Druid
From xenowiki
Contents |
Balance
Common Talent Build(s)
Common talent builds are based on preference on role, play style and pve vs pvp. The basic PVE template: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xcrzicsguVoZxxcL
This is the base talent template for raiding Moonkins. Most people choose to change a few points here and there to their play style and what their raid desires. Some choose to get Improved thorns to help tanks in Mount Hyjal, others choose to pick up Improved Faerie Fire to help the physical damage dealers out in raids.
The suggested 'pvp' template: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0tcrziIoguVoxMhoZV
Rotations, Methods, Tips and Tricks
These are the best enchants, per slot, for a moonkin:
Helm - Glyph of Power
Cloak - Subtlety
Chest - Enchant Mana Prime
Bracers - Spellpower
Gloves - Spellpower
Legs - Runic Spellthread
Boots - Vitality
Weapon - Major Spellpower
Gem choices
Yellow Sockets: Veiled Noble Topaz
Red Sockets: Veiled Noble Topaz // Runed Living Ruby
Blue Sockets: Glowing Nightseye(Only if the socket bonus is worth it)
Importance of Spell hit:
Spell penetration does absolutely nothing in PVE. It is a counter to resistance, yet it has no bearing against a raid boss as base resistances are unmitigatable - not even by warlock curses. Spell hit on the other hand, does plenty - it mitigates your "misses" that show up as "resist". You have a 17% chance to miss against a raid boss at level 70, and there is a 1% base chance to miss. This means that to maximize hit, you have 16% to go. As every balance druid (no exceptions) should have 2/2 balance of power, this translates into requiring about 151 hit rating to hit the cap. Note that the hit rating you need also depends on your group composition - having a draenei and/or an elemental shaman with totem of wrath in your group will require you to have less spell hit to reach the cap. So gear accordingly if you have a fairly static raid group makeup.
Damage vs. Crit vs. Hit This is probably the most common question asked. To make a long story short, Hit > Damage > Crit. Always - casting rotation does not matter. It is irrefutable, and though streaks of good or bad luck might give you a fight with skewed data, the relationship among hit, damage, and crit holds true overall. Note that this is only on a 'per-point' basis. A fairly good ballpark conversion is: 1 point of spell hit = 1.15 points of spell damage, and 1 point of spell crit = 0.65 points of spell damage.
Macros
Useful Websites
The following external links point to resources that you may find helpful.
Maximizing Your Moonkin DPS
Feral
Common Talent Build(s)
Tanking Build
Bear/Cat Hybrid Build
PvP Full Feral
PvP Feral/Resto Hybrid
Rotations, Methods, Tips and Tricks
DPS Rotation
Bleedable Mobs
For cat DPS, this rotation assumes that you have maximum talent points in Ferocity (-5 Mangle cost), Shredding Attacks(-18 Shred cost), Primal Fury (extra combo point from critical strikes with specials), Savage Fury (+10% Mangle damage), Heart of the Wild (+10% Attack Power), Survival of the Fittest (+3% Stats), Predatory Instincts (+10% critical strike damage), Mangle, Naturalist (+10% to all damage), and Omen of Clarity (next special costs zero energy, roughly 2 Procs Per Minute). With those talent points in place, on a bleedable mob that is being tanked, you will get the most DPS out of the following rotation:
One Mangle, followed by as many Shreds as it takes to reach 4 combo points, and finished with a Rip.
You may get a 5th combo point if the final shred crits, but don't use another shred if you already have 4 combo points. Continue this cycle, always making sure to keep Rip up. If you are low on energy for an entire global cooldown, cast Feral Faerie Fire to keep the mob debuffed and to not waste the attack cycle. This rotation is made even more powerful if you incorporate a powershift after (about) every 2 full rotations. Powershifting will allow you to regain 40 energy instantly, but should only be used when you have less than 10 energy (otherwise you are wasting the energy you did have and making the shift less beneficial).
Non-Bleedable Mobs
For cat DPS, this rotation assumes that you have maximum talent points in Ferocity (-5 Mangle cost), Shredding Attacks(-18 Shred cost), Primal Fury (extra combo point from critical strikes with specials), Savage Fury (+10% Mangle damage), Heart of the Wild (+10% Attack Power), Survival of the Fittest (+3% Stats), Predatory Instincts (+10% critical strike damage), Mangle, Naturalist (+10% to all damage), and Omen of Clarity (next special costs zero energy, roughly 2 Procs Per Minute). With those talent points in place, on a non-bleedable mob that is being tanked, you will get the most DPS out of the following rotation:
One Mangle, followed by as many Shreds as it takes to reach 5 combo points (and be somewhere between 35-45 energy), and finished with a Ferocious Bite.
Do not cast the Ferocious Bite until you have somewhere between 35-42 energy. If you have full energy, you will get more DPS out of casting another Shred, regardless of being capped on combo points. When you have somewhere between 35 and 42 energy, cast Ferocious Bite and then Power Shift (if mana allows). Power Shifting will provide you with a quick 40 energy to get back into the fight, and is especially useful after expending all of your remaining energy on a Ferocious Bite.
