Ferals can be DPS and without any measure of inconvenience can switch to being a tank, effectively between fights for sure, but even on the fly (with the downside of cat gear usually not being great in a boss situation).
No other class can really afford this level of efficiency other than Paladins or Warriors, and neither of them do it even close to the realm of what druids are capable of.
Dual spec completely invalidates this benefit because the prot warrior can be DPS on demand, and the prot pally can also be DPS on demand.
Mages and Warlocks (or any pure DPS class) aren’t really relevant to this example.
No, because dedicated Feral Cats would never use gear appropriate for tanking when DPS gear is far more effective.
If I switch to cat on Nightbane, for example, I’m using Cat gear because that fight doesn’t need the extra tank.
However, I often run in groups where there’s a lot of casters including Warlocks and Mages. If I had the option of dual-speccing Boomking, that would be far more valuable than staying as a Cat since I would be providing Moonkin Arua and Improved Faerie Fire.
In a use case mimicking the existence of dual spec, a feral can change gear in-between fights to suit needs, or fill a position in a raid due to a player missing easily without spending the gold and going through the bar setup.
I do not need to go Moonkin to effectively contribute to my groups DPS, especially if we have hunters or other melee present (and hunters are ubiquitous).
I have a tank and a dps set. I am capable of being a main tank, and a top DPS. In the same spec.
I can swap between them based on need and do either job better without the inconvenience of respeccing, where as the warrior/paladin is locked and a vast majority of the time will be unwilling or rather the raid will not even allow the flexibility for them to go back and respsc just for one fight or even a couple fights.
You’re about to do Nightbane. A Warrior will main tank it. You have 2 Mages, 2 Warlocks, and 1 Shadow Priest in your group. Caster heavy.
You tell everyone, “I’ll DPS as cat.”
Fine, but do the casters really need LotP? No, of course not.
Here’s the next scenario:
“I can switch to Boomkin! I just need to be a rested area. Summon me back, ok?”
You go to Shatt. You go to the bank, get items appropriate for Boomkin DPS. You switch to Balance spec.
“Okay, guys, I’m ready! Summon me back.”
You are summoned back. This time, however, providing buffs to to your Mages and Warlocks you love you forever. You’re awesome because not only can you tank and dps as Bear or Cat, you’re now helping your casters out as a Boomy.
Sure, except the 50g respec is there to be an effective deterrent to such min/max behavior. Your mages and warlocks will not complain should you decide not to do that, because it’s well understood that its costly and nobody expects people to do that and pay that just for their right to unique spec-specific buffs to make an easy boss easier.
If dual spec is available, now maybe the casters expect me to have a boomy spec on hand, and now I’m pressured in to playing a role I don’t like and have no interest in playing. Sounds real fun.
Don’t listen to Empathy. He just likes to browbeat.
He did the whole “you’re just broke” and I sent him a screenshot of me riding my epic flyer. He never responded back.
Don’t let him bully you. You’re absolutely correct in your assertions. I’ll waste his time now as he repeatedly spams replies to me when I respond to him.
If there’s anything he can be relied upon, it’s spamming the same response repeatedly when challenged on anything.
