Upcoming Cataclysm Rage Changes!

Several changes to the Rage mechanic (along with on next swing attacks like Heroic Strike) are coming down the pipeline in Cataclysm:

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Originally Posted by Bornakk

[blizzard]Here are some of the ways the Rage mechanic will change in Cataclysm:

1) Rage is no longer generated based on damage done by auto-attacks. Instead, each auto-attack provides a set amount of Rage, and off-hand weapons will generate 50% of the Rage main hands do. This amount is based on a constant formula which factors in the base swing speed of the weapon. This means the Rage gained should be averaged out between fast and slow weapons. The constant formula also gives us the ability to easily increase the rage gained if it feels too low (or reduce it if is too high). We are also implementing the following mechanics, which will still allow rage to improve to some extent as you improve gear:

• If the attack is a critical strike, it will generate 200% Rage.
• Haste will accelerate swing times to generate Rage faster.

2) Rage from damage taken will no longer be based on a standard creature of the character’s level, but instead will be based on the health of the warrior or druid. Again, there is a constant that is multiplied by the rage generated in order to allow for fine-tuning. This calculation ignores all damage reduction from armor, absorption, avoidance, block, or similar mechanics, so improving your gear will not reduce Rage gained.

3) We will provide warriors and druids with more instant sources of rage. For example, the warrior shouts are changing to work more like the death knight ability Horn of Winter. Instead of Battle Shout consuming Rage, it will generate Rage but have a short cooldown. Both classes will have additional methods to generate Rage in an emergency or bleed off Rage when they have too much.

4) All “on next swing” attacks in Cataclysm are being removed. Heroic Strike and Maul will be instant swings that cost a variable amount of Rage. For example, imagine Heroic Strike costs between 10 and 30 Rage. You must have at least 10 Rage to use the attack, but it will consume all available Rage up to a maximum of 30. Any Rage consumed above the minimum will cause the ability to hit harder, and in some cases much harder. We will tune the ability so that it’s generally not a good idea to hit it when you have low Rage (unless everything else is somehow on cooldown) but becomes a more attractive button the higher your Rage.

We understand this change may be scary for many players, but keep in mind that the constants in the formulas for gaining Rage will give us the ability to make quick adjustments if we feel Rage generation is too low. Our goal is for each character's Rage to not be always high or always low, but rather a resource that needs to be managed properly by the player. [/blizzard](Source)

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So preety much rage is turning into runic power except they are calling it rage

ummmm yea these changes are needless and i want to call them names.

Why? Why now (or "then" i guess)?

Also, isn't idea #4 kind of almost exactly like the ability Warriors already have called Execute?

Now, this I don't get. This makes Rage more consistent, which is what Warriors wanted. They do that and people are upset? How does this impinge upon the fun of playing a Warrior?

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Originally Posted by Lulia

Now, this I don't get. This makes Rage more consistent, which is what Warriors wanted. They do that and people are upset? How does this impinge upon the fun of playing a Warrior?

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Because people are making assumptions on fragmentary data.

Not really, this data is rather straightforward. It explain exactly how rage generation will occur in Cataclysm. It means it will be more even and consistent, and not drop as gear levels increase. Warriors said they wanted this, that this would make Tanking more fun. Are there Warriors who think it's more fun to be rage starved? I'm confused.

The explanations are very good, and I'm not too worried. However, the last time they changed rage, it overnerfed warriors till the gear caught up, so people are making assumptions that Blizzard will make the same mistake again. Also, some people simply do not like change, and will get up in arms over anything that isn't a clear buff, and can usually find a downside to that, too.

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Originally Posted by Lulia

Now, this I don't get. This makes Rage more consistent, which is what Warriors wanted. They do that and people are upset? How does this impinge upon the fun of playing a Warrior?

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It's just how the internet works. As soon as you fix a problem, someone will claim that the old way was better. They're usually wrong.

and to answer the question, no rage will not be like runic power in that it says rage will based on the swing speed of your weapon, dks generate runic power from using abilities that use runes, its not the same thing at all.

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Originally Posted by Lulia

Now, this I don't get. This makes Rage more consistent, which is what Warriors wanted. They do that and people are upset? How does this impinge upon the fun of playing a Warrior?

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Two reasons they're making us like DKs, and we don't like DKs.

And two, like blizz originally posted, these can sound scary, i've been playing for four years and now am having nightmares of constantly being rage starved in boss fights and losing aggro.

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Originally Posted by mavfin

Because people are making assumptions on fragmentary data.

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Its cause they added in those extra things. No one really minds that rage is more consistent now, that was needed to make warriors more balanced. What the problem is they added in extra things like that keeping all your rage increases damage. Thats a bad idea imo. THat doest sound like much fun, as it sounds like you will be constatntly looking at your rage bar anyway, espcially since heroic strike is off the next hit thing meaning it takes place of another ability(meaning no room for prot warriors to use it, and HS was a huge part of their threat, so to balance things i really hope they change the numbers).

Just wanted to add, the reason i find the damage increase from a rage a bad idea, is because ultimatley , that will create problems, No1 for pvp, at later gear levels, and No2 for our base damage in pve, where blizz try to balance us around that increased damage (meaning its possible that unless we always keep full rage we do less dps than other people, or it means we end up doing way more dps than other people if we keep maxing our rage, only time will tell, either way, its not good is it?I )

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Originally Posted by Krays

Just wanted to add, the reason i find the damage increase from a rage a bad idea, is because ultimatley , that will create problems, No1 for pvp, at later gear levels, and No2 for our base damage in pve, where blizz try to balance us around that increased damage (meaning its possible that unless we always keep full rage we do less dps than other people, or it means we end up doing way more dps than other people if we keep maxing our rage, only time will tell, either way, its not good is it?I )

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Number 1: If you are going to wait till your rage fills 100 before you even cast anything... Heck, you deserve to get a burst at the enemies. I am really thinking rage will be more scarce in Cata. Also, they could put a CD on Inner Rage. +15% damage (and +50% rage cost to burn your 100% rage QUICKLY) would not be SO strong - they are putting down damage numbers, and increasing health pools... If this takes you from hitting 90% of the target's life to 100% of its life, it is strong. If it takes you from hitting 20% to 23% of the target life in the duration, while burning all your rage... well, this might or might not be nice. Nowadays we just think "burst burst burst", but this will change in Cata(or so they say).

Number 2: Blizzard will in no way balance you around having Inner Rage with 100% uptime. Rage will be harder to get overall, and even still - getting +50% costs for +15% damage. Do you really think that for sustained dps this is a gain?