Tanking Rotation
Macros
DPS Macros
Cat Opener
/cast [nostealth] Mangle (Cat)
/castsequence [stealth] reset=6 Tiger's Fury, Ravage
/stopmacro [stealth]
/startattack
This macro will cast Mangle (Cat) if you are not stealthed, but will cast Tiger's Fury and Ravage if you are stealthed. It will also turn on your auto attack if it is not already on.
Maim and Heal
/cast [stance:3] Maim
/cancelform
/castsequence reset=5 Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Cat Form
This macro can be used to stun a target, cast Regrowth and Rejuvenation, and then shift back into Cat Form. You will have to press the button four times to complete the sequence. This is only effective on mobs that can be stunned.
Mangle (Cat) and Auto Attack
/cast Mangle (Cat)
/startattack
This macro will cast Mangle (Cat) and then turn on auto attack (in the event that it was not already on).
Powershift / Remove Snare
/cancelform
/cast cat form
This macro is primarily used for Power Shifting. If you have 5 points in Furor, and have less than 10 energy, you can use this macro to instantly gain 40 energy. Provided you have the mana to shift into form, this will significantly increase your overall DPS output. As a bonus, if you were snared, it would also remove the snare.
Tanking Macros
Bash and Heal
/cast [stance:1] Bash
/cancelform
/castsequence reset=5 Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Dire Bear Form
This macro can be used to stun a target, cast Regrowth and Rejuvenation, and then shift back into Dire Bear Form. You will have to press the button four times to complete the sequence. This is only effective on mobs that can be stunned. Use at your own risk.
Lacerate Focus and/or Mangle Focus
#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus,exists,nodead,harm] Lacerate
This macro allows you to cast Lacerate on a secondary target (provided that you have set it as your focus) without losing your primary target. You can write an additional macro to Mangle your focus.
#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus,exists,nodead,harm] Mangle (bear)()
Having hot keys to use these macros makes holding threat on two mobs extremely easy.
Note: You can substitute any other attack for Lacerate or Mangle, but instant attacks are the best way to go here.
Pot/Healthstone while Tanking
/cancelform
/use [Healthstone]
/use [Healing Potion]
/cast Dire Bear Form
This macro takes you out of bear form, consumes a health potion and/or healthstone, and changes you back to bear form—all in one action.
Note: It is vital that you are not in the middle of a global cooldown when you use this macro. While the first few lines of the macro do not check for the GCD, the final line does, and if your global cooldown is not complete, you will be left in caster form—not a good position for a tank to be in.
Remove Snare
/cancelform
/cast Dire bear form
This macro will remove snares from you but also dumps all of your rage. If you have 5 points in Furor, you will regain 10 of your rage instantly.
Note: Be sure not to use this if you do not have enough mana to switch back into Dire Bear form. If you don't have enough mana, you will meet a quick demise.
Taunt and Auto Attack
/cast Growl
/startattack
This macro will taunt and then turn on auto attack (in the event that it was not already on).
Useful Websites
The following external links point to resources that you may find helpful.
DPS
Toskk's Feral DPS Gear Methodology
Feral Cat DPS Gear List
Tanking
Bear Meatshield Guide
Bear Mitigation Gear List
Restoration
Common Talent Build(s)
Dreamstate Restoration: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xcrzicshhZZxgc0xqM
I enjoy this build as a break from tree of life and raid healing. It mainly focuses on Healing touch, and gives you additional +healing bonus and +Mp5 bonus. It's a very strong build for 5 mans, as tree of life suffers a bit in some heroics/5mans.
Tree of Life: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zZZxEcteqrest
The standard full restoration build. Mostly focuses on tree of life raid healing with rejuvenation/lifebloom, with the occasional regrowth. Also has Nature's swiftness and swiftmend, both very clutch healing spells. Also has healing touch talents, for situations in which tree of life isn't fast enough to move, or if you need to step up the heals on a tank if a healer dies.
PVP Restoration - PVP restoration has various talent builds, designed on different play styles.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zjMzbZVMhoZVMIxcq0Lsb - This is a variant of the 'Insect swarm' PVP resto build, aimed towards newer druids in arena.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zjMzZVMhoZVMIxcq0LsL - This is my preferred talent build for arena pvp, less range but more healing.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zjZVMhoZVmIxcq0Lsx - The standard and probably most commonly used pvp resto build. Was very common in season 2 of arena, slowing dying out to the Insect swarm 11/11/39 build.
Rotations, Methods, Tips and Tricks
Posted by Gian, from Elitist Jerks regarding new Spell haste and Tree of life raiding:
The implications of 5 GCDs per cycle goes beyond lifeblooming 5 targets. It also lets you lifebloom four while rejuvenating two (Council), or keep up lifebloom+rejuv on three (Bloodboil, Shahraz).
