*Sniff*
I love you, too, Blizzard.
XOXO,
Phae
Featured Post
Featured: Guest Post: Balance vs. Restoration Gear
Confused about what gear is for resto and which is for balance after the changes to spellpower, spell hit, and spell crit? Guest author Graylo of Gray Matter graces our glen with a guide to gauge the gear guaranteed to gain glory and greatness!
Because I know that some readers rely on Resto4Life for their Druid news (silly people), here’s a distilled summary of the Druid-related information from BlizzCon. Most of this information comes from the Class Panels at BlizzCon and has been gathered from WoWInsider’s extensive coverage.
Dual-Specs
While not immediately available with the release of Wrath, Blizzard hopes to patch them into the game with Patch 3.1. They may feel like they have a brief reprieve because the need for two specs is generally greater at level 80 when many players engage in both competitive PvP and endgame PvE content. Unfortunately, healers would really benefit from this option, as well, since it would be nice to be able to grind solo and switch back to healing for instances.
You’ll be able to switch to your alternate spec “whenever you want,” including in raids. Your Glyphs and hotkeys will switch automatically when you do. This is wonderful news because it means you won’t have to continue buying the same Glyphs to switch them for PvP or off-spec raiding. Of course, this is bad news for Inscriptionists. Sorry, guys!
Sharing In-Combat Rez
Q: Really happy we’ll be able to do 10-man raids all the way up. But in 10-mans losing one class can hurt. What about giving another class an in-combat rez?
A: … which class specifically?
Crowd: (various classes)
Since Paladins and Shamans already have specialty forms of wipe recovery/prevention (Reincarnation and Divine Intervention), it make the most sense to me that Priests be the ones to receive an in-combat rez. Of course, Priests and Shamans are still so desirable that it would perhaps make more sense to give them to Paladins. Naturally, I prefer that we keep our Rebirth. We wouldn’t want all healers to become Big Green Blobs after all.
And to the crowd member who yelled out “Rogues” in response to who should get in combat rez … /sigh
Spirit Not Just for Mana Regeneration
For a lot of classes, Spirit isn’t mana regen anymore, it’s something people stack for the spell damage bonuses.
I don’t know if I agree with this statement. I’ll probably continue stacking Spirit for its mana regeneration benefits, just as I did in TBC. I personally view the fact that it also grants +Healing as a nice bonus! The Spirit –> Spell Power bonus does mean that staying in Tree of Life will be very important, though, which is likely intended to negatively impact Restoration PvP since Tree of Life loses the ability to Cyclone and cast Entangling Roots.
Hybrids vs. Pure Classes
Hybrid DPS has been increased as a result of the changes made to the debuffs/buffs system, and hybrids are benefitting from gear streamlining and the dual spec system. To help counter this overall increase in desirability, pure DPS classes are intended to do the “best” damage, but “player skill should enter into it as well.”
Improvements to Forms
Blizzard has been talking about Feral form improvements for a while, but it’s a “question of time.” We’ve heard before that this is an improvement that’s intended very early on after the release (and subsequent bug fixes) of Wrath. According to the “Notes from the BlizzCon 2008 Art Panel” by WoWInsider author Daniel Whitcomb:
When a questioner asked if it was possible for Feral Forms to have visible armor, the Artists seemed very enthusiastic about the idea, all but saying it’s coming. Later, when another young man asked if Druid trees could change leaf color, Chris Robinson said he’d been talking with a designer who was very much a fan of allowing more Druid form variety. So without outright saying that it is coming, it seems like the designers have revealed that it is high on the priority list.
Earlier on in the article, Daniel also wrote “The artists all but said that giving visible armor to Druid forms is in the works!” but I couldn’t find anything in the summary that lead me to believe this is the case. I personally think visible armor could have the potential to look really goofy and am more enthusiastic about other types of form customization.
Teh Pee Vee Pees!
- The Orgrimmar Arena will include moving pillars that change line of sight and DoT fire hazards, making “pillar humping” more interactive and potentially more dangerous.
