PTR Augmentation Evoker Buff Priority Rework Reviewed – Pull Timers, Class Stacking, and QoL

In this week’s PTR build, Augmentation Evokers received changes to their buff priority that reduces the viability of Augmentation class stacking. Our Augmentation writer, Jereico, reviews the recent changes and discusses some of the unforeseen consequences and remaining issues.
Augmentation Evoker Guide

In short, Ebon Might and Prescience are now capped at two per player, and Shifting Sands will now prefer to maximize coverage before stacking. These changes to buff targeting directly address two major points raised in last week’s article: that stacking Augmentation Evokers is highly effective from a damage standpoint, but it requires a high degree of setup and coordination, particularly given the problem of buffing other Augmentation Evokers.

With the changes to Ebon Might and Prescience, top guilds may still find value in deliberately building compositions around four or more Augmentation Evokers–after all the spec is still quite powerful and also continues to provide considerable defensive utility–but most raid groups will now find a sweet spot at two or fewer, which is highly manageable.

Additionally, the change to how Augmentation is prioritised by other Augmentation Evoker buffs is an incredibly welcome change, and the extent to which it improves quality of life by reducing the need for complicated setup and positioning cannot be overstated. Simply put, I am a big fan of this one.

Set Bonus Quality of Life Improvements

Those carefully following the official 10.2 PTR forums may have noticed that I had already provided some direct feedback on this change when the patch notes were released earlier this week.

Overall I’m quite happy with the intent behind this change, as it aims to directly address a point of feedback that I raised in last week’s article, where I described the interaction between the 2pc and 4pc set bonuses as now having minor “anti-synergy” with the addition of Prescience charges. Trembling Earth on the PTR now stacks up to 4 times, and while this does handle one specific case on pull, it must be noted that the cap becomes overly restrictive over the course of typical combat.

The “long Prescience” from the new 2pc set bonus in particular is what complicates this issue, as you are now very likely after Ebon Might expires—through the course of normal combat—to reach three or more active Prescience buffs right before re-casting Ebon Might, which continues to waste stacks of Trembling Earth due to the cap.

This diagram illustrates a typical combat sequence where a player is expected to waste stacks under the current Trembling Earth cap of 4 stacks. The player must now decide between wasting stacks of Trembling Earth or giving up Ebon Might extension, unless the cap is raised or removed.

My immediate preference would be to simply remove this cap entirely. I do believe it’s possible that this cap has been added in order to discourage players from making significant changes to their gameplay, so as to try and gain “extra” value from the set bonus. However, unless the cap is increased to at least 5 stacks, which is something routinely achieved through typical gameplay, I fear it might have the opposite effect, requiring players to cast Eruption in an unintuitive manner in order to avoid losing value.

Buff Stacking and Long Pull Timers

I’d like to lead this section by pointing out that lengthy pre-pull setups are never “strictly necessary,” but as long as they are possible to execute, and if they confer any measurable benefit whatsoever, players will ask about them. So just a warning, this section may be a bit technical, and certainly won’t be applicable to everyone.

When playing one Augmentation Evoker in a raid, there is no real need for any sort of pre-pull setup at all, since you can generally position on pull in such a way so as to guarantee Ebon Might on your 4 targets of choice.

It’s only when playing two or more Augmentation Evokers in a raid that any meaningful benefit can be derived from setting up buffs before the start of combat, and as usual it ultimately comes down to buff target selection and stacking buffs in an optimal fashion. Between capping Augmentation buffs at 2 and reducing the priority of buffing other Augmentation Evokers, this latest round of changes has definitely reduced the need to agonise over this aspect of the opener, particularly for the average group. That said, for those looking to optimise every detail of their opener, here are some examples of pre-pull setups with approximate timings which are still currently possible to achieve.

Example 1 (60-second pull timer)

1. (-0:56) Prescience
2. (-0:55) Prescience
3. (-0:45) Prescience (Long)
4. (-0:23) Prescience
5. (-0:22) Prescience
6. (-0:03) Ebon Might
7. (-0:01) Living Flame

With Interwoven Threads talented, this setup allows the player full control over 3 Ebon Might targets (within the limit of 2 buffs per player), with one target left to be determined by proximity. The extended setup time allows for both charges of Prescience to return and be available to be re-cast during combat, with a 2pc “long Prescience” available immediately.

