MMO-Champion has just posted its latest datamining results from what appears to be a new Patch 5.2 build — the third build overall — on its way to the PTR. Below is my layman’s recap of the rogue-related changes MMO-Champion spotted. (Please keep in mind the usual caveats about datamining not being 100% complete or reliable.)
- Blade Flurry’s damage reduction has been somewhat de-nerfed again. It’ll copy 40% (up from 20% in the previous PTR build) of its damage onto up to four nearby targets. The energy regen penalty remains in place. This change is in line with Ghostcrawler’s preview in a forum post on Jan. 11, and seems intended to strike a balance between “Combat’s cleave is way too powerful” and “Combat’s cleave is so awful, and the spec offers so few other benefits, that there’s no reason to go Combat in raids anymore.” This marks the second straight PTR build restoring some oomph to Blade Flurry after the initial massive nerf.
- Smoke Bomb is getting a buff that will increase its value in PvP (and possibly PvE). In addition to its existing effects, it’ll also reduce the damage taken by “allies” within the smoke cloud by 20%. We’ll likely need to test for ourselves some of the questions this change raises, such as: How will this stack with other damage-reducing effects? Does “allies” include all players (and pets, and NPCs) of the same faction, or must they be in the same party as the rogue? Will the ability work against severely damaging spells cast by raid bosses, or will they be exempt?
- Marked for Death’s tooltip has been edited slightly. It now says the cooldown resets “when the target dies” instead of “if the target dies within 60 seconds.” This feels like it’s just an attempt to clarify the tooltip, not any change in the way the ability works.
- Glyph of Detection’s tooltip has also been changed. It now says you focus intently on trying to detect “certain creatures” rather than “something.” This still gives me absolutely no more clue than I had before about what practical application the swirly ball is supposed to have within the game. (I thought its return was supposed to be of the fun-but-useless variety. Maybe that’s changing?)
Related link reminder: official Patch 5.2 change compilation ~~ unofficial Patch 5.2 datamining compilation
Just as a minor tidbit, BF on the current build does 20% to 4 other targets. The change buffs it to 40%, which is line with previous statements from GC.
Crap, I got my numbers switched — in my brain it became a 20% energy regen penalty and 25% damage copied. Thanks, I’ll fix.