Druid Wishes

Discussion in 'Priests' started by Kuvani, Aug 8, 2018.

  1. Kuvani Journeyman

    I’ve been hearing a lot about the lists of class improvements being posted, and since there are rarely many posts regarding Druids, I’ve decided to post a list of my own suggestions regarding the Druid class. Please keep in mind that when I wrote these suggestions, my intent was not for all of these changes to occur together (especially within the same area), but they do give an idea of where the Druid class could see improvements.

    Druids have always had the option to choose between healing and DPSing. Many of our spells and abilities increase only our heals, and many increase only our DPS. Because of this, I have made suggestions for both areas.

    I also tried to stay in line with the concept that many of our abilities force Druids to choose between either healing or DPSing (e.g. White and Black Wolf, Bosquetender’s Fortitude, or the Druid BP Click). A few of our abilities, although much weaker, allow Druids to DPS and heal at the same time (i.e. Dicho). These concepts are what make the Druid class so unique, so I thought it would be appropriate (and reasonable) to introduce ideas that are in line with this as well.

    Many of these ideas are based off concepts that we already have or other classes have, and I've made suggestions based on how I feel these concepts could improve quality of life for a Druid based on my experience both raiding and grouping.

    Spells
    Revitalization: I'm a huge proponent of modifying many druid heals because I do think we currently struggle in that area and fall far behind other priests. Druids are the weakest of the healers as far as pure healing output is concerned, even when we choose to only heal. I would prefer to keep the cast time on this line, so I am not really in favor of these spells having their timers unlinked (we are not clerics). The only change regarding this line that I would be in favor of would be a reduction in the recast timer – to something higher than the reuse on the cleric remedy of 4.5s but faster than the 12s reuse it currently has. This could also be done by implementing a new AA.

    Curavida: I would really like to see the cast time lowered on this line. It is currently 3.8s (2.3s focused), and I think it needs to be lower than this but higher than 3s (1.8s focused) cast time. This is the biggest set-back for druid single target healing because our other two lines have such a long recast timer making this is our only other option, and it is far too slow in many situations. This could be done for the Cleric and Shaman spells that are equivalent if necessary since these spells are very dated at this point. I've also made an alternative suggestion for this idea below.

    Remote Moonflash (ice) and Remote Sunblaze (fire): These two lines are currently on the same timer, and I don't see the reason for that. They should be unlinked from each other. This would allow us to maximize our heal/damage potential without going too far in either direction. Using both the Remote Moonflash and Remote Sunblaze lines would actually be a reduction in our overall DPS with their lower base damage and recast timers. I would really love to see another remote option, and I think unlinking these timers is the best way to do that.

    Alliance: Allow priest alliances to overwrite (at least within the same class if nothing else)

    Frostreave Breath and Glistening Frost: Consolidate these two lines (or make AA versions of these spells).

    New
    My biggest concerns with the Druid class involves our group healing capability and management of our mana. In both raids and group content, druids have the most difficult time keeping their group alive when there are AE’s or significant damage to more than one member of the group. Mana has also become a large issue for Druids.
    These ideas that I’ve toyed with strongly represent the concept of forcing “the path of destruction or regrowth” that is often associated with our class, but it also helps improve our biggest weaknesses (with a penalty of course). This could be tweaked some, but I’ve also given a few options to at least play around with the idea.
    Healing Version: A second group heal on a different timer than the Lunasalve line with a spell casting time ideally on par with one of the Shaman or Cleric group heals since the Lunasalve line for Druids is significantly slower than any of their group heals. The recourse effect would cause further waves of healing (similar to Shaman recourse), but it also would decrease spell damage for the caster by X% (SPA 124) during that time frame. This would be my first choice for the spell itself and the benefits it offers. The idea behind the penalty is similar to the caster recourse spells. The reuse for this suggestion would be around 20-30s
    Another idea could be a group HoT with a recourse that increases total healing by a range of X% for the caster (SPA 125) for 20-30s (this version would have a much longer reuse). An alternative penalty could be a spell slow for detrimental spells for the caster for that time period, although I feel the first suggestion for this line is the best.
    DPS Version: A new DoT with a recourse that decreases the mana cost of other DoT spells (SPA 132) cast for the next 20-30s but also decreases total healing by X% (SPA 125) during that time. This spell would have a long reuse of around a minute or so.
    My first thought (instead of making a new DoT) was actually for this to be a chance to bring back the use of the Overwhelming Sunray/Pearlescent Moonbeam lines in some capacity. The empathy components on these spells are not very useful, and with such a low base damage on the DoT components, these spells are no longer worth casting. To be clear, I am not suggesting a change in the base damage of each DoT since this was a recent change, but I thought these spell lines could be combined into one spell with the recourse that I have suggested. I think this is a great way to bring back two spell lines that are no longer used. Even with these two spell lines combined, the total DoT damage is much lower than any of our other DoT spells.
    A whole new DoT (or even nuke) would work as well, but I think that combining the Overwhelming Sunray and Pearlescent Moonbeam lines would cause less of a DPS increase than a new DoT would.
    Each of these spells offer a benefit that the Druid class could really afford to see without being unreasonable or overpowered. I think the penalties combined with the recast time suggested are more than enough for the benefits that are offered. These spells would be very situational as well. As I said before, the idea behind these spells also stay in line with the concept of forcing us to choose between healing or DPSing, but it puts a new and unique twist on that concept.

