R.I.P., MSD

For those of you who do not understand the sentence:

R.I.P. – Rest In Peace. This phrase typically appears on tombstones and graves, and is essentially a prayer for those who are dead. It originally comes from the latin phrase (doesn’t everything?) “requiescat in pace”, or, in English, “May s/he rest in peace”.

MSD – Mystical Skyfire Diamond. This little meta gem has had a very rough and tumble little life. When it began it’s life, it was a Meta Gem that had, upon any spell cast or spell like ability, a 5% chance to make your next spell instant. It was a neat little DPS gem that a lot of classes quickly saw the power of (Scorch, Scorch, Scorch POM PYRO, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, POM PYRO, Scorch, POM PYRO), so, naturally, the little gem had it’s effect changed.

Patch 2.1 changed things up for our good friend, the MSD. Instead of a 5% chance to give an instant spell, it now had a 5% chance to halve the cast speeds of your next spell for 4 seconds. Ehh, not quite as fun, but generally, the community agreed that it was a necessary nerf, and even a helpful one, as many were being caught off guard when it Procs, due to the delay between the spell that caused the proc, and when the proc actually showed up (Scorch, Scorch, POM SCORCH… wait, whut? Shit!).

2.2 Saw the half speed buff time increased. A lot. Like, to a ten second duration before you had to use the thing a lot. It was at this point that even the non-hardcore, even the brain-dead mages killing boars in the forest had heard of this gem. Because it was awesome. Sheer, and utter awesome. Raiding mages loved it. Shadowbolt spamming warlocks loved it. Shadow priests loved it, because it affected Mind Flay. Any caster in PvP adored it. Blizzard nerfed it.

Remember this, remember this always. Patch 2.2. The MSD. 5% chance on ANY spell cast (including buffs like Arcane Intellect) that for the next ten seconds, you could cast your next spell in half time. So even if you were stuck in a gimmicky movement fight, you could use it. Even if some jerk broke LOS from you, you could still use the proc.

Along came Patch 2.3. This patch gagged the MSD, tied it to a tree, and proceeded to whip the MSD with everything from a bullwhip to a shoehorn to a fish tied to the end of an ether net cable.

Patch 2.3. The MSD. 15% chance (yay buff!) on ANY spell cast (including buffs like Arcane Intellect) that for the next six seconds (aww), your spell would cast in half time.

Well, whew, looks like we managed to avoid the nerfbat on th-AND BTW THIS CAN ONLY PROC EVERY 45 SECONDS, SORRY ‘BOUT DAT. SLIPPED MA MIND!-at one, so I gue…. hold up a sec, what was that guy yelling about? Something about a cooldow…. Oh. Oh God No. They didn’t. They wouldn’t. Not to….

[Insert massive amounts of rage, tears, gnashing of teeth, and a total sense of hopelessness amongst mages, warlocks, and priests alike.]

We casters joined the ranks of our forgotten brethren, the Elemental Shaman, and we wept.

And now along comes Patch 2.4. Apparently, the developers over at Blizzard hadn’t managed to shatter this poor little diamond enough.

It’s already sobbing in the corner! Look at those scars! That fragile little body! Look at how much pain and suffering you’ve put her through!

Nonetheless, they decide their cruelty isn’t over yet.

So they take the poor girl out front, and curb stomp her in front of a school bus filled with innocent little mages.

The Mystical Skyfire Diamon still has the 45 second cooldown. It still has a 15% chance to proc. The buff still lasts six seconds before expiring. However, the buff is no longer half speed. It is now a 320 spell haste rating buff, or, 20% spell haste.

It’s only a matter of time before they take this poor, sodden excuse of a meta gem out back and shoot it.

R.I.P., MSD.