Cata class previews (spoilers!) and D's thoughts

Anyone else just skip right on past the blog posts featuring Cataclysm class previews?  Especially if they are for a class you don't play?  Yeah.

So I'm not going to regurgitate the blue posts - these are just some meandering thoughts on some of the "previews":

1.  I couldn't believe how bored I was when reading the priest preview - especially for shadow.  Floating orbs?  Really?  *snooze*  Mind Spike would be more interesting if it didn't have a cast time - I want something to spam while moving, dammit.  But at least we'll get to move faster.  And I don't heal much nowadays, but yay for Power Word: Barrier!  I have a sneaking suspicion I've heard about a spell like that before, though ...

2.  WHATISTHISIDONTEVEN!  Shamans already do poo damage compared to mages (similar gear and skill for both - don't lie, you know it's true), whether it's because of the bullshit "hybrid tax" or just because Blizzard sucks at shaman dps design.  Either way, now mages do more damage AND get heroism/bloodlust?  Maybe K will become my farming toon in the expansion - they already gave her totem buffs to other classes, after all.  Take away her heroism, and all she has left is poo damage (I do more damage on all of my other dps toons, after all, even though I'm better geared on her) and great healing (but I don't LIKE shaman healing, BLAH). 

3.  Oh, there were hunter, rogue, death knight, warlock, and warrior changes?  I didn't read them - anything cool?

4.  No more permanent tree form, QQ.  I can understand the "outrage", but really, I can understand Blizzard's side of things, too.  The tree forms look like soggy, days-old cooked asparagus tops - if they were flowering and lush and green and pretty, I could understand wanting to look like that all the time.  But really, threatening to reroll or cancel because you won't be a tree full time?  Seriously?

5.  Speaking of druids, I LOVE LOVE LOVE TANKING AS A BEAR.  I see absolutely zero problems with bear tanks - they are super awesome to play.  Okay, I take that back - on Lich King phase 1, I kept pulling threat off of our bear tank until I went and respecced with a point in that shadow threat reduction talent.  The bear is massively geared and very talented, and I was just doing my normal "rotation" (with Fade every cooldown) - so it definitely wasn't the bear's fault.  Glad to see that Blizzard is keeping bears in mind when trying to fix "threat".

Some of the elemental shaman changes do sound kind of cool, like that earthquake thing.  I just last night respecced enhancement back to elemental, just to try to not fail at it (again).  I don't know, though - it's the lack of mobility that really gets me (same with boomkins).  I know shadow priests have their rough spots while moving, but at least we have a way to regen mana (dispersion) and we have most of our damage tied up in dots which are still ticking during movement.  Balance druids (S's offspec) have only a couple of not-that-great dots, and shamans have exactly one (Flame Shock).  Could throw a Magma Totem down before moving (but that in itself would require moving - elemental shamans don't exactly stand right next to the boss most fights) and use Fire Nova on cooldown, but it's just not that much damage if you are moving and changing targets for most of the fight.  I guess I just can't really get into it as much as I can on D.

Plus, reading some of the changes, it seems as if Blizzard really wants to focus more on movement-oriented fights.  All those movement speed increases for all those classes should be telling us something.  Even priests get one.  But again, do shamans?  Balance druids?  Nada.  Unless they get roared on by a bear tank - but once again, when do ranged dps stand beside tanks/next to the boss?

Sounds like I need to focus on my 2-button arcane mage TW (now level 74) and my super cool rogue T (level 44ish I think).  I hate healing, anyway - not sure how all four of my level 80's happened to be the exact four classes that could heal. 

I'll almost certainly drop balance for resto on S, and I might race change him.  I love him as a night elf, honestly, but if we get to LOOK like a worgen even we are druids (I never understood the appeal of being a worgen druid, if you won't see the worgen form anyway) that would be pretty cool.  I'm still iffy on the worgens, though - I want to look like a worgen, but the casters seem kind of goofy (wolves in dresses) and I hate hate hate the human models (especially the males).  So I'd only want to be a worgen tank or melee dps, but druids will only have cat or bear, so you won't see the worgen forms anyway ...

Well, that was rambling.  Good to be blogging again, so you (all one of you) can read my thoughts and go "wha?"  Right on, D.

My next post will probably be on my fail UI, pictures and all.  It's serviceable, certainly, and I have definitely seen worse (did you see that WoW.com one maybe two "UI Post"s ago?  Holy Moly!) but I get bored easily.  I like the minimalist ones, but always end up adding more stuff that I think I need, cluttering it up again.

So until next time, I'll leave you with a PUG story:

I see someone forming a group for Onyxia 10, and since I have never been on E (paladin), I whispered that I could tank it (my ret gear is so-so with two blue trinkets, while I've been tanking ICC 10 for weeks).  We form up, get there, buff up (four paladins in the raid, I'm the only one with PallyPower, and of course two different paladins decide that they should be buffing Might, leaving no one buffed with Wisdom) and I get ready to start pulling the first trash mob.  The other tank is right next to me.  The first mob and second mob are both coming towards us, so no problem - I move to pull them both and face them away from the raid, figuring the other tank would grab the second one off of me and stand with me.

Wishful thinking, of course - he does pull the second mob off of me, but he does not turn that mob around.  Four raid members get cleaved almost instantly.  He dies shortly after, since two were healers (what the healers were doing right up on the tanks, I have no clue.)  "WTF?  Why did you pull both?" asks one healer.  I calmly explain that both tanks were ready, one tank per mob.  "That's not how it works," the healer says.  "Only pull one at a time." 

"Well, since it's too much to handle for the healers for one tank to hold one mob each, I'll do it that way this time," I say as we're running back.  We rebuff, again with no Wisdom, and off we go.

Two mobs coming.  I hold back.  Other tank rushes forward.  Pulls the first mob, does not turn it around.  "Pull it back," order the raid leader.  "Out of the way, I'll pull him back here, everyone move back," I say, and taunt the mob.  No one moves.  People get cleaved.  The second tank still stands there, doesn't move, body pulls the second mob.  Wipe.

"You tanks suck," says the healer, and drops the group.  I follow suit without saying anything.  It's ONYXIA, not ICC.  It's not hard mode.  Two wipes on the first trash mob, and I look bad because of the other tank. 

To say the least, I was not happy.