WoW is now really good for melee fighters – because a hated mechanic is gone

The terrible “Fervent Strikes” in World of Warcraft are history. This makes melee fighters of all classes cheer.

Melee fighters in World of Warcraft don’t always have it easy. They often complain that some mechanics affect them more than, say, ranged. And sometimes that’s true. Above all, the “Fervent Strikes” put melee fighters in mythical dungeons. That’s why Blizzard has now simply disabled them in almost all cases.

What are Fervent Strikes in World of Warcraft? “Fervent Strikes” summarizes a special type of abilities possessed by various mobs in World of Warcraft. These are abilities that are typically cast on the player with the greatest melee threat – that should be the tank. However, if for some reason the tank isn’t currently in range of the appropriate enemy, then this attack will instead be cast on the closest player in melee range – which is usually a significantly less steadfast DPS player, such as a rogue.

The name “Fervent Strike” (“Fanatical Strike”) comes from an ability in Battle for Azeroth from the dungeon Atal’Dazar. The attack was notorious for killing melee combatants more or less spontaneously just because the tank was just a few feet away.

Since then, this term has been used across the board for all abilities that work according to the same principle: If the tank is not in range, the next best player is hit.

What has Blizzard changed now? Blizzard has disabled almost all of these “Fervent Strikes” for all Shadowlands dungeons. This means that if the primary target – i.e. the tank – is not in range, then the attack will simply not be carried out or will come to nothing. The ability is then either put on a cooldown or not activated until the tank is in range again.

What was the problem? The problem with these “Fervent Strikes” is that they are counterintuitive and lead to situations for DPS players where they are just bludgeoned “out of nowhere” into the afterlife. This happens especially when the tank has to kite the enemies to avoid massive damage itself or to ensure that certain debuffs expire.

What is kiting?
Kiting is the “pulling behind” of enemies without them ever reaching the player. Thus, the enemies remain busy and do not direct their attacks at other players, but at the same time do not deal any damage. Kiting is mainly used when enemy damage is so high that it would kill even tanks quickly, or special mechanics even require you to kite enemies.

This problem isn’t much of a problem at lower keystone levels, up to around Mythic+10, as most mobs can be easily tanked here. From +15 or even +20, however, kiting is mandatory if the tank itself does not want to die immediately. This is then reinforced by affixes such as “Necrotic”, “Bloody” or “Inciting”, which force tanks to build up distance from the enemies at regular intervals.

What are the consequences of the change? Above all, more relaxed play of DPS characters in close combat. They no longer have to worry that an attack they don’t see coming will simply shoot them straight out of their shoes.

Dungeons and raids in World of Warcraft have always had the reputation of being particularly “unfair” for melee fighters, and Shadowlands was no exception. At least a large part of this problem should now be a thing of the past.

What do you think of this change? A sensible thing? Or is that all too easy?