Which offspec should i choose

[Deleted]

So currently i main guardian druid for farming M+ and puging NH normal/hc. I really enjoy the role and the mechanics but i feel like i want to invest also in one of the dps offspecs but i cant decide which.

Leaving out the -pick the one you enjoy the most- could you give your arguments toward feral vs balance for pve and pvp? Could feral be viable in M+ 12 or above? How do they compare in pvp situations (arena/rbgs)? Which one do you personally enjoy the most and why?

note: im not asking which spec is the "best", just politely asking your POVs

[MaddyLif3]

My POV is go Boomkin. I do main it and I love the spec. Best it's felt in a long time. We are solid at pretty much everything. We are very good at high M+, WQ's, middle of the pack (with some fights top 5) in raiding. I am not sure about PvP as I don't participate. For feral, I started the xpac as feral and it just became to much work with not enough reward in my opinion. The spec is still solid ST and 2 target cleave, but in NH there are so many AoE fights that feral lags behind with no real AoE at all. They do ok in high M+ if you are looking for that and not raiding because they can maintain multiple targets with their bleeds. If you ask me, Boomkin all the way. Feral is just in too bad of a state overall right now.

[saradonin]

I'd go lazer chicken for an offspec as well (which I did).

Personally I don't find feral enjoyable at its current form. As much as you try it doesn't feel rewarding, brutally punishes minor mistakes (or just doing mechanics), and feels shit for M+.

Boomkin right now feels pretty good, way more enjoyable than it was back in WoD (I really hated that bar I couldn't reliably control). From my humble experience as balance:

• M+ - great for clearing trash packs, not so much on bosses but still viable, Stellar Drift turns volcanic into an easy mode, treants are useful for necrotic week. Frankly, I'm having more fun being a chubby owl than healing in M+
• Raid - I barely raid as dps, but when I'm asked to respec it's mostly on fights where a lot of AoE is needed - I think that's our strength in raid environment and feels rewarding to help your group that way
• BG - in 1 vs 1 I got wrecked by pretty much any melee class, but that can be said about most of casters at the moment, simply because current class balance favours melee (at least some of them) to the point of absurdity. On the other hand I found boomkin to be a great asset at keeping AoE pressure (Kotmogu, flag area in EoTS, bases in Arathi etc.). Glyph of Stars is a must.

[SirreASDF]

Playing resto mainspec and greatly enjoying being an owl for my offspec at least. Feral just seems boring.. Haven't tried it at all though, so I can't really judge it. (Haven't even bothered to unlock the weapon).

[Arlee]

In the same boat as the OP and I decided to go Feral for my OS because I generally always enjoy melee dps specs and when I've done Boomchicken in the past I haven't liked it. I enjoy cat a lot and it's not overly complicated to learn at all it's just not very forgiving if you mess something up though, but I also like that because it means I have to keep focused to make sure I do things just right. But honestly I'd say play both to get a feel for them and then decide which one you want to put AP into. It's probably the best way to figure out what will work best for you.

[Deleted]

I would recommend to go Owl. You can do much more DPS with less effort than a Feral. But in the end try both and play the specc you enjoy the most until you dont want to do high end Mythic Raiding.

[coño]

if your main is bear, then your off should be heals.
You have a working knowledge on burst during fights, when to transition, and if a tank is poop or not.


Tanks are instaque. Do you really want to wait 30 mins for a queue?

[pay928]

if your main is bear, then your off should be heals.
You have a working knowledge on burst during fights, when to transition, and if a tank is poop or not.


Tanks are instaque. Do you really want to wait 30 mins for a queue?

If they want an insta queue, they'll queue as a tank? Sometimes healing has the instant queue when tank does not, though. Main time I want to dps offspec is to cruise control and not worry so Heals doesn't fit that role. Or just to have some fun pew pew'ing.

[coño]

If they want an insta queue, they'll queue as a tank? Sometimes healing has the instant queue when tank does not, though. Main time I want to dps offspec is to cruise control and not worry so Heals doesn't fit that role. Or just to have some fun pew pew'ing.

TL;DR Losing out on instaqueue hurts.

[pay928]

TL;DR Losing out on instaqueue hurts.

Missed the point. If wanted an instant queue, would just stay as tank. Point of DPS offspec is not having as much responsibility of the run as tank/healer does so losing instaqueue is irrelevant.

[tehpud]

I OS Guardian and ended up going MS Guardian. Loved it and recommend you stay it!

[Anka]

Without a doubt moonkin, must fun you'll ever have!

[Dilemma90]

Balance.

Feral is too difficult, and you are punish way too significantly if you swap targets.

you have to try twice as hard to put up the same damage as others.

In other terms, it's really more of a cosmetic spec at least this is what i've been told.

Balance is range, has innervate, competitive, with some solid add killing from aoe + HoTs.

[Deleted]

I haven't tried Balance yet but I can advice you stay far away from Feral at the moment. The playstyle is still pretty complex (in my opinion) to get good results and you get punished hard if you mess up. Feral AoE is basically non-existent and most raid fights are AoE dependent. But then again, I might just simply suck at Feral and should try Moonkin instead :P

[pay928]

Nobody has mentioned the main reason to spec Balance - http://rs46.pbsrc.com/albums/f149/Li...dance.gif~c200

[Sar-]

I went for Resto and Chicken off specs. Now because of raid comp reasons I'm maining my chicken spec. And while I'm still learning and doing my best to improve, I'm enjoying the variety. Feral, while better damage output overall in NH generally, feels pretty similar to bear, so Chicken is a nice change

[mikoslav]

You cant go wrong with boomkin as your dps spec. even with less AP in your weapon you ll be doing on par dps in AoE fights.

[Gestopft]

I am having more fun with Boomkin than I ever have. For the first time, I'd have to say it's in my top five of most fun specs to play.

[Brewhan]

I am having more fun with Boomkin than I ever have. For the first time, I'd have to say it's in my top five of most fun specs to play.

what is #1 to you?

[Gestopft]

what is #1 to you?

Hard to say. I'd say the DPS I most enjoy right now (in no particular order, and choosing my own setup, not necessarily an "optimal" setup) would be:
-Balance
-Arcane
-Windwalker
-Marks
-Frost DK