I bounced around a few blogs before I came across the subject of Tree Heals Go Woosh asking a few questions about the changes to their character(s) from pre-4.0 to now. In the spirit of Saz, I’m going to look at it from the two characters I’ve maxed and considered my main toons for quite some time (and also pick and choose the questions I’m answering).
Do you feel that your class is better (in that it is more fun to play, more effective, etc.) now than it was at the end of Wrath? Do you feel that your class is better now than it was at the beginning of Cataclysm?
Rogue: As a whole, I think it’s definitely better than it was. The one beef I still have regarding the class is that when we were doing great dps in Burning Crusade people cried foul and instead of pulling the class back a bit, they jacked everyone else. Still, I am not confident taking my Rogue into anything other than regular 5-mans. I can harass a bit in PvP, but otherwise I just feel out of my element in a team environment. I’m confident in my CC abilities, but hitting the high dps marks, I don’t know.
Priests: I think it’s on par in terms of fun compared to pre-4.0 (I’m talking Holy by the way). Is it easier than when Cataclysm launched? Absolutely! No one could understand how Chakras worked and many people (self included) didn’t realize how nerfed Flash Heal became. Once we as players got it sorted out and Blizzard made the appropriate adjustments, Holy Priesting life was good again. I do still miss mp5 to some degree though.
Did you switch mains during Cataclysm? If so, why did you make that choice?
No, I’ve treated my toons the same. My Rogue was always for hammering away the new quest content, and then I rock & roll healing instances with my Priest. I love healing…I hate questing as a healer and refuse to dual spec. If anything, though, I’ve learned to tank in Cataclysm (no end game yet) and find I do enjoy it. That Tauren Paladin is climbing the ranks of character love insanely fast.
What were your class’/spec’s strengths throughout Cataclysm? What were its weaknesses?
Combat: The spec continues to be aces for leveling. I think in terms of PvP and endgame, the other specs offer better alternatives for success. To me that’s quite alright as that means each spec offers something for someone and that’s a huge success. What I consider a “weakness” of the spec is the amount of CC I can perform with the role. In an era where people still measure ability by the dps charts, the role has a number of interrupts and stuns that can make fights easier but at the loss of some damage.
Holy: Weakness? It’s hard for me to say because I don’t have any other type of healer at an endgame to compare to. But I find I’m not as deep mana wise as I used to be, though I’ve worked on better management of that. Strengths? The two healing Chakras are great, Leap of Faith occasionally teaches lazy dps to move, and Blizzard made us Lightwell healers popular again.
How, if at all, did Cataclysm’s revamp of the talent trees affect your class? Did you feel that these were changes for the better or for worse?
Rogue: When Cataclysm launched, I immediately dual-specced for the first time on Siori. I kept Combat because I was familiar with it, but I quickly realized Assassination looked much more appealing for damage output. The removal of weapon specialization hurt the overall combat talent tree in my opinion as each offered a unique way to play the class.
Priest: Once again, Holy just took getting used to. As I said, Chakra’s made a huge difference, and creating a Lightwell friendly environment was a boon. I used it pre-Cata but many players weren’t used to it unless they ran with me with something resembling regularity.
Did your class experience any significant changes or additions to its lore during this expansion? If so, how did you feel about those changes?
Rogue: The big thing people are going to talk about post-Cataclysm for Rogues was our Fangs of the Father. The class specific legendary is still a “want” for me. The only other major thing was Mathias Shaw’s heavy leadership in a portion of Twilight Highlands. I liked it, to be honest. It beat him just sitting in Stormwind not really doing anything.
Priest: Lore wise? Well, two of the original races became Priests: Tauren and Gnomes. One makes sense to me, the other not so much. In that order. I’m sure there’s something involving Priests that I’m brainfarting on in terms of lore, but there was nothing really stand-outish for me this expansion. Let’s face it, the expansion was incredibly Shaman and Druid heavy and I’m quite fine with that. Burning Crusade felt like a darkness vs. light battle to me and Lich King was all about Death Knights and Paladins (for proper reasons). Every class gets/will get their turn in the main spotlight and there’s enough lesser light sprinkled throughout that I’m ok with it.
Is your class easier or harder for a fresh 85 to learn now than it was at the end of Wrath? Is this a good or a bad thing?
Rogue: Honestly, I think Rogues are one of the harder classes to get good at. You can get by easy enough, but to be really good at it takes practice. I’ve seen some hit 85 that look natural. I’ve seen some at 85 that make me think another class might’ve suited that player better. If a character tries to learn Subtlety at 85, I feel for them. That’s a curve, but a rewarding curve.
Priest: If you level as a healer, you’ll have no problem as a healer. I find it’s the people who level dps and then switch at 85 who have the most difficult with the class at that level. There’s so many options Priests have in terms of healing and debuffs and the Chakras and bubbles that you need to learn what works and you also have to mana manage well to be successful.
Overall, do you enjoy the playstyle of your class more now, at the end of Cataclysm, than you did prior to patch 4.0 at the end of Wrath? Why or why not?
Rogue: Again, I still enjoy playing the class as much as I did at the end of Wrath, I just don’t have the confidence to be a raid dps with it. I’d have to do a lot of research and put in a tonne of practice before I felt “good” about that role again.
Priest: Healing in general is just plain fun. When the success or fail of a raid can depend on the one role that doesn’t really have a rotation (at least certainly not compared to dps and “build aggro” of a tank), I love it. The Priest remains my favourite class and I don’t think Cataclysm swayed me in a less or more direction.
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