It occurred to me that I QQ a lot about Moonkin viability. And although some measure of QQ might sometimes be warranted, I feel that maybe I've done too much. So I decided to make a simple, short post, that sums what what I truly think about the viability of Balance Druids.
Player vs. environment
In PvE, we are fine. I've been paying close attention to my guild's meters (DPS and various others) in our latest runs, and I find myself always in the top 5 DPS of the group. I do at least 9k DPS on every fight, and that's with currently-bugged Starfall and Languish damage.
Though it is true that Moonkins suffer from movement more than most, our DPS is fine, and we bring great raid buffs. In Cataclysm, we are just fine as well, if not better.
In Heroics, we are downright amazing, as our offheals and CCs come greatly into play.
Player vs. player
In PvP, we are OK. I still think that if you wanted to do 2v2 arena, you'd be better off with a Shadow Priest, Elemental Shaman, Mage, or Warlock. However, we are still capable of doing well. Although all of these classes have better survivability, control, and burst, they will never have our excellent mobility and potent heal-over-time spells (though not very mana-friendly). There are also a few things that I do not find very fair (as explained in this post), but again, we are still decent.
In Cataclysm, we are not doing so well. To sum it up in a few words, Cata's Eclipse is worse in PvP than WotLK's, our healing is gimped, and our control still pales in comparison to other classes. Also, our DoTs, which are a much bigger part of our damage than ever before, have no dispel protection, further reducing our damage (every team has a dispeler now), and cutting us off from important Shooting Stars procs. Wrath, Starfire, and Starsurge cast times are sluggish and nearly impossible to land in movement/interrupt-heavy environments, though we depend on them to reach Total Eclipse.
So let us hope for some Cata PvP buffs!
Conclusion
So overall, we are fine (in 3.3.5). We may be slightly underpowered, but it's not the end of the world. I am generally happy with my Moonkin these days. And if you ever question what I think about our feathery selves, come to this post. Ignore the QQ that may have come before.
Cheers!
Showing posts with label general. Show all posts
Showing posts with label general. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Casting mechanics & PvP itemization
Annnnd.. here comes another comparison post. Sorry. Can't help it. I'll be comparing some aspects of my Moonkin to my SPriest.
My Priest has been level 80 for a while now and I've been playing him as both Discipline and Shadow. As Shadow, there are some things that have come to my attention that I simply do not understand.
Casting mechanics
Any Moonkin knows that it's quasi-impossible to properly cast spells at a melee that is turning around you. Wrath, Starfire, and Moonfire cannot be cast at a target behind us. Insect Swarm, on the other hand, can. Heals can as well, whether cast or instant.
On the Priest, however, it's a different story. Vampiric Touch can still be cast at targets behind me despite having a cast time. Same goes with Imp. Devouring Plague, despite that it has exactly the same casting mechanic as Moonfire (instant damage + DoT damage). So let's see.. what can't I cast to a target behind me on a Priest? Mind Blast, and Mind Flay. That said, Mind Flay is channeled and will turn automatically with the target, so it isn't much of an issue.
As minor as these things may seem, they are actually quite important. Why are Moonkins getting penalized?
PvP itemization
Moonkin PvP itemization is pretty terrible:
Gear selection
On my Moonkin, I try to get as much haste as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn't add up to be a lot of haste, largely because there are no haste items to pick up. The entire set has crit, and all leather offset items make you choose between crit, spirit, and attack power. That means that the only haste items I can buy are the cloak and the necklace.
On the other hand, my Priest has plenty of haste items to pick up (and any other cloth-wearer). Though the set is still all crit, every single offset item gives you the choice between haste, crit, and spirit. That means I can pick up haste bracers, boots, and belt - something I cannot do on my Moonkin.
Again, why should Moonkins be so penalized? Does wearing leather mean we should have limited gearing options? All cloth-wearers are either healers or spell-damage dealers. All leather-wearers are either healers, spell-damage dealers, or melee-damage dealers. Shouldn't Blizzard be adding an itemization choice instead of replacing one?
Socket bonuses
Another thing I've noticed are the PvP socket bonuses. On my Druid, one is resilience, one is spellpower, and the others are spirit. Wait.. what? Spirit? Yep, spirit. Total, I receive +6 resilience, +7 spellpower, and +16 spirit.
