Down Ranking Change Discussion

Okay, so those of you that have been meticulously following the changes related to WotLK beta have probably already heard about this one, but there has been a massive change in the way down ranked spells are handled. Just check out this recent blue post from blue poster, Zarhym. (source)

This is not a bug.

In the latest WotLK beta push, we made a large change to the mana cost of spells. All player spells now cost a percentage of base mana rather than a fixed cost. Base mana is a special value determined by the player’s level and class, regardless of any effects or items that increase intellect. It is the size of a player’s mana pool if the player has zero intellect.

This change was made primarily to prevent downranking, as it’s a technique that was never quite intended. Rather than continue to find ways to penalize players for casting low-rank spells, we decided to essentially make doing so obsolete. If rank 5 and rank 6 of a spell cost the same amount of mana, but rank 6 does more damage/healing, then there is no reason to consider casting rank 5.

So, each spell line (eg. Frostbolt, Shadowbolt, Greater Heal, Rejuvenation, etc.) has a fixed percentage of base mana that it costs for most of its ranks. That means each time a player gains a level the cost will go up some. The percentages were picked to attempt to keep the costs relatively similar to what they are currently in World of Warcraft. For most spells, that percentage will drop some when the player receives their highest-rank spell in existing Burning Crusade content. This was done to better fit the existing cost curve, and to keep the mana cost for level 70 players as close as possible to existing costs. Level 70 characters will see most of their maximum rank spells change in cost slightly up or down, but not by significant amounts.

We anticipate there being some balance concerns due to this change, and our development staff will be ready to implement new spells, abilities, or talents to resolve those issues as the testing process continues.

If anything else, this is a very interesting change. It’s something blizzard has tried to institute before, though their feeble attempts do make lower ranked spells less potent was gawked at by most casters. Personally, I’ve always felt that downranking spells, especially for certain classes, is part of that classes unique strategy.

You take a healer for example, in many ways your overall effectiveness as a healer is determined by your ability to continual provide effective healing (total healing minus over healing) to the raid. Down ranking was a great way to go out doing this, as it allows you to minimize overheal but still attain your desired effect.

Take a look at shamans, I think it’s bad ass when a shaman player has the state of mind to rank 1 lightning bolt an opposing shaman’s totems from half way across the map. But these type of strategies aren’t even possible with this change.

Overall this just feels like another Blizzard attempt to further simplify the game, and their reasoning is obvious. Blizzard wants the game to be one that virtually anyone can come into, play and immediately feel some sense of accomplishment. Changes like this foster that type of marketing strategy and enable WoW to appeal to a much wider “casual” audience.

These are just my humble opinions though. What do you think about the down ranking change? Good? Bad? Doesn’t matter? Start the discussion below!