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Shifting Perspectives: Fixing balance druid mana issues
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Greetings once again, folks. These are the days that I always dread every coming expansion, the days shortly before -- well, just over a month and a half before -- the newest installment of World of Warcraft hits the shelves, when everything feels as if it has to be done now. Perhaps the sense of urgency is false, but I can at least tell that I am not alone; it seems as though everyone believes that every class balance issue needs to be fixed by tomorrow or the world will end. I am really no different. The new version of the balance druid is an improvement over what we have today. There have been a lot of significant changes that have put us in a better position now than we have even been in before. But nothing is ever perfect, and there is always something that can be improved. What I want to talk about today isn't a minor quality-of-life improvement that balance druids need in order to simply have an easier time of playing; the issue that I want to talk about is one that could potentially prevent balance druids from playing at all. If you have been following the most recent beta forum posts on balance druids (or even a few of my articles), then you know that level 85 balance druids are having a serious issue with mana. The simple fact remains that even our most basic rotations consume far more mana than we are able to regenerate, which leaves us sitting there twiddling our thumbs while the rest of the world is actually killing the big baddie that's looking to turn us into meat paste. It's a problem that I know I've talked about frequently, but today, I'd rather focus on a different aspect of the issue; today, I want to talk about possible ways in which to fix the current mana issues that are threatening balance druids.
Shifting Perspectives: Predictions for Cataclysm druids
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, Allison hauls out the crystal ball again. I enjoy the business of prognostication. Nobody remembers the crap you'll get wrong -- and if you get anything even vaguely right, you'll be considered a visionary, thanks to a wonderful little thing called confirmation bias. Personally, I've had it up to here with beta dungeon groups. I'm sick of idiots who start to AoE off the pull while I'm tanking and tanks who say, "Give me 10 minutes to fix my bars" while I'm healing. I've had quite enough of titchy little numbers that insist on changing from patch to patch. It's time to return the Tuesday portion of this column to form -- hog-wild speculation and completely baseless conjecture!
Shifting Perspectives: Hopes for balance PvP in Cataclysm
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we take a quick dip into the PvP pool, as we glance at what the future holds for balance druids wishing to pummel other player's faces. It is a rather well known fact that I am not the most hardcore of PvP players. I enjoy it from time to time, especially battlegrounds, but when it comes to high-end arena play, that's just a little bit out of my league. I know the theory of it, as much as there can be theory on PvP. I read what those in the higher echelons are doing and say, and I watch those better than me to refine my skills, but it's just not meant to be. I am fine with my own status in the PvP world; I don't particularly seek to top any bracket. I mention this as a preface to the rest of this article because I want to talk about the issues that I have personally seen and read about, with the understanding that I am not a PvP guru. As a further introduction to the topic, it's important to reflect a moment on how balance PvP stands right now. In its current state, balance PvP isn't so much broken as it is excessively difficult; perhaps even "difficult" isn't the correct word to use, either. Balance druids are more of a support class when it comes to PvP, but they rely upon the support of others in order to function. We have never really been able to fend for ourselves, so to speak; we bring great control tools, but only in a limited sense. We have a decent amount of burst, but we still require the assistance of others in order to both finish players off and to help set us up. We aren't exactly in a bad position, but neither are we in a great one. We float along in limbo, and our major hope for change is with Cataclysm.
Shifting Perspectives: Restoration talents in 13066
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we eschew the future in favor of the present, and are also delighted to discover that the Mac video capture bug appears to have been fixed on the beta. Many thanks to Raylis of Wyrmrest Accord for putting together a guide to troll form associations and allowing me to use it. We'll have a worgen version up once the barbershop starts cooperating! Resto's picked up a lot of interesting stuff recently. Whether these changes survive to patch 4.0.1 intact is anyone's guess, but today's column is a comprehensive look at all restoration talents as of build 13066 on a level 85 premade druid (average ilevel 335). Because the subject matter's on the dry side unless you're a healer, I've also included: Some notes concerning Cataclysm questing Why Anduin Wrynn is awesome Video of male worgen interrogation techniques (now that my video capture is actually working, you'll see more videos popping up soon) Video of said male worgen casting most of our heals with the user interface active to give you a sense of the numbers and efficiency you'll see at level 85 with pre-heroic blues
Shifting Perspectives: The balance of changes for balance druids
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we are once again delving into the wild world of beta to see what's been fixed, what remains broken and what is just awesomsauce. Greetings once again, fellow moon chickens. This week has been an exciting one for balance druids everywhere, just in case you haven't been paying attention. The latest beta push made many a remarkable changes to our talent tree and for our playstyle; certainly all of the changes that have been made thus far have been lauded by the community as a significant breakthrough toward everything that we have been pushing for this entire beta cycle. Those who know me, however, know that I am not one to throw parades. Some may call it being cynical; others might say that it's downright pessimistic -- but I like to think that I am merely a perfectionist, and as we all know, nothing can be perfect. To that end, while this is certainly a cheerful week to be a balance druid, let us reflect on those changes that still need to be made, the issues that have remained unaddressed and the problems that beta players are still finding with our spec in the next expansion. Before going into the humdrum of negativity, the bleak abyss of the perpetual rain cloud of doom that seems to surround me, let's at least bask in the glorious light of everything that has gone right this week in the land of overweight, feathered genetic research rejects.
