Warlords of Draenor: Major balance druid changes on the way
I have two druids, one Alliance, one Horde -- in fact, the Alliance druid was the first character I ever made. That said, while I initially tried my hand at healing with my first druid, these days, I usually just use the characters for farming purposes. Let's face it, there's nothing better than flight form for nabbing pesky herbs or mining nodes. I will, however, occasionally run a dungeon or a scenario -- and when I do, I'm in cat form. It's the default choice as far as I'm concerned, and I do enough damage to get by, although nobody in their right mind could claim I have more than a bare, passing knowledge of the spec.
But I never could get into playing a balance druid. At first it was the fact that I began playing a druid before balance druids were even something remotely feasible to play. Then I was drawn to other classes, and by the time I got back to the druid, balance looked like a complicated impossibility to learn. Apparently I was not alone in this assessment, as balance druids are headed for some massive changes according to the latest iteration of patch notes from the Warlords of Draenor alpha.
Summary of changes to Balance: That's the basics of the new Moonkin rotation. There's room for improvement beyond that, learning to optimally maintain both periodic damage effects with the strongest Eclipse effect, timing Starsurges to optimize the benefit of its buff, make use of Starfall and Hurricane for area damage, and taking advantage of the strengths of each side (such as Moonfire and Sunfire having significant differences now). Here are the full details of the changes.
Balance Energy is a bar that automatically cycles back and forth between Lunar and Solar sides, like night and day. The closer to one end that the bar is, the more damage that side's spells do.
Balance Druids now have four rotational spells.
Starfire: Lunar direct damage spell
Cast when the Lunar side is stronger
Wrath: Solar direct damage spell
Cast when the Solar side is stronger
Moonfire: Lunar periodic damage spell. While closer to Solar, this button is replaced with Sunfire, a Solar periodic damage spell.
Maintain both effects where possible
Starsurge: Direct damage spell that benefits from whichever side is stronger. Has up to 3 charges, and buffs the damage of the next few Wraths or Starfires.
Cast when able to follow up with a few strong Wraths or Starfires.
Balance Energy system has been redesigned. Balance Energy is a bar that cycles back and forth between Lunar and Solar sides, like night and day, with a 30 second cycle time (from Lunar to Solar and back to Lunar).
Balance Energy is no longer generated through spells, talents, or other effects anymore.
Eclipse has been redesigned.
Eclipse inspires the Druid with the power of the moon and the sun, causing the damage of Lunar and Solar spells to be increased by up to 30% based on how close Balance Energy levels are to the appropriate side.
Example: With 0 Balance Energy, the damage bonus is evenly split between Lunar and Solar, and the Druid receives a 15% increase to damage for both spell types. With 80 Solar Energy, the Druid receives a 27% damage increase to Solar spells and a 3% damage increase to Lunar spells.
Mastery: Total Eclipse now increases the maximum damage bonus of Eclipse by 12% (increasing with Mastery).
Starfire now has a 3 second cast time (up from 2.7 seconds).
Moonfire now has a 16 second base duration (up from 14 seconds), but is no longer extended by Starfire and Starsurge critical strikes.
Sunfire now has a 16 second duration (up from 14 seconds), but is no longer extended by Wrath and Starsurge critical strikes. Additionally, Sunfire is no longer its own spell. Sunfire replaces Moonfire on the action bar whenever Balance Energy is on the Solar side. Enemies may still suffer from both Moonfire and Sunfire's periodic damage components simultaneously.
Lunar Shower has been redesigned and renamed Astral Showers.
Astral Showers calls upon greater Lunar and Solar energy to permanently empower the Druid's Moonfire and Sunfire spells.
Moonfire's initial damage is increased by 100%, and the duration of its periodic damage effect is increased by 100%.
Sunfire's initial damage is increased by 100%, and its periodic damage effect is now applied to all enemies within 5 yards of the target.
Starsurge now has 3 charges and a 30 second recharge time (instead of a 15 second cooldown). Starsurge now also grants Lunar or Solar Empowerment.
Lunar Empowerment causes the next 2 Starfires to deal 30% more damage.
Solar Empowerment causes the next 3 Wraths to deal 30% more damage.
Starfall now shares charges with Starsurge, and has no cooldown of its own. It also now hits all nearby enemies (up from 2 nearby enemies).
Shooting Stars now adds 1 full charge of Starsurge and Starfall when it triggers, and now has a 2.5% chance to trigger on Moonfire and Sunfire periodic damage. This chance is doubled on critical strikes.
Hurricane's range has been increased to 35 yards (up from 30 yards).
Astral Storm has been removed.
Wild Mushroom (Balance) now begins snaring enemies immediately when summoned, lasts 20 seconds, and can no longer be detonated to deal damage.
Wild Mushroom: Detonate has been removed.
Celestial Alignment has been redesigned.
Celestial Alignment causes the Druid to enter Celestial Alignment, a state where Balance Energy cycle is paused, and all Lunar and Solar spells benefit from the maximum Eclipse bonus. Lasts 15 seconds with a 3 minute cooldown.
Astral Communion now increases the rate that Balance Energy cycles by 300% while channeled.
Euphoria has been removed.
Insect Swarm has been redesigned and renamed Stellar Flare.
Stellar Flare is a powerful spell benefitting from both Lunar and Solar Eclipses, dealing the most damage when they are equal. Burns the target for Spellstorm damage and cause additional damage over 15 seconds. The ability has a cast time of 1.5 seconds.
Soul of the Forest (Balance) has been redesigned.
Soul of the Forest (Balance) now increases the damage bonus from Lunar and Solar Empowerment by an additional 30%.
Equinox has been replaced with a new talent, Balance of Power.
Balance of Power causes Wrath to extend the duration of Sunfire by 4 seconds and Starfire to extend the duration of Moonfire by 6 seconds.
Sunfall has been replaced with a new talent, Euphoria.
Euphoria grants the Druid a deeper connection to the stars, causing Balance Energy to cycle 50% faster. Additionally, Starsurge also grants 20% Haste for 6 seconds.
Several Glyphs and Draenor Perks will be redesigned in a future build, and so are currently TBD.
Glyph of Omens
Glyph of Sudden Eclipse
Empowered Starfall
Enhanced Mushrooms
Enhanced Starsurge
Enhanced Storms
While this may seem like a lot to take in, the actual mechanics seem fairly simple for the new rotation. Balance druids will now have a Balance Energy bar that automatically ticks from side to side over the course of 30 seconds. Rotations will require paying attention to which side the bar is cycling through -- the further the bar is to one side or the other, the more damage it will do. There are four basic rotation spells to learn, which is a pretty minimal number and not at all daunting.
Honestly, I really like the sound of this. It's a system that is far more actively engaging than watching combo points or chi or holy power rack up to the point where they can be expended. Although it sounds easy, the trick lies in timing the spells at the right moment, which sounds like just enough of a challenge to be fun without being frustrating. Of course we can't play with this system at the moment, but for the first time, I'm actually tempted to pick up the druid again and give balance a shot -- and I'm interested in seeing if they keep going with these intended changes, or whether they'll be adjusted significantly before going live. Regardless, balance druids just got a lot to look through and absorb. For more on upcoming class changes, be sure to check out the official patch notes.
