So I was thinking the other day, why doesn’t blizzard just make Druids have only one talent tree that doesn’t specialize in any one thing in each row. Like one row could still be a dmg ability or passive that improves dps but for all 4 forms. I’m not trying to dumb the class down but maybe if we got abilities and such based on form rather than spec blizzard could balance us and improve the class overall better. Still have melee dps in cat form, tanking in bear etc etc but your abilities change with the form instead of talent specialization. Thoughts? Please don’t flame me too hard.
That’s pretty much the previous talent system, instead of today’s specs which are restricted to their mechanics.
While the unpruning has opened up some abilities, the old system really brought forward the notion of true hybrid, which is effectively dead in today’s standards.
While there were cookie cutter builds, a druid, shaman, etc, could invest and focus on how they wanted to play.
Despite the freedom, balance was very, very loose.
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You must not play druid much if you think all 4 specs could be dumbed down to one tree. Resto literally has entirely different builds for every form of content? How are you going to balance that by removing 75% of those options?
Druid should never have had specs to begin with. Heart of the Wild shouldn’t be a talent. It should just be a baseline ability for all specs that lasts say, 15 seconds every minute. It would immediately bring powershifting back to ALL Druid specs.
That.
Is.
Not.
Powershifting!
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It’s the closest thing we’ve had outside of Kittyweave in about 4 expansions. It was one thing in TBC / WotLK to be 30% as effective in your non-specced forms as you were in your main form. Right now, we’re about 6% effective. There IS no power shifting today.
Wrong again.
Powershifting is the act of changing forms to grant power/resource. It still exists for guardians, who get rage upon shifting into bear.
Kitting weaving or heart of the wild or breaking snares has NOTHING to do with powershifting.
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I play my Druid a lot, but I don’t swap talents for content. I swap talents because I want to do something different.
I think maybe one or two of the roles can be retired. Blizzard tried something new with DH when they released a 2-spec class and it’s pretty popular.
I honestly think Blizz has made their jobs a little too hard by having too many specs to balance. I really wouldn’t hold it against them at this point if they threw in the towel and cut any 2 of the current druid specs and just tossed them out of the game. I really don’t even care which 2 at this point.
EDIT: They even released a lore video explaining how it would happen. Ursoc is gone, guys, time to respec.
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To be fair, powershifting is usually more correlated with the speed at which one can shift into a form and not necessarily the benefit.
E.g.
Yes cats used to powershift to get energy but they did so whilst already being in cat. You instantly just shifted into cat again and gained the 40 energy or whatever it was. That’s what made it power shifting.
In pvp where the term really took off was referring to breaking roots and such instantly in one gcd without leaving form. It’s of course been removed. I’d argue that’s what powershifting was. And it’s gone.
No
Yeah… shifting to grant power(resource)
Youre just repeating what I already said.
has it?..
You can still break snares and remain in form or swap form.
Youre confused.
What you’re describing is what we currently have now.
A cancel form macro followed shifting back into form only costs one gcd.
The old form of shifting was not on the gcd at all and its only limitation was your mama bar.
…and you are wrong. On both counts.
Another Wrath baby I see. That is not powershifting. TRUE powershifting died after TBC. The only iteration of it that still remains lies in Kittyweaving.
Time to remove those bandages, i think.
Clearly not working for ya.
Looking at achievements is hard apparently?
You havent the slightest clue what youre talking about.
Tical I don’t know why you’re always so argumentative like your sole worth in life is to disprove wow forum people but I’m not wrong. Like the other guy said, true power shifting died after TBC.
No, you cannot. I cannot be in cat, press one button, and still be in cat (instantly) but out of the snare.
What I mean by the gcd is the time at which you could attack afterwards. It still proc’d the gcd upon entering cat form. You couldn’t just smash your macro and lose mana as fast as you could press the button.
Not effectively, it cost two. You’re the one who’s confused. You cannot be in cat form and get rooted, and one gcd later be in cat again and ready to attack.
Again, I’m not sure why you feel the need to pretend you’re omniscient with druid info but you’re far from it.
Everyone knows you can just press travel and break it. Alternate between travel and cat, or bear or whatever. No one is talking about that. True power shifting allowed you to retain your current form at the cost of one gcd and break all roots and snares. I’d say I don’t know why you can’t comprehend this but I know you can. You just choose to argue semantics.
Because youre wrong and youre spreading misssinformation.
just add /cancel form before each spell and ta-da!
#snarebreak.
Why are you taking this personal?
Wrong, wrong, Wrong.
Its people like you who misunderstand the term and continue to use it incorrectly. Over the years the ignorance has spread like wild fire and now its wildly used incorrectly be everyone, and you all look foolish.