On my Priest, however, the PvP bonuses look much better. One resilience, two spellpower, and two stamina, for a total of +8 resilience, +12 spellpower, +15 stamina.
Why are the bonuses even different? Why is my Moonkin getting spirit while my Priest is getting spellpower and stamina? Even when the bonuses give the same stat, the value of the stat is higher on the Priest. The Moonkin's chest piece is the one that gives resilience: +6. The Priest's helm is the one that gives it: +8. Why?
Set/glove bonuses
Finally, the set and glove bonuses are also poorly designed. The Moonkin bonus gives Wrath a chance to proc Wrath of Elune - which reduces your next Starfire's cast time by 1.5 seconds. Although this can be a very powerful proc, provided it can even be used, it makes Balance Druids the only spec in the game with a chance-based PvP set bonus. Combine this with the fact that we are also the only spec in the game without a silence or stun, and how our main damage buff (the one that puts our damage on par with the other players) is totally dependent on chance, there isn't much left to .. well .. I've talked enough about this stuff already.
Everyone else has a solid, secure bonus that isn't left up to chance - usually related to reducing the cooldown of an important ability or increasing the damage of another. Priests, for example, get -2s off of their Weakened Soul debuff, allowing the use of Power Word: Shield every 13s instead of 15s.
The Balance glove bonus is not too bad - it reduces the base cast time of Cyclone by 0.1s. Unfortunately, it does not reduce the cast time after haste but before it - slightly decreasing the benefit of haste for the spell (this means that depending on your haste, Cyclone true cast time will only be reduced by 0.08-0.09s). This bonus is situational, because 0.1s is a very short period of time. Furthermore, it affects a spell that has a cast time - one of Moonkin's many vulnerabilities. Whether Cyclone has a 1.5s or 1.4s base cast time does not truly matter, because I will be counterspelled at 0.5s anyways.
On the other hand, Priests get a much nicer bonus - Psychic Scream's cooldown is reduced by 3s. For Shadow Priests, this mean the cooldown is down from 30 seconds to 23, thanks to their Improved Psychic Scream talent.
All in all..
Is there any good reason to confine Moonkins to PvP crit gear and bad PvP bonuses - while on the other hand letting Priests suffer from neither of these things, and have overpowered casting mechanics?
Sometimes I want to join the Moonkin bandwagon and tell Blizzard that they are purposely keeping us underpowered - that they don't like Moonkins. Of course, that is a silly notion (I hope), but some of our issues are so obvious that it is hard to understand why they'd let us be so terrible for so long. And we're even worse in Cataclysm now (just go read around the Druid forums and you can see for yourself).
Sigh.
My Priest has been level 80 for a while now and I've been playing him as both Discipline and Shadow. As Shadow, there are some things that have come to my attention that I simply do not understand.
Casting mechanics
Any Moonkin knows that it's quasi-impossible to properly cast spells at a melee that is turning around you. Wrath, Starfire, and Moonfire cannot be cast at a target behind us. Insect Swarm, on the other hand, can. Heals can as well, whether cast or instant.
On the Priest, however, it's a different story. Vampiric Touch can still be cast at targets behind me despite having a cast time. Same goes with Imp. Devouring Plague, despite that it has exactly the same casting mechanic as Moonfire (instant damage + DoT damage). So let's see.. what can't I cast to a target behind me on a Priest? Mind Blast, and Mind Flay. That said, Mind Flay is channeled and will turn automatically with the target, so it isn't much of an issue.
As minor as these things may seem, they are actually quite important. Why are Moonkins getting penalized?
PvP itemization
Moonkin PvP itemization is pretty terrible:
Gear selection
On my Moonkin, I try to get as much haste as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn't add up to be a lot of haste, largely because there are no haste items to pick up. The entire set has crit, and all leather offset items make you choose between crit, spirit, and attack power. That means that the only haste items I can buy are the cloak and the necklace.
On the other hand, my Priest has plenty of haste items to pick up (and any other cloth-wearer). Though the set is still all crit, every single offset item gives you the choice between haste, crit, and spirit. That means I can pick up haste bracers, boots, and belt - something I cannot do on my Moonkin.
