05-03-2006, 10:52 AM
ima_nerd,May 2 2006, 04:20 PM Wrote:I consider TM for Warriors on par with IAE for Mages. Being level 60 without it gimps you completely in both PvE and PvP. Being without Cold Blood isn't an issue - my Rogue is cuurently specced combat and doesn't miss CB. Try playing a Warrior without TM or a Mage without IAE ... that's a world of hurt.I disagree on the TM part for PvE. Leveled from 1-60 without it. Have tanked and offtanked in MC/ZG/AQ20/AQ40 without it. Flurry + defiance is not a world of hurt - it's fun and effective at PvE encounters. Gimped in PvP I fully concede.
I've spent months in more conventional specs (31/5/15 & 17/3/31 primarily) and have found that people vastly overstate the significance of the PvE downsides of no TM (straw man arguments such as impossible to thunderclap, etc), while ignoring the offsetting benefits of a well constructed non-TM build.
Of course, we haven't reached the end of AQ40, and supposedly there are some TM "mandatory" fights towards the end there. People were saying the same thing about BWL back when our guild was still doing MC, and that has proven to be a bunch of bunk - so I take most all "mandatory" talk with a huge grain of salt.
In general, I think a group without min/maxed talents on every toon of every class may take another wipe or two per boss to develop a strategy that works for them, as many "essential" abilities such as shield wall and innervate are really band-aids for poor execution elsewhere that turn close wipes into kills. The spec-permissive guilds who progress as fast as or faster than the spec-restricting guilds pretty much debunk the commonly held attitude that it's raid spec or never be able to wear anything but blues.