BlizzBlues typically avoid, in plaguelike fashion, any direct class-vs.-class comparison of a single tool in the toolkit. They’re fond of saying — and rightly so — that classes aren’t created to be hard counters with one another, and that if they all had the same tools, they’d all basically be the same class (which might be very nicely balanced, but would also be the most boring thing in the history of ever).
That made it a little surprising that WoW PvP honcho Brian Holinka engaged in some back-and-forth last night over Shadowstep, and how the ability — which is currently a level-60 talent option — stacks up against the baseline mobility-aiding spells that other classes get. It’s a bit of an odd comparison, and as you’ll see Holinka doesn’t just talk about the ability in a bubble (since its synergy with other abilities, such as Cloak of Shadows, can add to its strength). But it’s one of those cool little glimpses into the way the mind of a senior PvP designer works and how he regards the strengths and weaknesses of rogues compared to other classes.
[tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331313990766563330] [tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331316970869911553 hide_thread=”true”] [tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331353718110969856] [tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331356028459429888] [tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331356160118636544 hide_thread=”true”] [tweet https://twitter.com/holinka/status/331359417771651072]
The reason Rogues need the automatic Crippling Poison has to do with our low baseline mobility. We can’t keep on target, so we need a way to at least slow them down. As Shuriken no longer applies non-lethals this point kinda becomes moot. We still want to keep in melee range to be at our most effective, and it’s not that hard to kite Rogues. If Rogues were truly as mobile and agile as the class-lore would suggest, then we might not even need Crippling at all.
It all comes down to the fundamental issue of low baseline mobility.
[…] Holinka, who is quickly becoming the most frequent tweeter on the dev team, recently talked about Shadowstep and rogue mobility in a series of tweets. Mobility is one of those things that gets trotted out every time a melee […]