Again, why should Moonkins be so penalized? Does wearing leather mean we should have limited gearing options? All cloth-wearers are either healers or spell-damage dealers. All leather-wearers are either healers, spell-damage dealers, or melee-damage dealers. Shouldn't Blizzard be adding an itemization choice instead of replacing one?
Socket bonuses
Another thing I've noticed are the PvP socket bonuses. On my Druid, one is resilience, one is spellpower, and the others are spirit. Wait.. what? Spirit? Yep, spirit. Total, I receive +6 resilience, +7 spellpower, and +16 spirit.
On my Priest, however, the PvP bonuses look much better. One resilience, two spellpower, and two stamina, for a total of +8 resilience, +12 spellpower, +15 stamina.
Why are the bonuses even different? Why is my Moonkin getting spirit while my Priest is getting spellpower and stamina? Even when the bonuses give the same stat, the value of the stat is higher on the Priest. The Moonkin's chest piece is the one that gives resilience: +6. The Priest's helm is the one that gives it: +8. Why?
Set/glove bonuses
Finally, the set and glove bonuses are also poorly designed. The Moonkin bonus gives Wrath a chance to proc Wrath of Elune - which reduces your next Starfire's cast time by 1.5 seconds. Although this can be a very powerful proc, provided it can even be used, it makes Balance Druids the only spec in the game with a chance-based PvP set bonus. Combine this with the fact that we are also the only spec in the game without a silence or stun, and how our main damage buff (the one that puts our damage on par with the other players) is totally dependent on chance, there isn't much left to .. well .. I've talked enough about this stuff already.
Everyone else has a solid, secure bonus that isn't left up to chance - usually related to reducing the cooldown of an important ability or increasing the damage of another. Priests, for example, get -2s off of their Weakened Soul debuff, allowing the use of Power Word: Shield every 13s instead of 15s.
The Balance glove bonus is not too bad - it reduces the base cast time of Cyclone by 0.1s. Unfortunately, it does not reduce the cast time after haste but before it - slightly decreasing the benefit of haste for the spell (this means that depending on your haste, Cyclone true cast time will only be reduced by 0.08-0.09s). This bonus is situational, because 0.1s is a very short period of time. Furthermore, it affects a spell that has a cast time - one of Moonkin's many vulnerabilities. Whether Cyclone has a 1.5s or 1.4s base cast time does not truly matter, because I will be counterspelled at 0.5s anyways.
On the other hand, Priests get a much nicer bonus - Psychic Scream's cooldown is reduced by 3s. For Shadow Priests, this mean the cooldown is down from 30 seconds to 23, thanks to their Improved Psychic Scream talent.
All in all..
Is there any good reason to confine Moonkins to PvP crit gear and bad PvP bonuses - while on the other hand letting Priests suffer from neither of these things, and have overpowered casting mechanics?
Sometimes I want to join the Moonkin bandwagon and tell Blizzard that they are purposely keeping us underpowered - that they don't like Moonkins. Of course, that is a silly notion (I hope), but some of our issues are so obvious that it is hard to understand why they'd let us be so terrible for so long. And we're even worse in Cataclysm now (just go read around the Druid forums and you can see for yourself).
Sigh.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Moonkin / Mage / Priest
No, that isn't a 3v3 arena team. Though it could work decently, I guess. It'd be better if we got a Rogue or a Hunter to replace the.. um.. well, the Moonkin.
I've been working on leveling two of my least favorite classes to PvP against - a Frost Mage, and a Shadow Priest. So here are my current impressions:
Frost Mage
Frost Mages are gods of control. No one gets close to them, thanks to a permanent uptime of chills and the frequent freezes. What makes them quite overpowered, however, is not just the control - it's that controlling their target goes hand in hand with bursting them down, thanks to talents like Shatter and Fingers of Frost.
Survivability is also amazing. Blink, Ice Barrier, Ice Block, and Mana Shield guarantee that it will be a while before I die, so long as I have mana. My Mage is a Gnome, so I have extra mana, and a racial to make me even harder to catch.
Shadow Priest
Shadow Priests are a bit less about control, and more about melting faces. I kill mobs my level simply by applying DoTs and wanding, and there are still a few seconds to go on both SW:P and Devouring Plague when the mob dies. 1v1 PvP is ridiculously easy - keep PW:S up, apply DoTs, cast Psychic Scream, cast Mind Blast, spam Mind Flay. You dead yet? Yeah you are.
