vinod
OG
Welcome to lvl 39 resto twinking! WOO, lets hear it for HOT HEALS! Now let me establish one thing about druid healing at this level, resto is about your personal play style. There is no single perfect, or right way to twink out a resto healer. There are many WRONG ways, however the great thing I like about resto twinks is there is room for personalization. With that established, sit back and enjoy the read!
You can find my guide to lvl 29 resto twinking here: http://www.twinkinfo.com/forums/29-twink-guides/3232-29-resto-druid-guide.html
~PART 1 - HEALING WITH HOTS 101 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Your 3 MAIN heals are: Rejuvination, Regrowth, and Swiftmend. Healing touch is a long slow, and mana ineffective heal that is not even glyphed for. Healing touch is your LAST trick in the book after everything else has been exausted. Druid healing is not about large single burst heals, but layers of smaller heals ticking over time. Twink dps, is all about the burst damage...see the conflict and why some people like to use healing touch? Additionally, due to how slow healing touch is to cast you can have it stopped more easily by rogue kicks, counter spell, and silences.
Druid healing is all about hots. Hot healing is about creating layers of heals that tick over time. Hot heals can crit, and hot heals will continue even after the healer dies. A great trick you can do with hot heals, is if you know you are going to die and are in an intense fight with your team..you can toss out hot heals (rejuv) onto your team mates before you die. Those you placed before dying, will heal your team mates while you are dead and waiting to ress and rejoin them.
Small note: If for some reason that you insist on using Healing Touch as your primary heal, you will need a lot of haste.
Hot heals will lurk passively if the target is at full health. That so long as the hot heal has time, it will sit and wait until someone takes damage and then heal.
~PART 2 - RACIALS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*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.
*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 4.0.3a):
Since Rejuvenation and regrowth are your primary heals you should glyph for Swiftmend.
P. Glyph of Swiftmend: Glyph of Swiftmend - Item - World of Warcraft (Read the description, easily the best.)
P. Glyph of Regrowth: Glyph of Regrowth - Item - World of Warcraft (Nice, but not as useful)
P. Glyph or Rejuvenation : Glyph of Rejuvenation - Item - World of Warcraft (Used each and every cast, I love how useful this is. This is my second pick.)
M. Glyph of Entangling Roots: Glyph of Entangling Roots - Item - World of Warcraft (This is awesome. Instant cast roots is the ultimate life saver.)
M. Glyph of Healing Touch: Glyph of Healing Touch - Item - World of Warcraft (Not worth using to me)
M. Glyph of Innervate: Glyph of Innervate - Item - World of Warcraft (Not bad, but not really used often)
~PART 4 - RESTO SPECS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*Regrowth Spam Spec -
*Generic ZOMG Heals -
~PART 5 - SPELLS @ LVL 39 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
This is stuff you should want to know: mana cost of spells, and their unbuffed healing info.
*Faerie Fire - 65 mana
*Thorns - 296 mana
*Moonfire - 148 mana
*Entangling Roots - 57 mana
*Healing touch - 247 mana
*Regrowth - 288 mana
*Rejuvenation - 214 mana
*Swiftmend - 82 mana
*Remove corruption - 140 mana
*Mark of the Wild - 197 mana
Regrowth: 367, then 114 for 6 seconds
Rejuv: 168 every 3 seconds, for 12 seconds
Healing Touch: heals for 818
~PART 6 - NAKED STATS @ LVL 39 WITHOUT RACIAL BONUSES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
These stats are for a lvl 39 without gear, buffs, or any kind of a racial bonus.
Str - 41
Int - 68
Stam - 55
Spirit - 71
Agi - 46
Spell Crit: 10.39%
Spell Power: 58
~PART 7 – STATS/GEARING (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Unlike rogues who only stack the likes of AGI & Stam, resto healers have a lot to juggle. There is no single stat combo that is perfect, or the best. The combo of stats, and what you choose is squarely on your shoulders.
