Further Updates to Druid's Convoke the Spirits Covenant Ability

Beta Posted 2020/06/26 at 5:30 PM by Squishei

Night Fae: Convoke the Spirits Call upon the Night Fae for an eruption of energy, channeling a rapid flurry of 16 Druid spells and abilities over 4 seconds. You will cast Moonfire, Wrath, Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Thrash, Rake, Shred, and Ironfur on appropriate nearby targets, favoring your current specialization.
4 sec Channel, 2 min cooldown.

Blizzard

Thanks for all the feedback on Convoke the Spirits. It will have a further update in an upcoming build, focused on being oriented more around shapeshift forms, and including higher-value spells associated with each particular form.

Most importantly, the spell list is redesigned. It is no longer the same in every form.
–Spells included in every form: Moonfire, Wrath, Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Rake, Thrash
–Caster form only: Wild Growth, Swiftmend
–Cat form only: Ferocious Bite, Shred, Tiger’s Fury
–Bear form only: Mangle, Ironfur
–Moonkin form only: Starsurge, Starfall

When used in any given form, spells assocatied with that form’s role are strongly favored.
Starsurge, Starfall, and Ferocious Bite don’t cost resources. Swiftmend doesn’t remove a HoT. Ferocious Bite does maximum damage. Self-buffs that don’t stack (Tiger’s Fury, Starfall) won’t overwrite themselves.

A bit of discussion about this ability–one dilemma with it is that while it actually chooses abilities somewhat smartly, it can’t claim to do so perfectly smartly. So the tooltip doesn’t promise to always choose the optimal ability, but in reality it does much better than random chance. Some things that were true in prior iterations, and still true now:
–Spells that apply a DoT or HoT are favored on targets that don’t already have it, and generally won’t reapply to targets that do (some exception for Wild Growth).
–It won’t aggro new creatures that aren’t in combat
–It won’t break CC
–Heals will be more favored relative to other spells if there are lower-HP targets
–Thrash is used more often in Bear Form than in Cat Form

As always, let us know how it feels on alpha.

Comment by ChioyAlmost had hope for Feral fixes before fully reading the title of this article...Comment by frostyfire14I appreciate responding to feedback! But what about the eclipse system :(Comment by RodrigoLeafTo me, this spell should be less about tossing random Druid spells (Which sounds fun, but it's probing to be a mess to balance) and more about... actually convoking spirits xD

Something like "Call upon the Night Fae spirits for assistance, channeling a rapid flurry of 16 Wisps that toss themselves to the enemy over 4 seconds. Upon impact, the Wisps explode, releasing their anima and damaging all enemies X yards around". Small vibes of W3 Wisps destroying Archimonde XDComment by Matrixwolfanyone prefer a spam of 16 starsurges over 4 secs lolComment by daughterofhornsI'd like to see maul added in for bear form, though I don't know that it would actually be as useful as I'm thinking it would be. Then again, that would also be spec specific and not form specific.

I feel that over all this is a neat covenant ability, but there's something about it that feels off, and I can't quite put my finger on it.Comment by terryhintzi would definitely like to see REAL symbiosis return, not what we have currently in kindred spirits. form-specific covenants are def moving in the right direction though.Comment by Qminatori would definitely like to see REAL symbiosis return, not what we have currently in kindred spirits. form-specific covenants are def moving in the right direction though.Comment by facetiousgerbilhonestly i like this /shrugComment by timo4545That doesn't sound like it's "fixed" in the slightest. You'll still have 7 thrashes in a row as a boomkin with nothing near you.Comment by FlaxyCan you guys just make up your mind on druid? It feel like druids get completely changed every expansion..Comment by ptioineHow they managed to destroy the ability for resto tough. Like yeah its all cool to cast swiftmend but now it need to consume Regrowth or Rejuv. So u can end up casting what 16 wild growth who are like 7sec healing but cant stack. So u litteral just get 1 cast of wild growth if u havent positioned properlyComment by kingliarCan you guys just make up your mind on druid? It feel like druids get completely changed every expansion..Comment by AzraelUltimaThat doesn't sound like it's "fixed" in the slightest. You'll still have 7 thrashes in a row as a boomkin with nothing near you.Comment by kaleestrazaTo me, this spell should be less about tossing random Druid spells (Which sounds fun, but it's probing to be a mess to balance) and more about... actually convoking spirits xD

Something like "Call upon the Night Fae spirits for assistance, channeling a rapid flurry of 16 Wisps that toss themselves to the enemy over 4 seconds. Upon impact, the Wisps explode, releasing their anima and damaging all enemies X yards around". Small vibes of W3 Wisps destroying Archimonde XDComment by kaleestrazaThat doesn't sound like it's "fixed" in the slightest. You'll still have 7 thrashes in a row as a boomkin with nothing near you.Comment by ExtrabuffHow they managed to destroy the ability for resto tough. Like yeah its all cool to cast swiftmend but now it need to consume Regrowth or Rejuv. So u can end up casting what 16 wild growth who are like 7sec healing but cant stack. So u litteral just get 1 cast of wild growth if u havent positioned properlyComment by Sm0keTrailI think blizzard missed a good opportunity to give non-resto druids some plant flavored spell. Like a big bramble patch or something that slows and dots/hots.
Shouldn't druids in the nature covenant have a pretty planty spell besides entangle?Comment by ExtrabuffThat doesn't sound like it's "fixed" in the slightest. You'll still have 7 thrashes in a row as a boomkin with nothing near you.Comment by KagitaarGood change, but I still don't know why Rake and Thrash are included in the base spells it uses.Comment by ExtrabuffGood change, but I still don't know why Rake and Thrash are included in the base spells it uses.