Sep 27, 2010

Cataclysm : Resto Druid Got Buffed


And when I say buffed, it's quite an understatement! I think we are getting close to the final design.

Efflorescence was pretty useless but it was a small bonus for using Regrowth and I usually used it when I got Clearcasting procs from Omen of Clarity. Moreover Efflorescence had a really smal area (4y), which usually led to having only 1 person standing on it. The potency was very low and the purpose of Regrowth wasn't really to spawn an Efflorescence zone.

With the latest build (13066) Efflorescence is now linked with Swiftmend. Basically it means that we have a CD on it. It lasts 7 seconds and the Swiftmend CD is 15s (reduced by Nourish and HT crits) so we won't be able to stack it if we need a massive temporary throughput increase at some point. But I have to admit that I feel much better with it now. It heals for 120% of the amount healed by Swiftmend in a 8 yards zone which is approximately 13k+ over 7s.


And that's not the only new feature! We have a new mastery, much more manageable and powerful. It's exactly the way Nourish works: if you have a hot on the target, any spell (including new hots) will heal for an additional 10%, increased by 1,25% for each mastery point. It opens the door to many possible combinations which was exactly what was removed from the druid gameplay.

Regrowth has lost a lot of its attractivity but the way we play with the several Clearcasting procs from Omen of Clarity makes it still interesting. Obviously Healing Touch is the best way to spend a free cast, but Regrowth allow you to spend it quickly and efficiently, without allowing too much proc wasted by long cast and giving the opportunity to get back to something else faster.

I was really concern about the druid gameplay, strenghts, possibilities and potency. I'm now much more confident about us. Efflorescence got buffed a lot and I hope it won't be nerfed unless it's too overpowered.

On a side note, Tree form have a new additional effect. It allows you to use Lifebloom on as much target as you want. I'm looking forward to testing it.

I'm currentcly running a 8/0/33 with a 342 average ilevel gear.


My unbuffed stats look like (keep updating them) :
-  78235 mana
-  6175 spell power
-  1340 haste (10.46%)
1106 mastery (+17.7%)
-  337 crit (13.77%)

4 comments:

  1. I wonder if they're bring that radius down again?

    I can see myself standing halfway between the melee group and the ranged, Swiftmending myself, and basically getting everyone in my circle.

    Might be slightly OP, healing the entire raid for ~1800/sec. Whee :P

    In seriousness, I like the fact that this will make us consider where stand relative to the raid, to use our position strategically - or to pick someone in a strategic position and bounce Swiftmends off that person.

    I'm excited.

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  2. The issue with range was that there was usually only 1 player in the zone. If you Swiftmended the tank, only him was in the zone.

    They doubled the radius but most of all they improved a lot the amount healed. If they nerf Swiftmend, it will surely be in the healing done, not the radius anymore.

    I personnaly already consider a lot my position to use Wild Growth, on live and on the beta.

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  3. hm for a comparison, how man life do you have at this lvl?

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