Breakfast Topic: That spec you hate
by Matthew Rossi 
May 20th 2009 at 8:00AM
I'm going to be honest here. I hate the current iteration of arms spec.One of the reasons I hate it is because it works better than my beloved fury spec for what I do in raids, which is dealing damage. It's gotten to the point where I'm usually dual-specced arms/fury, arms for most bosses and fury for trash clears. I haven't specced arms because I like the spec... I find the reliance on procs irritating, always waiting for Sudden Death or Taste for Blood, never knowing when they're going to proc, having a timer on my rend up time so that I never let it fall off but don't waste rage... it's effective, and I know there are lots of warriors that like it. But I don't. Although I do love using Bladestorm while defending a cap in Alterac Valley, I'll admit that. Those poor hordies trying to take Tower Point back did not expect that.
So maybe I don't hate arms spec. But it's not my spec of choice.
The reason I've dual specced arms is because of the recent nerfs to fury. It's not a secret or a surprise, arms just does more damage than fury right now. I'm sure I'm not the only player who's ever used a spec he or she didn't like simply because it performed better in their chosen role playing the game. For that matter, I know lots of players who play a spec and role they hate just because that's the spec/role their guild needed or asked them for. So now I ask you: have you ever had to play with a spec you hated?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics, Instances, Features, Raiding, Classes, Talents
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Nick May 20th 2009 8:05AM
No, and I think as soon as you feel you "have" to do anything you should seriously look at your lifestyle. WoW is a game, some take it more seriously than others, but EVERYONE needs to realise we should only do what we find fun.
Huf May 20th 2009 8:53AM
Sometimes the fun of being in a raid and getting that boss down outweighs the "not fun" of playing a high performance specc that is not your preferred choice. This is however the decision of the individual player.
Snuffey Jun 5th 2009 11:32AM
I am playing as resto on my druid which is not my preferred spec. I love playing as kitty but my guild needs me to heal during raids. Since I continue to play because of the people in my guild this isnt something I hate doing. I like to contribute and I know I am not the only one in our guild that does the same. We were on KT the other night and had to get a mage to change his spec to frost so we'd get replenishment. Our new GM farms for fish feast mats so the entire raid doesnt have to buy mats or food. Another plays his bear tank so we can raid even though he would prefer to play his shammy. But they all do this because the funnest thing in game to us is getting together on vent and kickin some butt.
Matthew Rossi May 20th 2009 10:24AM
I very much enjoy WoW, raiding and my DPS role. It's the way Blizzard had lowered my spec of choice so that I'm hurting my raids if I use it that I dislike.
Kemikalkadet May 20th 2009 10:39AM
Matthew:
You realise fury isn't really behind arms at all in terms of DPS? There are some fights that slightly favour arms and some that slightly favour fury but they come out roughly the same in the end. If there's a lot of movement involved in the fight, or there's multiple targets fury will easily outdo arms. If it's a patch-style stand and nuke then arms will do better.
There's also raid comps to consider, if you don't have a feral druid providing the 5% melee crit then you might be better off staying fury and providing rampage for your raid. You might do slightly less damage personally but the buff you bring to the group outweighs it. Latency/framerate issues can also cripple arms compared to fury due to how tight you need to be on the GCD's.
Neirin May 20th 2009 2:55PM
@Kemi: arms trounces fury on pretty much every boss fight, sorry.
As for procs, taste of blood is fairly easy to keep track of. After the first proc you can do 2-3 other moves depending on your haste (hero/lust mostly). When I don't has SD or Juggernaut or the like up and I have rage to burn my rotaion is OP-slam-slam-OP-repeat, watching for SD procs and refreshing rend.
cam zable May 20th 2009 8:08AM
Mine would half to be affliction. I really like destruction but blizzard keeps nerfing it.
Sentient May 20th 2009 9:31AM
I felt exactly the opposite way when I was still playing my lock. Loved affliction but had to go Shadowbolt Spam.
Lab Monkey May 20th 2009 3:24PM
Deep Destro has been buffed to be the 3.1.2 raiding spec of choice.
jbodar May 20th 2009 6:56PM
Lab Monkey speaks true.
Pantyraider May 20th 2009 8:08AM
I don't hate it, but I've never been fond of Unholy for Death Knights. And back on my warlock, I absolutely loathed SL/SL for arena. So I quit playing arena seriously and have never been on a 2200+ team since and I that's perfectly fine with me.
Reinard May 20th 2009 8:15AM
I'm voting you up because your name+icon combo is absolutely hilarious.
Also 'cause you have a valid point, but yeah. Rofl.
Ben Striegel May 20th 2009 9:16PM
"Pantystealer" lends itself to a similar icon/name combo, and yes maybe I am just trying to dredge up Oakland/Pittsburgh rivalries (OMG SPORTS ON WOWBLOG OMGOMG).
Uma-Fan May 20th 2009 8:12AM
There is one spec I resent completely: Discipline.
Before Wrath info was leaking, I had assumed from the hints provided by Blizz that Disc was going to become the Holy dps spec for Priests. So, when it was announced that Disc would be transformed into a second healing tree for Priests, I was more than a little pissed. I hope Blizz rectifies this in the future, I still want a "smite" spec to shine!
turkeyspit May 20th 2009 10:53AM
While you are entitled to your opinion, you do realize you're being foolish? Not only is Shadow more then sufficient as a DPS Priest spec, Discipline is an entirely new and different way of healing on a Priest. Shifiting from Healing damage taken to Mitigating incoming damage is a huge shift, and is unique to the Priest; no other healer can buffer a Tank from damage the way a Disc Priest can.
Add in the fact that you can PvP as a Disc Priest (which was really hard to do as a straight up Holy) the revamps to Disc is one of the best things Priests have seen in a long time.
People longing for Holy DPS Priests should join the Shockadins on the Short Bus...
Loudfiero May 20th 2009 12:39PM
I love Discpline even more since 3.0....
I can heal a 5 man and still put out 400dps at level 71.
How many other healing specs/classes can do that?
Ash May 20th 2009 8:12AM
I dislike playing survival spec on my hunter. I'm a BM through and through, and that's what I play when I'm not raiding.
The extra DPS is needed though, so I'm dual specced Surv/BM. I really wish BM was still on par with the others so I could play the spec I prefer instead of the spec with the most DPS :/
y2fatboy May 20th 2009 8:34AM
This is exactly the same thing for me! I love BM, I love my Devilsaur, but when raiding I use SV as it still gives the best dps output of all hunter specs... (Although I am becoming fairly attached to my new wolf now...)
Radiophonic May 20th 2009 9:26AM
I enjoy all of the hunter specs, I just wish they were all as fun as BM again. WTB comparable DPS for all three specs.
garfunkel May 20th 2009 9:27AM
i'm with you guys, was very hard to put Loque'nahak in the stables come 3.08
although becoming very attached to SV and my new wolf