Shoop

It's been a long time!

2011-09-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

At almost the one year mark I have been neglecting to update this blog for a variety of reasons. One of them being work. While unemployed, my blog was updated pretty regularly. When I became employed, I was unaware of exactly how many hours overtime I would be getting. Fifty to sixty hours a week leaves little time for blogging, let alone raiding, which lead me to the decision to take a break from WoW all together. I recently reactivated my account and have become a regular raider with The Panic Attacks once more. While no longer a staff member, I am still a large presence in the healing channel. My dedication to our healing team will be amplified with the recent events leading to our current healing leader having to be absent for one or more raids during the week. Though I will not be at the head of the team, that is left to Capoko, I will attempt to assist him in any way I possibly can.

There have been a substantial amount of changes over the past year to resto druids, and druids as a whole. A lot which would be difficult to cover. So in attempt to avoid boring you with talking about outdated information, I will pick up where I am now, and comment mostly on current changes and events.

In general I run this blog pretty solo. I attempted to recruit a boomer and possibly a feral to help fill the gaps of my knowledge and experience, but things didn't work out. This time around I want to have a better array of knowledge, insights, and information available from the blog. If you are a regular raiding moonkin druid or feral druid with knowledge of bear and cat, please get a hold of me either through comments or messages and I will include blog entries and guides from you. When my blog team has been established I will do a visual overhaul and include their names and some aesthetically pleasing aspects of their class and specs on the front page and throughout the blog as well.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Leveling in Cataclysm!

2010-12-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

First before any chit chat about cata, I want you ALL to go check out this site. If you live in Missouri this is your best bet for computer troubles. And if not, at least link this site, share it, and give them a call.

My Computer Medic in Missouri

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Now for some WoW stuff!

Underwater leveling? Forget about it. I loved how innovated and creative this zone was but Vash'jir was a sort of underwater hell hole. Water adds a whole new dimension to killing mobs. On land you can be careful to pull only one or two mobs at a time. Under water you have the wonderful chance to pull mobs from above and below, and the patrol patterns and nearly impossible to pin down. Other then that, PvP can significantly slow your leveling proccess. Not just getting ganked, but wanting to kill every red name in site can be a bit time consuming!

What were your thoughts on leveling? Hyjal or Vash'jir? Tell me in the comments!

Cataclysm Countdown

2010-12-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

For your viewing pleasure I have included a countdown timer in this post, instead of a picture. Enjoy!

I have decided to make one last post before Cataclysm launches, and before I become too zombie like and cease to make sense.

Logan and I will most likely be leveling in the Vaz'jir zone. I know there is a healing head enchant from the other area, but oh well. Leveling is going to be a joint effort to avoid being dominated during the process.

Good luck tomorrow!

ALSO:
Please check out my new GUIDES section!

Shoop is a Troll

2010-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00


Naughty Troll (he resembles someone I know... coughpintocough)

So as of this most recent, world destroying patch, blizzard has been super duper and let people race change to the most recent class/race combos. ISN'T THAT GREAT!?!? It is for me! My once lumbering female bovine will be a nimble feminine creature with great hair. I want badly to have pink hair but I think the cat and bear forms don't line up properly with hair color. In fact, I think with pink hair the cat and bear forms are some terrible green... I will have to do some experimenting. I am also wondering what mounts it will give me! I know I will get raptors, but I hope they are good colors, haha. Other than just asthetics trolls have beserk, which is going to be SO GREAT with all this casting I am going to be doing now. Imagine that.

On another note, recently my guild has been attempting hard mode lich king and it turns out we are probably NOT going to get it before cataclysm. We are 11/12 hm with some progress on him, but I think the guild as a whole never really took the fight as seriously as it needed to be taken. Its not like people need to be in business mode the whole time, it is just that though, time. We needed to be in there pounding our thick skulls against the brick wall a few nights a week. We kinda failed to do that and with other guild changes I am sure it seemed unlikely then too, but for me it is like a wake up call as of late. We have come down to our last two lockouts and we had to make some decisions. I am happy with the ones we did make, because we should be getting 20 more bane of the fallen kings, and that seems reasonable enough to me. I am happy just to be in a guild clearing end game content, honestly. I mean, I wish I could have gotten invincible, but I still appreciate my guild and all the wonderful people in it.

I think that will be all for now. I am going to try and stay more up to date in the coming weeks because of all the new stuff, and I will put up some videos or screen shots of me as a troll.

Bye for now!

Shoop Has a FACEBOOK PAGE!

2010-11-14T16:35:00.001-08:00

Because Logan Won't Stop HARASSING ME!

2010-10-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Small blurb about my first impressions so my boyfriend will stop buggin me.

When I logged on and specced I was unsatisfied with my choices. I then put all the points into resto and was immediately happy with it. I did a few five mans and I felt like I actually played a role, versus jumping around in circles spamming wild growth. We didn't raid tonight for the simple fact that people were unprepared, which we had planned on, but not at that magnitude. People learning to play all over = chaos! On a side note, I am still banging my head against the holy paladin shit, so I get why people are struggling.
I still have my mage and my deathknight to check out, and I will update after we raid tomorrow.
Peace.

PATCH 4.0.1!!!

2010-10-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is a general dump of information on druid related changes for the new patch. Most of the information on this page will have been retrieved form popular wow site mmo-champion.
For those of you out of the loop, which none of you should be but just in case, patch 4.0.1 has been implemented on live servers today. This is a major content patch for cataclysm which is set to release December 7th of this year.

Now to the general dump. Most info is available elsewhere, and some information is going to effect every player, not just druids, but I am mainly focusing on things that will effect us.

We've previously unveiled some of the stat changes that are coming with Cataclysm, including stat alterations, stat removals, or changes to how they're obtained. This is an update to that preview intended to explain the actual changes and to detail what everyone will be seeing on their characters.

Stat Changes

Stamina - Due to the assigning of Strength, Agility, and Intellect, non-plate wearers have more Stamina than before. Health pools are now much closer between plate-wearers and other classes.

Spirit - This stat should only be found on healing gear. Non-healing casters have other systems in place to regenerate mana.

Intellect - Intellect now grants Spell Power and increases your Critical Strike chance with spells.

Haste - Haste should now be more attractive for melee classes by allowing them to recover resources such as rage, energy, and runes more quickly. Our intention is for Haste to let you "do stuff" more often.

Parry - Parry provides the same avoidance as Dodge, and you'll receive a percentage of your strength as Parry Rating.

Mastery - This is a new stat that will allow players to become better at whatever makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. It's directly tied to talents, so what you gain from improving this stat is entirely dependent upon your class and the talent specialization you choose. We’ll talk more about specific Mastery benefits in the future.

Armor - The amount of bonus Armor received per stat point on items has been drastically reduced, and Armor is no longer given by Agility. In addition, Armor now better mitigates differences among Armor types so that protection from mail, leather, and cloth is much closer to that of plate.

Resilience - This now only affects damage done by players and their pets. It will not impact crit chance, crit damage, mana drains, or other such effects.

Removed From Items

Attack Power - This stat is rarely present on items, although it is derived from other stats. Strength and Agility, which are present on items, grant the appropriate amount of Attack Power (generally 2 Attack Power per point of Strength or Agility) depending upon which stat a particular class favors.

Block Rating - Block has been redesigned to scale better. Blocked attacks will simply hit for 30% less damage. Block Rating is no longer given out directly as a stat. Instead, Mastery for Protection paladins and Protection warriors increases the chance to block.

