WoW: Is the Priest’s Psychic Scream broken?

WoW: Is the Priest's Psychic Scream broken? - Image 1Priests on the World of Warcraft forums have been complaining about Psychic Scream being broken. This ability, for the uninitiated, grants fear status on two opponents at the lowest level and up to five targets at the highest.

With most classes having a standard 15% immunity to fear effects, this skill should theoretically be pretty efficient in keeping opponents away. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case as priests have found that Psychic Scream doesn’t seem to be working as often as it should.

So is it broken? Not according to Blizzard Poster/ Community Manager Nethaera in her post:

There are many aspects to look at in regard to whether it’s a “poorly designed” CC or not. For PvP, there was a conscientious choice to try to minimize the effect that CCs have. Balance is something that we are aware of being of importance to players on both sides of the equation.

For a PvE aspect, it’s a far more effective mechanic. Perhaps sometimes too much so in that choosing to AoE fear at the wrong time or too near other mobs is going to get you a few more unwanted mobs coming to visit you. That said, the effectiveness of Psychic Scream and the concerns of the community are known given all the available counters to it.

As I’m sure you all know, fear and its ability for any class capable of using it, is always a concern for those that feel they don’t have sufficient countermeasures available to them. There is always going to be someone on either side that is going to take issue with it unless somehow, overnight, everyone wakes up in total agreement with each other.

Judging from her response, there won’t be a fix for the skill as it is working as intended. Priests who rely on this skill will have to keep a backup plan handy in case their opponents aren’t cowed by their screaming.

Via WoW Forums

WoW: Is the Priest's Psychic Scream broken? - Image 1Priests on the World of Warcraft forums have been complaining about Psychic Scream being broken. This ability, for the uninitiated, grants fear status on two opponents at the lowest level and up to five targets at the highest.

With most classes having a standard 15% immunity to fear effects, this skill should theoretically be pretty efficient in keeping opponents away. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case as priests have found that Psychic Scream doesn’t seem to be working as often as it should.

So is it broken? Not according to Blizzard Poster/ Community Manager Nethaera in her post:

There are many aspects to look at in regard to whether it’s a “poorly designed” CC or not. For PvP, there was a conscientious choice to try to minimize the effect that CCs have. Balance is something that we are aware of being of importance to players on both sides of the equation.

For a PvE aspect, it’s a far more effective mechanic. Perhaps sometimes too much so in that choosing to AoE fear at the wrong time or too near other mobs is going to get you a few more unwanted mobs coming to visit you. That said, the effectiveness of Psychic Scream and the concerns of the community are known given all the available counters to it.

As I’m sure you all know, fear and its ability for any class capable of using it, is always a concern for those that feel they don’t have sufficient countermeasures available to them. There is always going to be someone on either side that is going to take issue with it unless somehow, overnight, everyone wakes up in total agreement with each other.

Judging from her response, there won’t be a fix for the skill as it is working as intended. Priests who rely on this skill will have to keep a backup plan handy in case their opponents aren’t cowed by their screaming.

Via WoW Forums

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