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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsRaid Rx: What druid and shaman cooldowns would you like to see?
by Matt Low 
Feb 18th 2011 at 2:00PM
No beating around the bush today. There were some upcoming healer changes that were announced earlier in the week. I can tell you as of right now, I'm worried about the Power Word: Shield change -- not because I think discipline priests will remain overpowered, but because holy might go the route. I'll explain that later on in the post.
The main focus of today's post is defensive cooldowns for shaman and druids. I'm sure a number of players don't believe there's a need for the two classes to get defensive cooldowns, but in order to compete for utility, I think druids and shaman would benefit greatly from having those spells available. The argument here is that since the four healers are approximately the same across the board (from a throughput perspective), the edge might be given to paladins and priests because of the additional cooldowns they have to offer. Shaman and druids might end up being even more attractive in 10-player raids.
The case for cooldowns
When I'm referring to healing cooldowns, I don't mean spells like Innervate or Mana Tide totem. Those are great utility spells. Instead, I'm referring to defensive cooldowns that can be used to keep tanks or other players alive. There are three main mechanics that come to mind:
- damage absorption
- damage reduction (Pain Suppression)
- healing increase (Guardian Spirit)
NethaeraWe agree with the sentiment among some players that Restoration druids and Restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. The shaman buff and Power Word: Shield adjustment above should bring all healers reasonably close in terms of throughput. The decision on who to bring then might end up being dictated by the strong cooldowns offered by paladins or priests. This isn't the kind of thing we can address via a hotix, but it is something we are looking at for the next major content patch.
I know as a raid leader that my decision to bring one healer over another in the past has been dictated by the additional utility that some classes have to offer. By offering utility capabilities to shamans and druids, the decision would be that much more interesting. Would that mean additional homogenization? Yes and no -- yes in the sense that this would mean all classes have the capability to assist the tank through really hard phases, but no because they can save players through other means than damage absorption, damage reduction, or increased healing.
But yeah, it is high time for druids and shamans to get something else. Each healing class should have the tools to accomplish certain objectives, like AoE healing, tank healing, fast healing, and so forth. Player saving shouldn't be any different. I hope that new designs wouldn't resort to being Pain Suppression clones, but I wouldn't be entirely opposed to it even as a temporary measure.
This is where we can innovate and think of some other ways to accomplish this goal that's in line with individual class philosophy.
Ideas for druids
Let's use Barkskin as an example. Barkskin cuts down incoming damage by 20% to the druid. It has a 1-minute cooldown and can be used in all forms. That is one spell I wouldn't mind seeing castable on others. I know I'm not the only one who feels the same. But the 1-minute cooldown timer and the fact that the spell is usable in any form means it becomes a touch overpowered.
How about modifying the Barkskin glyph? Increase the cooldown timer to 3 minutes. Increase the damage reduction to 40%. Make it usable only in humanoid form, and allow it to be used on other targets. Clearly, that needs some further balance modifications. I confess, I'm not as well versed with restoration talents, but glyphs are another avenue to explore. A major glyph slot, perhaps?
Actually, it might just be easier to add another spell or talent specifically in the talent tree instead. Another spell might be the more simple solution instead of modifying another spell.
Ideas for shaman
When asked about the a cooldown wish, all that WoW Insider resto shaman specialist Joe Perez had to say was:
Joe's got some interesting ideas for cool resto shaman cooldowns. One idea he suggested that I liked is Aegis of the Tempest. Essentially, it increases the dodge rate and reduces incoming damage. I had the wacky idea of a water elemental totem. What would said elemental do? I have no idea. Perhaps the elemental could absorb a percentage of incoming damage within a certain radius before it dissolves or something.Make Riptide a baseline spell or a resto specialization. Replace the talent slot with the new defensive cooldown.
A note about priests
For priests, the Power Word: Shield cost reduction benefits from the Body and Soul talent absolutely terrify me. Once holy priests go down that tree, they can still invest points in the following talents:
I think Power Word: Shield is too powerful for holy. Cheaper shields from Body and Soul and Mental Agility? Stronger shields from Improved Power Word Shield? I just have a bad feeling about that.
But hey, hopefully I'm really wrong about that.
I can't wait for 4.1.0. No idea when that will come out, but it's another patch to look forward to for healers. With luck, we'll get a sneak preview of what they have in store. A variety of different solutions are available. Talents, spells or glyphs can be used to make adjustments.
What ideas would you suggest for druids and shaman so that they have similar capabilities to priests and paladins?
