Hello everyone! Server launch is but 12 days away as I'm writing this(!), so thought I'd share some stuff I've been thinking about the past weeks.
First, an introduction of sorts I suppose. I started playing around 4 months after the European launch of Vanilla, and stopped again around early-to-mid TBC. During that time I raided as a warlock, clearing everything up to pre-nerf C'thun and half of Naxx. So it's safe to say I spent more time than was healthy farming consumables, wiping and everything else associated with the chaotic days of early WoW raiding.
But onwards to the subject I wanted to discuss here, namely threat and why the best dps builds were often not considered the best raiding specs back then.
(Disclaimer: This article represents my own views and opinions, and although I hold them to be correct, it does not automatically make them so, sadly.)
First there's the thing about original Vanilla threat mechanics. Nobody knows their exact numbers any more, not even Blizzard. They just had a system, and then just added more to it as time went on. What this means is that no matter how hard servers like Kronos try, the exact original threat mechanics won't be duplicated. Although I trust it'll be close. The interesting thing is that most other Vanilla private servers out there are using a threat scaling that's completely different from back in the day. In a moment of nostalgia I played (and raided, casually) on Scriptcraft a few years back and so got a good idea of how "Private Vanilla" threat works.
In short: Original mechanics were a lot less forgiving than the current threat calculations I've seen Vanilla servers using. A friend of mine suggested they were running the TBC-era mechanics in Vanilla, but can't find any sources backing that up. It's an interesting thought tho.
What does this mean? It means that if Kronos manages to create threat calculations that are close to the originals, some private-server raiding guilds are in for a nasty surprise. And that the best dps build for some classes won't be the best for raiding. Why? Let's start off with a thread I saw some time from another private server, where a serious raiding guild was recruiting new warlocks. (I will use warlock mechanics and threat as examples since it's here that I have the most experience).
In this it was specified that the optimal raiding spec, according to this guild, was the one called DS/Ruin. Now, this spec is the highest single target dps spec for warlocks in the game. No question. As another bonus; it's incredibly easy to play. Basically your entire rotation consists of 1 curse (maybe) and then just Shadow Bolt spam. Nothing else.
However threat quickly becomes an issue, and having to Sacrifice your demon means that you can't contribute your imp's Blood Pact stamina buff to your group. So already it comes with a downside compared to the classic warlock raiding build SM/Ruin. (However DS/Ruin does get Improved Healthstone, so it's not all bad). Now, a third valid Warlock build enters the fray, one which took a whole nother approach to dps: Enter the Never-Aggro-Lock or MD/Ruin. This build is based on that nice and juicy 20% minus threat reduction with a summoned imp, AND you get the additional 30% increased Blood Pact stamina buff. To see why this build was viable (since it did markedly less dps than the other 2 listed above) back in original retail, we need a small example set up (The arbitrary numbers are estimations based on experience, and factors in Blessing of Salvation.):
I: Tank pulls, starts building threat for 6 seconds before DPS engages.
II: Tank reaches his max threat output after 10 seconds. We'll assign this output an arbitrary number. In this case 100.
III: Now, all the DPS in the raid have to keep their threat output as close to 99 as they can, without going over the tanks threat output and wiping.
IV: The DS/Ruin warlocks in the raid (considering equal gear) probably have a max. threat output of around 125, but have to be careful and threat-dump every once in a while (using Wand, etc.) or else risk over-aggroing. The SM/Ruin warlocks face the same issue, their max threat output is probably around 115 in comparison. So threat dumping it is.
MD/Ruin on the other hand face no such issues, since their lovely little 20% threat reduction from their Imp allows them to blast away all they want without worrying too much. Thus ending up with a total damage done that's fairly close (though usually a bit below) their SM/Ruin and DS/Ruin counterparts.
The above example is why I personally don't consider DS/Ruin the best warlock raiding spec. This also counts for a lot of other classes as well (Mage's Arcane Power/Frost compared to a full Arcane Mage comes to mind. Arcane having that sweet 40% threat reduction unbuffed.)
My point being twofold.
First: Threat and Tanking on Kronos might be a different experience than the other Vanilla servers currently live.
Second: The best raiding build for a specific class is not necessarily the one with the highest DPS.
And now finally to finish this all off and to highlight why I think this is interesting, hopefully it didn't get too Warlock-heavy. Maybe I'll post a seperate, probably shorter post, concerning Wiping and how much it actually costs the raid (Hint: a lot), since it ties nicely into the whole subject matter of Threat.
