Here is why Tank Brann was nerfed: Too OP to stay the same!
Blizzard released massive Tank Brann nerfs to balance him for healers. Read the article to learn more!
Table of Contents
Key takeaways:
- Major nerfs incoming: Blizzard is heavily nerfing Tank Brann after noticing he was overpowered in Delves, making runs too easy for all specs.
- Damage reductions: Brann’s key abilities, including Electro-Charged Gadgets, Boomstick Blitz, and Bronzebeard’s Brown Bear, received massive damage cuts.
- Survivability lowered: Brann now takes 60% more damage, and his key defensive buffs have been weakened.
- Community backlash: Many players are upset, feeling these nerfs make the game less enjoyable, especially for Healers who relied on Brann’s power.
- Balance vs Fun debate: While Brann was clearly overpowered, some argue that making Delves harder could be unfair to players who prefer this content over Raids or Mythic+.
Update: Blizzard comments on Brann nerfs
Blizzard released another blue post to clarify reasoning behind Tank Brann nerfs:
Just want to reiterate– one of our main goals in introducing Brann’s Tank specialization is to make it fun to successfully run Delves as a healer specialization that focuses on healing Brann.
The issue in the first week of Season 2 was that healer + Tank Brann was too effective compared to every other combination of player role and Brann specialization.
As we developed today’s changes, we did solo Healer testing to make sure it’s an enjoyable experience. We’ll continue to test and look for more tuning opportunities, with our goals in mind, in the future.
— Community Manager Kaivax
Given the strong negative feedback from the community, it appears that Blizzard aimed to address concerns and provide clarification with these explanations. Nerfs were just delivered to live servers, so we need some time for players to give a verdict on whether these changes were successful or ruining.
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Original post
With the start of Season 2, Brann received a new role for Delves. However, Tank Brann immediately became the main carry in all Delves. Players could pick Tank Brann regardless of their spec and dominate any run. Blizzard noticed this tendency and released a blue post, announcing upcoming Tank Brann nerfs. Here is everything we know!
Brann Tank nerfs announcement
In Blizzard’s blue post, Community Manager Kaivax stated that Tank Brann nerfs are necessary, since this spec turned out dramatically overpowered. Players who stuck to healing roles and used Brann Tank, were wildly successful during their Delves runs. Healing Brann was not too hard and incredibly buffed his damage, leaving no challenge in any tier Delves. Here are some key Brann Tank changes we want to point out:
- Most of Brann’s damage sources were massively reduced:
- Electro-Charged Gadgets maximum stacks decreased 20 -> 12. Damage buff per stack increased 25% -> 30%. However, this brings us to 360% damage buff at max stacks instead of 500% previously. In conclusion, we have 140% damage nerf.
- Boomstick Blitz damage decreased by 35% and ability now deals less damage to more than 8 targets.
- Electro-Charged Pistol damage decreased by 35%.
- Pistol Shot damage decreased by 15%.
- Bronzebeard’s Brown Bear auto attacks damage decreased by 80%. Each bear’s stomps damage is also reduced by 25% and 35% and now deals less damage to more than 8 targets.
- Brann’s survivability was also dramatically nerfed:
- Brann now receives 60% more damage.
- Pinged Augment Chip curio was significantly weakened:
- Pinged Augment Chip Brann’s health buff was reduced 20%/25%/30%/35% -> 4%/6%/8%/10% on all four ranks.
- Brann will now lose all agro if the bot reaches him.
- The amount of time needed to buff Brann’s Electro-Charged Gadgets with healing was increased:
- On Healing specialisations, Healing over Time (HoT) and passive healing effects will face a 5-second internal cooldown of Electro-Charged Gadgets stacking buff.
- On DPS and Tank specializations, HoT and passive healing no longer affects Electro-Charged Gadgets buff.
- Brann can no longer receive doubled buffs to maximum health and dodge chance from Bronzebeard’s Brown Bear’s stomp areas.
All these massive Tank Brann nerfs will surely weaken his performance in Delves. Pinged Augment Chip curio is a popular pick for any Brann’s spec in Delves. However, since its damage and healing are not reduced, it might remain in the meta. If you want to learn more about the best Brann builds for all specs, read our best Brann curios guide.
Community opinion on Tank Brann nerfs
The community is almost entirely disappointed with these Tank Brann changes. People insist that these nerfs are aimed to make the game less fun and enjoyable. Some people note that healing Brann after these nerfs is going to be a ”not to fall asleep”-challenge while waiting for him to kill mobs with his reduced damage.
Final thoughts
These Tank Brann nerfs are ambiguous to say the least. On one hand, playing with the Tank spec Brann was something that many players, especially Healers, liked a lot. However, in the end of the day, he was pretty overpowered. This is the moment when we face a choice whether the game should be more about fun or more about balance.
The problem is that making Delves too easy of an activity can be unfair to players who concentrate on gearing in other ways, like raiding or Mythic Plus pushing, which can be quite challenging. In conclusion, this topic is highly discussable. So, if you face any significant difficulties during your Delves runs, you can always rely on WoW Delves boost as an alternative.
What do you think about these Bann Tank spec nerfs? Which side do you support in this argument? Let us know in the comments below!
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