Yeah, I got that, and if you do the math you'll see that it doesn't help Lunar to Solar whatsoever, and it only helps Solar to Lunar if you fail to get Starsurge p rocs. I'm not sure where you're pulling this "SotF and HotW" will be the preferred choice. WrathCalcs is showing very little to no DPS gain with the SotF buff.
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
The DPS value on WrathCalcs did not really change for SotF, because the old model was assuming you generally got a starsurge proc anyways.
SotF may be more attractive for reducing wrath casts (potentially), but the ability to line up incarnation with cooldowns still makes it very attractive.
Nature's Vigil obviously will be nerfed, but will add greater utility. It won't be as bursty, and since we will have to pop it immediately once it's up the second time (to ensure it lines back up with incarnation), it may be a sub-prime place we're popping it. They'll be close, but we may be seeing Inc/HotW builds.
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
If we do end up with an Inc/HotW build I would be interested to see what the ideal starting rotation would be for fights we lust on the pull. It basically comes down to what benefits from lust more, the standard Inc --> CA rotation or HotW cat dps. After that managing a 6min CD 45sec duration will feel wonky at first since we want to get full benefit from it's uptime but we also do not want to delay and possibly end up losing a Inc/CA rotation because of time spent doing cat dps.
The level 90 tier AKA "How awkward and clunky can we make Druid gameplay?"
Also don't forget to pickup the Agi staff from Tsulong, as a weapon swapping macro will be a part of this rotation.
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
I don't think it was ever meant to be part of the rotation in the first place. I found it kinda odd how everybody just assumed it is, despite it being horribly unintuitive and impractical.
Well whether or not it's more DPS than standing still and nuking is completely still up in the air. However what is not up in the air is the fact that it is way, way better on the move DPS than Lunar Shower spamming. In fact, Lunar Shower spamming is so bad that Erdluf actually had the math on EJ to show that even without HotW, it was actually more DPS to spend 2 globals shifting and apply a rake then to spam MF or SF.
So something like Get Away on Lei Shei is definitely a situation where you would want to use it. Rake does so much damage that I can't believe it would not be better to use HotW and at the very least keep Rake up 100% time and switch back to Moonkin in between. You should get off 5 rakes during the duration so you can finish with 5pt FB before the buff expires. Spending the entire 45 sec in cat probably not.
Last edited by Stommped; 2013-01-04 at 06:27 AM.
The problem is that you have to be in melee range for all of that. On some fights, that's no big problem, but on others, like Shek'zeer or Ta'yak? Yeah, no, bad idea.
Also, the fights were you can stay in melee are often those where you can just stand anyway.
Switching to cat, putting rake up and switching back takes at least 3 seconds, possibly more(no idea if the GCD on forms scales with haste). The damage isn't that good for the time investment.
I posted a bit more thoroughly about Force of Nature here, but the short and dirty version:
Each treant wrath cast is (1642 + 30% SP). They benefit from your haste and crit when cast, it doesn't dynamically update. It does not gain from solar eclipse (despite the Treant's Wrath tooltip showing it does).
There also seems to be a pretty damning delay before it first casts. In theory, with my haste, I should be able to get in 8 wrath casts per tree. I only get 7. With nature's grace up, I should get 9, I get 8. With nature's grace and essence of terror, 11, but I get 9.
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
I honestly like the idea of a 1 minute cooldown like treants, because right now our damage varies quite a bit depending on where we are in our 3 minute cooldown cycle. It'd just need to be competitive and actually work the way it should -- but then the concern is our burst damage in PVP.
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre
GC has a tweet somewhere saying that Starsurge (the damaging source of Moonkin burst) isn't that big of a deal atm, rather no one is really complaining about it--at all. Blizzard needs to take a second look at the primary cause of Druid burst (Incarnation can't really yell any louder than it already is), and at least rip apart the true damage modifier.
What your opinion on the 5.2 T90 talents? My opinion is as follows~
• I would love to try a DOC build if it simply wasn't so unforgiving to accidents and basic mechanics. I like the idea of passive damage for higher sustained, but lesser burst. HOTW would be nice too, having the ability to swap to a secondary playstyle once an encounter. For very a particularly small window (mostly Tranq), HOTW simply did not scream "raid viable" at first glance, second glance, third...you get the point.
Looking at the dungeon journal available to 5.2 at this time, guess what? More forced movement! So unless they change DOC to something more movement-friendly, it's a bust. HOTW literally has no usage at this point; unless you're one of those players who uses it specifically for an uber Tranq, it's useless. T90 talents are too strict, except NV. NV is simply good for (almost) every situation. Unless these T90 talents become designed for a wider range of raid mechanics, NV is simply the best bang for your buck.
The problem with Nature's Vigil is the nerf to it. It's pretty rough. The passive intellect for HotW I think will become much more beneficial. The problem I think is our T60 talents, I really don't see anything beating incarnation. I think if they fixed Force of Nature, it'd be a true competitor. (Make it scale with solar eclipse, and make it truly get off all the casts it's supposed to in it's duration).
Sunfyre | @FoGSunfyre