Example 2 (60-second pull timer)

1. (-0:56) Prescience
2. (-0:55) Prescience
3. (-0:45) Prescience (Long)
4. (-0:23) Prescience
5. (-0:22) Prescience
6. (-0:12) Prescience (Long)
7. (-0:03) Ebon Might
8. (-0:01) Living Flame

With Interwoven Threads talented, this setup allows the player full control over all 4 Ebon Might targets (within the limit of 2 buffs per player). The extended setup allows for one Prescience charge to return before the start of combat, but this sequence does sacrifice the initial “long Prescience” in exchange for stacking buffs on a 4th player.

Example 3 (20-second pull timer)

1. (-0:20) Prescience
2. (-0:19) Prescience
3. (-0:18) Time Skip
4. (-0:14) Prescience (Long)
5. (-0:13) Prescience
6. (-0:12) Talent Swap to Interwoven Threads
7. (-0:03) Ebon Might
8. (-0:01) Living Flame

Requiring only a 20-second pull timer, on the surface this sequence is much more palatable, however it actually involves swapping talents during the pull timer to take Interwoven Threads, effectively eliminating any downside of using Time Skip here. For those wondering how this is possible with Time Skip on cooldown, it is because this talent swap does not involve removing a talent point from Time Skip, but adds a point in Interwoven Threads, replacing Time Skip in your spell book. Frankly I would say that making a talent swap a part of your pre-pull cast sequence is about as ridiculous as a one-minute pull timer, but given that this setup also permits full control over all 4 Ebon Might targets, this might be a leading candidate for those players willing to go the extra mile.

These are just a few examples of how players might approach setting up for the start of combat if they value the additional control over who their buffs reach on pull.

Clearing Ebon Might on Pull

Now, in combination with the previous change to Prescience, of course clearing Ebon Might on pull would make these example cast sequences completely ineffective, but this would come at a cost. Not being able to set up Ebon Might before the start of combat means that all setup must happen during the flow of combat, while other players may have already entered cooldowns or started dealing burst damage.

In fact, while a quick setup involving only 2 Prescience targets can be achieved in just a few seconds, it requires roughly 12 seconds of setup to even begin stacking buffs onto 3 targets. While I don’t expect many Augmentation players will opt for such a 12-second setup, those that do will certainly find the experience less than entirely enjoyable, especially if other players somehow find themselves having to hold cooldowns until the Augmentation Evokers have completed their openers.

While I can’t offer a perfect solution here, my goal is to at least illustrate that the opener remains a bit of a puzzle for those looking to maximize value, due in part to the new tier set and recent changes to the spec. My main hope is that by the time the patch goes live, no one feels compelled to engage in an unintuitive or overly-complex pre-pull rotation under the guise of optimality.

Outstanding Issues and Closing Thoughts

Of course the changes on the 10.2 PTR this past week were specific and targeted, so they couldn’t possibly have addressed all of my outstanding concerns around Augmentation going into Patch 10.2. Like many of you I still find myself annoyed by the 25-yard range on Prescience and Blistering Scales. I often find the mechanics of Breath of Eons to be particularly obnoxious as the major cooldown of the spec. Upheaval continues to confuse my raid’s interrupt rotation on Mythic Sarkareth. Mastery continues to be the overwhelmingly dominant secondary stat and makes gearing an ongoing challenge. Certain capstone talents like Motes of Possibility and Overlord have potential, but are inherently overshadowed by stronger or more practical alternatives.

Nevertheless I find myself incredibly encouraged by the frequent iteration we’re seeing from the development team this PTR cycle. They have been doing a fantastic job of directly responding to player feedback, and so far all of the changes made have been well-intentioned and a step in the right direction, with few caveats to consider and adjust.

I myself also have high hopes for the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion and what Patch 11.0 will bring. I am not the biggest fan of the interactions between Prescience and Ebon Might and would love to see the underlying mechanisms for buff targeting altogether redesigned. I am also incredibly eager to see some new support-oriented specialisations join the fray to inspire new compositions and alleviate concerns around Augmentation feeling too necessary in high-end content. But given the scale involved in changes and additions of this nature, I think these are more of a story for another day.

In the meantime, I’ll be waiting patiently for the next PTR build to see if we get any more last minute adjustments between now and patch day. Be sure to leave a comment down below if you have any thoughts about Augmentation you’d like to share, and if you want to reach out or get in touch, well, you know where to find me! Have a good one, and see you in Amirdrassil!

About the Author

This guide is written and maintained by Jereico, author of the Jereico Evoker community site. Previously a long-time Shadow Priest main, Jereico has been involved as a theorycrafter and contributor in the Evoker community since the early Dragonflight Beta. If you want to get in touch, you can find him in his Community Discord, on Twitter, posting videos to YouTube, and occasionally streaming on Twitch.