Similar to the expression 'blood is thicker than water. " Its widely thought to mean that familial bonds will always be stronger than bonds of friendship or love.
But its original saying was, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” which mean the exact opposite. The ties between people who have made a blood covenant (or have shed blood together in battle) were stronger than ties formed by “the water of the womb”.
If you’re going to use a term, at least understand its origin and history.
Powershifting has to do with the talent furor and the instant enery/rage gained upon shifting. It still very much exists today for guardians as they are still granted rage. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with kitty weaving. The snare break is a byproduct of the original powershift macro, and was still usable up until recently, which is where the confusion stems from.
Like this literally takes 10 seconds to test and you’d see that you’re wrong. I don’t know how you’re even arguing this. Better, more informed druids (likely the majority seemingly) have made this a topic of discord for a long time with blizzard removing it. Go ahead, go in game, in cat, make a macro or whatever you need to do to go into cat instantly after canceling the form without a gcd ticking. (As in the gcd ticks down after you’ve already re-entered cat).
I’m not taking it personally. Not sure you understand that phrase. You’re just kind of a meme on these forums and I just don’t get why you’re always so insistent on debating things for the sake of debating them.
I don’t need a lesson on old phrases that are irrelevant to this discussion. Though ironically, even though you’re right in what you said (which I thought was common knowledge) its a good testament that words and phrases get their meaning by consensus. Spellings and definitions have changed throughout history on many occasions simply from altered use. This however, as fitting as it may be to use, isn’t one of those times.
Listen, to break this down simply:
Everyone knows how furor worked. Stop explaining it. We all know. Shifting to get energy or rage is just shifting unless the speed is taken into account. Energy came in 20 tick increments back then. You think if it took 1gcd to re enter the form and another gcd to attack then it would have been as effective? You think competent bear tanks risk being out of form for an entire gcd while raiding or something? You think if it wasn’t instant, they’d be willing to drop form, health pot, and re enter? It’s just ignorant and objectively wrong. Just because you disagree doesn’t mean every other druid is wrong. Did you coin the phrase? Why is Tical the last word when EVERY OTHER PERSON disagrees? R1’s. Tourney players. Top world progression mythic raiders. But yet no, tical says so… 
It was used (most of the time with a macro) to use pots while not being vulnerable. To break snares and still not lose any momentum chasing a target. To yes, get rage or energy whilst remaining in current form. The entire premise is that it doesn’t keep you in caster form for any amount of time. Ask anyone. Literally anyone besides yourself. If the current version was in the game back then it would not have even gotten a phrase. It was just be “shifting roots” or whatever like it is today. It’s not powershifting just because furor existed/exists. You’re focusing on the word power too much in regards to resources.
Think of a car. When people “powershift” they shift without taking their foot off the gas. They don’t waste time lifting, shifting, and then re-engaging. It’s instantaneous shifting to maximize throttle time. It’s literally the same premise.
Funny… cause iv been using it all expansion.
Try again.
So youre just using ad homenien for funsies then?
Cool.
Fun fact, they use it all the time.
Between pulls, target swaps, ect.
Next youre gonna tell me they dont use their resto spells either.?
Please.
It was 60 energy from furor. so … yes.
Energy is irrelevant to this conversation now though, and not because shifting is now on the gcd, but because Furor was changed to keep energy regen out of form.
Were not talking about cars …
are we?
Powershifting was killed by putting shifting on the GCD. It has nothing to do with HotW.
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lets ask google.
Oh look … first hit.
https://lmgtfy.com/?q=power+shifting+wow
Powershifting is the act of switching out and quickly or instantly (only a puff of smoke visible) back into Cat Form or Bear Form as a Druid with the Furor Talent to gain an instant boost of Rage or Energy .
https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Powershifting#:~:text=Powershifting%20is%20the%20act%20of,boost%20of%20Rage%20or%20Energy.
ok. ill bite…
Lets pretend youre right for a second.
hmm…
so… what youre saying is… snare breaking isnt powershifting?
Since the changes to furor made power shifting obsolete.
You just said so up here… ^
Pick a stance man. Youre flip flopping worse than Trump.
Guys, Powershifting is clearly shifting to drop a root, snare, etc.
Powershifting also gives you furor rage/energy, and a feral could do crazy things with that back in the day.
Both of those things are objectively true.
It’s entirely possible that someone wrote a guide with a powershifting macro for energy regen, and someone wrote another guide for flag running with the same powershifting macro. It doesn’t make anyone wrong.
THAT SAID… nowadays its kind of a moot point. You can find creative ways around it with abilities that make you drop form or add the form like dash, engineering belts or cancel macros, but its definitely not the same,