Spell Power - Spell Power is no longer present on most items. Instead, as mentioned above, Intellect now grants Spell Power. One exception is that caster weapons still have Spell Power. This allows us to make weapons proportionately more powerful for casters in the same way they are for melee classes.

Armor Penetration - This stat is no longer present on items. Armor Penetration still exists in talents and abilities.

Shield Block Value - There are some effects that increase the Block value by a percentage, but this does not exist as a stat.

Removed From the Game

MP5 - This stat no longer exists in the game. Holy paladins and Restoration shaman have been redesigned to benefit from Spirit.

Defense - Defense is now removed from the game. Tanking classes will become uncrittable versus creatures by shifting into Defensive Stance, Blood Presence, or Bear Form, or by using Righteous Fury.

Spell Ranks - Spell ranks now cease to exist. All spells have one rank and will scale appropriately by caster level. The levels at which you can learn certain spells have been changed in order to fill in some of the gaps, and there are many new spells to learn along the way as well.

Weapon Skill - This stat will be removed from the game completely. Classes will start with all the weapon skills they need to know and will not need to improve them.

What Else You Should Know

Combat ratings - Ratings are much harder to "cap out" at maximum gear levels. Ratings are steeper in Cataclysm, and creatures in later tiers of content will be harder to hit or crit, similar to how level-83 mobs are harder to hit or crit than level-80 mobs.

Reforging - This new itemization customization feature allows you to partially change the stats on an item. You can reduce the value of an existing stat on an item, and add an equivalent amount of another stat that was not already present on the item. This makes it far easier to reach important thresholds like the Hit Rating and Expertise Rating caps.

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Eclipse

This is a new mechanic being added for Balance druids. The resource is managed through a new bar near the health and mana bars. As the druid casts Arcane spells, the bar moves towards the sun element until the druid achieves a Solar Eclipse, which buffs Nature damage. The goal is then to cast Nature spells, until the bar moves toward the moon element, which triggers a Lunar Eclipse and buffs Arcane damage. The gameplay becomes trying to quickly move the bar from one end to the other in order to maximize each Eclipse buff.

Power Auras / Spell Procs Alert
The extremely popular Power Auras is now part of the default interface. You will now get visual alerts when most of your procs are ready, each with its own unique art.

Reforging
Reforging is finally here! You can swap 40% of any of the secondary stats of an item (mostly ratings) for another secondary stat. Reforging is done by NPCs in Capital Cities, ask a guard if you want to know where they are!

Relic Slots Items
Most items had their stats changed a little to match the new mechanics but the biggest change is on relics. They now have stats and can be socketed, future relics will not be restricted to a single class.

Currency and Honor Calculator
The old currency and honor points will be converted to new values with this patch! The currency calculator has been updated to the latest values, is now pretty, and even supports the 4000 Justice / Honor points cap for gold conversion!

In the upcoming 4.0.1 patch, we'll be introducing a major overhaul of the current glyph system. This update features a host of changes including the addition of a new glyph tier, the transition of glyphs from consumable items to permanent spells, and a more streamlined user interface.

In its Prime
Glyphs will now be separated into three different tiers: minor, major, and prime.

Prime - Prime glyphs will typically provide direct increases to damage or healing throughput. Examples of prime glyphs include Glyph of Howling Blast, which will cause the death knight ability Howling Blast to infect targets with Frost Fever, and Glyph of Insect Swarm, which increases the damage of druid's Insect Swarm ability by 30%.
Major - Major glyphs will typically augment spells and abilities to offer additional utility. Examples of major glyphs include Glyph of Silencing Shot, which will cause a hunter to instantly gain 10 focus when successfully silencing an enemy's spell cast, and Glyph of Ice Block, which will reset the cooldown on Frost Nova every time a mage uses Ice Block.
Minor - Minor glyphs will typically provide players with additional convenience or cosmetic changes. Examples of minor glyphs include Glyph of Righteousness which will reduce the mana cost of Seal of Righteousness for paladins by 50%, and Glyph of Levitate which will remove the reagent requirement for a priest's Levitate spell.

In total, there will be nine glyph slots: three minor, three major, and three prime. As players level, they will be able to progressively unlock "sets" of these slots in increments of three (one minor slot, one major slot, and one prime slot). The first set of glyph slots will be unlocked at level 25, the second at level 50, and the final at level 75.

Teach a Man to Glyph...
In addition to the glyph tier changes, glyphs will also be transitioning from single-use items to permanent spells that a player can learn. While the item from which a glyph will be taught will still be consumed on use, once a glyph is learned, a player will always have access to it. This functionality will feel very similar to the current mechanic that allows players to learn certain recipes and patterns from item drops.

Despite these changes, activating a glyph will more or less function as it does now. To activate a glyph, players will simply need to select the desired glyph from their list of known glyphs and then click on the appropriate tiered slot.

Dust to Dust
With the transition from single-use items to permanent spells, the process for switching activated glyphs has been slightly altered. Similar to activating a learned glyph, players will need to select the new glyph from their list of known glyphs and then "place" it on top of the old glyph. While this process will not destroy the old glyph as it does at present, it will require a new reagent, Dust of Disappearance, which can be purchased from Inscription vendors or be crafted by scribes.

As a precaution, the following dialogue will also appear before a glyph is exchanged:

Are you sure you want to inscribe this glyph? The existing glyph will be lost.

Cost: 1 Dust of Disappearance

Players will be given the opportunity to confirm the exchange or cancel out of it. Please note that the old glyph will not be permanently lost; it will simply be deactivated.

Gotta Catch'em All
To complement each of these changes, the glyph UI window has been completely redesigned. All glyphs will now be organized in the glyph panel according to their tier (minor, major, or prime) and, much like how class spells and abilities display in the trainer window, will be sortable by "Already Known," "Unavailable," and "All Glyphs" categories. Players will also be able to search for glyphs using keywords and results will populate under each corresponding collapsible tier.

To access the new glyph UI, players will need to open up the Talent pane (default: N) and then click on the "Glyphs" tab.

If you need a list of all the Glyphs available for your class, make sure you check out yesterday's Glyph Preview!

HERE COMES THE MEGA DUMP! Are you prepared?

Druid
(Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Cataclysm (Level 80+) Skills

Thrash - Deals [ 19% of AP + 272 ] damage, and causes all targets within 8 yards to bleed for [ 3% of AP + 170 ] damage over 6 sec. / 25 Rage, 8 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
Stampeding Roar - The druid roars, increasing all nearby friendly players movement speed within 10 yards by 40% for 6 sec. / 30 Energy, Instant, 2 min cooldown
Stampeding Roar - The druid roars, increasing all nearby friendly players movement speed within 10 yards by 40% for 6 sec. / 15 Rage, Instant, 2 min cooldown
Wild Mushroom - Grow a magical Mushroom with 5 Health at the target location. After 6 sec, the Mushroom will become invisible. When detonated by the Druid, all Mushrooms will explode dealing 1164.88 to 1409.44 damage to all nearby enemies within 3 yards. Only 3 Mushrooms can be placed at one time.
Use Wild Mushroom: Detonate to detonate all Mushrooms. / 11% of base mana, 40 yd range, 0.5 sec cast
Wild Mushroom: Detonate - Detonates all of your Wild Mushrooms, dealing 1164.88 to 1409.44 damage to all nearby targets within yards. / 40 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown

Balance
Primary Spells

Starsurge - You fuse the power of the moon and sun, launching a devastating blast of energy at the target. Causes 1272.16 to 1756.79 Spellstorm damage to the target and generates 15 Lunar or Solar energy, whichever is more beneficial to you. 11% of base mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast, 15 sec cooldown
Moonfury (Passive) - Arcane and Nature spell damage increased by 25%. Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Wrath, Moonfire, Starfire, Insect Swarm and Starfall spells by 100%.
Total Eclipse (Mastery) - Increases the bonus damage from Eclipse by 12%. Each point of Mastery increases the bonus by an additional 1.5%.

