balance-gearing
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Shifting Perspectives: Comparing T12 boomkin gear against T11
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. Last week, I allowed the unthinkable to happen: I allowed myself to be out-DPSed by an elemental shaman. It was a terrible day, one from which I don't think I shall ever recover. It happened the day that I had finally gotten my new, shiny four-piece bonus. I was eager to try it out, estatic that I finally got myself out of that god-awful dress. Then something just fell through. This week was more of a redemption, but I will still never forget losing out that one time. If anything good did come of it, at least you could say that it got me thinking. Upgrading from tier 11 to tier 12 should be a pretty big deal. The set has more and better itemization, the set bonuses are pretty spectacular -- so what could possibly be the issue? This week, we'll be talking about how tier 12 is great but not the bundle of roses that you might think it is. Depending on the encounter in question, which tier is actually better can change on you. Given that, should you ever go back to your old tier 11?
Shifting Perspectives: What to do once you've hit level 85 as a balance druid
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. There are times when it can be slightly awkward writing for two different class columns. While all of us strive to bring the best information for whatever it is that we write about, there are loads of tidbits that really do span across the entire game, stuff that people really do need to know. I find myself in this predicament at the moment. This past Monday, I did a piece for warlocks regarding this very same topic. Writing the same thing for balance druids as I do warlocks? Lazy? A cop-out? Nah -- well, maybe ... but probably not. Much of the information in that article holds true for balance druids as well, although there are itemization differences I'll be covering here; further, it's about readership. It is good information; it's stuff that everyone should know, and I want to make sure that everyone does get it. Just because I write about warlocks doesn't mean all of those who read Shifting Perspectives will also read Blood Pact. This week, I'm stealing one of my own pages and bringing you what to do once you hit level 85. Enjoy, perhaps even for the second time!
Shifting Perspectives: Murmurs' moonkin Twitter feed!
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. I haz a Twitters! Like most everyone else these days, I too am a part of the social revolution that is sweeping the globe. Originally I was against the idea, but I've been a part of this network for some time now and I figured that it was finally the time to put that fact to work. This week, I'll be pulling questions from some of my followers on Twitter. @xvkarbear Should I be waiting to pop starfall until I have a lunar eclipse? Use mushrooms during solar eclipse?
Shifting Perspectives: How to raid as a balance druid
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. If there is one thing that avid readers may know about me, it is that I have a huge tendency to push players to become less single-minded. In any game that I play (particularly MMOs), I despise the one-sided nature that most players fall into. The mind set that "I am a DPSer, I am here to DPS, all I do is DPS" is highly pervasive within the gaming community -- and frankly, I want to break that concept so hard that it hurts. No matter what class or spec it is that you may play, you always bring more to the table than your prescribed role. DPSers especially have far more utility than they realize. It's time that players wake up to this, and that is exactly what I intend to facilitate in this week's article. Playing balance is exceptionally fun. You bring fantastic damage to any raid group, but you also bring so much more than that. Want to be a better raider -- no, want to be a better player in general? Then read on!
Shifting Perspectives: Balance druid gearing from Firelands
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send your questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. A few weeks ago, we talked about the various items that you can get from the new daily quests as well as items that you can get from the new raid faction, all of which are really good things. This week will be about new valor point items and items that you can get from boss drops themselves. While gearing is a little bit different in this expansion than it has been in previous expansions, there is still a little bit of choice and options involved. Before getting started, the first thing that we need to keep in mind is not to forgo items from the previous tier. Tier 11 gear is still really, really good, and if there are slots that you could still use from that raid, then I would highly suggest trying to find ways to go back and get them. Firelands isn't a cakewalk for most guilds out there, so it is important that you gear yourself as best as you possible can. With the change to justice points and the nerf to the actual raid content, it shouldn't be too difficult to get your hands on a lot of the items.
Shifting Perspectives: How raid progression affects balance gearing
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Balance news comes at you every Friday -- learn how to master the forces of nature, and know what it means to be a giant laser turkey! Send your questions, comments, or something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com. Gearing a boomkin has always been a strange lot of juggling and switching and planning. For every raiding tier, there comes a new list of items that are the absolute best in terms of damage. All of us wish that we could have best-in-slot everything, but the reality is that this is very rarely the case for even the very best players. Instead, most of us merely have to make the best with what we are able. As the next raiding tier is poised to be released, I think now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of a few very important gearing principles. Getting the best-in-slot is fantastic; getting the best-for-now is far better.
Shifting Perspectives: Gearing a fresh balance druid
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. So that picture has nothing to do with gearing nor balance druids, but it's a priest, on a stack of rocket clusters, and it amuses me. I tried to do it too, but Moonkin are too fat and I brokesded it. Also, there's some shocking revelations in this weeks episode! Stay tuned! I admit it; I'm a bit of an elitist. There, I've said it, please stop hating me now. I talk a lot about balancing this game, the deeper aspects of theorycrafting that drive it, and how to best optimize every aspect of your druid, yet I ignore a much larger portion of the community. I have a tendency to throw out terms and concepts that isn't entirely relevant to a significant portion of WoW players. For example, the discussion of when to limit Moonfire and Insect Swarm from your rotation is a very good one, but it only applies to those druids that are already fairly far along in Icecrown Citadel. While a resource to that portion of the community, it is largely useless to those whom only play mostly on the side, or PuG 10's and 25's when they can get the time. This week, I am going to change that stance. This week, instead of an article that isn't as useful to the more casual faction of players, I'm rallying against the more involved raiders. Fighting the man, raging against the machine, and all that jazz. If you're a raider deep in ICC, then I'll give you permission to stop reading now, because none of this is going to change how you play or raid. If you're not one of those balance druids, or merely have a balance druid alt whom you're a bit wary of playing, then I implore you to keep reading as I hope this can prove to be a solid resource for you. So, you've finally reached the goal that you've been working towards for so long, hitting level 80, or maybe you've been level 80 for a little while now and are just a tad unsure about where to go at this point. Don't worry, reaching level 80 in WoW, especially for the first time, can be a rather daunting experience. The game hasn't ended for you, no, it's just beginning. Level 80 is where everything changes, and you've got to be ready: Torchwood. Okay, maybe not, but I still think we should lock up all the Draenei like Weevels.