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.
You team needs those heals more then anything else, and the bigger the healing numbers the better (so long as you dont overheal). Your team also needs you to survive, healers dont heal when dead (save for when you have hots ticking). To do these two things you need great spell power, a big mana pool, and lots of health.
A healer out of mana is a dead healer. A healer out of mana means dead dps. It's a delicate dance juggling these stats. Really, they all are important, however I sacrifce spirit for the other stats for many reasons. Fore most, many twink fights are so fast and furious that healers almost never live long enough to go oom. Some people no doubt are rolling their eyes going "OMG good healers dont die!" ...news flash, they do. Healers are the prime targets in BGS. How many times have you read in a bg "OMG! THEY HAVE MORE HEALERS THEN WE DO! KILL THEIR HEALERS" or "THE EFC HAS A HEALER! KILL THE HEALER!" ? Healers are prime targets for lots of pvp hate.
Additionally, effective healing is...mana effeciant. If you are glyphed wrong, and healing wrong it will eat your mana fast. No ammount of spirit, or int will save you from wasting your mana with bad healing and glyphs.
Now there is one other thing about spirit and regen I would like to address: the caster heirloom trinket. ATM, this does not award bonus mana in pvp unless it is your personal HK. This trinket is amazing for pve, specifically while you are healing runs to get gear.
About gearing, if in doubt slap on BoA gear. If you lack BoA gear for a particular slot, refer to this list. I provide a variety of options to meet play styles, and offer a selection of substitutes until you can get the desired gearing: options never hurt.
RING - Underworld Band (epic) Underworld Band - Item - World of Warcraft (This is one sexy BoE!)
RING - Advisor's Ring - Advisor's Ring - Item - World of Warcraft - (Horde pvp reward)
RING - Lorekeeper's Ring - Lorekeeper's Ring - Item - World of Warcraft (Alliance pvp reward)
RING - BoA ring - Gleaming Seal of the Archmagus - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Band of Uldaman - Band of Uldaman - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Hidden Treasure - Hidden Treasure - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Ring of Demonic Guile - Ring of Demonic Guile - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Chain of Taerar - Chain of Taerar - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Gemshard Heart - Gemshard Heart - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Gift of the Banshee Queen - Gift of the Banshee Queen - Item - World of Warcraft (Horde SM quest)
NECKLACE - Scarlet Necklace of Paradise - Scarlet Necklace of Paradise - Item - World of Warcraft (Alliance SM Quest)
NECKLACE - Necklace of Calisea - Necklace of Calisea - Item - World of Warcraft (BoE)
NECKLACE - Triune Amulet - Triune Amulet - Item - World of Warcraft
TRINKET - Inherited Insignia of the Alliance/Horde - http://www.wowhead.com/item=44098 (The best there is, just seeing this should make you excited)
TRINKET - Discerning Eye of the Beast - Discerning Eye of the Beast - Item - World of Warcraft (+11 int @ lvl 39)
TRINKET - Heart of Noxxion - Heart of Noxxion - Item - World of Warcraft
TRINKET - Rune of Perfection - Rune of Perfection - Item - World of Warcraft
HELM - Clever Hat - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18308 - (Haste hat)
HELM - Whitemane's Chapelau - http://www.wowhead.com/item=7720
HELM - Embalmed Shroud - http://www.wowhead.com/item=7691
HELM - Eye of Theradras - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17715
HELM - Papal Fez - http://www.wowhead.com/item=9431
SHOULDERS - Warpwood Leaf Mantle - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65922 - (Haste)
SHOULDERS - Inquisitor's Shawl - http://www.wowhead.com/item=19507
SHOULDERS - Rotgrip Mantle - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17732
WRIST - Agamaggan's Gift - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65918 (Best in slot)
WRIST - Fiona's Armbands - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63019 (Best in slot)
WRIST - Bracers of safe keeping - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63663 (Haste set)
WRIST - Bracers of Reluctant Vioence - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63597 (Horde)
WRIST - Goddess-Blessed Wristlets - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63593 (Alliance)
WRIST - Corpsebeast Armbands - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63016
WRIST - Bracers of the captured Heart - http://www.wowhead.com/item=54922
CHEST - Andorhal Tunic - http://www.wowhead.com/item=62225 (Horde)
CHEST - Chilldwind Tunic - http://www.wowhead.com/item=62220 (Alliance)
CHEST - Death Speakers Robes - http://www.wowhead.com/item=6682
CHEST - Nature's Embrace - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17741
CHEST - Spirewind Fetter - http://www.wowhead.com/item=9406 - (BOE)
CHEST - Warpwood Bark Vest - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65948
BOOTS - Riptide Shoes - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18307
BOOTS - Merciful Greaves - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18318
BOOTS - Sandals of Glorious Life - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65945
(More coming soon)
~PART 8 – ENCHANTS(Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Gloves: +haste to gloves
Staff / Weapon: +spellpower
~PART 9 – PROFESSIONS(Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*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 verses 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.
Are you casting? Then your using the bonus crit from skinning. Are you getting your ass kicked? Then your using the mining bonus. These two profession bonuses, to me are used the most. While the bonuses are small, in the long run give you a big advantage.
~PART 10 – CONSUMABLES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Food buffs rock. As discussed earlier, resto druid stats are a little complex and needs a lot of stats to round out. For your food, I do not suggest going with pure +stamina buff food, but rather something like +stamina, and + spirit food. Food buffs are your chance to round our your character even better. Check out some of this food: Carrion Surprise , and Giant Clam Scorcho . Also don't forget to check out any special holiday food, and buffs!
~PART 11 – BUFFS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
~PART 12 – QUIRKS/STUPID DRUID TRICKS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
* Remove corruption is great - it removes one poison, and one curse. This is a must for taking care of flag carriers. It is mana heavy, so be careful.
* If you are going to die, and your team is near by, start spamming rejuv heals onto your team. Hot heals will tick and heal your teammates even after you die. This is really nice to help give your team mates an edge in fighting, and also keep them alive until you can get back to them.
* Faerie fire is the #1 way to PISS rogues off. My main is a rogue, my favorite class in the game is rogue. The one thing that PISSES me off as a rogue in pvp is being unable to stealth. Trust me, if you wanna mess up a rogues day, toss FF onto them.
*"OH NOEZ! I are snared/webbed!" - shape shift out goober. You have many forms, use them to your advantage.
*"OH NOEZ! I r fc/tanking anything!" - have some stamina heavy gear for tanking. I have a few quick easy items I trade out for a feral tank set. This set includes a nice feral staff, because you can change weapons in combat, while you cant change any gear. In bear form, demoralizing roar is a great way of reducing damage done to you. Also make use of the bear form bash to stun any serious threats. I toss a hot heal on myself, and then shift into different forms. When alone facing many foes as a fc, shift into cat/travel form and run your ass toward your team or a nearby healer. Keep in mind that as a healer, your job is to stand behind other people and heal them..ideally you shouldn't be the one standing out front needing heals.
*Get good at playing 'helpless'. By this I mean...when you are guarding a flag carrier and are stuck waiting around for the efc to be killed, healers are the target of a lot of hate. Often, what happens is rogues are sent in after the healer and the flag carrier. Rogues will -commonly- sap the healer, to first get a feel for the situation. I do not trinket out of the sap, I let the rogues think they have it made, and let them attack - I then break the sap with my trinket and FF those little sneaky shits. With ff in place, heal away. Of course, this doesnt always go perfectly, and you have to improve on your feet depending on the sitaution. Often, playing 'helpless' works wonders to get a cocky rogue out of stealth.