Mana was an issue at the lower levels - I'd have to drink every 1-2 pulls, despite Spirit Tap. Attacking two mobs at the same time meant almost certain OOM-induced death. Now, however, my mana is much better thanks to the Replenishment effect. Health is never an issue - Improved Vampiric Embrace is way overpowered.
Versus Moonkin
The gameplay is quite different, that's for sure. My Moonkin's PvE control is fine, mostly thanks to Typhoon and Entangling Roots. However, my PvP control with the Mage or Priest is much, much higher. It feels so good to Counterspell / Silence some poor fellow trying to heal.
That being said, it all does feel a bit awkward - mostly because I am so used to playing as a Moonkin. When my health is plummeting, my reflex is to shapeshift the hell out of there while spamming HoTs on myself. When I am getting close to dying on either of my alts, I feel a rising sense of panic - usually, I've no idea what the hell to do.
Not being able to heal on my Mage feels dangerous, as I haven't yet been accustomed to their way of surviving: controlling their opponent to death, mainly.
I can heal on the Priest, yet the style is different and also feels bizarre. If Psychic Scream and my bubble are gone and on cooldown, I feel at a loss. There is some strange force that makes me hate dropping out of Shadowform to Renew or Flash Heal - definitely not a problem I have on my Druid. But we will see how it turns out at end game, when I have more survivability talents and Dispersion.
All in all, I still stay true to what I've said before. Mages and Priests are overpowered. They might not be downright facerolling classes, but they are very, very complete classes. They have all of the tools they need to melt faces, and more.
I've been working on leveling two of my least favorite classes to PvP against - a Frost Mage, and a Shadow Priest. So here are my current impressions:
Frost Mage
Frost Mages are gods of control. No one gets close to them, thanks to a permanent uptime of chills and the frequent freezes. What makes them quite overpowered, however, is not just the control - it's that controlling their target goes hand in hand with bursting them down, thanks to talents like Shatter and Fingers of Frost.
Survivability is also amazing. Blink, Ice Barrier, Ice Block, and Mana Shield guarantee that it will be a while before I die, so long as I have mana. My Mage is a Gnome, so I have extra mana, and a racial to make me even harder to catch.
Shadow Priest
Shadow Priests are a bit less about control, and more about melting faces. I kill mobs my level simply by applying DoTs and wanding, and there are still a few seconds to go on both SW:P and Devouring Plague when the mob dies. 1v1 PvP is ridiculously easy - keep PW:S up, apply DoTs, cast Psychic Scream, cast Mind Blast, spam Mind Flay. You dead yet? Yeah you are.
Mana was an issue at the lower levels - I'd have to drink every 1-2 pulls, despite Spirit Tap. Attacking two mobs at the same time meant almost certain OOM-induced death. Now, however, my mana is much better thanks to the Replenishment effect. Health is never an issue - Improved Vampiric Embrace is way overpowered.
Versus Moonkin
The gameplay is quite different, that's for sure. My Moonkin's PvE control is fine, mostly thanks to Typhoon and Entangling Roots. However, my PvP control with the Mage or Priest is much, much higher. It feels so good to Counterspell / Silence some poor fellow trying to heal.
That being said, it all does feel a bit awkward - mostly because I am so used to playing as a Moonkin. When my health is plummeting, my reflex is to shapeshift the hell out of there while spamming HoTs on myself. When I am getting close to dying on either of my alts, I feel a rising sense of panic - usually, I've no idea what the hell to do.
Not being able to heal on my Mage feels dangerous, as I haven't yet been accustomed to their way of surviving: controlling their opponent to death, mainly.
I can heal on the Priest, yet the style is different and also feels bizarre. If Psychic Scream and my bubble are gone and on cooldown, I feel at a loss. There is some strange force that makes me hate dropping out of Shadowform to Renew or Flash Heal - definitely not a problem I have on my Druid. But we will see how it turns out at end game, when I have more survivability talents and Dispersion.
