BC - New talens and spells - official!

[Bob]

I will reduce my points in resto quite a bit (have 46 in my current build), but I will still keep 31 points to get SM (I proposed a build in [post=162697]a previous post[/post]
).  But than agian, I'm not really raiding much anymore, so that won't benefit the raid too much afterall
If I find out that I won't get any time for raiding at all, I might concider to go more feral that I suggested in that post as well, but time will show...

[Akall]

I will go for something like THIS for lvl 70 and something like THIS for lvl 60. Being in a balance Spec I just need the right gear to heal tho I will not have mergency healings like Swiftmend and NS+HT

I'm curious to see how much mana regen while casting I'll have @ lvl 70...It should be huge:10% of int + 15% of normal mana regen (Intensity) + 15% from SR

[Sandrion]

We got stacking HoTs now, which is pretty nice. But this new patch will hurt druids in terms of healing on the short term, no matter if you're restro or not. This is partially because of the +healing nerf. But I think the main problem is that we'll be healing differently; more HoT's less HT-spam. This will require some getting used too. We'll probably overheal like hell in the beginning, unless you're already a HoT-ing druid.
 
But I wouldn't worry too much about your spec hurting the raid if I where you Akall. The balance talents also support healing nicely, so it shouldn't really be a problem in your case. How effective you are is mainly dependent on your skill and gear anyway, spec is secondary.
 
Personally I prefer the variety the patch will bring. It will make things more interesting. We can't really be compared to our parent classes anymore either, we've become different. The druid class now has a much clearer direction. Just as effective as their parent class, but different (restro = HoT heal instead of direct heal, balance = low downtime battlemage instead of a pure magic user, cat = DPS + raid DPS buff and bear = uber aggro melee tank).
 
In the raids currently on the live servers we'll probably still be asked to heal most of the time, simply because the encounters won't change. But looking at these talents and the BC changes, I don't think it will be the case in the expansion's end game content. In some fights we'll heal, some we'll tank and others we'll DPS. Games are supposed to be fun and these changes will make it just that: fun and varied :clap: .
 
 
About my spec, after long consideration I've decided that Mangle > NS. I had to 'waste' 3 talent points to get it and I can only use it once every 3 mins vs something I can use all the time. It'll prevent me from doing some cool wipe saving moves, but that's the price to pay for DPS :norty: . For 60: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent-bc=zZxMGsfroezfoVx and for 70: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent-bc=0zZxMGsfroezioVxIz.

[Bob]

But I think the main problem is that we'll be healing differently; more HoT's less HT-spam. This will require some getting used too. We'll probably overheal like hell in the beginning, unless you're already a HoT-ing druid.

I don't think the main problem for us here will be that we, the druids, have to get used to primarily use HoTs.  Since we all (?) most likely will work this way now, and we all know how the spells work pretty well, I don't think we'll have much problem adapting to the new way of healing.  The main problem here I think, will be the other healer classes.
Say that you for instance is healing a target that's on 40% healt, you use Regrowth wich instantly heals the target up to 80% health (now those numbers are only taken out of the air, I don't bother to find the details ), and the HoT will take care of the last 20%.  The chance is pretty big than, that a priest of a pally will come throw out an instant heal, thus wasting the whole HoT part of the spell :g:

For 60: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent-bc=zZxMGsfroezfoVx and for 70: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent-bc=0zZxMGsfroezioVxIz.

How come you are "missing" the Blood Frenzy talent in your talent tree?  I can't find it where it should be (compare to my lvl70 build).  Has there been any chances, or is it just a bug in the talent calculator you're using?

[Akall]

The talent calculator he used are more accurate than the ones in Blizz forums cause thoes are reflecting the changes that are applyed to Beta Test. I think 2 feral talents have been merged... but don't ask me when which and were

And using that one I thin I will go for somthing like THIS at level 70

[Akall]

News from Vaneras:

We just got some developer feedback regarding the 5th question :-)

   Q u o t e:
5- Raid usefullness in non-resto specs.
A buff to +5% crit in moonkin and feral forms was indeed noticable by the druidic community, but unfortunately it's not enough to warrant both this specs in a raiding scenario. Imp LOTP was a good step in the right direction but the recent nerf was generaly accepted as a hit on the foot. Imp LOTP was our trumph card to get into raids i hope blizzard has that idea. If the reasoning behind the nerf was Solo PVE / tanking another solution should be brought up to compensate our ability to buff the raid in some way. Was it "nerfed" because of the recent bear +STA bonus? then why?  

The developers felt that the Imp LOTP talent was too strong due to the increased health pool sizes in the Burning Crusade. Given the fact that bear tank health totals of 15000 or more, the Improved Leader of the Pack talent can be used to heal over 3000 health per minute, for just the bear, let alone the rest of the party, mana free. It is very similar in strength to Judgement of Light, but never wears off, costs nothing to apply, and will scale as players get better gear, unlike Judgement of Light.

If the developers find that feral combat Druids are actually non-viable in raids, they will find ways to improve them as necessary. This goes for all new talent specs that were previously underutilized such as the Retribution or Protection Paladin, the Elemental or Enhancement Shaman, etc.

[/U]

[Sandrion]

The chance is pretty big than, that a priest of a pally will come throw out an instant heal, thus wasting the whole HoT part of the spell :g:

Exactly, most healers will keep people near full health during raids. Most of the time they don't bother to check for active HoTs or they just can't see them, which is part of the problem. For example, CTRA lets you see the 4 buffs that you deemed most 'important'; a pally could for example prioritize their blessings, so they can see which ones are active.
 
The other part of the problem is that HT rank 4 was our most used healing spell, a lot of druids never touched regrowth during raids. For a part this is due to the problem you stated: the HoT is mostly wasted and we needed to resort to HT to reduce our overhealing. Additionally the lower rank HT's scaled really well with +healing.
 
So it's kind of a two fold 'problem'. Like I said before, I think it will hurt raid groups a bit in the short term; it will require some 'arrangements' to be made between the healers. But it will be beneficial for the druid as a class. We'll become different from our parent classes, since we have our own unique speciality.

[Sandrion]

If the developers find that feral combat Druids are actually non-viable in raids, they will find ways to improve them as necessary. This goes for all new talent specs that were previously underutilized such as the Retribution or Protection Paladin, the Elemental or Enhancement Shaman, etc.

Good to hear they're indeed looking in to the raid viability of certain specs.

[Akall]

the wrong one!!! gib something nice for raids in BALANCE !!! :taz:

[Sandrion]

the wrong one!!! gib something nice for raids in BALANCE !!! :taz:

Don't worry Akall, he said they're looking into all underutilized specs :
 

This goes for all new talent specs that were previously underutilized ... .

[Akall]

I think I might go to THIS build while we are doing AQ40 - C'Thun tries.

[Sandrion]

Well I wouldn't pick the tree for C'thun if I where you, because of the movement imparing effect; you'll be running around a lot and you might get torched by the dark glare thingy if you're unlucky :unsure: .

[Akall]

Unofficial Beta Notes

- Dire Bear form AP bonus is now +210. HP Bonus is now 25% (down from 40%)
- Tranquility now heals roughly 5x as much (almost 1600 every 2 sec for 8 seconds), but with 10 minute cooldown.
- Idol of Ferocity changed from -3 energy to +20dmg.
- Stormrage Armor Set 3 part bonus is now 20mp5 instead of 15% mana regen.

[Sandrion]

Oh great, major nerfs :angry: .

[Akall]

In italian we say that bad things arrives in packs :sad: no exceptions:

 Rune of Metamorphosis changed from 100% cost reduction to flat 550 mana reduction.