WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Shifting Perspectives: Honey cat don't give a ...http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/shifting-perspectives-honey-cat-dont-give-a/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/shifting-perspectives-honey-cat-dont-give-a/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/shifting-perspectives-honey-cat-dont-give-a/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we gem +10 in awesome.

With apologies to Isaiah Mustafa ...

Take a look at your cat. Now look at me. Now back at your cat. Now back at me. Sadly, your cat isn't me, but if you stopped playing that silly rogue and switched to feral, you could have a cat that looked like me. Look down, back up -- where are you? You're on a boat with an armored cat, the cat your cat could look like. What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it -- it's a clam with patch notes declaring ferals to be epic. Look again; the notes are now the tears of all the classes who wish they could look like me. Anything is possible when you roll feral. Forget horses; I'm a stag.


Yes, I was tempted to end the column right there --but we've got so much good stuff to talk about.

Armored cats

A few weeks ago, Ghostcrawler mentioned that Incarnation would have specific art for cats, bears, and moonkin; in the latest patch, a datamined model showed us what is likely the first example of that. At first, I wasn't too sure about the idea of putting armor on a feral form, but it's really grown on me over the last couple of days. It's obviously difficult to do cosmetic effects for a class that revolves around shapeshifting, but I'm grateful that Blizzard's continuing to add something for forms. I can't wait to see the bear and moonkin armor. (Do moonkin even need armor?)

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Honey cat don't give a ...

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: Honey cat don't give a ... originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 13 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balancebalance-druidbalance-druid-shifting-perspectivescat-armorcat-artdisentanglementdream-of-cenariusdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferalferal-armorferal-dps-druid-shifting-perspectivesferal-druidferal-formsguide-to-druidsheart-of-the-wildnatures-vigilwow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 13 May 2012 20:00:00 ESTMists of Pandaria Beta: Incarnation druid cat forms appearhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-incarnation-druid-cat-forms-appear/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-incarnation-druid-cat-forms-appear/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-incarnation-druid-cat-forms-appear/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Wowhead has datamined some pretty cool new models, which are apparently new druid cat form models coming in for the new druid talent Incarnation. Even though they're not a whole new model, they look slick, and I cannot imagine Blizzard won't have something more to say about them soon, now that we've seen them. Ghostcrawler said that new forms are coming for Incarnation, and this might be the first salvo of models for druids.

Personally, I hope the new forms are a subtle hint at a Blizzard reversal in its reluctance to add in some class-specific content again. While doing something cool for every class is a daunting process and the required resources are extensive, it's been shown that players react favorably to that type of content. In the meantime, check out the epic cat forms for worgen, night elves, tauren, and trolls over at Wowhead.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria Beta: Incarnation druid cat forms appear originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>cat-formdruidepic-druid-formmistsmopnew-cat-formnew-formsnight-elf-druidpandariatauren-druidtroll-druidworgen-druidwowheadMathew McCurleyThu, 10 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTLevel 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots againhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday was supposed to be an "off" week for the column, but screw that.

You know what? I think I finally nailed why the druid experience on the Mists of Pandaria beta has felt so bizarre at times. We've seen the re-emergence of stuff we used to take for granted (shifting out of roots and the return of permatree among them), and you know what it all reminds me of? Someone once described the boot camp experience as one in which "all of your God-given rights are stripped, only to be doled back later, one by one, as privileges." Yep. That's what this is like.

Anyway, Ghostcrawler hit the forums last night to give us some news on a revamped set of level 90 druid talents that have completely altered the ratio of win to suck in the bracket.

Continue reading Level 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots again

WoW InsiderLevel 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots again originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>disentanglementdream-of-cenariusdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-tanking-druid-shifting-perspectivesghostcrawlerguide-to-druidsheart-of-the-wildincarnationmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betaMists-of-pandaria-druidmists-of-pandaria-druid-glyphsmists-of-pandaria-druid-talentsmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsnatures-vigilrestoration-druid-shifting-perspectivestranquilitytree-of-lifewow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 08 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: An easier rotation for balance druids in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/06/shifting-perspectives-an-easier-rotation-for-balance-druids-in/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/06/shifting-perspectives-an-easier-rotation-for-balance-druids-in/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/06/shifting-perspectives-an-easier-rotation-for-balance-druids-in/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we teach our treants how to charge their lasers.

Last week, we covered the issues that moonkin were having in Cataclysm. Happily, I'm able to say that the new design for Mists of Pandaria has corrected many of the glaring issues that I identified. While numbers remain fluid, of course, there's been some large quality-of-life fixes that have made moonkin much easier to play for the newcomer. I'm afraid, however, that somethings still remain that could use a tweak.

A simplified rotation

DoT abilities reworked First, while the mechanic of Moonfire becoming Sunfire while in a Solar Eclipse remains, both spells now have separate timers and no longer overwrite each other. This means that you can cast a Moonfire before entering Solar Eclipse, then cast Sunfire (with the same button, yay) and have two DoTs ticking for damage on the target.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: An easier rotation for balance druids in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: An easier rotation for balance druids in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 06 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balance-druid-shifting-perspectivescelestial-alignmentdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentseclipsefeaturedforce-of-natureguide-to-druidsincarnationinsect-swarmmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betasoul-of-the-forestwow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 06 May 2012 20:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: The return of Permatree and other badass glyphshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/shifting-perspectives-the-return-of-permatree-and-other-badass/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/shifting-perspectives-the-return-of-permatree-and-other-badass/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/shifting-perspectives-the-return-of-permatree-and-other-badass/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, our friends keep mounting us and -- for whatever reason -- we encourage it.

I'm currently prepping a column on the bear experience on the beta, but seeing as to how so much of the recent experience consists of disconnecting, lagging my way to parts unknown, launch problems, and finding colorful new language with which to greet these events, let's put that on the back burner for now.

One of the things that was instantly obvious about the new set of Mists of Pandaria druid glyphs is that a lot of them are, for lack of a better term, really, really fun. One lets us confuse people endlessly about our actual spec. Another lets us be mounted by friends and groupmates for totally platonic purposes. I hope.

Now, these are by no means all of the new glyphs available on the beta right now, but with so many class abilities being retuned and changed, it's tough to evaluate how most of the major glyphs stack up. However, even a few of the major glyphs are things that'll pretty obviously have a positive impact on how you experience a spec, so I've included the ones that really pop out here.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: The return of Permatree and other badass glyphs

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: The return of Permatree and other badass glyphs originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-tanking-druid-shifting-perspectivesglyph-of-fae-silenceglyph-of-lifebloomglyph-of-master-shapeshifterglyph-of-the-chameleonglyph-of-the-stagglyph-of-the-treantguide-to-druidsmists-of-pandaria-betaMists-of-pandaria-druidmists-of-pandaria-druid-glyphsmists-of-pandaria-druid-talentsrestoration-druid-shifting-perspectivestravel-formtree-formtree-of-life-formwow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 01 May 2012 15:00:00 ESTThe Heart of the Wild controversy: Should players be allowed to change specs in combat?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/the-heart-of-the-wild-controversy-should-players-be-allowed-to/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/the-heart-of-the-wild-controversy-should-players-be-allowed-to/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/the-heart-of-the-wild-controversy-should-players-be-allowed-to/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
In a recent Mists of Pandaria beta build, the tooltip for one of the currently inaccessible druid talents, Heart of the Wild, was significantly rewritten and updated. The full tooltip is long, but the key assumption is that every six minutes, a druid of any spec can click a button and automatically be able change to another combat role for 45 seconds, with little drop-off in effectiveness. Restoration druids can start dealing damage, DPSers of either persuasion can throw around some heals or tank an add, and guardian tanks can even spread around a few HoTs without having to leave Bear Form and turn into paste. That's the theory, anyway.

As you can imagine, this idea generated some heated debate in the druid blogger community. The noted Lissanna of Restokin called it "(likely) the the least used talent out of any talent tree in the history of the game" Murmurs also agreed, saying "HotW has a pure functionality problem. It can never truly fulfill the position that it is attempting to grasp."

