vinod
OG
First, thanks for reading. Second, this is out of date but provides good info and a base for theory crafting. Third, grats being brave enough to take a look at lvl 29 Resto Druid twinking. Resto druids, as healers, are unique unto themselves. Unlike the other healing classes, resto druid healing is built upon cycling hot heals. This class is not a 1 button heal class, but rather one that requires layers of heals to form something truly powerful. You can kill a resto druid, but their hot heals keep on ticking.
As of patch 3.2 I had quit the game so some of this is out of date. With Cata, I have returned and am in the process of updating this guide to better reflect 29 resto twinking as of 4.0+. Updates to this guide have begun as of Dec 13th, 2010.
~PART 1 - HEALING WITH HOTS 101 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Druid healing is not about large burst heals. They do not have a fast cast, large flash heal. Rather, druid healing is about layers of smaller heals.
My single target healing cycle typically is as follows: Rejuvenation (get those heals in fast!), Regrowth (small burst of health with smaller heal ticks), followed up by a swiftmend (should be glyphed for swiftmend) if needed, and last and ONLY if needed healing touch (large burst heal, slow to cast). Notice the layers of hot heals followed by the, glyphed swiftmend, and as the last resort the long cast burst heal? If you are looking for a large instant / fast heal class…THIS IS NOT IT. If your idea of healing, is spamming large single burst heals, check out a priest or pallie. Additionally, due to how slow healing touch is to cast you can have it stopped more easily by rogue kicks, counter spell, and silences.
Rejuv is an instant cast, so it can be cast while moving/running. Rejuvenation is nice to place onto players right before entering into combat, as it takes a moment to start ticking. Of the 2 hot heals, rejuvenation heals for the most per tick. Rejuv hot heal ticks can crit. In combat, healing is a matter of priorities and you being able to watch your own back, and get those heals out to those who need it most without going OOM. Do not recast your hots onto a target until they have ended, or the player is running out of your range and you cant follow them, OR you are about to die. When I know I am about to die, I will spam out rejuv heals onto the players nearest to me....this actually does work marvels. The nice thing about hots, is you don't have to be alive to heal
When specced for Rejuv (see spec discussion below), at the time of writing this guide my 29 rejuv heals tick for 130 health per (back during around path 3.3, I cant do an update on this until I level another 29). My regrowth 60 per, with the initial burst heal of around 370 noncrit. My healing touch AVERAGES around 730 noncrit. A healing touch crit hits for around 1000 nonbuffed (beyond self- mark). Buffed, healing touch crits around 1100 – 1400 depending on gearing and buffing. For Cata, these numbers will be different. All the same, the math is still in the ballpark of what you can expect without BoA gearing.
Keep in mind, hot heals are DOTS / BUFFS so they CAN be removed. Watch that your primary heal target is not getting their buffs/heals removed early.
~PART 2 - RACIALS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
*Night Elves: Shadowmeld is AMAZING. Its stealth for a healer! Just think of all the applications of being able to stand around unseen while defending a base, or flag carrier? Shadowmeld can be used to also drop hunter and warlock pets. Passive dodge is a small but sometimes life saving perk. I really love Shadowmeld on my twink.
*Tauren: the bonus health is small and based off your base stamina, not your geared stamina. The aoe stun has endless uses.
*Troll: Berserking increases your attack and casting speed by 20% for 10 sec. 3 min CD. Great when you need to get a faster HT off.
*Worgen: Darkflight, increasing movement speed by 40% for 10 sec. 3 min CD. Basically a travel form in which you can heal - awesome for flag carrying and escape from problems.
~PART 3 – GLYPHS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Since Rejuvenation and regrowth are your primary heals you should glyph for Swiftmend. It has been suggested to consider glyphing for healing touch. However healing theory, and number modeling has shown that at lvl 29 the healing touch glyph is inferior, and very mana consuming.
P. Glyph of Regrowth: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40912 (Nice, but not as useful)
P. Glyph or Rejuvenation : http://www.wowhead.com/item=40913 (Used each and every cast, I love how useful this is. This is my second pick.)
