well, it happenedFollow

lifebloom got nerfed on the 2.3.2 ptr. subsequent uses of lifebloom will no longer apply bonus +healing effects (such as from trinkets) after the bonus effect wears off. in practical terms, this means you cant toss on a super +healing weapon, activate a +heal trinket and then have lifebloom ticks for over 600 (a second) after you take the weapon and trinket off. soon as the +healing effects are removed, lifebloom will heal at the new rate, and stacking more lifebloom effects to renew the spell wont preserve the buffed rate of healing.

it was only a matter of time, and its a good change, but i know quite a few druids, mostly raiders, who will be /sadface about it.

next up im gonna guess its cyclone, possibly allowing either A.) heals to work on cycloned targets, or B.) cyclone to be dispelled.

like i said, its more of a raid thing. a single druid could keep a hugely buffed lifebloom on 4 people if he timed everything perfectly, and 3 people is easy to do with even moderate latency. so youd get this tree druid in a group with an spriest and two or three tanks just topping off lifebloom on each, getting up to 1000 healing per tick (from the really buffed raiding restos) all by casting a spell that costs less than 200 mana in tree form. 1k healing per second on 2-3 targets is pretty insane from what is essentially one person.

more to the point, this speaks quite poignantly to the current state of druids. we're borderline overpowered in some aspects, and definetely fine in the others.

Edited, Nov 30th 2007 4:49pm by Quor

well, i mentioned the "borderline overpowered" line as something of an inside joke. druids were NEVER anything close to overpowered, but BC changed a lot of things. you listen to talk on the Oboards now and druids are the worst thing since World of Roguecraft rogues.

sad thing is, theres some truth to it. the number of completely scrub druids ive seen that actually do well despite sucking like a hooker on nickel night disgusts and amazes me. meanwhile, every veteran druid i know sees the state of druids now and they all shake their heads and shrug, wondering why blizzard did what they did but taking advantage of it anyway. after all, they owned face before, so theyll just own more face now.

finally, the little voice of balance that exists within me chimes in more and more often when i play against druids. most erecently was in eye of the storm when two HORRIBLE feral druids couldnt, with the aid of a warlock, take down a single warrior (me). i can see one feral having some problems with a warrior, but two? with a WARLOCK?! thing is, neither of these druids even attempted to heal. they just dpsed me in kitty. so, with the rage they fed me i ate the warlock and then proceeded to eat them (very slowly, because they at least were smart enough to get into bear form).

to me, thats the epitome of fail. everything ive preached (and it feels like preaching at times lol) about playing a druid says to NOT do what they just did. you aid your allies, no excuses. yes, i dont care if youre feral and your regrowth crit heals for 800 with MS up. that 800 life could mean the difference between an ally dying and living. 800 life has meant the difference between life and death on so many of my characters so many times.

as for the rolling mechanic, yeah, it is more of a problem with that than lifebloom per se; they "fixed" it with rolling ignites, so i suppose it was just a matter of time before they applied a similar line of thinking to lifebloom. for cyclone, id like to see the healing immunity stay, because youre right, it IS different, and it rewards quick thinking and strategic use. but the way things are going, it likely *will* be nerfed in some way, even if its just to share DR with roots.

edit: on a side note, im a little disappointed about the stealth rate downs here. this is the druid discussion forum. im quor. show some nut and tell me why you rated me down. discuss things with me. dont just poke me in the back and go hide.

Edited, Dec 1st 2007 12:42pm by Quor