10-03-2006, 07:56 PM
Quote:It's not just those. You're missing out on:
Healing Touch
Remove Curse
Abolish Poison / Cleanse Poison
Innervate
Reincarnate
Tell me, how "mana efficient" is this form going to be when you need to shift out and back in just to Innervate and Res, two mainstays of the druid healer.
And the increase in player survivability -> are we sure that will carry over to raids? Excuse me if I'm doubtful, but there's two ways to make healing a challenge: spike damage and high enough DPS that mana efficiency becomes a big issue. Are you so sure Blizzard is removing the spike damage, which is necessary to allow HoTs to become non-risky mainstays for healing?
Then there's the 50% slow on top of that. Again, are you so sure Blizzard is going to kill one challenge of raiding - mobility - just to make this tree form work?
I'm pretty sure that tree form will be attractive enough to have at least one tree per raid. Which actually seems OK to me, given the changes in raid size. Blizzard must walk a fine line with the resto 41-pt talent--The tree must be good, but not too good. If the tree improved all support aspects of the Druid, they risk making it mandatory and consigning all druids to tree status in raids. If all a raid's druids *do* want to be trees, other healers can handle big heals, the Mages can decurse, and the new guys (Shaman or Paladins) can remove poisons. The Grove can handle all healing over time and bandaid spike damage with swiftmend while other healers handle the big heals.
As for mana efficiency in regard to innervate and rebirth, I think it'll be pretty darn good given cooldowns, the improvements to druid spirit regen, the tree's own efficiencies, and the incentive for a raid's Main Tree to have high spirit for the +healing bonus to the healer party. That being said, I think giving the tree innervate would be quite reasonable. Innervate's basically a HoT for healers, right?;)
And regarding mobility: Yes, the Tree will be slow, but not stationary, and the aura extends for 40 yards. Other healers will still be able to run around. And because the tree can only cast instant-cast spells, it can keep moving while others need to stop and cast.