Augmentation Evokers inWorld of Warcrafthave proven to be indispensable in Mythic Keystone groups, but the ability to infinitely stack their buffs in a raid environment has effectively broken or trivialized the vast majority of boss fights. WhenAugmentation Evokers were announced forWorld of Warcraft, players were excited over the idea of a Support role coming to the game in an official capacity. The immense hype and speculation over Evokers potentially getting a third specialization held strong ever since the launch ofDragonflight, and Patch 10.1.5 is in many respects a culmination of that.
Though fans were worried that Augmentation Evokers would become mandatory due to their unique role of buffing other damage dealers, Ion Hazzikostas tried to assure the community that the goal for Blizzard was to create a raid scene where every class had a spot in the group. WhatWorld of Warcraftplayers did not anticipate was that Augmentation Evokers would launch with the capacity to completely curb stomp any possible boss fight in the game, even in the current tier of content.
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Whereas higher Mythic Keystone groups all seem to demand an Augmentation Evoker’s services, the ability to infinitely stack their powerful buffs onto a damage dealer has brokenWorld of Warcraftraids. Eight-minute boss fights have become twenty-second affairs, as Bicepspump from Kazzak hosted a very special Heroic Aberrus run on Twitch, where a group of twenty-two Augmentation Evokers, two Unholy Death Knights, and two Shadow Priests proved how broken the new Support class appears to be.
The logs show Unholy Death Knights dealing 3.5M DPS per fight, supported by the stacked-up buffs of all those Augmentation Evokers, as well as by the Power Infusion provided by the Shadow Priests. Needless to say, the current situation almost beggars belief. Even before the release ofFractures in Time forWorld of Warcraft, many players were worried that Augmentation stacking would be a problem due to the lack of a cap on their buffs. The only thing that came as a surprise was the sheer potential that twenty-two Evokers could bring to a raid.
Though Support classes deserve to be a part ofWorld of Warcraft’s future, for the sake of the game’s raid scene and the legitimacy of its endgame, Augmentation Evokers cannot remain as they are. The easiest solution would be to enforce a cap on Prescience, Ebon Might, and Temporal Wound, as their current ability to stack infinitely is the primary cause behind the damage numbers skyrocketing. While the strategy may not be viable for Mythic due to its smaller group size, being able to trivialize HeroicAberrus inWorld of Warcraftis likely not what the developers had in mind when they conceived the new Evoker class.
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