Skills

Cyclone is now a 2 sec cast, up from 1.5 sec
Innervate now regenerates mana equal to 20% of the caster's maximum mana pool (Old - Regenerates 225% of the caster's base mana pool)
Soothe no longer reduces the range at which beasts attack, now dispels all enrage effects
Starfire now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Faerie Fire no longer decreases the armor of the target by 5%, now decreases by 4% and stacks up to 3 times; range increased to 35 yd from 30 yd.
Hibernate now causes the target to sleep for up to 40 sec, up from 20 sec.
Entangling Roots now lasts 30 sec, up from 12 sec; range increased to 35 yards, up from 30 yards; 2 sec cast, up from 1.5 sec. (Tree of Life: becomes instant cast, damage increased by 200%.)
Thorns now lasts 20 sec, down from 10 minutes; costs 36% of base mana, up from 17%; has a 45 second cooldown, up from 0; and deals [ 42.1% of Spell Power + 446.94 ] or [ 42.1% of AP + 446.94 ] damage depending on the highest.
Moonfire DoT lasts 12 sec, up from 9 sec; 40 yd range, up from 30 yd.
Wrath now costs 14% of base mana, up from 8%; range increased to 40 yd from 30 yd; cast time increased to 2.5 sec, up from 1.5 sec. (Tree of Life: cast time reduced by 50%, damage increased by 30%.)
Insect Swarm is no longer a talent and is now a skill trained at level 20.

Talents Changes

Starfall is now a Tier 7 talent, down from Tier 11. Now affects targets within 40 yards of the caster, up from 30 yds. No longer causes splash damage around the enemy targets.
Earth and Moon is now a Tier 5 talent with 1 rank, down from Tier 10 with 3 ranks. Now increases spell damage taken by 8%, down from 4/9/13%; increases personal spell damage by 2%, down from 2/4/6%.
Typhoon is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 9. Now costs 32% of base mana, up from 25%.
Force of Nature is now a Tier 5 talent, down from Tier 9. Now has a 40 yard range, up from 30 yd.
Gale Winds is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 9.
Owlkin Frenzy is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 8.
Moonkin Form is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 7. No longer has a chance to regenerate mana on spell crits or reduces damage taken while stunned. Now increases Arcane and Nature spell damage by 10%. Now increases armor contribution from items by 120%, down from 370%. No longer increases spell critical chance of party/raid members, now instead grants 5% spell haste to all nearby friendly and raid targets.
Dreamstate is now a Tier 5 talent with 2 ranks, down from Tier 6 with 3 ranks. No longer provides constant mana regeneration, now causes innervate to regain an additional 15/30% of mana when cast on yourself.
Balance of Power is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 6. No longer reduces damage taken from spells, now increases nature and arcane spell damage by 1/2%. Now increases spell hit rating by 50/100% of Spirit, changed from 2/4%.
Nature's Grace is now a Tier 1 talent, down from Tier 3. No longer increases spell casting speed after spell criticals, now gives 5/10/15% spell haste for 15 sec. after casting Moonfire or Insect Swarm. 1 minute cooldown, resets on Lunar or Solar Eclipse.
Moonglow now reduces the mana cost of all damage and healing spells by 3/6/9%.
Nature's Majesty is now a Tier 1 talent, down from Tier 2. Now increases critical strike chance with all spells by 2/4%.
Starlight Wrath now has 3 ranks, down from 5. Now reduces cast time of Wrath and Starfire by 0.15/0.25/0.5 sec, changed from 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 sec.
Genesis is now a Tier 2 talent with 3 ranks, up from a Tier 1 talent with 5 ranks. No longer increases damage done by periodic spells, now increases the duration of Moonfire and Insect Swarm by 2/4/6 sec. Now increases healing done by periodic spells by 2/4/6%, up from 1/2/3/4/5%. Now also increases healing done by Swiftmend.

New Talents

Lunar Shower - When you cast Moonfire, you gain Lunar Shower. Lunar Shower increases the direct damage done by your Moonfire by 15/30/45%, and reduces the mana cost by 10/20/30%. This effect is refreshed and amplified when you move, stacking up to 3 times. Effect lasts for 3 sec.
Fungal Growth - When your Treants die or your Wild Mushrooms are triggered, you spawn a Fungal Growth at its wake covering the area within 8 yards, slowing all enemy targets by 25/50%. Lasts 10 sec.
Sunfire - While in Solar Eclipse, your Moonfire spell will morph into Sunfire.
Euphoria - While not in an Eclipse state, you have a 12/24% chance to double the Solar or Lunar energy generated by your Wrath or Starfire when they deal damage. When you reach a Solar or Lunar eclipse, you instantly are restored 6/12% of your total mana.
Shooting Stars - You have a 2/4% chance when you deal damage with your Moonfire or Insect Swarm to instantly reset the cooldown of your Starsurge and reduce its cast time by 100%. Lasts 8 sec.

Removed Talents

Wrath of Cenarius has been removed from the tree.
Improved Moonkin Form has been removed from the tree.
Improved Faerie Fire has been removed from the tree.
Moonfury has been removed from the tree.
Lunar Guidance has been removed from the tree.
Insect Swarm is now a trained spell.
Improved Insect Swarm has been removed from the tree.
Vengeance has been removed from the tree.
Celestial Focus has been removed from the tree.
Brambles has been removed from the tree.
Nature's Splendor has been removed from the tree.
Nature's Reach has been removed from the tree.
Improved Moonfire has been removed from the tree.

Feral
Primary Spells

Mangle is now a primary spell trained at level 10. Mangle (Bear) now deals 230% normal damage, up from 115% and costs 15 rage, down from 20 rage. Mangle (Cat) now deals 230% normal damage, up from 200% and costs 35 energy, down from 45 energy.
Aggression (Passive) - Increases your attack power by 25%.
Feral Instinct (Passive) - Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while Prowling.
Vengeance (Passive) - Each time you take damage while in Bear Form, you gain 5% of the damage taken as attack power, up to a maximum of 10% of your health.
Savage Defender (Mastery) - Increases the damage absorbed by your Savage Defense ability by 32%. Each point of Mastery increases the absorb by an additional 4%.
Razor Claws (Mastery) - Increases the damage done by your bleed abilities by 25.04%. Each point of Mastery increases bleed damage by an additional 3.13%.