P. Glyph of Swiftmend: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40906 (Read the description, easily the best.)
M. Glyph of Entangling Roots: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40924 (This is awesome. Instant cast roots is the ultimate life saver)
M. Glyph of Healing Touch: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40914 (Not worth using to me)
M. Glyph of Innervate: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40908 (Not bad, but not really used often)
For a minor glyph, do whatever you want according to your play style.
~PART 4 - RESTO SPECS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
RESTO Build here: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#0ZZbf0u
RESTO build here: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#0ZZrczbz
*Due to Mastery, any build for healing that is NOT resto is completely inferior for healing.
~PART 5 – STATS/GEARING (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
There are many ways one can gear. At 29, BoA gear is VERY desirable, but not required to have an effective and powerful resto druid twink. IF in doubt, stack BoA gear, for the rest of you who like to play with numbers there are other gearing OPTIONS (not requirements).There is no single ‘right’ way to gear for resto druid twinking. A few players favor haste, some stack spell power over int, some stamina stack. It is never good to specialize too much into 1 thing. Some gear has mp5, which is not too bad, but nothing you should sacrifice for.
As a twink healer, you need to have enough healing to out heal twink dps. IMO, pure stam and int stacking does NOT work as a healer. You need large heals, with a healthy mana pool, some mana regen, and some survival. Resto healing stats are about finding a balance and your own sense of harmony according to your play style.
Stats for Resto Druids: Int, Stamina, Spell Power, and haste. Sometimes, spirit too.
Personally I rank Int, Stamina, and Haste as the top 3 in that order. Haste is fun, and there is a haste spec for druids. Haste makes your casts faster, and your hot heals tick faster. Int gives a druid spell power, spell crit, and your mana pool. Stamina gives you health (duh!). Spell power makes your heals and offense spells more powerful. Spirit helps your mana regen in and out of combat. Spellpower is nice, and useful, however Int gives you spell power, mana, and crit! Spirit is nice for regen, and you should have some to round out your regen, some druids prefer to int stack so much that their mana pool is so massive that they never worry about regen. I like to stack int, and stam, with some haste, and then lastly some spirit just to give me a regen edge.
Again, mix and match to your particular play style – there is no single right way. Keep in mind, BOA gear scales down to lvl, the armory does not display the correct lvl 29 value.
BOOTS – PVP Lizardhide Boots: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
BOOTS – Acidic Walkers : WoWHead
BOOTS - Spidersilk Boots : WoWHead
BOOTS - Gnomebot Operating Boots: WoWHead
BOOTS - Fancy footwork: WoWHead
CHEST - Braintrust Vest: WoWHead
CHEST - Robes of Arugal: WoWHead
CHEST - Beguiler Robes: WoWHead
CHEST - Mechbuilder's Overalls: WoWHead
CHEST - Civinad Robes : WoWHead (Alliance Quest reward, BC enchantable)
CHEST - Zealot's Robe : WoWHead (Horde Quest reward, BC enchantable)
CLOAK – PVP Cape: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
HANDS: You can use a generic boe green, +stam / + int / + spirit combo to suit your needs.
