Using Starfall effectively in PvP

So, I ran like two battlegrounds yesterday, and I think that qualifies me as an expert in balance druid PvP. No, really! Okay, okay, so I am not a high-rated, arena-stomping, feathery beast of death, but I do have some PvP insight. I mean it, really I do. When it comes to PvP, Starfall is a heck of a lot of burst that players aren't likely to ignore any more. Ensuring that you can actually get any use out of Starfall is very imperative. Keeping the Starfall glyph for PvP is entirely optional. I know there are a few avid balance PvPers that swear by it and others who won't touch it with a stick. The choice is really up to you.

In the arena

Kind of like in the mountains, but not at all like in the mountains ... Using Starfall effectively in an arena setting really is going to be a make-it-or-break-it moment. It won't be the only thing that determines a win or a loss, but it's a big deal no matter how you slice the cake (or pie -- some people like pie over cake; I think they're crazy, but to each their own, I guess).

Getting off a Starfall in arenas is all about coordination. You do not want to use it during a time when you are susceptible to being CCed otherwise it is nothing more than wasted mana. Do your best to time up using Starfire with your teammates' burst or with a hard target switch in order to apply additional pressure to multiple targets. Be careful about your own CC, however. If you run with a mage or rogue partner, then you don't want to ruin an amazing burst set-up by breaking a sheep or Blind with Starfall.

There is a separate tactic for using Starfall. Much like Moonkin Form itself, Starfall is an amazingly effective PvP taunt that will most assuredly get people to focus on you. Another strategy for Starfall is to use it in order to force the other team to CC early or at an inopportune time. For all of the complaining about gibbing, arena game play is still all about control. Sometimes, though, control doesn't have to mean CC. By forcing the opposing team to drop their current focus target or their interrupt/CC plan, you can effectively "control" their movements and make a pre-planned counter-offensive to seal the deal. Like anything in life, there are ups and downs to using this method. To plus side is that you can very easily gain the upper hand by forcing your opponent to act in the way you want them to act, thus allowing you to control the flow of the fight. On the other hand, it means that you won't have Starfall available when you are going for a burst kill or a hard switch.

There isn't so much as wrong way in which to use Starfall as there is a wrong time. Starfall isn't an ability that you want to just launch off right at the start like a gun blazing cowboy intent on getting himself shot in the face. This isn't the movies and you aren't John Wayne.

In battlegrounds

Now this is the part that I have fun in. Sure, I may die very frequently and squish like a sack of rotten tomatoes, but I'll be damned if I don't make sure the Horde feels a world of pain before I go down. Using Starfall in a battleground is all about location, location, location -- oh, and which battleground you are in.

If you are in Warsong Gulch, there aren't always too many places where you can hide in order to get a sneaky Starfall off to decimate a group of enemies. Defending the flag is usually a good place, with the little nooks that are within the room plus the advantage of the ledge, but balance druids are fairly crippled by being forced indoors in that manner. If you are going to be defending the flag, then make sure you have some back-up; otherwise, you may find yourself in over your head and dead. Chasing after a flag carrier or defending your own is usually a very good spot to use Starfall. Generally, this is a very chaotic part of the battle. A lot of players tunnel vision easily and aren't looking out at everything that might be rapidly destroying them (not to mention the clustery goodness of multiple players all grouped together just begging for some punishment).

Personally, I've found AB to probably be the least balance druid- or Starfall-friendly battleground. A lot of the encounters will occur on fairly open ground, where the massive size of a Moonkin is going to attract lots of attention. Add in the highly visible glowing moon over your silly-looking head, and you're practically screaming for players to pummel you into bone dust. There's usually the upside of being able to Typhoon players silly enough to stand near some of the high ledges, but that only goes so far. In AB, you really have to rely on your teammates to create the space you'll need to work in. The moat side ramp leading up to BS is usually a fairly decent spot to cower inside, as is the inside of the stables. Of course, there's always the ever-fun bombing run of jumping off LM towards BS with either Levitate or a Parachute Cloak and popping Starfall and you sail by. They don't call us orbital owl beam cannons for nothing, you know.

Without a doubt, AV is really where balance druids can shine. There are far too many applications for Starfall in this BG to list. With various choke points, hiding spots and clusters of enemy players all throughout the map, it's difficult to pick just one to bomb people from. Any time you are able to get some free casting off on a large group of enemies is the perfect time to allow Starfall to work that voodoo that it do so well. (If your first thought was about grammar and not Blazing Saddles, you need to be hurt or something.)

Winding down to EotS (sorry SotA and IoC lovers, I detest these two places far too much to actually set foot in them), the map surprisingly offers a lot of support to the balance style of hiding in plain sight. Nearly all of the nodes have little lips and ledges that are perfect for laying down a surprise assault on the enemy and quickly taking them out before they even realize what's coming. Not only that, but the mid-field usually has enough activity and chaos going on around it that you can generally clear out a whole area of players before they are even given the chance to counter-act you. Always make sure to hang back as much away from the clusters as you can. There's no need to go riding into the middle of a cluster just to see a few pretty lights before it goes all dark and cold.

P.S. Random BG guy, why are you yelling at us?
P.P.S. Zev, I posted your guild chattiness. Don't be hatin'.
P.P.P.S. Yes, I was in SotA, but not by my own choice. The WSG queue was taking too long and that's where the random sent me. I hate that place more than mages hate warlocks.

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Every week, Shifting Perspectives treks across Azeroth in pursuit of truth, beauty and insight concerning the druid class. Sometimes it finds the latter, or something good enough for government work. Whether you're a bear, cat, moonkin, tree or stuck in caster form, we've got the skinny on druid changes in patch 3.3, a look at the disappearance of the bear tank, and thoughts on why you should be playing the class (or why not).

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