Combat Potions Will Have 5 Minute CD in Shadowlands and No Encounter Limit
Blizzard announced in a blue post today that combat potions would be updated to have a 5 minute cooldown in the next alpha build, and there would no longer be a limit on the number of potions used per encounter.
This will be game-changing to the current raid meta of using a pre-pot before a raid boss is killed. Since you’re no longer limited to how many potions you use in an encounter (though obviously still limited by the 5 minute cooldown and the encounter length), we’ll likely see a switch to pots being consumed immediately after the pull instead of immediately before. (So now they’re “pull-pots?”)
Many players on the forums feel this is removing player choice regarding when they use their combat potion during the encounter, and honestly, they aren’t incorrect. To maximize DPS, you’d logically use it like any other DPS CD, so right on pull and then as soon as it comes off of cooldown 5 minutes later. This removes some of the player agency in using it during the most opportune window possible, by instead forcing the player to use it like any other cooldown.
We’ll see if Blizzard keeps the change or makes adjustments after it goes live for testing on the Alpha.
In this next build of the Shadowlands alpha, combat potions, such as primary stat potions and mana potions, now have a 5-minute cooldown. Additionally, they are no longer limited to one use per encounter. This is intended to make potion use less of a hassle, less expensive, and more decision-oriented in various situations throughout the game.
In raid encounters, players will still have the option of using a potion at the start of an encounter, but using a potion just prior to and as close to the pull as possible will no longer be required. Longer encounters will now offer up more than one moment to use a potion for maximum tactical advantage. Ending a raid boss encounter with a wipe or a win will reset the potion cooldown.
In dungeons, spacing out potion use will place more emphasis on deciding the most important times to use them.
In PvP situations where combat potions are allowed, such as War Mode, Battlegrounds, and Epic Battlegrounds, the rate at which you drop combat can vary greatly. This change will bring a consistent expected cooldown to combat potions when you see enemies consume them.
Please feel free to share your feedback on this change in this thread. Thank you.
