How exactly are you going to level your resto druid?

[Hypasonic]

For those who have actively played beta (I literally went on there for testing only, but did the quests to get the artifact) is there a limit to the amount of AP you can earn per day/week? I plan on blowing the 6k~ AP into 13 traits of my offspec tree to level with. I know I'll be "down" that amount at 110, but does that essentially mean I'll just have to farm mobs etc for a bit longer to earn that back? Or am I forever going to be missing that amount when it comes to mythic opening?

[Tokkai]

What I'd find more interesting and important is world questing at 110. Is it enjoyable in Resto, with half-decent gear? Or should I have an offspec with a few artefact perks unlocked? In that case I would use an offspec for leveling anyway. What's your experience?

[Snixs]

I don't think it's a valid excuse to say "World Quests are going to be harder as resto", wont you team up anyways with others to do the harder world quests and actually need a healing role for those?

[shaunika123]

based on my beta experiences resto is decent at leveling with the balance affinity so if you want to do that you can, the only problem is that big elites die rather slowly but small mobs dont take much time at all.

but yes alternatively you could level as feral/balance and just not spend your artifact power

im gonna level as resto since im gonna be leveling with friends anyway.

[Tokkai]

I don't think it's a valid excuse to say "World Quests are going to be harder as resto", wont you team up anyways with others to do the harder world quests and actually need a healing role for those?

Sure, but there will be times, when I'm going to do the world quest on my own. And if there is a significant difference in kill time between:
*resto + affinity + all available perks in resto artefact or offspec with no artefact perks and
*offspec + artefact with a few perks
then the answer to "How do you level as resto?" is obvious. Leveling will take a few hours, world questing until I've maxed out the resto artefact and can start with the offspec artefact will take about 3 month according to Blizz

[Nevcairiel]

For those who have actively played beta (I literally went on there for testing only, but did the quests to get the artifact) is there a limit to the amount of AP you can earn per day/week? I plan on blowing the 6k~ AP into 13 traits of my offspec tree to level with. I know I'll be "down" that amount at 110, but does that essentially mean I'll just have to farm mobs etc for a bit longer to earn that back? Or am I forever going to be missing that amount when it comes to mythic opening?

There is no limit, but any "reliable" sources of AP will eventually be exhausted. You can of course keep grinding for drops.

What I'd find more interesting and important is world questing at 110. Is it enjoyable in Resto, with half-decent gear? Or should I have an offspec with a few artefact perks unlocked? In that case I would use an offspec for leveling anyway. What's your experience?

IMHO a DPS spec is always going to be faster and more fun then DPSing down mobs in resto spec with the limited tools the affinities give us. Its certainly possible to do and not *that* slow, but it has its downsides.

So I would recommend anyone to level in a DPS spec and get 13 points into their DPS artifact for solo farming on 110. 13 points cost 6500 AP, which is basically nothing. Rank 14 alone costs 6800 or so.

[Deleted]

playd beta.

i will lvl as feral and put 13 point in its weapon, then start on the resto wep. no chance i hell that i will do all questing at 110 as resto.

[Deleted]

Really doubting between Guardian and Feral. Instant moonfire tagging seems more important than higher kitty DPS?

[Alopex Major]

I really violently dislike both the feral and guardian crayon-vomit forms. I'd like to spec Guardian but not use the artifact while leveling, is that even possible? Just use an heirloom or something.

[Nythiz]

I leveled in beta as resto and it was fine. I think the balance rotation flows better though and I'm still somewhat torn on if I'll level resto on live. Probably not. I'll just save up my AP items and use them on resto, it shouldn't be that bad to catch up my artifact at 110.

It won't be. But why would you go through the trouble of saving up the AP for a resto weapon at 110, only to then eventually put some point in that offspec weapon anyway. Net result is the same, only you just made it harder for yourself those when leveling and that bit of time at 110.
And that tiny fraction of a point difference you'll have on your eventual resto main spec artifact will at no point play a role. If 6k AP on a weapon, that has point requirements well over 100k, is going to have an impact there is something else wrong in the first place.

For those who have actively played beta (I literally went on there for testing only, but did the quests to get the artifact) is there a limit to the amount of AP you can earn per day/week? I plan on blowing the 6k~ AP into 13 traits of my offspec tree to level with. I know I'll be "down" that amount at 110, but does that essentially mean I'll just have to farm mobs etc for a bit longer to earn that back? Or am I forever going to be missing that amount when it comes to mythic opening?

