Balance Druid, viable or not?

[Valek]

Hello guys,
well, I love DPS (caster) and almost always played mage in retail (WotLK and Cataclysm). The only exception was a Balance Druid I played 10 years ago (Vanilla), in a really bad private server, but, despite I didn't know WTF I was doing (WoW was new for me), I found it very fun to play.
So, I was wondering if this spec is viable for DPS (basically PvE: lvling, dungeons and raids) since I want to try something new and fun (after 4 years out), but more important, something good. I see people only talking about feral or restoration.

Honestly, I'm not interested in healing.

Any thoughts?
Thank you.

[ThoronaX]

I got to say no.

You would constantly be arguing with people trying to proof your point that you're a good pick for their group.
From my experience you'll be forced to heal while raiding. And if you're really lucky they let you tank a boss on your birthday.

[popezaphod]

Once you hit endgame as a Druid, you'll be expected to heal. Balance is not a viable spec in Vanilla (mana issues, lower dps than other classes) and Feral doesn't post the numbers as DPS nor the aggro mitigation that Warrior tanking does.

So yeah, if you want to raid, welcome to healing.

[Valek]

Well, seems I'm going back to Mage then...
TY for your reply.

[Liebe]

Moonkin works, but you'd probably have to wait until ZG release for dat Bloodwine and +spirit Innervate staff.

It also requires more effort to play, mainly dealing with people who still don't understand this more than a decade old game.

[Larsen]

If by "viable" you mean seriously competitive with other classes... no. Honestly, it's probably the very worst spec in the entire game. The DPS is low, mana is horrible, and the spec can't serve dual roles properly like feral can. There's just no compelling reason to bring a balance druid anywhere. However, vanilla doesn't require optimal class setups so it's not like a boomkin can't succeed.

[Keftenk]

Moonkin works, but you'd probably have to wait until ZG release for dat Bloodwine and +spirit Innervate staff.

It also requires more effort to play, mainly dealing with people who still don't understand this more than a decade old game.

Truthfully, this ^

It gets even better in AQ, but you have to be in try hard mode pretty much from the get go. There is some help for us on Nostalrius. Tier1 with the 1.4 stats is actually more beneficial to Moonkin than the upgraded T1, if you can believe that lol.

Some Moonkin's over on Feenix have been able to make it work in MC/BWL, but like others said. You won't really be able to compete 100% against other DPS caster classes like Mage and Warlock.

[Moxey]

Second worse dps spec in the game, only Elemental Shaman sucks harder.