In opposition, Tangedyn, the co-creator of the Mew feral druid simulator and frequent contributor to The Inconspicuous Bear, wrote "... there's no reason to deny druids that want the versatility the capability to perform to their best of their abilities."

So who's right? Well, let's take a closer look at both sides of the argument, since this debate brings up several important issues to any WoW raider.

Continue reading The Heart of the Wild controversy: Should players be allowed to change specs in combat?

WoW InsiderThe Heart of the Wild controversy: Should players be allowed to change specs in combat? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 01 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>bearcatdruiddual-specheart-of-the-wildhybridhybridizationraid-stackingspecspecializationspecialization-systemutilityChase HasbrouckTue, 01 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: 5 moonkin issues that need fixinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/29/shifting-perspectives-5-moonkin-issues-that-need-fixing/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/29/shifting-perspectives-5-moonkin-issues-that-need-fixing/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/29/shifting-perspectives-5-moonkin-issues-that-need-fixing/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we go fast and furry.

Well, it's happened again. Once more, I intended for this week to be a first look at balance druids in Mists of Pandaria, but as I wrote the article, I felt that much of it was lacking the proper context. Since we haven't had a moonkin post around here in some time, I'd like to step back briefly and discuss some of the issues with the specialization that were identified going into the new expansion. Next week, we'll discuss the changes Blizzard is implementing on the beta and how they fix (or don't fix!) the issues I've described here.

Overpowered AoE/multitarget rotation For the majority of the expansion, balance druids were one of the best AoE DPS classes in the game. This was due largely to two factors, the relative strength of the moonkin DoT abilities plus Wild Mushroom and the ability to remain in a Solar Eclipse nearly indefinitely during AoE phases to buff those two abilities (aka solarcleave). Even for non-AoE fights, it was still very easy for moonkin to supplement their damage on their primary target with DoTs on a secondary target. Heroic Morchok and Warmaster Blackhorn are excellent examples of this for this tier.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: 5 moonkin issues that need fixing

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: 5 moonkin issues that need fixing originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balance-druidbalance-druid-shifting-perspectivesdruiddruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentseclipsefeaturedguide-to-druidslunar-showermoonkinwild-mushroomwow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 29 Apr 2012 18:00:00 ESTGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock declinehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Image
The folks at GuildOx have gone through their database and done some simple filtering that reveals some fascinating things about who is raiding heroic Dragon Soul. GuildOx started with level 85 characters, filtered for characters with ilevel 400 gear, and then filtered out anyone with PvP gear. What you see in the chart above is the result of that work -- a representative sample of who out of the over 13 million level 85 characters in the GuildOx database is raiding heroic Dragon Soul.

If you remember the post about the complexity of systems and player retention that I made a couple of weeks back, you'll remember that I mentioned Cynwise's excellent posts about the warlock decline. Well, here it is again reflected in GuildOx's data. Warlocks are the least played class in heroic raiding.

Warriors aren't doing much better, really. Most other classes seem fairly healthy, with classes that have healing specs doing fairly well and rogues absolutely ruling heroic raiding despite being one of the least-played classes in the game overall. It gets even more interesting once we get to look at the GuildOx spec-by-spec breakdown.

Continue reading GuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline

WoW InsiderGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>ClassClass-RepresentationClassesDeath-KnightDragon-SoulDruidGuildoxHeroic-Dragon-SoulHunterMagePaladinPriestRaidingRogueShamanWarlockWarriorMatthew RossiFri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: Another look at what Symbiosis means for druidshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/shifting-perspectives-another-look-at-what-symbiosis-means-for/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/shifting-perspectives-another-look-at-what-symbiosis-means-for/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/shifting-perspectives-another-look-at-what-symbiosis-means-for/#commentsFiled under: ,


Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we disagree with the world while glorying in the real-life beauty of symbiosis.

So my plan for this week's column was to talk about how balance currently looks in the beta (short version: pretty good), but judging by a quick scan through the beta forums, that's not what druids want to talk about. It's Symbiosis, all the way down ... and judging by the discussion, most people don't like what they're seeing. Allison's already written about it once before, but the topic's grown enough to where it deserves another treatment. (My blog contains a full breakdown of what each class currently gets and receives from the ability, along with more in-depth recommendations and strategy.)