Need advice on working with the healers in your guild? Raid Rx has you covered. Send your questions about raid healing to mattl@wowinsider.com. For less healer-centric raiding advice, visit Ready Check for advanced tactics and advice for the endgame raider.Filed under: Druid, Priest, Shaman, Raid Rx (Raid Healing)
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 6)
BB Crisp Feb 18th 2011 4:42PM
I have an idea for druids. How about a buff that temporarily increases the effect of all druid hots on the target (2x or 3x healing for 10 seconds, something like that)? I get that it's not exactly defensive, but I think it's a nice different way for it to work with the druid play style. Maybe combine it with an absorption effect? Say, first it absorbs an amount equal to 25% of the casters health and when that breaks it increases the impact of hots on the target. Or both effects work concurrently, to provide temporary absorption and boost the hots. I'm just pulling these numbers out of the air, but I think it could work.
Lissanna Feb 18th 2011 5:11PM
The tree form's inherent healing increase effectively already does this (only it buffs both your HOTs & direct heals).
Parker Feb 18th 2011 4:48PM
also, I'd like it if we could force the bloom on our Lifebloom. The drawback might be that it triggers a sort of long cooldown on the spell. It's just frustrating to want to cast a direct heal, but also want lifebloom to pop.
Loradio Feb 19th 2011 12:53AM
Cool downs, everyone loves cool downs... bah. more junk to cast on people.. well ok, how about something that makes the healer do free insta casts for 5-10 seconds....or shamans could get a cd that increases the Magic resist of their totems by 1000%. and the Armor value of stoneskin Totem by 1000%.. OR make a Cool down that turns the shaman into an ELEMENTAL and INCREASES HEALING AND CASTING SPEED BY 100% WHILE ALSO EMITTING AN AURA OF PROTECTION FOR RAID MEMBERS WITHING 40 YARDS. omg that would be epic... Wind Elemental Form...laba laba laba laba laba laba..
oh maybe a cd that makes the boss heal the party instead of damage...
or grant the party member the ability to convert damage to health at a 100% rate.
oh the possibilities are endless.
Druids could turn into a dragon instead of a tree, and do super healing... that would be fun.
or a CD where all of the druids hots insta cast on everyone in the raid at once
or CD where the druid casts a buff on a tank and the incomming damage is spread evenly among the raid... as if that wouldnt be cool hots would be able to pick up that healing easily.
Oh the fun you could have
Robert Staszek Feb 18th 2011 4:49PM
I play a resto shaman and I think we could benefit from a Mage-type of spell. Mage's have Mirror Image, right? Well, I think that Shaman should have a "Soul" Totem. The Soul Totem would be in the Air family and would go something like this:
Soul Totem
Creates a silhouette of the caster for 20 secs. that absorbs all incoming damage and reduces threat by 75%. Also regenerates 25% of the casters base mana. Cooldown 5 minutes.
Lemme know your thoughts....
Onebaddude Feb 18th 2011 5:00PM
I think earth shield should transform the tank into an earth elemental. 15 sec duration, 10 min cooldown. Reduces damage by 40%.
Jabadabadana Feb 18th 2011 5:06PM
Just gonna throw some noodles at the wall...
Druids
Hmm, make thorns increase parry (including giving people w/o parry, parry) (something to increase cd length).
While in tree form single target direct heals create bubbles.
Heals cast with Nature's Swiftness create a bubble equal to the heal.
Make life giving seed a castable spell that acts like a super earth shield charge.
Shamans
Heals cast with Nature's Swiftness create a bubble equal to the heal.
Spirit/Soul Link
Astral Shift, target phases out and gets increased chance to be miss (or maybe 100% for next shot)
I like the water elemental idea, or similar with an air elemental.
Don't know if any of that's sticky enough, but worth a shot.
Danthrax Feb 18th 2011 5:19PM
hehe, so, if you want to bubble spam, the idea is to go holy instead of disc? How can they not have put Soul Warding deeper into the disc tree? I really don't like the idea that Holy can out-mitigate disc, when the description of a disc priest, and mastery, is all related to damage prevention...
Oh Blizz, you just can't get it right can you :P
AniMayhemZ Feb 18th 2011 5:30PM
I really like Joe's idea of Riptide being available to all specs. As a enhance PvPer Riptide and Tidal Focus would be nice to have around to work into the PvP battle rotation.
My thoughts on the CD from a Resto Shaman Perspective I would like to keep things in the tradition realm of Warcraft. Therefore I would prefer a Spirit Link or Ethereal Form.
Spirit Link - Instead of sharing damage without characters have this Summon a Guardian Spirit to split the damage and increase healing on target until it absorbs X amount of damage and dissipates.
Or in the line of Spirit Wolves make make the Guardian Spirit a temporary pet with a few healing abilities that it can use while it remains alive.
Ethereal Form - replace Spirit Walker's Grace still allowing movement during spell casting but also increase spell power when active similar to Druid's Tree of Life. Replace the armor buff with the armor buff with a immunity to stun/fear/polymorph effects and use a graphic with a cool blue translucent image of the character similar to ShadowForm. This CD could be of use for Elemental Shaman has well who are in need of CDs as well. Enhance shammies would actually use something like this compared to mostly ignoring Spirit Walker's Grace our level 85 ability which still doesn't do much of anything.
ozone Feb 18th 2011 5:55PM
I have an idea maybe they can just remove all the classes except 1 healer, 1 dps, and 1 tank then everyone will be happy because everyone will be the same, oh wait that seems to be what they are doing.