All in all, I still stay true to what I've said before. Mages and Priests are overpowered. They might not be downright facerolling classes, but they are very, very complete classes. They have all of the tools they need to melt faces, and more.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Why I play a Moonkin
As I mentioned in my first post, I was lucky enough that the first class/spec combination I tried was the one that was perfect for me. I never respec-ed and never rerolled. I've loved Balance ever since I began understanding the concept of talent trees and I still remember being excited about getting Moonkin Form way before I was the level required for it. At level 80, Balance is still as exciting for me as it used to be. All my alts remain just that - alts, and I never have a serious thought about going Resto or Feral.
So why do I like Moonkin so much?
Why I picked Druid
Before I explain what I love about Moonkin, perhaps it would be best to look at the bigger picture. Why did I choose to play a Druid in the first place?
In truth, I had no idea which class to pick when I started WoW. Today, each class seems clear and well-defined to me, but at the time, even after lengthy research, it was all a little confusing. Druid seemed the most versatile so that ended up being the class I chose, because I figured it wouldn't limit what I could do as much as the other classes.
I don't have a single regret. Druid is really fun and it is one of the main reasons why I like Balance. At any point in time I can go in Cat Form and Prowl around in Horde cities, off-heal if it's really needed without being bad at it, and shapeshift into Flight Form to escape sticky situation. The capability to do so many things - even if I don't always make use of them (it's just the feeling of feeling free that matters, right? :P) - makes Druid a really enjoyable class.
Moonkin is creative
Each class or spec, to an extent, has it own unique theme, or style. Its own flavor. Rogues have stealth and poisons, Hunters use pets and guns, Priests use the power of words (how fitting), Druids shapeshift and control nature, etc, and all of these things contribute to the feel of the class. Everyone's got their own thing. If a certain class didn't unique, there wouldn't really be a point in having the class exist in the first place.
Hybrid classes have specs that define the role they play. Pure classes have specs that determine the way they output damage. For example, Destruction Warlocks get their damage through nukes while Affliction Warlocks do it through DoTs. Some specs are more PvP viable and others are more PvE oriented - such as Subtlety vs. Assassination Rogues.
In the end, however, I feel like nothing compares to the epic style of Moonkin. While a Warrior might charge you, a Hunter might shoot you, a Paladin might judge you, who else but a Moonkin will grow roots out of the ground and proceed to aligning the sun and the moon themselves in order to nuke you down? A Mage might send chills down your spine with a Frostbolt, but a Moonkin will summon an entire typhoon your way and command the very wrath of the sun to destroy you.
Moonkin is fun
In part, this is because of the epic style. Maybe I got so used to Moonkin that today I can't properly play any other class. That said, I've tried every other class in the game and I haven't been able to stick to any (save Protection Warrior).
Somehow - and I don't always understand why because at times I will be extremely frustrated at my feathery character - Moonkin just never gets boring. Maybe it's the huge Starfire crits or the amazing AoE burst of Starfall + Hurricane. Maybe it's that I can solo nearly everything, or that I can do a silly dance. I don't enjoy how saggy my butt looks when I'm running around, but who cares? - I have antlers!
Some people hate the Moonkin Form, but personally, I love it. How could you dislike a giant, feathery chicken with antlers who looks like he has anger management issues? Check this video out by Voodooray, it says it all :)
Not to mention that even today, after months of having seen hundreds - maybe thousands - of Eclipse procs, I still haven't gotten tired of them. They still feel great every time. I crit, and then a huge moon shows up above my head, as if telling me "You have become more powerful than you have ever imagined." And then I fire it up. That excitement is still there - Eclipse just feels great (except when you chain non-crits afterwards :P)
Moonkin is challenging
Let's face it - some specs are really easy. When I was level 72, I switched to Restoration for a while, just to try it out, and owned every battleground I ever joined. At level 74, I healed Heroic Shadow Labyrinth with 3 cloth-wearers and 1 Hunter and we didn't even struggle.
I don't really like easy mode. Essentially, WoW is still going to be a moderately easy game (till you hit high level PvE content), no matter what class you play, but I don't think I'd ever roll a Retribution Paladin or a Shadow Priest. You know what I'm talking about ;)
I believe Moonkin isn't downright facerolling material, like some other specs. I saw a video of a Mage in the world's first Anub'arak hard mode (found it! Here's the link), and I was disappointed when I saw he had to do nothing more than spam Frostfire Bolt the entire time to achieve 4th DPS (he was 3rd the entire time except at the end, actually), punctuated by Blizzards when adds came. Boring! I want a character that scales well with skill, not gear. EDIT: Nevermind, it's most than just Frostfire Bolt spam :P I'm a noob.
