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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Dual specs
by Zach Yonzon 
Feb 17th 2009 at 8:00AM
Mmmm. Dual specs. When this long-awaited feature kicks in with what we hope is Patch 3.1, we're going to be seeing quite a lot of those messages in trade or general. We might even be seeing the reverse, where groups will be looking to pick up players with two specific specs. That's a daunting thought, actually... what if groups want to pick up not just one specific spec but two? Yikes.
But never mind that. It's a good time to be excited. When the time comes, I think we're all going to go out, pay our trainers what looks to be a hefty sum of Gold, and gleefully pick out our two specs. We'll rearrange our action bars, settle on two sets of glyphs, and be along our way announcing to the world our new, versatile nature. In many ways, this makes all classes practical hybrids. My brother-in-law has been speccing between Survival DPS and a fantastic tank damage mitigation Beast Mastery build with Roar of Sacrifice whenever we do Sartharion with 3 drakes.
So here's what I want us to munch on this morning -- what two specs will your classes be picking up? I think I might do PvE / PvP Retribution for my Paladin, Affliction PvE / Demonology PvP for my Warlock, Elemental PvP / Restoration PvE for my Shaman, and PvE / PvP Survival for my Hunter. Everyone in my guild has been looking forward to this feature, and I think it's going to shake things up a bit. What're your dual specs going to be?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Duncan Feb 17th 2009 10:08AM
I play a pally and i'm in a small guild so I fill a few roles. and
i'm looking forward to this. But I agree this could be a problem.
if your in a large guild that just cares about the bottom line, it
could be even more of a problem.
noodles Feb 17th 2009 1:15PM
your pure dps class wont be doing anything unless you can get a healer and tank. do u want more dps to make ur e-peen bigger?
FenSat Feb 17th 2009 1:21PM
@Noodles
No, it's not about something as juvenile as the "e-peen." I think pure DPS classes should do more DPS so there is a compelling reason to bring us. When Blizzard gave hybrids DPS equivalent that of DPS classes, it wasn't as huge an issue, because switching specs was a pain. Now, with dual-specs, If there is no trade-off between taking a pure dps class vs. taking a hybrid that does as much damage when spec'ed DPS, and that hybrid can switch spec's out of combat with relative ease, there is NO reason whatsoever - on paper - to take a pure DPS class to a raid unless you have a shortage of raiders.
Do you happen to play a hybrid, Noodles, one that would feel slighted if pure DPS classes did a little better in terms of DPS than flexible hybrids?
Substandard Feb 17th 2009 9:57AM
I don't understand all the Holy / Prot PVE pallys.
I'm a Prot pally, and I thought about Holy for a few seconds, but it seems like Prot / Ret is a much better setup.
There are several fights that you only need 1 tank on, and so for the other tank(s) to be able to switch to a DPS spec would be valuable on at least Heigan, Lotheb, Maexxna and Sapphiron. There are likely others but 4 seems like enough to make Prot / Ret superior for PVE purposes.
What fights are there where you need extra healers at the moment? None that I can think of.
Hollywood Ron Feb 17th 2009 11:49AM
Well, I'm going prot mostly to AOE grind and to run 5-mans to help gear guild healers.
Dez Feb 17th 2009 10:13AM
Might be PvE Tank/DPS combo if I decide to keep raiding actively, guess in a serious raid-guild they'll expect you to fill 2 roles if you can (least whens dual specs). Rather then using one of your specs for PvP, that won't benefit the guild I guess. If I decide to quit raiding or just do it for funsies, hm maybe a 2H spec and a DW spec, or PvE/PvP, or who knows maybe I go fully PvP and make both specs PvP variants (2 different trees).
Always been rather hardcore PvE but done my share of PvP, while i'm not a big fan i've always had a urge to test my limits and feel the glory. PvP also allows for more freedom, no schedules just log in/out as you please, and get some quick action.
MetalIcecrown Feb 17th 2009 10:16AM
Frostfire Bolt - PvE
Arcane/Fire - PvP
I'm excited.
DanH Feb 17th 2009 10:30AM
I'm not 80 yet, I'm not aiming to *be* 80 any time soon, because I don't see the point in skipping all the old content just so I can start running the same five instances over and over again.
So I'm not dual speccing, because apparently I would find the concept confusing.
Aeternal Feb 17th 2009 10:42AM
Best thing to happen to wow in a good long while.
Going to make living the pug life a lot easier.
Dustin Feb 17th 2009 10:44AM
I'm staying Frost on my Death Knight for tanking, with my off spec probably being a PvE-centered DPS Unholy just because it looks fun.
