The new buff to Starfall seems quite nice for us druids. Unfortunately, it's so nice we need to reconsider how we glyph. For a 51 point talent, it's about time Starfall got some love to make it more than just an accessory. I think the clearest explanation was given by GC in response to a question posed by Hamlet.

Hey Hamlet, sorry for any confusion. We probably should have just waited until you guys could test it on the PTR.

I think I figured out how you all are calculating the coefficient, so maybe this will make more sense. Again, I’m not 100% sure we’re speaking the same language here. If I have time, maybe I will just log in with a moonkin and compare the before and after and post numbers.

Main star
Old coefficient: 4.8%
New coefficient: 37%

Splash damage
Old coefficient: 1.2%
New coefficient: 13%

As I said, these numbers are very generous. If Balance druids melt the world we may have to back off of them.

SRC

That's a huge jump in damage potential. Reports are pouring in from the test realm and the initial rough estimate is that we are looking at three times the current damage on our main stars. Foofy found that on average, with three targets, she was getting 67k damage over the 10 seconds without the Glyph of Focus. Yikes! Let's take a look at how this impacts Glyphing.

Glyphs

Previously, we were locked into Starfire and Moonfire glyphs. For the best DPS, the third glyph should have been IS with maximal IS uptime. Personally, I rolled out to raids with the Glyph of Starfall because, damn, it's a fun spell. Get ready for our Glyphing world to turn upside-down!

• The Glyph of Starfall will now become our first and best glyph. My irrational attachment to this glyph is now finally justified! Now, if you're running with 2T9, your other two choices should be Starfire and Moonfire because you should be maintaining max uptime on Moonfire. But, if you've moved beyond 2T9...
  
  
• The Glyph of Focus begins to look like a heavy contender. Unfortunately, it comes with a hefty price. You now must be within 21 yards of your target for Starfall to work. This may require some new positioning and you should be prepared to re-glyph should you find yourself unable to accomplish this. If you lack the funds to re-glyph on a per-fight basis, you should not take this Glyph, as it will essentially invalidate the Glyph of Starfall. As if things weren't complicated enough . . .
  
  
• The Glyph of Insect Swarm offers the best stand-alone DPS increase. However, glyphing IS causes you to lose the 3% miss debuff that is fairly unique in the game. I prefer to leave IS unglyphed until content becomes trivial. This is a clear choice for the third glyph on trivial content, but may not be the best choice for progression raiding.
  
  
• Here's where things get really nasty. If you choose not to use the Glyph of Insect Swarm, you will be choosing between the Glyph of Starfire and the Glyph of Moonfire. You should choose the Glyph of Starfire. If you are unable to make use of the Glyph of Focus, then glyph both Starfire and Moonfire.

TL:DR

I'm going to steal from Hamlet's Moonkin PvE DPS thread over at Elitist Jerks to summarize.

The result is that our Glyph choice is slightly complex. I'll break it down here:

1. If you have the 2T9 bonus, Glyph Starfall/Starfire/Moonfire. If you want to apply the 3% miss debuff, cast Insect Swarm, otherwise leave it out of your rotation entirely.
2. If you do not that have the 2T9 bonus (for example, if you've upgraded to 4T10):
   1. If you do not need the Insect Swarm debuff (you are the second Moonkin or are doing content for which it's unnecessary), Glyph Starfall/Focus/Insect Swarm, and leave Moonfire out of your rotation entirely.
   2. If you do need the Insect Swarm debuff, Glyph Starfall/Focus/Starfire, unless Focus causes range problems at the fight you're doing. In that case, Glyph Starfall/Starfire/Moonfire.

Druid T10 Balance 2P Bonus – When you gain Clearcasting from your Omen of Clarity talent, you deal 15% additional Nature and Arcane damage for 6 sec.

Druid T10 Balance 4P Bonus – Your critical strikes from Starfire and Wrath cause the target languish for an additional 5% of your spell’s damage over 4 seconds.

