Low Level Class Balance Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment We are going to spend some effort adjusting numbers for 1-80. It's not as big a priority as 85 because frankly, more players care about balance at 85 than they do lower level balance. As some folks have pointed out, inexperienced players almost by definition, don't place a premium on balance, and experienced players tend to not worry about balance much until they're at max level since things are changing so quickly.
Rather than adjusting everything independently, we tend to focus on max level and then work backwards from there. It doesn't help to nerf say rogue damage by 5% from level 1-60 if we then find we also need to nerf it at level 85 and then buff the 1-60 numbers to compensate.
There is some goofy stuff going on at lower level, but we'll get it all straightened out. After spending so much effort revamping the old zones and quests, we don't want the leveling experience to be an odd one.(Source)
Blizzard is being proactive in assuring that low level BGs aren't unbalanced. It's frustrating to have a level 20 rogue ambush you for 800 of your hp in one shot. Leveling in BGs is still an extremely fun activity in the World of Warcraft.
Blizzard recently banned over 5,000 Starcraft 2 players. The controversy here, is that some single players were banned for cheating versus A.I. This is why the Starcraft population wasn't so happy when Blizzard stated that in order to play SC2 single player you still had to be signed into battle.net Players using cheats against A.I. are only receiving achievements. This has no effect on multiplayer statistics. However, Blizzard has deemed this against their rules and has proceeded to ban players using trainers etc. against A.I. We'll have to wait and see if they revert their bans.
Good to see Team Snipers coming back. Also, looks like infection got it's own playlist (finally, it needs to stay out of Rumble Pit!)
Rumble Pit
Lineup rebalanced to offer more kill, less frill.
Removed Infection, Safe Havens, Race, Rally, Headhunter Pro
Removed “Classic” gametypes
Fantastic. I love to play Rumble Pit to warm-up, I don't want to play Infection or Race!
Team Slayer
Removed all Snipers gametypes
Team SWAT
Added SWAT Magnums gametype
Team Objective
Removed 1 Flag Classic
Removed Headhunter Pro
Removed the following gametypes from Hemorrhage due to the size of the map with only 8 players:
Multiflag Classic
1 Flag CTF
1 Flag Pro
1 Bomb Assault
I like mixing Team Objective into Team Slayer nights with the guys, and playing these maps was frustrating. Good to see Bungie making changes.
Removed Oddball and Hot Potato from Boardwalk
Multi Team
Removed SWAT
Removed Classic gametypes
Removed The Cage
Changed weighting for Rocket Race so it does not have a 100% chance to appear in Slot 3
Big Team Battle
Removed Multiflag from Boneyard and Spire
Invasion
This playlist now offers 3 voting options
Good. It got rather boring picking between Invasion, and Invasion Slayer every game.
Firefight
Updated Firefight playlist gametypes to be a full set instead of 1 round. Adjusted skull progression.
Removed Friendly Fire
Yes! I was tired of playing 1 round. Grieving teammates? Don't even get me started...
Score Attack
Removed Crash Site
Added Mythic Score Attack
You can no longer pickup other weapons in Sniper Attack
Maps
Zealot/Arena Zealot
Arena Zealot is now used for all Slayer gametypes
Players can no longer stand on the edge of the generators in space and crouch to shoot below the shield
Asylum
Softkill zones added to the tops of the Sniper buildings
Boneyard
Modified respawn zones for Slayer gametypes
Hemorrhage
Modified respawn zones for both bases
Respawn timers for all Warthogs on Hemorrhage should now be 120 seconds
Gametypes
CTF
All CTF gametypes should now have a player respawn of 10 seconds
All Classic CTF gametypes now feature Flag At Home To Score and Touch Return
Flag At Home To Score disabled for all non-Classic CTF gametypes
Modified Flag Return and Flag Reset times:
1 Flag on Small maps use 10 second return and 30 second reset
All other CTF gametypes use 30 second return and 45 second reset
Assault
Assault gametypes now have a player respawn time of 10 or 15 seconds depending on the map
I like these respawn changes. CTF it was way too difficult to actually capture the flag due to a massive influx of campers. Assault needed respawn timing adjustment as well.
It's refreshing to see Bungie acting so quickly based on matchmaking statistics. They know what their player base likes, and they are ready to make changes in order to make our playing experience more enjoyable.
Rip now scales from 18/37/55/74/92% of Attack Power depending on combo points, up from 8/16/24/32/40%.
Ferocious Bite now scales from 10.9/21.8/32.7/43.6/54.5% of Attack Power depending on combo points, up from 7/14/21/28/35%.
Rake now causes scales from 2% of Attack Power for bleed damage, up from 1%. Now scales from 42% of AP for additional bleed damage over 9 sec, up from 18% of AP.
Mangle additional damage has been increased from 726 to 1136.
Vengeance - Entering Cat Form will cancel this effect.
Finally, feral druids have been long overdue for Attack Power scaling fixes. Ferals have had a lot of trouble in the past with scaling gear at the top end of an expansion. These coefficients should help out with their damage scaling compared to other classes.
Mage Arcane
Arcane Specialization now increases damage of your Arcane spells by 25%, up from 15%.
Fire
Fire Specialization now increases damage of your Fire spells by 25%, up from 10%.
Frost
Frost Specialization now increases damage of your Frost spells by 25%, up from 15%.
Mages are currently too strong on Live Servers. However, at 85, they are a bit weak after these nerfs. Blizz is doing a good job of having two separate scaling changes. On Live, these damage coefficient nerfs are staying in place. On Beta, they have been restored to their previous state.
A few tidbits on new information regarding 4.0.1 according to mmo-champion:
-You can now farm Anzu in heroic Sethekk Halls for the Raven Lord mount even if you're not a druid.
-You can now buy all Arena gear without the proper rating requirements, except for ilvl 277 weapons and shoulders.
-Gold cap is now 1,000,000 Gold! (get to farming! :p)
Diablo 2 had a very fun dueling system. However, it had some flaws. Hopefully this panel will share some insight on their ideas for a PvP system that will also open the floor to our inquiries and suggestions.
Official Blizzard Quote: