Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Serious Blow to Holy DPS: Heartcrashing Statement from Blizzard

08/04/2009 12:17:15 AM PDT

We have no intention of majorly supporting a Smite-centric, Holy-damage-focused priest build.

Smite is there to give you something to hit at low level and give you some ability to do damage in a Holy or Disc build. But we don't expect it to do competitive dps with a Shadow build. Shadow is your dps spec.
_____________________
Ghostcrawler
Lead Systems Designer

Source: WoW US Forum

The statement is harsh but never the least unexpected. *goes back to target dummy* No I am not closing this blog. I have had too much fun frying hordes with 6k smite crit to quit at this point.

5 comments:

  1. The best part of smite spec is the fact that no one ever thinks it will work.

    We'll just see about that.

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  2. I'm not originaly a Smite-specced priest (disc here) but as my gear (en my tanks') went up I soon found myself sleeping in heroics, much more than healing.

    So little by little I went to do more and more dps and lately I decided to switch my currently useless PVP spec to a "heroic spec" which allows me to make some dps while still keeping the tank and party up (mostly with shields and renew).

    Been playing that spec for a few days now and find it pretty fun (especially when Mr.DKlol is like "wtf the healer is above me in recount")

    I doubt this kind of thing will ever be viable in a real raid situation, but I got this idea by reading your blog, and I wanted to thank you for that. ^^

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  3. Frankly, I don't mind that Smite isn't really supported. I want there to be a talented way to increase hit chance, and I'd like perhaps handy Glyph. Holy Fire, perhaps, but I kind of like that there are semi-viable underspecs. Stuff which works fine a tier behind your gear, and is fun to play, but no one who is on the bleeding edge of raiding is ever going to use for that purpose. It adds some spice to the game.

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  4. @Fuyoko

    Agreed. The precious "wtf" moment from other players is priceless.

    @Landriss

    Thank you. Part of the reason I went Smite spec was very similar to yours. I find Wotlk heroics extremely boring and un-challenging as compare with TBC. TBC heroics actually require some attention on healing due to gear gap etc. Wotlk is just too much of a walk in the park. The only heroic that is remotely interesting is the new TOC and timed Strat. And since I don't play enough to have the opportunity to raid on a regular bases, I find Smite the perfect hybrid for both healing and dps.

    @The Bitter Fig

    I suppose in some way it is true. All the theorycrafting and simulations in the work to make something impossible workable makes everything more fun. And the process of beating obstacles (hit cap) and looking for loopholes in mana reg makes everything ever so interesting.

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  5. I loved the idea of doing holy dps ever since I first played a priest. Blizzard can talk smack about it if they want, but the numbers don't lie. Smite has higher dps and lower cost than other spells like it. Holy has talents and glyphs that buff it as well as other damage classes.

    If anything Blizzard not paying attention to a spec gives it the potential to be more powerful than others. When Blizzard pays attention to something, that thing is doomed to a life of put in your 20 hrs a week to conform to your peak of cookie cutter ho-humness.

    When Blizzard doesn't pay attention to it, they fail to realize that all the minor advantages given to holy talents/spells that were all supposed to be the "only dmg/utility/etc spell that spec has access to" can be accumulated into one uber spec.

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