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"Mandatory" Talents
There is nothing wrong with "mandatory" talents per se. Generally the community considers them mandatory because they are very good talents. We don't want a bunch of trees with a bunch of mediocre talents. We love the depth that comes from players endlessly debating which spec to use or comparing talents to each other.
Where it crosses the line in when it starts to restrict player options too much. It's okay if almost all warriors take Cruelty and slightly less okay if almost all warlocks take Ruin. If there was a 31-point talent that all specs took, then it starts to hurt the other two trees in that class. Cookie-cutter specs are okay when they are something used by players who are new to a class and don't want to spend the energy just yet learning every nuance of the class. Ideally, there are a few points that come down to player preference. As an example, before Lich King the three tanking classes had very choices in their talents -- they needed to spend almost all their points just on mitigation.
The extreme alternative is something where every talent tree is equally viable. That might sound good in theory, but it makes the discussions a lot less interesting. "What's the best talent build for a Balance druid who wants to do 5-mans and Arenas?" "It doesn't matter, dude. Just take whatever and you'll do fine."
So we usually land somewhere in the middle -- talents that you pretty much are always going to have, mixed in with some that come down to player preference.
Differences between talent specs
We like the way the death knight's talent trees are shaping up. Specifically, you can tank using good builds from any of the three trees. One may be slightly higher than another at any given moment in time, but overall the goal is that they are very similar and they are certainly more similar than the other three tanking classes.
We can totally imagine a world in which Arms, Fury and Protection all can tank using different styles. The Prot tree would just be more about sword and board style than tanking per se. Perhaps an Arms warrior would tank with a two-hander more like a death knight does.
It's harder with druids and paladins because some of the other trees can heal or are ranged. (You could probably come up with a Ret tanking system). Being able to tank and heal effectively with
To some extent druids are always going to be about being able to fill very different roles. Some will, and that's cool.
Spells and Talents budget
We have budgets for the power of individual spells and talents. We do not budget based on the total number of abilities available -- some classes just have more than others.
I would also call the budgets a guideline. You have to know when to change the numbers on something even if the budget suggests that will be overpowered or underpowered.
To be metaphysical for a minute, you can't define the universe with one gigantic equation. There are just too many variables. You can use simpler equations to attempt to describe small parts of things as long as you understand their limitations. A great deal of your success in WoW, perhaps even more in PvP than PvE, is your skill in using your abilities and that is a hard thing to model.
Free character moves to Drak'Tharon and Tortheldrin
Free character moves to Drak'Tharon and Tortheldrin are now closed.
There is nothing wrong with "mandatory" talents per se. Generally the community considers them mandatory because they are very good talents. We don't want a bunch of trees with a bunch of mediocre talents. We love the depth that comes from players endlessly debating which spec to use or comparing talents to each other.
Where it crosses the line in when it starts to restrict player options too much. It's okay if almost all warriors take Cruelty and slightly less okay if almost all warlocks take Ruin. If there was a 31-point talent that all specs took, then it starts to hurt the other two trees in that class. Cookie-cutter specs are okay when they are something used by players who are new to a class and don't want to spend the energy just yet learning every nuance of the class. Ideally, there are a few points that come down to player preference. As an example, before Lich King the three tanking classes had very choices in their talents -- they needed to spend almost all their points just on mitigation.
The extreme alternative is something where every talent tree is equally viable. That might sound good in theory, but it makes the discussions a lot less interesting. "What's the best talent build for a Balance druid who wants to do 5-mans and Arenas?" "It doesn't matter, dude. Just take whatever and you'll do fine."
So we usually land somewhere in the middle -- talents that you pretty much are always going to have, mixed in with some that come down to player preference.
Differences between talent specs
We like the way the death knight's talent trees are shaping up. Specifically, you can tank using good builds from any of the three trees. One may be slightly higher than another at any given moment in time, but overall the goal is that they are very similar and they are certainly more similar than the other three tanking classes.
We can totally imagine a world in which Arms, Fury and Protection all can tank using different styles. The Prot tree would just be more about sword and board style than tanking per se. Perhaps an Arms warrior would tank with a two-hander more like a death knight does.
It's harder with druids and paladins because some of the other trees can heal or are ranged. (You could probably come up with a Ret tanking system). Being able to tank and heal effectively with
To some extent druids are always going to be about being able to fill very different roles. Some will, and that's cool.
Spells and Talents budget
We have budgets for the power of individual spells and talents. We do not budget based on the total number of abilities available -- some classes just have more than others.
I would also call the budgets a guideline. You have to know when to change the numbers on something even if the budget suggests that will be overpowered or underpowered.
To be metaphysical for a minute, you can't define the universe with one gigantic equation. There are just too many variables. You can use simpler equations to attempt to describe small parts of things as long as you understand their limitations. A great deal of your success in WoW, perhaps even more in PvP than PvE, is your skill in using your abilities and that is a hard thing to model.
Free character moves to Drak'Tharon and Tortheldrin
Free character moves to Drak'Tharon and Tortheldrin are now closed.