HANDS - Hotshot Pilot's Gloves: WoWHead
HANDS - Gold-flecked Gloves: WoWHead
HANDS - Gloves of Old: WoWHead
HELM - Holy Shroud: WoWHead
HELM - Electromagnetic Gigaflux Reactivator: WoWHead
HELM - Enduring Cap: WoWHead
LEGS - Generic BoE greens / int / stam / spirit of +9 value
LEGS - Gaze Dreamer Pants: WoWHead
LEGS - Leech Pants: WoWHead
LEGS - Abomination Skin Leggings: WoWHead (No longer in game)
NECK - Crystal Starfire Medallion: WoWHead
RING - Plains ring: WoWHead
RING – PVP Ring lvl 28: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
RING – PVP Ring lvl 18: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
RING - Wicked Moonstone Ring: WoWHead (Boe to hold you over until you get better)
RING - Witch's Finger: WoWHead (Horde only quest)
RING - Ring of Twilight Shadows: WoWhead (Boe to hold you over until you get better)
RING - The Queen's Jewel: WoWHead
RING - Charged Gear: WoWHead (With healer / caster stats: int/spirit/stam combos)
RING - Electrocutioner Lagnut: WoWHead
RING - Ring of Forlorn Spirits: WoWHead (Alliance quest reward)
RING - Chabal's Favorite Ring: WoWHead (Horde quest reward)
SHOULDER – BoA Shoulder: WoWHead (Cloth or Leather Caster)
SHOULDER - Berylline Pads: WoWHead
TRINKET – BoA Discerning Eye of the Beast: WoWHead
TRINKET – PVP Rune of Perfection: WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
TRINKET – PVP Insignia of the Alliance/Horde: WoWHead (MUST have, imo)
TRINKET - Arena Grand Master: WoWHead
WAIST - Ghamoo-ra's Bind : WoWHead
WAIST - Girdle of the Blindwatcher : WoWHead
WAIST- PVP Lizardhide Girdle : WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
WEAPON – BOA Devout Aurastone Hammer : WoWHead
WEAPON - BOA Either BoA Staff: WoWHead
WEAPON- Tome of the Dawn : WoWHead
WEAPON- PVP Lore Keeper’s Staff: WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
WEAPON - Skullbreaker: WoWHead (Horde Only Quest, BC enchantable)
WEAPON - Kam's Walking Stick: WoWHead
WEAPON - Living Root: WoWHead
WEAPON - Rod of the Sleepwalker: WoWHead
WRIST – Glowing Magic Bracelet: WoWHead
WRIST - Arcane Runed Bracers: WoWHead (Alliance Quest reward)
WRIST - Gallan Cuffs : WoWHead (Horde Quest Reward)
*About BOA's: this should be mindless. When in doubt, due to how Blizzard has everythig set up...slap on every BoA you can and call it winmode :/ - I enjoy playing without BoAs against those who do have then and still succeeding dispite the BoA gearing. So, need it be said "FOR MAX AWESOME SETAGE" just slap on boas. Otherwise, pick and choose from the above.
*Note on Deadman's Hand: I did not list it. Why? Because I feel druids have so many other escape mechanics with better proc rates (entangling roots, natures grasp, etc), that you shouldnt sacrifice the slot for caster related rings. Also, if your team knows you are a healer, they tend to be fairly protective of you (as a healer, you really should never be alone but riding the coat tails of your team). If you like deadman's and feel it is good enough to sacrifice caster stats for, cool. I -personally- have never seen the deadman's be effective enough to warrent giving up caster stats. Entangling roots > Deadmans.
*Note on mutiple sets: EVERY resto druid I know of, has several sets of gear. In the least, they have extra peices they swap around for various duties. Commonly, almost all resto druids have a bear set, and then a resto set. Your style, and your sets are totally up to you. Unlike rogues who only have 2 primary stats to worry about (agi/stam) - druids have MANY to juggle.
~PART 6 – ENCHANTS:
+4 stats to chest, + spell power to weapon, + spellpower to bracers, + spellpower to hands: have fun with the rest. Again, customize your stats to where you feel lacking. Your enchants should always stick to the primary 4 stats of the class- stamina, intellect, spirit, spellpower.
~PART 7 – PROFESSIONS:
*Mining - I like the bonus stam, and use this profession. The bonus stam is not huge, however it is better then not. This bonus to your stamina is used constantly in a bg unlike the gimics of other professions.
*Herbalism - don't waste your time, your own hot heals are superior. The hot heal this provides is fairly small compared to your hot, and has a long cooldown timer.
*Skinning - I like the bonus to crit. My own combo is mining / skinning because I want the added edge given to my own survival and each and every heal. The bonus to crit is used EVERY TIME you cast - which adds up over the length of a fight. Max this profession out, and enjoy the crits.
*Engineering - pass. Engineering is great for classes who don't have all the survival, and escape mechanics a druid does. "But, what if I am oom and need to escape!" - if your oom, your pretty much screwed anyways. If you need that engineers net to survive, it might be better to die then ress with a full health and mana pool. The choice on engineering is yours, for me it isn't a choice.