- The Dalaran Arena will include a pillar of water that temporarily obscures line of sight but also performs a knockback. There are also a couple of stacks of crates that block line of sight, but they aren’t as effective as the pillars players are probably accustomed to in TBC Arenas.
- Travel Form and Ghost Wolf will work in the Dalaran Arena, but mounts will not.
- Moonkin damage output in PvP is satisfactory, but they’re taking a look at its survivability (the armor nerf certainly didn’t help).
Q: Druid PvP (boos). Resto is powerful and I want it nerfed, but I don’t want to hurt Balance or Feral. How can you fix that without killing the other two.
A: Tom: Wrath is a very different beast than the live servers. Lifebloom lost a lot of power, so you can’t rely on it. There are changes, along with the new talents, that from the beta test we’ve seen, Druids aren’t the dominant force they can be in smaller brackets today.
Did anyone ever rely on Lifebloom? Really? I couldn’t. I was generally too busy running the hell away from the 1-3 people trying to kill me!
Q: Wintergrasp. I’m a healing Druid (boos). Before you were able to group in BGs, it was hard to heal, will there be any mechanic in Wintergrasp.
A: Tom: We’ve avoided groups so far, mostly because of the AFK problem. Our grouping system won’t go above 40 players at this point either, so for the moment, it’s group on your own.
The forced grouping was great for healers in places like AB and AV. Having to request a group invitation is a huge inconvenience and it incentivizes the player to only assist those players with whom she is grouped, making healing more complicated (and therefore, less fun).
Q: Are Feral Druids going to be different from Rogues?
A: Chilton: Feral druids have been a B-spec in arenas and PvP. I don’t know if it’s a raw damage output problem. [Might be] something with loosing mana. We don’t have a clear idea of how it’s going to play out. Unfortunately we haven’t seen a lot of feral druids in the beta arenas.
For those of you unfamiliar with the mana plight of Ferals, the lack of Intellect on PvP gear is causing a great deal of concern about needing to shift forms often and not having the mana to do so. According to Ghostcrawler, “We don’t want you to worry about Intellect … It’s definitely stuff that we’re looking at.”
Miscellaneous (I.e., stuff that didn’t warrant its own subheading)
- Players will no longer be dismounted when they enter water. Rather, their mounts will swim across. It’s not clear whether Druids will be able to remain in Travel Form when entering a body of water.
- There are still no plans to allow Taunt/Growl to work in PvP. Darn! If they did, a Druid could Rocket Bear into a healer from the opposing team, interrupting their spell cast and forcing them to target her, further throwing off their rhythm.
- Wrath goals for Balance were to give them a viable form of crowd control (indoor Root) and to eliminate the OOMkin.
- The retinue of healing spells available to Druids has been expanded to include the Flash Heal-esque direct heal, Nourish, and an AoE heal, Wild Growth.
- All tanks should see an overall increase in threat generation. The intention is that the successful completion of encounters should be more about healing and moving around. So seriously. Stop standing in the fire.
- Blizzard wanted to deemphasize the use of consumables through things like the Potion Sickness and Tinnitus debuffs. This has the obvious effect of increasing players’ reliance on the new Replenishment effect provided by Shadow Priests, Survival Hunters, and Retribution Paladins.
- Blizzard doesn’t want any class to have a buff that’s so powerful that the raid is canceled if it isn’t available. See also: Chain Heal, Circle of Healing (though I suppose those aren’t technically “buffs”).
- Blizzard is considering adding customization to player animations. Perosnally, I’d love to use the /cheer emote for casting Revive.
- Omen of Clarity procs will not be made undispellable. (The ability itself is now passive and cannot be dispelled.)
- Players can complete Tiered set bonuses by mixing equivalent 10-man and 25-man armor.
- Drops of caster and melee weapons should be about equal.
- There was a re-emphasis on the idea that Druids should be just as viable as Warriors as an MT, despite their lack of tools like Shield Wall.
