The Vanilla Stigma "OOMkin"

Balance Druid's stereotype which has carried through to today has been the notion that they run out of mana exceedingly fast, being coined "OOMkin". This is a verifiably false statement with the capability of being able to last nearly 5-minutes in the current state of the game. In hindsight, Smite Priest, Shadow Priest, as well as Elemental Shaman have more mana management opportunities.

Moonkin as well as the Druid talent tree revamp came very late in the progression of Vanilla. The understanding and knowledge of the specialization couldn't be fully realized even partially through the evolution of Vanilla due to these changes. In tandem with a bottom tier played class made for stand out research and data building incredibly sparse and inconsistent.

About the Project

This project was developed not out of the desire to play the Moonkin myself, but to justifiably refute accusations within the community as to how Balance Druid performs in a raid environment and if there was any validity to the claims players would make or if everything was hearsay. I went in with a unbiased opinion of the specs performance and detailed the process backed by mathematics. The entire process of the project undeniably has left me tilted and crazed, but I can say with enough assurance that I can speak to the Balance Druid better than most. I hope you all can appreciate and enjoy the resource.

The Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet is a resource which is primarily for Excel to utilize the power and functionality of VBA macros. The spreadsheet will not work in Google Docs.

By utilizing VBA macros you may optimize your gear down to the exact value of Hit%, Crit%, INT, Spell Damage, Faction, Classic Phase#, Spell Rank#, Buffs, and Debuffs. This is achievable by clicking "Finding Optimal Gear Set" and "Exact Optimization" features present on the 'Character' sheet. Stat weights will automatically correct and reoptimize using the math derivatives which have been written for the tool. You are also able to optimize your trinkets per durational boss fights if you so wish which then can be fed back into your 'Character' optimization.

The Score function is the culmination of the stat weights via each individual item which has been selected. All of these parameters can be saved and called upon at a later load of the resource.

The spreadsheet also comes equipped with a rough estimation of the DPS that you may be able to produce with the given parameters. Please do note that this is not a perfect simulation of damage and does have a inherent margin of error which comes with it.

If your desire is to to explore a more relative DPS Simulation tool, please consider utilizing Beef Broccoli's Moonkin Calculator Tool.

The Trinket Optimization tool is a powerful tool which will allow you to optimize your entire gear line up based around a specific fight, i.e. Ragnaros. You can also optimize within any given duration allowing you to create a trinket rotation for running trash pulls, effectively allowing you to always have a Use trinket in effect.

For a demo of the tool you can view the following archived clip:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/717532285

A rough estimation Moonkin Aura calculator was constructed to demonstrate in which the aura may end up resulting to. Much like the DPS calculations this is not a perfect simulation.

FAQ

Q: The DPS looks low, is that accurate?

A: Yes. Balance Druid won't shock and dazzle. Our most unique fight opportunities come with Chromaggus's Arcane Invulnerability shimmer which is 400% more damage taken and Loatheb's Fungal Bloom buff which should give you a permanent 100% Critical chance to Starfire, reducing its spell cast permanently to 2.5 seconds.

Q: Will guilds accept me for my utility with a Battle Ressurection, Innervate, and Moonkin Aura?

A: No, atleast they shouldn't. Battle Res. and Innervate are handicap utility mechanics which should not be a selling point. Remember that this is not 2006. Innervate is yours in this day of age, not anyone else's. Moonkin Aura also isn't going to replace a full DPS. It's roughly a ~100 DPS increase to a group of Warlocks in the early stages of the game and roughly a ~150 DPS to a group of Fire Mage's in the later stages.

Moonkin Aura loses its value the more Crit% your party has. It has great uses for the casters which have died and lost all of their buffs. It will help close the gap between non-world buffed players versus world buffed players for the remainder of the raid.

Q: Do I really resort to Starfire spam?