Skills

Savage Roar no longer increases all physical damage done, now increases autoattack damage only.
Swipe (Cat) now deals 215% weapon damage, down from 250% weapon damage; costs 45 energy, down from 50 energy.
Swift Flight Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13%.
Flight Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13%
Aquatic Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13%.
Travel Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13%.
Lacerate now stacks up to 3 times, down from 5 times.
Maim no longer interrupts non-player spellcasting.
Savage Defense now has a 50% chance to activate on a critical strike, down from 100%; reduces damage taken from the next physical attack by 65% of AP, up from 25%.
Frenzied Regeneration now additionally increases max health by 30% and increases health to 30% if below that value.
Ferocious Bite now consumes up to 35 additional energy to deal up to 100% more damage, up from 30 energy at a conversion rate. (Feral Aggression: Increases damage by 5/10%.)
Ravage now causes 550% damage, up from 385%.
Cower now reduces threat by 10%.
Dash now increases movement speed by 70%, up from 50%.
Rake now costs 35 energy, down from 40 energy.
Tiger's Fury now increases physical damage done by 10%, up from 80.
Shred now costs 40 energy, down from 60 energy.
Cat Form now costs 5% of base mana, down from 35%.
Claw now costs 40 energy, down from 45 energy.
Rip DoT now lasts 16 seconds, up from 12 sec.
Faerie Fire (Feral) no longer decreases the target's armor by 5%, now decreases the target's armor by 4% and stacks up to 3 times.
Swipe (Bear) now costs 30 rage, up from 20 rage and has a 6 second cooldown, up from 0 sec.
Bash no longer interrupts non-player spellcasting and now stuns the target for 4 sec, up from 2 sec.
Enrage no longer reduces base armor, now increases physical damage taken by 10%.
Bear Form now costs 5% of base mana, down from 35%. Now increases armor contribution of cloth and leather items by 65% (before LVL 40) / 120% (after LVL 40), down from 180/370%. Now causes agility to increase attack power.
Demoralizing Roar no longer decreases nearby enemies' attack power, now reduces the physical damage done by 10%.
Maul no longer occurs on next melee attack, now is an instant attack with a 3 sec cooldown and costs 30 rage, up from 15 rage.
Skull Bash has been added in both Cat and Bear forms - You charge and skull bash the target, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 5 sec. 25 Energy or 15 Rage, 13 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown

Talents Changes

Berserk is now a Tier 7 talent, down from Tier 11. Now also gives your Lacerate periodic damage has a 30% chance to refresh the cooldown of your Mangle (Bear) ability and make it cost no rage.
Rend and Tear is now a Tier 6 and 3 Ranks talent, down from Tier 10 and 5 Ranks. Increases damage done by Maul and Shred on bleeding targets by 7/13/20% (up from 4/8/12/16/20%) and critical strike chance of Ferocious Bite on bleeding targets by 8/17/25%. (Up from 5/10/15/20/25%)
King of the Jungle is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 9. No longer reduces the mana cost of Bear Form and Cat Form.
Infected Wounds is now a Tier 2 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 8 and 3 Ranks. Now also affects Ravage. Reduces movement speed of the target by 25/50% (up from 16/34/50%) and the attack speed by 10/20% (up from 7/14/20%).
Leader of the Pack is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 7. Now increases all critical strike chance of party and raid members by 5% instead of just melee and ranged. In addition, your melee critical strikes in Cat Form and Bear Form cause you to heal for 8% of your total health and gain 8% of your maximum mana. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 sec.
Natural Reaction is now a Tier 5 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 6 and 3 Ranks. Now also reduces damage taken while in Bear Form by 6/12%, dodge bonus while in Bear Form increased to 3/6% (up from 2/4%), generates 1/3 rage every time you dodge while in Bear Form. (Up from 1/2/3)
Brutal Impact is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 5. Now decreases the cooldown of Bash by 5/10 sec (down from 15/30 sec). Now also decreases the cooldown of Skull Bash by 25/50 sec, and causes victims of your Skull Bash ability to have 15/30% increased mana cost for their spells for 10 sec.
Feral Charge is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 5. No longer interrupts spell cast for 4 sec.
Nurturing Instinct is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 5.
Predatory Strikes is now a Tier 1 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 4 and 3 Ranks. Increases the critical strike chance of your Ravage by 25/50% on targets at or above 80% health. Your finishing moves have a 10/20% chance per combo point to make your next Nature spell with a base casting time less than 10 sec. become an instant cast spell.
Primal Fury is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 4.
Feral Swiftness is now a Tier 1 talent, down from Tier 3.
Survival Instincts is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 3. now reduces all damage taken by 60% for 12 sec instead of increasing maximum health by 30% for 20 sec. Only useable while in Bear Form or Cat Form. Cooldown increased from 3 min to 5 min.
Thick Hide is now a Tier 3 talent, up from Tier 2. Now also increases armor while in Bear Form by an additional 11/22/33%, and reduces the chance you'll be critically hit by melee attacks by 2/4/6%.
Feral Aggression is now a Tier 2 and 2 Ranks talent, up from Tier 1 and 5 Ranks. Increases the damage caused by your Ferocious Bite by 5/10% and causes Faerie Fire (Feral) to apply 2/3 stacks of the Faerie Fire effect when cast.

New Talents

Fury Swipes - When you auto-attack while in Cat form or Bear form, you have a 5/10/15% chance to cause a Fury Swipe dealing 200% weapon damage. This effect cannot occur more than once every 3 sec.
Blood in the Water - When you Ferocious Bite a target at or below 25% health, you have a 100% chance to instantly refresh the duration of your Rip on the target.
Pulverize - Deals 120% weapon damage plus additional 484.812 damage for each of your Lacerate applications on the target, and increases your melee critical strike chance by 3% for each Lacerate application consumed for 10 sec. / 15 Rage, 5 yd range, Instant
Primal Madness - Tiger's Fury and Berserk also increase your current and maximum energy by 20 during their durations, and your Enrage and Berserk abilities instantly generate 12 Rage.
Endless Carnage - Increases the duration of your Rake by 6 sec and your Savage Roar and Pulverize by 8 sec.
(Feral Charge) Feral Charge - Causes you to leap behind an enemy, dazing them for 3 sec. / 10 Energy, 8-25 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
Stampede - Increases your melee haste by 30% after you use Feral Charge (Bear) for 8 sec, and your next Ravage will temporarly not require stealth for 10 sec after you use Feral Charge (Cat), and cost 100% less energy.
Furor - Grants you a 33/66/100% chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear Form, allows you to keep up to 100 of your Energy when you shapeshift into Cat Form, and increases your maximum mana by 5/10/15%.

Removed Talents

Primal Gore has been removed from the tree.
Mangle is now a primary spell of the Feral tree.
Improved Mangle has been removed from the tree.
Protector of the Pack has been removed from the tree.
Predatory Instincts has been removed from the tree.
Improved Leader of the Pack has been removed from the tree.
Primal Tenacity is gone.
Heart of the Wild has been removed from the tree.
Survival of the Fittest has been removed from the tree.
Shredding Attacks is gone.
Primal Precision has been removed from the tree.
Sharpened Claws has been removed from the tree.
Feral Instinct has been removed from the tree.
Savage Fury has been removed from the tree.
Ferocity has been removed from the tree.

Restoration
Primary Spells

Swiftmend - Consumes a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect on a friendly target to instantly heal the target for 4685.41. / 10% of base mana, 40 yd range, Instant cast, 15 sec cooldown
Gift of Nature (Passive) - Healing increased by 25%.
Meditation (Passive) - Allows 50% of your mana regeneration from Spirit to continue while in combat.
Symbiosis (Mastery) - Increases the potency of your healing spells by 10% on targets already affected by one of your heal over time spells. Each point of Mastery increases heal potency by an additional 1.25%.

