Herbalism Buffs & Debuffs

I have encountered a few of these buffs, and was wondering if there were others. The basic details are:

“Buffs and extra items include:

• Felweed, which has a chance to give you Fel Thistle, which absorbs 750 to 1250 damage and lasts 15 seconds.
• Flame Cap, which is a potion in its own right — it gives you increased fire spell damage by 80 and a chance to strike a ranged or melee target with 40 additional fire damage on weapon hit, but only for one minute.
• Dreaming Glory, which increases your health regeneration by 30hp/5 for fifteen minutes when you pick it.
• Mana Thistle, which restores a random amount of mana when picked.

Then there are two herbs which can debuff you. Unfortunately, these are high-level herbs that are required a lot.

• Nightmare Vine poisons you for 800 shadow damage over 8 seconds.
• Netherbloom gives you a totally random 15 minute buff or debuff that gives you plus or minus 50 to any stat. It can either be completely crippling or very nice, depending on what it is.”

The Dreaming Glory buff happens with every pick of the herb. The Fel Thistle is actually Fel Blossom. Based on WoWHead it appears about 10% of the time, although my experience seems much lower. I’ve only received one and I’ve picked a good number of Felweed.

Aldor or Scryer

I’m almost to level 64 and have finished up a good number of the quests around Orebar Harborage. I had been looking for a change of scenery, so a couple nights back I ventured over to the Allerian Stronghold. From there, it was a quick ride to Shattrath City. And once inside Shattrath I quickly ran into what seems to be the question of the expansion: Aldor or Scryer?

Even before the end of beta, there were reports and articles far and wide discussing the issue.
So now that I had ventured into Shattrath City, I figured it was time for me to figure out which side my allegiance should lie. I blocked out a couple hours on my calendar, made a fresh pot of coffee, put on some Ted Nugent (why does Cat Scratch Fever always pop into my head when I read or type Shattrath City?), and settled in for what I assumed would be some serious decision-making.

You know what I think? I think it really doesn’t matter all that much which one you choose.

I know, I know - you stats junkies out there will scream about how the different factions offer bonuses to different attributes, and I should pay more attention. By my own admission, I’m a somewhat casual player at a couple hours at night during the week and one extended session per weekend. I don’t know the effects and nuances of every attribute off the top of my head. Nor have I internalized all the formulas for computed attributes that are based on other attributes. When I’m evaluating a piece of equipment, I rely on the Tankpoints and Healpoints calculators, fellow guild members, and a fair amount of gut instinct. That being said, my goal isn’t to have the “perfect” configuration, it’s to have fun. If you’re looking at two good pieces of gear, I really don’t think you can make a “wrong” decision - I think each piece of gear will help you in different ways. Obviously, some gear is better or even required for certain encounters, but that is just common sense.

Also, I’m a pure gatherer - herbalism and skinning. So crafting recipies don’t figure into my evaluation and maybe they do for you.

So I took another look. I still don’t think it matters all that much.

I see things like the Aldor healing inscription available at lvl 64 and Honored adding up to 29 healing to a shoulder slot and the comparable Scryer inscription adding 5 mana per 5. Okay, I can see a difference there between straight healing per spell help good in the short term versus the mana regeneration good for longer combats. But at level 70 and exalted, those differences start to fade with the Aldor inscription adding 33 healing and 5 mp5 and the Scryer adding 22 healing and 6 mp5. That’s just not a whole lot for me to get excited about.

Bear form tank - Aldor offers dodge at honored and throws in some defense at Exalted. Scryer offers defense at honored and throws in dodge at exalted.

Cat form DPS - Aldor offers an increase of attack power at honored and adds a plus to critical strike at exalted. Guess what? Scryer offers critical strike at honored and adds attack power at exalted. /yawn

UPDATE: In putting together the bear and cat gear list, one of the recommended rings for cat form, Overseer’s Signet, is only available to Aldors.

From my perspective, I really only see one decision point, and that is the two staves offered:

1. If your thing is healing and you’re looking for a huge +healing bump, then check out the Scryer Seer’s Cane. With +228 to healing and 10 mana per 5 second, this could make the decision for you.
2. If you’re a Moonkin or a Druid that likes to blast away at stuff, then the competing Aldor staff, the Auchenai Staff may be what you’re looking for. Spell hit rating +19, spell critical strike +26 and increase to spell healing and damage effects of 121. Noice!

Like I said, I’m not a crafter, but if I was I would also be taking the following into consideration:

1. If I was an alchemist and absolutely had to have every recipie, then I would go Scryer. They have the only recipie offered: Elixir of Major Firepower.
2. Each faction has one armor kit for the leatherworking profession. These are quite different with the Aldor’s being a plus to defense and the Scryer’s a mana regeneration bonus.
3. Also be aware that all the other crafted items are bind on pickup, not bind on equip.

And that’s about it, at least for me. Yea, “what about all the other stuff? That’s it??!!??”. Yes - that’s it. For every attack power/critical strike/defense on one side there’s something roughly comparable on the other. So unless you see something specific that you absolutely have to have, I again assert it doesn’t really matter too much.

I urge you all to check out the wowwiki.com article and make your own decision. For once you make the decision, odds are you won’t be turning back as you’ll soon be Hated by the opposing faction (every quest turn-in that gives you a bump to the rep of your faction choice, also lowers your rep with the opposing faction). I don’t know about you, but rep grinding is not on my list of “fun WoW things to do”. At the top of the article is a nice table outlining some of the major difference from the wiki community’s perspective.

So, what did I decide?

As I said, I’m not a crafter - so the Alchemy and crafting recipies don’t sway me. The inscriptions are so similar at Exalted that I’m not factoring them in either. So that only leaves equipment for me. Since most of the equipment in Outland seems to be such a higher level of quality so far, I’m looking for something that is head and shoulders above anything else. Looking at my options, I have to say the Scryer’s Seer’s Cane looks like such a great staff for my general casting form. I know as I start raiding again with my guild, I’ll start healing more. And as if the +228 to healing isn’t enough, the +10 mp5 is awesome. With all the great feral staves available other places in Outland, I don’t feel bad focusing on a healing staff here. If I had any doubts from looking at other gear, I’m drawn to the Retainer’s Leggings for my cat form. That +92 to attack power looks pretty sweet.

So there you have it. I’m a Scryer-lover. And it really wasn’t that hard to decide! Let me know which way you go, and why in comments. Maybe I missed something.