I was assuming we wouldn’t get both the ability to root indoors (CC) and non-combat resurrect. If we did, we would be fulfilling two very important group roles which does seem unfair. But as long as we can’t rez, we’re encouraged to bring a “real” rezzer along with us, costing us a CC spot for Heroics. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if we could fill that CC role ourselves, making Druids an equally viable Heroic healer.

I’m not resto, and had forgotten the placement of ToL. Now thinking about it, the committed restoration druid probably would get the benefit of a OOC rex at 31 points, level 40. Treebirth with Swiftmend?

And Bigtoy is right about the healers restricted by a lack crowd control, even when they’re the ones who need it most. My suggestion was that moonkin, and only moonkin form, would have access to an indoor root. As moonkin is basically a mage, I feel that still works.

Thoughts?

@Bigtoy: Also a good point about a healer being able to reliably CC outshining the other healers. Of course, as it is, we’re told we need to bring a rezzer along to all our instances since we can’t provide rezzes to fallen party members. This soaks up a group spot that would otherwise go to a CC class, so maybe it wouldn’t be so unfair after all, especially considering how difficult it is to maintain CC and heal at the same time. Pulls where I have to Hibernate and heal (Heroic Slave Pens, for instance) are always much more difficult than the ones where I simply have to heal.

However I’m not sure how necessary “roots in parts of zones” will be. Besides the major drawback of being a huge headache to balance and weigh, it also misses the point. Indoor/outdoor roots has nothing to do with environmental factors or ‘flavor.’ It has everything to do with allowing a healing class to have a CC that would work on Every Single Pull.

It’s not coincidence that none of the hybrid healers (pally/shaman) have any sort of CC and that only the pure healer has reliable CC on a very narrow classification (undead). Think of how in demand druids could be if they could CC as a healer in an instance, even intermittently.

Our laser beams can penetrate miles of stone in Molten Core, Rogues can be invisible in a well lit room next to a bonfire, and we have mounts that fit in our pockets. The “you are indoors!” excuse is one Blizzard made up because it sounds better than “We don’t want druids CCing in instances as a healing class”

IMO, Brambles is too low in the Balance tree to allow for indoors Entangling Roots. Like mentioned above, I feel if Roots were able to be used in all indoor dungeons, it should only be the Moonkin able to cast it.

Likewise, I can show understanding to my Tree of Life brethren. I feel Trees, and ONLY Tree of Life should be able to resurrect freely out of combat without the need for a reagent and without a cooldown. Name it Treebirth and keep it separate from Rebirth.

The rigid dichotomy of what counts as “indoors” versus “outdoors” is rather silly. For example, Blackfathom Deeps is an underground dungeon where the entire environment is walled with dirt and roots. But as classified as “indoors”, we can’t command those roots to trap NPCs. I’d prefer there be a stratified classification of dungeons, or areas wherein Entangling Roots CAN be effectively used. It’s unfortunate that most dungeons in TBC don’t fit into an “Underground” or “Garden” environment.

*Underground dungeons like Ragefire Chasm and Wailing Caverns are examples of dungeons that exist in environments where Entangling Roots could be used anywhere. Other dungeons like Deadmines, Blackfathom Deeps, Blackrock Depths, Uldaman, Maraudon, and Coilfang Resevoir are such that Roots could be a viable crowd control in certain parts of the dungeon (the mine caves, the naga caves, the prison block). And then there are the dungeons with utilize a “garden” area which could be kited to as viable Root-able ground. Examples of “Garden” Instances include Botanica, Dire Maul(s), and Scarlet Monastery.

I would actually prefer the recoding of dungeons to allow Entangling Roots in sections of all dungeons as opposed to enabling Roots in indoor dungeons exclusively to Moonkin.

@Dox: Oh that’s a great point about Nature’s Grasp and one I hadn’t considered. It would make that talent pretty much a given for any Druid.

@Bigtoy: Very good point, Bigtoy. Most forms of CC are limited by mob type (Banish = demons/elementals, Polymorph = Humanoids/Beasts, Sap = Humanoids, Hibernate = Dragonkin/Beats). Druids could quickly become the kings of CC if we could CC just about anything.

But moonkin definitely should be able to root indoors so they aren’t a dead dps slot.

On the other hand, I think I’d rather use Roots in PvE since they would be easier to refresh (Cyclone is a banish so you have to wait until it breaks to reapply). Of course, Roots is known to break prematurely…