Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a rework for Windwalker. Since Retribution Paladins got theirs, with Ion Hazzikostas saying that Retribution needed to be solid because it's the only DPS option for Paladins, it felt only natural that Windwalkers would be next on the docket… that was more than 6 months ago. Windwalker has seen positive changes during that time, and for the first raid in a long time has enjoyed a period of statistically mediocre performance in single target damage, a significant improvement from 10.0 and the past few years.
After spending much of one night trying to math out the current state of Windwalker resources, I came to the opinion that even if Windwalker is not in need of a “rework”, it is in need of is a solidified identity and the best way to solidify that identity would likely be a rework. So, I wanted to take some time and discuss what I mean by that and why I, and some others, feel that Windwalker is stuck between the past and the present and how those opposing forces are limiting each other’s potential.
To put it as succinctly as I can, because the rest of this certainly won’t be succinct;
Windwalker is a spec designed around resource management, that currently has huge chunks of time where resources are irrelevant. It’s a spec designed for you to plan out your ability usage in advance to minimize cooldown or resource waste, but has so many things to track and consider, that planning for even some of them is nearly impossible for all but the most cerebral of players. On top of that, any forethought or resource management can be completely invalidated in a second or two by one of the many, many procs that can force you to throw out planning and react.
