Druid Changes May Indicate Possibility of Indoor Arenas
August 5, 2008Categories: PvP, Wrath of the Lich King
One of the long-standing complaints about the Druid class (okay, Restoration Druids) has been the use of Travel Form in Arenas. With it — and Cyclone and Entangling Roots and Feral Charge — a Restoration Druid can keep out of the reach of players who would kill us if they could get their hands on us. Over the last few months, we’ve seen more and more changes that I believe may indicate that we’re going to see all Arenas made indoors, invalidating the use of Travel Form:
- Entangling Roots will be usable indoors, so Druids won’t lose out on this essential method of crowd control against Warriors, Rogues, and pets.
- The new Arena has said to not allow mounts. This could indicate that it will be flagged “indoors.”
- Feral Swiftness will be usable indoors, according to a recent post from Developer Koraa. This ability is considered essential by many Ferals since it helps to counteract the Cat Form range bug.
What exactly would this mean? Well, for one Druids would obviously lose the ability to use Travel Form for a quick getaway. It would force Restoration Druids to use either Bear Form or Cat Form to break snares, a much more expensive option (Feral and Balance probably wouldn’t shift to Cheetah unless they thought they were going to be immediately resnared since they probably want to return to their Feral Form or Moonkin as soon as they can). While the above-listed changes do help mitigate the difficulty presented by indoor-only Arenas, the mana cost to break snares in and of itself would be a huge nerf.
This may be one reason that Blizzard has opted to remove the movement penalty of Tree of Life, a restriction long seen as the reason that the form could never be considered viable in PvP. Additionally, Tree of Life will gain a 100% armor increase, making it a desirable form against melee. Remember, however, that using it completely cuts you off from any form of crowd control (Cyclone, Entangling Roots, and Hibernate) and makes you susceptible to Warlock Banish, a form of CC on separate Diminishing Returns from Fear.
Why this May Not be Happening
Fortunately, there is reason to believe that we won’t be seeing indoor-only Arenas in Wrath of the Lich King. Enhancement Shaman have a new talent deep in their tree that effectively turns Shaman Ghost Wolf into a slightly slower version of Travel Form (Improved Ghost Wolf makes the ability insta-cast):
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After all, it doesn’t really seem to make sense to make a change like this with the expectation of invalidating the use of the newly-improved Ghost Wolf form in competitive PvP.
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@Graylo: Oh, my mistake!! I’ve adjusted the description to be more clear.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I learned pretty quick not to change into tree form in a battle ground. It advertises that you’re a healer and keeps you from being able to move away from attacks. Essentially, tree form is a version of PvP suicide.
So in PvP I stay in caster form and constantly move. If someone catches up with me then its roots or a cyclone or a kitty/sprint to get away. I know this isn’t the most efficient mana wise but if I run low I’ll bear form and be a nuisance for as long as possible.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Considering the names of the 2 new arenas, I have reason to agree with you. They are going to be the Arena Room in Orgrimmar, and the Dalaran Sewers.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Tree does have its uses even in arena, especially against rogues, because you can often outheal their damage with great mana efficiency. However, the armor buff is, like you said, a big deal. Frankly I’m a little worried that there’s just going to be too many changes and I’m not going to want to catch up with all of it! (and you do a pretty good job of affirming that! <3)
August 5th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I don’t think trees can be banished by warlocks anymore. more evidence that blizz is pushing trees into the arena
August 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
So i guess that means trees still won’t be able to cast roots and thorns so they aren’t like super over-overpowered, but mabey there will be a nice inscription thingy that can give trees root but have to stay in place or put back the slow speed, make it more viable for resto CC in dungeons?
August 6th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I can’t say I like the concept of indoor arenas. Actually, I don’t like the concept of many different arenas to begin with, but the ones we haven’t aren’t so sweepingly different to bother me. I should say I’m just concerned about having the arena you land in being a gigantic factor in whether you win or not, and anything that hurts some classes and makes others fare stronger I shake my head at. Yes, I’m against a completely open arena. I’m also against an arena with 7000 walls and 2000 pillars :p
Actually, that shaman talent would make Ghost Wolf = Travel Form. They’re both +40% movement speed, unless something’s changing in Wrath that I don’t know of. I guess it also says that you break free of movement impairing effects when you go into Ghost Wolf, so coming out wouldn’t free you. And of course, polymorph is still there. It should be the same speed as travel form, though. Though, you could have just meant it retains its cast time before getting improved ghost wolf, which would mean it’s a slower cast. Ah whatever, I trust you x3
Regardless, I’d argue that Ghost Wolf’s mana cost needs to be changed to be a percentage of base mana as well. 100 mana at level 80 is going to be absolutely nothing.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
According to indoor-arenas I remember a statement of one of the developers on the WWI who introduced the layout and mechanics of the Orgrimmar Arena, which is intended to be implemented with WotLK
August 6th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
@TKC: Oh yes … I know I immediately Moonfire any enemy trees that I see. =D I meant more along the lines of Arenas where it’s generally pretty obvious who the opposing healers are.
@Athryn: I didn’t realize there were TWO new Arenas coming. And how exactly do the Alliance get into Orgrimmar? ^_^ (Lordaeron is pretty accessible.)
@Elo: I’ve tried to “tank” a Rogue in Tree of Life without much success. Of course, I think his partner was a Mage, so I wasn’t just dealing with DPS from a melee.
@Korzal: Sorry - do you recall where you saw that? I’d love it if that were so …
@Tiagantar: I think in general a Resto Druid will probably opt not to use Tree of Life it their group doesn’t have enough CC. Which TBH is fine with me as sometimes I like looking at my character’s armor instead of some dead broccoli. ^_^ Of course, allowing Roots in ToL would a) make sense and b) solve the problem.
@Nilianil: I remember a few months ago, there was a rumor going around that the Nagrand Arena was being changed to be indoors (it turned out to be some weird bug with the zone itself), a lot of Druids worried that it would effectively dictate a loss 33% of the time for any team with a Druid because it would mean the loss of Roots and Travel Form. With an indoor root and improved non-HoT-based capabilities, it wouldn’t be as bad as it would have been, but it’s still a change I hope they eschew.
And actually, I’m embarassed to admit that I thought Ghost Wolf was only a 30% speed increase. Nerf Shamans!
@Torrobulba: I don’t quite understand your comment. Are you saying that you recall a developer mentioning that the new Orgrimmar Arena would definitely be indoors? I think I read something about not being able to use mounts, but I wasn’t sure if that meant it was going to be flagged as indoors or that mounts simply would be disallowed in the same way that Engineering items are.