On Friday I wrote about the recent egregious increase of reagent costs for Rebirth and Gift of the Wild spells with Patch 2.1. Today, another “undocumented change” was discovered, although it isn’t known whether this change was intended or accidental. As of last Tuesday, the resurrection window from the druid combat rez now disappears when the Combat flag drops from all party members. What this means is that Rebirth can no longer be used a a wipe recovery tool and can only be used for wipe prevention.

The only time Rebirth was usable for 5-man wipe recovery was if the druid had brought along a pocket rezzer (as is Blizzard’s apparent intention). In raids, it could be used by a skilled druid when Divine Intervention, Soulstone, and Reincarnation were not available, but this has always been the most difficult to execute wipe recovery method. It seems almost spiteful of Blizzard to further nerf this already limited ability.

On a more positive note, it is possible that this change is a precursor to as-yet-unannounced plans to finally give druids a normal resurrection spell. Perhaps these two changes (reagent cost increase and wipe recovery removal) were made while internally testing this new class ability. It is likely that — due to the previous backlash when ferals temporarily gained the ability to use potions and weapon procs — they are reluctant to get our hopes up for such a longed for spell until they are more sure of its effects on balance.

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