1. #1

    Resto vs Boomkin

    So it is the start of a new expansion and my raid is currently 4/6 in MV. I am the raid leader but I am a bit disappointed in my boomkin numbers. The problem however is I'm primarily resto and secondary boomkin. However, on fights we 2 heal I go balance since neither of the other 2 healers have specs for it. Currently we 3 heal 1st fight and 2nd and 2 heal the next 2. We are also currently 2 healing Elagon but are not making much progress as of yet. Currently I don't have two sets of gear because it is so new into the release so I am focusing on resto in terms of reforges.

    That being said and with other peoples experience with the raids would it be more beneficial for me to focus on boomkin and just be over/under (with haste, lower spirit, etc) on my resto or are there more 3 heal bosses ahead that I should continue to focus on resto primarily? It seems like for heroics, HoF, etc there are a fair number of 2 heal bosses. Also, I am comparable currently to my two other healers when healing the first bosses.

  2. #2
    You shouldn't need two sets of gear for Resto/Moonkin. It's the exact same gear. The only thing different would be enchants/reforges/gems. I am primarily moonkin our my raids and I just switch over to resto and reforge when I'm needed to heal. Get an addon like ReforgeLite that will literally do all the reforging for you, all you do is press one button. Choosing to go Resto/Moonkin is up to your raid and what they need.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Sephriem View Post
    You shouldn't need two sets of gear for Resto/Moonkin. It's the exact same gear. The only thing different would be enchants/reforges/gems. I am primarily moonkin our my raids and I just switch over to resto and reforge when I'm needed to heal. Get an addon like ReforgeLite that will literally do all the reforging for you, all you do is press one button. Choosing to go Resto/Moonkin is up to your raid and what they need.
    This would be accurate except with resto you want around 8k+ spirit which is well over hit cap. With balance you want 5273 haste which is well over what you want for resto. Even with reforging I think you would be hard pressed to find a perfect medium to where reforging alone would meet these requirements. Especially when factoring in gems, enchants and the like. If you are able to do this easily however please let me know how you worked the math.

  4. #4
    I do the exact same thing, whenever we need a 3rd healer I jump back from balance into resto. You say u don't have 2 sets of gear, but you can certainly adjust your trinkets (farm healing healing trinkets from heroic dungs) and for whatever 463 gear you still have, you should farm 2 sets from dungs as well and have them reforge/gemmed accordingly for each role, maybe pop a spir flask if ur still running low.

    Also, I recommend thinking about which roles you play the most. If mostly is dps with a couple of 3 healing, for those 489's that don't have 2 pieces have them reforged/gemmed to dps, and accept the fact that when you switch to heals u won't be performing at your best, that why you have 2 other healers to help lol.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by land View Post
    I do the exact same thing, whenever we need a 3rd healer I jump back from balance into resto. You say u don't have 2 sets of gear, but you can certainly adjust your trinkets (farm healing healing trinkets from heroic dungs) and for whatever 463 gear you still have, you should farm 2 sets from dungs as well and have them reforge/gemmed accordingly for each role, maybe pop a spir flask if ur still running low.

    Also, I recommend thinking about which roles you play the most. If mostly is dps with a couple of 3 healing, for those 489's that don't have 2 pieces have them reforged/gemmed to dps, and accept the fact that when you switch to heals u won't be performing at your best, that why you have 2 other healers to help lol.
    This was basically the question. How are the other fights in HoF/Terrace and heroics looking in terms of healer requirements? Are there more 2 heal fights than 3? So far it seems like in MV its 3 heal first 2, 2 heal next 3 and I'm unsure what Will is. In HoF it seems so far people are having the most luck 2 healing the first few. Because of the things stated above it seems like primary DPS would be the better choice.

