It IS getting the shaft, from the Druid perspective. If Bearform tanking isn't raid boss viable, and Catform DPS completely undesirable in that same raid, what functionality is there for a Feral Druid? Being the "best tank" for 5-man content is not a niche. That's kind of like saying that Mages should be happy because it's easy for them to kill Hogger.

What this smacks of, to me, is Blizzard continuing to not itemize for Feral Druids - only this time they're not even going to bother to pick up the slack afterward. With three plate-tanking classes in the game instead of two, Druids are likely being marginalized for developmental convenience.

Hell, before Blizzard patched in some leatherworking recipies, the best pre-Tier Druid tanking chestpiece in BC came from a quest in Hellfire Peninsula. And even then, the Heavy Clefthoof was a blue and felt like it until you either downed Mag or (eventually) got badge loot. And at that point, you're pretty much socketing for Defense.

In short, Druid itemization for tanking is pretty much still a mess, and the fear is that Blizzard is just saying, "Screw it! Make 'em tank trash."

Reply