Swipe
We aren't going to turn Swipe into Thunder Clap, and I don't think many of you are asking for that (though a few are).
The problem is if we changed the cone or if we changed the threat or if we added another ability, then a large portion of this thread at least would respond "But you didn't fix the problem."
So the kinds of discussions we are having are what changes to make to Swipe (if any) that will solve some of these problems without turning Swipe into Thunder Clap.
It is very easy to look over at another character and think "Man, if I just had that ability, I could do my job so much better." That's a good thing. It means that other classes' abilities are so cool or useful that you want them. But for the same reason we are hesitant to give them to you because then the ability is less special and the classes all end up feeling really similar.
If you ever switch from druid to warrior or paladin or DK, we want you to have to relearn the class. Make sense?I haven't commented on Swipe in some time because a lot of different arguments tend to get mashed together. That in turn makes it hard for us to detect if the ability actually isn't doing its job, or if [some] druids just want it to work differently, or if [some] druids want more different kinds of buttons to push.
Here are the arguments I typically see, roughly ranked in what I think is most to least important.
Swipe doesn't generate enough sustained threat.
Swipe doesn't generate enough burst threat.
Swipe's angle and target requirement make it hard to use.
Swipe is okay, but you want other abilities to throw in there with it (and without giving Swipe a cooldown).
Part of my point was that many of you are posting something to the effect of "All druids agree that the main problem is X," when even within a few posts you see wildly different opinions.
Swipe threat increase
We think we might try increasing threat by 50% because that is something easy to hotfix. That should buy you enough globals to do other things, and provide enough wiggle room if you get a target out of the area for one Swipe. We'll consider additional changes after we've had a chance to see how that plays out.
Tags: Druid