  6. #6
    Ok,

    I am in the same boat as you. I am the heal lead for my guild, but due to the fact that I am the only healer we have with a RANGED DPS offspec, it makes it easier for me to switch than our other healers. Honestly, there are some 3 heal fights MSV still to come (we 3 heal Will of the Emperor) and so far we have 3 healed in Heart of Fear just fine (we are short dps sadly). My recommendation is to do what I did: START MAKING A 2ND SET. For those who claim that you can just reforge/ gem properly, they are completely wrong. Yes you can do this, but one set will always be vastly weaker than the other. I have two different sets altogether and since I am primarily Resto, what I end up doing is transitioning some of my Resto pieces over to Boomkin when I get upgrades. Yes, this isn't perfect either, as my Boomkin will always be behind my Resto set in gear, but Resto is my main spec and is priority.

    So really, that is it. The only person that is going to tell you what your primary spec is going to be is you. You need to figure out which you WANT to do. Don't focus so much on your guild needs as much as your needs. If you get pigeon holed into a spec you don't want to play, you will burn yourself out, even if you are getting boss kills. You will start to resent playing the game. Honestly, I am like this. i don't want to dps, but I realize it is needed sometimes. But if I feel like I am dpsing more than I am healing, I will make arrangements for me to sit for a night OR for us to sit another healer in favor of dps.

    So make a 2nd set of gear so that way you aren't hurting your raid by trying to do both with the same set and decide for yourself what you really want to do in raids then make the adjustments needed accordingly.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by lpfanatic54669 View Post
    Ok,

    I am in the same boat as you. I am the heal lead for my guild, but due to the fact that I am the only healer we have with a RANGED DPS offspec, it makes it easier for me to switch than our other healers. Honestly, there are some 3 heal fights MSV still to come (we 3 heal Will of the Emperor) and so far we have 3 healed in Heart of Fear just fine (we are short dps sadly). My recommendation is to do what I did: START MAKING A 2ND SET. For those who claim that you can just reforge/ gem properly, they are completely wrong. Yes you can do this, but one set will always be vastly weaker than the other. I have two different sets altogether and since I am primarily Resto, what I end up doing is transitioning some of my Resto pieces over to Boomkin when I get upgrades. Yes, this isn't perfect either, as my Boomkin will always be behind my Resto set in gear, but Resto is my main spec and is priority.

    So really, that is it. The only person that is going to tell you what your primary spec is going to be is you. You need to figure out which you WANT to do. Don't focus so much on your guild needs as much as your needs. If you get pigeon holed into a spec you don't want to play, you will burn yourself out, even if you are getting boss kills. You will start to resent playing the game. Honestly, I am like this. i don't want to dps, but I realize it is needed sometimes. But if I feel like I am dpsing more than I am healing, I will make arrangements for me to sit for a night OR for us to sit another healer in favor of dps.

    So make a 2nd set of gear so that way you aren't hurting your raid by trying to do both with the same set and decide for yourself what you really want to do in raids then make the adjustments needed accordingly.
    That's not a huge issue for me as I enjoy boomkin and healing. Also I'm the raid leader so what I say goes. However we only have 11 people that raid with us and we're very laid back so subbing people is not viable. I am as you said working on a second set, it's just a hassle with the valor cap and the limited ways of gaining valor, etc. Hopefully when stuff starts dropping for me it'll be easier (no drops from anywhere except belt [that I've received 3 times] from LFR).

  8. #8
    I also fill the swing-healer role in my raid group. One week out of 4 I'm strictly boomkin the other weeks I'm the swing healer, dps'ing on the 2 heal fights, healing on the 3 heal fights. You can't have your gear perfectly optimized for both spec's but I can tell you what I do. Gems and enchants I optimize to be useful (if not perfect) for both specs. So I basically gem haste (I can usually reforge haste to Mastery if I"m over the resto cap, or to crit if I'm over the boomkin cap so it balances out) in yellow, Int/haste in red and int/spirit in blue. The meta gem can come down to personal choice, but if you can reforge to not be overcapped when in Boomkin, I suggest the spirit meta over the Intellect. I use the recommended enchants for Boomkin (ie Chest - Stats over chest spirit) because they still work ok for Resto. This way the only thing I have to change is my reforging which is easily done with Reforgelite. Hopefully, someone has a Yak in your group or you have a lock so you can quickly be resummoned after a reforge. If properly gemmed and chanted, all your gear except trinkets can easily be used for both specs, so long as you're willing to reforge. It won't be absolutely min/max'd for either spec, but won't be a limiting factor in your ability to perform the roles as required.

