Eclipse

Eclipse is broken as most moonkin believe, but not in the way that most of them think. Randomness is not the problem. All classes have to deal with randomness to some extent. They all have random procs or crits, and in the long run bad luck will balance out with good luck.

The problems with Eclipse are much more structural. First, Eclipse is way too powerful and dominates the moonkin DPS calculation. Second, the buffs are so large that they limit a moonkin's ability to scale with gear. Third, moonkin are unable to control when Eclipse procs, and are likely to lose a significant portion of the buff to movement or another fight mechanic. Finally, the cooldown on Eclipse limits a moonkin's ability to proc Eclipse, and makes moonkin DPS more variable then that of other classes.

So says Chris Dinwiddie at WoWInsider today. And I'm inclined to agree with him, though I have to take some small measure with his concluding statement above. When Balance players complain about the randomness I think they aren't actually talking about the randomness solely, but are expecting the impact it has on DPS overall. Especially during movement. At least that has been my impression from conversations I've seen on the matter. But other than that small point I'd say Chris is dead on. Raiding as Balance on my own Druid I see this every day and it is annoying. More so when you have to add in the re-application of Moonfire, Insect Storm, and perhaps Fairy Fire on top of it all. I waste three global cooldowns at the very outset of every boss fight before I can even begin to DPS. If I'm lucky I'll get an Eclipse right away and see my numbers jump as I start bombing with Starfire, but most often that isn't the case as I have to interrupt my Wrath casts again to reapply Moonfire and Insect Swarm. Any movement during any of this completely swamps my DPS, and especially if it's during an Eclipse of either variety.

I do not mind the Eclipse mechanic, though I do mind such a big portion of my DPS being tied to it. I understand that movement affects all casters to one degree or another, but no other caster that I am aware of is as affected by movement during critical times in a DPS cycle as Eclipse represents to a Balance Druid. I noted a few weeks back when Blizzard acknowledged this problem but didn't get the sense then, nor do I have it now that a fix to this problem was forthcoming any time soon.