BW: Current state

[CountTalabecland]

BW may not be what it was but at least it isn’t slayer.

These devs believe strongly in addition through subtraction. Anything that makes a class fun or unique is getting nerfed.

After the MDPS “rework” I am in no hurry to see what else is in store.

[Nelly74]

BW may not be what it was but at least it isn’t slayer.

These devs believe strongly in addition through subtraction. Anything that makes a class fun or unique is getting nerfed.

After the MDPS “rework” I am in no hurry to see what else is in store.

I agree. Today, we’re hoping for the best while knowing we’ll almost certainly be disappointed by the result to the point of not even wanting an RDPS patch. When you see how much of a wreck the Slayer is...

[kuturu]

Bw aoe damage is good in my opinion!The dots you mentioned are just there for fishing flashire procs wont do any dmg.

The mechani is silly as we dont do the damage to justify a 750 backlash imho.However it helps a ton to our aoe with the explosive force tac.

My main concern with bw is that a root or a knockback and most likely we wont connect any meaningfull dmg anymore unless we run an aoe spec that includes barrage where we gimp our other oae abilities cause less points on the tree

[vanbuinen77]

Skill issue

[lemao]

Sounds like l2p issue.

[lumpi33]

Skill issue

absolutely! The BW skills are shieeet

[Blkfiredrag]

I actually think Bright Wizard is in a good spot right now, especially in organized play. BW brings incredible value to warbands and still has useful tools in smaller-scale situations. The warband AoE bomb playstyle has one of the best gameplay loops in the game, and outside of things like a Choppa or mSH under FTWK. BW are one, if not the highest DPS contributors in a proper warband setting.

You mentioned backlash damage as one of the class’s pain points, but I would argue that it is also one of BW’s biggest strengths when built around correctly. With Explosive Force, that backlash damage can become your #1 or #2 damage source in warbands. Since that damage is non-resistible, it cuts through frontline targets and adds meaningful burst on top of the already heavy stacked damage BW brings through Flame Breath, Flames of Rhuin, Funnel Power, Wildfire, and Explosive Force.

The AoE build also has a very strong timestamp that Sorc can not replicate nearly as effectively:

Slow Boil → Pyroclastic Surge → Sear → Nova

All of that can land within roughly a second of each other, which gives BW very real burst potential when coordinated properly.

Regarding Chosen’s Tzeentch’s Reflection, I do understand that it can feel frustrating, but in many cases they are essentially handing out free immunities without being able to capitalize on them. That immunity can end up saving you from something much worse, like a Marauder knockdown followed by a channel or melee train pressure directly on top of you.

That said, I do agree that the class can feel sluggish and punishing. BW is very immobile, and getting punted, knocked, snared, or caught out of position feels awful. But that is also where positioning matters the most. You have to constantly move, pre-position, and use tools like Flame Breath → Scorched Earth to keep pressure going while staying mobile. When played well, BW has a constant flow of strong sustained AoE pressure with serious burst windows.

Is BW beginner-friendly? No, but not every class needs to be.

Is BW a solo roaming class? Also no, though some off-specs can make it work.

I think BW is a very strong class with a high(er) skill ceiling, excellent AoE pressure, and some of the most satisfying damage windows in the game when played correctly.

[fillfillfillfill]

My gripes with the class and some hopes for mitigating them:
Mobility?
Damage?
Damage profile?
Buildup?
Self-harm/self-harm to throughput balance?
Squishyness?

Mobility being the name of the game really makes it difficult to play this class. Your faction dps is mobile, but you aren't at all so you can't keep up.
Your enemies are mobile, so you can't escape. You place yourself and then you are commited. Either you win or you die; you can't reposition the way every other melee rvr spec can. I think allowing for channeling Annihilate(adjusting numbers not out of the question) on the move would putting your damage profile more closely aligned with the rest of DPS of this game. That or something like what SW has with a dash out and a specced-into dash in could work.

Damage output is good, but not anywhere near spectacular and that is WITH the class mechanic having to build up 100 combustion over many GCD, and killing yourself as a consequence, or you don't deal any significant damage at all.

I think the single-target build is countered too hard by cleanse and or shield mechanics to be enjoyed when playing against any sort of competent opposition.
For AOE I don't mind the builder-spender type of gameplay personally, but i think adjustment is needed. I think spamming Flame breath feels very lackluster as you just kind of hope to proc your three procs for it not to be a wasted GCD. Easily fixed with tweaking though, so that's good.

Onwards to self-harm: self-harm is an absolute joke and insult. I cannot beileve this still exists in the game. I literally can't play the game without someone dedicated to healing me. I help my enemies kill me, while they disrupt and charge at me. It's my opnion that this class does not do nearly enough damage to justify killing itself. Maybe it did once, i don't know, i've only played since march '25. But that is for sure not the case anymore.

It's a light-armored class that does damage to itself in the process of playing the game. You can't mitigate this on your own. It can't be done. Eventually you have to choose between taking your hands off the keyboard and letting the afk regen kick in, or die. Someone please, convince me this is fine.

I would really like to see this class have the selfharm completely removed(explosive force changed to simply %proc off of ability activation and not selfdmg) so it can be played without a pocket healer and movement speed and/or channel on the move to make it equal to the other rvr specs.


And lastly, I believe this class functions well right now because it's allowed to. mSH and Marauders are undervalued, they are underperforming and they are being underutilized to an almost criminal degree, and i believe this is why the class feels playable. Looking forward with hope to the ranged patch.

[Pesteavino]

Seeing last patches , the only thing i want devs to do IS give disrupt striketrhought % with Bw mechanic,for example 100 combustión you have 25% disruptstrikethorough

[Blkfiredrag]

Seeing last patches , the only thing i want devs to do IS give disrupt striketrhought % with Bw mechanic,for example 100 combustión you have 25% disruptstrikethorough

If they were to do this, then they would need to tone down the damage. A BW and Sorc with that amount of strikethrough can't have the same level of damage power as they currently have