As promised, I went ahead and wrote up a post on Heart of the Wild, which ran on WoW Insider today. (Go over and take a look, if you haven’t already.) I attempted to show the pro-HotW and anti-HotW arguments in a balanced fashion, though I’m decidedly for the talent, as you probably guessed. Some follow-up thoughts, which didn’t make the column:

• I agree that the other choices are lame/random and it’s not worthy of being a lvl 90 talent. Just getting that out there. I’d like to see this tier become lvl 60, a single tier of CC talents at lvl 75, and new role-boosting choices added at lvl 90. If talents stay the same, I’ll still recommend people take Disentanglement for the heal. I really have no idea of what talents they could add, but there’s a whole zone of druid lore we just went through, there’s gotta be some ideas there. (Okay, one idea. How about a druid-themed version of Guardian of Ancient Kings, but instead, you can summon one of the Ancients for some help; the ancient you summon depends on your spec, and provides a spec-appropriate buff for X seconds.)
• Making it a talent that just adds heals to our deeps (or vice versa) isn’t the same thing. I don’t have a problem with that idea, and it sounds pretty neat to have a tier of talents that, for example, add a chance for a heal to proc off a damaging ability. That’s not at all what HotW is trying to do, though. Classes are balanced around having X numerical output on each fight, so having a DPS class who can put out X DPS PLUS Y healing would be unbalanced. The healing would be constant but mostly inconsequential (think Leader of the Pack heals back in Wrath), a short burst heal with a long cooldown (which we already have, as Tranquility), or some other spot along that axis.
• The talent has two different use cases, and you need to consider both. 
• It can be used strategically. “Hey, this fight has an add with a high burst DPS and low HPS requirement, we’ll plan for our resto druid to pop HotW and switch to DPS to help with the check.” In this case, the talent is helpful, but not a panacea, as most encounters with burst have multiple moments of such. It will be very fight dependent as to whether you want to use it strategically. I generally think the “stacking classes” thing is way overrated; my intuition is that it happens very infrequently, due to the large opportunity costs. (Players on “OP class” alts have less skill/gear/experience; buff coverage becomes much more difficult, etc.)
• It can be used as an emergency button. “Tank died, hold the boss until he dies!” “Tank healer died, keep the tank up!” That bit won’t apply much to heroic raiding (where a death or two usually means a wipe anyway due to not meeting DPS checks) but it will definitely help for lesser-skilled guilds who have more…situations. Sure, it won’t work all the time, but it’d be overpowered if it did
• I don’t think it should become a baseline class ability. As one of the commenters noted, making it baseline means that all druids will have the capability, period. If you have it and choose not to use it, the odds increase exponentially that someone will call you out for “not knowing how to play your class.” If it’s a talent, the odds of that are much less, and you have a ready-made argument that you take talent X instead because of the benefits it gives.

Oh, and the image? That was my original header, before it got edited out and replaced with a stock photo. :) Bearcat FTW!

One addendum to my thoughts on the info from the press event. Saw this blog post today, “A Night in Mists of Pandaria,” which is  flying under the radar at the moment. Bashiok describes all the stuff there will be to do in Mists, but also drops this tasty tidbit that I don’t think anyone’s covered yet:

Proving Myself

I have all of the dungeons and raids at my disposal, and now that all of the raids are supported by the Raid Finder I don’t need to wait for my guild’s raid night to get a shot at some upgrades; plus with some Charms I have a lower probability of experiencing “loot rage” with the option of a second roll. Speaking of loot rage, the change in Raid Finder to per-player loot has made running random raids so much nicer without people fighting over rolls. I really wouldn’t mind running another one tonight.

With the new Valor system, I can work toward upgrading my current gear by increasing its item level and adding on a few stats at a time. Raid Finder is an option for a little Valor from boss kills, or I could get some more from dungeons, challenges, or scenarios. Regardless of what else I have to do I could be earning Valor and improving my items, which makes scenarios, challenge modes, and dungeons a very appealing option for tonight. If I do make some gear improvements, I’ll probably want to hit the new Proving Grounds. They’re like lored-up solo instances that make trying out my rotations a lot more fun since I can chase achievements.