    New Single Target Heal: Instead of modifying our Curavida Line, a new single target heal line that is similar to either Cleric Interventions or Shaman Mendings could be introduced as an option to improve our single target healing. I think the Intervention concept actually makes more sense for a Druid though. It would heal for less than the Cleric Intervention and cause fire or ice damage instead of chromatic damage. This would essentially be the opposite of our Remote lines. I believe that Clerics and Shamans would still be superior to Druids in terms of single target healing even with a new line, but this would greatly help Druids with their single target healing capabilities.

    Wildspark Aura Line: This isn’t really “new,” but the spell line hasn’t been updated in a while. I think the fire aura option for Druids should be brought back (this isn’t a huge concern for me, but I think it is much more useful to have the option between fire and ice, plus it makes sense for Druids to receive both).

    I would be happy to post any further spell data regarding my suggestions (especially the new ones), but my post is already pretty long, so I left it out for now. I did try to include enough detail to get my points across though.

    AAs
    Improved Lunar Healing: We did not receive another rank of this in RoS, and we were really struggling with healing before that, so this AA needs to receive another rank that continues to decrease the reuse time and improve effectiveness. I also think it reasonable for new ranks to include a reduction in cast time. It is currently a 4.5s (2.7s focused) cast time. Again, I really think in current content that Druids need to receive significant increases in their healing to keep up.

    Spell Focus AA: These AA currently give an 8% increase. Druids (as well as Shamans and Clerics) should receive further ranks to close the gap between other classes that receive 16%.

    Nature’s Fury:
    1. Nature’s Fury has not been upgraded for quite some time, but I believe it could use further ranks to reduce the reuse timer.
    2. Nature’s Fury uses SPA 132 with a value of -20 to increase the mana cost of nukes, but Gift of Mana also uses SPA 132 with a value of 100. Because Nature’s Fury has a negative value it takes precedence over the positive value associated with GoM, meaning while Nature’s Fury is running, GoM procs are not reducing the mana cost of nuke spells. My suggestion is that the SPA in Slot 1 on Nature’s Fury be changed. One option for this would be SPA 212; however, I’m not sure if this SPA can be added without adding crit chance (because I am certainly not also asking for crit chance to be added to Nature’s Fury). If it is possible to use SPA 212 without adding crit chance, I think this would be the easiest method to implement this change. There may be another option for this that I am not aware of as well or one could be created.

    Nature's Boon: The amount of healing on Nature’s Boon (as well as other priest PB AE auras) could be increased a lot more. I barely ever use this AA because of how little healing it provides. Making these auras heal for a greater amount would be a reasonable change to make especially with the recast timer on the AA.

    Blessing of Tunare: I like this AA since Druids do not have a true splash, and I would like to see it be continued. I think further ranks should include a reduction in the reuse timer though.

    New
    Blessing of Resurrection: Druids and Shamans should receive the ability to rez during combat. This could be named something different and only restore 90% of lost experience. It could also have a longer reuse timer than the Cleric version.

    Druid AA similar to the Shaman version of Rabid Bear or the Cleric version of Divine Avatar: The aim of this is to allow Druids (for a period of time) the chance to utilize many of the spells and procs we are given but do not have the chance to use (e.g. Mystical Ways or Focused Apothic Healing). We have so many spell lines and procs that are never used, and this could be a fun way of utilizing older, "useless" spells or procs we don't use, especially during a nonlevel expansion. Obviously this is a very rough draft of an idea, but I think I got the concept across.

