WoW
: How melee-unfriendly is TBC Classic Phase 1?
1. WoW: How melee-unfriendly are the raid instances in Phase 1
?2. WoW: How melee-unfriendly are the heroic dungeons
?
WoW: How melee-unfriendly is Phase 1
of TBC Classic? The ConclusionAlready
in the run-up to WoW: Burning Crusade Classic it was clear: The meta will shift noticeably compared to WoW Classic
. All hybrid playstyles will get better, and even some damage experts who delivered mediocre DpS numbers in Classic will get powerful tools and improvements that will catapult them to the top.
The former DpS kings Warriors and Rogues, meanwhile, will struggle to compete at the top - at least in the early stages. And the DpS stats from the first weeks with TBC Classic confirm that. The reasons for this could also be clearly named:
- Reason number 1: See above: By strengthening the hybrid classes, the entire DpS field is moving closer together, and at the same time, the hunters and warlocks in particular are getting strong new abilities and talents from Blizzard.
- Reason #2: Rogues and Warriors scale tremendously with better gear. At the beginning of TBC Classic, however, important stats such as crit, hit chance, and weapon lore do not yet reach the desired heights. The powerful world buffs no longer matter. Other stats that have a huge impact on their damage potential, like Speed or Armor Pierce, are scarce in the early stages.
- Reason number 3: The first phases of WoW (buy now 14,99 € ): Burning Crusade have the reputation - as far as the boss mechanics are concerned - to be melee-unfriendly.
Karsten was able to check the latter point with his rogue in the meantime. He has played all bosses in the current content and is ready for a conclusion.
WoW: How melee-unfriendly are the raid instances in phase 1?
Looking at the DpS stats from Karazhan, you'd think there are an extremely high number of melee-unfriendly bosses waiting for all melee players. All three rogue specializations, Feral Druid, Weapon Warrior, and Retribution Paladin average in the bottom third. Only Amplifiers and Furor Warriors land at least in the middle of the pack. But even they can't compete with Hunters, Mages, and Warlocks.
Let's take a look at which bosses have melee-unfriendly mechanics:
- Attumen: No melee-unfriendly mechanics. On the contrary, there's even a nice blade twirl phase here and the melees don't have to run either. Still: All melee classes are in the lower half.
- Moroes: No melee-unfriendly mechanics. On the contrary, there's some cleave potential here. Furor warriors, buffs and rogues land in the midfield.
WoW: TBC Classic - Most of the bosses in Karazhan, like Moroes, can be safely cleaved with a lot of melees.
Source: Blizzard
- The Maiden: Too many melee fighters can be a problem here, as Holy Wrath can quickly wipe out an entire front camp if you're unlucky. Otherwise, the combat is actually more melee-friendly. Consecration is easily healed away, melee fighters don't have to move much, and they don't have to worry about Penance either. It's rare to see this many melee classes in the top 10 these days: Fury Warrior (#3), Booster (#6), Weapon Warrior (#8), and Battle Rogue (#9).
- Theater Event: With Red Riding Hood, it can be dangerous as a Melee if you get turned and can't get away from the wolf quickly. Otherwise, melee and ranged combatants struggle with comparable challenges in event bosses. Still, all melee playstyles land in the bottom third.
- Curator: As a melee fighter, you're just chasing the adds here most of the time. But for DpS only the last phase is relevant anyway, and there at least warriors can keep up with the mages, sorcerers and hunters (furor rank 2, weapons rank 9). Boosters also have a decent burst going for them.
- Siechhuf: There are no melee-unfriendly mechanics here. There are plenty of imps around the boss. Perfect for cleaving Furor Warriors (rank 3). Weapon warriors and buffs also land in the midfield.
- Aran: Combat can be quite melee-unfriendly, such as when the boss parks itself in the middle of the Blizzard, or when Flame Wreath comes in, you're tied to the position as a melee fighter, and Aran then bails out of hitting range. Spellcasters, however, struggle even more with all the position changes. Accordingly, Melees do well in this fight. The only thing no one can match here is the fighters.
- Nethergroll: Mechanics that are specifically nasty for melee fighters don't really exist here. Rather, DpS is affected by who can stay in the blue beam and for how long. Arcane Mages can unleash a huge burst here. Warlocks, on the other hand, have the easiest time surviving in the blue beam for long. However, Furor Warriors have also been seen with DpS sptces of 1,600 DpS. On average, though, Melees land in the middle of the pack here at best.