A: It's your best source of damage. Wrath has very niche uses during specific occasions. During Phase 1 and Phase 2 we'll have 16 debuffs with no way of filling all 16 slots with optimal effects. At most only 10 can be filled optimally, which leaves 6 open slots. These should theoretically be given to 6 Warlocks and/or 6 Shadow Priests, but if not then there may be room for Moonfire.

Q: Should I go for 16% Spell Hit as soon as possible?

A: It depends on your play style as well as your raid. If you encounter slower kills then you may want to utilize the extra Spell Hit%. If your fights can be calculated then you may want to utilize the 'Spell Hit Optimization' charts to maximize your DPS potential. Be warned though you will essentially be rolling the dice with RNG. You could either be severely punished or severely rewarded for this style of play.

Q: What does Spell Penetration accomplish?

A: Simple answer is it reduces the resistance a target has for your spell cast much like a curse. The spreadsheet currently has spell penetration weighted correctly, but the need for any additional gear with spell penetration on it is rare.

Q: Why is Spirit and MP5 not present in your calculation?

A: Spirit and MP5 only have value if you have run out of mana. This isn't only true for Balance Druid, but for any class. These stats are considered handicaps and hinder your ability to do DPS. It is always more mana efficient to downrank your spell versus trying to stack Spirit and MP5, which leaves no room for prioritizing Spirit and MP5.

Q: Are you sure I will have enough mana for raids?

A: In Classic the majority of fights will take you no longer than 60 seconds to finish. Once your raid has farmed enough gear you'll push over raid bosses like they were trash, i.e. Lucifron dead in 10-15 seconds. There are a few exceptions:

1. Progression during some raids may end up being a bit more mana intensive. In this instance I would educate using R1 Starfire when you've depleted your consumables and Innervate.

2. Loatheb and Patchwerk can be considerably long, to the point where you're just barely finishing the fight with mana. You may have to utilize R1 Starfire in this instance.

Author Notes

If you find any invalid information or technical issues with the spreadsheet. Please feel free to reach out to me directly. Let's work together to make a better visible and reliable resource for our community.

Moonkin Aura, Ignite, and Shadow Oil

Please consider the Moonkin Aura tab as a blanket statement of sorts. Ignite is a incredibly challenging and difficult mechanic to properly determine. For this reason it is essentially busted on the spreadsheet. It also doesn't equate the value of Shadow Oil, which in practice would have direct DPS contribution values from Moonkin Aura via Warlock's increased uptime with Improved Shadow Bolt.

Soul Revival

I did not include this buff as it's from a one time event that will never occur again during a servers life span which you can't save for a later time. Whenever possible during the Scourge Invasion it should always be sought after.

Donation

There is no gated information apart of this project, but if you would like to see further development of the sheet with features that aren't currently accessible, offered, or simply want to show your gratitude in the form of a donation. Then please click the following link to help out the nest.

About the Author

I've played World of Warcraft from Beta through Wrath of the Lich King. Proficient in Restoration Shaman for the majority of my career with my beginnings as a Restoration Druid in Vanilla.

I predominantly played in a hardcore raiding guild, Coalition, on Nostalrius. During the Nostalrius to Elysium transition I became integrated into the Quality Assurance team. During my time on Nostalrius, as well as being apart of the QA team, the development of Balance Druid theorycraft began.

I've been an integral part of the Classic World of Warcraft theorycraft community and have been a reliable resource of information and knowledge on the inner workings of World of Warcraft emulation as well as how technical mechanics worked in Vanilla.

Special Thanks

Daemon, Viper, Nano, Brotalnia, Taladril, Shedo, Zephan, Guybrush, Ayz, Beef Broccoli, Balor, Nost Guilds: Coalition and NOPE, Discords: Classic Theorycrafting and Druid Classic, and Azuregos.

Resources

Classic Balance Druid Spreadsheet Download

Moonkin Calculator

Druid Classic Discord

Classic Theorycrafting Discord