(Update 2/26: The datamined Vitality extra-buff will be reverted to the original buff before it goes live. Check out the addition at the bottom of this post.)
MMO-Champion and Wowhead caught wind of a new PTR build that features a whole mess of datamined (read: *not official* unless confirmed by Blizzard) damage and healing balance tweaks, including three rogue-related buffs — one of which is a big surprise.
- The surprise: Vitality — the Combat-only passive ability that boosts energy regen and attack power — appears to have been buffed again. Early in the Patch 5.2 PTR, the attack power bonus was increased from 25% to 30%. According to the datamine, it’s now up to 35%, which would be an additional nice DPS boost for the spec.
- Non-surprise #1: Envenom damage (Assassination) appears to have been increased by 20%, just as Ghostcrawler said it would be.
- Non-surprise #2: Dispatch damage (Assassination) appears to have been increased by a smidge over 15%, also as Ghostcrawler said.
I’ll update this post once someone official either confirms or anti-confirms the doubling of the Vitality buff. A major update to the official 5.2 patch notes is in process tonight.
————–
UPDATE 2/25: The latest update to the official patch notes (which posted today) still has Vitality’s AP boost as rising to 30%, not 25%. Blizz CM Rygarius, the brain ‘n’ fingers behind the patch notes, sez:
@sveltekumquat @MMOChampion @Wowhead Last I was informed, that change was reverted. May change again if I get a new email about it.
—
(@Rygarius) February 25, 2013————–
UPDATIER 2/26: Ghostcrawler just posted this in the official forums:
Undid the buff to Vitality for Combat. It’s back to 30% AP.
And that’s the end of that chapter. (Updatiest 2/27: A datamine of the PTR build on 2/27 showed that the change was indeed reverted.)
