Play What You Love

It may seem rather obvious to a lot of people, but it took quite some time for this to sink in for me. I've been playing a boomkin all summer and I've had a love/hate relationship with it. I've been disheartened by being on the bottom of the meters. I've been frustrated with having to respec in order to feel useful in PVP (resto) or in smaller groups of PVE (feral). I've been aggravated with the limitations of my class especially due to mana regeneration issues.

Then I realized that I wasn't really trying to play a boomkin. I wasn't focusing on the neat little things that make me happy to play this class. I wasn't putting in the extra effort that my beloved hybrid needs in order to show off.

I mean, when I was feral, I ground for badges every day. I'd PUG heroics, I'd grind through Karazhan, I'd do ZA every reset. I made balancing resilience and defense into a game and enjoyed it when I could just jam my gear full of stamina (since I was high enough on avoidance for my content). I developed my own ideas and then verified them with theorycraft, often learning from my mistakes along the way. As a result, I ended up doing a lot of things that my friends told me I simply should not be able to do. I mean, a feral druid coming in top three on Leotheras? That's just silly!

I also would grind for consumables. Grind for upgrades. Grind rep. I was determined to make my character something to be proud of. And I really really enjoyed myself then.

It was then that I realized that my problems with the boomkin were all fixable... with just a change of attitude on my part. It seems really obvious now, but it took me by surprise.

I've been disheartened by being on the bottom of the meters.
And yet I wasn't using consumables. I'd throw on some Mana Oil and maybe Flask on major progression fights. Granted, Dauntless has a habit of tearing down non-end bosses in the first night of attempts, so I could get away with this terrible habit on the others. I wouldn't even eat buff food, because I knew the boss would die with or without my help.

I've been frustrated with having to respec in order to feel useful in PVP (resto) or in smaller groups of PVE (feral).
And yet I didn't even bother to look at the impact of the boomkin in both these situations. I don't need to respec to heal in BGs, as the boomkin is still rather capable of this, not to mention it can defend itself much better. And while my lack of CC and aggro control makes PVE a little difficult, I can manage it (only 7 deaths in Kara this week).

I've been aggravated with the limitations of my class especially due to mana regeneration issues.
This is tied into the consumables issue, cause a regeneration flask does make life a lot easier. I've also learned how to use my pots and innervate more efficiently to keep myself going longer. Though this is also impacted by the lack of stats on my Spellstrike set, which yes I am still wearing because Archimonde refuses to drop Vanquisher hats and we've only downed Council three times.

I began to question my attitude and resolved to try to improve it. On Sunday, I made sure to keep the whisper conversations I was having light and amusing. Then I popped a flask for the last two hours of our raid. I usually sit around #13 on our damage meters. That night? I flew up to #6. This included Council, which is possibly the Worst Fight Ever for mana consumption.

Tonight we did Illidan attempts for three hours. I ended up in #3. Sure, this fight is biased towards ranged, but the fact that my poor Spellstrike wearing feathery self can come in so high in damage made me so happy. And as the fight went on I went through the little things that make me enjoy the boomkin class: the interesting rotation, the intricacies of when to pot/innervate and when not, the fact that I'm a support class that still provide some oomf, and my really cool dance.

Basically, by the end of the night I was feeling a lot better about my main. And it felt really really good to have a smile on my face while raiding again. :)