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liquoranne
join:2009-01-14

liquoranne

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[Classes] Druid 5.2

So wanted to get a new Druid topic going as the old one hasnt been touched in awhile. Also, with websense and time constraints, its hard for me to gather data other than from this site.

So first is im changing my OS back to boomkin. I have heard nothing but negative from some of my boomkin friends about the current state. Not sure 5.2 has any impact to that or not.

First- Stat priority still goes to hit>haste>crit=/mastery? When i left at cata, crit was a bit better than mastery but not sure this is still the case. 17% hit still the go to im assuming?
Second- For talents/glyphs, i feel that there isnt really much too choose from. The tier 3(or 4) talent line with the improved form or the extra energy on changing was the only one that required thought. I went with the 20 solar/lunar energy when leaving eclipse. The rest have no real use other than the final tier with the active CD. Glyphs are pretty lack luster except for the one where u can cast certain spells and stay in boomkin form.

I admit i am a bit rusty with boom as its been over a year, the rotation (or priority system) seems about the same. Keep both dots, SS on CD, spam whatever eclipsed spell and try to starfall during lunar. Anything change from that? I also noticed a new CD that gives us both states of eclipse, but removes and energy and prevents us from gaining. To me this is great to start off the fight as i can get max damage from CD's at burst. Not sure tho.
liquoranne

liquoranne

Member

Also, not sure if any Guardians are prowling this forum, but with the 5.2 changes to mastery, will it become useful again? The rest i am pretty confident about as ive been playing around with guardians for a few weeks now.

On a note, i still see people reforging differently. Saw one guardian that had all reforges to mastery and another with all reforges to dodge.....no clue

Immer
Gentleman
Premium Member
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer

Premium Member

I've seen mostly crit heavy Guardian builds, mainly because rage generation is an issue until you get some pretty amazing gear. Even the current BiS bonuses are based on spending rage, so prioritizing rage generation will allow you to make the best use of those bonuses. Since we don't find Agi gear with Dodge on it, you have to gem/reforge for it.

If Mastery is just being buffed to provide more armor, I'm not sure that is going to change the landscape a great deal, since bears have a lot of armor in bear form. I'm still gearing my resto/guardian, so my input is limited to what I read at theIncbear and the like.
Cptbeatstix
join:2011-12-21
Carrollton, TX

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I like boomy. It's an all around fun spec to play. They're painful in BG's if they catch you off guard. Thankfully displacer beast is getting a nerf. That crap is annoying once I get them to 15% hp. Thankfully GladiatorLOSa let's me know when their cooldowns are blown. I just CoS-Vanish-Cheap shot- and then KS when they trinket the CS. As for PvE, I've seen a few boomys that pull great numbers, but it's rare. I think it's the overall change with celestial alignment. That talent and another crap out the MF/SF-SS-Wrath/w/e the other one was spamming. But as far as I know Hit and Haste are top priority. They could do with a mastery boost or change IMO.
liquoranne
join:2009-01-14

liquoranne to Immer

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to Immer
Yes i dunno. If the buff to mastery is apparent, it might be a better stat than dodge (just thinking). Being bear's dont block and no loger have absorb shields from mangle crits, (atleast that i have noticed) more armor would make the physical damage less spiky. Limiting your reliance on dodge roll modifiers and more on set reduction amounts just seems better.....again not sure.

I am currently gemming/reforging to hit/exp/crit. Im sitting at 40% crit in bear form unbuffed....Rage hasnt been a problem for keeping up my dodge active and having some spare rage for heals/mauls when needed.
cymraeg
Thread Killer
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join:2011-06-07
Dodge, NE

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spell hit is 15% now fyi, the thing with laser chickens is keeping the buffed dot rolling along with the unbuffed, also being in an eclipse at the beginning of a fight so you have to utilize Celestial Alignment properly,i.e. being just before the eclipse where one cast puts you in it or just triggered eclipse. from my mates in Eu, crit still better than mastery only slightly so.