Shifting Perspectives: Bear druids in patch 4.0.1
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, sum durids is bare. Unannounced changes on the most recent beta build: Female worgen have been redesigned and now bear a startling resemblance to Rachel Dratch. Nourish has a 50/100 percent chance to refresh the duration of Lifebloom on your target and causes Allison Robert to use the f-word six times in one sentence on the WoW Insider team line. Dave Kosak's stoner troll Gravy from Flintlocke vs. The Horde is now a bartender in Orgrimmar. Actually, that last part's a little misleading; I think our pal Gravy's been tending bar since the alpha. I found out about him a few builds ago and have been trying to sneak him into an article ever since. As a general note concerning tanking once patch 4.0.1 and then Cataclysm itself hit, I think we are very likely to see an instancing model reminiscent of the pre-3.0.2 world. I got my start as a 5-man tank in the dungeons and heroics of The Burning Crusade and was known as one of the few people on my server willing to tank Shattered Halls, Shadow Lab and Magisters' Terrace PUGs. As a result, I got very familiar with the need to mark mob packs, assign crowd controllers, use line of sight and tab targeting, and maintain situational awareness. I was equally familiar with the effect that an inexperienced or incompetent player could have on a group under those circumstances (particularly when said inexperienced or incompetent player was me). This is not an indictment of the more difficult instancing model to which Blizzard seems to be returning, because I've genuinely missed tough heroics. However, the dungeon finder is perhaps more suited to a world with greater margin for group error. Tanks are generally unwilling to confront instances requiring heavy crowd control when they don't know what kind of group they're going to get. Guild achievements and reputation are also oriented around guildies' instancing together. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the dungeon finder will become obsolete, but I'm reasonably certain that the wait for a tank is going to get longer. When CC is more of a concern, a tank's control over the dungeon's outcome is necessarily limited, and there are increasingly few incentives to ply your trade for a random group.
Shifting Perspectives: Balance druids in patch 4.0.1
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we once again see the return of the infamous shroomkin as we jump onto the newly released PTR for a glimpse at how balance druids will function in the next expansion. So, it is all finally coming to a close, it seems. The patch that will start the Cataclysm expansion process has hit the PTR, and all players are finally able to test some of the content that the WoW community has been abuzz about for months now. For some classes and specs, this is a day of revelry and excitement as they test their newfound glory, talents, abilities and resources. For balance druids, some are finding themselves more than a little disappointed over the changes that have been made thus far. They're a tricky thing, new expansions -- new abilities and talents, along with completely rebalancing damage potential across a wide array of concepts. Luckily, we are not also undergoing a major shift in DPS philosophy this time. This may seem like all bad news, but there is a load of good to go along with it. Before I begin a discussion about the available changes, I first want to encourage everyone to download the PTR and test everything that you possibly can for yourself. While there will certainly be many players talking about the changes on the forums and their personal blogs, it is always better to get a first-hand knowledge and see the concepts for yourself; your own experiences are always a far better judge than anything that anyone writes. Remember to try and focus on those things that you love the most; while raiding content may be difficult to try, PvP content, solo content and dungeon content are also on the PTR. Trying specific content will better allow you to judge specific issues that you may personally find within that content. The tools that are useful in each situation vary significantly.
Shifting Perspectives: A peek at the beta cat
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we wonder why Shred doesn't seem to appear in our combat logs. My main is now 85 on the beta, and I've parked her at a training dummy from time to time to see what cat DPS looks like. Truthfully, I'm not sure that the resulting information is worth a damn, but it is representative of what you'll be seeing on a beta cat at the moment in questing gear. Of the three specs we cover in the Tuesday column, cats have changed least, which I think is all to the good. Cats are emerging from Wrath in the best place we've ever been, with an interesting rotation and high damage potential subject to player skill and fight conditions. Blizzard seems to have concerned itself mostly with not changing what ain't broke and has instead moved to address some of the factors that have historically crippled cat DPS unfairly.
Shifting Perspectives: Heroic ICC for balance druids -- Plagueworks and Frostwing Halls
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we are exploring two of the four wings in Heroic ICC. Be prepared to face some of the most challenging content the game has to offer, folks -- it only gets real from here on out. Here we are -- it's another week and another great time at the office. Well, the office is merely an internet myth, but my room is comfortable enough as is; it even has a sweet "Life's a Beach" coffee mug and everything. Last week, we talked about the first two wings of heroic ICC, the Lower Spire and the Crimson Hall; this week, we'll continue with the next two wings. Unfortunately, I won't be able to cover heroic Lich King since, well, I haven't yet been able to complete the encounter, and I think it would be remiss of me to try and give out information on an encounter that I'm still working on. If you have any questions on the Lich King encounter, I'd be more than happy to talk shop about it, so just send an email or leave a comment and we can get to it; otherwise, it won't be something that's likely to appear in this article. Last week, I forgot to issue a fair warning, and for that I do apologize. Everything that I discuss here is my opinion based upon how my guild has completed these encounters and the things that I have experienced while doing them. There are multiple ways to complete every encounter, and your guild may have a completely different strategy depending on group composition that works for you. This doesn't make either you or me any less wrong, just different. That's the beautiful thing about WoW; even in the rigid isolation of PvE encounters, there are always multiple methods to deal with every encounter or boss ability depending on the resources that a guild has available to them. I cannot promise that the methods I describe will work for your guild, but I will try and offer as many different options as I possible can and allow you to make the best choice for yourself.
Shifting Perspectives: Notes from bizarro world
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we squint at a series of notes scattered around our computer. So there's a weird new bug on the beta causing people to disconnect whenever they hit a 5-man. I first realized this was happening around the time I finished a laborious sketch of what to expect in Stonecore to a group that hadn't yet seen the dungeon. I assigned group marks, went over mob abilities and gave a detailed explanation of how to handle the first boss. Around the time I finished this triumph of 5-man leadership, I noticed that everyone in the group had gone eerily silent. Moments later, they were -- to a man -- revealed to be offline. Readers, I cried. Crazy. But the disconnect bug is pretty common right now. As a reflection of the disjointed and surreal experience that is dungeoneering on the beta, you will find a collection of notes below that I've scribbled over the last week. I'm still not having a great time healing, but tanking's gotten better, and there's a wonderful bug with Ravage that I have thus far managed to avoid reporting in the forlorn hopes that it will stick around.
Shifting Perspectives: Heroic ICC for balance druids -- Lower Spire and Crimson Hall
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we are exploring two of the four wings in Heroic ICC. Be prepared to face some of the most challenging content the game has to offer, folks -- it only gets real from here on out. I know, I know: No one cares about ICC any more ... Everything is all about Cataclysm ... So why bother talking about it? That's far from the truth, though. ICC still matters to many people. However, if you happen to be of the more pragmatic sort, then hear me out for a little bit. Most of the server-first and world-first kills may have already been claimed, but there is always loot to be had, gear that can be helpful for either soloing things now or leveling in the expansion. Beyond simple gear, heroic ICC is simply fun. People have argued that hard modes aren't quite the same as a truly difficult raid encounter because they are the same as the standard encounters -- perhaps true to a point, but heroic modes are really fun when they are done correctly. Heroic Putricide feels like a completely different encounter when done on heroic mode and is extremely fun. Perhaps this issue is a little bit late in coming, and for that I apologize -- but it's better late than never, aye? To start with, the first order of business is to ensure that your guild is prepared to go against heroic encounters. The ICC buff can be very intoxicating to some players, and it may make you feel more prepared than you really are for these encounters. Perhaps, in some cases, you are, and perhaps in others, you are not. Not all heroic encounters are created equal; some are far more difficult than others. Since this issue will deal with the opening Lower Spire and the Blood wing, the three encounters you'd want to start with would be Marrowgar, Gunship and Blood Princes; Deathwhisper, Saurfang and Blood Queen Lana'thel would be the three more difficult encounters in these two sectors.