    Nature's Storm
    Classes: DRU/254
    Skill: Melee
    Target: Self
    Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
    Focusable: No
    Casting: 0s
    Duration: 3-5m (30-50 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
    1: Add Melee Proc: Sporali Cry with X% Rate Mod
    2: Decrease Weapon Delay by 34%
    3: ??
    4: Increase Worn Proc Rate by X%
    6: Increase Critical Nuke Damage by X% of Base Damage

    Sporali Cry (This could be similar to Feral Bite or changed to be similar to our Sporali Assault line)
    Classes: DRU/254
    Skill: ?
    Target: Single
    Range: 100'
    Resist: Poison -36
    Reflectable: No
    Trigger Spell DS: No
    Focusable: Yes
    Casting: 0s
    Duration: 3-5m (30-50 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
    1: Increase Poison Counter by 9
    2: Decrease Current HP by X or X per tick (Similar to Feral Bite)

    Extended Maladies: Druids (and Enchanters: Lingering Torment) are currently behind Shamans and Necros, so I think both classes could afford another rank of their DoT extension AA.

    Mirrored Pestilence: Druids (and Enchanters) could use this AA or a similar one to the Shaman and Necro AA although I would prefer another rank of Extended Maladies if I had to choose.

    Aura Extension AA: – At this point, I feel that the duration of our auras should be extended given how short of a time it lasts, especially in comparison to other auras.

    Group Teleport to Secondary Bind

    Again, these are just suggestions. Even if I believe most of these changes could happen without putting us ahead of other classes (especially regarding healing), I’m not naïve. My intent isn’t for every single suggestion, at least within the same area. I tried to make that clear by offering many alternatives. I know I also made suggestions that included other classes. This was mostly to try and keep the balance because I have no interest in exceeding other class capabilities, but I do have an interest in being an advocate for the Druid class – especially in areas that really need to see improvement.

    Even though this post is really long, I probably missed something (sorry I write a novel for every suggestion I have - I likely could've written this in a third of the text I used). If you have any other suggestions or ideas, please share!
    a_librarian, Fllint, Slippry and 5 others like this.
  2. Rolaque Ancient

    Very well explained and justified. I strongly support "fixing" our fire aura (which is locked at a 105 spell limit) and AA consolidating our two cold debuffs into one. As for the fire and cold remotes, nothing will probably change, but can always hope.

    As for something new, a cold blessing to go along with the current fire blessing (for triggering twincast heals) is long overdue and would be welcome.

    And one more thing. A new druid scimitar!!
  3. Cindane Journeyman

    For the love of Tunare and Karana, please do something to improve our group heal Lunasalve line. As a druid who raids 4 times per week, having even a slight boost to the recast time and effectiveness via AA or new spell is not only necessary, it's beyond overdue. My guild recently entered VP and has beaten Hoshkar x2 now. When that dragon AE fires or the vortex comes closer - and here I am, with all the Lunasalve AAs maxxed out and type 3 aug employed - and I'm laughing to myself everytime as I wait for this group heal to land while all my casters are taking damage. The Blessing of Tunare group heal AA is almost like a "trinket" - it's not useful enough in its current state.

    Same with Revitalization fast single-target heal - the re-cast time needs to also be addressed. In the group game (vs. raiding) I'm frequently asked to be the main (only) healer. As Kuvani so aptly noted above, the re-use timer is just too long at 12 secs. Could you imagine if clerics had to wait that long to recast a remedy?

    I too would love a new druid scimitar!! The amount of primary choices for us have stagnated to only 1H or 2H blunt for too many expansions now. I still keep an old group scimitar from VoA in my bags (for nostalgia) just because it's soo much more "Druid-y" than the Skyfire/ST raid 1H-ers or the Jeweled Apothic 2H-er.
  4. Akirrah Journeyman

    Great post

    Before I start I will state that while I used to be a raider from Vox -> Fabled PoP I am currently just grouping and boxing and have only been back for 3 months now.

    Heal Cast Timers - I agree with this as even in group content i is obvious that healing has become more of a twitch thing than it used to be. That being said, casting Curavida can feel painfully slow and our quick heals have timers that are too long to make them effectively sustainable. When I did try a p/u Nagy HH raid during the even, it was painfully clear that druid group heals were also very limited and in need of attention.

