One thing that is changing for the better is that druids are getting more tanky skills/talents and they are going to be able to use consumables while shapeshifted. I seriously <3 that even if I don't play my druid that much.

Yeah...I dont know about that. Most of the new talents/equipment is geared towards druids healing better. I really feel for druids because of their current patheticness. It annoys me that the designers keep pushing druids towards the healing end of the spectrum, completly ignoring dps. Druid dps is so laughable, and I dont see that changing any time soon. I can sooo easily decimate any druid on either of my characters (warlock & priest), even if it is geared in tier 2.5 shit. I want a druid to whoop my ass dammit! It never happens though.

Lemme guess - Warlock and a Shadow Priest? Cos like Warlocks aren't broken or anything...

teehee, my opinions on dps might be a little skewed, I agree

instead of nerfing warlocks...how about druids get some real buffs??? yes yes???

Other classes bitch too much. If druids can actually fill a role, the parent class bitches that they're now totally useless and no one will ever play a warrior/rogue ever again.

I'm actually starting to be afraid that the mage bitchstorm on the forums actually has something to it, with the AoE nerf.

Wow, Druid getting put into the healing role? Apparently you didn't see Force of Nature in action. This thing owns spellcasters (and druids owned non-spellcasters, that is rogues and warriors, before - thanks to Entangling Roots). And that's just one of their new offensive talents.

IMHO, Druids are a bit weak now, but when the Burning Crusade comes out, they'll be really Balanced (bad pun, I know).

Bali - nope, it's not "more of the same". With the new honor system, improved Looking for Group, arena combat, elite instance options, two new races, FOUR new non-Outlands areas (noob areas, I admit) and a completely new battleground - it's a lot even without the whole new continent which for me doesn't look as small as Badlands at all. And of course the general feel of the game will remain more or less unchanged, because when you play WoW, you want to play WoW, not Final Fantasy Tactics or System Shock II.

EDIT: An afterthought: you're talking about Feral, not Balance, right? True, Feral gets a few heal-y skills. And it will be weak if the feral druid will play his class as if s/he'd play a warrior/rogue: stay in bear or cat form all the time even when their life depends on changing. A real Feral druid shouldn't be afraid to switch from Bear to Cat or vice versa, and even more so to leave the furry form to cast a few heals on themselves. It's doubly annoying on RP servers when I see druids trying to ROLEPLAY they're actually these damn cats (didn't see it for bears yet) instead of shapeshifted night elves or tauren. Furry fanboys.

I'm not going to try to generalize this, but my server is chronically short on healers. If you can heal, you're going to have to heal. And I say that as the player of a feral druid who doesn't like it but has to face reality. The upside is that we're also low on tanks, and there are plenty of times I'd love a bear. (This does not reflect raiding, of course, I've yet to experience that.)

CAT IS FITE

CAT IS NO TAK



I've heard what some of the alpha testers have had to say about BC, and I'm telling you, they say its just more of the same with a few improvements here and there. I'm aware of what the tweaks are (world of arenacraft??). For a long time WoW player, this really isn't reason to spend another saga of my life leveling up my char(s) and getting better items. The sad thing is, I -am- going to play BC whether I want to or not, lol.

And my point about druids is, they need some -real- dps. The new 'mangle' skill is laughable (feral tree). Most of the other new talents are pointed towards healing better. Druids are made to heal. As are shamans.

As always, x1 talents have to beat Nature's Swiftness. LotP didn't cut it, doesn't look like Mangle will either.

Druids HAVE DPS. It's called the Balance tree. I said so a few posts ago.
Dreamstate = term Oomkin is no longer viable. Lunar Guidance + Wrath of Cenarius = mmm... damage...
And Force of Nature = death to spellcasters! (exception: Mages with Arcane Explosion, but that'll drain their mana in no time)



It's natural that on bosses like Ragnaros or whomever else, everyone who heals should do so. Healers are more important than DPSers. If your guild tells you to heal on trashmobs... well, you change guild. And rarely anyone heals in PvP, so you can do all the DPS you want in the battlegrounds.

Cuber, do you have a level 60 druid? Have you ever fought a warlock or shadow priest? D: YOU CANT WIN. EVER.

My brother has one and I observe him often as he plays.

Warlocks and Shadow Priests are overpowered. Still, he won sometimes. And I'm not saying Druids have an okay DPS now - they don't. I'm saying they'll have a good DPS IN THE EXPANSION. Reading comprehension FTW.

You think that druids are the only ones getting buffed. Have you seen the new warlock skills/talents? Druids are so dead.

Yeah, Priests and Warlocks get new stuff too... they also get the fear/charm downgrade.

Besides, Druidic forms always have the best dances. Bear, Cat, MOONKIN, and now the Tree of Life.

Damn those sexy druids...

People don't heal in PvP because people suck, not because you shouldn't. I've never ran with a pug who could win if the shamans decided to start healing their friends.

Err... What an odd two sentences.

You know what I hate?

If your a shaman, druid, priest, or any healing class and you win a duel and your opponnent is like, "OMG YOU HEALED SO CHEAP"

People just hate to lose. Someone drank a minor healing pot in a duel in Darkshire, and the guy threw a huge fit, refused a potless rematch, refused to duel anyone else, and logged off. A simple, "Hey, try it without potions?" really would have sufficed.

Also, why were they odd? If you actually do heal in PvP, your team is a lot harder to take down. I'm not saying you should bring a bunch of resto specced druids or something, but pop out of cat and toss a regrowth here and there, it really helps.

I'm a shadow priest. I dont heal. ^^

(absolutely love telling raids and my friends that)

Lol, in my raids shadowpreists are expected to heal unless told otherwise. Otherwise they don't get to come.