Mists of Pandaria: Druid Talent Review

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post... About 6 months as a matter of fact! Mixture of college work and Firelands appears to have gotten in the way of the simple process of me thinking up a topic and actually writing about it.

Ex Cineribus are now 6/7hc, so all we need now is a bit of gear to push p3 on hc Raggy asap, and we've worked out we can reasonably do at least 5/7hc in one evening, as well as having our raid leader chase a vole around his house for 15mins, while having a couple of oddly unsuccessful attempts on Domo that had wipes that shouldn't have happened. Oh well, we were tired I guess.

Onto the matter at hand, however! BlizzCon and come and gone, and I'm sure we've all had time to digest the fact that Pandas are coming, Blizzard are implementing a new class, pokemon battles, level 90 and of course, new talent "trees". The idea behind the new talent system is that in the entire game there will be 11 trees, one for each class - as opposed to the 30 we have now for ten classes. Specs will still be in the game, and there will be 34 different specs to choose from, with Druids splitting up into four separate specialisations - Balance, Feral, Guardian and Restoration - where you'll get new abilities every 10 levels or so that will be unique to that specialisation. Classes will of course have their core class abilities that any spec can have.

Like glyphs however, you can quickly change these talents on the fly while in the middle of the raid, so if one encounter requires one talent choice, but is useless in the next, all it takes is a quick switch and you're good to go. Personally, I think this is a good option to have and while many people are screaming that this dumbs the game down further, I think it just gives Blizzard more scope when designing encounters, and they don't have to force players to have two Resto specs because one fight requires single target healing, while others focus on AoE heals.

Now I know it's a little early to be speculating how abilities will work out, and I'm sure a lot of these will in fact change by the time even alpha comes out, let alone beta or even 5.0 live. But this is what I have to work with, and this is what I'm going to pick apart.

Here's what the Druid talent tree will look like as of BlizzCon:

As you can see, you get a new talent unlocked every 15 levels. Now, because Blizzard likes giving players, especially hybrids "choice" in their builds, you can only pick one of the three talents before carrying on. 5.0 is going to be fun before MoP actually ships, with Warriors having Bladestorm and Shockwave taken away from them until level 90. Ah, the QQ of arena-goers and tanks alike for the few weeks it'll be until they get those signature abilities back again. That is, unless Blizzard decide to change those end talents.

Level 15

The Mobility Tier!

Feline Swiftness
Increases your movement speed by 10% and by an additional 20% while in Cat Form.

Looking at the other two options, this looks like the clear winner for PvEers. Firstly because the speed increase is better than boot enchant speed increases, so you can focus on the more powerful stat boosts, and secondly because the other two at level 15 are 3min "oh-shit" buttons that aren't likely to be used, unless a feral decides he needs stealth mid-fight for Displacer Beast, or there's some rooting/snares going on for Tireless Pursuit.

Displacer Beast
Instant, 3 min cooldown
Teleports the Druid up to 20 yards in a random direction, purging all periodic damage effects and providing stealth for 10 sec. Attacking or taking damage cancels this effect. Using this ability activates Cat Form.

Useful PvP talent for not just ferals, but anyone needing an oh-shit button to get out of the crap quickly. I can see Resto and Balance PvPers taking this one, Ferals/Guardians PvP actually have a choice here between this and Tireless Pursuit, which could prove to be interesting, especially when going vs them in arena.

Tireless Pursuit
Instant, 3 min cooldown
Removes all roots and snares, and increases movement speed by 70% while in Cat Form for 15 sec. Does not break prowling. Using this ability activates Cat Form.

Very useful PvP talent again, similar to the last one. How it'll differ however is the obvious snare and root removal, and it'll allow you to chase down your target once they get away. Again it'll be interesting to go against Ferals in PvP, as they have two viable options.

Level 30

The Healing Tier!

Nature's Swiftness
Instant, 3 min cooldown
When activated, your next Cyclone, Entangling Roots, Healing Touch, Hibernate, Nourish, Rebirth, or Regrowth becomes instant, free, and castable in all forms. The healing and duration of the spell is increased by 50%.

Ok, think about this for a moment. Nature's Swiftness, available to all four specs. Not only that, but you no longer drop form when casting the above spells, instant cast, free, and more powerful.

One thing is for sure, as a Moonkin myself, not having to drop form to BR someone, then get back into form again can be a bit of a pain sometimes. This is also a godsend to Bears who've in the past either had to wait for a break in damage, or get the offtank to taunt while they BR someone then get back into combat.

Oh and for PvP, 50% extra duration on Cyclone? Oof, painful.

Renewal
Instant, 2 min cooldown
Instantly heals the Druid for 30% of maximum health. Useable in all shapeshift forms.

Druids get their own Desperate Prayer. Not a lot to say about this really. It's a pretty amazing talent for tanks to add an extra tanking cooldown, especially when used in conjunction with Frenzied Regen where your maximum health is increased further. For other specs, it's a solid PvP talent that can help healing out a bit, just like how Priests use it. PvE even has its uses as well for the other specs, when high raid damage has just hit. Can see top guilds pushing more Balance Druids into their progression kills again for not only the Tranq's, but also speccing into this for more survivability.

Cenarion Ward
7680 Mana, 40 yd range
Instant cast, 30 sec cooldown
Protects a friendly target, causing any damage taken to heal the target for 2660 every 2 sec for 6 sec. Gaining the healing effect consumes the Cenarion Ward. Useable in all shapeshift forms. Lasts 30 sec.

If this also includes yourself, and doesn't have to be cast on others, this is not too bad a grinding spell. Other than that, around 8k healing for 7680 mana doesn't seem particularly enthralling for any spec. Especially with the 30sec cooldown on the spell itself and the effect being consumed as soon as you are hit. Would be nice as a core ability that you could put on the tank pre-pull, but I wouldn't invest in this over Nature's Swiftness or Renewal in its current state.

Level 45

The Control Tier!

Faerie Swarm
Decreases the target's armor by 12% for 5 min and reduces the target's movement speed by 50% for 15 sec. While affected, the target cannot stealth or turn invisible. Deals 49 damage when cast from Bear Form. Useable in all shapeshift forms, but incurs a 6 sec cooldown while in Bear Form or Cat Form.
This talent replaces Faerie Fire.

Basically Faerie Fire + snare. Useful for small-scale PvP when you have physical DPS with you (or you are one yourself) and you want to chase down an opponent. Useful in BGs when chasing down the flag carrier. Not so useful in PvE, when Faerie Fire can do the same job, as bosses are usually immune to snares. Where it will come into it's own however is when mobs ARE susceptible to snares. As long as you're in caster, tree or moonkin form, you can spam it to your heart's content and shoot down fire from the moon, but even in bear or cat form you can keep a good kite going, especially if you chose to go for Feline Swiftness earlier in the tree you'll be joining the ranks of Elemental Shamans, Hunters and Mages in kings of kiting!

Mass Entanglement
4480 Mana, 30 yd range
2 sec cast, 1 min cooldown
Roots all enemies within 12 yards of the destination for 8 sec. Damage caused many interrupt the effect. Cannot be cast while in Bear Form or Cat Form.

It's quite an interesting talent, being able to root everything around you, one which I can see having quite an impact in PvP, especially if it ignores LoS. Balance Druids will also find this useful if they spec into this, Ursol's Vortex (explained later) and use Solar Beam to silence all casters 15yds around them, and root them in an easy-to-mushroom-explode spot. Don't forget however that this looks like it's a Druid's version of a Water Elemental's Freeze too, so you can cast it at a group of enemies at a distance.

As for PvE, again with the rest of the control tier, it depends on whether the mobs will be susceptible to rooting effects, let alone snares.

Typhoon
5120 Mana
Instant cast, 20 sec cooldown
Summons a violent Typhoon that strikes targets in front of the caster within 30 yards, knocking them back and dazing them for 6 sec. Useable in all shapeshift forms.

Like Nature's Swiftness, this is another toy that used to be deep into a spec, but is now available for all Druids to use, potentially. Anyone who's PvPed with me knows how much I like knockback abilities, and PvE has its uses, such as Beth'tilac, Rhyolith hc, and Raggy in current content.

Level 60

The Specialisation Tier!

Wild Charge
Grants a movement ability that varies by shapeshift form:
Example:

• Non-shapeshifted
  Fly to an ally's position and your next healing spell costs no mana.
• Bear Form
  Charge to an enemy, immobilizing them and granting you 30% haste.
• Moonkin Form
  Bound backward and gain 20 Lunar or Solar Energy, whichever is more beneficial to you.

Unlike the next talent, this one doesn't matter what specialisation you're in, so I hope to God that the bear form haste also includes spell haste, then I'll be a happy Boomer. In other news, Druids appear to have stolen from Warriors this time, and have picked up the ability to Intervene at an allied target, but instead of absorbing damage the Druid instead gets a free heal out of it. A new oh-shit button if you get knocked away from your partners in arena, for example, or if you're standing in crap and you want a quick getaway and then heal your sorry ass for standing in the wrong place. The Moonkin example appears to be a PvP orientated one, unless Wild Charge happens to have no cooldown, in which case I'll charge in bear form, switch to Moonkin and bounce back out again, with extra haste and just that little bit closer to the next eclipse. Not to mention on a fight like Raggy, we can fill in the spot for Magma Traps and have an improved form of Disengage at our disposal.

Incarnation
Instant, 3 min cooldown
Activates a superior shapeshifting form appropriate to your specialization for 30 sec:
Example:

• Feral: King of the Jungle

Improved Cat Form that allows the use of all abilities which normally require stealth, and allows use of Prowl while in combat.

• Restoration: Tree of Life

Tree of Life Form that increases armor by 120% and enhances Lifebloom, Wild Growth, Regrowth, Entangling Roots, and Wrath spellcasts.

Now I'm going to nit-pick at this. I see this as an overlook by Blizzard, or they simply wish to make this an optional talent, as opposed to a specialisation base ability, but this to me seems a bit... Iffy to me. The entire talent system Blizzard boasted about was that you could be awesome and be a Guardian bear tank and also have access to both Nature's Swiftness and Typhoon. Here, what they've done is make each specialisation have their own spells in the talents. I could be a Balance Druid who wanted to help out healing when needed on high-healing phases, but I don't get Tree of Life when I pick Incarnation, I get whatever it is Blizzard will end up giving Balance. As seen by the level 90 talents, Blizzard are attempting to get Druids to use more forms more often, and while it would be nice for Balance to get a DPS cooldown, I don't think this is the way. Maybe if Incarnation put a cooldown on all four improved forms at once, it'll be balanced, but personally I think it's stupid to have spec-specific abilities in the talents, why not just make it a core specialisation ability?

Force of Nature
40 yd range
Instant, 3 min cooldown
Summons 3 treants to assist in the Druid's current combat role. Treant capabilities vary by specialization. Usable in all shapeshift forms.

... "vary by specialisation" again? Another tier with another choice however, all three could be very desirable abilities that I'll wait for theorycrafters to find out where the top DPS is in. Then Blizzard will realise that choice here is not really choice. One simply does more DPS/healing/survivability than the other in one encounter, in another another talent may do more. We will have to wait and see.

Level 75

The Guardian Tree!

Demoralizing Roar
Instant 30 sec cooldown
The Druid roars, disorienting all enemies within 10 yards for 4 sec. Using this ability activates Bear Form.

Nice, short-cooldown defensive ability that could be used as QQ bait in PvP. Great for trash/add fights in PvE to give the Druid a few seconds of no incoming damage too. Demo Roar from live appears to be gone in MoP, along with Demo Shout (not sure about Scarlet Fever/Vindication though, or if the 10% damage reduction will be baked into baseline Druid/Warrior abilities).

Ursol's Vortex
Instant 30 sec cooldown
Conjure a vortex of wind that pulls all enemies within 15 yards toward your own location. Useable in all shapeshift forms.

The only ability in this tier that doesn't shift you into seeing a big butt in the middle of the screen, I vaguely went over this ability earlier when combining it with mass entanglement. Personally, I find this is a great talent if your tank (or you) are having trouble positioning adds. it's only 15yd, so it won't pull a great deal toward you, but hey, us Druids have to continue to steal other class abilities (DK's Gorefiend's Grasp), just as we have done since vanilla.

Just because it is the only ability that doesn't change you to bear doesn't mean it's the talent that Feral, Balance and Resto go for however, but I can see a fair few uses for this spell.

