So the new ICC zone buff went online last week, and with it everyone, for the moment at least, gets a 5% buff to health, damage and healing.
Now that it has been implemented, Blizzard state that they can increase it at any time, and indeed it has been stated that it can go as high as 30% incrementally in 5% notches. But for the moment it’s only 5%.
So the question remains, with it being an optional buff (you can opt to play without it on a raid wide basis) do you take the help, or do it “naturally”?
IMO everyone bar the hardest of the hardcore should be using it. Why the hell not? Why make life difficult for yourself otherwise? We downed Festergut in 10 man on the day the buff went live, and it’s the first time, despite number beyond measure of attempts in both 10 and 25 man, that I have been involved in downing him.
Did the buff help? Undoubtedly. We took him down on the enrage timer thanks to a DOT effect, as the raid had wiped when he enraged.
Did we care? My Frost Emblems don’t care. The new bits of gear I’ll be picking up certainly couldn’t give a monkeys. Why the hell should I?
Sure, we only managed to do it because of the Warsong crutch. But caring otherwise would just be, as a wise man once said, “Pride fuckin with ya”.