What do you think about the class changes for The War Within?

The War Within has just entered its beta stage, so the time for feedback is right now. Several big class changes have already popped up — some of them leaving players elated, others leaving them worried. It’s true that not every class has had a slew of changes yet — Hunters and Shamans, in particular, are still mostly in the dark about how they’ll play in the next World of Warcraft expansion. But several other classes are already fervently testing and discussing changes — for better or for worse.

As a Monk player, I’m mostly satisfied. My class is getting many very good changes: we’ll enjoy improved movement speed outside of combat, we’ll get to double jump/air dash after rolling, our button bloat is being combated with active abilities like Chi Wave and Rushing Jade Wind being turned into passives, and as Windwalker, we’re now starting combat at two Chi and getting a plethora of other quality of life improvements. All of that almost makes up for the removals of Skyreach and Essence Font, two abilities that I find extremely fun to use — but at least, with the former, we might be getting a substitute of sorts in Rushing Reflexes.

One of my favorite alts to play, however, has always been my Demonology Warlock… and to say that I’m gutted about the Demonic Core change is putting it mildly. It’s true that, like Monks, Demonology is also getting a bunch of new toys, including some shiny new big demons to summon and reworks to previously problematic abilities like Nether Portal (removed!) and Doom (reworked to be more useful). However, the fact that Demonic Core will now proc much less often — with the stated goals for this change including “to rein in their mobility” and making Demonbolt “return to being a moment rather than be your primary rotational button” — simply makes the spec considerably less fun to play. Why would you do that, when the best part about Demo is constantly going PEW PEW with Demonbolts?! It’s a hit to the very — pun intended — core of what made me fall in love with Demonology, and I’m not sure if it’s going to be nearly as enjoyable to play anymore.

But it’s not all about Monks and Warlocks. Mages — especially of the Fire and Arcane varieties — are mostly happy with the changes (and Hero Talents) they’re getting. Retribution Paladin is in a very good spot. Unholy Death Knights are seeing their complex rotation be made a little more palatable. So it’s time to turn to you: have you been keeping up with the upcoming class changes for The War Within? What do you think about what’s changing for your favorite classes and specs? Do you have any feedback for the developers? It’s beta time, so — once again — the time to let them know is right now!