When you have multiple haste buffs such as Bloodlust/Starlord/CA, is it better to use Starfire as a filler instead of Wrath since you're GCD capped? At what point do you switch?
When you have multiple haste buffs such as Bloodlust/Starlord/CA, is it better to use Starfire as a filler instead of Wrath since you're GCD capped? At what point do you switch?
Recently started shadowlands and got my druid up to lvl 56 (only interested in pvE).
I have to say i am really disliking the new Balance spec
Moonfire feels lamer than ever and yet it still has to be spread the most boring outdated way to each valuable target (Twin Moons talent is not enough and addons dont really make it less awful).
Starfall is a lot cooler but since multiple casts do not stack (just slightly prolong) it feels weird that it does not have something like a 5 second cooldown... would make its use clearer and easier to handle.
The whole "have enough APower for 3 starsurges ready before next eclipse but do not overcap on APower during the current eclipse" playstyle i find annoying and irritating, not fun or pleasant.
Too much staring at some bars and numerical values instead of being able to devote more attention to the battle around the player.
Overall Balance spec feels way too slow and clunky for quests and dungeons and perhaps even PVP (havent done PVP in a long time).
It probably gets less bad in raids and tougher M+dungeons but so far i found it unsatisfactory and unpolished.
Giving Moonfire the same aoe-style application as sunfire would eliminate a significant amount of outdated annoyance still in the spec.
And perhaps the Starsurge eclipse improving effect should not be tied to a particular eclipse - instead it should affect both eclipses but can't be refreshed (each Starsurge improvement of eclipse would be time limited and couldn't be prolonged).
So instead of stockpiling astral power to unload Starsurges at the start of a new eclipse you would simply cast them as they are available, because each provides a time-fixed buff to both eclipses.
I am sure there are people who like the new balance spec but imho it is like the first version of survival hunter melee spec - unpolished and poorly designed.
I liked balance before SLands but now i put my druid to greener pastures to wait for some future patch improvements while i try out some other classes (having fun with paladin atm).
you are right about most of it but you are also missing convoke with mastery trink and boat pumping 15k dps on a ST.
boomkin got its flaws but excels at many things too.
ST burst with cds and prolonged uncapped aoe, plus insane mobility and utility is where we shine.
burst aoe, pvp and any ST dps without cds and boomie is hot trash compared to mage/hunter.
The fact, that we can do everything while moving (obviously while starfall is active) is the best feeling! Not as strong movement wise as a BM, but still.
All in all, I like it very much. As night fae with the Balance of All Things legendary it's even cooler! I think my highest DPS was 18k
Just a quick AoE question. When you come to a group of +3 or more do you sunfire first, then get into lunar eclipse and starfall then follow the rotation?
I guess it's best to use Starfall > sunfire > 2x wrath > spam starfire/refresh starfall. If enemies live long enough, you use moonfire in suneclipse instead of wrath but this completely depends on how long they will last - if they do not survive a whole moonfire, wrath is better.
Unless it's a fight such as sludgefist yes you want to hold onto it.
The spells cast during convoke will give you enough AP for the most part to pump out another 3 SS, thus adding to your eclipse damage modifier and further increasing your burst in said window. not to mention the haste increase from CA will allow you to get more casts in following the convoke.
Last edited by [Apok]; 2021-01-14 at 06:17 PM.
Depends on fight length, if you're only getting two CAs anyways, sometimes you can fit CA + Convoke, Convoke, then CA + Convoke
Under 4 minutes: CA+Convoke, CA+Convoke
Over 4 minutes: CA+Convoke, Convoke, CA+Convoke
Upcoming nerfs in 9.1 PTR to top specs, of which includes Balance Druids
Looks like Oneth legendary may become preferred for AoE fights?New Moon (Talent) now has 20 second recharge (was 25 seconds).
Solstice (Talent) now causes Shooting Stars to fall 200% more often (was 300%).
Stellar Drift (Talent) has been redesigned – Starfall damage increased by 25% and allows you to cast while moving while Starfall is active, but it has a 15 second cooldown.
The free Starfall from Oneth’s Clear Vision (Runecarving Power) ignores the Stellar Drift (Talent) Starfall cooldown.
Balance of All Things (Runecarving Power) now grants 24% increased critical strike chance (was 40%) and decreases by 3% every 1 second (was 8% every 1 second).
Nothing feels better than NOT being able to cast AoE spells in an AoE fight.
It is a really bad change to be blunt. SD putting Starfall on a 15 second CD is an outright DPS loss as it stands right now. Tettles took it a step further and found that you are better off to not pick a talent at all on that row than you are to pick SD with these changes. That's not a good change at all.
Furthermore, the overall changes to our talents are meant to shift us away from one set of "always pick" but these changes basically hard pushes us into another set of "always pick" talents. So rather than SD and Sol we will, at this time, be going Twin Moons and FoE for everything instead.
BoAT change will hurt - it's meant to after all. And with it, we are facing the potential to shift away from NF to another covenant like Venthyr.
And yes, it is early days but time and time again Blizzard has shown that they are more than willing to let stupid design changes sail through to live servers in spite of the feedback people give them.
Neither the Stellar Drift nor the BoaT change are very surprising, although they may have gone a bit overboard on the former. Still, being able to cast on the run for essentially the entire duration of a fight was a bit over the top and is almost certaintly what they were aiming at changing there. Maybe they should just put a limit on that part (e.g. if you move during Starfall you can cast while moving for y sec, cannot be triggered more than once every x sec) instead of giving Starfall a CD.
We'll see if they manage to make Moon Moon a worthwhile option in that row.
Kinda hoping the Venthyr Legendary is worth using, the effect sounds neat.
What the hell. In most of the AoE fights Starfall's uptime is almost 100%. 7 seconds of downtime is like eternity, especially since beside that the other "AoE" we have is Sunfire spread and Starfire (highly dependant on the eclipse state).
TBH I was expecting pretty big nerfs. Balance can't remain at the top for too long, gotta make space for Mages at some point. I'm surprised they are not nerfing Convoke.
Hopefully Moons will become the go-to talent, and hopefully some more interesting legendary comes out to be better than BoAT. Besides CA/Convoke window our spec is pretty much boring, mostly thanks to all the passive bonuses/interactions and barely any active ones.
For my 2 cents, BoAT shouldn't have made it into game as was, it was clearly OP. It reminds me of that ridiculous talent on the artefact weapon that had everyone spamming moonfire.
I'm not surprised at the nerfs, we do have the edge at the moment. That said, I wish Blizzard would buff the classes that were performing less well rather than heavy handed reworking of talents.