Which WoW class (or spec) feature is non-negotiable to you?

I was pretty annoyed when Blizzard removed the permanent Water Elemental from Frost Mages. I started playing World of Warcraft during Burning Crusade, but I was already a big fan of the RTS Warcraft games. Thus, when I saw that the capstone talent for the Frost tree of my very first main character, my Mage, was the ability to summon a temporary Water Elemental — like those Archmages and Jaina, a character I already liked, did in Warcraft 3 — I was ecstatic, and couldn’t wait to finally reach that talent and gain the ability for myself.

Fast-forward to June 2023, and the Water Elemental is no longer a spell you cast or a pet you control; instead, it’s just a temporary minion that you get when you cast Icy Veins — the fact that half the glyphs Frost Mage always had affected the Elemental in the first place notwithstanding. This change wasn’t significant enough for me to stop playing my Frost Mage, but it did make me reconsider certain things… and give Fire and Arcane another chance. Which was good, because I ended up rediscovering the Arcane spec and actually enjoying it for the first time.

When Survival Hunters changed from a ranged to a melee spec, many Hunters were legitimately distressed. Survival is currently my favorite Hunter spec, but I also really enjoyed the ranged Survival gameplay the spec had before — and we never got anything that perfectly recreated that (the current iterations of Explosive Shot and Lock and Load are definitely not the same). I would never give any player a hard time for giving up on that spec after such a drastic change was made — even though I, personally, enjoy it a lot.

We’ve also had other examples of toys being given to us and then taken away — Gladiator Stance, which allowed Protection Warriors to DPS, and Dark Apotheosis, which allowed Demonology Warlocks to tank, are clear examples. Many players still long for those to come back in some form, and Warlocks in particular are still salty about “their” Metamorphosis being given to Demon Hunters. It’s always a terrible feeling when we grow used to certain abilities or playstyles only for them to be completely removed from the game. Sometimes those abilities were the reason we decided to start playing that class or spec in the first place.

So I ask you: which of your favorite class or spec’s abilities or systems are non-negotiable? Are you a Balance Druid player who would quit the spec if Moonkin Form (and the ability to shapeshift) were taken away from you? How would you feel if your Unholy Death Knight lost access to their permanent Ghoul? Would you reroll from your non-Evoker Dracthyr if they suddenly couldn’t fight in Visage form anymore? Or are you willing to happily adapt to absolutely any change Blizzard ever decides to make to your character?