An all Druid, all tank Mythic+ dungeon group was recently able to clear some of World of Warcraft’s most difficult content, and their accomplishment has the MMORPG’s community questioning whether the “holy trinity” of tank, healer, and DPS is now obsolete.
As spotted by Wowhead, a group of five Guardian Druids earlier this week were able to clear a +20 Mythic dungeon, among the hardest content in the entire game currently. They did this without a single healer or DPS, and did it without resorting to bugs or other exploits. Not only did the group clear the dungeon, they also timed it with six minutes to spare and only three deaths.
A completed +20 key isn’t the highest we’ve seen as part of Midnight Season 1 (that would be a +23). However, the fact that such a high key was able to be done with so much extra time on the clock and minimal deaths is still an incredibly impressive achievement, even if this current Mythic+ season is considered the easiest in the game’s history.
Conventional MMO wisdom says it shouldn’t be possible. While tanks in WoW usually have some self healing and damage-mitigation abilities, in theory, they shouldn’t be able to put out enough damage fast enough to clear content efficiently. That, after all, is the job of DPS players, a group that usually makes up three of the five players in a dungeon group and is the role the overwhelming majority of the playerbase plays as.
What to do about overpowered tanks has been an issue that has reared its head multiple times over the years, with developer Blizzard often playing whack-a-mole when it comes to balance changes. Tanks can’t be strong enough to replace DPS, but they also can’t be so weak that they aren’t able to meaningfully contribute damage and survive on their own.
Blizzard’s balancing once again looks to be the culprit here, having adjusted Guardian Druid as part of the game’s now infamously buggy 12.0.5 patch. At the time, Blizzard stated the tank specalization was overperforming in single-target scenarios but having difficulties with threat generation and sustained damage. As a result, the damage of many Guardian abilities were reduced by around 15% with the update. One ability in particular, however, instead received a massive buff: Thrash. Its direct damage was increased by 200% and its bleed damage was increased by 100%.
Thrash became a powerhouse ability overnight. A quick look at the Raider.IO listing for the all-tank-dungeon run in question shows Thrash, predictability, made up the vast majority of the group’s damage. It’s not exactly surprising then that Blizzard was quick to step in. On May 12, just a few days after the group’s impressive accomplishment, Blizzard announced changes, nerfing Thrash and Guardian’s ability to self heal.
“Our recent adjustments to Guardian have made the Elune’s Chosen build stronger than intended,” community manager Kaivax wrote in a forum post.
Blizzard additionally promised it has more plans for Guardian Druid in the future, though it doesn’t want to break the entire Elune’s Chosen build or the corresponding Apex talent.
The WoW community on places like Reddit is taking the nerfs in stride, with many getting a chuckle out of how fast Blizzard seemed to respond to this particular balance issue, while others blame (with tongue firmly-in-cheek) the all-bear-tank group for ruining the fun for everyone else.
The Guardian Druid whiplash comes just a few weeks after Blizzard felt like it needed to issue an apology following the buggy and issue-filled launch of WoW’s latest 12.0.5 update. It also comes after the community’s negative reaction to a pricey housing bundle on WoW’s in-game shop.