#117 Druid - Thorns scaling with spellpower

Status: Fixed · Area: Classes & Specs · Druid

Thorns scales with spell power, so Feral Druids in normal gear get little benefit and are pushed toward caster gear.

Current behavior

In WoW: Forever, Thorns currently scales with Spell Power. This creates a significant issue for Feral Druids, particularly when tanking or participating in dungeons. Feral Druids primarily itemize for melee/physical stats such as Attack Power, Strength, Agility, and defensive stats. Spell Power is generally not part of a Feral Druid's dungeon gear. As a result, a Feral Druid using their normal Feral gear receives little to no benefit from the Spell Power scaling on Thorns. This creates a situation where Thorns, a core Druid defensive/threat tool, is disproportionately effective when the Druid equips caster-oriented gear rather than their intended Feral gear. The issue is especially noticeable in dungeons because Thorns can account for a significant portion of a tank's threat and damage when properly scaled with Spell Power. Community testing has also observed players using Spell Power gear to buff Thorns before switching back to Feral gear

Expected behavior

Thorns should scale in a way that is appropriate for the role and itemization of a Feral Druid, rather than requiring a Feral Druid to equip caster gear to maximize a core defensive/threat ability. If the Spell Power scaling is intentional, the interaction should at minimum be reviewed because it creates a substantial disparity between the effectiveness of Thorns for a Feral Druid using appropriate Feral gear and its effectiveness when temporarily using Spell Power gear. This is particularly problematic for dungeon tanking, where Feral Druids are expected to use their normal tanking equipment rather than caster gear solely to maximize Thorns. Please verify whether t

How to reproduce

Create or use a Feral Druid.
Equip normal Feral/melee gear with little or no Spell Power.
Cast Thorns on yourself or another player.
Record the damage dealt by Thorns when the target is struck by melee attacks.
Equip gear with a substantial amount of Spell Power.

Cast Thorns again.

Compare the Thorns damage between the two setups.
Observe that the Spell Power gear substantially increases Thorns' damage.
Enter a dungeon as a Feral Druid tank and compare the resulting threat/damage contribution with and without Spell Power gear.

The Spell Power scaling can also incentivize pre-buffing Thorns while wearing caster gear and then swapping back to Feral gear afterward. This behaviour has been independently discussed by players testing Forever