* Is your team pissing you off? Is the FC a jerk? Are you trapped with nubs and want to leave them in a way that informs them kindly to screw off? Are you stuck alone defending the stables while your team gets their asses kicked? http://www.wowhead.com/spell=18960 is the answer to your prayers
~PART 13: RESTO VERSES STEALTHERS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Faerie Fire is your best friend against anyone who stealths - be them rogue, or cat druid. FF will make it impossible for them to return to stealth, there by effectively preventing the attacker from doing ambush, vanish, ambush combos..which are killer. Even if you are going to die, toss a FF onto a stealther you can see because it will effectively cripple the stealther.
Now combat against a stealther is hard, but not impossible to win. When fighting rogues you have one major advantage: YOU CAN HEAL AND KITE.
Fights verses stealthers typicaly go as follows: you are attacked/ambushed by someone who was in stealth (they will be behind you, and typically hit pretty hard), ff the stealther asap (even if you die, the stealther is screwed for a good long while), hit rejuv on yourself for a fast ticking heal, hit roots, and BACK away while hitting incest swarm and noobfire. Never provide your back to an attacking stealther. Even if you just spin in place, never give them your back, your backside is your vunerable side they need for their big burst damage. Starfire and wrath are slow attacks, and in these kinds of fights its fast and furious. I tend to noob fire the stealther to death or go cat form and flee. fleeing is ideal if you lack mana to noobfire a rogue to death, among other reasons. I like noobfire when fighting rogues because its a fast easy to spam attack that you can use while protecting your back.
In short: Get good at kiting, or fleeing.
~CLOSING/THANKS~
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoy resto twinking as much as I do. Many people have helped me play test, theorycraft, and have provided imput to make this guide possible. I could have not done it without the help of others
Big special thanks goes to: Bwappo, Metamorfos, and Grunge!
If you have anything to add, please do so, and if the material is good I will be certain to include it. If you find that there is anything wrong in the guide, please let me know in a constructive fashion and I will be happy to make changes.
Also as always, a special shout out to all those dpsers who protect their healer <3
You can find my guide to lvl 29 resto twinking here: http://www.twinkinfo.com/forums/29-twink-guides/3232-29-resto-druid-guide.html
~PART 1 - HEALING WITH HOTS 101 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Your 3 MAIN heals are: Rejuvination, Regrowth, and Swiftmend. Healing touch is a long slow, and mana ineffective heal that is not even glyphed for. Healing touch is your LAST trick in the book after everything else has been exausted. Druid healing is not about large single burst heals, but layers of smaller heals ticking over time. Twink dps, is all about the burst damage...see the conflict and why some people like to use healing touch? Additionally, due to how slow healing touch is to cast you can have it stopped more easily by rogue kicks, counter spell, and silences.
Druid healing is all about hots. Hot healing is about creating layers of heals that tick over time. Hot heals can crit, and hot heals will continue even after the healer dies. A great trick you can do with hot heals, is if you know you are going to die and are in an intense fight with your team..you can toss out hot heals (rejuv) onto your team mates before you die. Those you placed before dying, will heal your team mates while you are dead and waiting to ress and rejoin them.
Small note: If for some reason that you insist on using Healing Touch as your primary heal, you will need a lot of haste.
Hot heals will lurk passively if the target is at full health. That so long as the hot heal has time, it will sit and wait until someone takes damage and then heal.
~PART 2 - RACIALS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*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.
*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 4.0.3a):
Since Rejuvenation and regrowth are your primary heals you should glyph for Swiftmend.
P. Glyph of Swiftmend: Glyph of Swiftmend - Item - World of Warcraft (Read the description, easily the best.)
P. Glyph of Regrowth: Glyph of Regrowth - Item - World of Warcraft (Nice, but not as useful)
P. Glyph or Rejuvenation : Glyph of Rejuvenation - Item - World of Warcraft (Used each and every cast, I love how useful this is. This is my second pick.)