Sharkhunt Feb 17th 2009 10:47AM
DK, waiting to see the full set of changes being made to our frost tree before making any decision.
Currently 2H Unholy DPS and torn between speccing for off-tank or PvP as second spec. Would love to pick up a survivability spec that has the core tank mitigation talents + some PvP goodies if the new tree will support it.
gogocons Feb 17th 2009 10:54AM
My specs will be PvE Holy(heroics and raids) and PvE Ret(dailies/quests/achievements). It really sucks trying to quest as holy and I don't want to respec until dual specs come out.
vocenoctum Feb 17th 2009 10:56AM
On my lock, affliction main with probably demonology since the gear will be closer, I think.
Priest, like lock, I may dabble in the other specs, but will always be "Holy healer".
Warrior, my prot warrior gnome will now get to dual wield two handed axes to see how cool a gnome looks with two two handed axes!
Druid: probably take my balance druid and dabble in resto.
I lost interest in my hunter-70, but will surely pick her up again, but spec's are up in the are. Maybe a group spec (Marks/survival?) and solo spec (BM, or something, dunno).
Eternauta Feb 17th 2009 11:14AM
At the moment I'm a Pally Tank.
I was thinking about Prot pve/ret pve for soloing, but I'm not having any soloing problem with prot, so I'm considering holy pve for my second spec.
Since I rarely pvp, I think I won't need a dedicated spec for it, specially since Blizz said is going to make prot more pvp-viable.
Dual Specs are a great feature, and I don't see anything bad with it.
As a casual player that hates farming, I'm happy that I'll be able to switch specs for free, since sometimes I'm required in situations where Prot isn't the optimal spec (like raids where only 1 tank is needed, and I'm asked to "stick around and help when necesary").
There's a lot of people worrying about loot distribution, but I don't think that could be a problem when raiding with the guildies, the only real concern for me is PuGs, but that's because most puggers are idiots, retards, or just immature jerks that are capable of bending every rule just to obtain extra loot without being cataloged as "ninjas".
FenSat Feb 17th 2009 11:36AM
What's the downside? If you are playing a hybrid, it's definitely all upside!
However, a lot of us pure DPS classes aren't so much worried about loot distribution as we are of the possibility that now there is even more incentive to have hybrids fill DPS role in raids.
If two players are about equally skilled and you were the raid leader of a raid going to tackle challenging new content for the first time as a guild, who would you bring? A pure DPS class that does x-DPS or a hybrid that does x-DPS PLUS has the ability to change roles as needed between encounters? A pure DPS that does 5k DPS or a hybrid that does 5k DPS who can also respec into healing/tanking on encounters that call for extra healers/tanks, for instance?
This might not be a problem for smaller guilds that have a small player pull to fill primary raiding slots, but if could very well be a problem for pure DPS classes in larger, progress-oriented guilds, unless Blizzard figures out a way to provide an incentive to bring pures over hybrids to fill the DPS role or makes the spec-switching less trivial than the initial announcement would make it appear to be.
"Bring the player, not the class"...unless you are a pure DPS class with no unique utility/higher DPS to offer. :-p
Sark Feb 17th 2009 11:29AM
For my rogue: PVE spec (mut or combat depending on the upcoming combat buffs)\PVP sub spec
Warrior: Prot\Fury-TG
Simple.
I'm a melee DPSer all the way. I have no propensity for healing and I respect my guildmates so will only take gear that I feel befits what my "mains" still are...DPS. I'll be the last "tank" to take anything...leftovers if you will.
The rogue is a little more complicated as I like both mutilate and combat specs. Not many rogues in my guild so I'll have a chance to get whatever gear I want over time, I'm sure.
Lucifyr Feb 17th 2009 11:34AM
I am most looking forward to this dual spec for my priest toon as he will be now able to solo (shadow) and still be a viable member of dungeons and raids (discipline). In the past it got to the point where if you went healer your solo-ability pretty much hit a brick wall and you had become completely dependant on at least one more person to do anything.
Sueisfine Feb 17th 2009 11:32AM
Dual-specs killed the WoW star.
Morcego Feb 17th 2009 11:39AM
Boomkin/Bear most likely. Small change of PvE/PvP is I'm only playing one of those by that time.
jerzz80 Feb 17th 2009 11:48AM
they should wait a little longer to release this, the new content, season 6....u know give people more time to get bored and quit.
im bored as hell with this game. Duel spec/New cotnent/Season 6 are the only things preventing me from quitting.
But lets wait a little longer. piss off people like me some more. seems to be the status quo.