Patch 9.2.5 arrived on the WoW live servers this morning (June 1, 2022) and, in addition to the new features, unfortunately also has a bug known from the PTR in its luggage, which particularly affects DoT classes such as druids, shadow priests or assassinations -Troubles villains.
That in such a complex and ever-changing game as WoW bugs appearing cannot normally be prevented. But it is bitter when the bug is already on the PTR, WoW’s official test serverwas present, was reported umpteen times and it is now with WoW Patch 9.2.5 still on the live servers has achieved. It is even more bitter when this bug is not just a small thing, but a massive weakening of some ways of playing. But that’s exactly what happened now.
Because it currently seems that the pandemic mechanism introduced years ago is no longer always effective for all classes. This mechanic ensures that you do not lose any runtime when renewing a DoT (damage-over-time effect). The remaining term of the existing DoT is simply added to the term of the new DoT, provided that it is a maximum of 30 percent of the total term.
bug or feature?
With this, the mechanic, which used to be a Sorcerer ability, made refreshing DoTs relatively easy. Because you had a large time window in which it basically didn’t matter when exactly you renewed the DoT. This is now different due to the elimination of the mechanics. Instead, you have to renew the DoT at the exact moment it expires – anything else would mean a DpS loss.
Interestingly, although some DoT classes (including shadow priests, backstab rogues or ferocious druids) seem to be affected, the warlocks are not. Therefore, some players are wondering if this is not a bug but a feature. Maybe Blizzard wants to limit the pandemic mechanics back to the original class? Blizzard has not yet provided any clarification on this. However, the fact that some DoTs of these classes continue to work with the pandemic mechanism, while others work without it, speaks against it.
Incidentally, HoTs (heals over time) no longer seem to be affected by the bug – but they were probably on the US servers. They work the same as before the patch, at least on the EU servers. Excitingly, we found out in our tests that one and the same class is sometimes affected by the bug and sometimes not – depending on the character. This also does not speak for a wanted feature. Unless this was delivered directly with a bug in the other direction.
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