I look at Recount after raids to see what abilities other classes use, what gives them the most damage. My damage is spread out over 6 spells. I remember I looked at an Arcane Mage's Recount once and he literally had only used 2 spells the entire time.
Now, I'm not going to say Moonkin PvE is hard, but it does require thought and careful timing. We don't really have a rotation - our style is more reactionary than anything. In a nutshell, Starfall is about 10% of our DPS. That one is pretty easy - I just fire it and let it do its thing. My two DoTs comprise about another 10% of my damage, but if I don't use them properly, they will reduce my overall damage.
Then about the remaining 80% of my damage comes from Wrath and Starfire. But if I don't use them carefully in balance with each other, my DPS will hurt badly. Moonkin PvE is all about timing, procs, and internal cooldowns. In my opinion, that's much more fun than simple Frostfire Bolt spam.
PvP, however, is a whole different story - Moonkin isn't viable in PvP (sad face). I'm not just saying this merely because it's the spec I play, but it is the most underpowered PvP spec in WoW, hands down. No real survivability, no real control, no real damage. I won't get into Moonkin PvP in this post because it deserves one all to itself, but suffice it to say that it is very hard to take down opponents of equal skill and gear. Just google it or try dueling / 2v2 arena as a Moonkin and you'll see what I mean. Maybe I'll post some links later.
TL-DR
In the end, it comes down to the style. Moonkin is a combination of big crits, off-heals, and utility, all wrapped up in an epic theme of cosmological proportions. I'm not saying sending bolts of frost at people isn't cool, but it just ain't quite as fun.
So why do I like Moonkin so much?
Why I picked Druid
Before I explain what I love about Moonkin, perhaps it would be best to look at the bigger picture. Why did I choose to play a Druid in the first place?
In truth, I had no idea which class to pick when I started WoW. Today, each class seems clear and well-defined to me, but at the time, even after lengthy research, it was all a little confusing. Druid seemed the most versatile so that ended up being the class I chose, because I figured it wouldn't limit what I could do as much as the other classes.
 |
| Prowling to avoid the baddies. |
Moonkin is creative
Each class or spec, to an extent, has it own unique theme, or style. Its own flavor. Rogues have stealth and poisons, Hunters use pets and guns, Priests use the power of words (how fitting), Druids shapeshift and control nature, etc, and all of these things contribute to the feel of the class. Everyone's got their own thing. If a certain class didn't unique, there wouldn't really be a point in having the class exist in the first place.
Hybrid classes have specs that define the role they play. Pure classes have specs that determine the way they output damage. For example, Destruction Warlocks get their damage through nukes while Affliction Warlocks do it through DoTs. Some specs are more PvP viable and others are more PvE oriented - such as Subtlety vs. Assassination Rogues.
In the end, however, I feel like nothing compares to the epic style of Moonkin. While a Warrior might charge you, a Hunter might shoot you, a Paladin might judge you, who else but a Moonkin will grow roots out of the ground and proceed to aligning the sun and the moon themselves in order to nuke you down? A Mage might send chills down your spine with a Frostbolt, but a Moonkin will summon an entire typhoon your way and command the very wrath of the sun to destroy you.
Moonkin is fun
In part, this is because of the epic style. Maybe I got so used to Moonkin that today I can't properly play any other class. That said, I've tried every other class in the game and I haven't been able to stick to any (save Protection Warrior).
Somehow - and I don't always understand why because at times I will be extremely frustrated at my feathery character - Moonkin just never gets boring. Maybe it's the huge Starfire crits or the amazing AoE burst of Starfall + Hurricane. Maybe it's that I can solo nearly everything, or that I can do a silly dance. I don't enjoy how saggy my butt looks when I'm running around, but who cares? - I have antlers!
