04-24-2006, 07:42 AM
MongoJerry,Apr 24 2006, 05:30 PM Wrote:I don't like the idea of a switching item for druids like the Benediction/Anathema staff, because druids by their nature are supposed to be able to switch roles and forms mid-fight. I think it'd be much better for the item to be similar to the Mace of Unending Life where the weapon automatically switches depending on what form your in -- perhaps bear & cat (melee), human (healer), and moonkin (damage dealing) forms.
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Different take on Druids, basically. I don't think of Druids as a hybrid class (several jobs at once) but as a modular class (can switch between jobs). A Shaman or Paladin can do melee damage or tank while mixing in spell casting; a Druid is much less efficient at that due to shifting costs, casts reseting the melee swing timer and not having melee damage or survivability when in caster form.
So with my Druid I collected gear for each job I did - tanking and healing in particular. As a groups main tank it's rare for shifting out mid fight to be a good idea and my base mana pool was already enough for brief shifts. Combat shifting when a group's sole healer isn't often a good move either. Hybrid gear would be useful when mixing Cat DPS with backup tanking/healing (basically when my job in that party was to be the hybrid), but wearing a mix of Tank and Healer pieces approximated that without needing bag space of it's own.