There are a number of large concerns regarding this set bonus from both a tuning and design perspective. The first is how much it focuses in on the bottom left of the talent tree, which contains talents we’ve been using for all of Dragonflight, and have also been core talent and legendary choices in prior expansions. With the rework coming in 10.1, we’ve heard from the developers that one of their goals with Shadow was to increase talent diversity which is something this set bonus seems to run counter to with how hard it locks down the bottom third of the tree. Another thing to bring up is that with how often Shadow has centred around Mindbender and Mindbender related interactions throughout the previous 3 expansions, some may be disappointed that they’ll be using it for yet another tier.
The two and four piece bonuses also have very little to do with each other, making the set as a whole not feel very well connected compared to other designs we’re seeing this tier. There is no synergy between the two bonuses besides the small amount of increased insanity generated by the empowered Shadowy Insight procs.
In terms of tuning, the set bonus also feels very weak compared to many other set bonuses we’re seeing now and in the past. The two piece is roughly 1-2%, and If every talent that can interact with Mindbender or Shadowfiend works with the additional ones generated by the 4 piece bonus, then its value is roughly 4-5%, making the combined value for the set hesitantly 5-7%. If the talents don’t interact however, then that drops significantly as you’re not getting very much value from each spend of 400 Insanity.
Despite these negatives, it is good to see Devouring Plague value being increased by a tier set bonus, as opposed to one of our numerous Insanity generators. In the past when a set bonus increases the value of generators, Shadow’s rotation has become more muddled and unintuitive, with spells approaching roughly the same value per GCD and it being difficult to tell which one you should press when (Even at the cost of wasting resources). Making sure that spending Devouring Plague and not capping Insanity are Shadow’s main priorities makes the spec easier to pick up and learn, which isn’t a bad thing when another goal of the 10.1 rework is to simplify the core rotation.
In conclusion I’m disappointed by the power level of the set bonus, as well as the decision to have it once again focus on Mindbender and pen us into the same set of talents we’ve been using for the majority of the last five years. I’m hopeful that because this set bonus is being developed alongside an ongoing rework there is time and potential for a reimagining, because while it’s nice to see a set bonus that keeps Devouring Plague feeling strong and relevant in the rotation, this doesn’t seem like a very engaging way to do it.