Some people hate the Moonkin Form, but personally, I love it. How could you dislike a giant, feathery chicken with antlers who looks like he has anger management issues? Check this video out by Voodooray, it says it all :)
Not to mention that even today, after months of having seen hundreds - maybe thousands - of Eclipse procs, I still haven't gotten tired of them. They still feel great every time. I crit, and then a huge moon shows up above my head, as if telling me "You have become more powerful than you have ever imagined." And then I fire it up. That excitement is still there - Eclipse just feels great (except when you chain non-crits afterwards :P)
 |
| More powerful than you could ever imagine. |
Let's face it - some specs are really easy. When I was level 72, I switched to Restoration for a while, just to try it out, and owned every battleground I ever joined. At level 74, I healed Heroic Shadow Labyrinth with 3 cloth-wearers and 1 Hunter and we didn't even struggle.
I don't really like easy mode. Essentially, WoW is still going to be a moderately easy game (till you hit high level PvE content), no matter what class you play, but I don't think I'd ever roll a Retribution Paladin or a Shadow Priest. You know what I'm talking about ;)
I believe Moonkin isn't downright facerolling material, like some other specs. I saw a video of a Mage in the world's first Anub'arak hard mode (found it! Here's the link), and I was disappointed when I saw he had to do nothing more than spam Frostfire Bolt the entire time to achieve 4th DPS (he was 3rd the entire time except at the end, actually), punctuated by Blizzards when adds came. Boring! I want a character that scales well with skill, not gear. EDIT: Nevermind, it's most than just Frostfire Bolt spam :P I'm a noob.
I look at Recount after raids to see what abilities other classes use, what gives them the most damage. My damage is spread out over 6 spells. I remember I looked at an Arcane Mage's Recount once and he literally had only used 2 spells the entire time.
Now, I'm not going to say Moonkin PvE is hard, but it does require thought and careful timing. We don't really have a rotation - our style is more reactionary than anything. In a nutshell, Starfall is about 10% of our DPS. That one is pretty easy - I just fire it and let it do its thing. My two DoTs comprise about another 10% of my damage, but if I don't use them properly, they will reduce my overall damage.
Then about the remaining 80% of my damage comes from Wrath and Starfire. But if I don't use them carefully in balance with each other, my DPS will hurt badly. Moonkin PvE is all about timing, procs, and internal cooldowns. In my opinion, that's much more fun than simple Frostfire Bolt spam.
PvP, however, is a whole different story - Moonkin isn't viable in PvP (sad face). I'm not just saying this merely because it's the spec I play, but it is the most underpowered PvP spec in WoW, hands down. No real survivability, no real control, no real damage. I won't get into Moonkin PvP in this post because it deserves one all to itself, but suffice it to say that it is very hard to take down opponents of equal skill and gear. Just google it or try dueling / 2v2 arena as a Moonkin and you'll see what I mean. Maybe I'll post some links later.
TL-DR
In the end, it comes down to the style. Moonkin is a combination of big crits, off-heals, and utility, all wrapped up in an epic theme of cosmological proportions. I'm not saying sending bolts of frost at people isn't cool, but it just ain't quite as fun.
Welcome to Owlkin Frenzy
Because this is my first Owlkin Frenzy post, I figure I should post a bit about this blog and myself. I'll get to personalizing the design of the blog later, when I've decided just what I want to do with it (definitely something Moonkin-y).
As you may have guessed if you're a World of Warcraft player, this blog will be dedicated to talking about Balance Druid-related .. things.
History of my character
I started playing WoW in December 2009. That's pretty recent, though I feel like I've gathered enough knowledge about the game - and my class especially - not to be called a newbie. By some stroke of luck, the first character I made was a Balance Druid, and I ended up loving it. I hit level 80 four months later, and really I haven't been serious about any alts. I chose the name Clov, short for Clovis, which wasn't available.
Now, I hope I won't lose any credibility saying this, but so far I have only played on Blizzlike private servers. I don't have the money to play on retail at this point, though I plan to make the switch some time in my future.
The first server I played on was Spermik. Though the server was plagued with bugs and crashes (mostly following patches), the developers made their best efforts to remain as Blizzlike as possible, which is what I wanted. No custom items, no high rates, no bonuses for donators.
Unfortunately, the content was sub 3.1. The only raid open was Obsidian Sanctum, and the highest level gear available was 213 (with the exception of OS25+2D, which drops 226 gear). PvP gear was at the Hateful level with Deadly off-pieces. When I joined, the highest gear scores were in the 3900s. When I finally quit, only 3 people had above a 4k gear score.
