BW and upcoming dps patch

[gadielballart]

Hey everyone, Im new to BW. My in game name is OvenBaked 40/65

I was just curious what changes or tweaks you would like to see for the Bright Wizard class in Return of Reckoning.

This isn’t a balance request or a proposal to shake things up—I’m not trying to cause disbalance. I just wanted to hear different perspectives from players who’ve spent time with the class (either playing it or fighting against it).

What do you think works well?

What feels lacking or could be improved?

Any fun ideas you’ve always thought would fit the BW to make it more versatile outside of just WB blob play. Which i know is most of the game but I do enjoy going solo or duo even though I die quick, still find it fun.

[Tisaya]

My perspective as BW is that you're super squishy, not very mobily, barely have any cc, damage self... And for all that, your damage is not THAT high, compared to other dps classes.

[Sever1n]

your damage is not THAT high, compared to other dps classes.

Direct dmg nerf, prock nerf, disrupt patch nerf, aura resist shred nerf. Feels like witches must burn.

[Nelly74]

The damage is laughable compared to what it should be. Very few tools, not to mention the damage it inflicts on itself. This class needs to deal more damage at the very least. Yet another class left abandoned and nerfed by the devs for no valid reason—unless it’s just some whim, maybe?

[leftayparxoun]

Direct dmg nerf, prock nerf, disrupt patch nerf, aura resist shred nerf. Feels like witches must burn.

What "direct damage nerf" are you refering to? None of their direct damage abilities have received a targetted nerf since the new ability rework (to my knowledge). Do you mean the nerf to their career resource mechanic?

As for the resist buff/debuff changes that were part of the September 12th 2025 patch, they ended up benefiting non-physical damage dealers in every single organized setting. This is especially true for Sorc and BW ST specs who kept their resist strips nearly intact (If for whatever reason you are talking about solo roaming on BW/Sorc then I think the minor resist strip drop will be the least of their problems).


The one thing you do not mention and I think it's actually the biggest bane to Sorcs and BWs since the ability rework is the repeated history of the balance team adding anti-crit tools in support classes:

• Starting Dec 9th 2023 with the (undocumented) change to Shaman and AM 8pc Sov granted ability, Absolute Preservation, which since then provides -100% chance to be crit to all party mates.

• Continuing on March 19th 2025 with the healer update introducing the very strong Warrior Priest absorb prayer and Zealot absorb Master ritual.

• And finally on September 12th 2025 with the addition of party-wide absorb shields for both Chosen and KOTBS that are basically baked into their preexisting base kit.

For those unaware, while an enemy has an absorb shield on them, they cannot receive critical damage until it is depleted.
And Sorc/BW are the 2 most crit reliant classes in the game, lacking both dmg% bonuses and base ability damage to make up for their very strong crit based career mechanic. These changes have gradually hit these 2 classes harder than any other balance decision since the ability rework imo, perhaps only rivaled by the strikethrough system changes from last October and their impact to ST mage rotations.