*Leatherworking - don't bother.
*Tailoring - don't bother.
~PART 8 – CONSUMABLES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Check out minor mana oil (mana oil does not work on boa weapons). As a caster, who casts A LOT, minor mana oil is a nice mp5 edge. Also, if you have the time to eat, get a NORMAL food consumable that gives you +stamina, and +spirit. You can find stacks of food on the AH. The +spirit really makes food more favorable over RUM. If you run out of mana, you and your team mates, or worse your flag carrier could be dead. If you have quality gearing, you should not be so frail as to require pure +stam stacking with your food.
~PART 9 – BUFFS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
As a druid you bring mark of the wild, remove corruption (warlock / spriest dots, and rogue poisons - takes a lot of mana). At the start of every game, remember to buff your entire team (you cant mark hunter pets) with mark. Each time you die and ress, always remark yourself. In AB, if you are stuck defending...you should try and buff people as they run past.
Other party/class buffs: Fort from a priest, blessing of wisdom from a pallie, and int from a mage…your good to go!
Remove corruption should be on your hot bar. This feature is an unsung hero when used on flag carriers, yourself, and well pretty much everyone. Save it for critical moments, as it eats a lot of mana.
~PART 10 – QUIRKS/STUPID DRUID TRICKS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Battleress / Normal Ress – use it! If you have team mates who know you well enough as to not always release after you cleared out a flag room, have a flag carrier…and your best guards are dead… RESS THEM! Oh, and don’t forget a few heals post ress. I pref er to ress rogues, and warriors as they do not require mana (which a player won’t have when ressed). Ress, heal, and go!
I also suggest carrying around SOME feral gear, for when you want to go bear form and flag run. Before shifting into bear, I also toss a rejuv heal on myself and will occassionally shift out to renew the heal (this is dangerous). Get good at making use of shifting form to save yourself. Often, you are forced to selfheal when flag running - so get good at shifting. Demoralizing roar is your ally, as is the attack stun.
Once you are in the clear, or you REALLY need to put distance between yourself and the enemy - go cat, and DASH like mad. Druids have 4 forms, make use of them all.
Hunters are all over the 29 bracket, if you play a NeLF shadowmeld will reset -all- hunter and warlock pets currently targetting you.
Entangeling roots / Nature's Grasp is so awesome I shouldn't even have to tell you to make use of this.
~PART 11: RESTO VERSES STEALTHERS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Believe it or not, restos can fight against and win against rogues and feral druids. Moonfire, and faeiry fire are your best friends against a rogue and cat druid - so long as you have the mana. FF the bastard (so they can't vanish and ambush you), heal yourself (rejuv), pop natures grasp, hit the rogue with insect swarm, and back the hell away while moonfiring. Moonfire is ideal because it is an instant offensive cast - verses something as slow as starfire. NEVER give a rogue your back, even if you just spin in place, just don't do it. By the end of the fight, you'll be oom...but shit...you showed that rogue! GO GO NOOBFIRE!
If you lack the mana for a fight: ff, REJUV yourself, entangling roots/nature's grasp, once the stealther is entangled, abolish poisons (any good rogue will shiv on crippling), cat form, dash to safety / your teammates.
Faeiry Fire and Moonfire are your best friends against stealthers. See a rogue, moonfire or FF them. These abilities prevents/remove a rogue from re-entering stealth, there by robbing him of his best moves. FF in particular is brutal, even if the rogue kills you they can't stealth and are rendered kind of worthless for a while. A rogue without stealth, is easy pickings. Moonfire is nice for a damage debuff over time that will remove a stealther from stealth, and also do damage. Between FF and Moonfire, FF is best to use against stealthers.
Thanks for reading, feel free to contact me with suggestions! I will happily update this guide to include anything I might have missed. A special thanks to Traumateam, and Tazdangor who humor all my stupid druid talk.
