I dont know how it compares to other classes new skills but all I can say about Maim is WOW!

I am sure there is better but so far I have had a 5 point Maim crit for 1200+ and then stun for 6 seconds. How fricken awesome is that? I hope rogues dont realise this because they will be kicking and screaming and wondering why there gouge dosent do damage....hehe

Because Gouge doesn't clear combo points. =) Gouge, Maim, and Kidney Shot all have slight differences between them, since we only get the one, they kind of put it between the other two.

Agreed. I love maim. Its awesome.

I played a rogue up to 36 pre BC, switching off with my warlock, and I think that blizz did a great job of giving us a stunlock that is both similar and different from gouge.

And the fact that it uses combo points is ok with me, cause it does damage that can crit. And with the insane amount of crit gear that I'm gathering, I have no problem generating combo points.

Maim is killer against casters. I always hated not being able to interrupt casting other than quickly shifting to bear and charging (thus losing all my cp that I had built up) or shifting to bear and bashing. Also very nice of blizz to make it so we don't lose cp if we target another player / mob, or shift out of cat, unless we actually get a cp on another player / mob.

Because Gouge doesn't clear combo points. =) Gouge, Maim, and Kidney Shot all have slight differences between them, since we only get the one, they kind of put it between the other two.

Ah yes you are quite right. I forgot that Gouge dosent use CP's. Thanks for the reminder :)

I hear druids can stunlock with this if timed right?

Indeed they can, I've done it already:

Pounce, Mangle, FF, Shred, Maim (or do a mangle or two if you didn't get 4 or 5 combo points by now--you usally will, though; those four seconds will usually get you a OoC proc or a critical hit. But then again, if you don't have Primal Fury or OoC, it might be a little harder to stunlock), step back behind them, restealth when combat goes down, Pounce, Shred, etc. You can repeat it forever, basically: Pounce lasts four seconds, your Maim will last ~5-6 seconds, and your Maim's cooldown will be down before you even do the second pounce.

You go out of combat after five seconds, and Maim at 4 combo points gives a 5 second incapacitate; 5 combo points gives a 6 second incapacitate. But yeah, if you time it right, you can Stunlock.

It's sort of the same deal with Cyclone. It lasts six seconds. You could heal, cat, restealth, pounce.

I'd imagine it going like Pounce, Mangle, FF, Shred, Maim, Cyclone, Rejuv, Cat, Stealth, Pounce, Mangle, Shred, Shred, etc.

'course, you don't even need to use Cyclone, but it'll be a nifty tool... I can't wait to get it. That's a free get-away into bird, or a heal or two, and a stealth. I actually forgot we were getting it. >.>

Edit: Granted, this isn't factoring in dodges, misses, resists, etc. Under ideal conditions, you can do it, though, and Maim is a very nice tool for PvP and PvE alike. It's now my favorite Catform skill, alongside Mangle.

I have the most wretched time dropping out of combat. I can never consistently do it and it certainly never happens for me in 5 seconds. Any advice? Do I need to deselect the MOB in addition to not attacking it?

I don't think you need to deselect. Try getting a scrolling combat text (or some variation) that will tag when you enter and leave combat...

Wait, I think I know what your problem is.

Do I need to deselect the MOB in addition to not attacking it?

This won't work in PvE; it won't let you go out of combat. This technique only works in PvP. In PvE, if you were to drop combat (IE: Hunter using Feign Death, without a pet out, or even simply running away) the mob would run back to its position and regenerate to full health.

So yeah, that's why. :x

Question though, if u have dotted the target, will you still drop out of combat after 5 sec ?

Yes you will. Pounce gives the target a DoT, yet you can still leave combat.

Maim is probably my favorite thing ever.

Boss just came by my desk and was giving me a hard time, and I was just thinking ... "stealth pounce mangle shred maim shred mangle bite"

... ...

Boss just came by my desk and was giving me a hard time, and I was just thinking ... "stealth pounce mangle shred maim shred mangle bite"

Haha. xD That made me laugh. I've had similar instances, though I don't work.

Hehe, that's funny Claritondeus...and I have the same view as many of you. I have Shredding Attacks,Primal Fury, ILotP and OOC and the Pouce/Mangle/Rake/Maim/SA (with occational OOC)combo is deadly. Man, my damage meter is oof the charts. I ran a test in ZM yesterday and averaged 450 DPS for over an hour. With ILotP I rarely heal now...especially with the bump in the Agi to dodge ratio (THANKS BLIZZ!!!)
Honestly, I foresee a nerf coming...I mean, I out DPS rogues heavily and no other class can come close. I dont have uber gear...mostly stuff I replaced here..although I still wear 4 pieces of the Marshal's set. But, anyway the Maim gives us absolute control in PVP and PVE..no cooldown except repopulation of CP.
The only problem with the above combat scenario is Mages...which are easy to defeat, but I HATE the fact they can blink while stunned from pounce...ARRR!
IMO as far as Druids are concerned we just went from "Maybe" the best solo class, to "Absolutely, No Questions Asked".
I have even heard alot of complaining from my guild and our allies that Druids are way too overpowered now... We can heal, dps and tank and now we can fly, (which brings added benefits to combat), many of these things are not that far from the core classes and they are starting to see it.

I personally don't think we're due in for a nerf just quite yet. It's impossible to make a decision on which classes are overpowered until the general population has reached level 70 and raid and PvP gear aren't major rarities. From what I recall, I'd usually always have no problem at all in a duel while going from 1-60, except versus warlocks. Once I reached end-game, it became much harder. Now that our skills allow us to better fight our enemies, it's going to come down to gear, scalability, and how opponents react to our buffs. Yes, I will agree many people have said druids can do a lot and are "overpowered" in a sense, but many people also don't realize where we come from, what we used to have, and how hard we still are to play, at times at least.

I'm hoping we don't get a nerf, myself. I do feel a tad powerful with being able to tank 4 mobs easily, pull aggro from the tanks without trying, and heal in a non-healing spec. But, eh, we'll see at 70 how it all plays out... It also helps our situation that for once our itemization is insane. Seriously, I've seen more feral and moonkin weapons and gear in this past week than I think I've ever seen pre-BC.

I totally agree and ive been trying to tell that to some of my friends, chill with screaming nerf this and nerf that until y'all are lvl 70 and see if things balance out.
At lvl 35-38 i got my butt handed to me by every damn paladin i met, but from what i understand at 50+ paladins become easypeasy in comparisment. So things change with lvl and gear for sure =)

Another thing groups I have been in are tending to forget. That 95% of the warriors in BC switched to a fury spec for leveling. So druids have been better at tanking the past couple weeks than warriors.

Now..if only they let us go into flying form in combat we would be godly =P