Summary of druid questions to the devs
, I highlighted a frustrated druid player who wrote a very extensive list of issues with the druid class. It covered PvE & PvP problems for Balance, Feral and Restoration specs. Tharfor, a Blizzard Europe Community Manager, has created a summary of that very lengthy document.
From that summary, here are the questions he is going to take to the devs:
*Will druids ever be able to gain benefit from melee 'buffs' such as windfury or weapon procs?
*Are there any plans to re-evaluate the scaling and itemisation so that druids (of all specs) have their own loot upgrades to chase rather than stealing other classes' loot?
*Constantly shifting roles takes its toll on the druids mana pool, are there any plans to adjust the costs/penalties to make shapeshifting 'easier' and more viable in longer battles?
*Can the restoration tree be looked at so that druids are able to be dedicated, and useful, healers whilst still having the ability to play the game alone outside of raid situations?
*Can the balance tree have more burst DPS options to remove the tediousness of the current slow and steady output of damage?
His full summary after the jump.
This is my summary of the original post where I have picked up on the main issues and concerns and reworded them slightly. I have then picked out the recurring ideas and formed them into questions at the bottom. These are the questions that we will be trying to find answers to from a development level.
I have also added a few personal thoughts and comments in italics, just because I can.
If I've missed anything significant, please let me know.
Feral
Feral druids in PvE are concerned that the items available to them in end-game are few and far between. They feel that they are being left behind as other DPS classes, such as rogues, continue to out-damage them.
There appear to be no items designed from a druid point of view in instances beyond Karazhan and Serpentshrine Cavern – druids are forced to chase rogue items.
The is also growing support for druids to gain benefit from haste ratings, weapon procs, enchantments, and other melee 'buffs' such as windfury totems. The druid community generally agree that this would help them to keep up with other DPS classes in the current end-game.
These problems also affect tanking druids and are considered to be an issue of generally poor scaling.
In PvP, feral druids are facing similar issues with no druid orientated cloaks and rings (note: druids feel that strength, agility, and a little intellect are more important than raw attack power in this regard). The bonuses available on the druid armor sets are considered to be weak when compared to other classes.
Restoration
The restoration tree is considered 'too full' and any druid who spends his points there has to make difficult decisions for healing and will never have any points left to spare for solo-ing purposes. This is a problem for most 'raid' orientated specs, but it still considered a problem nonetheless.
((Tharfor's comment: if you are in a raiding guild and consider yourself a serious player, surely you have the money to change your talent point allocation whenever it is necessary (every day perhaps). I mean that for all classes, btw, not just druids.))
Restoration in PvP is considered to be very strong but is dependant on sustaining heal-over-time spells and 'hiding' out of line of sight before being targeted by opposing DPS classes. Many players feel that this is a sort of exploit and that without it restoration druids would lose their survivability.
((Tharfor's comment: if it's an exploit, it would be punishable and eventually fixed. Perhaps the arenas were designed with line of sight in mind? We know that some boss encounters were...))
Items for a restoration druid are not as weak as those for feral, but many feel there is still room for improvement.
Balance
The balance tree has seen a lot of attention in recent times and is now a viable caster DPS option. Again, however, it is felt that the mana pool is too low and DPS must be sacrificed to avoid running out.
This may be resolved in the upcoming reworking of itemisation for balance druids.
((Tharfor's comment: surely being able to moderate your own DPS in relation to your mana and working with your 'support' classes is the intention? I don't think any class should be able to go 'full nuke' and not suffer the consequences if the target doesn't die quickly.))
Balance druids in PvP are few and far between despite some good crowd control options. A recurring request is that druids are able to control the treants summoned by Force of Nature much like mage elementals or warlock and hunter pets. There is also concern that despite being a DPS caster, there is no 'fun' involved as there are no 'cooldown' abilites (like Presence of Mind for mages) which create big crits and reduce other casting times.
((Tharfor's comment: again, isn't this a feature of multiplayer? If everyone was dealing out erratic burst DPS, it would be too chaotic for other players on your team to predict.))
Role
It has been said that the role of a druid is be inter-changeable in any given situation, however the community feels that the mana costs of constantly shifting to deal with different threats is too high and a druids survivability is significantly lower than other classes who perform only one task.
Concerning talents, it is felt that even when dedicating all talent points to a single role, a druid cannot match the power of 'parent class'. Whilst this was likely an intended feature for a hybrid class, it has essential removed the desire for people to choose druids when the 'parent class' is available to fill the same role.
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What do you think? Are those the major issues facing druids today? Did they miss anything critical?