Skills

Omen of Clarity (Passive) - Your damage and healing spells have a small chance to cause you to enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state reduces the Mana, Rage or Energy cost of your next cast-time damaging or healing spell or offensive feral ability by 100%. If specialized as a Feral Druid, Omen of Clarity will also have a chance to occur from your auto-attacks.
Nature's Focus (Passive) - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Healing Touch, Regrowth, Tranquility, Rebirth and Nourish.
Nourish now costs 10% of base mana, down from 18% of base mana. Cast time increased from 1.5 sec to 3 sec. Now heals for 2153 to 2502, up from 1883 to 2187.
Lifebloom now costs 7% of base mana, down from 28%. Now heals the target for 2045 over 10 sec, up from 371 over 7 sec. Lifebloom can be active only on one target at a time. ( Tree of Life : Can be cast on unlimited targets. )
Tranquility now costs 32% of base mana, down from 70% of base mana. Reworked - Now heals 5 nearby lowest health party or raid targets within 40 yards with Tranquility every 2 sec for 8 sec. Tranquility heals for 3478.7 plus an additional 307.65 every 2 sec over 8 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. The Druid must channel to maintain the spell.
Remove Curse is now named Remove Corruption. Now removes 1 Curse and 1 Poison effect. Cost increased from 17% of base mana, up from 8% of base mana.
Rebirth now resurrects with 20% health and mana. No longer costs mana. Range increased from 30 yards to 40 yards. Cooldown increased from 10 min to 30 min.
Regrowth now heals 3030 to 3383 and another 970 over 6 sec, up from 2234 to 2494 and another 2345 over 21 sec. Now costs 35% of base mana, up from 29% of base mana. Cast time reduced to 1.5 sec, down from 2 sec. ( Tree of Life : Instant cast. )
Revive now resurrects with 35% of maximum health and mana. Range increased to 40 yards, up from 30 yards.
Rejuvenation now heals for 1171 every 3 sec for 12 sec. Up from 1690 over 15 sec. Cost increased to 20% of base mana, up from 18% of base mana..
Healing Touch now heal for 6461 to 7630, up from 3750 to 4428. Cost increased to 38% of base mana, up from 17% of base mana. Cast time increased to 3 sec, up from 1.5 sec.
Mark of the Wild now increases the friendly target's Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intellect by 5%, and all magical resistances by [ ( Level 1-70 : (Level/2) / Level 71-80 : (Level/2 + 0.714 * (Level - 70)) / Level 81 or above : (Level + 2.5 * (Level - 70) + 3.5 * (Level - 80)) ) - 3.5 ], for 1 hr. If target is in your party or raid, all party and raid members will be affected.

Talents Changes

Wild Growth is now a Tier 5 talent, down from Tier 11. Cost increased from 23% of base mana to 27% of base mana. Cooldown increased from 6 sec to 10 sec. Now prioritizes healing most injured party members. Now heals for 2568.14 over 7 sec, up from 1442. ( Tree of Life : Affects an additional 2 targets. )
Gift of the Earthmother is now a Tier 6 and 3 Ranks talent, down from Tier 10 and 5 Ranks. Revamped - Increases the healing done when your Lifebloom expires by 5/10/15%, and causes your Rejuvenation spell to also instantly heal for 5/10/15% of the total periodic effect.
Revitalize is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 9. Revamped - When you periodically heal with your Rejuvenation or Lifebloom spells, you have a 8/16/24% chance to instantly regenerate 3% of your total mana. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 sec. In addition, you also grant Replenishment when you cast or refresh Lifebloom. Lifebloom. Replenishment - Grants up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 1% of the maximum mana per 10 sec. Lasts for 15 sec.
Tree of Life is now a Tier 7 talent, down from Tier 9. Revamped - Shapeshift into the tree of life, increasing healing done by 15% and increasing your armor by 120%. In addition, some of your spells are temporarly enhanced while shapeshifted. Lasts 30 sec. Enhanced spells: Lifebloom, Wild Growth, Regrowth, Entangling Roots, Wrath
Living Seed is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 8. Now has a 100% chance to proc at all ranks.
Natural Perfection is now a Tier 5 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 7 and 3 Ranks. Renamed to Nature's Ward and reworked - Whenever you take an attack while at or below 50% health, you have a 50/100% chance to automatically cast Rejuvenation on yourself with no mana cost.
Empowered Touch is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 6. Reworked - Increases the healing done by your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 5/10%, and your Nourish spell has a 50/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Lifebloom on targets.
Nature's Bounty is now a Tier 4 and 3 ranks spell, down from Tier 6 and 5 Ranks. No longer increases critical effect chance of Nourish. Now increases critical effect of Regrowth by 20/40/60% (Up from 5/10/15/20/25%). Also, you have a 33/66/100% chance when you critically heal with Healing Touch and Nourish to reduce the remaining cooldown of your Swiftmend spell by 0.5 sec.
Nature's Swiftness is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 5.
Improved Rejuvenation is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 4. Now also affects Swiftmend.
Master Shapeshifter is now a Tier 2 and 1 Rank talent, down from Tier 3 and 1 Rank. Maximum bonus remains unchanged.
Naturalist is now a Tier 1 and 2 ranks talent, down from Tier 2 and 5 Ranks. Reduces the cast time of your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 0.25/0.5 sec.
Natural Shapeshifter is now a Tier 1 and 2 Ranks talent, down from Tier 2 and 3 Ranks. Reduces the mana cost of all shapeshifting by 10/20%. (Down from 10/20/30%)

New Talents

Swift Rejuvenation - Reduces the global cooldown of your Rejuvenation by 0.25/0.5 sec.
Efflorescence - When you heal with your Swiftmend spell you also sprout a bed of healing flora underneath the target, healing all nearby friendly targets within 8 yards for 20/40/60% of the amount healed by your Swiftmend over 7 sec.
Nature's Cure - Empowers your Remove Corruption spell to also remove a magic effect from a friendly target.
Malfurion's Gift - Whenever you heal with your Lifebloom spell, you have a 2/4% chance to cause Omen of Clarity.
Fury of Stormrage - Reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by 50/100%, and when you deal damage with your Wrath spell you have a 6/12% chance to cause your next Starfire to be instant cast within 8 sec.
Perseverance - Reduces all spell damage taken by 2/4/6%.
Blessing of the Grove - Increases the healing done by your Rejuvenation by 2/4% and the direct damage of your Moonfire by 3/6%.
Heart of the Wild - Increases your Intellect by 2/4/6%. In addition, while in Bear Form your Stamina is increased by 3/7/10% and while in Cat Form your attack power is increased by 3/7/10%.

Removed Talents

Improved Barkskin has been removed from the tree.
Improved Tree of Life has been removed from the tree.
Empowered Rejuvenation has been removed from the tree.
Living Spirit has been removed from the tree.
Gift of Nature has been removed from the tree.
Improved Tranquility has been removed from the tree.
Tranquil Spirit has been removed from the tree.
Intensity has been removed from the tree.
Omen of Clarity is gone. (Now passive)
Improved Mark of the Wild has been removed from the tree.
Nature's Focus has been removed from the tree.
Furor has been removed from the tree.

Thanks for baring with me as you saw the monstrous post. I will be updating after tonight's attempt at raiding if I feel as though I want to rant and complain or praise anything.

THANKS FOR READING.

It's Been a While Folks - Got Some Catchin Up to Do! [For you Pinto.]

2010-10-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

If I were a resto druid *cough* I would be confused as to WHY we are starting to look more like tank healers. My confusion then evaporates after reviewing a few posts about resto druid healing it sounds like they want us to be able to get into ten mans that say "LF1M Healer 10man ICC NEED PALADIN" and that would be chill. Except for the fact they took away my blanketing. GAH.