- Ghostcrawler is a dude.
Additional Reading
- Lumey’s wonderful, multi-part writeup on his attendance of BlizzCon (/jealous): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
- WoWInsider’s extensive BlizzCon coverage
- Joystiq’s coverage of the BlizzCon dance contest (because Druids LOVE to /dance)
Related Posts
Over the last few weeks, Mr. Phae and I have been in the process of moving into a rental house, spending the entirety of our nights discovering just how much stuff we’ve accumulated (and no longer need/want). It’s definitely been an lesson in consumerism! We only finished moving into our new place yesterday afternoon, and I’m happy to say there’s not a box to be found anywhere … well, except that one over there in the corner, but I’m going to get to that one … some day soon. And not Blizzard “soon” (hopefully)!
The size of our new rental is more than twice that of our old apartment, but my favorite thing about it is definitely the kitchen. Here I am cooking in it last night:
Would anyone like to take a guess at what I’m fixing? 
Anyway, I thought I’d give you all a heads up on why things have been so … very … quiet … around here lately. I figured a month before the expansion was a pretty good time to move. Not that its impending release in any way affected our timetable, but it was pretty convenient! Hopefully, I’ll be back to posting again regularly now that my free time isn’t filled with filling (and unfilling) boxes!
* Title shamelessly stolen from Karthis from Of Teeth and Claws.
Related Posts
Ghostcrawler Defends Druids’ Out of Combat Rez
Published on October 8, 2008 by Phaelia 
Blue, Spells and Talents 
39 Comments You may have heard about the new out of combat resurrection spell finally being given to Druids in Wrath of the Lich King:
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Apparently not everyone drank the Kool-aid. Beta Tester Presarius of Northrend (US) objects to the addition of Revive, claiming the resurrection spell is “unbalanced” and “unfair”:
It kind of irks me now that Druid’s have an out-of-combat rez (Revive). You see, everything was well-balanced around the fact that Druid’s have the game’s only in-combat rez, and everyone was cool with that. Seeing as how they didn’t have have an in-combat rez, it was all balanced, and nobody had a problem with it. But, now that Druids get Revive, it throws everything off, including balance.
Now, where are all the other healers’ in-combat rez to compensate?
I’ve been pretty vocal about this issue in the past. To summarize, though, an ability that has no effect on combat cannot affect game balance. Rezzers who begrudge Druids this one core ability do so because they want us to be arbitrarily less desirable than they are because of the inconvenience we cause the people who choose us as their healer. Alternatively, they want us to be forced to build our group around the inclusion of a Retribution/Protection Paladin, Shadow Priest, or Elemental/Enhancement Shaman, classes which provide no notable forms of crowd control and make these groups disadvantaged in harder instances like Heroics.
Revive is perhaps THE ability I am most looking forward to in the expansion because it represents the end of an era where Druids were relegated to sub-par healers because otherwise “there would be no reason to play with other healing classes at all” (Vaneras, June 2008). Clearly, giving us an out of combat rez has brought us one step closer to “morphing all classes into one big green blob that all have the same skills” (Bornakk, April 2008) I don’t know about you, but I prefer my uniqueness to be related to my abilities, not my disabilities. Thankfully, it seems that Blizzard developers have been brought around to our way of thinking since Developer Ghostcrawler responded to Presarius’ concerns with the following:
We don’t think an out of combat rez for druids is a balance problem. We did it to make druids more attractive healers for 5-player dungeons. It was frustrating for someone to die and have to run back nearly every time with a druid healing.
The only possible balance issue that comes to mind is the druid who stealths into an instance and brings back the whole group to get around respawns. But really, that seems like such a minor concern compared to he major hassle of not being able to rez fallen comrades more often than once every 10 min, that we thought it was worth just making the change.
Presarius later admits that the motivation behind his original post was a desire for a 20-minute cooldown on the Shaman’s ability, Reincarnate, to mirror the 20-minute cooldown on Rebirth (Reincarnate is currently limited to a one hour cooldown). I don’t have a particular objection to such a change, but wanting a buff to one’s own abilities is no reason to demean a long-awaited and needed change to another healing class.