    Edit: When it comes time to make choices regarding tier pieces, I'll be rolling Balance. The reasoning is this. The fights which I'm the 3rd healer on are often more like 2.5-3 healers necessary, so optimizing my healing gear isn't necessary. Healing is more about anticipation and reaction and the gear in a setting where a good chunk of your throughput is wasted is less important (especially when you have 2 other healers who are min/max'd specifically for that role). The fights where I DPS are the fights we 2 heal or on my 'DPS' week. Any extra damage I do will shorten the fight making life easier for the two left healing. I just think that the good of the raid is served more by nearly maxing my dps than it is by maxing my healing.
    Last edited by ganush; 2012-11-06 at 07:15 PM.

  9. #9
    I'm in the same situation. However we seem to be 2 healing everything (HPally and Monk are insane) except for Vizer atm - so I decided to optimize my gear for Balance DPS. I suggest you go the same route. You'll be over on haste and under on spirit for your resto spec but you can make that work long as you are careful with your mana - and if you get any duplicate drops (like from the extra chance coins) - you can reforge/gem/chant those for your resto set (less haste/more spirit).

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Keiyra View Post
    I'm in the same situation. However we seem to be 2 healing everything (HPally and Monk are insane) except for Vizer atm - so I decided to optimize my gear for Balance DPS. I suggest you go the same route. You'll be over on haste and under on spirit for your resto spec but you can make that work long as you are careful with your mana - and if you get any duplicate drops (like from the extra chance coins) - you can reforge/gem/chant those for your resto set (less haste/more spirit).
    Seems like the general thought is to go boom and use duplicate drops for resto so I'll head that way. I was doing the opposite at the moment.

    Thanks all for the thoughts.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by NightZero88 View Post
    This was basically the question. How are the other fights in HoF/Terrace and heroics looking in terms of healer requirements? Are there more 2 heal fights than 3? So far it seems like in MV its 3 heal first 2, 2 heal next 3 and I'm unsure what Will is. In HoF it seems so far people are having the most luck 2 healing the first few. Because of the things stated above it seems like primary DPS would be the better choice.
    For us on MSV normal 10 man: only 3 heal first and last bosses.
    HoF so far (only seen first 3): 3 heal first, 2 heal second, 3 heal third (not sure yet, 2 healing was damn hard - no hpallies nor monks).

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by NightZero88 View Post
    This would be accurate except with resto you want around 8k+ spirit which is well over hit cap. With balance you want 5273 haste which is well over what you want for resto. Even with reforging I think you would be hard pressed to find a perfect medium to where reforging alone would meet these requirements. Especially when factoring in gems, enchants and the like. If you are able to do this easily however please let me know how you worked the math.
    Which is why you reforge/gem/enchant towards your spec. Most of the gear that you will get you will be using for both balance and resto. There are certain pieces that will have better itemization for one spec, but you generally have the same gear. You will have 8k+ spirit in Resto because you reforged/gem/enchanted that way. That has nothing to do with "its well over hit cap". You're not gonna reforge/gem/enchant Resto then go switch specs to Balance and say I'm 3,000 spirit over hit cap.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Sephriem View Post
    Which is why you reforge/gem/enchant towards your spec. Most of the gear that you will get you will be using for both balance and resto. There are certain pieces that will have better itemization for one spec, but you generally have the same gear. You will have 8k+ spirit in Resto because you reforged/gem/enchanted that way. That has nothing to do with "its well over hit cap". You're not gonna reforge/gem/enchant Resto then go switch specs to Balance and say I'm 3,000 spirit over hit cap.
    That's exactly what would happen unless you hearthed back to town (or ran outside for a Yak mount) to change reforges/gems/enchants every other boss fight as you switch between the specs with the same gear. Hence the OP's question of which spec to focus on.

    Considering how the majority of fights are 2 healed, gear for boomkin, resto will do 'ok' in boomkin gear, just watch ur mana. Duplicate gear as it comes in will be reforged/gemmed/chanted for the resto set. Fight, Win, Profit!

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