    Remotes - I agree the recast seems excessive and I would love them to be on different timers but I bet DB is worrying that people would be able to use moonfire cold, moonfire fire then dico and maybe that would be a problem ( just a guess I have not really thought this out )

    Aura - I could not agree more, it seems silly that we only have gotten cold ones over the last few levels. I really only use cold when i am forced too and when I am debuffing and using fire in group content, the cold aura gets resisted so much it seems not worth the effort to remember to keep casting it which brings me to my next point. I agree that the aura should last longer

    I also love the idea of a group port to secondary bind, that would be very usefull

    Cheers
  5. S33k3r Augur

    On top of the suggestions in previous posts I would like to see :-
    • an AA version of Nourishing Growth, have it regen more than the spell version but add a longer recast and not block the spell version.
    • Black wolf increase the crit rate on DoTs as well as nukes (I can dream)
    • An updated version of Bosquetender's Fortitude - I like the idea of sacrificing mana for a (significant) boost to healing / nuking.
    • An updated Wildtender's Unity that also casts our single target buffs on ourself (i.e. skin, eagles etc)
  6. Kuvani Journeyman

    I do appreciate people posting their suggestions - although it's also obviously prompted me to write more :)

    Regarding my new spell suggestions in my OP, I wanted to add in what I thought would be appropriate cast times (and recast times) since I did this for my Healing Version in my first suggestion.
    1. DPS Version: I think this spell should ideally have a .5-2s cast time.
    2. New Single Target Heal: Ideally, these would be 1-1.5s cast time with a 10-20s recast.

    Moving on from that though...

    I don't believe having the cabability to use two remotes with our dicho would be much of a problem at all. Cleric contraventions do not share a timer. They have a long recast (similar to our remotes), but the line itself doesn't have a timer.

    The 110 Merciful Contravention Rk. II is a 15539 nuke if the mob is not undead or summoned with a 15539 heal. This is a better heal and nuke than our 108 Remote Sunblaze Rk. II which is a 13733 nuke and heal. Since that line isn't linked, they can cast previous versions when their 110 version is on cooldown. Their 105 Ardent Contravention Rk. II is a 12378 nuke if the mob is not undead or summoned and a 12813 heal. This is really not far behind our 109 Remote Moonflash Rk. II which is a 13047 nuke and a 13733 heal.

    I see no problems with the timer being unlinked for a cleric even with their exceptional healing capabilities, and I only mentioned this information to try and indicate how little of a problem I think it would be. These spells aren't overly powerful or anything, but I really think that remotes make sense for a Druid to have, and with how comparatively abysmal both our nukes and heals are, I really can't see how unlinking the timers from these lines would become an issue. As I said before, it would be a decrease in our overall DPS, and the extra tank healing hardly removes the need for single target direct heals in both groups and raids.

    This isn't one of my more pressing wishes if I'm being totally honest. I just enjoy using our remotes in many situations, and it would be really nice if we were able to have a third option to cast.


    As much as I think we would all love to see this change, I can't really see this happening (I know you said I can dream). I asked for Mirrored Pestilence and Extended Maladies, but these are minimal DPS increases. I think allowing DoTs to work on our First Spire (SPA 273) is a reasonable request though since we can't use our First Spire permanently (like Black Wolf can be used). I hadn't mentioned this before, but it would certainly be a wish of mine. Allowing DoTs to work on the crit portions of wolf would be amazing, but I really think overall that our DoTs are in a pretty good state (aside from mana costs which I've addressed above).

    As far as our overall DPS goes, I would much rather receive modifications to our nukes. With how lousy they are, giving us another direct damage critical damage modifier (SPA 170) would be my first wish. Black Wolf has this mod on it, but giving us another AA with this mod would give a small but much needed boost to our nukes during a burn. In my OP, I suggested an AA similar to Divine Avatar/Rabid bear. I added SPA 170 in my suggestion, but alternatively it could be added elsewhere (a new AA, Nature's Fury, etc.) if they chose not to implement this SPA in that specific AA.

    Basically, I believe that aside from mana issues, our DoTs are in a good place. I've suggested a new spell to try and alleviate that issue in my OP. Our nukes, however, are in a pretty bad place and could use more love, so I guess I made a few more wishes in this post as well.
    Fllint and Slippry like this.
  7. Laini New Member

    These are all wonderful ideas. I want to know tho, why, we, as a priest class, have no ability like the other two priest classes to really rebuild our mana. Our bear has a recast timer that prevents us from really gaining our mana back effectively. Our heals, as stated above are the worst of the priest class.
    Now to the statements about our rez abilities. We have a way of getting a 90% rez stick fairly easily. It has a somewhat reasonable recast timer. I find it pretty mind boggling that our 96% rez is only available OOC. I know we are not clerics...but come on we are supposed to be a priest class too.
    Our Auras need fixed big time.
  8. Darchon_Xegony Augur

    I agree mostly what’s been posted.

    Revitalization and Adrenaline both need their recast linked timers removed or their recasts reduced to something like 6seconds each.

