#0 - Nov. 2, 2006, 4:12 p.m.
These are general problems, and I wont go to much into math and such (basically since I cant :P)
Here’s what I’ll get into:
- Stats for druids, how they work, and more precisely how the work for the druid
- Itemization, one of the druids biggest problems, I’ll explain why
- Combat mechanics, spells and talents, a little view of what need improvement there
Ok lets stats with stats
Every class get the following stats:
Strength – increases you attack power(i.e. you dps)
Agility – increases your armor, crit chance, dodge and attack power(not as much as str does tho)
Stamina – increases your health points
Spirit- increases your health/mana regen
Intellect – increases your mana points
All of these stats is something the druid needs more or less, although due to how shapeshift works we don’t get to use all stats at once like other hybrid classes(i.e. shaman & paladin).
When we are in, say cat form, we won’t have any need of intellect or spirit because we rely on energy for our spells, same goes for bear form which uses rage. In caster form you wont have any use for agi/str when casting spells. Because of that, it means that we, in theory, have an entire different class description than anyone else. Which is something a lot of druids have tried to tell other people both in-game and in the forums.
This leads me to the itemization problem:
Take an normal hybrid item for instance, http://thottbot.com/?i=8173:
Songbird Blouse
Binds when picked up
Chest Leather
165 Armor
+13 Strength
+13 Agility
+13 Stamina
+13 intellect
+13 Spirit
Durability 100/100
Required level 53
Great for a hybrid right? But not exactly that great for a druid, because since we don’t rely on int and spi in bear/cat form it wont benefit the druids as much as a true hybrid class.
There are a lot of hybrid gear like this out there, but they are “too balanced” to make much of a difference. So what most druids do to compensate for this is to collect gear, and lots of it: feral dps gear, feral tanking gear, moonkin dmg gear and resto healing gear. Now ask yourself, should we have to carry around more stuff in our bags than a hunter with engineering, just so we can be a “hybrid”? (Personal note: With all my gears in my bag, I get maybe 16 slots free, if I’m lucky)
You see that the tier sets also have this “balanced stats” on them, but later on in the game you will see that each new tier will be more healing orientated, so in the end all the Devs want you to be is another healer, NOT a hybrid. If they wanted you to be a hybrid they would have given more offspec drops too. What most druids do in instances do is being a healbot, and only getting “leftovers” from rogue/caster loot if they drop. There are a few feral/moonkin players endgame, but the majority of the class are all healers end-game.
Solution:
There are a lot of different opinions about this, so I’ll just post my own :P
- Make more Anathema/Benediction items out there, why only priests should be allowed to get such a powerful item is beyond me. By making both weapons AND gear change into other stats IN COMBAT, it will allow druids to be more like the hybrid they strive to be, they would be able to change a role from healer to offtank by simply pressing the items, or a more druid option: It will change with shapeshift:
Chest of the Wild
Binds when picked up
Chest Leather
265 Armor
+13 Stamina
+24 intellect
+20 Spirit
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 100.
Equip: Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
*Shapeshifting to Cat or Dire Bear form changes this item to Chest of the Feral*
Durability 100/100
Required level 65
Chest of the Feral
Binds when picked up
Chest Leather
265 Armor
+13 Stamina
+24 Strength
+20 Agility
Equip: Increases your critical rating with 34.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating with 30.
*Shapeshifting out of Cat or Dire Bear form changes this item to Chest of the Wild*
Durability 100/100
Required level 65
Look good? :P
- If this seems to be too complicated then I suggest to stop making hybrid items so “balanced” boost the tiers so that druids can actually use their FORMS and not get slaughtered the moment they enter bear form because they are wearing healing orientated gear
- Reintroduce “Play Dead” ability, this were similar to the hunter “Feign Death”. So If you are healing, and suddenly a tank dies, and the raid needs a offtank, you can enter cat form --) “Play Dead”, change to tanking gear, and take over the job :)
Combat mechanics, spells and talents
Shapeshift
Problem:
The worst opponent a druid has in PvP is against a warlock, essentially because he casts fear. Against other classes they get diminished returns which makes them immune towards fear eventually, but not against druids: each shapeshift resets it and each fear cast will be the first again.