Extra help/imput from the following forum posters (in no order): RyVil, Bwappo, darzk, and prolly more. Please do not get butthurt if I left you out by accident. I don't know everything, so help is always welcome
My own 29 resto twink leveled on accident, and is in the 39s now. I am sorry that I don't have her to show you anymore.
As of patch 3.2 I had quit the game so some of this is out of date. With Cata, I have returned and am in the process of updating this guide to better reflect 29 resto twinking as of 4.0+. Updates to this guide have begun as of Dec 13th, 2010.
~PART 1 - HEALING WITH HOTS 101 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Druid healing is not about large burst heals. They do not have a fast cast, large flash heal. Rather, druid healing is about layers of smaller heals.
My single target healing cycle typically is as follows: Rejuvenation (get those heals in fast!), Regrowth (small burst of health with smaller heal ticks), followed up by a swiftmend (should be glyphed for swiftmend) if needed, and last and ONLY if needed healing touch (large burst heal, slow to cast). Notice the layers of hot heals followed by the, glyphed swiftmend, and as the last resort the long cast burst heal? If you are looking for a large instant / fast heal class…THIS IS NOT IT. If your idea of healing, is spamming large single burst heals, check out a priest or pallie. Additionally, due to how slow healing touch is to cast you can have it stopped more easily by rogue kicks, counter spell, and silences.
Rejuv is an instant cast, so it can be cast while moving/running. Rejuvenation is nice to place onto players right before entering into combat, as it takes a moment to start ticking. Of the 2 hot heals, rejuvenation heals for the most per tick. Rejuv hot heal ticks can crit. In combat, healing is a matter of priorities and you being able to watch your own back, and get those heals out to those who need it most without going OOM. Do not recast your hots onto a target until they have ended, or the player is running out of your range and you cant follow them, OR you are about to die. When I know I am about to die, I will spam out rejuv heals onto the players nearest to me....this actually does work marvels. The nice thing about hots, is you don't have to be alive to heal
When specced for Rejuv (see spec discussion below), at the time of writing this guide my 29 rejuv heals tick for 130 health per (back during around path 3.3, I cant do an update on this until I level another 29). My regrowth 60 per, with the initial burst heal of around 370 noncrit. My healing touch AVERAGES around 730 noncrit. A healing touch crit hits for around 1000 nonbuffed (beyond self- mark). Buffed, healing touch crits around 1100 – 1400 depending on gearing and buffing. For Cata, these numbers will be different. All the same, the math is still in the ballpark of what you can expect without BoA gearing.
Keep in mind, hot heals are DOTS / BUFFS so they CAN be removed. Watch that your primary heal target is not getting their buffs/heals removed early.
~PART 2 - RACIALS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
*Night Elves: Shadowmeld is AMAZING. Its stealth for a healer! Just think of all the applications of being able to stand around unseen while defending a base, or flag carrier? Shadowmeld can be used to also drop hunter and warlock pets. Passive dodge is a small but sometimes life saving perk. I really love Shadowmeld on my twink.
*Tauren: the bonus health is small and based off your base stamina, not your geared stamina. The aoe stun has endless uses.
*Troll: Berserking increases your attack and casting speed by 20% for 10 sec. 3 min CD. Great when you need to get a faster HT off.
*Worgen: Darkflight, increasing movement speed by 40% for 10 sec. 3 min CD. Basically a travel form in which you can heal - awesome for flag carrying and escape from problems.
~PART 3 – GLYPHS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Since Rejuvenation and regrowth are your primary heals you should glyph for Swiftmend. It has been suggested to consider glyphing for healing touch. However healing theory, and number modeling has shown that at lvl 29 the healing touch glyph is inferior, and very mana consuming.
P. Glyph of Regrowth: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40912 (Nice, but not as useful)
P. Glyph or Rejuvenation : http://www.wowhead.com/item=40913 (Used each and every cast, I love how useful this is. This is my second pick.)
P. Glyph of Swiftmend: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40906 (Read the description, easily the best.)
M. Glyph of Entangling Roots: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40924 (This is awesome. Instant cast roots is the ultimate life saver)
M. Glyph of Healing Touch: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40914 (Not worth using to me)
M. Glyph of Innervate: http://www.wowhead.com/item=40908 (Not bad, but not really used often)
For a minor glyph, do whatever you want according to your play style.
