I agree that these are still outliers, however, I think that venthyr moonkin is actually ok the way it is. It’s overall damage is still good when compared to other classes. As opposed to things like enhancement shaman, survival hunter, and frost DK which have been near the bottom for far too long.
Other games, like League of Legends, have very frequent patches which pull the strings of the meta. Obviously there are massive differences in the games, but pulling the strings of the meta is something that has only happened a handful of times in the close to 13 months since shadowlands released.
As a DK main, I agree, except that DK personal defensives are stronger I feel. AMS/IBF are two of the best personal (non immunity) defensives in the game, and DPS should suffer a little for having those. If DK and warrior DPS were equal, and nothing else changed, DK would be picked every time unless specifically rallying cry was needed.
I think this is a big problem and something that needs to be addressed far more often. There simply are talents that are chosen 0% of the time, and talents that are chosen 100% of the time. In a perfect world, each talent in each row would see 33% play time. Those would be “perfectly balanced” or at least appropriately situational.
In my recent CC post (Feedback on Frost DK) I looked at some of these talents that are not chosen for Frost DK and suggested some changes (Icecap, for example) which would make them more interesting, fun to play, and hopefully chosen in certain scenarios.
This is just another good example of things that should be tuned. If something has a 0% play rate in instanced combats (dungeons, raids, pvp) then it should be buffed. If something has a 100% play rate in instanced combats, it should either be nerfed or the choices around it buffed.
Having 21 options for talents and only ever using 10 of them to optimize doesn’t feel like a choice anymore. Especially if: