FINALLY!! we get critting DoTs. Or Dot rather, but hey, that's better than nothing. I'm a little sad that when I look to the future, we stand to lose this ability in a higher tier, but for the moment, it's making me a very happy camper. I haven't seen very much to complain about from anyone in this department. But 4T9 is a different story...
Well . . . despite the beauty of 2T9 it is marred by the placeholder seeming quality of 4T9. A recycled set bonus that is also a downgrade. Many druids have weighed in on this set bonus and have had varying responses. Hamlet seems to think that there's no problem with it because of the relative strength of 2T8. He predicts a buff to 4T9 will be coupled with a nerf to 2T8. Graylo is clearly irritated by the bonus and lobbying for at the very least the same bonus as 4T7. Haven't heard from Macbook or Xiera formally yet. Lissana seems indifferent. And Relevart (hey, that's me!) seems irritated by the lack of originality.
I suggested an alternative bonus and semi-promised some math on it here. That may still happen, but with the chaos of moving and getting ready to go back to work, I find myself lacking the time and the energy to do some theorycrafting. I will only summarize that I feel as though people have skewed the true goal with set bonuses. Set bonuses don't need to be progressive (scaling with each tier) or at some point in time we would be unable to continue to scale without another gear reset. Given the finite nature of gear (we only wear it for so long) I think what people really want are interesting set bonuses. For instance, if the Balance druid 4 piece was ALWAYS 5% crit, I'd gladly move up to the next tier because of the stats on the pieces themselves. Likewise, if it went from 5% to 4% but I gained 1.1% crit from the stats on the gear, I would also happily move to the next tier. The real tricky part of designing this gear is making a 2 piece bonus that is attractive enough to warrant breaking the old 4 piece bonus. In some ways, this makes a 2 piece inherently stronger than a 4 piece (to preserve the continuity of the break). I would not mind seeing 2 piece bonuses continually being stronger than the 4 piece bonus as this would allow us more freedom to pick and choose gear.
I know it sounds like I'm saying nerf the set bonuses, but well . . . I am. A set bonus is nothing more than an incentive to gather and equip a bunch of sub-BiS gear. I would much rather see these pieces of gear act as placeholders until they were replaced by hard-mode gear. Essentially, I'm asking the question of whether the tier set should be the best gear. My personal answer is no.
Back to interesting set bonuses. Looking at the 4T8 bonus. An instant Starfire triggered by a DoT tick of IS. I love this set bonus because it involves the actual use of 2 spells working together to increase DPS. If you don't cast IS, you won't get a proc and if you don't ever cast Starfire, you won't benefit from the proc. There is plenty of room for set bonuses like this one. I suggested a bonus to increase the use of Treants in raid instances. I've seen a suggestion that increases critical strike damage by a percentage. Bonuses that incorporate spell synergy, not straight stats, are much more interesting and, in my opinion, provide the player with more satisfaction. I can see a Wrath of Elune proc and use it, but I can't always notice an extra 5% crit when I'm running a dry spell of Wraths.
That's about all I've got time to say today about this stuff. More to come later!
UPDATE:
They changed the bonus to increase the damage dealt by Starfire and Wrath by 4%. I feel that this is a great change and put to rest some of my worries about the recycling of bonuses. While I still feel that this is a bland bonus, lacking somewhat in creativity, it is much more mathematically sound. As I'm sure I've expressed before, I do not like bonuses or procs that are based on random events because they rely on averages, and as we all know, there are often extreme outliers to these averages (recall the "I cast 20 Wraths with no Eclipse proc!!").
2 comments:
Xiera reports formally:
Right now, I love the look of 2T9 and 2T8. *Love* it.
4T9 has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. It was introduced as 3% crit for both Wrath and Starfire (weak), then changed to 5% crit for Starfire (weak), and now there's rumour it's 4% increased damage for Wrath and Starfire (still not better than 2T8).
So here's what Xiera thinks: if you have full T8 at your disposal, you have the freedom to mix and match gear while maintaining your 2T8 bonus. Am I concerned about the 4T9 bonus? Not at all. I have absolutely no problem with going 2T8 and 2T9, so now I'm just praying against a 2T8 nerf.
The 2T9 bonus definitely has interesting implications though. From 2T7 through 4T8, Blizz was making it a point for us to keep IS on the target. In doing so, Moonfire became an afterthought for the moonkin community. With the 2T9 bonus and the corresponding loss of the 4T8 bonus, Moonfire is thrust to the forefront and IS takes a backseat. Honestly, I will only be using IS during solar Eclipse for the extra damage from Wrath.
The change also makes one wonder how much better the Imp. Moonfire talent is going to be come 3.2. Will the extra 10% crit apply to each tick or still just the direct damage portion? If it applies to each tick, it is absolutely worth it and will find its way into my spec somehow. If not, I'll be sticking with my current spec.
Good info as always, Rel. Cheers.
I'm already planning on dumping two points into Imp. Moonfire. I'll steal them out of Owlkin Frenzy (which I love dearly if for no other reason than I imagine my chicken roaring in anger inside my head).
As far as Blizz's flip=flop DoT of the week bonuses are concerned, I'd like to see something that requires both DoTs active at the same time to receive the max benefit. Maybe increase your Wrath and Starfire damage by 2% per DoT. This would encourage DoT maintenance as well as benefit our primary nukes. Maybe next tier, eh?
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