patch 2.0.10 notes on the PTR

[ima_nerd]

Define utility. :) If you mean versatility, then sure, Druids win (and should win since they are one of the most diversified classes in the game). However, I would note that versatility is not the same as utility. Warriors bring utility in the form of a tanking, DPS, and party buffs. A warrior can add a boatload of AP for their group through battle shout or health through the other shout (commanding shout?). In addition, they also bring the Thunderclap debuff (now also from defensive stance) that significantly reduces melee damage taken and Arms warriors have the debuff that increases damage done to mobs by other classes. Compared with those, Druids have mark of the wild (which really isn't that spectacular though it is good) and LotP (which is very, very good). But when it comes right down to it, a shout + thunderclap is a major party buff that I would certainly include as "utility."

I'm assuming a Warrior MT and with TClap in Defensive stance, Warrior OTs no longer bring that. LotP is, I am willing to bet, a larger DPS increase than BS and the healing from Imp LotP is better than an increased HP pool from CS. Healer mana is a precious commodity:)Of course, if you bring the Feral Druid over the Warrior... you have an Innervate!:D

Quick note before we go off on a tangent, Warriors DO have some cooldown skills that are similar in power to Innervate/Rebirth if not the same use in Shield Wall, Recklessnes, Last Stand and Death Wish. Certainly, Recklessness will not help out if a healer is out of mana, but similarly Innervate will not help to burn down the last part of a boss during an enrage or survive the assault when the warrior is tanking.

Shield Wall and Last Stand, while nice, don't have the power, in my opinion, that Rebirth/Innervate do. They can save a tank's life but the problem that caused him to almost die in the first place is still there. Innervate/Rebirth fix the base problem - a healer is dead/OOM. As to the rest of Warrior's cooldowns... they're DPS boosting abilities. In those "Oh shi-" situations, more DPS is very rarely a solution. Not to mention the DPS boost they provide is minimal (0 DPS, even when increased by 1000% is still 0:))

It really is, particularly in the end-game. In my cat gear, I only run with about 10k health and 12k armor, fully buffed. I also have little-to-no crit reduction so I take some big crits. In my bear gear I usually have 14k heath and 24k armor. That's a big, big difference for a class that doesn't pick up -10% damage taken via defensive stance. A Druid cannot last long in a raid encounter if you're not in your tank gear. (for reference, I think I only use the same staff and cloak between my cat and bear gears… and that is only because I have had poor luck at getting better for my tanking gear!)

Ok, good to know. My experience in running with a Feral Druid was all non-raiding instances at level 60. He would always lament how so much of the "best" Feral gear in the game consisted of blues from subraiding instances. I suppose it was that lack of itemization that gave him basically one set for DPS/tanking.