Bears, will switch dodge for crit in builds depending on fights and rage generation like Immer said succinctly, for normal 5 man dungeons crit wins the day more rage more FR and less healing by the healer our armour and SD take care of most physical damage, in the current tier of raids i cannot say per fight, my mates don't get brought for most fights on their bears, their guilds utilize Dk's, warriors and paladins.

Immer
Gentleman
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join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer to liquoranne

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It's the spell dmg and bleeds that will hurt the most. Right now we do well against physical dmg without the extra armor. We'll see.
liquoranne
join:2009-01-14

liquoranne

Member

Havent tanked much here lately....but in previous tiers, armor mitigates bleed damage as most of it is physical. Not sure if this is still true. If so, it will be useful to have more armor....
liquoranne

liquoranne to cymraeg

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to cymraeg
15%...ya...that sounds right based on my current rating and looking at the modifiers.
Ya dot upkeep sounds the same as before just without the swarm dot. Eclipse bit is the same as before also. Its just the addition of one of the active CD's that give you both benefits but cannot generate any energy. Not sure if thats good for starting to get both buff dots rolling and an eclipsed starfall/SS off the bat...guess ill play around with it some.

Feralmordius
join:2011-01-18

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Currently the general consensus is to stack Crit for an RPS build. There are a few still using a mitigation build and there is discussions on how a haste build could be beneficial, however this seems to stay in the 25m raids.

Overall most stats sound like they are going to stay similar in 5.2 with the note of maybe needing 2 sets if you Heroic raid.

"...when dealing with Melee damage you will want to stack Haste/Mastery pieces after Hit/Exp capping in 5.2. This means that you will end up building more than 1 tanking set if you’re a heroic raiding Guardian. One for RPS/DPS, and another for mitigating pure melee hits."

»theincbear.com/monday-ro ··· -24-2012

Eumaeus
join:2009-12-10
Seattle, WA

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I think the change to mastery for Guardians will mostly increase the armor we're getting from incidental mastery on our gear. I don't foresee any change to raise the priority of mastery.

While I haven't gotten to tank heroic content this tier, I've tanked 16/16N and I can't imagine giving up rage gen for armor. Having Savage Defense up as often as possible (more or less depending on boss mechanics) is just huge. I can't see any melee encounter where giving up 45% dodge for a while due to poor rage gen would be worth an extra (made-up number here) 3-5% damage reduction from having more armor.

Besides, aren't they buffing frenzied regeneration's scaling also in 5.2? It's been a while since I've seen the patch notes and I can't quite remember.

JB9
Stay Gold
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join:2009-05-14

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I don't play boomkin, but they are fine. Their DPS is comparable and in the upper/middle of our DPS charts.

For guardian, I have been going hit/exp cap > crit > dodge > mastery > haste.

I do go for stamina in spots I probably shouldn't, as I am still bit undergeared atm.

Eumaeus
join:2009-12-10
Seattle, WA

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I agree with JB - I raided boomkin for MSV before needing to swap to Guardian when we lost a tank. I always felt like the dps was more than sufficient, just with a lower potential cap than some other dps.

That said, they provide a lot of utility to the raid making up for the slightly lower dps.

JB9
Stay Gold
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join:2009-05-14

JB9

Premium Member

Not to mention, they're pretty much a free healer on Tsulong. (Esp. if specd into HOTW)

Eumaeus
join:2009-12-10
Seattle, WA

Eumaeus

Member

Speaking of which - I used HoTW to heal as Guardian for 45 secs of the day phase, but forgot to see how much it amounted to in total. Will have to check next week. Not too much for me to do at that time anyhow.

Looking at PvP - I'm very excited about the 30s mass entanglement. Thinking this can be used to huge effectiveness in RBG / arena. The cyclone change doesn't excite me, but it's kinda needed really I suppose.
Arty7
join:2012-07-25
Denver, CO

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After playing a Bear tank for 5 years this expansion I switched to Cat DPS. So far it's a blast to play, in raids with my guild I'm usually number 1 on the damage done meters, and in LFR always in the top 3, my gear is not the greatest either, it's all about the rotation which while it can be complex, is easy once you learn it.

Stat priority I go with Agility > Mastery > Crit > Expertise > Hit > haste. There's a debate about hit being more important in priority, but seeing as druids get refunded energy on misses, I go with Crit.

Of course being melee DPS as always has it's challenges, and I do suffer a DPS loss on multi-target fights, but overall it's a blast to play.
liquoranne
join:2009-01-14

liquoranne

Member

I just swapped from feral to boomkin as my OS. I enjoy feral but my connection at hotels is spotty at best and melee just isnt lag friendly. Range has a little more time to react. I do agree with the fun play style. Not quite as challenging as it was in Wotlk but still fun.

As far as symbiosis is concerned, whats a good target for boomkin? Guardian has a few good options while feral has 2 main hunter/rogue....but i dont know what for boomkin,...

Eumaeus
join:2009-12-10
Seattle, WA

Eumaeus

Member

The only dps increase, and it's minor, is mages for mirror images. If I recall, DK's give you anti-magic-shell which is situationally very useful depending on the encounter.

Immer
Gentleman
Premium Member
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer to liquoranne

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Re: [Classes] Druid 5.2 Resto

Healed my first MSV on my druid this weekend. My gear is horrible (went in with only 459 equipped). If we heal the way druids are supposed to heal... the hps is solid... we do put out a lot of healing (I was holding steadily at 40k).... but at my gear level my mana was vaporizing. The group we ran with (PnE provided a tank, 2 heals, and 1 m.dps who weren't already saved) had abysmal dps... we died to Boss Enrage (I swear I thought it was a myth... but at 8:15, you'll find it). Druid innervate is solid, but the mana cost to support druid healing is high. Also, I will reiterate my gripe with our healing mushrooms... aside from Feng, it's the weakest of the "cool new healers spells".

We are solid healers for Feng... Timing your ToL is great for P3 (if you didn't need it for P2 (dps too low to push after only 2 draw flames)... shrooms is great for later in the draw flame Aoe while wildgrowth and swiftmend are on CD.

We do well (if geared to not be hemorrhaging mana) 2 healing this.

Anyhoo... had fun with the druid this weekend. The healing toolkit seems very limited after spending so much time healing on a priest. There is also no "idle" for a druid... it's full-speed healing at all times... and mana conservation takes a little more planning on my druid than it does on my priest (that might be the ilvl talking).
Immer

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Re: [Classes] Druid 5.2

No better reason to necro a druid thread!

»www.wowhead.com/news=212 ··· atch-5-2
quote:
Burning Seeds: Fire Kitty Disguise Added in Patch 5.2
posted 11 hr 52 min ago by perculia

During the Patch 5.2 PTR, players noticed that Burning Seed had been datamined, which would allow players to "harness the essence of Fire granted to the Druids of the Flame." The buff given, Burning Essence, explicitly stated that players turn into a Druid of the Flame while in Cat Form. This sounded exactly like the fire kitty effect granted by Fandral's Flamescythe, except you didn't need to farm up the staff. What was the catch?

Well, nobody knew how to get them, which has led to a heated discussion if this item ever made it to live servers. Earlier today, Community Manager Crithto made a post that Burning Seeds were in fact available in game, but very well hidden--nobody had reported finding them since Patch 5.2 went live over a month ago.

Thanks to Bearface and Akrin for finding it and emailing me the intial details, and Serrinne, and Jasyla for going to Firelands with me!

These seeds are available from the portal by Majordomo Staghelm in Firelands. They look like tiny Amberseeds anyone can see, but only Druids can loot them. Druids can loot up to five at a time, and it appears five spawn at a time.

Since Burning Seed are BoA, they can be mailed to alts, letting Druids stockpile more from future raids. (Interestingly enough, this means you can mail it to a lower-level Druid alt and they can also use it.)

If you have an old instance with the portal already up (accessible after the Gate-Keeper Baleroc is dead), you should be able to zone in and loot the seeds without dealing with a reclear. They also respawn after a soft reset.

The seeds are consumed on use, and the buff persists through death, zoning, and shapeshifting. The buff lasts for an hour and works in combat as well, so even if you have a Fandral's Flamescythe, this is probably worth getting for the buff improvements.

Cat5
join:2013-04-26

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Boomkins can perform very well, but they seem to require an advanced player or stupidly high gear to achieve the DPS other classes seem to reach with ease.

Feral druids are still pretty high on the meters and pretty easy to play.

I've not done Guardian, but I've heard they still take a bit of work to get comfortable with, probably due to gear.

I play my druid as resto 99% of the time and have never had any issues with it, even when everyone was crying foul. The only thing they really lack is a constant source of massive healing power. The big heal isn't big enough to spam in times of need, so you have to rely on Tree Form or Tranquility to rescue under geared tanks which doesn't always work. I would also like to see Swiftmend taken away from it's HoT ties so it can be cast wherever. Currently it's a pain to check exactly who is standing where, cast rejuvination, then Swiftmend and I end up just sellecting someone who should be in the pack, and it doen't always turn out that they are!

As for HPS, any decent player will ignore those figures as healing isn't about numbers, it's about making sure everyone lives whilst still having mana. In LFR I languish in 4th place usually on the shammy, not because I can't top the meters, but because I want to have mana. Come the end of the fight when everyone is under half health, I can pop elemental form, healing tide and chain heal and rise up the charts in seconds. Why waste cooldowns and mana needlessley though?

Immer
Gentleman
Premium Member
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer

Premium Member

Guardians are awesome. Their survivability and threat generation is intense... love having a bear tank in the raid!

I'd like to see a boost to single-target bomb (rescue) healing for druids... but if you play a resto druid right (basically not try to play it like a h.pally or r.shaman) they can produce strong numbers.

HPS is important as long as the raid-wide dmg taken is high enough to be significant. Only r.druids with insane amounts of haste top meters in LFR because there isn't enough damage for all 6 players to get their heal in... so lower-hasted druids get pushed into overheal. HPS does matter whenever there is intense raid-wide dmg and no one is topped off... 30k hps isn't going to cut it if everyone in the raid drops to 50% health in the first 2 seconds of a 6 sec. channeled boss ability.

Cat5
join:2013-04-26

Cat5

Member

I mis-wrote what I was trying to say, HPS is obviously important, but it shouldn't be the yardstick to which healers are measured.

Granted proper raiding is different, and it is hard to measure a good healer using meters, but I find myself using Healing Rain on the clump of players, even when not required, just so I don't get kicked out for not performing.

Immer
Gentleman
Premium Member
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer

Premium Member

cool. Yeah, most people read healing meters incorrectly (just like most people read "DPS" meters incorrectly). Healing meters are a little tougher to read contextually.
uvray
join:2008-08-15
Fredericton, NB

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said by Cat5:

... but I find myself using Healing Rain on the clump of players, even when not required...

Ancestral Vigor procs from any heal and as long as your mana regen will allow overhealing, overheal ye shall do. IMO.

Cat5
join:2013-04-26

Cat5

Member

said by uvray See Profile
Ancestral Vigor procs from any heal and as long as your mana regen will allow overhealing, overheal ye shall do. IMO.
[/BQUOTE :

I don't like getting into bad habits.


Immer
Gentleman
Premium Member
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA

Immer

Premium Member

perhaps... but learning how to blast out as much healing & maximize our mana regen are good habits to build for when you find yourself in a real raid where it will be needed.