Dev
Member
Hey all, been testing the new DH spec at 20 on the PTR to get a feel for things, and have some notes.
First of all, how Blizzard intends players to use this spec and how players at 20 and below are actually going to use this spec differ considerably. This is the case with several other classes in-game, but for the devourer this stands out a bit more than most.
And what do I mean by that? Blizzard intends us to use Consume to build 50 stacks of Soul Fragments so we can then activate Void Metamorphosis and then build to another 30 stacks to use Collapsing Star.
As is usual, this is feasibly impossible thanks to our weaker Reap and we run out of juice before we can collect 30 stacks (unless you've got demi-god skills). This leaves us in contradiction with their intended playstyle, which means this is where things get enjoyable.
Instead of void meta being our big CD, it ends up being more trouble than it's worth due to it taking too long to enable for too little payoff. Luckily-as I had been hoping-Blizz saw fit to give us something as a baseline that's far more valuable. The ONLY way I see Void meta being viable is in prolonged fights where it's used to boost the speed of Consume and the damage of Void Ray, and on shorter fights that's just not happening.
Another build option would be to talent into Duty Eternal, but with the long cd it's not gonna be the best idea.
The best thing I came up with after about 20 minutes of tweaks was using the Feast of Souls Talent combined with Void Meta. Not a powerhouse, but seeing as Soul Immolation only does damage to US and drops soul fragments, getting a buff to our outgoing damage any way we can is better. Feast of Souls will contribute on short fights, while Void Meta can add a little something to longer fights.
Consume is our bread and butter in this spec, and with good reason. It's the first proper ranged ability in the DH arsenal, and it can keep firing for consistent damage all the live long day. And there's another something easily coupled with it, Void Ray. We can use our Soul Immolation to help fill our battery faster to get off more void rays, and using reap also helps fill our gauge. There is a problem with this so far, which may or may not be a scaling problem with PTR, which is that currently, Void Ray does nowhere near the kind of damage of Consume except for those rare instances when it's activated within Void Meta, and if this isn't adjusted in the future, we're looking at the Devourer becoming a, "Press and hold one button" kind of low-level spec. The one silver-lining to this playstyle is that the kiting potential is pretty wild.
The biggest problem with this spec by far is that at our level especially, it feels noticably weaker when solo due to less healing coming from each soul fragment combined with several abilities just not doing the kind of damage numbers we can get on the other specs, leading to less big heals and longer fights. Of course, gem sockets can remove the healing problem at least for vets, but for everyone else I expect Havoc and Veng specs to still get heavy use when going solo.
As for the new movement ability, it's nothing to write home about. Basically Infernal Strike but a bit quicker and has a teleport look.
That leaves us with the obvious winner of this addition, which is the new glowing wing visuals, of course.
TLDR: I don't see this shaking up the lvl 20 arena any time soon, at least not in raw output.
And that's all my notes for now. Feel free to comment your thoughts on the spec so far, and whether you think it's worth losing a Fel Rush charge.
First of all, how Blizzard intends players to use this spec and how players at 20 and below are actually going to use this spec differ considerably. This is the case with several other classes in-game, but for the devourer this stands out a bit more than most.
And what do I mean by that? Blizzard intends us to use Consume to build 50 stacks of Soul Fragments so we can then activate Void Metamorphosis and then build to another 30 stacks to use Collapsing Star.
As is usual, this is feasibly impossible thanks to our weaker Reap and we run out of juice before we can collect 30 stacks (unless you've got demi-god skills). This leaves us in contradiction with their intended playstyle, which means this is where things get enjoyable.
Instead of void meta being our big CD, it ends up being more trouble than it's worth due to it taking too long to enable for too little payoff. Luckily-as I had been hoping-Blizz saw fit to give us something as a baseline that's far more valuable. The ONLY way I see Void meta being viable is in prolonged fights where it's used to boost the speed of Consume and the damage of Void Ray, and on shorter fights that's just not happening.
Another build option would be to talent into Duty Eternal, but with the long cd it's not gonna be the best idea.
The best thing I came up with after about 20 minutes of tweaks was using the Feast of Souls Talent combined with Void Meta. Not a powerhouse, but seeing as Soul Immolation only does damage to US and drops soul fragments, getting a buff to our outgoing damage any way we can is better. Feast of Souls will contribute on short fights, while Void Meta can add a little something to longer fights.
Consume is our bread and butter in this spec, and with good reason. It's the first proper ranged ability in the DH arsenal, and it can keep firing for consistent damage all the live long day. And there's another something easily coupled with it, Void Ray. We can use our Soul Immolation to help fill our battery faster to get off more void rays, and using reap also helps fill our gauge. There is a problem with this so far, which may or may not be a scaling problem with PTR, which is that currently, Void Ray does nowhere near the kind of damage of Consume except for those rare instances when it's activated within Void Meta, and if this isn't adjusted in the future, we're looking at the Devourer becoming a, "Press and hold one button" kind of low-level spec. The one silver-lining to this playstyle is that the kiting potential is pretty wild.
The biggest problem with this spec by far is that at our level especially, it feels noticably weaker when solo due to less healing coming from each soul fragment combined with several abilities just not doing the kind of damage numbers we can get on the other specs, leading to less big heals and longer fights. Of course, gem sockets can remove the healing problem at least for vets, but for everyone else I expect Havoc and Veng specs to still get heavy use when going solo.
As for the new movement ability, it's nothing to write home about. Basically Infernal Strike but a bit quicker and has a teleport look.
That leaves us with the obvious winner of this addition, which is the new glowing wing visuals, of course.
TLDR: I don't see this shaking up the lvl 20 arena any time soon, at least not in raw output.
And that's all my notes for now. Feel free to comment your thoughts on the spec so far, and whether you think it's worth losing a Fel Rush charge.
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