I'll be blunt: I still love the unique concept of Symbiosis, and I think most of the criticism is shortsighted. I do have quibbles about some of the specific abilities. Overall, though, I think that the concept works and will provide access to some entertaining abilities we haven't had previously.

To be fair, however, let's look at some of the more common arguments against Symbiosis and attempt to deconstruct them. One important thing to note: Many of the abilities gained/given from Symbiosis are modified from their original forms, so read tooltips carefully (and realize that many are not updated). The Symbiosis version of Mirror Image, for example, is much weaker than the version used by mages.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Another look at what Symbiosis means for druids

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: Another look at what Symbiosis means for druids originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balance-druidbalance-druid-shifting-perspectivesdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-dps-druid-shifting-perspectivesferal-druidguide-to-druidsshifting-perspectivesSymbiosiswow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 22 Apr 2012 18:00:00 ESTThe alt deficiencyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Image
Do alts even count as alts when half of them are the same class as your main and the other half are rarely played?

I have a troubling relationship with the concept of playing an alt. First off, I don't really get alts. I know people who have four or six or even eight level 85 characters, geared and kitted out for raiding or Arena/RBG play. One woman I know has completely filled up two servers with level 85 characters (full character window, a server she plays Horde on and a server she plays Alliance on) that can at least run a random Hour of Twilight heroic. I accept that this exists, but I can't imagine doing it.

See, I'm middling at best about my achievements in game, but there are things I've done that you can't do anymore. I mean, every time I ran the 5-man Zul'Gurub, I kept thinking about how I'm a hero of the Zandalar tribe. Shouldn't they at least try and talk me out of killing them? Shouldn't I at least have the option to say, "Hey, guys, it's me, can we chill out on this?" and then we could express our sorrow at having to come to blows?

I can't do that on an alt. Well, OK, I can do it on the other two warriors who are also heroes of the Zandalar tribe, but you get my point. An alt's not going to have all those titles I barely realized I was earning, or my Mimiron's Head, or a Sulfuras in the bank laughing at me every time I got to the trasmogrification ethereal and get a hit of sweet, sweet gear changery.

Continue reading The alt deficiency

WoW InsiderThe alt deficiency originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>achievementsAltschangeslevelingmainTransmogMatthew RossiWed, 18 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTRaid Rx: An overview of druids in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/raid-rx-an-overview-of-druids-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/raid-rx-an-overview-of-druids-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/raid-rx-an-overview-of-druids-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading, the Matticast.

Last week, we covered some of the more notable monk abilities along with the expected playstyle. Recently, the level cap on beta has been raised to level 87, allowing every class access to their new level 87 spell. Much of the talk this week on the major sites and blogs is about Symbiosis. We touched on it several times, but now we get to take a closer look at it in further detail.

Continue reading Raid Rx: An overview of druids in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderRaid Rx: An overview of druids in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>classclass-changesfeaturedguidehealinghealing-guidehow-to-healmists-of-pandariaraid-guideraid-healingraiding-guiderestorestorationspellstalentswow-guidewow-healingwow-raid-guidewow-raid-healingMatt LowWed, 18 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: I am starting to hate resto druidshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/shifting-perspectives-i-am-starting-to-hate-resto-druids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/shifting-perspectives-i-am-starting-to-hate-resto-druids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/shifting-perspectives-i-am-starting-to-hate-resto-druids/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, one of our specs appears to be faring better than others. Much, much better.

Certain people have it made. For example, a relative of mine phoned the other night to let us know that she's thinking about buying a beach property in Costa Rica and that in order to supplement her six-figure commodity broker's salary, she'll probably rent it out whenever she isn't there to surf and drink mojitos herself. "Gotta go," she said. "I think the Mercedes dealership is trying to call me back."