Not actively played beta, but I was told there isn't a limit. Pretty sure that's even in the blizzard FAQ.
Blizzard doesn't want to gate stuff, and if people want to devote unlimited time into getting more AP a.s.a.p. then they should be allowed to.

There will however be diminishing returns, as the most AP is the stuff you get from the missions and gated content (e.g. raid bosses with lockouts, etc).

Putting 6k into your offspec weapons is pretty efficient though as you'll likely have earned more than those 6k simply by having a higher AP/hr gather rate, as you finish those missions faster and (possibly) reach 110 faster.
If you're in doubt you could just hold on to them; but the weapons are specifically designed where the first 13 points are dirt cheap.

I don't think it's a valid excuse to say "World Quests are going to be harder as resto", wont you team up anyways with others to do the harder world quests and actually need a healing role for those?

Do you always team up though? Did you always team up for the tanaan zone? Did you always team up for MoP dailies? Did you never do a garrison campaign quest, or a harrison quest or an apexis zone by yourself? When you team up with a friend / friends; was there never a point where you'd just go damage, because it was faster to have simply have an extra dps?

If the answer is no to all of those, then by all means world quest away as resto. You can use an affinity and be pretty ok anyway.
On the other hand, might as well put 13 points in that offspec that you plan on taking anyway at some point. Enjoy the faster/smoother leveling with better tools for the job; enjoy not requiring friends to do a quest; etc.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that I'm right and that you absolutely should invest in an offspec weapon early on. I do want to make it clear to people that you're sacrificing only a little bit of main spec power, for a pretty significant gain in your offspec that might even help your main spec catch up or overtake where it would have been without.

Would you sacrifice 1% of your main spec artifact weapon for a 50% gain in your offspec artifact weapon.
Because that's basically the numbers.
Level 13 = 6500 AP total
vs
Level 26 = 602700 AP total

And I promise you that it's probably even less if you look at true power, since you generally pick up the favorable talents for your artifact weapon with the first 13-20 points anyway.

Really doubting between Guardian and Feral. Instant moonfire tagging seems more important than higher kitty DPS?

You could pick up the moonfire tag talent (Lunar Inspiration) as feral as well. Although I guess the Predator talent (TF resets on target with your bleeds dying) would be better for killing stuff.
I do hear that Guardian level is very comfy and solid. I'm even considering it, and I consider guardian my least important offspec.

- - - Updated - - -

I really violently dislike both the feral and guardian crayon-vomit forms. I'd like to spec Guardian but not use the artifact while leveling, is that even possible? Just use an heirloom or something.

Don't think so. Artifact weapons stop at level 100 if I'm not mistaken.

Leveling without the artifact is practically impossible; besides losing the actual weapon damage (and remember there are no weapon drops of any kind in legion). You also lose out on some traits (not a huge deal) and the passive damage from blood claws (might be a bit of a deal).

Also not sure if transmog gets rid of the skins though.
Logic says that if you can get rid of a weapon look with transmog, then why not the new form looks. I mean they were created with the thought / compensation for the fact that feral and guardian will never really see their weapons.
But experience in this game tells me, that blizzard probably has too much pride to even consider the fact someone might not like the looks of the new forms.

[Alvito]

This hampers your leveling greatly (not being able to use your artifact weapon until you get your 2nd at 103).

The absolute best, most efficient and fastest way is to grab a few friends (with a caveat). Grab your friends and NOT be in group. This way you get the full xp gained as long as you tag the mobs with moonfire/sunfire. This has been tried and tested

You unlock the other wpns at 102, you also level so quickly that it isn't a huge deal either way. I personally don't like the affinity nonsense, if I wanted to have those other abilities I'd change to that spec. I have never been a fan of feral or crit chicken so I just level as resto or bear.

- - - Updated - - -

I really violently dislike both the feral and guardian crayon-vomit forms. I'd like to spec Guardian but not use the artifact while leveling, is that even possible? Just use an heirloom or something.

You could use another weapon but you do gimp yourself a lot, more so as you get closer to 110. Of course if you hate the forms so much you don't want to level in them that isn't going to change at 110. You will have 2 to 5 new skins to pick from depending on how you level, beyond that you are stuck with something you don't like.

[Nevcairiel]

Also not sure if transmog gets rid of the skins though.
Logic says that if you can get rid of a weapon look with transmog, then why not the new form looks. I mean they were created with the thought / compensation for the fact that feral and guardian will never really see their weapons

Personally I would be slightly annoyed if mogging the weapons would get rid of the new forms, because the weapons don't change as I unlock new forms, but I can transmog them into cool fist weapons for the first time in Druid history (previously we could never dual-wield fist weapons).

