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Some may be old changes you've grown used to, but (as a resto) the two I'd like to point out are:
Lifebloom nerf has been changed to the final bloom, which seems to coincide with the fix to empowered rejuvination. Basically, non-resto druids will get a nerfed lifebloom, whereas resto druids will get the same bloom. Both druids will still get the full benefit of the ticks, just not the bloom (and if you're a feral with little-to-no +heal it doesn't matter anyway).
Regrowth is now 25% more mana efficient! Add that in with the bonus to mana regen, and druids are going to be some pretty tough raid healers.

The cyclone nerf is going to hurt a bit. It is a shame the whole class cops a bit of a nerf when it is the restos that are OP at the moment.

Glad to hear they re-thought the Lifebloom situation to attack the final bloom instead of the ticks. That and Regrowth changes is great news for raiding Tree's. :)

*skips happily*

... And that's funny because the balance tree was just beginning to be sucessful in 5s. Resto with Cyclone will still be pretty solid in the smaller arenas with skilled teamates keeping you from getting focused and nature's swiftness to get the first one off, Ferral is getting buffs (though it remains to be seen if it is enough), so the change only REALLY hurts 5s. Pure win.

I'm sure nobody would dare Quor !!! If they do, I say we kick em out of the club!

My momma always told me to get a real edicuation in restoration, but I told her "Ma, I don't want none of them fancy degrees and whatnot. I is feral by heart and don't you be talking to me like I'm a lil' elf no more!"

Turns out Ma was right. Ma's always right.

i know exactly what youre saying jim, and i think thats partof why theyre nerfing it. blizz has always been very anti-control in the sense that they want people to be able to play their characters, not be helpless and out of control. ive given and received complete lockdowns, and theres not much thats more frustrating. any druid with feral charge is capable of shutting down a melee 100% of the time. now druids will need to put themselves in a bit more danger and think about how they use cyclone to get its max effect.

yeah, warlocks are the closest thing to a counter class we have, but at least warlock fear can be dispelled. thats the rub; cyclone cant be dispelled by anything but the pvp trinket. so a druid with a supporting team is less vulnerable to fear than anyone else is to cyclone. the only way to stop cyclone is to stop the druid, which aint easy if the druid has a team of his own to back him up.

incidentally, cyclone is now on par with fear in terms of range. thats not how i personally would have chosen to do it, but ah well. it may work, it may not, but i can see the reasons why they chose to do what they did.

Edited, Mar 18th 2008 3:28pm by Quor

druids in 3's will be fine; just incorporate a priest and your JoJ problems are solved. im thinking druid/priest/hunter or mage would make a pretty nice combo, especially if the druid was an int-heavy feral or feral/resto hybrid. its very reliant on good teamwork, but you get two forms of mana drain, great anti-melee, good CC in general, and the capability to outlast and burst as needed.

it would require mixing in a bit of unorthodox gear on both the part of the priest and the druid (namely pve heal pieces) but if done right it could be quite devastating. war/pally+1 wouldnt be able to touch anyone for more than a few seconds at a time, and rogue/mage/priest would be hard pressed to deal with a poly immune target and two forms of mana draining or a counter poly.

will it hurt druids in 2's? ya, but thats the whole point.

Is it still increased by the 20% range to balance spells talent?

Edited, Mar 21st 2008 10:18am by Micros

Well, that's something I guess. Wish I'd see a buff for balance occasionally, or any other change for balance. Haven't seen any druid changes for ages that have affected Balance.

Or maybe it's just becuase druids are much worse at whining than e.g. warriors or warlocks. When lifetap was nerfed the warlock forum had 3-4 times more QQ than the druid community managed to produce when we got 3 nerfs (4-piece bonus, cyclone and lifebloom).

That's also why you'll notice that many of those on this forum plays a warrior hence the: "just root and then move into intercept range to cyclone - works wonders, true story! I promise I won't hit you with my mace, at least not in the head!" What they forget to say is that druids already have less armor than priests when we are in caster form, so taking the intercept is a kinda bad plan. Cycloning in is still wasted CC time, so this is indeed a nerf that changes our ability to lock out warriors (who clearly needed more advantages, am I right? the most represented class in arenas source yet recieves zero nerfs).

The run-speed nerf was fine, the LB nerf was bad, but not exactly devastating for restos, only really screwed ferals and moonkins, but the cyclone range nerf was an idiotic move. ******** both feral, balance and resto up. 1 of those nerfs would have been enough to let disc priests take over as the #1 healer in all brackets (noone whines about how badass they are in 5s, maybe because the bad players can only convince 1 or 2 to play with them?).

Edited, Mar 23rd 2008 1:22pm by krqllebqlle

oh god guys. dont turn this into a shaman forums lite.



thats because the life tap change was something that would negatively affect every warlock regardless of spec, and it was a change that also forced a penalty on warlocks who specced into a certain talent. talents should be used to enhance your character, not directly punish you. the three druid changes dont affect druids at all before level 64, and two of them only affect druids at 70. sure, you can say most of the game is played at 70, but at the same time i know a number of altitis sufferers who will take umbrage at that.

the cyclone change *does* suck, but every scenario people have been highlighting (moving into intercept range, getting intercepted mid-cast and being unable to cyclone warrior as a result) is, quite honestly, ********* if the warrior intercepts you then he cant intercept his other target, and since youre at max cyclone range hes got to hoof it a decent distance to get back to his primary target (who now has at least 3s of time to run away, heal, conjure water, make a bandage, or just sit around with a thumb up their ***, whatever floats their boat). by the time the warrior gets back to his primary target, the druid can re-root or attempt the cyclone again, but this time without having to worry about the warrior intercepting.

wheres the freakin problem?

feral will hardly be affected by the range change because feral is usually up in the mix, meaning everyone is in range anyway. balance can take a talent to mitigate the range loss, which will give them an edge over restos in that regard. restos kinda get boned, but i think that was the general idea. nerfs arent done to make people stronger after all. its not how i would have opted to do it, but my personal idea may have been worse. this change preserves cyclone as an undispellable banish-like effect that can be used on anyone. the other options were to add some kind of dispellability to it, or allow targets under cyclone effects to be healed, which would really kill the uniqueness of the spell.

so really, given the alternative, losing 10 yards on the cast range is nothing.

as for lifebloom, its strength in the pve setting has been preserved, and its final bloom has been nerfed. not much of a change there, as lifebloom is still one of the best healing spells out there, if only because of its cheap cost and stackability.