Shifting Perspectives: Healers, selfishness and trouble ahead
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we stress the importance of pattern recognition. Cirocco: I enjoy a healing model based around triage, quick reactions and maximizing output. I very much doubt I'll enjoy a healing model based around parsimoniously doling out mana and yelling at people who snipe my HOTs. I've been guilty of a little pessimism concerning the restoration tree in Cataclysm. Many of my experiences healing on the beta haven't been good, and while I'm willing to allow for the likely possibility that that's just because I suck, it hasn't escaped my attention that a lot of druids have had the same hard time. Normal Cataclysm instances aren't bad if people are well-geared and play sensibly, but when things go wrong, it feels like you're emptying your mana into a group with nothing to show for it. To be frank, it really is too early to evaluate whether the 5-man experience is representative of what we can expect in raids at 85, but I'm not worried about the numbers themselves. As Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) has reminded us, numbers are pretty easy to fix. What worries me is more systemic; right now, it's hard to escape the conclusion that what made the restoration spec succeed in Wrath of the Lich King is a bad fit for Cataclysm, and a lot of our effectiveness is going to depend on player behavior that I'm not sure is going to change. EDIT: Naturally I had to finish this article shortly before new information concerning beta build 12857 became available. It's not live on the beta servers yet, and may not be (12857 might be a purely internal build, in which case I wonder who Boubouille paid off), but there are a few things there that would have impacted how I wrote this column.
Shifting Perspectives: The sun and the moon
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. We've totally got this one down, right folks? You know the drill, huge army of baddies, you all by your lonesome; it's time to show them why we don't mess with moonkin. After all, who would want to try and tango with a creature powerful enough to cause a localized eclipse? And Eclipse is exactly what we're talking about. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Greetings again, fellow moonkin. It's probable that I may start to sound like a broken record, but barring any significant changes of note, I want to visit the concept of Eclipse one last time. I know, I know ... It is something that I've spoken about before -- several times, in fact -- but it is a highly important concept for all of us. One might argue that it is the most important concept. I am not interested in the rotational aspect of Eclipse this time, although it is a factor that will be mentioned; instead, I would like to discuss the other aspects of Eclipse. You see, there is a very specific reason why I feel compelled to speak about Eclipse one last time. Since its inception in Wrath, Eclipse has become everything to balance druids. It is the focal point of our damage; it is the core of what we are balanced around. Balance druids will rise or fall with Eclipse; should it fail, then we too shall fail. Gloom and doom as all that may seem, I am not attempting to suggest that Eclipse is, in its current state, a terrible concept that will be the end of balance druids. Quite the contrary -- I think the current version of Eclipse on beta is rather workable. I am merely attempting to stress the importance of why this has to be said. If Eclipse does not function as it should, then there is simply no hope for us. There are no other options, no other avenues to pursue; Eclipse is the final destination.
Shifting Perspectives: Beta build 12803
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we ponder change. Beta build 12803 dropped late Friday, and with it a number of changes to the feral and restoration specs. Some are what you'd expect after some recent forum conversations with Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer), and others came out of left field. We'll take a look past the cut.
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.
Shifting Perspectives: A limited number of people know the troubles I've seen
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we equivocate on the best means of filling a bottomless pit. Beta build 12759 dropped early Saturday morning, and with it the introduction of mastery and quite a few changes to the feral and restoration specs. I think Blizzard may even have fixed some of the issues with feral damage, but the newest bug on the block is making that a little difficult to tell. The default scrolling combat text is now broken -- you can't see how much damage or healing you're doing to hostile mobs or friendly players, respectively -- so at best, you're confined to guesses based on how much health the mob's losing when you hit it. For me, this requires squinting at a very small portion of a laptop screen with my nose two inches from the monitor, and I'll be damned if I'll wind up financing the purchase of another Maserati for my ophthalmologist.