M. Glyph of Entangling Roots: Glyph of Entangling Roots - Item - World of Warcraft (This is awesome. Instant cast roots is the ultimate life saver.)
M. Glyph of Healing Touch: Glyph of Healing Touch - Item - World of Warcraft (Not worth using to me)
M. Glyph of Innervate: Glyph of Innervate - Item - World of Warcraft (Not bad, but not really used often)
~PART 4 - RESTO SPECS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*Regrowth Spam Spec -
*Generic ZOMG Heals -
~PART 5 - SPELLS @ LVL 39 (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
This is stuff you should want to know: mana cost of spells, and their unbuffed healing info.
*Faerie Fire - 65 mana
*Thorns - 296 mana
*Moonfire - 148 mana
*Entangling Roots - 57 mana
*Healing touch - 247 mana
*Regrowth - 288 mana
*Rejuvenation - 214 mana
*Swiftmend - 82 mana
*Remove corruption - 140 mana
*Mark of the Wild - 197 mana
Regrowth: 367, then 114 for 6 seconds
Rejuv: 168 every 3 seconds, for 12 seconds
Healing Touch: heals for 818
~PART 6 - NAKED STATS @ LVL 39 WITHOUT RACIAL BONUSES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
These stats are for a lvl 39 without gear, buffs, or any kind of a racial bonus.
Str - 41
Int - 68
Stam - 55
Spirit - 71
Agi - 46
Spell Crit: 10.39%
Spell Power: 58
~PART 7 – STATS/GEARING (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Unlike rogues who only stack the likes of AGI & Stam, resto healers have a lot to juggle. There is no single stat combo that is perfect, or the best. The combo of stats, and what you choose is squarely on your shoulders.
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.
You team needs those heals more then anything else, and the bigger the healing numbers the better (so long as you dont overheal). Your team also needs you to survive, healers dont heal when dead (save for when you have hots ticking). To do these two things you need great spell power, a big mana pool, and lots of health.
A healer out of mana is a dead healer. A healer out of mana means dead dps. It's a delicate dance juggling these stats. Really, they all are important, however I sacrifce spirit for the other stats for many reasons. Fore most, many twink fights are so fast and furious that healers almost never live long enough to go oom. Some people no doubt are rolling their eyes going "OMG good healers dont die!" ...news flash, they do. Healers are the prime targets in BGS. How many times have you read in a bg "OMG! THEY HAVE MORE HEALERS THEN WE DO! KILL THEIR HEALERS" or "THE EFC HAS A HEALER! KILL THE HEALER!" ? Healers are prime targets for lots of pvp hate.
Additionally, effective healing is...mana effeciant. If you are glyphed wrong, and healing wrong it will eat your mana fast. No ammount of spirit, or int will save you from wasting your mana with bad healing and glyphs.
Now there is one other thing about spirit and regen I would like to address: the caster heirloom trinket. ATM, this does not award bonus mana in pvp unless it is your personal HK. This trinket is amazing for pve, specifically while you are healing runs to get gear.
About gearing, if in doubt slap on BoA gear. If you lack BoA gear for a particular slot, refer to this list. I provide a variety of options to meet play styles, and offer a selection of substitutes until you can get the desired gearing: options never hurt.
RING - Underworld Band (epic) Underworld Band - Item - World of Warcraft (This is one sexy BoE!)
