Originally Posted by
exochaft
I see a LOT of focusing on 1v1 scenarios. Everyone needs to step back and see the broader picture.
Boomkins are getting a LOT more methods of control, and all I see are the tears flowing. If someone on Live who knows nothing of the beta/PTR logs in for 4.0, are they going to scream "Wow, boomkins just got hella nerfed in PvP"? That's silly, going from Live to 4.0 is a drastic increase in control for boomkins in PvP.
PvP in Cataclysm is supposed to be about control, not "my leetzor numbers nuke you faster!" After PvPing on the beta, even though I generally play as feral, control is a very nice thing to have on your side (heck, I can actually kill a healer w/o MS eventually in a 1v1 battle as feral, just have to get thru their mana), and feral damage numbers, for lack of a better word, suck horribly atm. Solar Beam, AoE roots (instant roots even), Wild Mushrooms (as well as talents), Typhoon, Cyclone, Hibernate, Soothe, as well as Treants/Thorns... it's all about control. With practice and timing, you have all the tools you need to force the battle into the tempo and direction you want. Outside of 1v1, boomkins will be very valuable.
If you're stuck on 1v1, sure, some fights will be harder than others, that's just the nature of PvP balance. I see most of the gripes about mages with all their forms of escape or what have you... you do realize that one Solar Beam locks out EVERY spell that use for escape, short of a trinket or rocket boots. Guess what... secret of the champs... make them burn their trinkets/cooldowns, and then go for the CC lockdown and kill. Another use I saw one post focus on, but most people seem to just pass it off, is using Solar Beam as a defensive tool. While you may have an incoming barrage of caster attacks determined to focus you down, plop a beam on them to slow down the fight... heck, it even works on melee classes, as was mentioned before. I think the only melee class that has zero restrictions when silenced are rogues, actually, unless Blizz makes hunters not susceptible to silence on certain abilities since they're going to a Focus-based system. Be that as it may, this is just one ability out of many.
With the recent changes to some of these abilities, all that's really being said is that boomkins shouldn't be a faceroll spec, and that a bit of planning and strategy will be required. Anyone can plop a Wild Mushroom on someone and click detonate... but it takes a more skilled person to plant it somewhere and force their opponent to be on top of it. Of course, this can be said about any ability, but I think most of the gripes revolve around people wanting easy-mode versus skill required.