[Druid] Moonkin Territory

Moonkin are perhaps unique among specs in that not only do we have a special, signature appearance, but our shape has inspired random strangers to hug us or to target us in PvP for no reason other than we are moonkin. We have a history of being a "lesser" spec, particularly one that always ran out of mana, so historically our numbers have been low. In TBC a lot of formerly resto druids leaped at the chance to become feral. A few went balance though, and moonkin did become more common.

In Wrath, because of Blizzard's push to make all specs viable, moonkin have really come into their own and it's hard to go anywhere without seeing a few big fluffy owls. This has had the amusing side effect of my guildies seeing me everywhere they go.

You see, they haven't been exposed to many moonkin.

Back in TBC a random guildie of mine was flying around and spotted a moonkin questing down in Zangermarsh. He thought it might be me. And it was. The number of moonkin to be found wandering around Outland at any given time was relatively low, so the chances that any given moonkin was me was inversely high, so much so that his lucky guess turned out to be correct.

Fast forward to Wrath. Guildies see multiple moonkin as they travel. Usually they aren't me, but that doesn't stop them from thinking at first glance that every moonkin is Hana.

I've been my guild's signature moonkin. For a long time I was the only moonkin they knew. We've had alts of course, dual specs, people trying it out just for fun, and one of our restos leveled from 71-80 as boomkin before switching back to his preferred spec, but by and large I've been my guild's primary exposure to the balance spec, and I have been the only raiding moonkin they've known.

I've been told stories of 5-mans where a moonkin (not me) was in the party and a guildie would think "Whoa, when did Hana get here?!"

I've even managed to confuse myself during a 10-man Naxx where a moonkin alt was on the run and I was playing my paladin. It's really disconcerting to start moving around and wonder why the moonkin on screen is not responding to your key commands (because that moonkin is not really you!).

I admit I've gotten rather used to being unique. It's fun to have that kind of impact on people. I like it when the new mage starts drooling because he's never been in a raid with a moonkin before.

But...

My guild got a new recruit last night. He came to the raid with us. And he's a moonkin.

There were fun comments like "AMG two Hanas!?" and the new moonkin did the obligatory dancing while waiting for the fight to start (I often do that as well), but I really found myself out of sorts.

Some of it was for practical reasons. We'd be standing next to each other or almost on top of each other while dpsing and he would proc one eclipse and I the other. Since he was using a solar rotation and I'm using a lunar one, I kept thinking I was screwing up and getting the wrong proc. Also, there were a couple times I was looking at the moonkin and thought it was me, when I was standing a little to the left (or the right).

I can't help wondering, is it always like this for our tree druids? Is that why one of them acts like he has ADD and is always jumping and running around the place? So he can tell which tree is him? Suddenly having new druid forms doesn't feel so much a vanity as a necessity.

The other part of being out of sorts is, well, the primal instinct that says he's encroaching on my territory. I'm human, I admit that I like being "special" and the guild moonkin. I'm also competitive, so there's some sort of alpha female in me that says I must destroy the new moonkin on the meters to make it clear I am the best moonkin. Except his gear isn't as good as mine so beating him on the meters is just expected.

I'm also an officer so being insanely competitive with a new recruit isn't exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, though one of the other officers said it would probably be healthy for me to have some competition. It would give me motivation to push myself.

I don't use Recount in game. I'd probably check it too much. But I think my fellow officer may have been right. Last night I broke 5k dps on Mimiron and caused no small amount of jaw dropping in officer chat. (Granted, some of that was also due to the fact I just got a new computer that gives me 60 fps, so my reaction time and ability to queue spells are vastly improved.)

What I feel I should do is get to know the new moonkin, check his WWS/World of Logs reports, help him improve. He does know a lot already. He's hit capped. His gemming has one funny selection, but I can understand why he did it; it's acceptable. He uses Squawk and Awe for timing his eclipses (bonus points). He has an acceptable spec, though probably too heavy on the mana regen.

He ended the Freya fight near full mana, whereas I was missing most of my bar (as dps I believe I should end the fight as close to oom as I can get without actually getting there and I spec with that in mind).

Also he could be using Starfall and Force of Nature more often. There's a good possibility that he's not aware that even though they are spells with cooldowns, they are our two highest damage per execution time spells, even against a single target. I try to use them every cooldown as long as it's safe to do so (though trees may be delayed depending on when Bloodlust will be used).

The new moonkin didn't use FoN even once last night, even though he's specced into it. He used Starfall more often, but I think he's only doing it when there are multiple targets. I used it six times on Mimiron and he only used it once, and I have suspicion it was on phase 3 where the adds come out.

I've never been in a position where I've had to take another player under my wing before (druid pun not intended), but I think I should in this case. No one else in the guild can. I just hate not knowing whether or not any advice I give is welcome. But then, he's a trial in the guild, so if he's doesn't welcome an officer's advice (or at least intelligently debate with me on it) then that's something we should know.