    Group Heal needs to have its cast time cut down to 3 seconds and recast time reduces further by AAs.

    Also I’d like to see the Fire Storm / Storm Strike AA upgrade to make it function like a Remote Nuke. So add a ToT Heal component to this Nuke AA, giving us more avenues to heal and DPS like our class is designed to do. Specifically inbetween casts because our heals are so slow we often lose people.
  9. Darkside New Member

    We need a way to get back mana when we die. It's pathetic that we have to bother other classes to regain any mana. And don't post about the bear spell its mana return is 10 years behind current mana pools
  10. Liljit Augur

    What is a druid?

    DBG had them putting out massive DPS and rightfully corrected that this year.

    They are the worst priest with a little bit of DPS trickery. This has always come at a price for the druid, a balance, a choice for the particular player.

    When compared to other priests, druids lack in that their epic is useless, (cleric epic is the single best item they have as is the shaman epic). They have limited ability to save a companion quickly and they are encumbered by the number of debuff lines to fully debuff a mob.

    Druids:

    Slowest heals, longest recasts, lines share a lockout timer, meaning I can't just load Revitalization, Resurgence, etc.

    0 HoT
    0 Splash
    1 Slow Group Heal
    1 Oh #$^@ heal
    Let's talk about the joke of a splash, the AA - Blessing of Tunare - once every 5 min, crit heals for 61k...
    There certainly are other utility AA, but they are in line with or fall short of other priests, Nature's Boon, Spirit of the Bear, Convergence of Spirits, Spirit of the Wood, and Swarm of Fireflies.

    As far as priest alliance overwriting...no...just no, that defeats the purpose of a fulmination heal. Rather than an overwrite, make it work more like Bosquetender's Fortitude in that if it fulminates it refreshes itself.

    On the DPS front, there is an entire line, no one would ever load and that is Stormborn. Far weaker than even the lowest rank of our Roar line. Stun. #1, what mob are you fighting @ 110, that is 110? #2, what mob @ 110 is not immune to stun and under what circumstances are you considering that a benefit?

    I don't like the changes to the focus line on the bp this expansion, but since it's done, then why not un-link the remote lines, make it actually useful for the druid.

    For useful DPS, Druids using the Roar line when nuking, so can we have a hastened AA - Focus Tab - Improved Roar - Reduces cast time by 50% at max rank.

    DoTs...they've been re-tuned, the DPS is not worth the mana cost and unless they also combined in the debuff lines into each one of the DoTs, very few will get loaded/used on a regular basis.

    Debuff Lines:

    Our Debuff lines are a mess, especially when you consider debuff slots on a mob.


    Cowl of Ro from the Blessing of Ro AA: Fire resist debuff, AC debuff, atk debuff, and heal TT.
    Skin to Sumac: Transform mob type from living to plant, increases fire dmg, doesn't work on summoned, undead or construct models.
    Overwhelming Sunray: Fire resist debuff, AC debuff, adds a flat dmg to inc fire dmg spells and is a really weak dot. Because of the dot component lasts just over 1 min.



    Glistening Frost: Atk debuff, AC debuff, heal on TT. Lasts over 11 min.
    Frostweave Breath: Cold resist debuff, AC debuff, inc cold dmg buff, HoT on TT. Lasts over 13 min.
    Pearlescent Moonbeam: Cold resist debuff, AC debuff, adds a flat dmg to inc cold spells and is a really weak dot. Because of the dot component, lasts under 2 min.

    Suggestion: Combine the Frost based debuffs into a Frost Debuff AA: Nature's Chill. Combine the Fire based debuffs into a Fire Debuff AA: Nature's Flames.
    Let's make it not cast a total of 6 debuffs because my oh my are those debuff slots precious. 2 Debuffs, 1st one has ALL of the components of the Fire line without actually using 3 separate debuff slots, the second does the same for cold.
    Make it cost mana, IDC. Free up our spell bar, the mobs debuff slots and jesus....if the dot is gonna be that abysmal, just make it last 10 min. Overwhelming Sunray did 2400 dps for the duration of the spell.
    Pearlescent Moonbeam did 3300 dps for the duration of the spell.
    The Heal over time of target's target component and heal target's target component of the debuffs should be moved to our Roar Line and our Winter's Wildblaze lines imo, give me a reason to earn that extra hatred.

    MANA:

    Just about every class in the game has an instant way to regain mana, except the druid.

