Augmentation - New Dracthyr Evoker Spec
With the release of patch 10.1.5, Blizzard introduced a new specialization for the Dracthur Evoker called Augmentation. This is not just a new DPS spec but taking World of Warcraft in a completely new direction, as it's the first time we get a "Support" spec.
As an evoker mainly focusing on Preservation (Healing) before patch 10.1.5, I was looking forward to what a support spec would bring to World of Warcraft. This post is based on my experiences with Augmentation in the first week and a half.
How does it work?
Before I get into my thoughts on the specialization, I want to talk about how the spec works for those confused about how a support spec would work in World of Warcraft. I completely understand, as it is a bit confusing and not easy to explain, but I will do my best.
The Augmentation Evoker is a ranged DPS specialization unlike anything ever before seen in World of Warcraft with two distinct goals in combat: dealing direct damage to enemies using the stalwart earth magic of the Black Dragonflight and empowering allies through a variety of Black and Bronze-themed abilities.
To simplify it, the spec is all about buffing your team and upholding the buff with Ebon Might granting tanks the Blistering Scales and maintaining Prescience on the two strongest DPS in your group. When the other DPS players have cooldowns available, we can cast Breath of Eons for a major group-wide damage amplifier.
We have spells like Fire Breath and Upheaval as our empowered abilities that add uptime to Ebon Might and our resource spender Eruption.
This brings the unique playstyle of supporting your team rather than being a ranged DPS focusing on personal damage done.
My experience with Augmentation
Even though many people would have tested out augmentation on the PTR and then written a similar article about it before the release of the spec, I decided to gain my experience through the live version as I think it gives a much better idea and a more realistic point of view than during a test. With that aside, I must admit I had my doubts about the spec, not just from the point of view of how it would work but also about how it would be accepted in the community.
Playstyle
As I mentioned above, the playstyle of Augmentation is unique and unlike anything we have seen before, which also means that we do not have the textbook approach to fire off abilities in a rotation and do the most damage. This is more like a combo between healing, as in knowing when to heal yet still remembering that you are a damage spec and have to do damage. As a long-time healer, I found it easy to get into the mindset of augmentation, and the people I have spoken with who happened to be healers before the release also found it a lot easier to transition into. I have been enjoying the spec and find having a support spec as something Blizzard can work on; maybe even introducing more specs for other classes is something I would like to see in the future. Or, more likely, at the time of writing this part and till editing was something I was looking forward to seeing, but now I rather have Blizzard never touch a support spec again.
Acceptance
Augmentation has, in my experience, not been received well at all. With their low damage output due to being a support spec and damage meters not being able to pick up on the buff contribution, it has left many augmentation evokers to be kicked from content due to low damage. Those people that realise just how powerful augmentation evokers really have, on the other hand, made Augmentation a requirement for their groups which has caused an outrage in the community since Augmentation has become a required spec to fill in any group due to their unique position. A lot of DPS players hate Augmentation evokers due to this because they see them as a threat as they can outperform them in "damage". What they fail to realise is that their own damage has been increased with this, as is the function of being a support. This is also why I never want to see a support spec introduced to the world of Warcraft again. Not as long as they remain in a Damage role, for it has the snowflakes confused. They can't see beyond it being a DPS spec where it is a support spec, which is why if Blizzard is going to make Support specs a thing, I would highly suggest Blizzard making it a role of its own.
Also, due to the acceptance of the spec, Blizzard is extremely nerfing the support part of the spec and instead buffing the personal damage of the spec, making Augmentation more and more a generic DPS spec rather than the support spec it was supposed to be with the ratio being 70(Support)/30 (Personal DPS) we are now looking at it being 30(Support)/70 (Personal DPS).
Final thoughts
Augmentation has potential; it should just not have been released on its own as it provided a unique position that made them highly requested for groups and made other classes/specs feel obsolete or overlooked. It would have been better had Blizzard made several classes with a support spec at the same time so there would have been more options for the support part of the game but also that they had made it a role instead of it being part of the DPS role. I look forward to seeing how the nerfs and changes will affect the support playstyle of Augmentation and will happily stand corrected if it continues to be effective as a support spec.