WoW players split over Delves as Blizzard struggles to balance difficulty
Blizzard EntertainmentWorld of Warcraft: The War Within brought a lot of new content to the table and so it was inevitable that there would be some bumps in the road. Delves are one such activity where Blizzard’s fortunes vary wildly and it continues to divide the community.
Unfortunately, many of the realities that occurred within Delves since the expansion’s launch were unintended. There was some overtuning, but several unintended interactions and a bug that caused Brann to behave oddly were very punishing.
This was particularly true for solo players and Tanks more generally, both of whom suffered far more than their immediate peers. After a series of fixes rolled out over several days, Delves were brought to a place where future changes will likely be minor.
In a post on Reddit, one fan shared their belief that Delves being as tough as they are will only lead to better players.
This led to significant disagreement in the responses, with many claiming that their choice of class/spec is holding them back because of the way the activity is designed.
“You can’t improve when you’re a boomkin with a one-minute cooldown interrupt. It’s the same issue I had with Twisting Corridors back in Slands. You can’t balance solo content when boomy is the only spec with such a long interrupt cooldown,” one said.
Others pointed to the activity still being overturned as the reason for their failure to progress, “I don’t have a problem with Delves except for Webshot or whatever that does 25-40% of my HP and I can only interrupt it once per 20 sec on a boss,” another added.
“Unstoppable damage that literally can kill me in 10 sec isn’t a skill check, it’s just an L. Being able to dodge everything, use CDs during unstoppable damage, and still lose isn’t a skill check, it’s random and forced loss.”
Despite that pushback, some resonated with the OP, further underlining how difficult it is for Blizzard to please everyone who plays.
“People are going to downvote you for saying this, but I want you to know I agree. I’m excited for people to learn to use their defensive talents, time their CDs well, and generally just get better at the game because they can’t just rely on things being a “healer mechanic,” one response said in support.
Blizzard will continue to monitor the situation with Delves, and player feedback does play a significant role in decision-making. Whether it feels it’s still too difficult remains unclear, but with the excellent quality of gear available to those who succeed, it will likely want to maintain the challenging nature of the activity.