You can use the glyph of the ursol chameleon, that overrides the artifact form. Not sure what you mean with "crayon vomit" forms though, maybe the PvE Bear form with its bright colors and big lines? Well you don't have to use that one, even more so you won't get to use it while leveling anyway. The first artifact bear form looks pretty "simple" in comparison.

[Nythiz]

Personally I would be slightly annoyed if mogging the weapons would get rid of the new forms, because the weapons don't change as I unlock new forms, but I can transmog them into cool fist weapons for the first time in Druid history (previously we could never dual-wield fist weapons).

You can use the glyph of the ursol chameleon, that overrides the artifact form. Not sure what you mean with "crayon vomit" forms though, maybe the PvE Bear form with its bright colors and big lines? Well you don't have to use that one, even more so you won't get to use it while leveling anyway. The first artifact bear form looks pretty "simple" in comparison.

Ye I love the forms personally; and since you have so much choice, there's bound to be something you like.
I was guessing the person I quoted wanted to keep the default non-artifact form though. I guess it would be nice if blizzard kept those in the game as well.

You're right about the transmog though. It's of course fair that people that want cool mogs for out-of-form should be able to do so.

[xpose]

I've leveled in other expansions as a blood dk and holy priest, are the resto affinities actually that bad to where you can't even level in your main spec?

[Nevcairiel]

I've leveled in other expansions as a blood dk and holy priest, are the resto affinities actually that bad to where you can't even level in your main spec?

You can level as resto perfectly fine, the other options are just faster and/or more enjoyable.

[ItachiZaku]

I'll be going balance affinity. People like to say "levels 1-13 is barely what you need for 14!" but then i'll be at 14, while they are at level 1 in their main spec. If you plan on doing multiple things often, I like the idea of mixing it up. I won't be though, so i'll more than likely be sticking to just resto with BA.

[Nevcairiel]

I'll be going balance affinity. People like to say "levels 1-13 is barely what you need for 14!" but then i'll be at 14, while they are at level 1 in their main spec.

But by the time you are 15, we'll be 14.5 as well. Its an easy argument to make that you have a "13 level headstart", but its really just a 6500 point headstart which is miniscule after a few days of playing.

[Deleted]

By the time mythic+/mythic raids open up you can have 13 points in your OS which is enough to do low level mythic+ and heroic raids, or you can have 10-20% of a talent in extra AP in your resto artifact tree. That is assuming that you can power up your artifact as fast as pure resto as you could with an off-spec that can farm world content fast (any DPS or guardian), which is obviously not true either. Also, with the artifact research you'll have by that time you can clear one day worth of world Qs and get all that AP difference back.

Unless you are absolutely never going to use your DPS or tank spec for anything ever (including leveling), it is simply the logical and correct choice to buy the first 13 points on your OS artifact.

[ItachiZaku]

But by the time you are 15, we'll be 14.5 as well. Its an easy argument to make that you have a "13 level headstart", but its really just a 6500 point headstart which is miniscule after a few days of playing.

I've also been 95% resto, 2% feral, 3% bear my wow career (much better when they were the same spec imo), so for me... I'm pretty ok with it.

[Nythiz]

I'll be going balance affinity. People like to say "levels 1-13 is barely what you need for 14!" but then i'll be at 14, while they are at level 1 in their main spec. If you plan on doing multiple things often, I like the idea of mixing it up. I won't be though, so i'll more than likely be sticking to just resto with BA.

No that's not how it works.

By the time you put 1 point into level 14. The others who invested 13 points in an offspec artifact weapon, will also have 13 points into their main spec. They're not at level 1, they're at level 13+.

And that difference gets smaller as you progress:
If both of you have gotten the exact same amount of AP. You invested only in your resto artifact and you reach level 20; than the guy who invested 13 points into his offspec artifact is now 80% into level 19 on his artifact weapon. So he's 0.2 levels (20%) behind
By the time you get your 34th point in your resto artifact, the guy who spend 13 points on an offspec artifact is now at level 33.995.
In other words he's 0.005 levels (0.5%) behind.

In reality though; since leveling is smoother, since doing solo quests is faster, etc; he might very well be ahead of total AP gained over the same time played.

The point is really simple though. Resto affinity leveling works good enough; hell you can even level as an offspec and just not spend any AP in those artifacts as well.

However unless you never plan on using an offspec until you maxed out your resto artifact, which could very well be a few months in, and unless you always plan to do quests and stuff with friends; there is no real downside in putting up to 13 points into your offspec weapon.