Bear Hug
Instant 1 min cooldown
Melee attack that stuns the target and deals 10% of the Druid's health in damage every 1 sec for 3 sec. Effect canceled if the Druid moves away, attacks, or takes any other action. Using this ability activates Bear Form.

I have to admit, I think we'll be seeing a name change on this as I couldn't take it seriously when I first saw the name by itself. One thing I can say however, is that it seems rather OP at the moment - Can see a few Ferals in PvP using a combo of Rake, Rip and Bear Hug on a healer to take out a large portion of their health - at current gear levels Bear Hug alone will take out around 40-50k health in just 3 seconds alone. Ouch.

Level 90

The Shapeshifting Tier!

Heart of the Wild
40 yd range
Instant, 6 min cooldown
Dramatically improves the Druid's ability to serve combat roles outside of normal specialization for 45 sec.
Example:

• Balance

Healing spells generate Lunar or Solar Energy and benefit from Lunar and Solar Eclipse. In addition, grants 50% of Intellect as Agility, 10% of hit rating as expertise rating, and increases armor by 95% while in Bear Form.

• Feral

Grants 50% of Agility as Intellect, increases hit rating by 100%, and increases armor by 95% while in Bear Form. In addition, regenerates 2% of maximum mana every 5 sec.

I have to admit, at first look this entire tier kind of scared me a little - why the hell would I want to do a role outside of my own when I've specced the way I am? If I choose to be a Moonkin, I want to pew pew with lasers, not be a fat bear or be a healer-tree! Then I realised that this spell was on a 6min cooldown, so likely a once-an-encounter ability to step in for a moment and take a fallen ally's role while they get ressed, buffed and ready to start fighting again. The ability only lasts 45secs, and of course you don't get full benefit of being in that secondary role. Heavy raid damage and you're in Lunar Eclipse? Super-Tranq! Not in eclipse but need to heal anyway? You won't be put out of your Nature's Grace for long now, as your healing spells will help you into eclipse! Tank died? Pop HotW, Bear Form, Taunt, Nature's Swiftness, Rebirth tank, you're the saviour!

It's a really cool ability that I personally am excited for.

Master Shapeshifter
Improves the Druid's effectiveness at briefly switching between forms. Your melee abilities increase your spell damage by 10% and your non-instant spellcasts increase your attack power by 10%. Both effects stack up to 3 times and last 15 sec. each ability used which benefits from one of these effects consumes one application of that effect.

Another ability that I was wondering why it was a level 90 ability at first. And to be fair, even after coming up with ways that it could be useful I was still struggling to justify it to be comparable to HotW and Disentanglement. Guardian Druids may find the most use out of it when they're not actively tanking the boss, and even then it's not that great to lose the Vengeance buff for it. Might be nice as an opener to get a headstart on threat, but... Nah.

If they made it so that instant cast spells are also included, then it could open up to a very nice AoE rotation for both Feral and Balance - swipe, swipe, swipe, mushroom explode (each mushrooms counts as a separate spell for things like the legendary, second boss in Grim Batol, etc), swipe, swipe, swipe, mushroom explode, etc.

As it stands, I doubt many would take this, unless it really opened up the hybridisation between Cat and Caster.

Disentanglement
Shapeshifting now removes roots. In addition, shifting into a form heals the Druid for 20% of maximum health. This heal cannot be received more often than once every 30 sec.

Powershifting is back! And seemingly with a vengeance too. Guardian Druids appear to be the new Blood Death Knights, with the ability to not only heal themselves for 30% of their health, but they can also remove roots and heal another 20% at the same time! As a sidenote again - best used while under Frenzies Regen, but obviously this is going to be harder to time in PvP when you might need the root escape.

And of course, for the other specs this is also a very desirable talent to aid healing and keeping out of crap.

--------------

All in all, this looks like it could be a very interesting expansion as a whole for all Druids, but I wouldn't hold my breath for all of these to be the same when it gets to this time next year. One thing's for sure though, next expansion we'll likely see another shake-up in the talents - one new talent every 15 levels is all nice and well when there's 90 levels in the game, but next expansion would have to add another 15 levels to cap it off, or another 30 levels for two tiers and have a nice round level 120 to farm for... Either that or they'll just have level 100 talents and start going up in 10's or something. All I know is another 5 levels in the expansion after MoP likely won't work with this setup.