    This is what they give druids:

    [40218] Growing Exuberance
    Target: Pet Owner
    Range: 300'
    Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
    Focusable: Yes
    Casting: 0s, Recast: 5s
    Hate Mod: -1
    1: Increase Current Mana by 823

    13 casts of it followed by:

    [55861] Nourished Replenishment III
    Restriction: Out of Combat
    Target: Pet Owner
    Range: 50'
    Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
    Focusable: No
    Casting: 0s, Recast: 60s
    1: Increase Current Mana by 5494

    10,699 + 5494 = 16,193m return....over the course of 84 seconds. With a lockout recast of 5 min.

    Other Useless lines:

    Reptile: Due to stacking issues with Knight abilities.
    Mystical Ways: Druids are generally not great in a melee group, the spell is instantly gone once applied and has a relatively low heal, low counter count and low duration.
    Protection of Direwood: I mean...I consider myself to be a battle druid and all...but couldn't this just be combined with preincarnation, make it a longer duration, I mean it does fade when the cap is reached.

    As far as what else has been posted. I agree with the majority, druids need an in combat rez, even if 90% other than the rez stick, hell, paladins have one. There needs to be an overall reduction in the cast time of spells, dps, healing, all of it is just soooooo slow. Druids are far lacking in the ability to heal those in melee range...ie melee classes, and if that is the direction of the game, more melee and less casters...then druids need more tools to do that job.
    Something to boost the healing from AE dmg component to this left out priest class.

    *Disclaimer: You can squeeze a lot out of any class and it will be good, but to make a druid "decent" dps or healing, requires a lot of work that most don't want to put in. There are fewer and fewer druids in the game and I believe this is directly related to how far behind they have been left in regards to some of the tools/toys that other similar classes have gotten over the years.
    Note how many responses this class thread has in comparison to some of the other class wants and desires posts. This imo indicates how few veteran druids remain in the game.
    Perplexed likes this.
  11. Perplexed Augur

    Excellent post Liljit.
    Over the years (18), I've seen many pre-expac wishful thinking posts about our class. Sadly, the official response has been to either ignore comments or pat us on the head and toss us a tiny cookie.
    I don't expect this expac experience to be any different, but will try and stick it out for another year and hope for:
  12. Metanis Bad Company

    I know back in the early days a lot of people played druids as an outstanding utility class with above average dps and a bit of healing ability for occasional use. And then it just kind of got overtaken by all the enhancements to other classes and never kept up.
  13. Brohg Augur

    No they didn't. They thought they did, but the EverQuest world was overrun by wild ignorance
    Sancus likes this.
  14. Liljit Augur

    I don't think any of the druid vets are asking for us to be the #1 dps or the #1 healer, we just want to do okay dps and do okay with healing and have it be enjoyable. In it's current state, it is not.
  15. Kuvani Journeyman

    I seriously struggled with the decision regarding whether I would write this response, but I would really like to see positive and fair changes for the Druid class. I play my Druid at a very high level in both groups and raids on more than one server, and I put a lot of time and effort into maximizing her potential in almost every way. As I said before, I do not wish to exceed other classes’ capabilities, but I do want to make sure necessary changes for the Druid class are implemented properly.

    I believe my OP covered most of my more pressing thoughts (although I missed a few as some comments suggest), and I believe my suggestions were necessary, balanced or fair to many classes, and relatively easy to implement.

    More to the point, I would like to comment on a few specific statements.

    The intention of this AA was not for it to be a true splash – if that were the case, we would have received a spell version of this. It is a good AA that just needs a reduction in reuse and cast time in further ranks of the AA (along with the increased effectiveness).

    This isn’t me stating that Druids have amazing heals at all, but stating that Blessing of Tunare is a joke is laughable to me. Druids absolutely need better heals – both single target and group, but if you read my OP, then you would know that I feel this way. I’ve made many suggestions to try and improve our healing.

    Contrary to popular belief, the fulmination portion of our alliance is not the most beneficial part of the spell. With recent changes to priest alliances, the quoted argument holds a little more weight; but even still, the design of these spells is not optimal. I realize this is a topic that many priests feel differently/strongly about, but allowing priest alliances to overwrite allows the player to self-manage the buff much more efficiently. If you really truly believe that the fulmination effect is the most beneficial part of the spell, you would not actually be required or forced to overwrite the buff, but it should be an option for those who want to.

    If the fulmination effects for each class were actually useful, I’d feel differently. Many players do not use priest alliance for the fulmination effect or even care about the fulmination effect, and I believe for many guilds (and groups) having the option to overwrite priest alliance would only be beneficial.

