Downranking Spells Significantly Nerfed In WoW: Forever
Using lower-ranked spells, or "downranking", is something all spell casters and healers in Classic WoW do to either fish for procs or prevent overhealing with faster heals, but also healing for less. In WoW: Forever, this system has been significantly nerfed in a recent build.
On the character sheet, when mousing over Spell Damage and Spell Healing, it is now explained that spells cast using spell ranks vastly below your current level receive less benefit from your Spell Damage and Spell Healing and have a reduced chance to activate your Class abilities and Talents. (examples: Frostbite and Omen of Clarity)
Developers' notes: Another example of this reduction in activation chance – Using a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 will result in a 0% chance to get a Frostbite activation. So you now are making a decision between getting a slow off quickly, or using a spell that can potentially get a Frostbite activation, instead of getting both.
This has been a controversial decision that has left some players, particularly Mages, not too happy. Mages in particular have felt like they have also received a large number of nerfs before this, so a change to downranking just feels like another blow to the class. Downranking, as we mentioned earlier, is especially common with healers to prevent overhealing and also lower mana spending. With a reduction in your character's Spell Healing, this is a significant deterrent to wanting to downrank heals.
