I want to discuss how much skill this one single item has removed from Rated Battleground gameplay. From carrying flags, to defending bases, or even being used to attempt ninja’s on enemy bases, this legendary is way too valuable and needs a massive nerf.
In 9.1.5, this legendary makes your Beserk (Incarn if Talented) make you immune to ALL cc for the next 30 seconds. It’s only on a 2.5 minute cooldown. So, 2 minutes of downtime right? Wrong. Beserk (Incarn) can also be reduced by a Guardian Druid PvP Talent (Emerald Slumber - 40 second CDR) That 2 minutes of downtime has now been reduced to only 1 minute 20-30 seconds.
For Flag Carrying, this means you will have Beserk/Incarn for nearly every enemy offensive push. You are immune to crowd control almost everytime it matters (when the enemy is near)
For defending bases, I don’t even know where to begin. Ninja capping and defending your node in Rated Battlegrounds used to be something you could take pride in. Now, it’s been reduced to druids speccing guardian on every base map, and it’s impossible to lose your node if you have Beserk/Incarn available. Even if you get sapped out of stealth for example, you can trinket Incarn and be safe for the next 30 seconds. BUT THATS NOT ALL!
You have to combine this with the fact Guardian druid also has a talent called Brambles. Brambles automatically reduces a small amount of damage from each attack. It also makes your barkskin radiate damage when used, which spins the node. So, even when you don’t have your Incarnation available (Only 1 minute 20 second downtime each time) you have another defensive in Barkskin that automatically spins the node in many (Not all) ccs.
Brambles can’t be that good, right? Barkskin is a fairly long cooldown so can you really take advantage of it that often?
Yes. Barkskin gets reduced MASSIVELY from a guardian specific talent (Survival of the Fittest) and an endurance conduit (Tough as Bark). For guardian, this makes barkskin something in the range of a 40 second cooldown. Keep in mind, barkskin is also reduced by the Slumber PvP talent that Guardian has. You can reset your barkskin in a matter of seconds with that talent.
All of this combined together is what makes guardian druid take almost no skill (especially for defending nodes). There is still a small amount of skill based gameplay in terms of getting across the field after your Beserk/Incarn falls and kiting until it’s back up, but that’s as far as it goes.
This legendary is also being used to attempt ninjas on enemy rogues. The guardian druid walks up to the rogues base and presses Incarnation and starts capping instantly. Normally, the rogue could use CC to stall the guardian (sap,blind/stuns etc) but since you are immune to CC this isn’t possible. This forces the rogue out INSTANTLY, no delay. There is zero counterplay apart from shadowy duel to this method, but that only lasts a few seconds, where Incarn lasts 30.
If you still need convincing that this thing is ruining tons of skill based gameplay in RBGs, i’ll tell you why its about to get EVEN worse in 9.2
The 9.2 Tier set bonus for Guardian druid is DOUBLING down on everything above that makes this class broken in RBGs.
2 Set: Casting Barkskin causes you to Berserk (Incarn) for 4 seconds. THIS IS AFFECTED BY THE LEGENDARY. In 9.2, simply using BARKSKIN will make you immune to all CC for the next 4 seconds. Wait, there’s still somehow more!
Remember that 40 second Barkskin cooldown I was talking about? It’s going to be 30 seconds in 9.2 with max item level conduit, since the conduit continues to reduce the cooldown even further.
So, 30 second barkskin that makes you immune to all cc for 4 seconds, as well as spins node through many CCs. Also gives you insane survivability and healing increase.
Don’t forget it can be reset basically instantly with the PvP Talent.
Let me lay out a possible scenario in 9.2 for up to 42+ Seconds of COMPLETE CC IMMUNITY:
Barkskin (4 seconds of immunty) > Incarnation (30 seconds - 34 total) > Barkskin (4 seconds - 38 total) > Emerald Slumber > Barkskin (4 seconds - 42 total). This is just one example. The Emerald slumber also reduces the cooldown of your Incarnation, so it’s up really soon after this combination.
PLEASE DO SOMETHING BOUT THIS
Sadly, this legendary sees almost ZERO use outside of Rated Battlegrounds and abusing how broken it is. The only thing this legendary is good for is reducing the skill in the game and making it more unfun to play.
