Massive Class Overhauls: WoW Patch 11.1.5 8 Biggest Changes
- Balance Druids, Elemental Shaman, and Marksmanship Hunter receive huge buffs that will greatly increase DPS performance in Patch 11.1.5.
- Find out which specs will be getting their performance impacted the most when these class changes go live
This upcoming weekly reset brings us the biggest class changes we've seen so far in World of Warcraft: The War Within Season 2. Patch 11.1.5 will bring huge changes to some classes while barely affecting others.
After seeing how each spec has performed within the first weeks of the patch, Blizzard is implementing these changes to bring balance into the game, allowing every spec to be viable. We will be breaking down the 8 specs that will be seeing the biggest changes when this patch goes live.
Patch 11.1.5 will go live Tuesday March 25th at 8:00 AM PST
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1. Mistweaver Monk
Mistweaver will be receiving some hefty nerfs in 11.1.5 as they have been performing incredibly well to start the season. Their overall damage has been decreased by 25% among other direct ability changes that will allow them to keep their healing numbers unchanged despite these nerfs. As the second best PvE healing spec (behind Discipline Priest), these changes were expected as Blizzard is attempting to make the other options viable. I don't see this change knocking down Mistweaver from the #2 healing spot as it will still be very powerful.
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2. Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman will be getting some huge damage buffs as Blizzard says it has been performing lower than they would like in single-target scenarios. One major change is their Primordial Wave damage will be increased by 500%, making this ability incredibly relevant. As one of the better DPS specs in the game currently, these additional damage buffs to main spells will help push Elemental Shaman into an S-tier spec once Patch 11.1.5 hits this week.
3. Holy Priest
Holy Priest has had a rough start to Season 2 due to its performance not being on par with Discipline. It is seeing extremely low usage and performance so far which Blizzard is looking to rectify. They are receiving huge buffs to many major healing and damage abilities as well as to Oracle abilities. These changes should greatly increase the usage rates for Holy Priests in end-game content that have been extremely low to start the season.
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4. Balance + Guardian Druid
As one of the top DPS specs in the game, it is surprising seeing Balance Druids receive some huge buffs. They will be getting a 30% damage increase to Wrath as well as a 5% damage increase to Starsurge. In addition, Elune's Chosen will be receiving a 60% buff. These will only propel Balance Druids further up the usage charts as Season 2 play continues. Guardian Druids will see some adjusted abilities which will even out their DPS spread. These changes won't be enough to help Guardian compete with top tanking specs.
5. Devastation Evoker
Throughout the start of Season 2, Devastation players were hanging on to their Nerub-ar tier set bonuses because of how powerful the benefits were. These old bonuses will be severely nerfed, incentivizing players to switch to the new tier set pieces which will be simultaneously buffed. It is never good for Blizzard when old gear is so powerful that players are holding onto it for the bonuses, so this change was expected. I don't see this change severely impacting Devastation's performance as the new tier set buffs should counteract this switch.
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6. Marksmanship Hunter
Marksmanship has been performing much lower than Blizzard wanted to start Season 2. The Dark Ranger hero tree is getting a ton of buffs which will make this a much more viable option for Marksmanship players. Black Arrow, Phantom Pain, Bleak Powder, and Withering Fire will all receive substantial buffs when this patch goes live. In addition, their Explosive Shot damage will be increased by 15% and their Volley damage will increase by 25%. These changes should make Marksmanship a better option for end-game content than they have been in the first few weeks of Patch 11.1.
7. Holy & Retribution Paladin
Holy Paladins will be getting some huge buffs in Patch 11.1.5 which will increase their damage and healing output. They are getting a 3% increase to all healing done as well as multiple buffs to individual healing abilities. Their AoE focused damage/healing abilities will be receiving buffs as well allowing Holy Paladins to pump out more DPS while utilizing their AoE heals. Retribution Paladins are finally receiving a single-target buff as their Final Verdict damage will increase by 20%. With this being their sole single-target damage dealer, this buff should greatly increase Retribution Paladin performance in end-game content.
8. Survival Hunter
Survival is receiving some noticeable changes as they will be getting a 4% increase to all damage dealt as well as buffs to the Pack Leader Hero tree. Both Boar and Bear damage is increased by 40% with a small reduction in duration. This will increase the frequency that these abilities can be activated, making this hero talent tree more desirable. I don't expect these changes to be incredibly impactful aside from giving players the option to reasonably use the Pack Leader tree.
Impact on WoW Esports
These changes will surely impact both the Mythic+ and PvP metas. As we near the start of the AWC and MDI, teams will be experimenting with all of these specs to see which ones will be viable in the new formats.
With the new MDI rule banning the most-used specs on each day of competition, teams will need to expand their parties vastly to ensure they can time keys with a variety of classes. These tuning updates should allow classes like Holy Priest and Holy Paladin to have much stronger play in these formats as they are in better shape to compete with Discipline Priest.
The buffing of Elemental Shaman, Retribution Paladin, and Balance Druid further solidified these specs as A-tier or above as we move into esports content. We will surely see teams utilizing all three of these specs in the MDI as many great DPS specs will be needed to place high.
Holy Priest is expected to be an S-tier PvP spec heading into the rest of the season following all of these changes. As we approach the AWC, it will be interesting to see what lineups the top teams are running and how much their selections have been impacted by these specific updates.
The nerfs to all Mage specs will see their utilization rate decreased in both M+ and Arena content. However, as one of the top DPS classes in the game currently, I don't foresee them dropping much due to their utility and damage potential despite these tuning updates.
If your class wasn't included, it may be because they aren't receiving any changes at all. Some classes remain completely untouched which may be a sad thing for a lot of players. Blizzard's full patch notes detail every change they will be making when this patch goes live on Tuesday March 25th at 8:00 AM PST.
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Taven is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon's Sports Business program. During his time post-grad, he has developed his own website where he has covered the Call of Duty League as well as college football. He competed semi-professionally in the CDL Challengers Circuit for three years as well as for The University of Oregon's CCL team, which made playoffs and placed T48 each of Taven's three years. Taven still enjoys playing Call of Duty in his spare time, as well as World of Warcraft and any game he is obsessing over at the time.