Then they throw some "oh sorry, let me make it so you still hot stuff" mastery changes, and say WALA, now you HAVE to hot people. I ask this, do you want me to hot someone who is dieing BEFORE healing them? I hope not!

AND they nerfed some chicken stuff, which I don't usually follow but I will update down beloooow.

So, this is their, please still hot stuff, plea to us.

New Restoration Mastery
New Resto druid mastery: Increases the potency of your heals on targets upon which you have a hot.

It benefits both hots and direct heals equally while still supporting Resto being a healer that cares a lot about hots. It encourages layering different spells while disincentivizing Rejuv blanketing.

Examples:

1) You cast Regrowth on someone who has a Rejuv = bonus healing.
2) You cast Nourish on someone who has a Lifebloom = bonus healing.
3) You Swiftmend a Rejuv = bonus healing.
4) You cast a Rejuv on someone who does not have a Regrowth, LB or WG on them = no bonus healing.
5) You cast Rejuv on someone who has a Rejuv = no bonus healing. (You merely refreshed Rejuv.)
6) You cast a Wild Growth = bonus healing on those with preexisting hots.

Okay blizz, we get it. Don't blanket and be mindless raid healers. You know that most of us are going to pry our eyes out over tank healing right? I know the fun part about being a resto druid for me was that I could call it MY raid most of the time. I would be watching the whole raid at once, instead of a single person or small group of people, which made me happy!

So, we chewed on that for a while, and then out comes another major change. Perhaps it wasn't AS major to other people, but it changed what I pictured to be the new druid healing. They took our regrowth proc of efflorescence and threw it out the window, and made swiftmend proc it. WAH!?

Efflorescence no longer procs from Regrowth critical heals, now procs when you heal with your Swiftmend spell. Now heals all nearby friendly targets within 8 yards (up from 4 yards) for 10% of the amount healed by your Swiftmend over 7 sec.

Eh, great. It was TOO pro to spam regrowth and heal up the melee, so they made it heal for 10% of a swiftmend (which mind you would average 30k) over 7 seconds... that's like... almost not even worth it... Not that I would know, not being in the beta or being able to download the WHOLE PTR all over again to get the changes.

On a chicken note, BOOM they nerfed your beam. Muhahahah!

Balance

Solar Beam now affects targets within 5 yards, down from 10 yards.

If that wasn't enough for the poor birds, BAM BAM shrooms down.

Balance

Fungal Growth now slows enemy targets by 25/50%, down from 35/70%.

They also changed our efflorescence AGAIN. AND nerfed Mal's gift. Sweet.

Restoration

Efflorescence now heals all nearby friendly targets within 8 yards by 20/40/60%, down from 40/80/120%.
Malfurion's Gift now has a 2/4% chance to proc, down from 3/6%.
Fury of Stormrage now has a 6/12% chance to proc, down from 15/30%.

Maybe I am whining too much. I was sad to see overgrowth go, but that was pretty OP. There isn't a lot I can rant about because I am not actually playing beta. From what I hear, druid healing is tough in the beginning because you are compensating for DPSs mistakes, like they take damage they shouldn't... like that doesn't happen now. What with the mana suckage in cata it makes it THAT MUCH more frustrating, and I think I will just let DPS die....

I don't usually comment on feral, because frankly I have no honest opinion on the spec given I have never played feral in a raid setting. I felt as though leaving this out would be unfair.

Feral

Bear Form now increases threat by 200%, up from 125%.

Grats.

Well, that is all for now. HAPPY PINTO!? lol. Tell me if I left something out. I would love to have you do a post all of your own on here ranting about boomkins, since I am not a quality expert on chickens.

Until then!

In a Hurry! - A bedtime snack.

2010-09-20T02:57:00.001-07:00

Well well now, what do we have here? WHAT!? Leaked druid tier eleven!

Yes folks, it is indeed some leaked tier (obviously unfinished) that I came across while browsing for more info. It appears rogue may have been leaked as well.

So far the shoulders make me very happy, the coloring excellent, though the third color is vaguely priest-ish, I rather enjoy it. What do you think?

The tier bonuses where available previously, but I had forgotten to post them, so it seems appropriate I do it now.

Druid

I think they have done a fine job of taking the focus away from rejuvenation, and emphasizing using a spell most druid healers are only familiar with whilst healing tanks.

How about some blue posts, before I go? Anyone interested? Its a lot, and a lot more if you read the whole post, but I thought it was worth it!

Healing (I strongly suggest reading the whole post about healers)

Medium Heals Nerf
As others have pointed out, we nerfed all of the medium heals.

Very early in beta, some healers were freaking out about running out of mana. To counter this, we made the medium heals really cost effective. We probably overdid it, because more recently, healers were able to handle almost everything with just that one heal. We want it to be part of your package, not your whole package. (Source)

Is it intended that our efficient heals only have about 20% more HPM than our big heals? Or should we expect those to be nerfed as well soon?
If healers stop casting the medium heals completely, then it's likely we nerfed them too far. Up until this change they weren't using the big heals enough.

We had the numbers set at what we thought made sense from a cost per benefit standpoint, but reality is always a little more complicated. Perhaps it was just easier using a single heal and being a B+ healer rather than having to worry about which of multiple heals to use in order to be an A+ healer. (Source)

Big Heals
The big heals get a decent amount of use, and they don't seem to run players out of mana unless the rest of the group is taking unnecessary damage (by say ignoring all the encounter mechanics because they can do so when running Heroic Nexus today).

If there's a heal we're worried about, it's the flash heals, but that's partially because so many of the talented or spec heals are also emergency heals that fill a similar niche -- things like Swiftmend, Penance and Holy Shock. (Source)

Triage
You're fortunate if you have to triage. Many healers don't today. The typical experience is to use your fastest heal on everyone who takes any damage. You may get some amount of triage by choosing who to heal, but you won't be losing that either. If you are really choosing today which of your many heals to use, then A) you're in the minority, and B) you won't really have to relearn things for Cataclysm. You'll be ahead of the game.

The Lich King game today has additional problems. Since overhealing doesn't matter, mana regen doesn't matter. Since overhealing is typical, large heals also don't matter, which means critical heals are often wasted. This makes two of the stats that appear on your gear (Spirit and crit) not attractive, which in turn makes the minigame of choosing which piece to use and how to gem and enchant them less compelling as well.

If you just really think it's fun to just cast one heal over and over with no real repercussions for doing so while stacking a single stat on all your gear, then I guess I'll just have to accept that. It's hard for us to understand why you find that satisfying though. (Source)

Healing spam
When we say "spammy" in this context, we mean using the same spell over and over. We're not talking about sitting around on your hands waiting for your mana to come back (and without the five second rule, that won't do much for you anyway).

Think of playing a healer like a real time strategy game. In the Lich King environment, your strategy is basically to crank out infantry as fast as you can and never let up. No matter what your opponent does, your job is to counter him with infantry. It doesn't matter what kinds of units he makes or whether he's going for a fast or slow buildup. Just make infantry. If your race has upgrades that affect things other than infantry, obviously they are of no use to you and you should ignore them. Cost is largely irrelevant too, since you are making one solider over and over.