- Prince Malchezaar: Melee Warriors actually have a slightly harder time here than ranged Warriors. If Melees get Debuff, they have to briefly move away from the boss to avoid the Shadow Nova. In the final stage, Debuff does not apply, but the nova still kicks the frontline soldiers away from the boss. It doesn't help that rogues can occasionally avoid this effect with Cloak of Shadows. All ranged specializations average more DpS here than their melee counterparts.
WoW: TBC Classic - Horror of the Night is one of the most melee-unfriendly bosses in Phase 1.
Source: Blizzard
- Horror of the Night: perhaps the most Melee-unfriendly boss in Karazhan. The skeletons from the intermediate stages just do too much damage with their fire aura to just join the fray and beat the undead to a pulp. Most of the DpS work here is done by the ranged fighters.
- Raufgar in Gruul's Lair: The only thing that's really melee-unfriendly here is the vortex of Raufgar himself. And the fact that some ranged fighters can deal damage on the spread out enemies at the same time, while the Melees move from enemy to enemy (though you can safely pull the Priest and Warlock together).
- Gruul: The constant stone bashing in the melee camp is annoying, of course. So does having to run back to the boss after getting shaken. However, with the repositioning, all raid members have to struggle a bit. In addition, spellcasters have to live with the regular silence effect. For melee fighters, however, it's still only good enough for mediocre damage (buffs land in 6th place).
- Magtheridon: Currently perhaps the hardest boss,Magtheridon is actually quite melee-friendly. At least frontline soldiers aren't quite as bothered by the earthquake as spellcasters. Again, everyone struggles with the position changes for, say, the cube job. Furor Warriors end up 4th on average, Boosters 7th, and Retributors 9th.
WoW: How melee-unfriendly are the Heroic dungeons?
If you haven't played TBC Classic, it's probably hard to believe: some Heroic dungeons are crunchier than most current raid challenges. In 2007, this high level of difficulty meant that many players only wanted to go with an optimal setup, and even today runs can be made much easier if you have control effects at the start and/or can bomb groups away quickly.
The latter can definitely make it so that if you're an offensive melee fighter, you can have trouble connecting to randoms for heroic dungeons. Rogues have strong CC, but headbutt isn't quite as flexible as mage transformation. In addition, their group damage is meager away from Blade Vortex. Furor Warriors deal high Cleave damage, but quickly die on the front lines and don't bring much control. And it doesn't look much better with amplifiers, vergeltern and co. In other words, if you can take a Mage or Warlock to the next Hero, you're unlikely to pack a Melee outside of your circle of friends or guild.
WoW: TBC Classic - Mechanar is no fun on Heroic for offensive melee fighters.
Source: buffed
The situation is exacerbated because some enemies in the heroic dungeons are very melee-unfriendly. Here are some examples:
- The tinkerers in Mechanar quickly knock out any melee fighter with their Netherbombs.
- The techie mines in Blood Cauldron can quickly turn deadly in the heat of battle.
- In the Steam Chamber, you have to be careful that you don't end up in the Mind Healer's place due to the far-reaching blasts of the Myrmidons or the Poison Aura of the Swamp Giants.
- In the Shattered Halls, some orcs have Fissure and Whirlwind attacks.
- Executioners in Shadow Maze also possess a nasty whirlwind.
WoW: How melee-unfriendly is Phase 1 of TBC Classic? The bottom line
There are quite a few dungeon and raid challenges in Phase 1 of TBC Classic that pose problems for melee fighters or even become noticeably more difficult if you pack too many melees. However, this is not the only reason why rogues, warriors and co. are not really getting off the ground at the moment.
Rather, it has to be acknowledged that many ranged specializations simply have the greater damage potential at the moment, along with mostly important buffs, debuffs, and control options that are welcome in any raid or group for Heroic dungeons.
There's good news, though: the time of rogues and offensive warriors is coming! Also, thanks to regular item upgrades, it will become easier and easier to beat Heroic dungeons or bosses like Magtheridon and the Terror of the Night in the future, so players will move away from optimal setups more and more often.
What is your experience as an offensive melee player in TBC Classic so far? Do you have a set raid spot? Do you easily find groups for heroic dungeons? Tell us in the comments!
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