Comp Playstyles #2: Dancing With The Stars
This is probably my favorite Moonkin comp to play, and should be VERY powerful next season (s13).
Teammates: Sub Rogue, Disc Priest (although other healers can work)
Ideal Talents: Wild Charge, NS, varies, Force of Nature or Incarn, Roar (defensive) or Vortex (offensive), HOTW (defensive) or Vigil (offensive)
Symbiosis: Both are excellent choices. Rogue gives you Cloak of Shadows if you’re playing against a caster cleave and he gets a damage reduction CD in Growl (his version is different than the Druid version). Priest will be the go to against melee cleaves, as he gets CYCLONE!! and you get Mass Dispel (on a 1 min cooldown). Both are very gamebreaking – if they train the rogue, you have MD to get your healer out of cc; if they train you, your healer can clone without fear of diminishing returns; if they train the healer, you can get the healer out of a clutch HoJ or Strangulate or get the Rogue out cc so he can peel the healer.
CC Diminishing Returns: Disorienting Roar & Blind & Fear, Pounce & Cheap Shot, Kidney and Bash
Playstyle: This comp is fantastic because it can burst every minute, with the lineup of Solarbeam and Shadowdance (and Force of Nature if you spec it). In the offensive version of the comp (meaning you’re not playing against something that has very front loaded burst like TSG, triple DPS, or KFC) you’ll be picking up Nature’s Vigil and Ursol’s Vortex as well. Every one of these has a one minute cooldown, allowing you to swap onto any low target with stupid burst every single minute. The defensive version of the comp (for when you need to turtle out some huge front-loaded burst) will want to pick up HOTW for some major off-healing and Disorienting Roar for another awesome peel cc during the enemy team’s cooldowns.
The opener for this comp will always come out of group stealth from the rogue. Ideally he’ll get a sap on one of the dps, while you open with a root>solarbeam (or Vortex>solarbeam if you’re specced for it) on the enemy healer. This gives you the opportunity for your first Shadowdance (and all 1 minute cds – Starfall, Force of Nature and Nature’s Vigil) on one DPS, while the enemy healer starts falling way behind. Coming out of the sap/solarbeam combo, if you can get a cyclone/blind off on the same too people who were already cc’d, you have a very good chance of scoring a kill.
If you don’t score a kill – DONT PANIC!! This comp is not at all about scoring an early kill. If the enemy is able to stop your kill attempt, then start spreading dots/starfall. This is a good opportunity to pop Celestial Alignment and dot everything (including pets). Your rogue can then swap to whatever target makes the most sense for him (based on positioning, relative health, stun DR) and work on setting up the kill for the next Shadowdance/Solarbeam combo. Make sure you are in Eclipse before your Rogue uses Shadowdance, and you should be scoring kills in no time!
Tips:
- Supposedly they are making Starfall not hit cc’d targets in 5.2 – until we see that this is true 100% of the time, the biggest thing to watch out for in this comp is Starfall breaking Sap and Blind. Make sure you are using it wisely (and communicating it well) and that your Rogue is watching for Starfall when he goes for a Blind or Sap (it’s something he’ll become used to as you play the comp more.
- Healer kills are VERY viable for this comp. If you are good about dotting everything during the time between Shadowdance/Solar beam cd’s, there is a good chance the healer will be sitting at 60-70% when you swap to him. A well timed Garrote>Kidney>Solarbeam/Vortex>Paralytic Stun is horrific for a healer to deal with. If your Rogue isn’t peeled properly through this, the healer could be in for over 20 seconds straight of CC (which he will never survive)!!
- Priest having cyclone can be amazing – but watch out for DR. If you are getting trained all game, this is a great time for your Symbiosis to be on the Priest so he can keep cloning while you are unable to. Just make sure you are communicating your clones, the same way a Lock/Spriest have to do with fears when playing Shadowplay.
- Don’t forget your offheals. Even just tossing out occasional Rejuv’s (especially when you can’t cast because you’re being trained) can be huge for your healer.
I hope you have as much fun playing this comp as I do. When you get the hang of it, there is an incredible amount of everything – CC, burst, offhealing, utility, and mobility. Pew, pew!
Lazerchicken 