Now, this is a fairly soul-destroying thing to hear, and not just because you had to interrupt a shouting match with your family over getting a real job in order to go look up Costa Rica on a map. But let's be fair: Nobody gets that lucky by accident. Does it involve hard work? Yep. But it also involves the ability to zero in on a path in life that pays out like a broken slot machine, and then tireless effort to keep your boxcar hitched to the gravy train. Let's not blame the folks who are simply more astute than we are at picking one of life's better roads.

After a little more than a week in the Mists of Pandaria beta, something has become horribly obvious: If this relative ever picked up WoW, she'd be playing a resto druid.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: I am starting to hate resto druids

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: I am starting to hate resto druids originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedguide-to-druidsmists-of-pandaria-betamop-betamop-beta-resto-druidmop-beta-restoration-druidmop-beta-testingresto-druidresto-druid-mists-of-pandaria-betarestoration-druidrestoration-druid-mists-of-pandaria-betarestoration-druid-shifting-perspectivesSymbiosiswow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 17 Apr 2012 20:10:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: First thoughts on ferals in the Mists of Pandaria betahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/shifting-perspectives-first-thoughts-on-ferals-in-the-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/shifting-perspectives-first-thoughts-on-ferals-in-the-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/shifting-perspectives-first-thoughts-on-ferals-in-the-mists-of/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we practice our looks of genteel disdain.

So, I've been down for a few weeks (pro tip: try not to have an allergy attack and a scratched cornea in the same week; they do not mix well), but I finally got into the beta with last week's big push of Annual Pass members. Unfortunately, now that I've had the chance to give the initial feral changes a spin, I'm a bit concerned with the current design direction for the class. Let me start out on a positive note, though, and talk about the good things that Mists is bringing us.

What I like

The new talents Some of the new talents are great and force tough decisions. The talent design is clearly trying to make you choose between always-on but weak passive abilities, a short-cooldown ability of moderate strength, and a long-cooldown ability of high strength. While some of the talents and tiers need some adjustment, they generally work on a design level.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: First thoughts on ferals in the Mists of Pandaria beta

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: First thoughts on ferals in the Mists of Pandaria beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferalferal-dpsferal-dps-druid-shifting-perspectivesferal-dps-in-mists-of-pandariaferal-druidguide-to-druidsmists-of-pandaria-betawow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 15 Apr 2012 18:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: The joy of panichttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/shifting-perspectives-the-joy-of-panic/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/shifting-perspectives-the-joy-of-panic/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/shifting-perspectives-the-joy-of-panic/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, it can happen to you.

Back during The Burning Crusade, I knew an extremely disgruntled warrior tank (not Matthew Rossi) who was generally mad at the world about everything (again, not Rossi) and considered the universe to be implacably biased against his good self (may I repeat, not Rossi). While summoning raid members to Tempest Keep one evening, we were having a nice chat, by which I mean grousing about the hassle of tanking Al'ar in the age of the missable taunt.

"&%*," he said. "Bears have it so easy. I have to &%($*% macro Shield Block to every $#$(%* ability in my &%()#@ action bar so I don't get ^%$(#( crushed. Not like you. You just sit there and ^%*#%( live through everything."

"I'm sorry," I said, although I wasn't really. I envied warriors for many reasons, but Shield Block spam was not among them, and I was privately glad that despite the bear's many issues, I didn't have to keep hammering one button every few seconds just to stay alive.

(Beta players are already reaching for the Valium. They know where this is going.)

I'm not yet in the Mists of Pandaria beta, but while reading through the news emerging from the servers, I had to spare a thought for my Angry Warrior Tank friend of yesteryear and how &%#(%* pleased he'd be to hear that we now know his #$^@%# pain.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: The joy of panic

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: The joy of panic originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>active-mitigationbear-tankbear-tankingbear-tanking-in-mists-of-pandariadruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-tanking-druid-shifting-perspectivesguardian-druidguardian-druid-shifting-perspectivesguardian-druid-talentsguide-to-druidsmists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-guardian-druidmop-guardian-druidsymbiosiswow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 03 Apr 2012 14:00:00 ESTRaid Rx: Mists of Pandaria healing changeshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/raid-rx-mists-of-pandaria-healing-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/raid-rx-mists-of-pandaria-healing-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/raid-rx-mists-of-pandaria-healing-changes/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests. Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading, the Matticast.

