r/classicwow • u/ArmJitsu • 1d ago

Forever Beta Feedback Chain Lightning is the iconic spell of a shaman

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Max rank Chain Lightning in Classic hit for 505-564, more than Lightning Bolt. In Forever it hits for 120-134, which is less than Lightning Bolt. It does cast faster now (2 sec instead of 2.5) and costs about half the mana granted

I get that Lava Burst is meant to be the new big hitter, but Chain Lightning is the spell shamans have been known for since Warcraft 3

Give us back the big zap pls

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u/Silvoan 1d ago

The reason chain lightning had a CD was because of how powerful it was. Now that it does way less damage, why not just remove the CD?

for multi target currently you're still using flame shock + lightning bolt + lava burst as filler between fire nova and chain lightning. Why not just have us spam chain lightning for AOE? Then rework ele mastery to give us increased crit% or something?

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u/ArmJitsu 1d ago

This isn’t a bad solution, especially given the rework to how SP items has more weight on spells

Alright Silvoan you’re hired

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u/Oedipus_TyrantLizard 1d ago

While this is sensible, I think the argument is most would like to see single target viable chain lighting. Which means it should have a CD.

So I think the (better) fix is to restore Chain Lightning’s damage, not remove its cooldown.

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u/ArmJitsu 1d ago

Ultimately, this is what I’d prefer to be very clear

But to given the devs direction, I think it’s an “okay” meet in the middle

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u/Silvoan 1d ago

WOWF is in an awkward spot of trying to maintain the good feelings of classic but trying to roughly balance the classes. If they brought up CL's damage above lighting bolt like in classic, how would you rework ele mastery? Or would you?

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u/Oedipus_TyrantLizard 1d ago

I think you would need to. If 1 guaranteed crit was a problem, then chain lightning spam (if they made it not totally suck) would be a bigger problem I think.

But there’s so many ways to tweak Mastery (examples I’ve seen: give it +% to overload [my personal favorite], keep haste, give flat +% to damage, extra crit, etc.). But I think keeping it a high burst mechanic feels best personally.

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u/Fankine 1d ago

Removing the CD will just remove all flavor, just like retail.
Having CL be a big hit but on cooldown was what made it appealing and unique.

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u/ayyyfamletsgo 1d ago

Agreed, I’d rather they get CL out of the game than see my boy dragged into 0 CD filler territory.

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u/BigBucket10 1d ago

Remove the cooldown? So if I have full mana, a manastone and a mana potion, I can cast it what, 6-7 times in a row?

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u/Traditional-Roof1984 1d ago

I agree, but only because hunters and druids got their 1 min cooldown removed on volley and hurricane. They meant to increase the aoe of other classes to be inline with mages and warlocks.

But instead of removing the cd for shamans on lightning, they introduced an improved (ranged) fire nova on totems, but that feels way less satisfactory. Blasting lightning is simply more fun.

I'd rather they increase mana costs or decrease damage a little if they have to balance it.

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u/Academic_Truth3244 16h ago

We don't even want that. We want CL to be our strongest spell.

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u/AntonineWall 14h ago

Chain Lightning has one of the sickest animations in the game. For this reason alone it must have a cooldown

-BDevs, maybe