    As far as all the useless lines go, every class has useless lines. The Stormborn Line is not the only DPS line that is never loaded for a Druid. Would I like this changed? Sure. Is it a pressing issue? No.

    Also, I wouldn’t call the Reptile Line useless either. I use this spell often on multiple targets during raids and in groups. Paladins aren’t the only class in the game that could use the buff. Should they fix stacking issues? Absolutely. Is it useless? No.

    If memory serves me, you were someone that believed the focus should not have been changed. It really shocks me this is still is a stance Druids take. I cannot comprehend why any Druid continues to argue that the BP focus should not have been changed. I am not saying that the newest focus was implemented in the most ideal way. I would prefer the reduction time to be increased, and I would also prefer the unlinking of remote timers, but I already went into that. However, it still really baffles me when Druids complain that the focus was changed because the old focus had zero effect on Druids. It was totally useless for us personally. I’ve already written a novel on another post about the differences the change did make, but they are so negligible that very few casters will even notice the few tics they no longer receive of the group buff. Besides, that is something that can be easily avoided by swapping BP’s if you’re really concerned.

    Reducing the cast time by 50% on our nukes is not something I could ever see happening. On top of that, it’s not something I want done unless the devs plan on giving Druids another 10+ spell slots. I have zero interest in adding more nukes to my multibind because we simply do not have the spell slots for that.

    If they made this change, they would also have to reduce the reuse timer on our nukes to fix the spell slot issue, which I’m not totally against, but both things would definitely have to happen for that to work. I could justify a smaller spell haste by receiving a few more ranks of Quick Damage, but I do feel that 50% is asking for a lot.

    There are other ways to increase our DPS from nukes - I have already discussed our nukes and how they could be improved in ways that are reasonable and won’t hurt us on spell slots even more than we already are. Improving the effectiveness through our focus AA (with a larger % increase than classes that are already far ahead of us) and giving us another nuke crit damage modifier would be a much more efficient way of implementing the necessary increases to our nukes. I already explained how to implement these changes through the Focus AA and the addition of another SPA 170 in my other posts.

    There is no reason to mess with our DoTs. They could use a mana reduction, but it isn’t necessary with the other changes I’ve asked for. If changes are made to DoTs, do not combine them with our debuffs.

    I agree that our debuffs need to be consolidated, but I do feel like you are asking for a bit much in regards to that. If it happens great, but I’ve made pretty realistic suggestions in my OP regarding our Frostreave Breath/Glistening Frost Lines and for our Overwhelming Sunray/Pearlescent Moonbeam Lines.

    I would also like to add an additional wish while I’m on this topic regarding our Blessing of Ro AA – I really would like further ranks to reduce the cast time on this.

    Druids absolutely have mana issues, but increasing our nuke damage and implementing some of the new spell ideas I’ve suggested will help alleviate that issue. I suppose that buffing our Bear Pet could also be implemented along with my other suggestions to further help with our mana issues – because I do admit that it is pretty bad, especially when we die.

    I agree with the overall idea of most the comments that I’ve quoted (if you read my OP) but not the implementation. Yes, we are the worst of the priests. Clerics and Shamans have far superior heals and comparable self DPS. Many of our spells are far too slow and aren’t effective enough. These are the reasons why I have made very fair suggestions to help alleviate many of the problems Druids face in both groups and raids. There is no question that the Druid class could use a lot of work, but changes aren’t going to happen all at once, and I have attempted to suggest ideas that are relatively simple to implement and focus on our most pressing issues.

    I am more than willing to go into further explanation of any change I’ve suggested – why I want it, how it is fair or balanced, how it would be implemented, and/or the specific details regarding any SPAs and/or spell data.
    Fooba, Rolaque, Fllint and 1 other person like this.
  16. Liljit Augur

    @Kuvani:

    Clearly some thought and effort went into your original post and your response posts as did mine, thank you.

    Regarding Blessing of Tunare, I was not discrediting the usefulness of the AA at all, but in that it is our only method (aside from chain casting alliance on yourself/clicking it off) of splashing a raid, it makes us a weaker healer than the other 2 priests. I am in agreement that the AA should have some hastened ranks. I believe that druids should get a splash or HoT but maybe not both, spell version is what I'm referring to.
    Clerics, Shaman, and Paladins all have splash and HoT. Our only spell HoT is a flip, which I like that it is different, is from a debuff: Frostweave Breath.

    I was referring to post nerf 1.5 s lockout on heals procing alliance trigger.
    To that end, one of the benefits is that bigger heal for a fulmination. I guess I'd be fine with X caster overwriting their own alliance but would be against other classes overwriting other classes. There are other ways to use alliance when oh #@%^ healing comes into play...cast it on rando pet, yourself and click off like I posted above.

