Spec advice?
I read recently on Resto4Life's blog some interesting information about a resto druid's ability to heal heroics. Essentially, especially for a druid who is still getting geared, healing a heroic can be quite difficult - much of the healing ends up being outside of tree form, as you cannot cast Healing Touch while a tree.
As a result of this post, along with others I've read on Phaelia's site and elsewhere, I am (again) considering a respec. I'm currently 0-20-41, and am contemplating moving 5 points back into resto to improve my healing touch. I'm also considering whether to move the remaining 15 points over to balance to pick up brambles & insect swarm. But I'm also tempted to put an extra point or three in Natural Perfection to pick up extra crit chance.
The quagmire of talent specs. :(
If any of you have some worthwhile advice, I'm all ears.
As a result of this post, along with others I've read on Phaelia's site and elsewhere, I am (again) considering a respec. I'm currently 0-20-41, and am contemplating moving 5 points back into resto to improve my healing touch. I'm also considering whether to move the remaining 15 points over to balance to pick up brambles & insect swarm. But I'm also tempted to put an extra point or three in Natural Perfection to pick up extra crit chance.
The quagmire of talent specs. :(
If any of you have some worthwhile advice, I'm all ears.
posted by SportChick at
11:24 PM
3 Comments:
Hm... Hey Deressy, it's Kitty :)
I can see now just by checkin on the armory, bout your spec. If your gonna be a resto druid you should put more points into it. All you have to do really is move points around from the feral tree over and max out imp regrowth, naturalist, and tranquil spirit. Not sure how much you use tranquility, so that's up to you if ya want to put points in there. Some points in natural perfection wouldn't hurt... and then probably whatever you have left put into balance. But yea, you really need more points in the resto tree if your gonna be a healer :) Just my 2c, hehe. Best of luck to ya!
I see from your current spec that you're dipping into Feral as your means of providing yourself some soloability. However, with the recent spell damage changes and the generally more synergistic talents of the Balance tree, I think you'd be better off going with a Restoration/Balance hybrid build. I recommend something along these lines: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0tcbuVccZZxvcLxqM0o
This build emphasizes strengthening your Healing Touch and providing some excellent DPSing abilities - at the expense of strong HoTs. The talents I would most like to draw your attention to are:
- Naturalist, Tranquil Spirit, Empowered Touch: Collectively, these change your HT to a 3 second cast, reduce the mana cost by 10%, and give it an additional 20% of your +Healing on top of what it already receives (and because it's such a long-casting spell, it has a very large scaling coefficient). Picking up 5/5 Gift of Nature also increases its total output by 10%, but this applies to all your heals and isn't HT-specific.
- Swiftmend: This is the reason I didn't dip further into Balance to pick up Dreamstate (also a very popular Resto/Balance hybrid build). In Heroic instances SM is an amazing tool for dealing with spike damage.
- Nature's Swiftness: Another amazing ability for dealing with spike damage every 3 minutes. I strongly recommend creating a hotkey that ties this to your max rank HT. Like this:
/cast Nature's Swiftness
/stopcasting
/cast Healing Touch
I'm not sure if the "stopcasting" line is still necessary after the most recent patch, but it can't hurt.
- Lunar Guidance: Increases your total healing by 25% of your Intellect. This makes your build an Intellect-focused one rather than a Spirit-focused build like that employed by a Tree of Life. Stack it, love it, get some more of it. =)
- Moonglow: Reduces the mana cost of your Moonfire, Starfire, Wrath, HT, Regrowth, and Rejuv by 9%. Sort of like the mana reduction aura provided by ToL but it doesn't apply to your Lifebloom. On the other hand, it's available on all your damage spells and you can still use HT!
- Insect Swarm: I really, really like this spell. It's not only a great source of additional damage for soloing, but it has the added benefit of reducing the damage your tank takes by 2%. I write a little about this aspect of the spell here: http://www.resto4life.com/index.php/2007/11/19/restoration-and-insect-swarm/
- Brambles: Picking up Brambles and being sure to keep Thorns on your tank at all times will help him hold aggro, especially on pulls with multiple mobs. Since you'll be dipping far enough into Balance to get Lunar Guidance and Moonglow, I'd recommend picking this up, as well. I talk about the benefits of using Thorns (and Brambles) here: http://www.resto4life.com/index.php/2007/12/12/dont-poke-fun-at-thorns/
Just remember that, even with an HT-focused build, don't neglect to use your HoTs (except for Regrowth which is very inefficient and should probably only be used rarely). You are still perfectly capable of keeping 3x Lifebloom on your tank when the damage is light or by refreshing in between your HT casts. Rejuvenation should also be kept on him so that you can Swiftmend it off in emergencies and also for a little more health buffer. This spec should serve you well as a soloist, in the introductory raid content (Karazhan and possibly ZA/SSC), and most especially in Heroics.
Thank you for the recommendations and ideas. I am definitely looking to move away from the feral tree and have been evaluating my options before making a final decision. Phaelia, the spec you suggest looks very interesting and I can certainly see the advantanges of using that spec, especially for heroics. However, as I'm generally on raid heal in Kara, I'm a bit apprehensive about making such massive changes as moving entirely away from using ToL and HoTs right now.
I'm still undecided on exactly how to move/spend those points, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do make the change (I'll be back from vacation in a couple of days and will likely respec then) and what I decide to try. Buffing HT will certainly be a primary goal. I was hoping there'd be a way to grab Lunar Guidance without giving up the HoT buffs, but there just aren't enough points to do both.
Thanks again for your detailed, well-thought-out and articulated responses!
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