Give me a break, where is the fun if all classes have the same utility/spells/cc's? They should give rogues a tank spec cause its not fair DK's, warriors and druids do so all melee should.
Matticus Feb 18th 2011 5:59PM
I'm not advocating for the same spell, utility or CC's. My argument is that druids and shamans would benefit strongly with a tank saving cooldown. How that's done is entirely up to the developers.
I didn't say give pain suppression to everyone.
ozone Feb 18th 2011 6:12PM
@Matticus
I'm sorry if it sounded like I was attacking you and what your were saying personally because I wasn't. It was more directed at the overall picture in what blizzard has done to the game. Once they opened that "balance all the classes" can of worms it was all down hill and no turning back now.
ozone Feb 19th 2011 9:07AM
Downgraded cause you know its true but you all have no idea what make a good game. Its almost as blizzard is making WOW into a communist game.
Taitle Feb 26th 2011 4:27PM
I enjoy bad movies, does that automatically mean I'm ignorant to what makes a movie good?
Blizzard may be homogenizing the classes and specs somewhat, but that's only because the previous disparity between them was somewhat ridiculous. If you're complaining, I'll bet you've never been benched or asked to reroll because of the class or spec you play. I love my BM hunter, but he would have never gotten a raid slot in Wrath over, say, a fire mage, if it came down to it. That just feels bad, and when you invest as much time into a character as you do in this game, that bad feeling shouldn't happen. I don't fault Blizz in the slightest for trying to minimize that, even if they've not been entirely successful- my BM hunter *still* won't get picked over that fire mage.
I do agree with the sentiment that if Shaman and Druid get cooldowns, they need to be different in some way. Shaman could easily get Spirit Link as a sort of Hand of Sacrifice Mark II, but that's not interesting. The healers who already have enough cooldowns don't have any real overlap in how they work, so why should Shaman and Druid get saddled with renamed Priest and Pally abilities? I happen to like the idea of tying some damage reduction to Thorns for Resto Druids, and that would be different enough from the other healer damage reduction cooldowns to stand out. Not sure what could be done for Shaman, they're the only healer I haven't managed to really try.
Matticus Feb 18th 2011 6:08PM
You mean like:
Renew, Rejuv, Riptide and whatever the Holy Pally spell is.
Divine Plea, Innervate, Hymn of Hope, Mana Tide totem.
Each healing class has a way of handling a certain job. Each class can AoE heal. It can single target heal. It can apply slow, gradual heals.
How they accomplish that is different.
That's what I'm advocating for here. I'm not saying do a direct rip off of guardian spirit or pain suppression. I'm saying there should be another method by which a healer can influence the survivability of a tank during intense situations, be it through mitigation, extra healing, or damage splitting or whatever innovative and creative idea isn't out there.
I'm the last person in the game that would ask for direct carbon copies. There is still room for growth and creativity. But right now, in the more challenging modes, I'm more inclined to bring a priest and a paladin because they can single handedly prevent a wipe with defensive cooldowns that druids and shamans do not currently have.
murmaiderxx Feb 18th 2011 6:54PM
As a shaman I would like to see our crit cool down come back. I know our mastery plays a big role for that now, but I was disappointed to see it go. Any other cool downs I don't think we need really. Spiritwalker's grace is alright, but is more of a gimmick since priest's also has something similar.
isissaurfang Feb 18th 2011 8:18PM
Make Barkskin castable on other players, and replace Living Seed with something that drops threat please ...
Resto druids with multiple HoTs running = aggro magnet
themightysven Feb 18th 2011 8:11PM
How about (for Shaman)
Crashing Waves:
10 sec duration 5 min CD
Summons a Water Revenant at the location of your current Earth Shield target. The Revenant casts non-damaging Waves which taunt all enemies within 30 yds. The Revenant is immune to all damage.
it could be used as a "I need more time" button, or a "add are loose and need to get over to the Tank" button
lalalamonkey Feb 18th 2011 9:08PM
Raid-wide barkskin!!!!!
Neirin Feb 18th 2011 9:45PM
I'm against making barkskin a healer cd because it takes a non-feral druid's only personal survival cd and turns it into something they wouldn't want to use on themselves because they're saving it for a tank instead. Why would we want to incentivize people to just eat all the damage from things like Maloriak's Fire Blast or Nef's Crackle? In the cata age of personal responsibility for your own death, we want to make sure people have the tools at hand to keep themselves alive in a pinch.
What about making Nature's Swiftness good? Add a short dmg reduction effect on the target of your instant heal and you're good to go. Don't even need to mess with the talent tree.