Monday, 8 February 2010

Restoration Cheat Sheet

Welcome to the Restoration Druid Cheat Sheet!  This page is designed as a quick reference for Druids to easily find information relating to the Restoration spec.  It is mainly designed with mid-80s and new level 85s in mind.  The information was distilled from several sources, which you can find listed at the bottom of the post. 

I know there are already plenty of guides like this out there and it wasn't meant to copy or replace them, but as a Druid blog I feel R&R should help with making the information available, and the more the info is out there, the easier it is to find. I've included links to sources wherever I can.

I'll try to keep it up to date - the current version is current for patch 4.2 and last updated 20/07/11.

I would encourage you not to take any of it as gospel, but try different ways to see what works best for you. At the end of the post is a list of links to further information.

Spec
The most popular spec at the moment according to wowpopular.com is 7/3/31, although there are a number of popular variations.

Jasyla suggests other talent specs for post-4.1.

Glyphs
Patch 4.0.1 introduced a new glyph system, consisting of three types: Prime, Major and Minor Glyphs. The Glyphs are now learned, so they can be swapped between fights.

Prime Glyphs to choose from include:

Major Glyphs to choose from include:

At the moment I'm using Innervate, Wild Growth and Rebirth.  Healing Touch could be very useful when combined with a Nature's Swiftness + HT macro, if you find you're doing a lot of tank healing on heavy damage fights.

Minor Glyphs are your choice as none are particularly game-breaking, but [Glyph of the Wild] could save you mana while buffing and [Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth] saves you a bag space. [Glyph of the Treant] allows you to keep your old Tree of Life form, if you wish.

Haste 
There is no longer a Haste "cap", but because HoTs are now affected by Haste, there are a series of break points whereby we gain extra ticks of each HoT spell. For more information on how break points work, check out the links listed below.

Aim for at least the first break point for Rejuvenation: 915 Haste (rounded up). The first Lifebloom break point is 1220. Even my Leesah in her non-raid gear is managing to make the first break point for Regrowth of 1423, but the Wild Growth value of 2004 Haste is much harder to reach.

Some more resources on Hasted Hots, Dots and break points:

Mastery
Mastery is the new stat for Cataclysm. Patch 4.2 brought Resto Druids a new mastery - Harmony. Direct heals such as Nourish, Swiftmend and Healing Touch gives us the Harmony buff, which gives extra healing from our heal over time spells. 

You can find a more detailed explanation of Mastery at Fun in Games, and there's also some great information at Jaded Alt.

Stats on Gear
Intellect > Haste (to breakpoint of choice) > Mastery > Spirit > Crit

In Cataclysm Spellpower is only found as a stat on weapons and enchants, but we now also get Spellpower from Intellect. Intellect also increases mana pool and gives a small amount of Crit.

Stack Haste to breakpoints. Beyond that is personal preference, but other stats take preference.

Spirit increases mana regeneration so we still need plenty of that to keep mana issues at bay.

Mastery increases our throughput, especially in a setting where we are throwing a lot of HoTs around. Stack as much as you can without your mana suffering.

Critical Strike Rating is more important than it was because our HoT ticks are now able to crit.

Trees do not need Hit.

Reforging
In general, reforge Crit and Spirit to Haste, without crippling your mana regeneration. If you're not able to reforge to Haste, Spirit or Mastery is preferable to other stats. 

Gems
Gem [Brilliant Inferno Ruby] in all sockets, except for two [Artful Ember Topaz] for meta activation.

In your meta socket use [Ember Shadowspirit Diamond].

(Gem information from Elitist Jerks.)

Enchants

What Spells Should I Use?
In patch 4.0.1 we didn't gain any new spells, but most changed in effect, duration and/or cast time.

Lifebloom can only be cast on one target at a time, so will mostly be used for tank healing - roll three stacks, try not to let it bloom. In addition, Lifebloom's duration can be refreshed by casting Nourish. We can also cast Swiftmend on a HoT-ed target to proc Efflorescence, a green area-of-effect healing spell.

Healing Touch becomes more efficient as a big heal, and Nourish can be used to refresh Lifebloom as required. Regrowth is faster to cast but less efficient - time it with a Clearcasting proc if possible.

Don't forget, our Tree of Life cooldown gives us some great bonuses for heavy-damage situations. Plus, it's nice to see the old tree from time to time!

For more healing advice check out Tree Bark Jacket or Fun in Games.

More Resources
Posted by Angelya at 10:23 am
Labels: , ,
blog comments powered by Disqus