of "lacks" and the truth is we like for classes to ultimately have strengths and weaknesses, not just a whole bunch of strengths.

If you look at the classes that are powerful now and those that have historically been dominant, I think it comes down to two things:

-- A mix of offensive and defensive capabilities, especially active (i.e. non-passive) ones.
-- Being a good complement to the abilities, strengths and weaknesses of other classes in order to make a strong comp.

Q u o t e:
you mentioned LACK 8 times. they have a threshold of 1. anything past that gets ignored.

havent you noticed those that used to give good feedback have resorted to posting sarcasm and spam?

no matter how well thought and explained your post is... it will not influence them cause they have a spreadsheet which is equivalent to the magic 8 ball.

This isn't helpful. If you feel like your feedback isn't contributing anything, we would suggest that you just stop posting rather than posting about how you feel ignored. Smart players realize that we take community feedback into consideration when we make decisions.