How playable it is? Pvp, pve?
Is it even survivable for arena?
I like the idea of druid in old wow, where forms have access to almost all skills, you get free flight form at 60 and you can also stealth on pvp server. And since there’s no transmog i can just be fat owl
Arena:
Boomkin = C
DS/Resto = S+
BGs:
Boomkin = A+
DS/Resto = A+
Heroics: (non-Speedrun)
Boomkin = A+
DS/Resto = D
Imp FF/Resto = C
Raids: (non-Speedrun)
Boomkin = C
DS/Resto = C+
Imp FF/Resto = A+
(sorry for the edits, just trying to clean everything up)
PvE you’re there to juice up the casters with your aura so you’ll get a spot
The hybrid classes are nice in tbc each spec has an slot in a raid.
You won’t be topping charts but they aren’t as awful as they are in Classic.
Dude, with how overpowered Restoration druids are everywhere (except, arguably, dungeons) you will eventually reroll healer. Just believe me in this one. There were lots of hybrids everywhere tanking and DPSing during TBC but not druids. Every druid eventually rerolled healer when they figured out resto was good for everything.
A definite improvement over Classic, but still the lowest-performing of the three Druid specs. The glaring PVE weaknesses (“Oomkin”) are largely resolved by the talent tree changes, however. PVP play doesn’t really change too much, but Cyclone > Starfire helps significantly.
Boomkin don’t really ‘come into their own’ (in PVE and PVP) until WoTLK.
Just like in vanilla, you’re only there to buff other people. Moonkin Aura now provides 5% crit, and you also get Improved Faerie Fire which gives all the melee/hunters +3% hit chance.
The mana issues aren’t as bad, and you do some pretty okay DPS, but you’re still mostly there to buff other people.
isn’t that pretty much anyone who isn’t BM hunter/warlock
Moonkin is still just a PVE talent. It’s pretty much always been bad for pvp and always will be until much later expansions when class game design is replaced with spec game design, because it locks you out of too much of your kit without giving anything else in return except some armor and crit. Animal forms all give you some alternative abilities that can be important and helpful when used right. There is nothing in moonkin form you can’t do in caster form, so it’s never worth it for pvp over getting stuff like Natures Swiftness etc.
Restokin/rogue is a thing.
talked about this the other day with some friends, the hybrid specs have their utility buffed and become much more beneficial to the raid in tbc.
Your dps is OK, you won’t be competing with the pure dps classes but your utility makes your raid spot worth it.
that’s like playing havoc demon hunter in retail, geez
I don’t play retail so I can’t really comment on that :(.
Balance is decent. Solid spread multidot damage, IFF and IS, brez, heals, crit aura, best adaptability to swapping to heals in a pinch.
Back in BC, especially while Sunwell was out, I had a good buddy who specced out of the balance threat reduction, stacked armor and resilience, and used to tank dungeons as balance. Not half bad. Still had a taunt swapping to bear. Was fun.
i feel like in rerelease everything will be minmaxed out of the game. Like in classic
If I run anything as Druid in TBC it will be Feral, its gonna be strong
You can tank one of the ogres in gruuls lair as boomkin. I did it in tbc.
PvP - Not particularly. You have the same CC capabilities as a Resto, but you don’t really gain much in terms of DPS to burst anyone down. No instants, super long (read: easily kicked) casts, DoTs are easily dispelled, Moonkin Form is a pale imitation of Shadow Form, and your big 41pt talent is only mildly useful for spell push back.
PvE - They’re below the other casters, but they have an excellent place in a caster crew. 5% crit from Moonkin Form (party-wide) and 3% Hit from Improved Faerie Fire (raid-wide) are both fantastic DPS multipliers, and Starfire spamming still carries nice hefty throughput. Mana is a concern but it isn’t as bad as current and proper use of consumables alleviates this quite a bit. Treants are still lackluster but a free DPS CD is free DPS if you can make good use of it. They might be useful for cheesing some mechanics that can target pets, but they could also be a liability for the same reason, but otherwise you’re just a Starfire turret that makes all the DPS happier, notably fellow Mages and Warlocks.
Your best bet for Moonkin shenanigans is in PvE. Restoration simply dominates too hard, and Balance provides too little deep in the tree, to make it comparable in Arenas. BGs are always do-what-you-want so have fun.
The truth is that alot of the mechanisms supporting the extreme min maxing such as
unnormalized rage, ignoring crit cap for tanks, poor gear itemization for most casters (warlocks especially), and of course world buffs will negate alot of the “sweat.”
Aside from drums, BC is infinitely better and the more mechanical nature of encounters in PVE and real PVP advancement will fix alot in and of themselves.
The gold sellers and mat mafias will still not be policed but consumables will be comparatively weaker as well.
After a month or 2 my guess is that the dust will settle and things will be a lot more casual than they are now.