And because I’m not sure if I’ve said it yet, THANK YOU, BLIZZARD! <3
Related Posts
Community Spotlight
Published on October 3, 2008 by Phaelia Artwork, Community, Tree-Shirts
13 Comments Recommended Reading
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| Warsong Gulch Druids by Tigon |
Before you can head out to celebrate Friday and libation liberation from 9 to 5 weekdays, make sure you do your homework!
- 5 Improvements to Tailoring and Why We Need Them from Destructive Reach
Tailoring is a common profession choice for Druids. After all, we need the bag space. Saresa details five great proposals for making the profession more entertaining and useful. - A Better Stance Bar from Of Teeth and Claws
You’re not still using the default shapeshifting bar, ARE YOU? - Brewfest – Drunken Cavortin’ Fer All from Slash Hug
With just two days left to enjoy the festivities, you can take best advantage of everything that Brewfest has to offer with Aurik’s in-depth guide. - The Great Armor Nerf from Of Teeth and Claws
Karthis shares his thoughts about the removal and reduction of much of the additional armor on many TBC items formerly considered to be staples of a Feral Druid’s potential armory. - Expertise and the Swing Timer from Big Bear Butt Blogger
BBB takes a look at expertise and why it’s so valuable to (but often overlooked by) Feral Druids. - Inscription Guide from Banana Shoulders
Siha contributes another fantastic guide, this one aimed at helping the budding Inscription practitioner. Includes a wonderfully helpful PDF version for reference while playing! - Is Lifebloom Obsolete? Another Look at Resto Druids in 3.0 from World of Matticus
World of Matticus’ Druid author Sydera weighs in on recent changes to the Restoration spec. - So what am I (not) Wearing (yet)? A particularly Heroic shopping list. from Unbearably HoT
Runy shares a list of potential Wrath drops and rewards from Wrath. - WotLK: What Spell Do I Use? – Spell Rotations from Gray Matter
Wondering whether Wrath or Starfire will be king in Wrath? Graylo explains in easy-to-understand terms the recommended nuking rotations for Moonkin and Restos “moonlighting” (C WUT I DID THAR?) as Balance for the purpose of easing their leveling experience.
Forgotten Shift Happens Submission
I’m abashed to admit that I forgot to include one of the earliest submissions to Shift Happens contest. It was sent in by Nic of Nic Get Life and, while I loved the concept and execution, I unfortunately had to decline since it uses in-game models. It’s featured at left.
Thanks, Nic! Sorry for the absent-mindedness!
I hope to announce the results of the Shift Happens competition early next week (though honestly, you could probably just watch the poll results).
Blogs to Check Out
- Feral at Heart
Feral at Heart contains thoughts and commentary on playing a Feral Druid. - The Gnogue
A green-haired gnome has never looked so dangerous. Or would if you could see her. - Hearthstone
Aleathea and her husband co-GM a guild on the Draka (US) server. Hearthstone serves as a chronicle of her WoW life and a place to share character-based stories. - Lorecrafted
Lorecrafted is a fantastic resource for roleplayers. Warning: may just turn you into a lore aficionado. - Muffin Factory
Blueberry, lemon poppy seed, and strawberry. All pale in comparison to the awesomeness that is Revast’s Mage-themed blog. - The Sacred and the Profane
A Shadow and Holy Priest unite to bring you a blog from the perspective of two raiding Priests. - Spam Moonfare
The author of Spam Moonfare is a fearsome amalgam of feathery Boomkin and leafy Tree goodness. - Udder Madness
Beathooven of Aman’Thul (US) is very punny Tauren Druid. /moo
A Message from Runycat
For all U.S. readers, be you Democrat or Republican, it’s your civic duty to vote! Be like Voter Cat! (And that’s seriously Runycat’s cat at right.)
Unconvinced? Check this out.