A slip of the word processor? Or a new feature that wasn’t supposed to be mentioned yet? Maybe in relation to this? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Talents:

Tier 1 – Wild Charge got moved here and out of Tier 4, which makes an incredible amount of sense; unfortunately, this makes having to choose between it and Feline Swiftness a tough choice for PvE. (I say unfortunately, but tough choices are a good thing.) I think it’s going to depend on the range of Wild Charge as to which I’ll prefer as a general recommendation. Also, Moonkin Disengage and caster Intervene is cool. Note that Feline Swiftness is now universal, not just Cat, but Cat has an innate 15%, which addresses one of the annoyances about Cat Form being the same speed as other forms for non-feral specs. With the addition of Wild Charge, Tireless Pursuit went away, which makes sense since it was essentially a Double Dash(TM).

Displacer Beast is still TBD. Does it break combat? Does it drop threat? Does it wipe dot effects? (My guess is no on the dot wipe, since it used to.) Either way, with a 3 minute cooldown, I don’t really see it being that useful compared to the other two.

Tier 2 – Nature’s Swiftness now is only a 1 minute cooldown, which makes it a much more compelling choice.  I see every spec taking NS for PvP (9 sec clone every minute, ouch) and Renewal for PvE. Cenarion Ward, again, is TBD; we don’t know how it will scale, so it’s hard to compare apples-for-apples with Renewal.

Tier 3 – Not too much of a change here; this tier is still about different forms of crowd control, which is going to make it wholly situational for PvE. I can’t really make a recommendation without knowing what Mists encounters are going to look like. PvP cats will likely want Faerie Swarm to help close gaps, though Typhoon is another good option for a peel; a good offensive/defensive tradeoff. Moonkin and Resto will likely stick with Typhoon due to its shorter cooldown, though Mass Entanglement could be fun in a Tol Barad-type zerg situation.

Tier 4 –  As we saw in the previous Tiers, your choices are going to be between a long-CD strong ability and a short-CD/passive ability. Incarnation is pretty meh for cats and bears (ferals don’t have a very compelling toolbox from Prowl right now, and guardians aren’t going to want a damage buff when the other options provide survivability), though it looks to be nice for casters. Force of Nature is, of course, TBD until we learn what the capabilities of the new treants are.

The new talent, Soul of the Forest, looks very nice for ferals; that 10 energy per finisher will add up quickly, and will definitely make the rotation more flexible. Good for Guardians and Balance as well, actually (remember, the reworking of the rage system means that increased rage income directly equals increased survivability), so the only class I see sticking with Incarnation is Resto and possibly Balance.

Tier 5 – More control. Bear Hug became baseline (bleh) so  apparently Bash had to go, and it becomes a talent choice instead. Ugh. Again, control is situational for PvE, so can’t say much there. The newly renamed Disorienting Roar remains wholly OP though (4 sec AOE disorient on a 30 sec cooldown? Really?) for PvP, so I don’t really see the others competing right now, though Ursol’s Vortex is still TBD as well.

Tier 6 – Yeah, this tier’s still odd. Master Shapeshifter got renamed to Dream of Cenarius, but the basic idea remains the same, and still looks likely to be clunky. Remember running out of melee to charge back in and proc a Ravage? How about having to hardcast a Regrowth on someone while at low energy so you can put up a 30% stronger Rip? I really hope it doesn’t end up being optimal to do so; I’d prefer it simply mitigates some of the DPS loss from shifting out to throw a spell. Heart of the Wild still looks a bit lame, which means that Disentanglement and it’s 20% heal will end up winning by default.

Symbiosis: We also got a ton of info on Symbiosis from a blue post:

Here’s the process:

• The Druid will select a raid or party member and cast Symbiosis on them.
• The target cannot be another Druid.
• The target gains a buff that tells them what spell they have temporarily learned, and that spell temporarily appears in their spellbook, and they can drag it to an action bar.
• The Druid’s Symbiosis button will become the ability they gained from the target class.
• The Symbiosis link is cancelled if: the Druid clicks off the Symbiosis buff, or the Druid or the target changes continents or enters or exits an instance, or the Druid or the target changes talent specializations.
• Symbiosis fails to cast if Symbiosis is already active on that target.
• Symbiosis cannot be cast in combat.
• For the non-Druid target, the icon will revert to a placeholder (uncastable) Symbiosis icon when Symbiosis ends, but will become the Symbiosis-granted ability again the next time Symbiosis is cast on that target.
• The ability gained from Symbiosis is always something chosen to match the Druid’s specialization and the target’s combat role.
• The target always gets the same spell unless they change combat roles. A Druid of a given specialization always gets the same spell from each different class. If there is a change of specs, there is a change of spell.
  Here are some examples of spells gained through Symbiosis. The spells shared focus on utility, cooldowns, and survival. (Adding Fireball to a Moonkin’s rotation sounds cool on paper, but wouldn’t actually be fun in the long run.)
  Balance: Chains of Ice, Mirror Image, Mass Dispel
  Feral: Feign Death (Play Dead!), Frost Nova, Soul Swap
  Guardian: Ice Trap, Fear Ward, Consecration
  Restoration: Ice Block, Hand of Sacrifice, Leap of Faith
  Hunter: Dash
  Warlock: Rejuvenation
  Holy Paladin: Rebirth
  Arms/Fury Warrior: Enrage
  Enhancement/Elemental Shaman: Solar BeamThere are a lot more coming, but we’ll keep some surprises for now, and many are still subject to change after testing.*

  *Including all of those just listed.

I think the post is pretty self-explanatory, though I’m withholding the majority of my thoughts for now until the abilities make it through the Wheel of Balance. I agree with Reygahnci in saying Soul Swap? WTF…wait if it works on bleeds then WOO!

Other reactions:

• Reygahnci’s PvP take (mostly) at Druidify;
• Graylo’s Moonkin take at Gray Matter;
• Arielle’s Guardian take at The Inconspicuous Bear;
• Lisanna’s general take at Restokin.

• Feline Swiftness now increases your overall movement speed by 15%
• Displacer Beast teleports the Druid up to 20 yards forward and activates Cat Form and Prowl.
• Wild Charge now has a 15 sec cooldown for all variations of the charge.Non-Shapeshift no longer reduces the mana cost of your next healing spell.
  Bear Form no longer increases haste by 30%.
  Cat Form no longer causes your Ravage to be useable with no Energy cost.
  Moonkin Form no longer grants you 20 Solar or Lunar energy.
  Aquatic Form no longer reduces damage taken by 20% and duration is now 5 seconds.
  Travel Form no longer reduces damage taken by 20%
• Nature’s Swiftness now only has a 1 minute cooldown but no longer affects Mass Entanglement.
• *NEW* Soul of the Forest Aessina’s blessing grants a benefit which varies by your combat specialization.
  • Balance
    When a Lunar Eclipse ends you gain 20 Solar Energy and when a Solar Eclipse ends you gain 20 Lunar Energy.
  • Feral
    Your finishing moves grant 2 Energy per combo point.
  • Guardian
    Mangle now generates an additional 2 Rage.
  • Restoration
    You gain 50% haste for your next spell when you cast Swiftmend.
• Mass Entanglement now roots a target instead of a target in the selected area. Root now lasts for 20 sec, up from 8 sec. Now affects 5 targets. Now can be used in any form.
• Incarnation Guardian: Son of Ursoc now also affects Growl.
• Demoralizing Roar has been renamed to Disorienting Roar and is now useable in all shapeshift forms.
• Ursol’s Vortex can now be cast at a specific location instead of being used on the Druid. 30 yd range.
• Bash is now a talent and has been renamed Mighty Bash Invokes the spirit of Ursoc to stun the target for 5 sec. Useable in all shapeshift forms.
• Master Shapeshifter has been replaced with Dream of Cenarius Wrath, Starfire, Starsurge, and melee abilities increase healing done by your next healing spell by 30%.Non-instant casts of Nourish, Healing Touch, and Regrowth increase the damage done by your next damaging spell or ability by 30%.Each of these bonuses lasts 30 sec and cannot be gained more often than once every 30 sec.

General Class Abilities

• Cat Form now also increases autoattack damage by 100% and increases movement speed by 15%
• Feline Grace has been changed back to only reduce falling damage taken while in Cat Form.
• Claw now causes 350% of normal damage, up from 155%
• Bear Hug is now avaiable to all Druids at level 22.
• Remove Corruption now removes all Poison and Curse effects on the target but has an 8 sec cooldown.
• Hurricane no longer increases the time between enemy attacks by 20%
• Innervate regenerates 10%(up from 5%) of the caster’s maximum mana over 10 seconds and an additional 10%(down from 15%) if cast on self.
• Maim now causes 110% weapon damage in addition to the stun.
• Symbiosis may not be cast on other Druids and the effect is lost if the linked targets are too far apart. 6 sec cast time.