~PART 4 - RESTO SPECS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
RESTO Build here: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#0ZZbf0u
RESTO build here: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#0ZZrczbz
*Due to Mastery, any build for healing that is NOT resto is completely inferior for healing.
~PART 5 – STATS/GEARING (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
There are many ways one can gear. At 29, BoA gear is VERY desirable, but not required to have an effective and powerful resto druid twink. IF in doubt, stack BoA gear, for the rest of you who like to play with numbers there are other gearing OPTIONS (not requirements).There is no single ‘right’ way to gear for resto druid twinking. A few players favor haste, some stack spell power over int, some stamina stack. It is never good to specialize too much into 1 thing. Some gear has mp5, which is not too bad, but nothing you should sacrifice for.
As a twink healer, you need to have enough healing to out heal twink dps. IMO, pure stam and int stacking does NOT work as a healer. You need large heals, with a healthy mana pool, some mana regen, and some survival. Resto healing stats are about finding a balance and your own sense of harmony according to your play style.
Stats for Resto Druids: Int, Stamina, Spell Power, and haste. Sometimes, spirit too.
Personally I rank Int, Stamina, and Haste as the top 3 in that order. Haste is fun, and there is a haste spec for druids. Haste makes your casts faster, and your hot heals tick faster. Int gives a druid spell power, spell crit, and your mana pool. Stamina gives you health (duh!). Spell power makes your heals and offense spells more powerful. Spirit helps your mana regen in and out of combat. Spellpower is nice, and useful, however Int gives you spell power, mana, and crit! Spirit is nice for regen, and you should have some to round out your regen, some druids prefer to int stack so much that their mana pool is so massive that they never worry about regen. I like to stack int, and stam, with some haste, and then lastly some spirit just to give me a regen edge.
Again, mix and match to your particular play style – there is no single right way. Keep in mind, BOA gear scales down to lvl, the armory does not display the correct lvl 29 value.
BOOTS – PVP Lizardhide Boots: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
BOOTS – Acidic Walkers : WoWHead
BOOTS - Spidersilk Boots : WoWHead
BOOTS - Gnomebot Operating Boots: WoWHead
BOOTS - Fancy footwork: WoWHead
CHEST - Braintrust Vest: WoWHead
CHEST - Robes of Arugal: WoWHead
CHEST - Beguiler Robes: WoWHead
CHEST - Mechbuilder's Overalls: WoWHead
CHEST - Civinad Robes : WoWHead (Alliance Quest reward, BC enchantable)
CHEST - Zealot's Robe : WoWHead (Horde Quest reward, BC enchantable)
CLOAK – PVP Cape: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
HANDS: You can use a generic boe green, +stam / + int / + spirit combo to suit your needs.
HANDS - Hotshot Pilot's Gloves: WoWHead
HANDS - Gold-flecked Gloves: WoWHead
HANDS - Gloves of Old: WoWHead
HELM - Holy Shroud: WoWHead
HELM - Electromagnetic Gigaflux Reactivator: WoWHead
HELM - Enduring Cap: WoWHead
LEGS - Generic BoE greens / int / stam / spirit of +9 value
LEGS - Gaze Dreamer Pants: WoWHead
LEGS - Leech Pants: WoWHead
LEGS - Abomination Skin Leggings: WoWHead (No longer in game)
NECK - Crystal Starfire Medallion: WoWHead
RING - Plains ring: WoWHead
RING – PVP Ring lvl 28: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
RING – PVP Ring lvl 18: WoWHead (Alliance and Horde)
RING - Wicked Moonstone Ring: WoWHead (Boe to hold you over until you get better)
RING - Witch's Finger: WoWHead (Horde only quest)
RING - Ring of Twilight Shadows: WoWhead (Boe to hold you over until you get better)
RING - The Queen's Jewel: WoWHead
RING - Charged Gear: WoWHead (With healer / caster stats: int/spirit/stam combos)
RING - Electrocutioner Lagnut: WoWHead
