Balanced Undergrowth

4.0.1 PTR, Balance Druid Spells, Talents and More

Posted on October 10, 2010 by . Spells and Talents

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I had the chance last week and this weekend to play Balance on the PTR, so I can finally weight in on some of the changes. I guess it’s better late than never!

Stats, Talents and Spells

PTR Talent Spec: http://cata.wowhead.com/talent#0IfrMkfzzkcoZbc

PTR Stats vs Live Stats
Note that these stats are not with the exact same gear. With the new Balance of Power talent, I could afford to drop a lot of hit off my gear.

Eclipse Mechanic
There’s the new Eclipse mechanic, which is really nice (and probably not really news to anyone, but I couldn’t just not mention it). With the new mechanic, I no longer feel like I waste Eclipse by playing an encounter correctly (i.e. moving out of fire). On top of that there are talents like [Lunar Shower] and [Blessing of the Grove], which give us nice buffs to use something while we move. I didn’t get the chance to test all of this in a raid, but just messing around with it on target dummies and in 5-mans has me excited to make use of it.

Moving from one Eclipse “proc” to the next feels plenty fast as well. Of course I use the term “proc” lightly, since it’s really no longer based on RNG. The only RNG factor to it is [Euphoria], but even if you’re not seeing any benefit from that, I don’t think anyone will complain that it takes too long. Having played Balance since TBC, I have to give Blizzard quite a bit of credit for where they’ve taken the spec. This new Eclipse mechanic, in my opinion, is about as perfect as it can get.

Starsurge
I can’t say no to another button to press, especially one that’s on more of a dynamic cooldown due to [Shooting Stars]. The Balance rotation on live realms is a little monotonous to me, so having another button to press that’s more part of my rotation than, say, Starfall, is a welcome addition. Not to mention it’s a boost to Eclipse, so using it feels beneficial in the grand scheme of things, and not like “just” another button to press. Plus it’s like a giant blue laser, to it gets style points from me, too.

Here’s a video of the Starsurge animation. I know there’s a million of them out there, but I’ve been meaning to get started on a YouTube channel. So this seemed like a simple start to get my feet wet.

Solar Beam
[Solar Beam] is our interrupt, and although I’m currently terrible at remembering I have one, it is nice to have for those moments I remember. Not to mention it should make things interesting in PvP, especially with it remaining on the ground in the form of a Freya-like beam.

Sunfire
[Sunfire] gives us another DoT to throw up during a Solar Eclipse, which will benefit from the affect of the nature damage increase. I thought it was a nice touch. For me it’s kind of like Starsurge. Sure it’s another button to press, but it’s not one that you always get to press. Then when you do get to press it, it’s during a peak time where you’re getting the full benefit of the spell. So it makes me feel that much more awesome for pressing it. (Maybe I just have a weird way of tricking myself into not being mad trying to remember all these new spells)

Blizzard Power Auras Icons
The Power Aura icons for Lunar Eclipse, Solar Eclipse, and Shooting Stars

Just like with the Restoration changes, I’m pretty happy with where it’s all heading. I’m excited to try everything out again on the live realms with all my precious addons, so I can really get a feel for playing with all these new toys in a familiar setup.

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