Boomkin quest gear rewards?

[Degrador]

Having my oomkin with full healing gear with no + hit ofc, i just gemmed 2 10 + hit on them. That together with the Balance of Power talent (+4% hit) makes you above the 5% cap. throw in 1 other 10+ hit and you're good to go vs mobs 1-2 levels higher then you.

Ofc this changes a bit while you level up, but remember, the talent +4% hit remains. so you only need to get 1-2% by normal + hit to be hit capped.

Yeah, against your own level mobs you only need 1% hit rating to be capped, but personally I find plenty enough that I'm attacking mobs one or possibly even two levels above. Either way, I'm not saying you need a lot of it, simply that until you are capped then hit rating is still the best stat to have.

The other thing is that many people aren't taking Balance of Power, either relying on their current gear for their +hit (which if you were raiding then you'll have plenty of it to make up 5%) or just not realising that hit % is the best stat to go for.

[yellowbiz]

Well, I agree to disagree

It just all comes down to how you like to play.
I sometimes root mobs to death, no hit needed, no crit needed, just patience

[yellowbiz]

On 'dps' gear you don't really have any mana regen stats, or am I'm missing something ?

Anyways, we're talking about leveling, it's all nice and interesting, but it's irrelevant what you do in Raids

Remember that you're affected by other buffs in a raid environment aside from your own.

[Degrador]

Well, I agree to disagree

It just all comes down to how you like to play.

Oh well, up to you I guess. I think most people would agree that if you want to kill things faster and with less down time, maxing out your chance to hit is the best thing to do.

I sometimes root mobs to death, no hit needed, no crit needed, just patience

Even with roots, you can still miss

[Ntrails]

I've picked up lots.

Well. Yes. A lot of it could technically be called 'caster gear' and is clothy - but I am a new boomkin and therefore don't care.

DPS > armour for me.

[Rakurai]

I gear for spellpower, crit and intellect. I'll prolly start tossing more spirit in there now since it's actually boosting damage these days. I gem for hit and Mp5. Yeah, wearing cloth sucks, but it's kinda the life of leveling a boomkin. You wear cloth until you raid, then you get to wear leather again.

I played around with haste for awhile, and I really don't see the benefit for boomkins right now. Our mana problems are nowhere near what they used to be (reference: OOMkins), but haste brings back bad memories on that front. Balance simply isn't built to be the massive fast-casting spell class. We cast slower but very powerful spells (nothing like back to back to back 8K starfire crits) and have the utility to be able to heal, dispel, res in combat, and we bring a very nice raid buff. Haste would allow for one thing: Maximum DPS on a boss fight where that is key (i.e. Azgalore in Mount Hyjal). However, in most situations it simply leads to an early OOM. I find it to be a very situational stat for Balance druids.

[Degrador]

I played around with haste for awhile, and I really don't see the benefit for boomkins right now. Our mana problems are nowhere near what they used to be (reference: OOMkins), but haste brings back bad memories on that front. Balance simply isn't built to be the massive fast-casting spell class. We cast slower but very powerful spells (nothing like back to back to back 8K starfire crits) and have the utility to be able to heal, dispel, res in combat, and we bring a very nice raid buff. Haste would allow for one thing: Maximum DPS on a boss fight where that is key (i.e. Azgalore in Mount Hyjal). However, in most situations it simply leads to an early OOM. I find it to be a very situational stat for Balance druids.

But haste is better suited to longer cast times - you don't have to worry about the GCD cap and the lag / reaction times aren't as much of an issue (ie, if you've got a 0.2s lag / reaction delay between spells, then that has a much larger impact on DPS when casting Wrath as opposed to starfire). Personally I still think Haste is a very good stat for balance druids, and this is reflected in the spreadsheet I've got (it still takes over from spellpower at a reasonable point). As for going OOM, well that's another issue but there are multiple ways to handle that, not to mention that I don't think it's one worth considering until you have a regular raiding group so you know how often you can expect to have replenishment and just how long the boss fights are to see if you actually will go OOM.

[Ntrails]

Interestingly, whilst haste is better for longer cast times - NG actually has a more powerfull effect upon wrath than Starfire.

