WL - small steps do the job

[Ninjagon]

Hi. After intense testing of 1.4.8. provisional changes for White Lions in various aspects of the game, I have these small non DPS balance proposals for the class:

1. Reduce the AP cost of Slashing Blade skill by 10 points.
Argumentation:
In the previous patch, the base AP cost of this skill was 35 points, and with Hack and Slash tactic it was 17,5 => 18 action points.
In the current patch, the base AP cost is 50 points, and with the new Hack and Slash tactic, it is 35 action points.
While this is a very important skill for AOE specced White Lions, the AP cost is set too high (actually 2x higher) to the point that the class will end up with no AP at all very quickly. The proposal value 40 base AP for the skill lies in the middle - not too high, neither too low, and with the Hack and Slash tactic, it will cost 25 action points. This should significantly balance the AOE WL gameplay.

2. Reduce the CD of Pounce by 5 seconds by Loner tactic.
Argumentation:
The previous version of Pounce with Loner tactic has no cool down at all. In the current game the Loner tactic has no effect on Pounce, so there is 10 seconds cool down. That basically means that White Lion has one chance to catch a running enemy (usually shaman, who can be faster than WL).
White Lions has to sacrifice much for the gameplay without his pet: No knock down option (Brutal Pounce), no pull option (Fetch!), no strong single target burst damage (Coordinated Strike). To balance that, the cool down of Pounce should be reduced from 10 sec to 5 sec by Loner tactic. That change will help the White Lions mobility, while chain-Pounce still won't be possible.

3. Prolong the movement speed buff after Pounce by 2 seconds.
Argumentation:
This speed effect was not changed in the patch 1.4.8. and is still the same: +35% for 3 seconds. Due to animation of Pounce and the global cool down, the 3 seconds movement speed buff is in reality much shorter than 3 seconds. The 5 second speed buff will on the other hand perfectly match the proposal 2., with the 5 seconds CD on Pounce.

4. Extend the area of effect cap of M2 morale: Flying Axe from 9 to 24 targets. Add 3 sec -35% slow effect.
Argumentation:
In the previous patch, White Lions lost their instant morale 2: Cleaver. The only other M2 damage option now is Flying Axe, which do the same amount of damage, but much slower - over 9 seconds. While the total damage is the same (1200), the Flying Axe is much weaker than Cleaver. To extend the AOE cap to 24 targets and by adding a short 3 sec slow effect can compensate that while still not being too powerful.

5. (new) Adjust the speed or defense for white lion's pet.
Argumentation:
Lion is the only one true melee pet in the game. He eats a lot of damage and dies very soon and very often, while many key WL abilities are connected with the Lion and works only if the pet is alive. Especially ability like Fetch! (pull) is sometimes very hard to trigger, even with the Speed Training tactic. The comparison with the marauder pull is simply incomparable (spell cannot die in the process and is much faster).

Thank you for considering these balance proposals.