Thanksgivings Yet to Come…

I caught myself thinking this morning(a dangerous activity, I know) about what I wanted to get out of this blog. I mean, yes the original point was to document my attempt at cracking Arenas as a balance druid and that is still important to me, but there are other things I’d like to tackle while I’m here. Whether or not anyone would be interested in reading about them is another story, but one I’m not too concerned with. From the beginning this blog has been as much about me as it has been about the people who read it and I’m certain that people will continue to read or not read as is their want.

So, what are these projects that I’d like to dedicate some time to? Well, most are still in the notepad scribbles phase, but the one that I do intend on focusing a good deal of my time on currently is WoW as an E-Sport. The evolution of gaming as a spectator sport has always interested me and I’d like to do some exploratory writing on the subject and see where it leads. Hopefully you’ll like that too.

On another note, I also appreciate strides taken in WoW fashion. Check out Bellwether’s latest shopping spree through Kara. What is that? New Dungeon Formal?

But I don’t like turkey, Mom..

I realize that WoW is essentially a giant social experiment for profit that pulls at us with all kinds of psychological and mental trickery, but I can usually just close that part of my brain down and get back to drooling at the bell. I spent most of this weekend secluded in my apartment, partly due to the snow and partly due to my overwhelming need to acquire enough Badges of Justice for my Cloak of Subjugated Power(I can’t browse WoWhead from work, so check Dressing the Bird for a link). To sum up my “break” from work, I hate answering requests for “LF1M DPS for Heroic Daily” and being ignored or hearing “Oh, sorry, we meant a mage/hunter/lock/rogue”.

As a balance-spec’d druid, I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t really fit one of the cookie-cutter roles that you’d think of for a 5 man Heroic.

We’re not:

a tanking class - yes, I know Panzerkins, but if I can’t get them to accept an ordinary boomkin, how should I explain that I plan to tank to them?
a dps/cc class – DPS? Yes. CC? No. A mage/warlock/hunter brings this to the table.
a healing class – Not primarily, but that brings me to what I think our actual role is.

We are(brace yourselves, folks):

a HYBRID class – Yes, we don’t fill primary roles. Feral and Resto druids can, in fact, fill these roles. Balance druids however, cannot. I’d like to put forth the idea that Balance druids are the last true hybrids. But what, you ask, does a Balance druid bring to the table?

Let’s start with the obvious ones.

DPS
Innervate
Battle Rez

The Not So Obvious.

+5% chance to crit for all casters in the group(healers included)
Spell interrupts, short-term CC(Nature’s Swiftness goes a long way in this regard, affecting ANY nature spell like Cyclone or Roots)
Backup Healing

The Hidden Value.

Creative use of Battle Rez Wiping? It happens. Usually happens when the healer gets aggro and dies. As a last ditch effort, battle rez the healer but have him wait to rez until the mobs have reset. An emergency druid soulstone! Apparently to be fixed. Booo.
-2% chance to hit(Insect Swarm)
AOE Support(Thorns + Barkskin + Hurricane keeps decent aggro on mobs and lets mages/locks aoe with less trepidation)

So if you do happen to have your primary roles filled but are missing a fourth or fifth member of your elite Heroic-bustin’ terror squad, consider the utility brought by something as innocuous as a wild turkey with a stick.

For those concerned, I did manage to get enough badges for my cloak, but the last 19 came from a full Kara sweep by me and my guildmates. Now I just need 38 more for my trinket and I can say goodbye to Heroics for good.

Simply Outstanding

Just a late night update to point you towards 4 Haelz as one of my favourite Druids has captured our existence in pictures! Original and really enjoyable to look at. Great work, Bellwether!