[MoP] Updated Druid Talents

[stormgust]

People that say that some talents (like Heart of the Wild) aren't very useful unless in some very specific situations. That's exactly how it is supposed to be : you can easily swap talents to accommodate the fight's needs. That's the whole concept of the new system, you don't just pick something and stick with it for all the fights. Going back to HotW, you'll be glad you can pick it when, as a feral, you're in a phase where melee damage is useless. Or when as a Boomie you have very little to do while the raid is under a lot of damage ("Hello Rhyolith"). Or when as a Resto you find yourself in a DPS phase with very little healing to do.

Now try holding that point AFTER you looked at other classes trees. Quite confident that you wouldn't need to come up with some abstruse scenarios for their talents to be useful.

[walrusaurus]

The problem with this design approach is that Blizz isn't account for multi-spec classes.

If there are 3 choices for each tier for a pure dps class, there should be 12 choices per tier for a druid to accommodate the 4 specs. I have either 1, or 0, choices in most tiers. Honestly, most tiers are a complete waste to me as a resto druid. The latter tiers, which I would expect the really awesome stuff to come into play, are completely worthless. It's not even hard to come up with new talents.

I don't think that's as much the issue as that druids - unlike all the other classes- have no connective tissue between the specs. Not only are we one of only 2 classes in which none of the specs share a combat role, we are also the only class which doesn't share a single resource system across all of our specs. When it comes down to it feral/guardian and balance/resto have almost nothing in common with one another. Which i think is part of the reason why Blizzard has been so reluctant to allow balance druids to skip moonkin form. Apart from having forms, there is nothing that thematically holds the druid class together. It makes it virtually impossible to design compelling talents, since what each spec wants is so radically different from one another.

Druids need 2 separate trees. One for feral/guardian and one for balance/resto. Then there will at least be some commonality between the specs that the trees are designed for.


---------- Post added 2012-02-17 at 11:17 AM ----------

For example. IN a 2 talent tree setup you could have talents like

Overgrowth:
Whenever you deal spell damage or healing you have an X% chance to cause a wild mushroom to grow at the feet of the target.

Wrath of Remulos
6 minute cd
You take the form of a mighty Forest Lord for X seconds, granting 20% bonus healing and damage and causing your spells to lash out chaining their effect to up to 5 additional nearby targets, the effect is reduced by 20% for each target beyond the first. 50% of the mana spent while in Forest Lord form is refunded upon expiration.

or for feral/guardian

Feral Fury
Your Auto attacks now hit X additional nearby targets

Rage of the Ancients
6 minute cd
For the next 45 seconds you have access to all passive and active abilities of both bear and cat form, regardless of your current form.

Druidic Mastery
Nature Spells can now be cast in Cat and Bear form at a reduced mana cost.

[Deleted]

Gotta love people suggesting their "spec." One more time: you're meant to adapt talents to any given situation. There is no more "right Feral spec" or whatever.

/sigh

[Shifthappens]

as a PVP Feral as long as Disentanglement remains i would't care too much about all other tiers. i can do enough dmg to ppl with constantly hitting them.

Leave Disentanglement as is, if other talents get changed or stay the same so be it. i can live with that

[Arielle]

HotW is terrible currently. All you have to do is basic math to figure out why.

I'm just angry about Thrash more than anything.

[stormgust]

HotW is terrible currently. All you have to do is basic math to figure out why.

HotW doesn't work in the X -> balance :
Insect Swarm , Eclipse and Mastery, in short: Balance Rotation is missing

HotW doesn't work ranged -> guardian:
Abilities, Mastery and the need to tank at MELEE range (till you're there, the damage is likely done - i.e. your cooldown wasted. Of course you could always pick WC - but that would eliminate choice)

HotW doesn't work feral -> guardian:
Abilities, Mastery. Thanks Blizzard for ACTIVE MITIGATION.
HotW may work x -> resto:
Tranquility (+ Dream of Cenarius/HotW). Shaman can do the same with their Tier 75 at a 3 minute intervall in their MAIN role.
Else: Mastery and spells are missing.

HotW ranged -> feral:
Abilities and Mastery, and you'd actually have to get in melee range (force pick wild charge!)

What I'm trying to say is: if you want it to work, it would need around 400-500% bonus to provide the slightest advantage. And seriously. That's not what a single ability should be capable of doing.

[Arielle]

Feral / Guardian -> Resto doesn't even work because you blow through your mana in 10 seconds.

[stormgust]

Feral / Guardian -> Resto doesn't even work because you blow through your mana in 10 seconds.

They could always make spells free of cost for those classes. Increase spellpower further. Provide access to mastery etc.

But if you end up giving basically everything you can to a single talent, to make it even remotely useful, you're better of asking wether the underlying mechanic is functional or not. (they'd be better of to do the same thing for Symbiosis - that ability either is a second DI, or entirely useless. )

[Fiana]

Gotta love people suggesting their "spec." One more time: you're meant to adapt talents to any given situation. There is no more "right Feral spec" or whatever.

/sigh

Its pretty strange. Blizzard refused to make third spec because "It will make players to have specific spec for every boss".
And now changing spec for every boss is required?

Obviously having an array of possible specs to choose from would be convenient for any number of reasons, but it would also encourage situations where people are using it to shift their builds around for each individual encounter or task. Those are the kinds of options that quickly stop being options, and instead become a requirement. And as they become a requirement our necessity to design and balance around it changes it from a nice convenience option to a core piece of the game design puzzle.

[jbandhisguitar]

I feel like these are some of coolest changes for druids and at the same time i can't stop that hindering feeling... Is this worth having huge nerfs to damage? We don't need these buffs :\

[Deleted]

I dont know where blizzard gets "there wont be any cookie cutter builds anymore" I mean the t1 talents as moonkin, 15% movement speed is pretty good dps boost, only worth taking