MP5 replaced by Spirit on Druid Arena S3 gear [Updated]
by Amanda Rivera 
Oct 27th 2007 at 7:01PM
Resto4life is reporting on a fairly significant change to the Arena season 3 gear on the PTR with Patch 2.3. Evidently the previous mana regen stat MP5 is being tossed over for Spirit, and this has some players howling. Now, I know there is some debate as to the utility of Spirit for priests in a PvE setting, but as they mention in the article, there appears to be little use for it at all in Arena PvP, at least where Druids are concerned. The Restoration druids in particular are unhappy about this change, especially when taken in context with the recent change to the game that will allow everyone to see what magical buffs you have placed upon you. What this means is that just about every time a druid casts Innervate -- the spell that would benefit most from the change to Spirit -- there is a high probability it will be immediate dispelled. Now we have heard tell that Spirit as a stat will be changed somewhere down the line, that it will begin affecting spell damage as well as mana regen, so perhaps this is the first step toward that change. It's tough to know for certain.
What we do know, however, is that the change makes the PvP gear more attractive for use in PvE, where Spirit does help with the longer battles. But I have to wonder, exactly why would the developers, who have professed that they want to create two separate gear sets for PvP and PvE, make the Season 3 Arena sets more PvE viable? It may be that they want more people to participate in Arena battles, or it could be for some unknown reason I'm not seeing. Help me out here. Do you think the change from MP5 to Spirit is a buff or a nerf?
Update: Another patch just pushed through on the PTR, and this change to the Druid healing S3 set has been reverted. The gear will retain its MP5 stat bonus.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Snailking Oct 27th 2007 7:23PM
They shouldn't change the gear until they've changed the mechanics of spirit.
Fruition Oct 27th 2007 7:26PM
Does anyone else think it's really weird seeing that gear on a human? At least show it on a race that can wear it, jeez!
Thisbe Oct 27th 2007 7:28PM
Is this change just for the Resto set, or does it apply to the Moonkin one as well?
Amanda Rivera Oct 27th 2007 7:39PM
Thisbe:
First off, awesome name! Secondly I have only been able to find information on changes to the healing set. They may change the DPS set as well, but I haven't heard as of yet.
Seperioth Oct 27th 2007 7:44PM
Spirit is useless for any good resto Druid. MP5 is more important.. Hell.. spirit for anything but a priest is useless.. I am strongly against spirit and most people will say i'm wrong for having that idea.
I however can easily stay up with priests, and other druids with more spirit. Its all about how you play your character and time your regen.
BRING BACK Mp5!!!
Thisbe Oct 27th 2007 7:48PM
Thanks Amanda!
Baluki Oct 27th 2007 8:27PM
@2: Yea. And we should also define who *can* wear it, and who *should* wear it. Night Elves may be able to wear drood gear competently, but Taurens always look WAY better in it.
Stig Oct 27th 2007 8:28PM
I can only see one reason that they would do this: the change to spirit is coming sooner than they've let on. I don't think spirit is a USELESS stat by any means, but it is far weaker for environments like Arenas where healers are almost constantly within the 5 second rule.
Since a druid's bread and butter heal is the HoT, the argument could be made that we should be casting less often, waiting for the full duration of the HoT, then reapplying it. Thats a best case, and you MIGHT be able to pull it off in a 2v2 environment....maybe. But more often than not you'll be applying heals to multiple targets, shifting in and out of form, and occasionally throwing out a moonfire or FF. All of these things keep you within the 5sr for the vast majority of a PvP fight. Within 5sr the MP/5 is hugely more effective than spirit at regen, despite its higher item budget cost.
Unless the changes to spirit are going to include a major buff to the % that applies to regen within the 5sr this is a major nerf to the gear, particularly since innervate will, more often than not, be dispelled as soon as it is cast.
I can't see why Blizz is de-emphasizing spirit so much for other classes but shoving it down resto-druids throats for Arenas.
Yupa Oct 27th 2007 8:39PM
For me, I see three talents in resto that can take advantage of this.... the 15% (which will be 30%) mana back within the 5 second rule... this basically makes the spirit also give MP5.... The +15% spirit talent, and the 25% spirit to +heal aura that the tree of life gives, all combine to make spirit a much more important stat than just MP5.... this is why I think this is only going to be on healing arena gear, and not moonkin, as there is nothing in balance that takes advantage of spirit. (Dreamstate gives a lot more emphasis on intelligence)
jtgamble Oct 27th 2007 8:50PM
Quick math on this:
Before the change the 8 pieces had a total of 69 mp5.
After the change the 8 pieces have a total of 173 spi.
For a druid with intensity the formula to calculate mp5 within the 5sr is 5.625 + spi/12, which for 173 spi is:
5.625 + 173/12 = 20.02 mp5 within the 5sr.
Outside the 5sr the formula for mp5, not per tick, is 37.5 + 0.5spi, so for this gear it is:
37.5 + .5(173) = 124 mp5
So, outside of the 5sr this is just shy of a 100% boost to regen, but inside it is less than 1/3 of the mp5 from before. That is a fairly significant drop in regen within the 5sr.
jtgamble Oct 27th 2007 8:54PM
whoops, that math is pre 2.3 (15% from intensity not 30%) so it will be slightly higher, but I haven't readjusted the formulas to show the exact numbers...somebody else may have. Still, either way, you will be getting a fairly substantially lower amount of mp5 with the spi.
Caleb Archon Oct 27th 2007 8:54PM
It always cracks me up when some idiot with Modelviewer shows all of the new sets on the human male model.
iMax Oct 27th 2007 9:20PM
I think the point of the drood gear on the human is because humans can't be druids... it's funny.
GG sense of humor!
Nogun Oct 27th 2007 9:31PM
"5. Spirit is useless for any good resto Druid. MP5 is more important.. Hell.. spirit for anything but a priest is useless.. "
Absolutely because Priests have far superior mana regen from spirit than Druids (ehmn nope, nearly exactly the same as druids since 2.0.1). Is it because Spirit Tap is supposed to be amazing? Because it isn't, for anything but grinding.
Autumnbear Oct 27th 2007 10:25PM
/sign for the Human Druid in the picture! ^_^
Just imagine the MP5 on a Human Druid, combining the racial passive +10% to Spirit in addition to the talent 'Living Spirit', which raises it another whopping +15%. With an extra 10 talent points from Wrath of the Lich King, you could have a Druid with a +25% to Spirit, Intensity, AND Dreamstate.
/drool
Brasson Oct 27th 2007 10:57PM
Noooooo!
I was planning to go shopping for Season 3 gear after the patch to cover for the lack of mana/5 on most of the ZA badge gear. Spirit is... bleh. Better for trees than owlbears.
Memzer Oct 27th 2007 11:35PM
This change has already been reverted...
It's a testing realm - let them test stuff :)