    Yes, I was one of the druids against nerfing raid dps by losing an extra few ticks of Black Wolf coverage for the group. 1 druid dps from remote doesn't make up for an enc, wizard, 3 mages dps in 18 seconds. This change to the BP came at a time that being able to target buff black wolf was taken away as well. All the arguments I recall focused SOLELY on the druid being able to cast individual black wolf and group black wolf and since they individually would have overlap or 100% coverage, then it should be taken away for something "more useful". Since what's done is done, here I'm agreeing with you rather than fight an uphill battle, un-linking the remote lines wouldn't be OP, wouldn't take a lot of effort on the DEV team and would allow us to continue in the mindset of jack of all, master of none (dps to heal).

    The reasoning behind the 50% mark for hastening that particular line is based on the Improved Survival of the Fittest focus AA. I did mention 50% as a MAX so they could implement several ranks to get to that point. I think this is where we differ, I think our nukes do fine dps because the trade-off is that they are relatively low in mana usage. What I'm asking for is to be able to cast them faster, sitting there watching my spell casting for 2 seconds with spell haste, boring and often the target (add on raids) dies before it finishes casting.
    The particular line I addressed is because the base is 4 seconds. With Quick Damage AA and cleric spell haste you're at 2 seconds for that 4 second nuke. 9 seconds is the current recast timer and I'd agree to reducing those so you don't load 2-3 from the same line. With the suggested Improved Roar focus tab @ 50% max, you'd be down to 1 second cast with full focus, still prevents you from casting on the run, but enough of a reduction to be useful and fun again.

    I was drastic in asking for a consolidation from 6 debuffs to 2 and putting them on AA abilities, think Blessing of Ro, casts the highest rank of the spell you have, because DEVs cannot address the debuff cap on mobs. In addition it frees up the druid spell bar, I know you play a druid at current content end - game level as I do, so you know that now, more than ever before, a druid looks more like a necro, swapping multiple spell sets.

    To address some of the other responses, reptile would be more useful as a group spell. Since druids are not melee healers often (like only if you don't have enough shaman?), I don't see this used in a raid setting, but group only. Changing it to a group cast spell instead of individual would alleviate that because then you could target the melee group and buff them with it. I'm assuming that you are casting it individually out of group on melee in a raid setting? Both SK and Paladin lines overwrite it. And Druid line overwrites Paladin/SK line. Since they tied in some aspect of hate to this line on knights I don't see it being a useful spell on them, but for melee dps only.

    Overall, I think we agree on a lot regarding the druid class and the work that it needs. I think we both understand that a druid should not ever be supreme dps or healing but should have the tools to compete effectively.
    Tankks likes this.
  17. Fanipak frootsnak New Member

    Pretty much this. I feel like you pretty much covered all the bases with this. The only thing I wish (besides alot AA updates and added levels) was A) Black wolf affected dots too. B) dot Mana cost reduction. C) another AA AOE heal like blessing of tunare. I feel like 4 ways to AOE heal, 2 with longer cast/recast time and 2 instant clickies with longish cooldown feels like it would provide a good AOE rotation. I really like the though of nukes healing target of target, maybe 1 more line of that or possibly split remote healing between fire and ice. Meh. I love my druid. I know I'll never be #1 in a dps parse nor #1 in a healing parse but man, I love being able to take on a bunch of yellow and red cons and kite them without fear (as long as they don't summon ) great write up though and thank you for putting in the time and effort to get some eyes on this awesome class.
  18. Belkar_OotS Augur

    Has any druid solo healed all of the Stratos trials? I haven't done them all yet but at least 2 of them I consider near impossible to solo heal. Maybe if we had a Paladin or SK to help cover the constant spikes.

    Druid healing seriously needs to be looked at as soon as possible. Our reliance on the Vida line needs to go away, and our group heal needs some adjustments to recast and cast time or a significant recourse. Even a syllable group heal consuming yet another spell gem would be welcome.

    I am rapidly approaching a more in depth heal comparison throwing our other healing buds under the bus because the issue is so pronounced.
    Tatanka likes this.
  19. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    This ^^^

    It's one thing to say that druids don't heal as well as the other priests because of the other tools we have. True. But completely meaningless. When you're in a group, and you're the only priest, you need to be able to heal. Our cooldowns and cast times are just too harsh.
  20. FawnTemplar Augur

    Wishing for even just a simple "We'll look into this." from a dev.

    Help us out a little.