WAR 1.2 Patch Notes - Initial Thoughts

Last week we were given the first iteration of the patch notes for Warhammer's much anticipated 1.2 patch. And, as of today, the PTS is up and running, though character transfers are not yet available. My comments below are from simply reading the patch notes. I have not yet seen any of the changes in action myself.

Overall an interesting set of patch notes. No real major changes to classes, but tons of tweaks and fixes. Every single class got a buff of some sort, and a few classes had minor tweaks to reduce abilities. I also notice a lot of notes about changing abilities to receive less bonus from stats. This sounds like they're working hard to keep the emphasis away from gear. This also tells me that Mythic is confident with the foundation of their classes performance, which I can mostly agree with. While some classes could use some rejiggering, I don't think any current classes need a complete overhaul (though there was a developer post stating that they planned on making future changes to how the Shaman / Archmage class mechanic works).

It's interesting to note that neither Disciples of Khaine nor Warrior Priests, both classes which are generally considered to be slightly overpowered, received any nerfs. In fact, they both received a number of minor buffs. But looking at all of the changes we see a lot of minor damage increases and changes to damage types for abilities for every class across the board. I would hazard a guess that Mythic feels that this general damage increase / change will help balance out the incredible survivability that these two melee healer classes can demonstrate.

I like all of the animation fixes. I get stuck animations on a regular basis, either as a result of being disabled or having my target die during the animation. Hopefully they'll actually work properly! And though I didn't see it specifically mentioned, I pray that the 'ghost' mounts issue will be resolved as well.

Crafting changes look nice. Cultivation got a lot of love, which it desperately needed. It's also good that they've reduced the insane variety of additives. And of course, I think everyone will be happy about being able to use potions and have their effects stay with you for the entire duration, even through death! I think that crafting will be a lot more interesting after this patch.

Good to see some RvR changes as well, though I imagine a lot of players will complain that its not enough. But from the looks of things, I would guess that more intense changes are coming further down the road. This patch mainly just fixes a few issues. The zone domination concept is interesting, though it seems like it will overly easy to flip zones in off-peak hours. Allowing melee DPS to get inside of keeps is huge and should make keep defense much more interesting (and probably obsolete my late-night 1-orc, oil-pouring, wrecking crew). Already there are lots of threads claiming this will make it impossible to defend keeps. And while it will make things more difficult, especially for small, defending forces, it wont make it impossible. And you have to keep in mind that this is simply a first, small step to making Keep and Fortress battles more exciting.

Lots of other fluff-type fixes and changes such as changes to the party / warband UI, new variations of mount graphics, the ability to right-click on items in your pack to use additives while crafting, and many many other little tweaks.


All in all, good stuff, in my opinion. And, of course, this patch is also the beginning of the event to introduce the Choppa and the Slayer! The addition of these classes will certainly liven up the lower tiers as well as fill a much-needed role in Dwarf and Greenskin guilds.