Druids get a hotfixy gift
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 6th 2007 at 10:11PM
From a hotfix that is now live on the servers:- The Druid ability Lacerate will now land a small amount of instant damage, causing it to generate threat against bleed-immune creatures.
- The Druid ability Mangle (Bear) will now generate 50% bonus threat
More are on the way, too-- Blizzard says they plan to up the armor on many high end Bear Druid items, "particularly raid sets," as many druids felt that those pieces didn't scale as well as warriors' did. Those changes, says Blue, won't be coming until 2.1.0, but they are coming.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Auriea Mar 6th 2007 11:21PM
I tanked Karazhan tonight with these changes and it went fine. DPS is much more in line with a protection spec warrior now.
Serenity Mar 6th 2007 11:51PM
This is the kind of changes that need to be made. If only this were in the original patch notes...much less complaining from sensible druids.
Bravo Blizzard though, definately the right route to take!
bane2571 Mar 7th 2007 12:52AM
Good, I know it sounds melodramatic but I was gonna quit wow if I couldn't tank anymore. This should fix the problems I saw druid nerffest 2007 causing. Shame I wont be uber critting mauls anymore but I liked cat form in PVP more anyway, stealth FTW.
Shaklagh Mar 7th 2007 1:59AM
Blizzard did it again :(
they don't even have a clue what they are nurfing. because a few days later they change their minds and "hotfixing" stuff as if they didn't even test their own patches :(
nea Mar 7th 2007 2:49AM
"4. Blizzard did it again :(
they don't even have a clue what they are nurfing. because a few days later they change their minds and "hotfixing" stuff as if they didn't even test their own patches :("
I don't get it. They nerfed Druids on Public TEST Reams in Public TEST Realm patch, tested it and now the patch went life they make a change AFTER TESTING the patch, so what is that you are complaining about again?
Zest Mar 7th 2007 7:26AM
fine.
Kalandrah Mar 7th 2007 4:55AM
@5.
The fact is that while they have made 3 adaptations to the patch while testing on the PTR, they never changed 1 thing about druids.
They instead choose to go ahead and implement the patch anyways, still without ever changing the patch concerning druids, despite the evidence gathered from the PTR. Only _AFTER_ it has been implemented, do they decide to throw in a hotfix.
Basically it's sloppy project planning. Instead of delaying the patch, they choose to implement it anyways and leave the "loose ends" for a hotfix. IMO, they had 2 weeks of testing, which should've been more than enough time to realize the changes affecting druids in the first place and included it in the main patch.
nea Mar 7th 2007 5:11AM
@6
IMHO they were pushing the patch in asap because of the change on arena gear cost changes, every week of delay = a week of advantage for first arena players over those who are still starting/forming groups/leveling.
Deafdumbandblind Mar 7th 2007 5:48AM
Agree with #5, Blizz couldn't plan a piss-up in a brewery.
Sure the TBC roll-out went relatively smoothly wrt to server uptime but they screwed up the druid spec big time.
They really have no idea what they're doing. It's not planned, it's all in reaction to forum feedback and they're getting pulled between those who are crying "nerf druids" and the druids who are saying "leave us the f*ck alone".
Imo, Blizz should stop nerfing classes. They should instead concentrate on the aspects of the classes that are weak i.e. prot warrior tanking abilities or lack thereof
nea Mar 7th 2007 6:57AM
"Imo, Blizz should stop nerfing classes. They should instead concentrate on the aspects of the classes that are weak i.e. prot warrior tanking abilities or lack thereof"
Nerfing classes is not going to end. Simply because when one class becomes overpowered, it's easier to nerf that one class, then to buff other 8 classes and probably make more imbalances.
tyger Mar 7th 2007 8:56AM
Tanked BM last night. I'm happy with the changes and hotfix. Looking forward to the changes to armor in gear.
Zequel Mar 7th 2007 9:09AM
"Was about to quit..."
I love hybrid classes crying about not being as good as specialist classes. Should have rolled a warrior imo, Blizz breaks class balance by buffing ferals. They already can heal almost as well as a priest, specced correctly. wtf.
stapleboy Mar 7th 2007 9:21AM
Nice to see Blizz already adjusting for the fact that they completely gimped bear form DPS. Call me crazy, but since bear-tanks relied on damage for aggro I don't see what the emergency was in the first place.
Then again Blizzard also decided hunters should be able to lay traps in combat, so some things will always be a mystery to me I suppose :)
Prauche Mar 7th 2007 9:27AM
@12 - It's the 'almost' part that keeps balance. Droods are not as good as any one class at anything. But they are a reasonable facsimile that can be used in a pinch to replace said class to be 'almost' as good -- given the proper spec.
(If I could find a good PROT warrior, I'd never complain about feral drood nerfs. However, my experience is that 95% or more of warriors go with a version of an Arms/Fury DPS build (and think that they're the be-all-end-all tank in the game) and that's just NOT what my groups tend to be looking for when looking for a tank for an instance when a feral drood can tank better than a Fury/Arms DPS warrior -- as they should be.)
Chris Mar 7th 2007 10:23AM
These are good changes. After the hotfix last night I felt I was able to tank fine (70 Druid, my only character).
There's still a question of what Mangle's role is. It used to be pure dps for both cat and bear. Now it's pure dps and almost pure threat for bear. That's fine, if that's what Blizzard intends, but it's next to useless in pvp now when before it had some utility.
I think our threat is fine now. Mangle could use a slight "unnerf" (maybe 10% back up) as it does less damage than Maul and is a 41-point talent.
hostile Mar 7th 2007 10:40AM
I have been a full prot tank for almost 2 years (when I started hitting LBRS/UBRS/etc) and have been MT for my guild for almost as long.
Sorry, but I have absolutely no sympathy for druids losing some of their tanking ability. The down-side of playing a hybrid class is that you are not supposed to excel at any of your functions. Plain and simple.
Regardless we have a guy in our guild how is a feral tank and has been for some time, after raiding Kharazan last night he didn't seem to feel much of this nerf that all the whiny druids have been complaining about.
Matthew Mar 7th 2007 10:36AM
@15: the reason you can't find a good prot warrior (speaking as one, not to toot my own horn) is that grinding them is a pain in the...
After having served as MT in most of the raid encounters pre-TBC (up to Naxx), I loved being in the front. But once TBC hit and we started grinding to 70, the prot spec was crap.
The problem isn't druids. They're good. The problem is that a prot spec warrior is worthless unless being beaten on.
Chris Mar 7th 2007 11:10AM
"Sorry, but I have absolutely no sympathy for druids losing some of their tanking ability. The down-side of playing a hybrid class is that you are not supposed to excel at any of your functions. Plain and simple."
Untrue. Hybrids are supposed to excel at different functions, but only individually. If I spec for feral, I shouldn't be as a good healer. If I wear healing gear, I shouldn't be able to tank as well. Blizzard has asked us to fill roles, and if we don't perform at least close to the parent class there's no point in bringing a Druid along.
To be honest, you just sound like a disgruntled warrior who was probably searching for another job. Don't feel bad -- we Druids made a lot of people feel that way. It's a harder class to play and, given proper threat mechanics, we often tank better (from a player skill standpoint) than most warriors. I wish I had the toolbox warriors had -- would make tanking a lot easier. ;)
Freehugz Mar 7th 2007 4:21PM
how is tanking with less skils harder? its already been shown that druids can tank just about as good as warriors, biggest difference is that druids have less buttons to push to do it
Karl Mar 7th 2007 12:00PM
Droods taste funny. Bear meat is greasy and cat meat is too gamey. I'll just have to stick to eating the Night Elf type. Some of them are yummy.