Quad boomkins

Im sure many of you have tested multiple classes on the PTR by now, so i was curious to know from the people that tried booms there opinions on how effective they will be for arenas/rated bgs ty :)

Despite having just finished leveling my 5xBoomkins up to L80 and really wanting them to be my main Cata team, I think 4xShamans are going to be my main team.

That should tell you something.

I still think the combo is nifty, has some fun tricks, and is viable. It's just not going to be anywhere near as effective as the shamans, in my opinion.

They did fix the eclipse issue. Making it a little easier to take advantage of their full potential.

You build up your nature damage by casting arcane spells and vice versa.

So if you spam Wrath your starfire will be alot more powerful after a few casts of wrath. This is also true for Starfire to wrath conversion.

Boomkins definitely have some tools now.
Not sure how they will be, in relation to other options; time will tell.
I'd think the team will do well in Battlegrounds, but not be the best in Arena.

Entangling Roots will be an instant-cast, via Glyph.
Cyclone remains an option too.
You can silence your opposition, in a small AoE.
You have the option for stealth/surprise attacks.
Mushrooms will be some defense (counterattack) against melee or melee cleave.

I certainly think that Boomkins are going to be a blast in Cata--That having been said, when compared to the Gold Standard that are Shaman they're a bit... lacking :)

I did see that Moonfire is getting a DPS boost.

Boomkins are fun and flexible because you can pick your fights-- stealth is a very nice tool.

HOWEVER, they lack burst, and burst will continue to be important. The also have problems with fear like any non-Shaman team. At the end of the day, I think my shaman team can be more successful in BGs.

Hopefully, the Cata changes are going to allow those of us with both teams to give them both a fair shake. It may no longer be a huge, uphill battle for everyone's "second team", gear-wise.

I still like Feral Kitties.

Not sure on the burst potential, compared to Shammies, but they do have decent tools.

Your stealth is superior and faster compared to non-Feral druids.
You can Feral Charge (Cat) and Ravage several times without stealth.
You get Skull Bash on round-robin, to destroy any caster type.
Mangle has been buffed, so you don't lose that much by not being behind to Shred.

You have both Trinket and Berserk (20 second immunity, if glyphed) against fear effects.
You can bear form, against any physical damage class.
Survival Instincts.

Glyphing Rebirth gets you a full health battle rez; as a Feral, lack of mana on a Rebirth isn't a huge deal.
The new sprint spell, on round-robin, plus Dash will be great in battlegrounds.

With a significant buff to player health, you're more likely to have 5 combo point finishing moves.
Which means you get instant cast nature spells, if the spell is a cast shorter the 10 seconds.
Rebirth is Nature, as is Cyclone and all our heals.

You can do a lot of the tools that other Druids have.
Not sure if it would be worth glyphing the Entangling Roots to be instant, but it's available.
The mushrooms won't necessarily hit for a whole lot, but that is not a spell exclusive to Balance.
You'll still have Barkskin + Tranquility, Innervate and such.

I saw some boomkins on the dummies pulling 16k, like 3 of them, between 11k-16k dps. While my shamans were really, really lucky to get 6.5k.

I also noticed that out of the top killing blows in the BG, boomkins had 3 out of 5. The other 2 were mages.

Skillfall is what is giving you the big burst. When skillfall is down 4xboomkins are still viable but they are so squishy. I'm sticking with my shamans and my single character will be my rogue :)