RING - Ring of Forlorn Spirits: WoWHead (Alliance quest reward)
RING - Chabal's Favorite Ring: WoWHead (Horde quest reward)
SHOULDER – BoA Shoulder: WoWHead (Cloth or Leather Caster)
SHOULDER - Berylline Pads: WoWHead
TRINKET – BoA Discerning Eye of the Beast: WoWHead
TRINKET – PVP Rune of Perfection: WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
TRINKET – PVP Insignia of the Alliance/Horde: WoWHead (MUST have, imo)
TRINKET - Arena Grand Master: WoWHead
WAIST - Ghamoo-ra's Bind : WoWHead
WAIST - Girdle of the Blindwatcher : WoWHead
WAIST- PVP Lizardhide Girdle : WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
WEAPON – BOA Devout Aurastone Hammer : WoWHead
WEAPON - BOA Either BoA Staff: WoWHead
WEAPON- Tome of the Dawn : WoWHead
WEAPON- PVP Lore Keeper’s Staff: WoWHead (Horde and Alliance)
WEAPON - Skullbreaker: WoWHead (Horde Only Quest, BC enchantable)
WEAPON - Kam's Walking Stick: WoWHead
WEAPON - Living Root: WoWHead
WEAPON - Rod of the Sleepwalker: WoWHead
WRIST – Glowing Magic Bracelet: WoWHead
WRIST - Arcane Runed Bracers: WoWHead (Alliance Quest reward)
WRIST - Gallan Cuffs : WoWHead (Horde Quest Reward)
*About BOA's: this should be mindless. When in doubt, due to how Blizzard has everythig set up...slap on every BoA you can and call it winmode :/ - I enjoy playing without BoAs against those who do have then and still succeeding dispite the BoA gearing. So, need it be said "FOR MAX AWESOME SETAGE" just slap on boas. Otherwise, pick and choose from the above.
*Note on Deadman's Hand: I did not list it. Why? Because I feel druids have so many other escape mechanics with better proc rates (entangling roots, natures grasp, etc), that you shouldnt sacrifice the slot for caster related rings. Also, if your team knows you are a healer, they tend to be fairly protective of you (as a healer, you really should never be alone but riding the coat tails of your team). If you like deadman's and feel it is good enough to sacrifice caster stats for, cool. I -personally- have never seen the deadman's be effective enough to warrent giving up caster stats. Entangling roots > Deadmans.
*Note on mutiple sets: EVERY resto druid I know of, has several sets of gear. In the least, they have extra peices they swap around for various duties. Commonly, almost all resto druids have a bear set, and then a resto set. Your style, and your sets are totally up to you. Unlike rogues who only have 2 primary stats to worry about (agi/stam) - druids have MANY to juggle.
~PART 6 – ENCHANTS:
+4 stats to chest, + spell power to weapon, + spellpower to bracers, + spellpower to hands: have fun with the rest. Again, customize your stats to where you feel lacking. Your enchants should always stick to the primary 4 stats of the class- stamina, intellect, spirit, spellpower.
~PART 7 – PROFESSIONS:
*Mining - I like the bonus stam, and use this profession. The bonus stam is not huge, however it is better then not. This bonus to your stamina is used constantly in a bg unlike the gimics of other professions.
*Herbalism - don't waste your time, your own hot heals are superior. The hot heal this provides is fairly small compared to your hot, and has a long cooldown timer.
*Skinning - I like the bonus to crit. My own combo is mining / skinning because I want the added edge given to my own survival and each and every heal. The bonus to crit is used EVERY TIME you cast - which adds up over the length of a fight. Max this profession out, and enjoy the crits.
*Engineering - pass. Engineering is great for classes who don't have all the survival, and escape mechanics a druid does. "But, what if I am oom and need to escape!" - if your oom, your pretty much screwed anyways. If you need that engineers net to survive, it might be better to die then ress with a full health and mana pool. The choice on engineering is yours, for me it isn't a choice.
*Leatherworking - don't bother.
*Tailoring - don't bother.
