Patch 3.1 – Updated Soul Shard Changes | WoW Edge | World of Warcraft Strategy Guides

Posted by admin on 03 3rd, 2009

Patch 3.1 – Updated Soul Shard Changes

Categories: Featured Articles | no responses

The recently announced changes concerning Soul Shards in the updated 3.1 patch notes read as follows: Drain Soul : Each time Drain Soul deals damage to a target which can grant experience, it now has a chance to generate a Soul Shard. Soul Shard : This item now has a maximum count of 32 in inventory. Soul Shards are not a new problem. In fact, we’ve already written about them here and here . Ghostcrawler said on the forums that Blizzard has both short term and long term fixes in the pipeline, but because 3.1 is the biggest content patch ever, Blizzard’s limited resources inhibit the release of the proper change. Ghostcrawler did confirm that the changes which Blizzard has chosen to release in 3.1 make up the short-term fix. My argument is that the changes are a step backwards in an already messy situation. Lets start off by looking at the abilities that make warlocks attractive to raids (spells, not pet buffs): Healthstones/Soulwells Soulstones Summoning They all require Soul Shards. Any good warlock knows that the above abilities are not nice, optional utility spells to keep at your leisure in the spellbook, they are must use abilities that help raids and groups of any size. Factor in a pet summon every wipe, a spellstone/firestone every hour, and a soulshatter every now and then and you can easily find yourself using 50-60 Soul Shards every raid. The artificial ceiling on a warlock’s efficiency is now a very real, and is now a very low one. Imposing a 32 Shard limit makes warlocks even less desirable to raid leaders because now we cannot provide the services our class is known for. A mage might look at the patch notes and say “But look! There’s a change that lets Drain Soul create soul shards faster!” We warlocks know that Drain Soul is not a viable DPS spell, and that without Soul Shards no one would ever use Drain Soul purely for its damage. Thus, even though we will be able to gain shards every time Drain Soul does damage, we shouldn’t have to use a spell with no practical usages other than to create soul shards, which are necessary for all our practical raid abilities. Solutions: All is not lost. Hopefully Blizzard will realize that Soul Shards need to go the way of ammo, make them stack and implement a storage solution separate from our precious bags. Drain Soul, Drain Life, and Drain Mana need to be combined, giving the resultant spell actual usefulness. Blizzard’s thinking on this is : go out, get geared for Ulduar, raid Ulduar a bit, and then we’ll properly take care of your problem. I guess then the question becomes: are warlocks going to be able to take on Ulduar with 32 Soul Shards? Final Thoughts: This article looks at Soul Shards through a very real, gameplay oriented lens. However, does one target generating multiple Soul Shards even make sense in WoW lore? The idea behind this fix seems to be that you can now get shards on the go inside raids and dungeons, leaving behind the idea of farming. However, Drain Soul doesn’t do enough DPS to make it worth using inside a dungeon. Should Soul Shards, a PVE item, be so prominently featured in warlock PVP when Blizzard takes a look at PVP balancing for the post-3.1 world? Soul Shards are one of the few areas in PVE where warlocks are still lacking. If Blizzard would act on this, implement the proper fix they’ve been talking about and also buff our survivability, warlocks would be quite balanced in PVE. What do you guys think? Edit: The above is intended as an editorial; it is my opinion. If you disagree, back up your statement with facts . As mentioned in the comments below, I think the game is moving towards burst damage and quick boss fights, as indicated by everything we’ve seen so far in Wrath. This is kind of a seperate issue, but I guess I’m trying to say is that if people no longer spec affliction because demo/destro becomes the most viable raiding build again, and people stop going for talents like Soul Siphon and Imp. Drain Soul, then the benefits of Drain Soul might not be as apparent. That said, I think I’m going to start using Drain Soul more at 25%. Post from: Yet Another Warlock Nerf . Patch 3.1 – Updated Soul Shard Changes Similar Posts: Soul Shards: Issues and Possible Fixes Patch 3.0.8 – Additional Changes Upcoming Changes & Ozzy Osbourne Commercial Shine On You Crazy Pink Diamonds Patch 3.0.8 Warlock Changes

Ultimate Guide Guarantee: "...within seconds of accepting a quest you will
know WHERE to go, HOW to complete it, and WHEN to do it." Click Here For Proof!