In the Cataclysm environment, we want you to make a variety of units. Sometimes infantry will do the job well. Other times you may need to mix in some cavalry or siege units as well. In fact, you need to tailor what you're making to the environment. Sometimes you want cheap units. Sometimes you want expensive ones. We want you to consider your upgrades as well. Investing all of them on infantry will make less sense because you have other types of units as well. Yet you won't have enough resources so you'll have to make a decision.

That is really what we're trying to get out of the new healing model: making decisions. We think players have more fun when they are making decisions. When you make the right decision based on the information available, you feel smart. When you make the wrong decision, you feel dumb, and you might cause the rest of the group to have to work harder, or even ultimately cause a wipe.

Blizzard is investing a lot into this change... they must have better reasons then that! I want them to sell it! Front page headline "New Improved Healing System". If they can't do that, then maybe they should question all the hard work they are doing. (Source)

[...] For the most part, you'll still be constantly casting. We do want to buy a little bit of bandwidth though. Making decisions takes actual time (fractions of seconds perhaps, but still time). In the LK healing environment even if you had a variety of effective healing spells, by the time you looked at someone's bar, decided what heal would be most appropriate, and started to cast it, the dude could very well be dead.

In Cataclysm, large health pools will keep most players up for a few hits. That gives you the opportunity to decide if someone needs a little heal or a big heal, or a slow heal or a fast heal, or if they are likely to live long enough for a powerful spell to finish its cooldown. If you use the wrong spell, the target is unlikely to die immediately, but over time you'll realize that your mana has really started to dwindle and the boss has a large health bar still left.

I've said this before, but I remember when tanking back in vanilla, a priest would call out on Vent, announcing that he had a big Greater Heal being cast. Other healers might call out when they were healing someone who suddenly took a lot of unexpected damage. That kind of coordination is very hard in today's raids because you'd only get through the B in "Big heal coming," before the target would be dead.

It's possible to slow down combat enough to provide room for decision making and communication without going to the extreme where healers are doing nothing for large stretches of time because they are so paranoid about running out of mana if they cast a heal that isn't at 100% efficiency or doesn't save a life at that moment. (Source)

Healer mana efficiency in solo
Keep in mind that we're not super concerned with healer mana efficiency when not in a group. Fights are pretty short when you're solo and there are a lot of breaks. What I'm getting at is we're not super concerned with how you perform when self-buffed, so long as you're functional. We're more concerned with how you perform when group buffed, since all of the most rewarding endgame content requires groups. (Source)

Val'anyr competitive @ LVL 85?
Let's put it this way... if it is competitive at level 85, it won't be for long. (Source)

(Thank you www.mmo-champion.com)

One last thing...

Peacebloom Vs. Ghouls

Yesssssssssssss........

It's about time! - After a long break, lets talk about the PTR.

2010-09-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I don't know how many of you are interested in the PTR, but I got sucked in thinking it would help if I messed around with the talents before they go live, so I could get acclimated. I specced my pally too. That cone healing ability makes me squeal every time. It is just so much fun!

I still can't help but wonder what they were thinking nerfing the resto druids mana regen thingy. We already have enough replenish and I want my unlimited mana back! Gah. OQ more right?

On another note about the PTR, if anyone has a list of updated addons let me know. I have become super attached to clique and grid, and I would really like to have those for healing.

Alright, now down to business. Here are the latest druid updates.

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Balance

Wild Mushroom now becomes visible after 6 sec, up from 4 sec. Base damage increased by 400% (from 269-304 to 1300-1573 damage)
Wild Mushroom: Detonate no longer costs mana, now has a 10 sec cooldown, and affects target within 10 yards, down from 15 yards.
Starsurge now generates 15 Solar or Lunar Energy, up from 10.
Euphoria first effect revamped - While not in an Eclipse state, you have a 12/24% chance to double the Solar or Lunar energy generated by your Wrath or Starfire when they deal damage. When you reach a Solar or Lunar eclipse, you instantly are restored 6/12% of your total mana.
Earth and Moon now increases spell damage taken by 8%, down from 13%.
Lunar Guidance is gone.
Genesis no longer increases the damage done by your periodic spells and increases the duration of your Moonfire and Insect Swarm by 6 sec instead.
Nature's Grace revamped - You gain 5/10/15% spell haste after you cast Moonfire or Insect Swarm, lasting 15 sec. This effect has 1 minute cooldown. When you gain Lunar or Solar Eclipse, the cooldown of Nature's Torment is instantly reset.
Dreamstate (Tier 5) *New* - When you cast your Innervate on yourself, you regain an additional 10/30% of your total mana over its duration.
Sunfire (Tier 5) *New* - While in Solar Eclipse, your Moonfire spell will morph into Sunfire - Burns the enemy for 196.24 to 239.85 Nature damage and then an additional [ 374.92 * ( Genesis : 100%/102%/104%/106% ) ] Nature damage over 12 sec.
Shooting Stars (Tier 3) *New* - You have a 2/4% chance when you deal damage with your Moonfire or Insect Swarm to instantly reset the cooldown of your Starsurge and reduce its cast time by 100%. Lasts 8 sec.
Overgrowth (Tier 2) *New* - Your Entangling Roots and Nature's Grasp have a 50/100% chance to also root all enemies within 8 yards of the target.

Feral

Lacerate base damage increased by 200%, DoT damage reduced by 200%.
Flight Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13% of base mana.
Swipe (Bear) now costs 30 Rage, up from 15 Rage.
Skull Bash now has a 13 yards range, down from 18 yards.
Aquatic Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13% of base mana.
Travel Form now costs 8% of base mana, down from 13% of base mana.
Mangle (Bear) now deals 230% normal damage, up from 115%. additional damage increased by 100% (eg. from 333 to 667)
Berserk now causes your Mangle (Bear) to have no cooldown and has an additional effect - Your Lacerate periodic damage has a 30% chance to refresh the cooldown of your Mangle (Bear) ability and make it cost no rage.
Feast of Flesh is now named Blood in the Water.
Shapeshifter is gone.

Restoration

Nourish now costs 10% of base mana, up from 7% of base mana. Base healing reduced by 25%.
Nature's Focus (Passive) *New* - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Healing Touch, Regrowth, Tranquility, Rebirth and Nourish.
Nature's Ward revamped - Whenever you take an attack while at or below 50% health, you have a 50/100% chance to automatically cast Rejuvenation on yourself with no mana cost.
Fury of Stormrage no longer procs from healing spells and now affects Starfire - Reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by 100%, and when you deal damage with your Wrath spell you have a 15/30% chance to cause your next Starfire to be instant cast within 8 sec.
Revitalize now causes you to grant Replenishment when you cast or Refresh Lifebloom - Replenishment - Grants up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 1% of the maximum mana per 10 sec. Lasts for 15 sec.
Malfurion's Gift (Tier 4) *New* - Whenever you heal with your Lifebloom spell, you have a 3/6% chance to cause Omen of Clarity.

The first thing to note is the buff to wild mushrooms. It looks like it they are buffing it mainly for PvP, upping the time before they are visible, and buffing the damage. Imagine 3 moonkins putting their mushrooms on the flag in warsong. BOOM! haha.

They were obviously not satisfied yet with the amount of mana regen and the feel of the boomkin so I will look forward to seeing some more tweaks. The change the entangling roots is exciting though! I hope they keep that around.

They lowered the mana cost of aquatic form, travel form, and flight form. Pretty nifty. Otherwise the changed to feral aren't exciting to me as I do not like to melee dps or tank.

