(1) buffs have been completely revamped and are now basically short term bonuses that don't fade as long as the casting class is in group, raid. Melee centric debuffs are more effective in exp and raid.
(2) tomes have been removed and turned into AAs. Many class based styles for rogues, warriors, knights and rangers have turned into discipline books and tied to ikisith progression. Results across the classes are mixed based on situation but probably net positive for most play styles across the board - trying not to be controversial with that take.
(3) druids (several excellent buttons) and mages (impactful tomes no longer need to be farmed) are up, enchanters (mimic dmg massively nerfed - charm improved but needs a lot of group/raid support) and wizards (lol) are down. Shamans are seriously underrated. Everybody else classwise is doing well or hasnt moved much in years.
(4) devs have released a lot of neat zones lately and are constantly rebalancing old ass items. Plane of Hate/Fear are the premiere raid prep zones. Relic farming still mostly sucks for the every man but I believe Season 2 beat yclist with a ton of casters who didn't have many or any relics. Mind Goblins raided through late tier 9 with very very few relics raidwide fwiw.
(5) in many ways, sod has never been more fun but it feels like relatively few people play outside of raid logging. Folks probably got burned out putting in 50+ hour weeks in peak S2 + new wow expac inc, they'll be back.