Balance

• Euphoria now also procs off of Starsurge.
• Eclipse has been slightly reworked. It now causes Wrath to refresh the duration on Sunfire while in Solar Eclipse and Starfire to refresh the duration on Moonfire while in Lunar Eclipse. In addition, Lunar Eclipse transforms your Hurricane into Arcane Storm.
• Moonkin Form now increases Arcane and Nature damage dealt by 10%, down from 20%
• Insect Swarm now increases the damage taken by 25% (down from 30%) but affects all spells.
• Shooting Stars now has a 20% chance to trigger (up from 4%) but can only trigger from a periodic critical strike from your Moonfire or Sunfire.
• Celestial Alignment had its bonus damage reduced by 5% but causes Moonfire to also apply the Sunfire effect. 3 minute cooldown. (Up from 2 min)
• Total Eclipse (Mastery) increases the bonus damage from Eclipse by 20% (Up from 16%) Each point of Mastery increases the damage by an additional 2.5% (Up from 2.0%)

Guardian

• Savage Defense reduces physical damage taken by 40% for 6 seconds. (Changed from 80% for 3 sec) 1.5 second cooldown.
• Thrash now also causes the Weakened Blows effect. Weakened Blows reduces the physical damage caused by the affected targets by 10% for 30 sec.
• Nature’s Guardian (Mastery) increases armor by 5.2% (Down from 9.6%) Each point of Mastery increases the armor by an additional 0.65% (Down from 1.2%)

Feral

• Shred damage has been reduced from 540% to 425%
• Predatory Strikes is now called Predatory Swiftness and only affects Cyclone, Entangling Roots, Healing Touch, Hibernate, or Rebirth. (Has an X% chance to trigger)
• Thrash now also causes the Weakened Blows effect. Weakened Blows reduces the physical damage caused by the affected targets by 10% for 30 sec.
• Ravage damage has been reduced from 950% to 750% damage.

Received a few email questions about how to maximize DPS on Burning Tendons (20 second DPS burn), so here’s a quick FAQ. (Also see the thread on the forums about it, which has several great contributions. Most of this blog post is ripping off Stenhaldi’s thoughts on the subject.)

Glyphs: Rip, Savage Roar, Bloodletting. (Tendon’s not up for enough time for Berserk glyph, TF glyph doesn’t help and desyncs trinkets.)

Trinkets: Slot 1) A good on-use trinket. Kiroptyric Sigil is best option, but a PvP clicky or even Ancient Petrified Seed can work. Slot 2) Wrath of Unchaining, preferably, if not, whatever else you have. Don’t use two on-use trinkets, as the second one will not be usable until the buff from the first drops.  (and yes, this means engineering is somewhat penalized since they won’t get any benefit from Synapse Springs.)

Reforging: Cap hit, then crit. Mastery and haste are significantly worse.  (edit: do NOT reforge for expertise, thanks Reesi; edit2: According to Tangedyn and Tinderhoof, haste isn’t as good as I had originally calculated it.)

Pre-Tendon: Get a Savage Roar and Stampede up off a corruption or blood.

Rotation: (Mangle), (FF), Trinket/Rake, Ravage!, Shred, TF/Trinket/Berserk/Rip.  (You can waste some TF energy here if necessary.) Continue with Shred/FB, make sure you get a Ravage! in. Using Rake a 2nd time is probably not worth it, but pretty close DPS-wise if you get it in during TF.  Final GCD should be an FB, but only if you have 5 CP’s, otherwise just Shred. Potion, obviously, though this is probably coordinated by your RL. If you have a 20s proc trinket, pop it at the beginning instead of with TF.

Is FF worth it in 10m if I’m the only melee DPS? Yes, but the difference is fairly small.

Rip? Really? Yes, assuming you get it up in time. 1 FB = ~3.5 Rip ticks on average. So, even if you’re slow starting, still use Rip unless there’s less than 9s remaining when you get to 5 cps.

Think that about covers everything; feel free to ask a question or share your experiences in the comments.