So with the new PTR there comes new datamining and with new datamining comes new work! The trend of mediocre four piece set bonuses seems to continue as the first version offered a reduction in the Eclipse cooldown and now we see an Incinerate-esque trailer on our critical nukes. There seems to be much confusion over how Blizzard intends to implement this DoT. A stacking DoT has some RNG potential to be ridiculous. A refreshing DoT has potential to reach new levels of suckage due to DoT clipping on successive crits. A multiplicative DoT. . . well one can dream right?

I had though about trying to do some math on this new bonus, but decided that in all likelihood it will be modified and since the mechanics are so up in the air at the moment. I am, however, placing my chips on the current mechanic being a stacking DoT. Allow me to digress and suggest an alternative. Wouldn't it be neat if these were charges that detonated after 4 seconds? Sort of like a variable Curse of Doom. If you want to control the max damage possible, then put a cap on the stack number. But it would certainly give us something to play with, allow us to do damage while moving (in a sense) and increase our damage. Maybe we could call it Starburst. (Or Skittles so I can yell "Taste the rainbow, you scurvy dog!!").

If this set bonus stays put for a few days I'll theorycraft on it, but for now, let me say that it's really not all that much of a DPS increase for us, although it might have interesting implications on modified fights like Hodir. Stay tuned for more updates as we get more information!

The patch went live today and while the servers have been down I have been thinking about the new rotation. Then I read Macbook's post on the new rotation and it sparked into text some thoughts that had been brewing in my head. Here's the comment that I left on his site:

I would love to make a recommendation for spell twisting. Start by casting Wrath. Since it only has a 60% chance on crit to proc Eclipse, here is what I recommend. We use to have to wait until the actual Eclipse proc triggered (on impact) in order to switch spells. That generally led to one and possible two extra Wrath casts and some time lost off of Eclipse.

Now, I would recommend switching the instant you get a Nature's Grace buff as you are opening your rotation. If you don't proc Eclipse, meh, whatever, looks like you're gonna start with Solar. If you DO proc Eclipse, you will get extra time casting Starfire under the Eclipse effect. You might, in fact, squeeze in one extra Eclipse.

If we keep hold of Squawk and Awe to track the individual internal cooldowns, it might also answer the question of how long to stick with a Lunar Eclipse precasting phase. I.e. if both Eclipses are off cooldown (or will be in ~2 seconds) then it is worthwhile to "anticipate the Eclipse" by doing a premature spell switch on a crit wrath prior to its impact and subsequent possible proc on the boss.

Hell you can even switch back to Wrath after that one Starfire (since you will have used all of the Nature's Grace time anyway) and continue attempting to proc your Lunar Eclipse. Good stuff eh? I need to post this crap on my blog and not in your comments Macbook!

TL:DR

The new rotation eliminates the fear of a "wrong" Eclipse proc. This enables us to anticipate the Eclipse with zero penalty. Previously, if we anticipated a Lunar Eclipse on a Wrath critical, got it wrong, and then crit with the anticipatory Starfire, we would proc a Solar Eclipse and bemoan the loss of DPS due to the incorrect idol and likely some gearing issues. I do think some people were making a mountain out of a molehill with this issue but in terms of max/min theorycrafting, it was a DPS loss.

Enter 3.2. Now, if the exact same situation were to happen, we would not be penalized. In fact, we would be rewarded. We'd have procced a Solar Eclipse with a Nature's Grace influenced Starfire, cutting down on any theoretical precasting phase time. If the Wrath crit does proc an eclipse, we would get to utilize more of the Eclipse time casting the impacted spell. All-in-all, this is a win-win situation for all of us. So don't be late! Anticipate!

So the Balance Druid community is in a buzz about what our new set bonuses will be. Let me start with 2T9.

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!!").

I was enormously surprised to see that Blizzard changed the way our bread and butter DPS talent functioned. It was a very simplistic solution to a few of our problems that also gave Blizzard what they wanted. Blizzard had implied that they wanted Druids to use both spells but that they were unhappy with requiring an addon like Squawk and Awe to manage the internal cooldown. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, allow me to break it down:

The Starfire and Wrath buffs from this talent are now on separate 30 second. cooldowns. In addition, it is not possible to have both buffs active simultaneously.

Them some powerful words! So with that in mind, let us look at the new Eclipse and why we'll no longer talk about Solar vs. Lunar or even say that Squawk and Awe is necessary for a good rotation.