~PART 8 – CONSUMABLES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Check out minor mana oil (mana oil does not work on boa weapons). As a caster, who casts A LOT, minor mana oil is a nice mp5 edge. Also, if you have the time to eat, get a NORMAL food consumable that gives you +stamina, and +spirit. You can find stacks of food on the AH. The +spirit really makes food more favorable over RUM. If you run out of mana, you and your team mates, or worse your flag carrier could be dead. If you have quality gearing, you should not be so frail as to require pure +stam stacking with your food.
~PART 9 – BUFFS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
As a druid you bring mark of the wild, remove corruption (warlock / spriest dots, and rogue poisons - takes a lot of mana). At the start of every game, remember to buff your entire team (you cant mark hunter pets) with mark. Each time you die and ress, always remark yourself. In AB, if you are stuck defending...you should try and buff people as they run past.
Other party/class buffs: Fort from a priest, blessing of wisdom from a pallie, and int from a mage…your good to go!
Remove corruption should be on your hot bar. This feature is an unsung hero when used on flag carriers, yourself, and well pretty much everyone. Save it for critical moments, as it eats a lot of mana.
~PART 10 – QUIRKS/STUPID DRUID TRICKS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Battleress / Normal Ress – use it! If you have team mates who know you well enough as to not always release after you cleared out a flag room, have a flag carrier…and your best guards are dead… RESS THEM! Oh, and don’t forget a few heals post ress. I pref er to ress rogues, and warriors as they do not require mana (which a player won’t have when ressed). Ress, heal, and go!
I also suggest carrying around SOME feral gear, for when you want to go bear form and flag run. Before shifting into bear, I also toss a rejuv heal on myself and will occassionally shift out to renew the heal (this is dangerous). Get good at making use of shifting form to save yourself. Often, you are forced to selfheal when flag running - so get good at shifting. Demoralizing roar is your ally, as is the attack stun.
Once you are in the clear, or you REALLY need to put distance between yourself and the enemy - go cat, and DASH like mad. Druids have 4 forms, make use of them all.
Hunters are all over the 29 bracket, if you play a NeLF shadowmeld will reset -all- hunter and warlock pets currently targetting you.
Entangeling roots / Nature's Grasp is so awesome I shouldn't even have to tell you to make use of this.
~PART 11: RESTO VERSES STEALTHERS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3):
Believe it or not, restos can fight against and win against rogues and feral druids. Moonfire, and faeiry fire are your best friends against a rogue and cat druid - so long as you have the mana. FF the bastard (so they can't vanish and ambush you), heal yourself (rejuv), pop natures grasp, hit the rogue with insect swarm, and back the hell away while moonfiring. Moonfire is ideal because it is an instant offensive cast - verses something as slow as starfire. NEVER give a rogue your back, even if you just spin in place, just don't do it. By the end of the fight, you'll be oom...but shit...you showed that rogue! GO GO NOOBFIRE!
If you lack the mana for a fight: ff, REJUV yourself, entangling roots/nature's grasp, once the stealther is entangled, abolish poisons (any good rogue will shiv on crippling), cat form, dash to safety / your teammates.
Faeiry Fire and Moonfire are your best friends against stealthers. See a rogue, moonfire or FF them. These abilities prevents/remove a rogue from re-entering stealth, there by robbing him of his best moves. FF in particular is brutal, even if the rogue kills you they can't stealth and are rendered kind of worthless for a while. A rogue without stealth, is easy pickings. Moonfire is nice for a damage debuff over time that will remove a stealther from stealth, and also do damage. Between FF and Moonfire, FF is best to use against stealthers.
~CLOSING/THANKS~
Thanks for reading, feel free to contact me with suggestions! I will happily update this guide to include anything I might have missed. A special thanks to Traumateam, and Tazdangor who humor all my stupid druid talk.
Extra help/imput from the following forum posters (in no order): RyVil, Bwappo, darzk, and prolly more. Please do not get butthurt if I left you out by accident. I don't know everything, so help is always welcome
My own 29 resto twink leveled on accident, and is in the 39s now. I am sorry that I don't have her to show you anymore.