RING - Advisor's Ring - Advisor's Ring - Item - World of Warcraft - (Horde pvp reward)
RING - Lorekeeper's Ring - Lorekeeper's Ring - Item - World of Warcraft (Alliance pvp reward)
RING - BoA ring - Gleaming Seal of the Archmagus - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Band of Uldaman - Band of Uldaman - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Hidden Treasure - Hidden Treasure - Item - World of Warcraft
RING - Ring of Demonic Guile - Ring of Demonic Guile - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Chain of Taerar - Chain of Taerar - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Gemshard Heart - Gemshard Heart - Item - World of Warcraft
NECKLACE - Gift of the Banshee Queen - Gift of the Banshee Queen - Item - World of Warcraft (Horde SM quest)
NECKLACE - Scarlet Necklace of Paradise - Scarlet Necklace of Paradise - Item - World of Warcraft (Alliance SM Quest)
NECKLACE - Necklace of Calisea - Necklace of Calisea - Item - World of Warcraft (BoE)
NECKLACE - Triune Amulet - Triune Amulet - Item - World of Warcraft
TRINKET - Inherited Insignia of the Alliance/Horde - http://www.wowhead.com/item=44098 (The best there is, just seeing this should make you excited)
TRINKET - Discerning Eye of the Beast - Discerning Eye of the Beast - Item - World of Warcraft (+11 int @ lvl 39)
TRINKET - Heart of Noxxion - Heart of Noxxion - Item - World of Warcraft
TRINKET - Rune of Perfection - Rune of Perfection - Item - World of Warcraft
HELM - Clever Hat - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18308 - (Haste hat)
HELM - Whitemane's Chapelau - http://www.wowhead.com/item=7720
HELM - Embalmed Shroud - http://www.wowhead.com/item=7691
HELM - Eye of Theradras - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17715
HELM - Papal Fez - http://www.wowhead.com/item=9431
SHOULDERS - Warpwood Leaf Mantle - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65922 - (Haste)
SHOULDERS - Inquisitor's Shawl - http://www.wowhead.com/item=19507
SHOULDERS - Rotgrip Mantle - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17732
WRIST - Agamaggan's Gift - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65918 (Best in slot)
WRIST - Fiona's Armbands - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63019 (Best in slot)
WRIST - Bracers of safe keeping - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63663 (Haste set)
WRIST - Bracers of Reluctant Vioence - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63597 (Horde)
WRIST - Goddess-Blessed Wristlets - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63593 (Alliance)
WRIST - Corpsebeast Armbands - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63016
WRIST - Bracers of the captured Heart - http://www.wowhead.com/item=54922
CHEST - Andorhal Tunic - http://www.wowhead.com/item=62225 (Horde)
CHEST - Chilldwind Tunic - http://www.wowhead.com/item=62220 (Alliance)
CHEST - Death Speakers Robes - http://www.wowhead.com/item=6682
CHEST - Nature's Embrace - http://www.wowhead.com/item=17741
CHEST - Spirewind Fetter - http://www.wowhead.com/item=9406 - (BOE)
CHEST - Warpwood Bark Vest - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65948
BOOTS - Riptide Shoes - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18307
BOOTS - Merciful Greaves - http://www.wowhead.com/item=18318
BOOTS - Sandals of Glorious Life - http://www.wowhead.com/item=65945
(More coming soon)
~PART 8 – ENCHANTS(Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Gloves: +haste to gloves
Staff / Weapon: +spellpower
~PART 9 – PROFESSIONS(Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
*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 verses 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.
Are you casting? Then your using the bonus crit from skinning. Are you getting your ass kicked? Then your using the mining bonus. These two profession bonuses, to me are used the most. While the bonuses are small, in the long run give you a big advantage.
~PART 10 – CONSUMABLES (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Food buffs rock. As discussed earlier, resto druid stats are a little complex and needs a lot of stats to round out. For your food, I do not suggest going with pure +stamina buff food, but rather something like +stamina, and + spirit food. Food buffs are your chance to round our your character even better. Check out some of this food: Carrion Surprise , and Giant Clam Scorcho . Also don't forget to check out any special holiday food, and buffs!
~PART 11 – BUFFS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
~PART 12 – QUIRKS/STUPID DRUID TRICKS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
* Remove corruption is great - it removes one poison, and one curse. This is a must for taking care of flag carriers. It is mana heavy, so be careful.
