1.3b Patch Notes on the PTS - Combat changes for AOE

Combat and Careers
Archmage
* Cleansing Flare: This Mastery ability's damage and radius have been reduced, and its cost increased.
The knockback effect has been converted into standard medium knockback.
* Dissipating Energies: This Mastery ability's radius and damage have been reduced.
* Law of Age: This ability's radius has been reduced.
* Mistress of the Marsh: This Mastery ability is now instant-cast, and its radius and reuse time have been reduced.
The debuff will no longer flicker for the entire duration.
* Rain Lord: This ability's cost has been increased, and its radius reduced.
* Wind Blast: This ability's radius has been reduced. This ability is now a point-blank-area-of-effect ability.

Bright Wizard
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Choking Smoke, Conflagration of Doom, Explosive Force, Fire Cage, Flame Shield, Flames of Rhuin, Ruin and Destruction, The Burning Head, and Wildfire.
* The following abilities have had their radius and damage reduced: Backdraft, Detonate, Fireball Barrage, Scorched Earth, and Spreading Flames.
* Annihilate: This ability's damage, radius, and cost have been reduced, and the ability no longer deals self damage.
* Fiery Blast: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced, and its cost increased.
* Flame Breath: This ability's radius has been reduced, and its arc and damage increased.
* Rain of Fire: This ability's radius, damage, and cost have been reduced, and it will now pulse every 1.5 seconds.

Ironbreaker
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Earthen Renewal, Grip of Stone, Gromril Plating, Long Reach,
Oath of Vengeance, and Strength in Numbers.
* Axe Slam: This ability's radius has been increased, and the ability is now a line-area-of-effect.
* Earthshatter: This ability's radius, damage, and cost have been reduced, and duration of its snare increased.
* Rune-Etched Axe: This ability's radius, arc, and damage have been reduced. It will now only affect targets in front of the caster.
* Shield Sweep: This ability's radius, arc, and damage have been reduced. This ability will now only affect targets in
front of the caster. In addition, some issues were fixed that were preventing this ability from being defended or triggering damage based procs.

Knight of the Blazing Sun
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: All Out Attack, Flawless Defense, Gather Your Resolve!,
On Your Guard!, No Escape, Now's Our Chance, Press the Attack!, Shackle, Solar Flare, Stand Strong!, Stay Focused!,
To Glory!, and To Victory!
* Arcing Swing: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced, and its arc and cost increased.
* Heaven's Fury: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced.
* Nova Strike: This ability's width and radius have been reduced.
* Slice Through: Crippling Blow's damage is now reduced when this Tactic is slotted. The ability will only hit enemies in front of the player.
* Staggering Impact: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced.

Slayer
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Distracting Roar, Doom Seeker, Even the Odds,
Fierceness, Flurry, Gudrun's Warcry, Looks Like a Challenge, and Unleashed Power.
* Accuracy: Flurry's damage is now reduced when this Tactic is slotted.
* Inevitable Doom: The ability's damage and radius have been reduced and its cost increased.
* No Escape: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced.
* Onslaught: This ability's damage and cost have been reduced.
* Shatter Limbs: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced, and its cost increased.
* Wild Swing: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced.

Engineer
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Armored Plating, Artillery Barrage, Barbed Wire,
Blunderbuss Blast, Bugman's Best, Burn Salve, Flamethrower, Flashbang Grenade, Fling Explosives,
High Explosive Grenade, Proximity Alarm, Scattershot, and Steam Vent.
* The following abilities have had their radius and damage reduced: Acid Bomb, Fragmentation Grenade,
Land Mine, Napalm Grenade, Phophorous Shells, Self Destruct, Static Discharge, and Sticky Bomb.
* Electromagnet: This ability will now pull victims into a more widely-randomized area. Enemies will
still be pulled in toward the caster, but not necessarily all to the caster's precise spot.
* Extra Powder: This Tactic will now increase the radius of Acid bomb and Fragmentation Grenade by 50%.
* Friction Burn: This ability's damage has been increased.
* Lightning Rod: This ability's damage has been increased, and its radius reduced.
* Strafing Run: This ability will now hit targets in a line in front of the player. Also, the ability's damage has been reduced.