The New Eclipse

With separate cooldown timers, it will now be possible to spend 15 seconds in a Lunar Eclipse, then continue casting Starfire until you proc a Solar Eclipse and suffer no internal cooldown whatsoever. The new spell mechanic will allow us to drastically increase our time under a given Eclipse, forcing us to switch spells only when the new Eclipse procs. We will no longer have to track an internal cooldown because even if we procced the second Eclipse the instant the first finished, the cooldown on our first Eclipse will have just finished by the time we were ready to proc it once again.

I had mentioned that I thought the Idol was the best thing out of all of this stuff, yet here appears to be one of the greatest changes to the Balance Druid in quite some time. Now you should be asking yourself "What is Rel smoking?" The answer is. . . well I'm pleading the fifth there. But lets take a look at what this change does for gearing.

Previously, someone who ran a Lunar rotation was much less effected by the 400 haste soft cap. The could blissfully stack on haste and not suffer much loss from Wrath clipping. Say goodbye to those days. Now, Wrath will compose a much larger chunk of all Lunar druids arsenal. Therefore, this mechanic change simply reduces the value of haste on all gear once a player reaches 400 haste. Graylo ran his model on the new Eclipse and found that crit rating was better than haste rating after 400 haste.

I really dislike being forced into certain gear because a spell is clipping the GCD. I feel that this indicates poor planning on the designer's part and often results in a reduction in good gearing choices since we are already limited by a hard hit cap. I'm still praying for a new Glyph that modifies the Wrath cast time to allow for more gearing options. Regardless we will most likely determine a BiS anyway and that will guide a good majority of players so perhaps I am being a little overly pessimistic. I guess we shall see.

The second thing I don't like about this change is that it simplifies the druid rotation a great deal. Personally, I like the idea of a priority list instead of a rotation. I feel that this change takes us one step away from a true priority and one step closer to a rotation. I spam one nuke until a little orb appears over my head or MSBT says ECLIPSE!! and then I switch. The only true decision making I have to do is with regards to DoT's and long cooldown abilities. Do I use Starfall with my Lunar or Solar Eclipse. Do I throw down my Treants now? Innervate yet? (Oh PS, all you Lunar folks are gonna find yourselves using more mana than before. Wrath does that to you!).

I guess all in all I am just a little worried that this great change was made to look so great because it was really just a bandaid. In some ways I see this conflicting with Blizzard's stated desire to get away from the rotation and emphasize a priority decision based play-style. I worry that this little piece of cheese dangling in front of me will be snatched away at the last second and I'll be left with only a rumble in my stomach and a heart full of disapointment.

Next up. . . set bonuses. If you thought this was ranty . . . just you wait *eyes glint in the darkness*

So as I mentioned, I went on vacation and Blizzard unleashed a blizzard of announcements about the distant patch and the consequential changes in store for the druids.

First allow me to react with shock. I am flattened by the changes. Flabbergasted, even. See, I’ve posted here about how to maximize druid potential and you may have glimpsed my general unhappiness about the State of the Druid. But I never expected to have some many things changed in one swing. Let us start with what I think is the best thing for Balance Druids: the new idol.

The New Idol

Reports are pouring in that the Idol offers almost 100% uptime. Gosh that sure would be great! I mean read that link! An additional 4.36% crit from your Idol! That is on par with Tier bonuses and frankly, reeks of some type of oversight. Sorry to be Negative Nancy here because I’m usually all about the silver linings, but expect to see that brought down to a lower proc percentage. Graylo tested with 10% and 20% proc rates. I think we’ll settle right in the middle at 15% but would be shocked at any number greater than 35%.
Other than the proc rate being questionable, I like how the Idol is designed. For those of you clipping DoTs, (shame on you) you’ve got even more motivation to let them tick that last tick. This idol benefits our main spells and (I’m getting ahead of myself here) really provides a solid boost to the new twisting Eclipses. This gets a big thumbs up from me, even with a radically lower uptime.

That’s all I’m going put in part one today. I’m going try to push a part out every day to make this a little easier to digest, so I apologize for anyone looking for a massive read on their afternoon break.