In terms of further warlock spec discussion I'll post a seperate thread on the warlock forums, so feel free to go there and check it out!
2xE
First, an introduction of sorts I suppose. I started playing around 4 months after the European launch of Vanilla, and stopped again around early-to-mid TBC. During that time I raided as a warlock, clearing everything up to pre-nerf C'thun and half of Naxx. So it's safe to say I spent more time than was healthy farming consumables, wiping and everything else associated with the chaotic days of early WoW raiding.
But onwards to the subject I wanted to discuss here, namely threat and why the best dps builds were often not considered the best raiding specs back then.
(Disclaimer: This article represents my own views and opinions, and although I hold them to be correct, it does not automatically make them so, sadly.)
First there's the thing about original Vanilla threat mechanics. Nobody knows their exact numbers any more, not even Blizzard. They just had a system, and then just added more to it as time went on. What this means is that no matter how hard servers like Kronos try, the exact original threat mechanics won't be duplicated. Although I trust it'll be close. The interesting thing is that most other Vanilla private servers out there are using a threat scaling that's completely different from back in the day. In a moment of nostalgia I played (and raided, casually) on Scriptcraft a few years back and so got a good idea of how "Private Vanilla" threat works.
In short: Original mechanics were a lot less forgiving than the current threat calculations I've seen Vanilla servers using. A friend of mine suggested they were running the TBC-era mechanics in Vanilla, but can't find any sources backing that up. It's an interesting thought tho.
What does this mean? It means that if Kronos manages to create threat calculations that are close to the originals, some private-server raiding guilds are in for a nasty surprise. And that the best dps build for some classes won't be the best for raiding. Why? Let's start off with a thread I saw some time from another private server, where a serious raiding guild was recruiting new warlocks. (I will use warlock mechanics and threat as examples since it's here that I have the most experience).
In this it was specified that the optimal raiding spec, according to this guild, was the one called DS/Ruin. Now, this spec is the highest single target dps spec for warlocks in the game. No question. As another bonus; it's incredibly easy to play. Basically your entire rotation consists of 1 curse (maybe) and then just Shadow Bolt spam. Nothing else.
However threat quickly becomes an issue, and having to Sacrifice your demon means that you can't contribute your imp's Blood Pact stamina buff to your group. So already it comes with a downside compared to the classic warlock raiding build SM/Ruin. (However DS/Ruin does get Improved Healthstone, so it's not all bad). Now, a third valid Warlock build enters the fray, one which took a whole nother approach to dps: Enter the Never-Aggro-Lock or MD/Ruin. This build is based on that nice and juicy 20% minus threat reduction with a summoned imp, AND you get the additional 30% increased Blood Pact stamina buff. To see why this build was viable (since it did markedly less dps than the other 2 listed above) back in original retail, we need a small example set up (The arbitrary numbers are estimations based on experience, and factors in Blessing of Salvation.):
I: Tank pulls, starts building threat for 6 seconds before DPS engages.
II: Tank reaches his max threat output after 10 seconds. We'll assign this output an arbitrary number. In this case 100.
III: Now, all the DPS in the raid have to keep their threat output as close to 99 as they can, without going over the tanks threat output and wiping.
IV: The DS/Ruin warlocks in the raid (considering equal gear) probably have a max. threat output of around 125, but have to be careful and threat-dump every once in a while (using Wand, etc.) or else risk over-aggroing. The SM/Ruin warlocks face the same issue, their max threat output is probably around 115 in comparison. So threat dumping it is.
MD/Ruin on the other hand face no such issues, since their lovely little 20% threat reduction from their Imp allows them to blast away all they want without worrying too much. Thus ending up with a total damage done that's fairly close (though usually a bit below) their SM/Ruin and DS/Ruin counterparts.
The above example is why I personally don't consider DS/Ruin the best warlock raiding spec. This also counts for a lot of other classes as well (Mage's Arcane Power/Frost compared to a full Arcane Mage comes to mind. Arcane having that sweet 40% threat reduction unbuffed.)
My point being twofold.
First: Threat and Tanking on Kronos might be a different experience than the other Vanilla servers currently live.
Second: The best raiding build for a specific class is not necessarily the one with the highest DPS.
And now finally to finish this all off and to highlight why I think this is interesting, hopefully it didn't get too Warlock-heavy. Maybe I'll post a seperate, probably shorter post, concerning Wiping and how much it actually costs the raid (Hint: a lot), since it ties nicely into the whole subject matter of Threat.
In terms of further warlock spec discussion I'll post a seperate thread on the warlock forums, so feel free to go there and check it out!
2xE
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