You'll notice that there are a ton of new glyphs that have been added for all the classes. That list is by no means exhaustive. I also noticed some slight changes in the way certain spells work. I can assure you it won't be anything too drastic, but these changes are enough to keep you interested and wondering. This week, I'll be rounding up what we know healers will be getting, as well as any other notable modifications.

New for druids

Cenarion Ward appears to be a Prayer of Mending-like spell without the subsequent charges. Good spell to open with before an engagement. Won't have to pre-HoT as much. Just remember to pre-Ward.

Wild Mushroom: Bloom! Hope you love 'shrooms, since you'll be gaining the use of these in addition to your Balance friends. Anticipate a moment where big AoE healing is needed, and plant 'shrooms. Detonate after raid group takes a hit, and relish in the healing spores that explode.

Regrowth can be glyphed to remove the HoT component. Benefit? 40% increased chance of a critical heal. I guess you can configure a HoT-based class to switch to a non-HoT direction.

Continue reading Raid Rx: Mists of Pandaria healing changes

WoW InsiderRaid Rx: Mists of Pandaria healing changes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>disciplinedruidfeaturedglyphsguidehealinghealing-guideholyhow-to-heallightwellmists-of-pandariamonkpaladinpriestraid-guideraid-healingraiding-guiderestshamanwow-guidewow-healingwow-raid-guidewow-raid-healingMatt LowMon, 26 Mar 2012 13:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: Mega moonkin, fabu ferals, and Symbiosis specshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/25/shifting-perspectives-mega-moonkin-fabu-ferals-and-symbiosis/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/25/shifting-perspectives-mega-moonkin-fabu-ferals-and-symbiosis/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/25/shifting-perspectives-mega-moonkin-fabu-ferals-and-symbiosis/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our DPS edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. This week, we discuss how fast to deny hunters Symbiosis in exchange for all those taming attempts.

This is apropos of nothing, but I love how the current Incarnation effect for balance druids simply makes them huge. (For comparison, here's the before image, and thanks to Lissanna at Restokin for the screenshots.) This totally reminds me of the first time I got a Mega Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros, actually. "Yes, I'm just going to walk through everything in the level; maybe I'll pick my teeth with the flagpole."

Sadly, this effect isn't going to make it to live. Happily, though, we've got plenty of other stuff to talk about this week, such as several new glyphs and a mostly complete reveal of Symbiosis.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Mega moonkin, fabu ferals, and Symbiosis specs

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: Mega moonkin, fabu ferals, and Symbiosis specs originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balancebalance-druidbalance-druid-shifting-perspectivesdruid-glyphsdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferalferal-dps-druid-shifting-perspectivesferal-druidglyphsguide-to-druidsmists-of-pandariaSymbiosiswow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsChase HasbrouckSun, 25 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTShifting Perspectives: This month in WoW druid historyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/shifting-perspectives-this-month-in-wow-druid-history/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/shifting-perspectives-this-month-in-wow-druid-history/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/shifting-perspectives-this-month-in-wow-druid-history/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, those who do not learn from history will be entirely unaffected by it.

My four-year anniversary on WoW Insider came and passed in February without my realizing it at the time, but that's OK. A fourth anniversary is kind of a weird one to single out for special attention, so I think I'll leave any back-patting or celebratory champagne until next year ... assuming the editors still haven't canned me by then.

But the anniversary did poke me into trawling through old team email lines and reading my older articles on the site. (That's how much I love you guys: I read my stuff so you don't have to.) I started kicking around the idea of doing a March 2008 through March 2012 retrospective. March 2008 and March 2009 (my first and second years on the site, respectively) jumped out as being especially compelling months for druid players, with a lot of issues being discussed that wound up being pivotal to the class' development. But March 2010 and 2011 weren't quite as interesting, although it would probably be more accurate to say that they were interesting in ways that weren't very class-specific.

