Infraction for raffy: Whining

Kaubel · 01/12/08, 2:38 AM

Post: Feral Druid Megathread
User: raffy
Infraction: Whining
Points: 1

Administrative Note:

Message to User:

"No other class has suffered so greatly purely from developer ignorance."

And no other whine has been uttered more by every class in every MMO since the dawn of fucking time.

Original Post:

Aye, the Elixir of Ironskin is pretty nice -- it basically lets you wear any neck/trinket/ring combination (tanking oriented) without worrying about being crit.

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That being said, it reminds me of the real problem I have with the end-game Feral druid experience: a clear lack of focus.

Ferals are the ultimate roll-switcher amungst the Druid specs, yet even in our most flexible configuration, we still cannot, even in the best gear, play like a "real" Feral Druid (ie. fill multiple rolls effectively without exiting combat and changing gear).

While some of this distaste may be due to the existance and overall worship of the conventional raid healing/dps meter, I feel the problem goes much deeper than being "80% of a rogue and 80% of a warrior."

Overall, I think Blizzard has done a really poor (and almost ignorant) job of providing us with a spec that scales and performs well in high-stamina/end-game envirnoments. Even after countless hours of play, I still don't exactly understand what Blizzard had planned for the Feral spec. Since hitting 70 in the Burning Crusade, we have been plagued with itemization problems -- serious itemization problems. No other class has suffered so greatly purely from developer ignorance.

However, without blabbing on about furthur Feral pitfalls, I'd like to express my concern about the lack of focus given to the Feral class and I worry the next expansion might bring more of the same. I think the Feral community should urge Blizzard to better define our class as the next expansion approaches.

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Here are a few ideas I had about improving our spec and refining our focus:

Edgy's Wish List

I personally feel our spec should be far more damage (Cat) oriented: with the ability to offtank (Bear) or emergency heal (Cast) in the same set of gear.
-- by offtank, I mean similar to the role we play but less of an ability to main tank.
-- by heal, I mean have the freedom and sustainability to occasionally heal nearby players without serious mana concenrs (see below).

** We shouldn't require two (or more) distinct sets of gear: a true tank/dps hybrid should be able to do both effectively in the same set of gear. Instead, our itemization should encourage hybridization and well-rounded, roll-switching playstyles.

** Armor-laden weapons, trinkets, and rings are a pathetic fix for our class. It's like FAP, but worse because it consumes the item budget. All of our armor should come from traditional armor. Instead, Feral talents should provide an Improved Bear form which provides and improved armor modifier to compensate for the loss of armor.

** While in a Feral form, the damage done by physical DoTs (bleeds) should be mitigated by armor. (like Defensive Stance, Improved Defensive Stance, and Improved Righteous Fury)

** We should be crit immune (-5.6%) purely through Feral talents. We should never need to wear +defense/resilience to tank.

** Feral talents should make Agility provide additional effects in Feral and Caster forms:
-- Feral benefit: increase the chance of getting partial hits (ie. "almost dodged").
-- Caster benefit: increase mana regen (like Aspect of the Viper).

** Feral talents should make Strength provide additional effects in Feral and Caster forms:
-- Feral: reduce incoming damage by converting a percentage of the attack into a short-duration DoT effect (similar to a Block, but without any damage reduction; similar to Deep Wounds, except it reduces the initial damage by the total bleed damage).
-- Caster: increase +healing (like Nurturing Instincts)