Balance or Feral? [Druids]

The true answer is.... it depends.

They are both great DPS and fun to play with the recent patches, but they both have their pros and cons. For leveling, many prefer Feral because of the no mana worries. But Balance and Feral are way different in every way. Stats needed on gear, rotation, types of attacks, etc... For those that don't know, Balance is spell casting, such as Wrath. And Feral is basically a rogue in kitty form. Balance spec at level 40 gets Moonkin form, for this reason they are called "Boomkin". Here are some pros and cons of each spec...

Balance

Good
~~~Flexible damage, you may choose to crit, to spam spells or to DoT
~~~Give a spell crit increase to your party or raid
~~~Innervate(can be used by all speccs) is a great thing to have if your or a healer in your party or raids mana runs out
~~~Not as common, but still very useful in raids.

Bad
~~~Hard to manage mana at lower levels especially, but Moonkin form now gives you 2% of your base mana from critting which helps much more later on with higher crit rates.
~~~DPS is often lower than feral

Feral

Good
~~~Works as both a tank and dps spec.
~~~For tanking you have more health than other tank classes although you have less armor and you get crit-immune by spec(Survival of the fittest)
~~~For dpsing your damage is decent and with good gear it´s just as good as a rogues.
~~~One good thing, that rogues doesn´t have, is a chance to gain an additional combo point on your target when you crit(Primal Fury).

Bad
~~~Tanks only have one AoE attack(Swipe)
~~~Energy can be an issue in cat form, make sure you get Omen of Clarity in the resto-tree
~~~Much harder to play for beginners
~~~Complicated rotation

Stats needed for each spec:

Balance:
~Int
~Stam
~Crit
~Haste
~Hit Rating
~Spell Power

Feral:
~Agility
~Stamina
~AP
~Armor Penetration
~Crit Rating
~Expertise
~Haste

Obviously at these lower levels you wont find all this on gear, but if it isnt on this list... it isnt for you. (Int is not for Feral... Agi is not for Balance)

With all this being said, it is ultimately up to you. But in my opinion feral is better for leveling until higher levels, then it is even more of a decision. I hope some of the things said here will help you make a decision!

Welcome!

Hey everyone...

My name is Pokachi and I have decided to start blogging about my experiences in WoW, such as tactics, tutorials, suggestions, and just talking about me! First I will begin by explaining my background.
I started playing WoW in 2007. I had a 70 ret pally and raided hardcore pre-wotlk. I had a few pieces of tier 6 and 5. I sold my account and quit in 2008. Now about a month ago, the day before Thanksgiving I started to play again. I haven't been focusing on one character but more finding my calling. I started playing a paladin again, then hunter, shaman, death knight, and druid. Now I am working on my druid and leveling him as boomkin, and will duelspec with resto. My druid's name is Pokachi so that is what I will be blogging as. I am Guild Leader of Eternal Fire on Stormreaver-Alliance, which I originally made as a reroll leveling guild. Now it is open to everyone with ventrilo of course =D I have many great friends in the guild, and one friend from real life playing.
I think that is all I have to say now, I have to go to bed, so more to come tomorrow!

HAPPY WoWING