#0 - Dec. 5, 2008, 7:49 a.m.
Firstly I would like to start this document off by introducing myself to those of you that don’t know me. I go by the nick Snoopyinc in game. I am a Deathwisher member and am trying to set new records and change people ideas of end game healing with a Druid.
My previous guide that has been written was for the TBC healing style and can be found here: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=2405328914&postId=27456495159&sid=1#0 ( look under the druid sticky information topic)
a short introduction as to why Druids are not just fillers:
We druids have been told "bah you a hybrid class you are a filler and nothing more", I am here to disagree with anyone that has told you that and can guarantee that druids can be one of the best end game healers if played correctly. I will repeat that... IF PLAYED CORRECTLY! In saying that I am here to guide you on correct play, this guide is somewhat Ahead of its class and requires a basic understanding of your Druid. If you find some of the things discussed go over your head I suggest reading up on a basic Resto guild before you come back to reading this.... will make more sense then I promise ;).
Our Class needs to diversify when needed in battle.
I will stay with the same structure as my last guide I have written and will start off with druid builds:
Since there are tons of specs you can choose from in Wrath and mixing them together to form your own style of healing I’m going to stick to the ones I find are best specs so far for my style.
Ok so let’s get started on the Druid builds:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/talents.html?tal=05320031000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000023003331203150053115331351
This build is one of my fav so far and the reason is as follows, By building points in the Balance tree to include Natures Grace means that every time you proc you get effectively Haste on your next time spell (Regrowth,HT,Nourish) So naturally you going to heal faster when it procs and by putting 3 points into it you guaranteed a proc when you crit. Natures Splendor explains itself but is something interesting about this spell… From what I have noticed is that my timing is a bit out of sequence since I started with this talent as I have become accustomed to feeling the time for my spells, now with the extension on them it feels like I’m starting from scratch again. So please be aware of this otherwise all you going to do is over hot and run oom quickly. The next point to explain is the replenish / living seed. These options are great for Raiding as they restore energy/mana/runic power and offer a free heal on a crit that only ticks when the person is struck. Both very beneficial. As you may have noticed I have opted to miss the HT tree totally and instead go for pure hot talents, don’t think that I don’t use HT as NS/HT is still one of my fav moves to pull in time of crisis. My gear and talent specs atm still give me a crit of 15k healing on HT so without talents they are still a lifesaver.
Note: you can swap Natural perfection point for improved tranquility if you want to, it’s a personal preference.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/talents.html?tal=05320001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000023003331253150253105301351
This spec relies on HT a lot and can be mana intensive… This role can be used should you feel that you prefer Using the Glyph that provides shortened HT casts and a reduced healing effect.
I personally don’t enjoy this spec as I like the ability to hot and control situations with my vast abilities. Take note of 1 thing with this spec, Nourish is your friend place hot first then ht heal and when in need nourish/swiftmend, using this tactic can save your Tank/ Off Tank.
I won’t go through more specs then these two as you can play around with the talents to make up your own as long as you keep the essential talents which are: Natures splendor, Wild Growth, Gift of the Earthmother, Improved Tree form, Master shapeshifter, Living spirit.
The all wanted question: Spirit vs. Intellect vs. Spell Power
Right I will provide some insight into this matter by means of personal experience and not formulae based paper proof as most people do.
Personally I find the following true and effective:
· Spell power is used to help keep people alive a lot easier by providing higher heals per spell
· Spirit is used as a Mana regen tool to keep your mana high to allow for longer heal durations which are needed in Wrath
· Intellect gives you a greater mana pool to play with and some regen but also Spell crit hit basis for your healing spells
So basically I would suggest the following as it’s hard to assess people that are reading this and what kind of gear they have. Work on a 1 to 1 ratio for spirit/intellect till your spirit reaches 850 unbuffed, then move spirit higher and keep intellect at around 790-850 but spirit to around 1k. Try to do this with Spell power not getting reduced but rather increased to around 1500-1700 for now while moving onto better gear. Please do note that this is to upgrade your stats and not to tell you what stats you should be at end game Wrath.
Druid Healing in Raids
1) you are not a Druid until you know your heals properly.
2) Know the fight before you get into it.... this is said so often but it’s required ESPECIALLY for druids since it’s about Damage knowledge more than anything. (Will cover it in a bit)
3) Learn to multitask and know when to renew your heals.
4) Learn your abilities and make people aware if you not sure about them... wiping a raid will put you into the Retard group.
Right let me go through it step by step:
1) You are not a Druid until you know your heals properly
A Druid that claims to be end game healer or wants to be end game healer should know exactly the type of healing his hots do over time, also needs to know how to counter should the hot fade at the wrong time. Know your timings of your HOTs. If you can’t keep track get a HOT timer Mod to do the timings for you and alert you when one is about to run out. Know to only refresh Rejuv when it’s ended and not before it’s ended. Learn to use Regrowth to counter a high hit and the ability to heal the classes that only take small amount of damage but get it often in the fight. --- Pre Wrath summary
Wrath information:
Same as above but what I personally recommend is learning to use Regrowth when needed. I find regrowth to be exceptionally adaptive to fights and can mean the difference between tank life or death. Nourish as I know a lot of people haven’t grown accustomed to this spell is in experimentation process, what I have found is that rejuv + nourish can heal for 8k if crit and takes 1 – 1.5 sec depending on haste rating. What I recommend trying is with the Natures Grace ability to use nourish when it’s up, it will basically give you a very quick high heal on a person without having to replace a hot.
Sequences are now redundant since Wrath bosses are varied and I personally believe that having a (lifebloomx3 , rejuv, regrowth, swiftmend reapply) is just not as effective as reading the fight and adapting to it. This leads me to the next point I have.
2) Know the fight before you get into it.... this is said so often but it’s required ESPECIALLY for druids since it’s about Damage knowledge more than anything.
This section is a bit advanced.... It requires dedication to becoming the Ultimate Druid healer in the game and requires research outside of wow to figure out the ability of the bosses and how to heal the tanks/ raid members. Depending on your Roll and Spec you will have different homework to do but also need to know the other peoples rolls. The idea behind this is that you have to learn what damage the bosses can impact on the RAID and the TANK and timelines... since all bosses have phases you need to learn when those phases come in and heal accordingly.
IMPORTANT: you need to anticipate healing. IE HOT UP BEFORE THE PHASE BEGINNS if there is no agro reset. IF there is an agro reset be prepared with NS and Regrowth to get your hots up as quick as possible when the tank has the agro. The prehotting is something that requires pure experience in the game to do it correctly. This is really important as it can mean you are either 6th on the healing list or 1st. It makes that much of a difference. --- Pre Wrath Summary
Wrath information:
I think that the info above is still in effect within Wrath if anything it’s become more important to know when to prehot as a lot of running around is required in wrath. Knowing a fight and learning when you can stop moving to provide a regrowth/nourish is very important since you need to understand where to position yourself and how to affect your stationary heals performance to keep you at the top. Running around WG won’t help a Raid progress or your info into yourself as you will become a “Regular if not below par Druid”
