Blizzard has announced its intention to change how raid buff stacking works in patch 3.0.2, making more buffs and debuffs affect the whole raid, but limiting how many things they can stack with. I know this topic has been picked apart to death, and I know I already touched upon this in my post about changes to shadow priest utility in WotLK, but the information given is so large and unwieldy, it is difficult to visualize how different things will become.
If you have not read the official post on how raid stacking will change in patch 3.0.2, go do so now.
You will continue to try to stack your raids to ensure optimal raid buffs. Especially in 10-mans, balancing classes and specs for the buffs/debuffs they bring will be quite tedious. There are 38 different categories that raid buffs and debuffs fall into, and only the best buff/debuff in each category will affect the raid or target. Some categories you will not find useful all the time (such as resistances, mob healing debuffs, etc.), but most you will.
A visual overview of the buff overlaps is as follows:
(Note: You MUST click on the image to be able to read it!)
HUGE DISCLAIMER: Just because a spec could bring a certain buff to the raid, it doesn't mean each and every person with talent points in that tree will have the desired buff. Ask the player, inspect them, or check their armory to be sure. When making this table, I erred on the side of inclusion.
Here is a short reference of the buff/debuff names broken down by category, which player should have them, and how they are obtained (trainer, talent points, etc.). Use the list below to know what to ask players for when building your raid group. The best buffs in each category are starred (
). (Read on for the complete list…)
All Damage Buffs
These buffs increase the damage done by all types of damage
- Percentage Haste Increase
Increases the haste rating of all players in the raid
- Percentage Damage Increase
Increases the raid damage done by a flat percent
All Damage Debuffs
These debuffs on a mob will increase its damage taken from all sources
- Crit Chance Taken
Increases the chance a given target is hit with a critical strike
Physical Damage Buffs
Increases to melee and ranged physical attacks
- Melee Haste
Increases the haste of melee attacks only
- Melee Crit
Increases the crit chance of melee attacks
- Flat AP Buff
Adds a flat value of attack power - Battle Shout
Warrior - level 1 ability
Improved version: 15 points Fury
- Blessing of Might
Paladin - level 4 ability
Improved version: 5 points Retribution
- AP Multiplier Buff
Increases attack power by a certain percentage
- Bleed Damage Increase
Increases the amount of damage done by bleed effects - Mangle
Druid - Feral - 41 talent points
- Trauma
Warrior - Arms - 27 talent points
Physical Damage Debuffs
Debuffs placed on a target that increase the melee and ranged physical attack damage done to it
- Major Armor Debuff
Effectively decreases the armor rating of the target
- Minor Armor Debuff
Similar to the previous category. You can have one major armor debuff and one minor.
- Physical Vulnerability Debuff
Causes the target to take additional damage from each physical attack - Blood Frenzy
Warrior - Arms - 42 talent points
- 2nd Talent Spec TBA
Spell Damage Buffs
Increases the amount of spell damage done by the raid
- Spell Haste
Increases the spell haste rating of raid members
- Spell Crit (Buff)
Increases the spell crit rating of raid members
- Increased Spell Power
Increases the raid's spell power stat
Spell Damage Debuffs
Increases the amount of spell damage a target will take
- Spell Crit (Debuff)
Increases the chance of target being struck with a spell critical strike
- Increased Spell Damage Taken
Spells deal additional damage to the target
- Increased Spell Hit Taken
Decreases the chance that spells miss the target
Mob Mitigation Debuffs
Situational debuffs limiting an aspect of a mob's ability
- Melee Attack Speed Slow
Increases the time between melee strikes from the target
- Melee Hit Chance Reduction
Decreases the chance the target will hit in melee
- Healing Debuff
Decreases the amount of healing the target receives
- Attack Power Debuff
Decreases the targets physical attack power
- Cast Speed Slow
Increases the casting time on all spells
Stat Increasing Raid Buffs
Increases one or more of the "core" stats (stamina, intellect, spirit, agility, or strength) of raid members
- Stat Multiplier
Increases all core stats by a fixed percentage
- Stat Add
Increases all core stats by a fixed value
- Strength & Agility
Increase to both strength and agility
- Stamina
Increase to stamina
- Intellect
Increase to intellect
- Spirit
Increase to spirit
Damage Mitigation, Healing, & Health
Buffs that make the healers' lives easier
- Damage Mitigation Percent Buff
Decreases the amount of physical damage taken by raid members
- Percent Healing Received Buff
Increases the healing done to raid members
- Health Increase
Increases the max. health of raid members
- Armor Increase Percent
Increases a raid member's armor
Mana
Regenerates the raid's mana
- Replenish
Returns mana to the 10 raid members with the lowest remaining mana.
* See note below!
Resistances
Increases the spell resistance stats of raid members.
- Arcane
Increases arcane spell resistance
- Fire
Increases fire spell resistance
- Frost
Increases frost spell resistance
- Nature
Increases nature spell resistance
- Shadow
Increases shadow spell resistance
Replenishment
I included a category for mana-return spells/abilities that apply Replenishment buffs to your raid. If there is only one person who can apply the "Replenish" buff to the raid, it will affect the ten players with the lowest mana values. If there are two players, it will affect the 20 people in your raid with the lowest mana values. At least that is was the way it was working as of a few days ago. This may be a bug, or it may just be the way it is going to work. I am not sure at this point in time.
Provided things do not change, you would only need one player who can provide Replenish in a 10-man raid. In a 25-man, you could use two.
Footnote
This list and table are obviously subject to change. I just thought it would be a useful tool for those trying to optimize their 10-man Naxx runs in the beta.
Once this information is more set in stone, with a little luck someone might make a handy flash tool where you could plug in the classes/specs you already have, and easily see which classes to use to fill the empty raid slots, satisfying your missing buff/debuff categories (I'm not going to bother to, as my webhost will not let me upload flash. However, I would be happy to help out anyone who wanted to make and/or host it. I'll try to keep this post updated in the meantime).
We all had an inkling this was coming, right? I mean, it is Blizzard and they do things that are occasionally "evil." So it should be no surprise to anyone that Eyonix announced today that they will be resetting all the honor points when Wrath of the Lich King is released.
