New Legion wishlist for druids

[ravenmoon]

So Wowhead has datamined the first iteration of changes for the classes, and you can view all the druid ones here

http://www.wowhead.com/news=250045/l...-changes#druid

Lots of changes, new and exciting stuff, if it's not listed there, it means it is still there and it has not being removed. I noticed they have a list of stuff that has been removed ...so far. And this is a so far ofc, further iterations will undoubtdly show adjustments

So, I'm excited for the new stuff, sad about some of the things we losing, and hopeful of maybe seeing some return. I'm sure given the state of things now or how they are shaping up, you all have wishlists.. things you may like to have added, things you wish didn't go, new things... here is what I wish we had for balance.

I'm an ability intensive guy, i like having lots of options and abilities as opposed to passives for the classes I main. For the ones I alt, I love simplicity, quickly get into it, and do fairly well without much scrutiny. So, naturally I was excited when they announced they had re-calibrated the talent system to offer just that, active abilities or passives for those who like a little more or a little less to press. Sadly, I have noticed on the first iteration, that could do some work for balance druids.. So here is my first iteration wish list for that spec.

• Swap 1 active in Tier 75 with 1 passive in Tier 90 - giving at least a choice of all actives or all passives so the player determines the complexity
• Restore Hurricane to base - to be used for 5+ targets alongside
• Wild Mushroom detonate: also restored to base: - Sunfire and Lunar Strike remain ideal for 2-4 targets, but for larger packs the balance durid uses Hurricane & Detonate:
• Glyph of Insect Swarm - ideal to glyph Stella Flare for those who prefer a more nature representation whiles those who prefer a more celestial one can stick with flare.
• Glyph of Cenarion Form - ideal creature alternative to Moonkin form, giving two creature forms, and one humanoid form option in astral form.
• - tooltip replaces moonkin form throughout the spec with Cenarion or Astral if you have the glyph enabled, and change the shapeshift sound to be different both for Astral and Cenarion form.

I do feel there is room for Hurricane (which is now resto only ), even though lunar strike and sunfire do multiple target damaging, the main reason is because it's iconic and it's a cool spell, as is Wild mushroo, they retain a part of druidic damage dealing I don't want completely gone from balance. And whiles balances main focus is Celestial, I feel having Hurricane and Wildmushroom remind us that they are still powerful casters of earthbound natural phenomena...

there is a mechanic niche for them too. Should lunar strike and sunfire only affect 2-4 targets, Hurricane and Wild Mushroom detonate could be the go to for 5or 7+ targets. Furthermore as Hurricane/Astral stroms can cause multiple mushrooms to grow so the druid doesn't have to cast 3 mushrooms just to detonate, simply cast 1, and then Hurricane, and hurricane will grow 2 more of that one which you can detonate after and repeat... making the AoE mechanic for 5+ interesting, and not just boring spam.. whereas for smaller numbers, Lunar Strike and sunfire can be employed.

I think this enriches the class, maintains both its celestial and earthly phenomena mastery and frankly will be fun.

Insect Swarm I think for the nature loving feelers can be excellent for a glyph'd spell replacement for Stellar Flare... those like me who love the celestial theme would stick with Stella Flare, but others can instead have Insect Swarm glyphed in - strengthening the earthbound abilities a bit more to fit a more classic druidic theme.

I must point out though I love the unique celestial visualization of druids in wow.. it completely fits the balance of nature theme as nothing signifies balance more than the stars and the day/night, sun/moon - and ofc they are completely natural, but more exciting because they are like a higher form, you got so good, you went beyond just controlling earthbound phenomena and reached the height of the stars, you expect this level or degree of increase of knowledge and expertise of very intelligent beings that have had lifespans of over 10,000 years - and these aren't dumbasses, these are inquisitive and intelligent, curious, loving knowledge and learning, and having beings of legends like demi-gods, Aspects, dragons, Ancients full of accumulated knowledge ot learn from... yes, they would have progressed past earthquakes and storms to be able to reach out to the very stars.

It's also quite a unique for wow portrayal of the druid - where other games tend to only focus on plants and animals, so reaching to incorporate the stars is very good as a theme and I love it.

[Cyberowl]

Don't take away all our utility.

From HotW+Tranq, Innervate, Stampeding Roar, Vortex and Symbiosis in MoP to... Innervate?

It remains to be seen how the specialization affinity works out. If I could indeed tank a softer-hitting add on some fight (like the Emperor adds in 5.0) or help out with healing in HPS-intensive part of the fights where DMG isn't important/not possible that obviously adds more utility than we could ask for, but if it's underwhelming I'd be extremely sad. I want to have more impact with the game progressing, not be a shadow of a former patch.

[Tiberria]

The new Tauren Druid "moose" travel form

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images...mber/Moose.jpg

[ravenmoon]

The new Tauren Druid "moose" travel form

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images...mber/Moose.jpg

can we be sure Tauren are the ones getting the moose? or all druids?

Funnily enough, altho again this could easily be a night elf one, the stag for night elves..and subsequently their new worgen students seems to make sense.

The moose for tauren kinda fit, especailly since the High Mountain tauren, though cows, have moose horns.

[Deleted]

Wild Mushroom detonate: also restored to base

I couldn't agree more. In MoP 'mushrooms detonate' was one the coolest druid spells. Having experience mostly with the resto version the mushrooms weren't only incredibly fun by being so interactive they were pretty powerfull/usefull aswell. I remember using them in arena and planning ahead where to place them and how to use rejuv effectively and efficiently in order to take full advantage of the shrooms.
Maan those were the days. definately one my favorite druid spells ever.

The new Tauren Druid "moose" travel form

Well we don't really know if the model is going to be used as a travel form. Could as well be just a mob.

[ravenmoon]

Is Force of Nature out ? - I wonder.. cos it's not showing up in the abilities compilation on MMO-C or WOWHEAD even though it was datamined in the overall initial list, but we were cautioned that many spells were there that were due for the chopping block

I like new spells n all, don't get me wrong, but I loved Hurricane/Astral storm, Thorns, Force of Nature, Insect Swarm, Wild Mushroom detonate -- these were iconic balance druid spells I feel giving the balance druids a earth connection. I love the stars/celestial thing it's spot on, thick in night elf lore which is the heart of the class, indicative of transcending just manipulating immediate environment to the extent they can now call on the celestial bodies - it fits the idea that you'd get some kick ass insights after 10,000 years of being alive and learning from demi-gods, ancients and being quite intelligent yourself.. and ofc the Elune connection showing because she is a strong part of the druid class, being Cenarius' mother it's a good half of him - it's like the animal shapeshifting comes from Marlone, the celestial power from Elune, and the rest of the mastery is form Cenarius himself plugging into the world and from Malfurion also cleverly figuring out stuff.

but cutting Hurricane, Force of Nature, Wild mushroom - i hope it's not final, but it's really some of my favourites and iconic.

btw.. I still prefer Starfire to Lunar Strike... i mean ..Lunar strike? just because the name indicates solar and lunar for arcane and nature? why not just call it nature wrath, arcane strike? or nature wrath and arcane fire -- that would be obvoius... nothing wrong with Wrath and starfire - solar wrath is cool, but Starfire is cooler than Lunar Strike.

if you ask me it will just be more confusing.. most of the players of wow are not going to be new, they're going to be old players, .. it's easier for the fewer new to learn, than the larger existing to have to relearn. but it's not my call. I don't like the name as much ...they got some cool new names though.