Shifting Perspectives: Gearing up your moonkin for Cataclysm
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. Itemization in Cataclysm is changing, and this week we'll be talking about how you can prepare yourself for the oncoming storm. I've talked quite a bit about various changes that are happening with balance druids in the coming expansion: the Eclipse changes, the talent tree changes, Moonkin Form and a slew of other topics as well. One vital change that I have somewhat neglected, however, is that to spellpower and intellect. Blizzard announced many moons ago that, come Cataclysm, the spellpower stat would be completely removed from the game; instead, raw intellect from gear would passively provide spellpower for all classes. The only exception to this rule would be caster weapons, which would still retain pure spellpower as a stat in order to balance the difference between a melee player's gaining strength/agility and weapon DPS versus a caster's simply gaining intellect. Unfortunately, this is a change that's come and gone untouched. As a core concept, removing spellpower to allow intellect to provide the same bonus is a strong change. To start with, it significantly reduces the time required to revamp lower-level quest rewards (despite the fact that most previous low-level quests are gone anyway, and thus, rewards would have had to be redone to a certain degree regardless), given that all of them already have intellect on them yet more often than not lack spellpower. This also allows for more commonality between all of the "base" stats: agility, strength, stamina and intellect (spirit is technically a secondary stat, not a primary stat). In removing spellpower and attack power as well, Blizzard allows for better balancing between spellpower and attack power values. Just as with spellpower, intellect is the new top dog in the caster stat options, especially for balance druids due to Heart of the Wild, Furor and leather armor mastery.
Shifting Perspectives: A peek at the beta bear
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we push off from the island of Swipe spam and float toward the ominous continent inhabited by Lacerate spam. Hail, druids. I've had another week in the beta, and my main's now level 82. While I would love to tell you that all of the bugs we talked about last week have been tracked down and eliminated; that's not the case, so I'm not sure that a big analytical article on abilities that Blizzard's by no means finished with is a great use of our time. But I did tank a very successful Blackrock Caverns run, and Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) recently wrote something interesting about the future of AoE tanking, so today's post is going to take a quick peek at how bears are developing. Also, there's a great quest in Mount Hyjal where you throw bears off a tree, which naturally I recorded. It recorded upside down for some reason, so I'll have to figure out how to flip it before it gets posted.
Shifting Perspectives: Moonkin mailbag, Cataclysm edition
Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. Does anyone have a mailbox? I've had that little mail flag over my minimap for ages now, and it's time to go in an check out what I've got this week. That's right, it's time for another session of the moonkin mailbag! Hey there again kids, it's that time of the week again! You know, there's something great about writing on Fridays. I get to kick off the end of the week, which to some people is the best part of every week. I'm not one of those people; every day is the same to me. There are no weekends or week beginnings -- just weeks. Instead, my weeks are tied to two entirely different days: Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays of course are WoW maintenance/patch days, which we all must obey; Thursdays are beta patch days. Perhaps that's a little bit nerdy, even a little bit excessive -- but apart from two-for-one drink specials (which you can find every night of the week somewhere, to be honest), there's little else to mark the passing of the days. Unfortunately, this Tuesday and Thursday passed by rather uneventfully. There wasn't much new for balance druids on either front. People are still famished for Cataclysm information, though, and I aim to please. While there isn't much new to report, there are still a lot of things out there that haven't been covered; a lot of questions that people have been asking that I haven't answered as of yet. So here are the answers for you now -- all the random stuff you might have been wondering about. If you have another question that isn't answered, feel free to ask! I'll answer everything as best I can. As a generalized disclaimer, there might be some spoilers in this edition. I've tried to keep them down as best I can, but you never know ... So read at your own risk.
Shifting Perspectives: Answers to questions nobody asked
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we get a beta key, and maybe a little sloshed. After getting a beta key, it was my intent to hit the servers and write an FAQ/reader mailbag-type column, but I'm not going to do that today. I'm going to answer my questions, not yours. I don't care about any of you. Well, that's not true. I do care. But I've been in the beta for less than a week and: Half the stuff we've read about has been scrapped or just hasn't been implemented. The other half is a writhing mass of angry, toxic bugs. The servers crash like that drunk buddy who swore he'd only be on your couch for a few days but is still there weeks later and you poke him with a stick every morning to make sure he's alive and unfortunately he is. About the most I could do without pulling several consecutive all-nighters was level a worgen and troll druid to level 13 as quickly as I could. Oh, and wipe a Blackwing Caverns group several times over. Readers beware: while I may not answer any useful questions past the cut, there are still a few serious spoilers here.