When I was on the PTR on my druid I noticed nourish and healing wave healing for the same amount, yet nourish costing less mana. In turn, the change to nourish comes with no surprise on my end. I also figured they would do something with cast time for druid now that it will be a bigger deal with us. Natures focus will suffice. I have to say though, I am sad they changed the mana back to us to a replenish. It is still beta so we will see.

Until next time! I plan to mess around more with my holy pally and let you guys know what I think. A little booming too, I suppose.

Pretty Colors! - Some Cata and Blizzcon Updates

2010-08-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

So, I really want this little guy. He looks so menacing, it's terrible irresistible. Since I didn't get Blizzcon tickets I will most likely be ordering the online stuff and that means he will be my new best friend! Eeeep!

On a different note, I have been thinking about blizzcon. I think I might go next year, pending work and money allow. Right now I am planning a big move in a few weeks so even if I did want to go and the tickets where available, purchasing them would probably be tough. Not to mention room and board. Gah.

HOWEVER! I do not want to miss out. If you are going to blizzcon, you should take a picture with a "I <3 Shoop" sign, and I will post it here and love you forever!

So, blizz is implementing a power aura type feature in cata which I find to be way overdo. They released some cool looking graphics that I will share below. I think the sun and moon graphics need a little more sparkle, but that is just me.

I get most if not all of my info from www.mmo-champion.com so credit to them for the pics and info.

Short and Sweet - Baking the Cake and Eating it too.

2010-08-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

So TPA has been working on hard mode Lich King for a few weeks now. Tonight, we were hoping to get a good group and head in there and attempt to slay him some more.

Unfortunately, with things out of our control, the group wasn't stellar so we did Ruby Sanctum instead. I had some internet problems, but that is beside the point. Afterward, we were struggling with how to spend the last 3 hours of raid time.

So....

A group of us put together a ten man ToGC mount run and guess who got the mount! "Grats noob! Mreheheh" (if you don't understand this, head to video section of blog)
So yeah, I am a happy camper. That's the Short and Sweet, hope you enjoyed it!

Staying in the Loop - Druid Changes

2010-08-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

I didn't receive a beta invite and to be honest I really wish I would have. Before I really didn't want to see spoilers and incomplete content. I wanted to open the box and be thrilled to see new stuff. At this point I just want to test out my resto druid. Oh well. I have to be content to learn things from websites like mmo-champion and such. Below is a copy and paste of the post from the front page of www.mmo-champion.com

Balance

Wild Mushroom changed, only 3 mushrooms can be placed at one time (Down from 5).
Cyclone cast time increased to 2 sec. Up from 1.5 sec.
Faerie Fire now has a 35 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Insect Swarm now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Starfire now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Entangling Roots now has a 35 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Thorns now lasts 20 sec, down from 10 minutes. Damage increased by 1400% (Deals 447 damage instead of 32)
Moonfire now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Wrath now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Moonkin Form now increases Nature and Arcane spell damage by 10%.
Starlight Wrath now reduces cast time by 0.15/0.25/0.5 sec. (Up from 0.1/0.2/0.3 sec)

Feral

Lacerate now stacks up to 3 times, down from 5 times.
Mangle (Bear) no longer has a cooldown.
Improved Feral Charge is now named Stampede
Heart of the Wild moved to Tier 1 restoration.
Furor is now a Feral Tier 1 talent - Gives you 33/66/100% chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear Form, and you keep up to 33/66/100 of your Energy when you shapeshift into Cat Form, and increases your total Intellect by 2/4/6%.

Restoration

Tranquility now heals every 2 sec, down from 5 sec.
Rebirth now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Revive now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
Empowered Rejuvenation (Tier 6) renamed to Swift Rejuvenation (Tier 5) and revamped - Reduces the global cooldown of your Rejuvenation by 0.25/0.5 sec.
Efflorescence now affects friendly targets within 4 yards, down from 15 yards.
Wild Growth mana cost reduced to 27% of base mana, down from 55% of base mana.
Fury of Stormrage moved from Tier 5 to Tier 4. Now also reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by 50/100%.
Gift of the Earthmother moved from Tier 5 to Tier 6. Rejuvenation spell instant heal increased from 3/6% to 5/10%.
Nature's Bounty now increases critical strike chance on Regrowth by 20/40/60% (Up from 10/20/30%) and now has a 33/66/100% chance to proc. (Up from 20/40/60%)
Empowered Touch now Increases the healing done by your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 5/10%, and your Nourish spell has a 50/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Lifebloom on targets.
Naturalist moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Changed to 2-Ranks, down from 3-Ranks. Reduces the cast time of your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 0.25/0.5 sec. (Up from 0.15/0.35/0.5 sec)
Natural Shapeshifter is now a 2 ranks talent, down from 3 Ranks.
Nature's Cure (Tier 5) *New* - Empowers your Remove Corruption spell to also remove a magic effect from a friendly target.
Heart of the Wild is now a Tier 1 Restoration talent - Increases your maximum mana by 5/10/15%. In addition, while in Bear Form your Stamina is increased by 3/7/10% and while in Cat Form your attack power is increased by 3/7/10%.

Well, they nerfed efflorescence. I kind of figured it was coming. Lets be realistic. They pretty much gave us another wild growth in the process of trying to move us away from being super effective with a small number of spells. Of course, in the process of nerfing our new toy, they gave us a break by lowering the mana cost of wild growth.

Now I don't know about you guys, but tier eight was BY FAR my favorite four piece bonus. The instant heal of rejuve was amazing, and I am THRILLED they brought it back. Then they buffed it. Oh my gosh.

I am so glad they fixed the first tier of the resto tree... I was really disappointing to put points in something that did nothing for me.

Overall I am loving the new changes. I think the dispelling magic talent is pretty nifty. I really wish I could check out the beta, but for now...

First Post Jidders - Testing the Waters

2010-08-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Shoop's ranting. It doesn't all make sense and it may not all be completely thought out, and if you don't like it, I don't care.

Now for some tree talk.

In the past couple months I have noticed that I have had an abundance of people asking me what I thought about the tree form in cataclysm and how they are handling our precious druid healing icon. Despite the chatter about the model makeover, I hear a lot about the 50% movement speed decrease. I played a druid back when tree form was slower, so the idea that they added the movement speed decrease doesn't surprise me a bit. I believe they were thinking more along the lines of a penalty for using it so that we don't pop it whenever it is off cooldown. This makes a lot of sense! The idea around changing tree form was not only to give druids the ability to display their purples, but to give us a strategical cooldown as compensation. Though they may change it, and I believe they will, I think the reason you are seeing it in beta is because it was an idea, and adding it right away and then removing it later is a smoother transition then adding it later down the road when the talent has been explored, just to see what happens.

Along with the tree form druids are going from being a 2-3 button healer to a healing class with a multitude of tools. A lot of the people hating on blizzards idea to expand our horizons are those druids who ENJOY our spec/rotation being simple. I can definitely sympathize. Being able to blanket a raid with rejuves and wild growth when its off cooldown and be secure that I have done my job does appeal to me. I enjoy the play style, though simple, because it feels right to me. I will admit that I am a little concerned how much I will enjoy playing a resto druid with the revived spells, but I am optimistic. I think at the moment I wish I could do more. I with I had a choice. Do I wild growth the melee because three of them are taking damage, or can I regrowth the worst of it and rejuve the others. It will help the good druids, and players in general, pull away into their own class. The ones that can make the right choices will be the ones that will shine.