Recently, my girlfriend's brother (we all played together at Spermik) was temporarily banned for an unknown reason, and he switched to the Molten WoW private server. My girlfriend ended up doing the same, and I followed suit. Molten has 4 realms - one of which, Frostwolf, is completely Blizzlike except for a 3x rate, which I'm okay with because I don't see the problem with getting to 80 three times as fast when all I'm doing is leveling a Balance Druid again, and I've already done that the hard way.
Today
At the time of this post, my Moonkin on Frostwolf just hit level 48. I have to admit, it felt really good when I hit 40 and was able to change into my form again. I'm one of those people that walk around in Moonkin Form even when it's not needed - I don't care if I can't see my armor, show me the feathers!
Hopefully I will hit 80 pretty quickly, and I'll be able to gear up - past tier 7 this time. Everything on Molten is open and scripted, including ICC, so I am definitely looking forward to it.
Links
Spermik: OS 10 + 1 drake
This is the only WoW video I have made thus far. As you can see, there's a few bugs, such as incorrect buff stacking. Also, a mistake from my part when I stand in the void zone :s That said, I'm quite proud of my UI (which has changed some more since then).
Clov - PvE
This is my Moonkin on Spermik as I left it, in his PvE gear and spec. The shoulders and weapon are incorrect - I have others with more hit that I used for 82+ bosses (I was almost hit-capped).
Clov - PvP
Same thing, except for PvP. I had over 16k honorable kills. Arena rating was irrelevant because of the nature of the server, and only in the last days did I really compete in rated matches.
As you may have guessed if you're a World of Warcraft player, this blog will be dedicated to talking about Balance Druid-related .. things.
History of my character
I started playing WoW in December 2009. That's pretty recent, though I feel like I've gathered enough knowledge about the game - and my class especially - not to be called a newbie. By some stroke of luck, the first character I made was a Balance Druid, and I ended up loving it. I hit level 80 four months later, and really I haven't been serious about any alts. I chose the name Clov, short for Clovis, which wasn't available.
Now, I hope I won't lose any credibility saying this, but so far I have only played on Blizzlike private servers. I don't have the money to play on retail at this point, though I plan to make the switch some time in my future.
The first server I played on was Spermik. Though the server was plagued with bugs and crashes (mostly following patches), the developers made their best efforts to remain as Blizzlike as possible, which is what I wanted. No custom items, no high rates, no bonuses for donators.
Unfortunately, the content was sub 3.1. The only raid open was Obsidian Sanctum, and the highest level gear available was 213 (with the exception of OS25+2D, which drops 226 gear). PvP gear was at the Hateful level with Deadly off-pieces. When I joined, the highest gear scores were in the 3900s. When I finally quit, only 3 people had above a 4k gear score.
Recently, my girlfriend's brother (we all played together at Spermik) was temporarily banned for an unknown reason, and he switched to the Molten WoW private server. My girlfriend ended up doing the same, and I followed suit. Molten has 4 realms - one of which, Frostwolf, is completely Blizzlike except for a 3x rate, which I'm okay with because I don't see the problem with getting to 80 three times as fast when all I'm doing is leveling a Balance Druid again, and I've already done that the hard way.
Today
At the time of this post, my Moonkin on Frostwolf just hit level 48. I have to admit, it felt really good when I hit 40 and was able to change into my form again. I'm one of those people that walk around in Moonkin Form even when it's not needed - I don't care if I can't see my armor, show me the feathers!
Hopefully I will hit 80 pretty quickly, and I'll be able to gear up - past tier 7 this time. Everything on Molten is open and scripted, including ICC, so I am definitely looking forward to it.
Links
Spermik: OS 10 + 1 drake
This is the only WoW video I have made thus far. As you can see, there's a few bugs, such as incorrect buff stacking. Also, a mistake from my part when I stand in the void zone :s That said, I'm quite proud of my UI (which has changed some more since then).
Clov - PvE
This is my Moonkin on Spermik as I left it, in his PvE gear and spec. The shoulders and weapon are incorrect - I have others with more hit that I used for 82+ bosses (I was almost hit-capped).
Clov - PvP
Same thing, except for PvP. I had over 16k honorable kills. Arena rating was irrelevant because of the nature of the server, and only in the last days did I really compete in rated matches.
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