Staying in the Loop - Druid Changes

I didn't receive a beta invite and to be honest I really wish I would have. Before I really didn't want to see spoilers and incomplete content. I wanted to open the box and be thrilled to see new stuff. At this point I just want to test out my resto druid. Oh well. I have to be content to learn things from websites like mmo-champion and such. Below is a copy and paste of the post from the front page of www.mmo-champion.com






Balance

• Wild Mushroom changed, only 3 mushrooms can be placed at one time (Down from 5).
• Cyclone cast time increased to 2 sec. Up from 1.5 sec.
• Faerie Fire now has a 35 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Insect Swarm now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Starfire now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Entangling Roots now has a 35 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Thorns now lasts 20 sec, down from 10 minutes. Damage increased by 1400% (Deals 447 damage instead of 32)
• Moonfire now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Wrath now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Moonkin Form now increases Nature and Arcane spell damage by 10%.
• Starlight Wrath now reduces cast time by 0.15/0.25/0.5 sec. (Up from 0.1/0.2/0.3 sec)

Feral

• Lacerate now stacks up to 3 times, down from 5 times.
• Mangle (Bear) no longer has a cooldown.
• Improved Feral Charge is now named Stampede
• Heart of the Wild moved to Tier 1 restoration.
• Furor is now a Feral Tier 1 talent - Gives you 33/66/100% chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear Form, and you keep up to 33/66/100 of your Energy when you shapeshift into Cat Form, and increases your total Intellect by 2/4/6%.

Restoration

• Tranquility now heals every 2 sec, down from 5 sec.
• Rebirth now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Revive now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Empowered Rejuvenation (Tier 6) renamed to Swift Rejuvenation (Tier 5) and revamped - Reduces the global cooldown of your Rejuvenation by 0.25/0.5 sec.
• Efflorescence now affects friendly targets within 4 yards, down from 15 yards.
• Wild Growth mana cost reduced to 27% of base mana, down from 55% of base mana.
• Fury of Stormrage moved from Tier 5 to Tier 4. Now also reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by 50/100%.
• Gift of the Earthmother moved from Tier 5 to Tier 6. Rejuvenation spell instant heal increased from 3/6% to 5/10%.
• Nature's Bounty now increases critical strike chance on Regrowth by 20/40/60% (Up from 10/20/30%) and now has a 33/66/100% chance to proc. (Up from 20/40/60%)
• Empowered Touch now Increases the healing done by your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 5/10%, and your Nourish spell has a 50/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Lifebloom on targets.
• Naturalist moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Changed to 2-Ranks, down from 3-Ranks. Reduces the cast time of your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by 0.25/0.5 sec. (Up from 0.15/0.35/0.5 sec)
• Natural Shapeshifter is now a 2 ranks talent, down from 3 Ranks.
• Nature's Cure (Tier 5) *New* - Empowers your Remove Corruption spell to also remove a magic effect from a friendly target.
• Heart of the Wild is now a Tier 1 Restoration talent - Increases your maximum mana by 5/10/15%. In addition, while in Bear Form your Stamina is increased by 3/7/10% and while in Cat Form your attack power is increased by 3/7/10%.

Well, they nerfed efflorescence. I kind of figured it was coming. Lets be realistic. They pretty much gave us another wild growth in the process of trying to move us away from being super effective with a small number of spells. Of course, in the process of nerfing our new toy, they gave us a break by lowering the mana cost of wild growth.

Now I don't know about you guys, but tier eight was BY FAR my favorite four piece bonus. The instant heal of rejuve was amazing, and I am THRILLED they brought it back. Then they buffed it. Oh my gosh.

I am so glad they fixed the first tier of the resto tree... I was really disappointing to put points in something that did nothing for me.


Overall I am loving the new changes. I think the dispelling magic talent is pretty nifty. I really wish I could check out the beta, but for now...