Is Moonkin pvp feedback still appreciated?

#0 - Dec. 1, 2009, 3:27 a.m.

While I don't expect buff campaigns to get a spec anywhere fast, there really has been no comment regarding caster performance in pvp after enormous amounts of discussion, other than the nerfing of Destro and Ele burst damage. The topic of Moonkin pvp has literally been beaten to death on these boards and others. I know the Devs listen to Druid feedback, the positive changes made to Starfall, Typhoon, Moonkin form, Innervate among others have likely come directly from these boards. However 3.3 is rather bleek so far in regards to Moonkin pvp so I have to wonder, are the Devs still listening?

All through WotLK Balance has been given tiny buffs each patch, steadily getting the spec into better shape for pvp. Now, nearly a whole arena season has passed since Ghostcrawler mentioned that the survival buffs to Balance in 3.2.2 should get Moonkin where they need to be. We've had time to analyze and test hings out and I and many others don't feel its been enough. At best, I feel the changes made to my spec (and resilience) made me less of a liability to my healers, but not an asset to my dps partners. My spec is still on the fringe of being replaced by equally geared and skilled Warlocks, Shaman and Mages. So I'm wondering, with Cata looming around the corner and 3.3 being the last content patch, what point is there in the community addressing our current Moonkin pvp woes?

Ghostcrawler

#67 - Dec. 2, 2009, 1:16 a.m.

Q u o t e:
all feedback is appreciated
it gives the devs and the community an insight on how other classes, and people think.

Yes, it's appreciated, and yes we're always listening. Try not to get much beyond that into trying to put a concrete value on how much we love or don't love your class based on how recently or often we responded to a post on your topic.

Even this response will no doubt be followed by "I can't believe they posted in this thread and didn't even address the issue I wanted them to address."

Ghostcrawler

#131 - Dec. 3, 2009, 8:23 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Apparently GC thinks we are in a good spot in PVP.

No, I don't. When you set things up such that "If GC doesn't respond, I am going to turn that itself into an answer," then you are basically saying I have to make a response to all 30 talent specs in the game for PvE and PvP purposes pretty regularly. I can't do that.

Since I've dive-bombed this thread twice though with answers unrelated to the thread, let me actually comment on the topic.

I'm going to talk mostly about Arenas here, because I think that's where most of you are coming from. BG balance is a surprisingly different beast, and the one on one "ganked in Stranglethorn" or duel situation is just a lot less important.

The way I approach Balance balance (rimshot) in Arena is in terms of comps. If I'm putting together a 3-player team, why do I want the Balance druid? You can joke about how you're a free kill or whatever, but I honestly don't really think that's the issue. Druids have CC and survival tools and a great debuff and I don't think it's just as simple as buffing those (unless they were silly OP like Stunfall was).

I think the issue is comps. What does a Balance druid bring to the table? Why have one instead of just getting e.g. a mage, hunter or shaman? Yeah the obvious answer is to give everyone some form of Mortal Strike. We don't think that's the only answer though. Even if you assume MS is mandatory, there are enough classes that have it now that you should be able to bring MS and a healer and have room for a Boomkin as your third. That won't mean within the matrix of classes that every possible class combo makes sense, but it should mean that there are some comps that make sense.

So what do Balance druids need before they look super attractive for a 3-player team? One answer is that they aren't bringing enough unique utility that druids themselves don't bring. Cyclone is awesome, but Resto druids and especially Feral druids have it. Another answer is that they probably need a little more on-demand burst. I'll argue with anyone who thinks Balance druids don't bring a ton of damage when they are left unmolested. However, they don't always have that on-demand big hit to finish someone off when they're low.