A Simple Way To Create Exploits For Your Class (Patreon)

Here is a simple trick I use to check whether any ability on any character can be exploited.

I test almost every ability with a significant duration using this method.

One of the most reliable ways to find exploits is to use the simple principle that 

a) Most buffs preserve their duration during log-out. 

b) Cooldowns on abilities which create buffs run down in real-time during log-out. 

Here is a simple example. Cast timewarp (or bloodlust, heroism or any other name for what is essentially the same ability), and log-out immediately in a capital city.

Do something else for 10 minutes. When you log back-in you will find your timewarp buff is still at the same duration. However the timewarp cooldown should have expired. So you can cast timewarp back-to-back and get a full 80 seconds of timewarp.

You will probably have noticed this is a rather contrived example. In a competitive pvp/pve setting we will not be able to log-out instantly and have to wait the normal 20 seconds which will cut into our extra timewarp time.  Additionally waiting longer than 5 minutes in an instance will get us kicked from that instance so we can't wait 10 minutes. In battlegrounds Blizzard prevented the use of timewarp at the start of the match as this became a well known glitch that gave a significant edge to knowledgeable players. 

That said there are still practical uses of the above method to increase damage or healing, and many other abilities which can be glitched usefully in the same way.

Let's look at a more practical scenario:. We'll use a holy priest for the simple reason I was testing one recently (see previous article). 

Holy priests have a talent called Empyrean Blaze:

https://www.wowhead.com/spell=372616/empyreal-blaze

which allows you to cast holy fire three times instantly. This is a strong dps ability  However we can make it devastating by doing the following:

1. Cast Empyrean Blaze.

2. Log-out.

3. Log back in.

 You should still have Empyrean Blaze active as a buff, but its cooldown will have expired while you were offline. You can then cast six(!) versions of holy fire instantly. With the right talents you can one-shot enemy players in pvp with this or just do a little extra damage in pve. 

Note that because of the requirement to log-out using this glitch is quite situational. Also it is not accidental what I'm trying to do here is kind of weird: one-shot other players using a healing class. The reason I'm looking at that is that Blizzard will be focusing on balancing the class for its primary purpose (healing)  rather than damage so this is more likely to be where they screw up.