Ritual of Summoning revamped
by Eliah Hecht 
Nov 20th 2008 at 8:00PM
Soul Shards: love them or hate them, they're iconic of the Warlock class. Most choose to hate them, but I think locks are just full of hate in general and need to vent it somewhere. Along with a tantalizing note about "exciting changes to how soul shards might work," European CM Vaneck has just let us know that one common shard-based ability, Ritual of Summoning, is going to be changed Before the 3.1/Ulduar Patch (a promise I'm seeing a lot of lately; we can only hope that patch is soon).
Essentially, the new RoS will create a meeting stone-like object. It'll still take two players in addition to the Warlock, as well as one shard, but once the ritual has been cast, the stone can be re-used to summon as many people as desired within its five minute duration, and that summoning action will merely require any two players, just like a meeting stone. You can also summon multiple people simultaneously, and all just for one shard. You won't be able to summon in situations where you currently can't (Netherstorm, battlegrounds, in combat), but this will make summoning much easier, quicker, and less shard-intensive. A great idea.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Alex Honson Nov 20th 2008 8:10PM
That's it..Couldn't they pick someone else to fix for locks..COME ON!!!
WooT first page!!
Alex Honson Nov 20th 2008 8:10PM
oops meant something
vazhkatsi Nov 21st 2008 2:09AM
yeah well, i do a lot of raids 25 mans, and when you have to summon ~30 times a night, you get tired of it
people forget to repair, they don't show up on time, they forget their dps set, etc. this has been asked for widely and is the first change, devs have also said they are looking into further changes to the shard system as a whole
Naix Nov 21st 2008 9:35AM
Awesome idea Blizzard!
Woot first page first comment!
G W Nov 20th 2008 8:09PM
Locks have been able to summon in Netherstorm for quite a while now. Maybe I've just been dreaming the past year though.
Kwyjibo Nov 20th 2008 8:10PM
Yep, you can. Patch 2.4 I believe.
Boydboyd Nov 20th 2008 8:22PM
Aye, since patch 2.4 it has been that way.
The original lore stated something to the effect of the chaotic energy in Netherstorm making a warlock's summon magically impossible. The reason behind this was because of the zone's instances and the fact that they could not be reached without a flying mount. Blizzard initially took the easy way out and made the spell uncastable.
So Eliah, I'm glad we could help you out. Thanks for the article!
Eliah Hecht Nov 20th 2008 8:54PM
Thanks for the correction all. That's what I get for my own warlock being only level 62.
Hmmm... Nov 20th 2008 8:14PM
I don't see how this is really going to make summoning any easier. Maybe for raids, but for five-mans this will at best save you a single shard. Not a big deal.
Bloodchocobo Nov 20th 2008 8:16PM
/Agreed
They need to do something else for locks
rosencratz Nov 21st 2008 5:25AM
Who cares about 5mans? The reduction there is nice at worst why would you complain? Did you want to spend no shards at all for 5 mans?
Did you consider it might not have been intended to be a "big deal" for 5 man parties where the soul shard cost was never great? It's main focus is obviously and rather gratefully for raid summoning and similar, that is after all where most Warlocks end up spending most of their shards as it is.(With exceptions ofcourse) It'll be really useful for me atleast.
Personally though shards have never bothered me, I'd welcome a change to the system if it's fun and interesting but as it is i keep my bags organised and losing a single bag slot to shards where on other characters i might lose it to different suits of gear, ammunition, reagents, etc is not something i've ever been unable to work around tbh.
I disagree that most locks hate the soulshard system, i think most locks know what they're getting into when they choose to get into it. Change is nice if it's fun and interesting but for the sake of bag space?
CorishMG Nov 21st 2008 9:13AM
This is a great change for warlocks. It's a good step towards reducing the ridiculous number of shards that some warlocks need in order to play.
The only downside is that summoning someone is now a 2-step process. Once to create the stone, then again to actually summon the person. (It would have maybe been nice if there was two versions of the spell made. One for single-target summons, the other to create the summoning stone.)
(My alt is an affliction warlock, she doesn't go through anywhere near as many shards as a destruction warlock - which should tell ya where the real problem is.)
Cyanea Nov 20th 2008 8:26PM
You know what would be awesome to help out Warlocks? Make soulshards NOT take up a bagslot. Or, at the very least, make them stackable. I'll even take stacks of five, like potions, as opposed to each one using up a slot.
This Ritual of Summoning thing is neat, I suppose.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Nov 21st 2008 10:40AM
Yeah, I'd like shards to stack. They should stack to 20 a pop so that at least bag space (if you chose to take a special bag for them) would be nice and useful. I'm still carrying about a 20 slotter for them.
Burgundy Nov 23rd 2008 1:25PM
People have asked for stacking for 4 years but... it isn't needed.
Shards are based on a trickle in, trickle out mechanic. Stacking would ruin that entirely and truly reduce them into merely a waste of bag space. Also, by enabling hoarding, it would encourage farming even more, which is not where we want to be headed. Having a limit to how many you can hold is integral to the mechanic.
I'm not saying that more tweaks aren't welcome. There are situations where the "trickle in" breaks down a bit, or is at least more difficult. Changing Drain Soul to have a bonus when the target is under 25% is a good step. I'd like to see Drain Soul give an initial tick of damage when it is cast, or at least have it tick every 1 or 2 seconds instead of 3. There could even be additional ways to obtain a shard. But it should fit in the replenish-as-we-use-them mechanic.
As for the Ritual of Summoning revamp. Great for raids, but I agree it will be awkward for single summons and should be an additional spell. I've also always thought meeting stones were kind of lame (maybe I was just envious of them competing with our summoning power). It would be cooler if graphically this spell appeared as the same portal graphic rather than a stone pillar.
ronos Nov 20th 2008 8:28PM
i was hoping i was going to read the post saying that it no longer takes 2 other people to summon.
ive never found a reason why you need more then just yourself. the only time i would find summoning handy is when im out questing and a friend comes online and i want to get them out to me quickly. i cant do that when im by myself.
then in instances, whats the difference whether i summon alone, or wait for 2 others to come click. the party member makes it to you in the end.
as for the soulshard thing, that doesnt make a diff to me.
Cyanea Nov 20th 2008 8:38PM
Very much this. ^^
I can understand the limitation if it were a method of restricting content access to lower level characters so that you don't see level 20s running around with Northrend blues, but everything in the game is level-locked. If I were to summon a level 42 character to Northrend, what is he going to do? He can't pick up quests. He can't use any of the items there. About the only thing he CAN do is be eaten by the wildlife. The five minute cooldown prevents any kind of serious abuse on the part of same-level characters.
Mages can port any character of any level to any city that has a portal, AND they don't have any restriction on it other than a cheap rune, AND they can turn around and use it to make money (money which a Warlock can definitely use, seeing as I just spent 26g to upgrade TWO spells at lvl72...). I had a guildmate of mine port me to Shatt where I set my hearthstone at level 20. If Mages can do it, why can't Warlocks?
Vinicius O. E. Nov 20th 2008 10:11PM
I was hoping to see the same thing :-(
I still remember the beta phase of WoW vanilla when locks could summon anybody without 2 extra players. Too bad it never made to live realms.
G W Nov 20th 2008 8:44PM
I wonder if those outside your party could use the stone....
Spoonman Nov 20th 2008 9:19PM
I hope its attackable like Lightwell... you know just for fun