Runepriest
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Blessing of Valaya, Mountain Spirit, Rune of Serenity,
Rune of Skewering, Rune of Sundering, and Valaya's Shield.
* Master Rune of Adamant: This ability's radius has been increased.
* Master Rune of Fury: This ability's radius has been increased.
* Master Rune of Speed: This ability's radius has been increased.
* Rune of Battle: This ability's damage has been increased.
* Rune of Cleaving: This ability's damage has been increased, and its radius reduced.
* Rune of Ending: This ability's group effect radius has been increased, and its initial effect radius reduced.
* Rune of Might: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced, and its build time removed.
* Rune of Warding: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced.

Shadow Warrior
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Distracting Rebounds, Hunter's Fervor, Instill fear,
Outrider Patrol, Penetrating Arrow, Rain of Steel, Whirling Pin, and Whirling Rage.
* Barrage: This ability's cost and damage have been reduced, and its build time removed. The
ability will now hit all players in a line in front of the player.
* Flame Arrow: This ability's cost and damage have been reduced, and its build time removed.
* Glass Arrow: This ability's cooldown has been reduced, and its damage-over-time component removed.
This ability is now a target-area-of-effect direct damage.
* Lileath's Arrow: This ability's radius, width, and damage have been reduced.
* Smoldering Arrows: This ability's bonus damage to Flame Arrow has been reduced.
* Split Arrows: This ability's radius has been reduced. Spiral Fletched Arrows will now do 30% less damage when this Tactic is slotted.
* Sweeping Slash: Reduced the ability's radius and damage, and increased the cost.

Swordmaster
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Aethyric Grasp, Bolstering Enchantments, Guard of Steel,
Nature's Blade, Shadow Blades, Shield of Valor, Whirling Geyser, and Wings of Heaven.
* Gusting Wind: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced.
* Pheonix's Wing: This ability's damage, cost, and radius have been reduced, and its arc increased.
* Wrath of Hoeth: This ability's damage has been reduced, and its cost increased.

Warrior Priest
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Avatar of Sigmar, Divine Light, Divine Replenishment, Divine Shock,
Endless Guilt, Gift of Life, Intimidating Repent, Marty's Blessing, Pious Restoration, Prayer of Absolution, Prayer of Devotion,
Prayer of Righteousness, Sigmar's Grace, Sigmar's Radiance, and Touch of the Devine.
* Smite: This ability's bonus damage from Strength has been reduced.
* Soulfire: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced.

White Lion
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Blade and Claw, Joy of the Hunt, Submission, and Terrifying Roar.
* Echoing Roar: This ability's damage and radius have been reduced.
* Flying Axe: This ability's radius and the width of its line-of-effect have been reduced.
* Pounce: This ability's damage has been reduced, and its cost increased.
* Slashing Blade: This ability's radius and damage have been reduced, and its arc on the area-of-effect increased.
* Whirling Axe: This ability's damage has been reduced, and its cost increased.

Witch Hunter
* The following abilities have had their radius reduced: Blood, Faith and Fire, Excomuunicate, Expurgation,
Get Thee Behind Me, Reversal of Fortune, and Witchfinder's Protection.
* Divine Blast: This ability's radius and width have been reduced.
* Dragon Gun: This ability's damage has been reduced.
* Sweeping Razor: When this Tactic is slotted, Razor Strike will do 10% less damage.

end of CC, end of "I win button" ! woot !!

I did some duelling on the PTS last night against a BG, Shammy and Magus separately with my WP.

The range on smite is . On live i think its 30ft (correct me if i'm wrong because I've not been playing my WP for a while). On PTS its 50ft lol.

Another change, maybe potential, is Guilty Soul. The damage +survivability against a squishy is amazing. With 786 str, 37% crit chance, 116 melee power my tooltip said the damage over 9 seconds is 912 spirit based.

Is the change for the better or worst

Takoyaki wrote:Is the change for the better or worst

It depends on who you ask. Generally it is for the better. However for classes that were designed to do AoE damage i.e. Slayers, Choppas, Maguses and Engineers (not sure), i think have been gimped a little.

With this blanket nerf, I pity destruction in a way. The general notion i get from reading the Marauder, Black Orc and BlackGuard forums on WHA is that they've been gimped really bad in their respective roles. They could really use a buff ASAP.

I hope with this nerf, they can slowly tweak each class individually and accordingly.