Midnight Season 2 has not even officially started yet, and World of Warcraft's trinket spreadsheet is already outdated.
A large batch of live tuning changes has been datamined, affecting raid and Mythic+ trinkets across Season 2 while also hitting two particularly stubborn Season 1 favorites.
Many of the new trinkets are getting substantial buffs.
Meanwhile, Gaze of the Alnseer and Crucible of Erratic Energies are being pushed downward.
Apparently Blizzard would quite like us to loot some new things next week.
There is one important caveat: these changes are datamined rather than officially documented by Blizzard, and some values could still be affected by scaling quirks.
Season 2 Raid Trinkets Are Getting Broad Buffs
A large portion of The Venomous Abyss trinket pool has been increased.
Fang of Umbral Malignance gains 15 percent damage.
First Mate's Shellward gains 25 percent damage.
Font of Venomous Rage gains 20 percent.
Sszorak's Ferocity, Vashnik's Sanguine Rancor and Vexhul's Everflowing Gland all gain 15 percent damage.
Preternatural Antivenom receives a 30 percent healing increase.
Not everything went upward.
Gebbo's Bottomless Bag had its effects reduced by 30 percent, while Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel had its damage prevention reduced by 15 percent.
Hex Lord's Dooming Idol receives a more complicated adjustment, reducing its Intellect drain while increasing the Intellect granted by its on-use effect.
So this isn't simply Blizzard pressing the giant green “BUFF SEASON 2” button.
It is an attempt to reshape the pool before players start making permanent best-in-slot lists.
Some Mythic+ Trinkets Got Enormous Improvements
The returning dungeon pool received similarly aggressive tuning.
Several damage trinkets gained 15 percent, but a few stand out much more dramatically.
Kyrakka's Searing Embers received an 80 percent healing increase and a 50 percent damage increase.
Mycolic Medicine gained 30 percent to both damage and healing.
Tumor of the Swarm gained 15 percent damage and 40 percent healing.
Unstable Felheart Crystal's absorb increased by 30 percent.
Those are not tiny adjustments.
When an effect needs 50 or 80 percent more output before the season even starts, Blizzard is sending a fairly clear message about where the original tuning landed.
Somewhere below the basement.
Gaze of the Alnseer Is Getting Nerfed Again
The more interesting part for players currently wearing Season 1 gear is what Blizzard is doing to older trinkets.
Gaze of the Alnseer loses 20 percent of its primary-stat effect.
Crucible of Erratic Energies loses 15 percent of its Critical Strike effect.
Neither item is exactly unfamiliar with Blizzard's tuning department.
We were already writing about Gaze of the Alnseer nerfs during Midnight's opening weeks, when the trinket quickly established itself as one of the expansion's early favorites.
Apparently it remained useful enough to require another conversation.
Blizzard Clearly Doesn’t Want Season 1 Loot Hanging Around Forever
This is a familiar WoW gearing problem.
Sometimes an old trinket is designed so well, tuned so aggressively or interacts so nicely with a spec that replacing it becomes surprisingly difficult.
That creates an awkward new-season experience.
The Venomous Abyss opens.
Mythic+ starts.
Everyone acquires higher-item-level equipment.
And someone is still wearing a trinket from March because the new ones cannot beat it.
Blizzard appears to be attacking that problem from both directions.
Buff the new options.
Nerf the old standouts.
Eventually even the most committed Season 1 trinket has to accept retirement.
Don’t Throw Anything Away Yet
There is one reason not to immediately vendor your current setup.
These changes were discovered through datamining and have not yet been accompanied by an official Blizzard tuning post.
Wowhead specifically cautions that some reported values may be affected by scaling issues.
Season 2 also hasn't started.
Real raid logs, Mythic+ data and finished class sets will inevitably change how some of these items perform in practice.
We already knew Season 2 was bringing a particularly strange collection of special-effect gear and trinkets. Now Blizzard is moving the numbers around before players can properly get their hands on it.
So don't destroy your Gaze.
Don't commission three replacement crafts.
And don't tattoo a Season 2 trinket ranking onto your arm quite yet.
The season starts next week.
The spreadsheet has already been patched.
Source: Wowhead datamining
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