Can’t wait until November? Hot 3.2.2. action here!
In a shocking turn of events, Blizzard has already posted details regarding the next patch—three months in advance. How does this affect us Druids? Unless you’re super pumped about Onyxia (and presumably didn’t farm her for eight thousand years in vanilla), there isn’t much on our horizon save this:
- Predatory Strikes: This talent now also causes the druid’s finishing moves to provide a 7/13/20% chance per combo point to make the next Nature spell with a cast time below 10 seconds instant cast.
What’s great about this change is the fact that it will be baked into a fairly essential Feral talent: you won’t need to spend extra points to take something gimmicky. Now, although this is seemingly designed to give Ferals a PVP utility boost, how helpful is it really?
Say, for example, you’re participating in an arena match. You’ve managed to get five combo points on a Mage (without having to switch targets), and you hit him with a Maim. Your pocket healer is busy kiting an Enhance Shaman. At that point, you have a few choices. You can pop out of Cat form and hit yourself or your teammates with a cast-free Regrowth, Healing Touch or Nourish. You could also use that instant cast for a Cyclone or Entangling Roots—note that the blue post specifies “Nature spells.” It’s essentially Nature’s Swiftness. So fully talented, you’ve got a 20%/40%/60%/80%/100% chance to get an instant cast per combo point.
Is this useful in a PVE scenario? Situationally. If you’re going through a normal rotation, find yourself with five combo points and realize you’re about to die, you’ve got nothing to lose giving yourself (or anyone else, including the tank) a cheap, instant heal. It does, however, require that you’re paying attention to your combo points and thinking ahead. Bottom line? It’s a gimmick you’ll seldom pointedly use in PVE but may actively pursue in PVP.
Just three more months.
I would think that the big PvE use would be for an instant Rebirth.
Absolutely. For PVE instant Rebirths or perhaps personal instant Healing Touch heals will be fantastic. Like the article says, it’s a gimmick, but a fun and even somewhat useful one.
“20%/40%/60%/80% chance to get an instant cast per combo point”
Hrmm.. maybe it’s just me but isn’t 5 combo points = 100% chance to get an instant cast?
Yep! Just a typo and/or unwitting omission. Great catch.
[...] Predatory Strikes: This talent now also causes the Druid’s finishing moves to provide a 7/13/20% chance per combo point to make the next Nature spell with a cast time below 10 seconds instant cast. Potentially super cool for PVP, and situationally useful for PVE. For slightly more discussion, check out my post: Can’t wait until November? Hot 3.2.2 action here! [...]