Feedback Requested

Several months ago I wandered over to the European WoW forums and saw that they had Class/Spec feedback threads in each of the forums. As someone who is always thinking about ways to improve his class and the overall limitations of moonkin I thought this was a great idea. I even posted a thread in the general forum asking if they ever did that. Of course it didn't get a response.

However, last week US Blizzard decided to give it a try. WOOT!!

I do not envy the person(s) that have to compile it all as it is already 44 pages long. Plus, I have read quite a few posts that show the poster really wants to play a mage or has very little idea of how moonkins work.

Here is my post, but a couple of things before I get into it. I really tried to stay with in the format provided by Blizzard. As a result, I wrote a lot less than I normally would have. Also, I am not one of those moonkin that think moonkin should be mages or warlocks or Shadow Priest or Elemental Shaman. I think we should have similar abilities since our roles are similar, but I also think there should be distinct differences that make us viable and desirable. Here is my post:

"Primary talent tree: Balance
Content you're primarily pursuing: Raiding
Areas most in need of improvement:

• Raid Utility: Moonkin utility is very lacking when compared to the raid utility of other hybrid classes. The 5% crit is nice but a little underwhelming 3% melee hit is rarely used, Insect Swarm hurts tank rage generation, and Innervate and B-rez are very situational.
• Wasted Talent points. Moonkin are forced to spend 3 points in Nature's Grasp, Control of Nature, and Brambles. All three have very little or no use in raiding.
• Balance Idols: The are either very specific and only useful in one style of play, nurfed with a internal cooldown that makes older idols better, or two broad to provide any value.

List up to five specific spells/abilities/talents you feel most need change, redesign or improvement in the order you feel each is most in need of attention. (MOST to LESS)

• Melee for Mana: A situational ability that can be very hazardous to your health. Most bosses have AOE or Cleaves that make melee risky. Moonkin are Casters and should be treated as such. Having a mana regen mechanic similar to Improved Leader of the Pack would be a good idea.
• Indoor CC: Having I high level Balance talent that allowed roots to be cast indoors or extended the length of Cyclone would work.
• Improved FF: A really hard talent to justify at the higher levels of raiding. Either move it to the feral tree, or have it buff caster damage.
• Subtlety. Should be split into two talents that reduce threat. A damage threat reduction in Tier 2 of the balance tree and a Healing threat reduction, or move the entire talent to tier 2 of the resto tree.
• Force of Nature: They are not controllable and if they do not have anything to attack then the quit, even if another mob comes up later. "

I know that Feral and Resto druids have several issues, but since I don't play those specs at all really so I would have a hard time speaking to them except from what other people have told me. So here is a greater explanation of my moonkin comments.

• From my perceptive our Raid Utility is our biggest problem. This is not to say that moonkin don't currently have raid utility, just that we lack the type of utility that makes people say lets get a moonkin in here. Mages and Locks have CC and some decent buffs. Elemental Shaman have great buffs and can do pretty good damage. Shadow priests have good damage, good debuffs, and give all party members mana. Now what do moonkin bring to the table? Five precent crit, 2% avoidance on the tank,3% hit to melee, an additional B-rez, and an innervate. These are nice, but when you compare it to the other hybrid classes it loses its shine. Really what would your rather have? From a Elemental shaman you could get 100+damage, 3% crit, and 3% Hit, and other totems. From a Shadow priest your get tons of mana, 5% caster damage raid wide, and 10% shadow damage raid wide. Moonkin are nice, but if you have to chose between one of these classes for a raid, the moonkin is going to loose out.
  
• I have mentioned this before in other posts but I hate the fact that I have to put three points in Natures Grasp, Control of Nature, or Brambles. I am not a huge fan of these talents in most situations but I can see their value in PvP. However, in raiding they are practically useless. This would be ok if I didn't want other talents, but I could use a few more points in Subtlety, and I have always hated giving up Celestial Focus. I hope that they come up with some way to adjust the tree that allows me to better spend these points without increasing the number of points needed in other talents.
  
• Moonkin Idols/Relics is our last real itemization issue. There has always been quite a bit of good cloth available and with the new badge rewards no raiding moonkin have should have serious gear issues. However, I am not a big fan of the idols. Even our new "Epic" idol is barely better than the blue starfire idol, and will be worse once they put a cooldown on it. Also, I realize that I can switch idols when casting but I have not come up with a way to avoid the global cooldown while doing it.

I think this is it for now. I will come back and give my thoughts on the Specific ability changes I proposed later. Here is a quick Toon update also.

Graylo - Just raiding and trying to get badges. I did get his Fishing up to 300 yesterday while waiting for the raid to start. So I won't have to go to Moonglade anymore to fish.
Graypal - Has been resting. I did get his Tailoring up to 340 though so I can make any type of bag I need now. I have kind of lost interest in him. I don't know why I ever thought it but I realize that I am not going to raid him at least until the expansion. Since he can now DE anything I need him to and can make any bags or cloth things I need would realistically need him to I have little need to level him up. I still plan on getting him to 70 but it may be slow.
Grayfel - He is coming along. He is up to level 14 now. And is much more interesting. And is getting the little free time I have. I think it helps that he has a gathering profession, not to mention the fact that I could level him really quickly if I sat down and dedicated the time to it.