I can has CC?
October 28, 2008
Woah, hella days since I last logged. Since my last update, I’ve established myself as a bloodsail admiral, complete with matching outfit and title. It’s really not that hard after getting to hostile. But anways, WotLK is coming out in a few weeks and patch 3.0.2 recently went live to prepare for it. and OMG it is awesome. I haven’t heard much about restos other than gaining better burst heals capabilities and a lifebloom nerf. Chicken’s in raids have ’caused “HOLYSHI-” esque reactions. And feral?I love it. The only thing I don’t love is having different cat/bear specs. But I suppose with dual-specs coming with WotLK, it shouldn’t be too painful. Also, roots and feral swiftness work indoors (wewt melee CC) Onwards!
Thoughts on kitty changes:
I played kitty with a 0/50/11, skipping out on berzerk for now. Rend and Tear is the sex and will defintely be a must have for all feral DPS. +50% crit chance for ferocious bite and +20% shred damage on bleeding targets. That alone has provided a substantial increase in DPS (Q’D dailies only take half an hour now if I don’t get ganked). To help us out with those longer fights, 3 points into King of the Jungle now causes to Tiger’s Fury to instantly grant 60 energy. Primal Precesion gives 10 expertise and finishers refund 80% if they miss. Infected wounds is awesome for soloing and PvP. Shred maul and mangle cause -25% movement and -10% attack speed. The effects stacks twice. As far as heroics/raiding goes, I’ve heard mixed reactions to the talent. A few bears/warriors prefer normal attack speed for the purpose of rage generation. TBH, I really don’t think it’s that much of a problem. Berzerk cuts all energy costs in half for 15 seconds. I only took this as part of my bear spec so didnt get to see it at full power yet. But even without all the extra damage talents, 15 seconds was more than enough time to down a 67 elite with 20k hp. I had it down to 60% by the time pounce wore off. As far as PvP use goes, this is not exactly an “I win” button. It does break fear and provides fear immunity, but it can be dispelled and is vulnerable to all other CC. It only counts as an “I win” button if you know exactly when to use it. With that said, Omen of Clarity should take priority over Berzerk(and no, you can’t have both) for pve cats. And also, OoC is now passive if you’re wondering where it went.
BEARRRRR FOOOOOORM:
First and foremost, I’d like to say ARMOR NERF! Except blizzard has rectified the situation in a rather interesting manner and in the end, removing armor bonuses on PvE leather didn’t hurt too much (although it was painful to have to toss out my two week old heavy clefthoof set). 3/3 Protector of the Pack and a full party now reduces damage taken in bear form by 12% (hooray magic mitigation). Natural Reaction provides 6% dodge and also gives 3 rage for each dodged attack. This means bears can now stack an f*ton of dodge and not have to worry as much about rage generation. Both of these talents and the removal of crushing blows have more or less made up for any lost armor. In addition to gear changes, bears have gotten a few more toys to play with. Berzerk in bear form removes the mangle cooldown and causes it to hit two additional targets. On anything smaller than a 3 pull, this is godly for generating aggro. With the cooldown, I wouldn’t rely on it too much though. I usually save mine for bosses. Survival instincts (which also works in cat form) is the feral equivalent to last stand. Same 30% hp bonus, same duration, same cooldown. Barkskin is nothing new, BUT it can now be used in shapeshifted forms. It’s not quite the same bonus as shield wall, but the much lower CD should make up for that. Swipe had its target limit removed, so recently I’ve been spamming that on larger pulls. Hooray AoE aggro! Also, Nature’s Grasp is now a trainable skill (as opposed to a Balance Talent) and can be cast in all forms. Survival of the fittest now reduces crit chance by 6%, eliminating the need for crit reduction from gear.
Overall, I’m content with the feral changes. I did half a kara when I was still cat specced and managed 2nd or 3rd on the boss fights, falling just behind a rogue and/or a mage. I haven’t properly tested out tanking yet aside from running guildies through crypts/sethtekk/MT a ton of times, but we’re doing our first guild Kara on saturday so I’ll post my findings then.
Also, lolretpallies.