However, haste is a very strong boomkin stat. Only moonfire fails to take advantage of it, and it provides a solid DPS boost. DpM may be an issue - but in a raid group with replenishment and JoW you should be fine. The only concern would be on chain-pulls which I find hurt in 5 mans, especially where AoE is involved.

[Degrador]

Interestingly, whilst haste is better for longer cast times - NG actually has a more powerfull effect upon wrath than Starfire.

Yes and no. For me I find NG is actually annoying for Wrath - when it procs I have to react quickly to start the next cast before this one has finished (to counter lag), but I end up doing it too early and it doesn't start casting the next one, which effectively means I sit there for a second not casting anything. No benefit at all for me.

Only moonfire fails to take advantage of it

It sort of does - haste still reduces the GCD allowing you to start the next cast faster (although see above - same issue).

DpM may be an issue

Haste doesn't change your DpM - it should remain exactly the same. What it does do is increase your cast rate which increases the rate at which you use mana.

The only concern would be on chain-pulls which I find hurt in 5 mans, especially where AoE is involved.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing in DTK and Ahn'Kahet last night. Those hurricanes sure do burn through the mana pool... Still, boss fights are the only real concern for maximising DPS / avoiding OOM

[Ntrails]

Yes and no. For me I find NG is actually annoying for Wrath - when it procs I have to react quickly to start the next cast before this one has finished (to counter lag), but I end up doing it too early and it doesn't start casting the next one, which effectively means I sit there for a second not casting anything. No benefit at all for me.

It sort of does - haste still reduces the GCD allowing you to start the next cast faster (although see above - same issue).

Haste doesn't change your DpM - it should remain exactly the same. What it does do is increase your cast rate which increases the rate at which you use mana.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing in DTK and Ahn'Kahet last night. Those hurricanes sure do burn through the mana pool... Still, boss fights are the only real concern for maximising DPS / avoiding OOM

I agree with annoying - but explaining my NG comment:

.5 off 1.5 sec cast is 33.3333333333333% faster
.5 off 3 second cast is 16.6666666666667 etc faster

Not only that, but the haste on starfire will then be applied After NG reduction so it takes a double hit. However Once you do have haste and start hitting the GCD hard with wrath- then ofc it hurts. Myself when I am on NG wrath I look at the GCD instead of the castbar - it helps me.

The transition point for NG being less good for wrath does exist with enough haste. Not my calculation though - check EJ.

Moonfire takes minimal advatage of haste - like all cooldown dependent spells. Plenty of maths based of haste/cooldown to show it. Yes it gets some - but a ton less.

DpM does not change - you are right, but Mana per second goes up since DpM stays constant and DpS increases. I was unclear what I meant.

Aye, hurricane hurts teh mana pool. But by God I think it is one of the strongest AoE's when talented. In Hyjal pre wrath, I still had some green gear, no trinkets, etc and hit 5k dps which is what I used to see top geared Locks do. Obscene.

You are right about the mana not mattering so much - but it is inconvenient to be the only one needing to drink. Especially if I am trying to find time to skin/herb mobs too Boss fights Are fine so far - but trivial in length and difficulty unless 4+ levels above you. It gets harder.... right? :-(



Edit: Because typing is somehow hard to me... >_<

[Degrador]

.5 off 1.5 sec cast is 33.3333333333333% faster
.5 off 3 second cast is 16.6666666666667 etc faster

Yeah, I know the math says it's better, I'm just pointing out that the math doesn't always translate into actual results

Myself when I am on NG wrath I look at the GCD instead of the castbar - it helps me.

Hmm, maybe I should try that. I have looked down there once or twice, but old habits die hard

ye, hurricane hurts teh mana pool. But by God I think it is one of the strongest AoE's when talented. In Hyjal pre wrath, I still had some green gear, no trinkets, etc and hit 5k dps which is what I used to see top geared Locks do. Obscene.

I don't think I'm going to be able to spare the talent points for Gale Winds. Just too many other talents to focus on for single target fights (boss fights).

Boss fights Are fine so far - but trivial in length and difficulty unless 4+ levels above you. It gets harder.... right? :-(

I hope so. Still only 75 atm, and I'm going on holiday at the start of December, maybe things will change by the time I'm back?