Other than other Balance Druids (but even them sometimes O.o), I actually think you will find nothing but gaslighting and hate for the spec (and in general, let’s be honest!) on the forums, for reasons I can’t see aligning with any form of rational thinking. Neither was I able to elicit in my various interactions more than “NPC” responses, and have yet to encounter rational argumentation for or understand of why certain aspects of a spec deserve a buff or a nerf.
There is absolutely zero awareness of ‘archetype’ “theory” these days, (classic rules of thumb e.g. armor type durability, mobility vs durability etc.), I’d argue – on BOTH sides of the game client! I think this has been the case progressively since WoD’s initial pruning, and subsequent re-prunings being done in a rush, without proper communication and development cycles given adequate time (let alone, little to no attention given to PvP considerations…)
I think it’s totally fair to argue that Balance Druid is, in-fact, at the most BASIC level of the very design of the class and the spec itself, by now – MASSIVELY outdated. I think even saying it’s broken (in a bad way) is not wrong.
Let us simply observe the frequency of buffs, the amount of polish, both in terms of core design but even also “crisp” – visuals, ability interactions, meaningful encounter mechanics, that specs are getting across the board. Boomy takes longer to rotate, and has the hardest time surviving even against mobs, NPCs in the outer world, than any spec I’ve tried or observed for any considerable period of time. We are SO slow to deal damage, it incredibly difficult to recover now, and it can just be either boring or tedious to play, depending merely on the length and type of the encounter (again, due to the ramp-up and lock-in of the post-BfA Eclipse mechanic). In PvP, as well, I find that we simply take more GCDs to do things, often not as effectively – as other specs can (the latter makes sense for our Type, but the former clause has no justification for being the case. We should not take several GCDs only to be able to thwart enemies for 3 seconds).
I think the time is ripe to ask – WHY has Balance Druid not received due revision, and what exactly is the outlook?
I suspect the answer is exactly as posited above: that there is not one or two people having exclusively and actively worked with the class and the spec with various types and levels of content experience, who have a vision of what historically and innovatively would make it engaging and relevant to play. I think this has been the case for a few years.
#SavetheLazerChickens! #BalanceDruidNeedsBalancing #BalanceBalanceDruid #ReworkBalanceDruid #RevampBalanceDruid #BringBackBoomkinEmpowerments #EclipseisOutdated #BuffBoomkin