A few months ago, balance druid players were asked to vote on which set bonuses they wanted to have in season 4 out of the first three seasons and the season 1 set was chosen. We did not get the season 1 set bonus. The problem is that at the very end of season one, the set bonus was changed and nerfed into the ground in order to make way for the new season two set bonus which was mediocre in comparison. The 2-set stayed the same besides numbers tuning, but the 4-set had a big change. Here is what the set bonuses were in season 1:
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2-set: Starsurge and Starfall increase the damage of your next Wrath or Starfire by 30%, stacking up to 3 times. (This had been nerfed down from 50% per stack at the start of the season.)
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4-set: When you enter Eclipse, your next Starsurge or Starfall costs no Astral Power and deals 40% increased damage. (I can’t quite remember if it was 35% or 40% at the end, but it had also been nerfed down from 50%.)
Blizzard completely eviscerated this set bonus because it was in all ways better than the season 2 set bonuses that amped up our dots and shooting stars. This is what the set bonuses were changed to right before season 2 went live so that we wouldn’t be wearing the season 1 4-set into the next tier:
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2-set: Starsurge and Starfall increase the damage of your next Wrath or Starfire by 20%, stacking up to 3 times.
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4-set: When you enter Eclipse, your next Starsurge or Starfall costs 5 less Astral Power and deals 20% increased damage.
That was a huge nerf. When Kaivax posted the voting thread he said:
It seems like players took that to mean that Blizzard would revert the huge nerf going into season 2 and that we would be voting on the original season 1 set bonuses. I had no such faith, which is why I voted for season 3 and posted on the voting thread about the issue with the season 1 set bonuses. However, we ended up with season 1 winning the vote and players hoping that Blizzard wouldn’t give us the super-nerfed version of the set. This is what we received:
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2-set: Vault of the Incarnates (2) Set Bonus: Starsurge and Starfall increase the damage of your next Wrath or Starfire by 30%, stacking up to 3 times (was 20%).
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4-set: Vault of the Incarnates (4) Set Bonus: When you enter Eclipse, your next Starsurge or Starfall costs 15 less Astral Power (was 5 less Astral Power) and deals 40% (was 20%) increased damage.
15 less Astral Power is a lot different than a free starsurge/starfall. This is not the actual season 1 balance set.