Solution 1:
Make shapeshift break fear/charm effects. Before you scream IMBA, bear in mind that the dmg both pet and warlock does without fear is pretty much enough to kill you, but being able to break fear often gives you at lease a fighting chance.
Solution 2:
Make diminshed returns apply even when shapeshifting, making druids immune to fear eventually in the fight, dispite shapeshifting.
Problem:
A lot of people(myself included) think that the mana cost for shifting between forms are just to high, since shapeshifting is what defines a druid, its sad to see that you can only shift in and out of forms so little. Especially for a feral druid who, because of itemization, rely purely on feral stats and little if any intellect.
Solution:
Reduce mana cost considerably, or down to nothing at all. It would help druid to be more in role of a shapeshifter and not use only ONE form at a time. Warriors change between stances without using rage, and even paladins change between auras(what defines a paladin, aside from blessings) with NO mana cost, why druids should use so much mana on it doesn’t make any sense.
Problem:
Shapeshifting between different forms(cat to bear, vice versa) takes to much time, and you waste precious time doing so.
Solution:
Swiftshifting, allow druids to change between forms without having to go out in caster form to do so.
Feral dps
One of the most annoying problems with druids is that our dps seem to be dropping once we hit BWL, not only does rogues out-dps us, but dps-warriors and in TBC even hunter PETS have more dps than us. Constant nerfs on our combat spells makes it even harder for us to do high dmg, if you compare a feral druid with full epic you see that he in some cases are beaten by a rogue with “lesser” gear than him.
Chance on hit:
Druids are the only class(ONLY!) which don’t benefit from “Chance on hit” weapons.
Solution 1:
One of the main reason a rogue out-dps us is because of the duel wield, so why not the same for druids? What I have in mind is basically fist weapons, since there is no caster fist weapons out there(that I know of)
Picture yourself with http://thottbot.com/?set=463 set, which is godlike when proccing :P Its sad that only rogues, warriors and even hunters get this one, and feral druids are left on the sideline. There are even the sets like http://thottbot.com/?set=261 which would be great for a feral druid(if "chance on hit" worked, but they wont even get the seperate pieces because some warrior needs the rest for his dps gear...
Although most fist weapons have "chance on hit" on them, and so does a lot of 2h maces like http://thottbot.com/?i=40529
A lot of weapons are passed by druids because they either cant use offhand or they wont benefit as much from it as other classes. So let us duel wield fist weapons, and making "chance on hit" work in forms too :D
(fat chance that's gonna happen, but I can dream)
Solution 2:
If duel wielding is not an option, make cat attacks WORK as duel wield. You equip a 2h, but the cat uses both claws when attacking. This will boost your kitty dps a lot, but not to overpowered
More problems:
Consumables:
As of now, they only work with BASE stats, not the stats you get from talents(HoTw, predatory strikes). Ex: So if you have 4000 hp without talents and 4800 hp with talents, and use a consumable which adds your to your hp by 2% you get 80 hp more instead of 96 hp.
Furthermore you are not allowed to use consumables in forms, but you are allowed to use your professions while shapeshifted :S
Scaling:
Buffs like battle shout and blessing of might does not scale with gear, and the shaman buff Windfury doesn’t even apply to forms. Talents and spells dont scale with gear either.
Example: In TBC we get a lot of AP items for feral druids, like http://thottbot.com/beta?i=2086
Im kinda forgot the exact math here, but if we say str gives 2 AP and agi gives 1 AP you get 243 AP from this item. "Sweet!" you say, and since you are a feral druid, your HoTW will boost that with 20% right? No. HoTW boosts only strength so 20% of this item, you only get 11 more AP. Meaning 254 AP.If it scaled with AP you would get 48,6 more AP. Meaning 292 aprox.
Problem:
Omen of clarity is a great spell indeed, but it keeps running out in combat when doing pve and if you are a main tank for instance rebuffing is hard. In pvp it gets purged by shamans anyways(
Solution:
Make Omen of Clarity a passive spell
