style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It
is patch time once again in the World
of Warcraft. Many changes loom
on
the horizon, bringing with them the winds of change. As I have said
before, no
one dislikes change more than MMO players. The degree and number of
changes
being introduced in this patch is certainly not the longest or most
drastic
that we have seen but there are a number of key elements that
“bear”
discussion.

style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Here
is a complete list of the
changes to the druid class so far, I will highlight and discuss the
more
pertinent ones following the list.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Flight
  Form: Can now be learned at level 60. Flight speed increased to 150%.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Innervate:
  Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. This
  means each use of Innervate will give half as much mana as before, but
  it will be available twice as often.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lifebloom:
  The final heal that occurs when this spell blooms has been reduced by
  20% on the base and on the spell power coefficient.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mangle:
  Ranks 4 and 5 base points reduced by about 11%. Scaling from attack
  power unchanged.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Rake:
  Ranks 6 and 7 base points on initial and periodic damage reduced by
  about 7%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Rip:
  Ranks 8 and 9 base points and points per combo point reduced by about
  6%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Savage
  Defense: The animation for gaining this buff will no longer make the
  bear stand upright

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Shred:
  Ranks 8 and 9 base points reduced by about 10%. Scaling from attack
  power unchanged.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Swipe
  (Cat): Percent of weapon damage done reduced from 260% to 250%.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Travel
  Form: Can now be learned at level 16.

• style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Talents
  • style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> style="font-weight: bold;">Balance
    type="square">
    
  • style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Balance
    of Power: Now reduces all spell damage taken by 3/6%, rather than
    reducing the chance to be hit by spells by 2/4%.

  • style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eclipse:
    The Starfire and Wrath buffs from this talent are now on separate
    30-second cooldowns. In addition, it is not possible to have both buffs
    active simultaneously.

  • style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Owlkin
    Frenzy: Now also restores 2% base mana every 2 seconds for the duration
    (10 seconds) in addition to its current effects.

  • style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Restoration
    • style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Empowered
      Touch: Now also increases the amount of bonus healing effects for
      Nourish by 10/20%.

    • style="line-height: normal;"> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Improved
      Barkskin: No longer provides dispel resistance to all effects on the
      druid, but now reduces the chance your Barkskin is dispelled by an
      additional
      style="font-style: italic;">35/70%.

style="line-height: normal;"> style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Balance
Changes –

style="line-height: normal;"> style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eclipse:
The Starfire and Wrath
buffs from this talent are now on separate 30-second cooldowns. In
addition, it
is not possible to have both buffs active simultaneously style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">.
– style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A
pretty substantial nerf for balance druids who actively
stacked their rotations around these proc buffs.

style="line-height: normal;"> style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Owlkin
Frenzy: Now also restores 2%
base mana every 2 seconds for the duration (10 seconds) in addition to
its
current effects – style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A
nice addition
for soloing Boomkins and PvP, still very limited usefulness in PvE
raiding. style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">

style="line-height: normal;"> style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">

 

style="line-height: normal;"> style=""> style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Feral
Changes –

style="">Mangle:
Ranks 4 and 5 base points reduced by
about 11%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.

style="">Rake:
Ranks 6 and 7 base points on initial
and periodic damage reduced by about 7%. Scaling from attack power
unchanged.

style="">Rip:
Ranks 8 and 9 base points and points
per combo point reduced by about 6%. Scaling from attack power
unchanged.

style="">Shred:
Ranks 8 and 9 base points reduced by
about 10%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.

style="">Swipe
(Cat): Percent of weapon damage done
reduced from 260% to 250%.

 

Read
this as: Your base DPS was too high, incoming nerf
bat. Overall the reductions are pretty nominal and the bonus from
attack power
was left untouched. 
This may encourage
us to gem and enchant a little bit differently as it will focus more on
total
attack power.

 

style="">Restoration
Changes –

style="">

  

Innervate:
Duration reduced to 10 seconds,
and cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. This means each use of Innervate
will give
half as much mana as before, but it will be available twice as often.
–
This could just as easily be seen as a nerf to all specs but I chose to
address
it with restoration as this talent is all about mana restoration. style="">  This
is purely a timing and play style
change. 
Instead of popping this
ability
when you’re nearly OOM you will need to gauge your total mana
usage and use it closer
to 35-40% remaining. I actually prefer this style since I noticed that
many
times I would use innervate on myself and top off completely before the
buff
expired or a friendly shaman would pop mana tide around the same time.
This
change may also facilitate our ability to give innervate to other
spirit based
casters more often and efficiently on those fights where we
don’t push our own
mana usage so hard.

 

style="">Empowered
Touch: Now also increases the
amount of bonus healing effects for Nourish by 10/20%.

This
change gives value to a previously worthless talent
for end game raiding druids. With advanced spell haste rates and other
changes
to nourish as well as glyphs, this becomes a very viable talent. I
found myself
removing two points from Nature’s Grace to free up the extra
points in my
build. 
I will advise on how this
works
out for me on PTR testing.

style="font-weight: normal;">[protip]Stacking haste
rating will not only make your Nourish spell among the fastest and most
effective single target heals in the game but will also signifiganlty
lower your Global Cooldown![/protip]

 

Overall the current changes being seen in 3.2 PTR are
pretty balanced and minimal. The Druid still continues its reign as the
most
complete hybrid class and definitely the most powerful. Be on the
lookout for
further developments as well as any late breaking changes as they
happen. Until
next week, be safe and have fun in Azeroth!