Shifting Perspectives: Building a better rotation
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we are delving back into the world of betacraft as we examine what is that is making the balance rotation tick, how there might be some flaws in it, and what might patch everything back together.
Greetings and salutations, friends. Those of you who follow the Cataclysm forums or read either Relevart's or Graylo's blog know that we've had something of a discussion going on about how the balance rotation currently exists and how, if at all, it might or could be changed. While these two both posted up blogs on the matter last week, I had originally not wanted to bring that particular discussion up within Shifting Perspectives; however, I've had something of a change of heart. Note, the intention here is not to really bring up the interesting debate again -- for that, I would much rather direct you all to the thread on The Moonkin Repository. Instead, I'd rather bring up the theory behind the discussion.
Not too long ago, Blizzard finally activated mastery effects on the beta servers, meaning Eclipse now actually does something for a change. This has given the balance community, myself included, a bit more practicality in how we can test rotations. Previously, we could test Eclipse gains to get theoretical DPS fluctuations, but now we have some actual numbers to work with. This allows us to go into deep theories of Eclipse, such as whether or not using non-Eclipsed spells to extend the effect's duration is an effective DPS gain; however, there are still a few tweaks that need to go through, particularly reaching level 85, before anything really solid can be configured. There are things that we do know. One of those things is that our rotation is rather bland. The current incarnation of Eclipse is very mechanical, very predictable -- which is not to say that's a bad thing. It does allow for a certain level of "zoning out" while playing, though.
The zone-out effect
The zoning-out effect is a rather simple occurrence that happens within several video games, so WoW isn't particularly special in that regard. This effect is simply how a player "zones out" from the game while still going through the standard motions. Many standard RPGs are known for this, especially during the level or farming grind experience; however, it isn't really a good thing.
Currently, the balance rotation is very prone to causing players to do this. Eclipse, the random mess that is now, is a completely different animal in Cataclysm. The effect is mechanical, as I said, in that there is a very specific number of spells casts that it will take in order to get to an Eclipse proc. Without the Euphoria talent, this number never changes; it is always constant, and you will always know when you will get Eclipse. This is why Blizzard changed Euphoria, but it isn't what you might think; the difference between spell casts is literally a range of two for Starfire or four for Wrath -- hardly random, when one thinks about it.
If nothing else, remember this one single concept: No matter what other words might be used to describe the issue by others or myself, no matter how someone suggests that the rotation be changed, know that this is the single thing all of wish to avoid and wish to change. Zoning out from a rotation is not a good thing -- although it should be said that it isn't a bad thing, either. There is a strict balance that must be maintained between simplicity and complexity. If a rotation is too simple, then it isn't engaging for players, and they will become bored with either the spec or the game as a whole. If the rotation is too complex, then players won't have enough time in order to focus on the encounter at hand. Where along this line a rotation stands is entirely a subjective viewpoint. To some players, the old affliction rotation when Wrath was first released is how every class should play; others thoroughly enjoy the fire rotation, which is more on the simplistic side.
From a personal viewpoint, I'd probably fall more into the affliction or feral side of things. I enjoy complexity and rotations that involve quick thinking and fast reaction times -- yet, I also understand that this is not how everyone would like to play the game.
What is synergy?
The balance tree (and skills, for that matter) lack synergy. It's a pretty broad statement, and one that people have been arguing over for a fairly extended amount of time now. Before any real discussion over how the balance rotation can be improved -- at least improved via synergy -- the first thing that we must do is lay down some grounding for what "synergy" means within this conversation. To start with, we'll go right with the foundation of the word. Synergy is a combination of means through which abilities work together, either through base mechanics or talents, in order to create a sum that is larger than the two separate parts. If synergy were to be written as a math equation, then 2 + 2 = 5 would be an accurate representation. All synergy means is that there is some type of function along the line that allows two or more spells to interact with each other in order to produce a higher level of damage than if you used just a single spell. How this is accomplished, however, can be done in a variety of ways.
The first form in which we see synergy take place is through passive effects attached to various abilities; hence, this can be referred to as passive synergy. An example of passive synergy would be the current Improved Insect Swarm talent. With this talent, you gain a larger benefit from casting either Wrath or Starfire upon a target if Insect Swarm or Moonfire is also on the target. Although there is an "active" means of application for this form of synergy -- you must first cast the DoTs in order to benefit -- the bonus effect that you gain requires no additional input, allowing you to reap the benefits passively. While a nice bonus, these types of effects generally do not change the way that a spec is played all that much. To an extent, it can cause some small DPET (damage per effective time) changes that matter to the top of the top, but it really will not change how the majority of players plays, especially in the case of Improved Insect Swarm (where, at least originally, you always wanted 100 percent DoT uptime, anyway).
The second form of synergy is more important when it comes to the aspect of altering rotations; it is what can be called active synergy. Active synergy is when you have a bonus from a talent or an ability in which you must directly input a command in order to benefit from the effect. At the core, there really is no difference between any of the various types of active synergy that exist in WoW, but there are still some forms that are more effective in creating complexity than others -- usually as a product of RNG. Here are some examples of both types: the requirement of Immolate in order to use Conflagrate is a form of active synergy, yet is fairly poor in creating complexity. All it does is create a situation in which the player benefits from a behavior that is already encouraged (keeping DoTs up as much as possible). Even if a warlock didn't want to keep Immolate all the time, the warlock could still just as easily create a cast sequence macro in order to perform the task; therefore, although this is a form of active synergy, it doesn't create complexity.
A talent such as Fingers of Frost or Hot Streak are also forms of active synergy, yet they do add rotational complexity, predominately as a function of RNG. Both of these are talents that allow players to deviate from their standard rotation merely as a product of getting a boost from casting their primary abilities. This, in essence, is synergy, even though it may not always seems like it to some. It is one of the few ways in which Blizzard has been able to successfully create complexity within rotations.
