Next up.. the Druid!<\/p>\n
Druids will also be impacted by the rage normalization that Blizzard is trying (again).\u00c2\u00a0 So keep that in mind when reading the changes.<\/p>\n
The new AoE bleed is nice for tanking, not so sure about the exploding mushroom.. seems kind of a…pointless spell to me.\u00c2\u00a0 The change to resto druids not always having to be in tree form is going to be nice too.. give at least some of the druids a chance to show off their armor while in an instance\/raid\/etc.. instead of just occasionally while lounging around Dalaran.<\/p>\n
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linkylinky to original post<\/a>.<\/p>\n In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be making several changes to class talents and abilities. Here you will get a glimpse into some of the changes we have in store for the druid. The information you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re about to read is certainly not complete, and is only meant to act as a preview of some of the exciting new things to come. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kick things off by checking out some of the new druid spells and abilities!<\/span><\/p>\n New Druid Abilities<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n Thrash (Level 81)<\/strong> : Thrash deals damage and causes all targets within 10 yards to bleed every 2 seconds for 6 seconds. The intent here is to give bears another button to hit while tanking. Talents will affect the bleed, such as causing Swipe to deal more damage to bleeding targets. 5-second cooldown. 25 Rage.<\/span><\/p>\n Stampeding Roar (Level 83)<\/strong> : The druid roars, increasing the movement of all allies within 10 yards by 40% for 8 seconds. Stampeding Roar can be used in cat or bear form, but bears might have a talent to drop the cooldown. The goal of this ability is to give both bears and cats a little more situational group utility. 3-minute cooldown. No cost.<\/span><\/p>\n Wild Mushroom (Level 85)<\/strong> : Grows a magical mushroom at the target location. After 4 seconds the mushroom becomes invisible. Enemies who cross the mushroom detonate it, causing it to deal area-of-effect damage, though its damage component will remain very effective against single targets. The druid can also choose to detonate the mushroom ahead of time. This is primarily a tool for the Balance druid, and there will be talents that play off of it. No cooldown. 40-yard range. Instant cast.<\/span><\/p>\n Changes to Abilities and Mechanics<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the new abilities listed above, we intend to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics with which you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re already familiar. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of our goals for each spec.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/span><\/li>\n Balance<\/span> Feral (Cat)<\/span> Feral (Bear)<\/span> Restoration<\/span> Eclipse<\/strong> : We are moving Eclipse from a talent into a core mechanic of the class and making it less random. Balance druids will have a new UI element that shows a sun and a moon. Whenever they cast an Arcane spell, it will move the UI closer to the sun, and buff their Nature damage. Whenever they cast a Nature spell, it will move the UI closer to the moon, and buff their Arcane damage. The gameplay intention is to alternate Arcane and Nature spells (largely Starfire and Wrath) to maintain the balance.<\/span><\/p>\n Bleed Damage and Savage Defense<\/strong> : Feral druids will receive two sets of passive bonuses depending on whether the druid is in cat or bear form. Bleed Damage will be improved for cats. Savage Defense is the current bear mechanic for converting crits into damage absorption and will be improved for bears.<\/span><\/p>\n HoT Scale Healing<\/strong> : HoTs will do increased healing on more wounded targets. The mechanic is similar to that of the Restoration shaman, but with HoTs instead of direct heals. In Cataclysm, we anticipate druids using a greater variety of their spells so there is a distinction between healing and HoT healing.<\/span><\/p>\n Vengeance<\/strong> : This is a mechanic to ensure that tank damage (and therefore threat) doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear during the course of the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as their second talent tree passive bonus. Whenever a tank gets hit, Vengeance will give them a stacking attack power buff equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10% of the character\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unbuffed health. For boss encounters we expect that tanks will always have the attack power bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10% bonuses assume 51 talent points have been put into the Feral tree and the druid is in bear form — these values will be smaller at lower levels. Remember, you only get this bonus if you have spent the most talent points in the Feral tree and are in bear form, so you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see Balance, Restoration, or Feral druids in cat form running around with it. Vengeance will let us continue to make tank gear more or less the way we do today — there will be some damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats. Druids typically have more damage-dealing stats even on their tanking gear, so the Vengeance benefit may be smaller, but overall the goal is that all four tanks do about the same damage when tanking.<\/span><\/p>\n We hope you enjoyed this preview, and ask that you provide your initial thoughts and feedback on what was presented here. Please keep in mind, what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just reviewed is a work in progress and as we move closer to the Cataclysm beta, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see these changes as well as others continue to develop in response to testing and feedback. <\/span><\/p>\n Cataclysm Stat & System Changes<\/strong> : http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=23425636414&sid=1<\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\nNew Talents and Talent Changes<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses<\/span><\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nSpell Damage
\nSpell Haste
\nEclipse<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nMelee Damage
\nMelee Critical Damage
\nBleed Damage<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nDamage Reduction
\nVengeance
\nSavage Defense<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nHealing
\nMeditation
\nHoT Scale Healing<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n