Assuming haste reduces the GCD using the same formula as it does for regular casts, the GCD would be:
GCD with haste = 2355 / ( H + 1570 ),
where H is your haste rating. This works out to a 1.5s GCD with zero haste and a 1s GCD with 785 haste. I'm not exactly sure how latency affects instant casts, but assuming it adds a single-latency delay between each one, then the GCD required to get off five casts is:
GCD needed = (7 - L*5)/5 = 7/5 - L = 1.4 - L,
where L is your latency in seconds. This means to achieve five casts per cycle with no lag requires 113 haste rating. With 100 ms, you need 242 haste rating. With 150 ms, 314 haste rating. With 200 ms, 393 haste rating.
There aren't that many haste items available to druids. The list, from best to worst (in terms of the haste vs heal tradeoff) is basically:
* [Dark Blessing] which replaces any of various weapon choices * [Blessed Band of Karabor] which replaces [Band of the Eternal Restorer] or [Jade Ring of the Everliving] * [Botanist's Gloves of Growth] which replaces [Thunderheart Gloves] * [Brooch of Nature's Mercy] which replaces [Nadina's Pendant of Purity], [Lord Sanguinar's Claim], [Vindicator's Pendant of Salvation], or [Emberspur Talisman] * [Shroud of the Highborne] which replaces [Shroud of Forgiveness] or [Shroud of the Final Stand] * [Bracers of Renewed Life] which replaces [Rejuvenating Bracers] * [Belt of Primal Majesty] which replaces [Life-step Belt] * [Shoulderpads of Renewed Life] which replaces [Thunderheart Spaulders] * [Achromic Trousers of the Naaru] which replaces [Kilt of Immortal Nature] or [Leggings of Eternity]
If the assumption about latency is correct, it's difficult to get to even the 242 haste required for a 5-GCD 100ms latency cycle (you would need weapon + 2x ring + gloves + neck + cloak + bracers + belt). If you managed to do this, the loss in +healing would be minimal, somewhere around 30 or 40 +healing depending on how you gemmed things. This is mostly due to the high +healing on the haste gloves, rings, and neck. There would be a substantial loss of both mp5 and spirit, somewhere around 80-100 spirit and 40-50 mp5. If you could amass the gear it would probably be worth it on fights with 3 or more tanks, and definitely be worth it on fights with 4-5 tanks, assuming you could overcome the mana problem.
Macros
Heal your Focus
#showtooltip
/clearfocus [modifier:alt]
/focus [target=focus,noexists]: [target=focus,dead]
/cast [target=focus,exists,nodead,help] Rejuvenation
This macro can be used to heal your focus without changing targets.
- If you have no focus, the first time you activate the macro, it will set your current target to the focus and cast the heal.
- Once you have set the focus, each time you activate the macro, it will heal your focus (regardless of your current target).
- To clear your focus, simply hold down the Alt key while clicking the macro.
You can replace Rejuvenation with any other helpful spell.
Lifebloom/Rejuvenation Rotation
#showtooltip Lifebloom
/castsequence [modifier:alt,target=player][target=mouseover,exists][] reset=7 Lifebloom, Rejuvenation, Lifebloom
This macro can be cast on a mouseover target, target, or alt-self. It functions as a way to have one button for the heal rotation of Lifebloom/Rejuvenation. If you click it:
- 1st click: casts Lifebloom1
- 2nd click: casts Rejuvenation
- 3rd click: casts Lifebloom2
- (cast sequence resets)
- 4th click: casts Lifebloom3
NOTE: After seven seconds, the macro resets, and you can start the process over again.
Mouseover Healing
/cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead,exists][help,nodead][target=player]Rejuvenation
Hover your mouse over the target and use this macro to cast a heal.
You can replace Rejuvenation with any other helpful spell. If you have no valid mouseover or target, you will cast the spell on yourself.
Nature's Swiftness Heal
#showtooltip [form:5]Regrowth;Healing Touch
/cast Nature's Swiftness [target=mouseover,help,nodead,exists][help,nodead][target=player]
/cast [form:5]Regrowth;Healing Touch [target=mouseover,help,nodead,exists][help,nodead][target=player]
Hover your mouse over the target and use this macro to cast a heal. If you are in Tree form, the macro will cast Nature's Swiftness and Regrowth; if you are in caster form, it will cast Nature's Swiftness and Healing Touch.
If you have no valid mouseover or target, you will cast the spell on yourself.
Rejuvenation and Swiftmend
#showtooltip Swiftmend
/castsequence [exists,help] reset=12/target Rejuvenation, Swiftmend
/stopmacro [exists,help]
/castsequence [modifier:alt,target=player][target=mouseover,exists][] reset=12 Rejuvenation, Swiftmend
This macro can be cast on a mouseover target, target, or alt-self. It casts Rejuvenation on a target, then when clicked again for the same target, it will cast Swiftmend (if it's not already on cooldown).
Useful Websites
The following external links point to resources that you may find helpful.
To be a Tree: The Evolution of Healing
Heavenfall's Guide
Theoryspot.com - A post every healer should read
Cross-Build Information
Macros
Useful Websites
The following external links point to resources that you may find helpful.
WoWWiki Druid Macros
New Druid Macros 2.3 - World of Raids