* If you are going to die, and your team is near by, start spamming rejuv heals onto your team. Hot heals will tick and heal your teammates even after you die. This is really nice to help give your team mates an edge in fighting, and also keep them alive until you can get back to them.
* Faerie fire is the #1 way to PISS rogues off. My main is a rogue, my favorite class in the game is rogue. The one thing that PISSES me off as a rogue in pvp is being unable to stealth. Trust me, if you wanna mess up a rogues day, toss FF onto them.
*"OH NOEZ! I are snared/webbed!" - shape shift out goober. You have many forms, use them to your advantage.
*"OH NOEZ! I r fc/tanking anything!" - have some stamina heavy gear for tanking. I have a few quick easy items I trade out for a feral tank set. This set includes a nice feral staff, because you can change weapons in combat, while you cant change any gear. In bear form, demoralizing roar is a great way of reducing damage done to you. Also make use of the bear form bash to stun any serious threats. I toss a hot heal on myself, and then shift into different forms. When alone facing many foes as a fc, shift into cat/travel form and run your ass toward your team or a nearby healer. Keep in mind that as a healer, your job is to stand behind other people and heal them..ideally you shouldn't be the one standing out front needing heals.
*Get good at playing 'helpless'. By this I mean...when you are guarding a flag carrier and are stuck waiting around for the efc to be killed, healers are the target of a lot of hate. Often, what happens is rogues are sent in after the healer and the flag carrier. Rogues will -commonly- sap the healer, to first get a feel for the situation. I do not trinket out of the sap, I let the rogues think they have it made, and let them attack - I then break the sap with my trinket and FF those little sneaky shits. With ff in place, heal away. Of course, this doesnt always go perfectly, and you have to improve on your feet depending on the sitaution. Often, playing 'helpless' works wonders to get a cocky rogue out of stealth.
* Is your team pissing you off? Is the FC a jerk? Are you trapped with nubs and want to leave them in a way that informs them kindly to screw off? Are you stuck alone defending the stables while your team gets their asses kicked? http://www.wowhead.com/spell=18960 is the answer to your prayers
~PART 13: RESTO VERSES STEALTHERS (Updated to Cata 4.0.3a):
Faerie Fire is your best friend against anyone who stealths - be them rogue, or cat druid. FF will make it impossible for them to return to stealth, there by effectively preventing the attacker from doing ambush, vanish, ambush combos..which are killer. Even if you are going to die, toss a FF onto a stealther you can see because it will effectively cripple the stealther.
Now combat against a stealther is hard, but not impossible to win. When fighting rogues you have one major advantage: YOU CAN HEAL AND KITE.
Fights verses stealthers typicaly go as follows: you are attacked/ambushed by someone who was in stealth (they will be behind you, and typically hit pretty hard), ff the stealther asap (even if you die, the stealther is screwed for a good long while), hit rejuv on yourself for a fast ticking heal, hit roots, and BACK away while hitting incest swarm and noobfire. Never provide your back to an attacking stealther. Even if you just spin in place, never give them your back, your backside is your vunerable side they need for their big burst damage. Starfire and wrath are slow attacks, and in these kinds of fights its fast and furious. I tend to noob fire the stealther to death or go cat form and flee. fleeing is ideal if you lack mana to noobfire a rogue to death, among other reasons. I like noobfire when fighting rogues because its a fast easy to spam attack that you can use while protecting your back.
In short: Get good at kiting, or fleeing.
~CLOSING/THANKS~
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoy resto twinking as much as I do. Many people have helped me play test, theorycraft, and have provided imput to make this guide possible. I could have not done it without the help of others
Big special thanks goes to: Bwappo, Metamorfos, and Grunge!
If you have anything to add, please do so, and if the material is good I will be certain to include it. If you find that there is anything wrong in the guide, please let me know in a constructive fashion and I will be happy to make changes.
Also as always, a special shout out to all those dpsers who protect their healer <3