Since we haven't gotten any major class news from the recent Mists of Pandaria press event (although you'll probably want to see the five new druid glyphs), I thought we'd buck the dominant trend this week and spend some time in the past rather than trying to get a handle on the future. Predicting the future is a difficult business that is best left to people who charge $5.99/minute over telephone hotlines.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: This month in WoW druid history

WoW InsiderShifting Perspectives: This month in WoW druid history originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-tanking-druid-shifting-perspectivesguide-to-druidsrestoration-druid-shifting-perspectiveswow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertWed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 ESTMists of Pandaria: Cool class stuff we foundhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/mists-of-pandaria-cool-class-stuff-we-found/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/mists-of-pandaria-cool-class-stuff-we-found/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/mists-of-pandaria-cool-class-stuff-we-found/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

We've been watching the systems team design the new talent system for a few months now, with intermittent updates to the talent calculator and ability distribution. BlizzCon 2011 showed us what was in store for certain classes, like the new resource systems for warlocks, no melee weapons for hunters, poison changes for rogues, and more.

At the press event last week, I got to play around with a few classes during my time on the demo computer -- not all of them, certainly, but enough that I have a few fun or interesting things to report that wouldn't really fit elsewhere. Let's take a look!

Continue reading Mists of Pandaria: Cool class stuff we found

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria: Cool class stuff we found originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>Michael SaccoMon, 19 Mar 2012 03:02:00 ESTTroll druids at the end of Cataclysmhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/troll-druids-at-the-end-of-cataclysm/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/troll-druids-at-the-end-of-cataclysm/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/troll-druids-at-the-end-of-cataclysm/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, they see me trollin'. Whether they hatin' is ultimately a matter of conscience.

In November 2010, before Cataclysm hit, I wrote a series of articles on why (or why not) to play a particular druidic race for theorycrafting, lore, and roleplay purposes. These articles turned out to be a really big hit with readers, and you can find them here:
This week, we're going to finish the series with a look at how trolls are faring in the transition to Mists of Pandaria. For such a cynical and often brutal race, the trolls are ending Cataclysm on a note they find extremely novel, which is to say -- not under anybody else's bootheel. It's a welcome feeling.

Continue reading Troll druids at the end of Cataclysm

WoW InsiderTroll druids at the end of Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedguide-to-druidstroll-druidtroll-druid-loretroll-druid-roleplaytroll-druidswhy-or-why-not-to-play-a-troll-druidwhy-to-play-a-trollwow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 13 Mar 2012 17:00:00 ESTAll-druid guild shreds Dragon Soul by tooth and clawhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/08/all-druid-guild-shreds-dragon-soul-by-tooth-and-claw/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/08/all-druid-guild-shreds-dragon-soul-by-tooth-and-claw/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/08/all-druid-guild-shreds-dragon-soul-by-tooth-and-claw/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Druids of the Beast
Why is there something inherently funny about a bunch of druids all together in one place? Whether it's a flock of squawking, Moonfiring moonkin or a genial pack of dancing bears, even the most dedicated lore fiends among us have to admit that the design for these characters is all a wee bit silly. No matter how you cut it, the mere thought of a gathering of all druids evokes a grin every time.

What's not so silly, though, is this all-druid guild's rampage through WoW's most challenging raid content. Druids of the Beast is no gentle gathering of roleplaying night elves, drifting through Darnassus to pluck at the tangled knot of druidic lore -- no, this is a full-on, endgame raiding guild that also happens to be comprised entirely of members of the druid class. You'll find no army of declawed alts in this guild, no buffing machines parked outside raid instances. Druids of the Beast's roster represents pure, unadulterated druidic power, and its progress through Dragon Soul is among the world's leaders for all-druid raiding.

Continue reading All-druid guild shreds Dragon Soul by tooth and claw

WoW InsiderAll-druid guild shreds Dragon Soul by tooth and claw originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>all-druiddruiddruid-exclusivedruid-guilddruid-raidingdruids-of-the-beastfacebookfeedfeaturedraidingworld-of-warcraft-interviewswow-communitywow-interviewswow-peopleLisa PoissoThu, 08 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST