Are resto druids really that bad off?

[Lilicia30]

I just rolled a druid and up to 40 so far and doing it as resto and loved healing using LFD. But all I read is post after post about how people are not going to play resto in cata or are switching to another healing class altogether. I assume its still far too early to tell what a class is going to be like at release so are these people just over exaggerating or do resto druids really have serious issues?

[Rakeer]

the tree form deal; most people see tree form as an iconic symbol of the spec. removing the tree is the same as making druids unable to heal for some people ( me being one of them ). after all druids are meant to be in form for combat. taking the form away is like taking the druid out of resto druid.

[Hulm]

I dislike having to cast in tauren form, but thats just a matter of opinion, and I'll be race changing to troll anyway, for better racial, and the casting looks better. In terms of actual class changes, tree form is significant, but not THAT badly. I can easily live with it being an on-use cooldown.

[Cerelli]

from my experience in beta, there is nothing wrong with resto druids. the only thing that is different is a sweeping overhaul of our approach to healing and the loss of permanent tree of life form. Right now we can heal every fight in game with 4 spells (with 2 of those spells accounting for the vast majority of our healing). Come cataclysm we will be forced to use our whole toolbox.

[Lilicia30]

Isnt the bonus healing from tree form going to be built into the caster as well as master shapeshifter? Only way I could see being a perma tree being useful is PvP for poly immunity.

[Cerelli]

Isnt the bonus healing from tree form going to be built into the caster as well as master shapeshifter? Only way I could see being a perma tree being useful is PvP for poly immunity.

correct

[backdraft]

taking the form away is like taking the druid out of resto druid.

always hated that tree form, im happy it's becoming a cooldown and at last we get to show our cool gear in combat ;P

[Mudkiper]

I rolled druid after seeing a tree healing me in a city on my newbie warlock back when I started in TBC, tree RIP .

[Kawakazi]

Druids are fine for the xpac so far, all 3 specs. People think the sky is falling when a major change such as the removal of tree form as a perma form comes into play. Personally I think it is a good thing. Resto druids get another "OHSHIT" button since shifting into treeform is off the global as of this current build. Also it is a major change in the right direction for resto druids in pvp.

Wait till cata's damage and healing numbers start getting tweaked to start wondering if you wanna reroll, at that point they are mostly done with mechanics (although nothing will be final until the game releases) and even then, they always do a major content patch at X.1 with pleanty of balance and mechanic changes.

[frownface2000]

Resto Druids are fine in Cata.
A lot of people are just unhappy about losing 100% of the time tree form.
the new version is actually better.
You can cast DPS spells now when you outgear a dungeon, and you have an awesome CD that buffs the shit out of a bunch of your heals.

Resto druids are still going to be awesome

[Millhi]

Druids are fine for the xpac so far, all 3 specs. People think the sky is falling when a major change such as the removal of tree form as a perma form comes into play. Personally I think it is a good thing. Resto druids get another "OHSHIT" button since shifting into treeform is off the global as of this current build. Also it is a major change in the right direction for resto druids in pvp.

Wait till cata's damage and healing numbers start getting tweaked to start wondering if you wanna reroll, at that point they are mostly done with mechanics (although nothing will be final until the game releases) and even then, they always do a major content patch at X.1 with pleanty of balance and mechanic changes.

indeed

[remember1]

Tree Form is being made into a cooldown. That is what the complaining is about. Otherwise, things only get better for resto druids. That's all.

[Millhi]

people tend to forget the buffs that ToL will give. an increase of 15%healing.
lifebloom will do 2stacks instead of 1, wrath cast is reduced by 50%and +x% dmg, wildgrowth effects 2additional targets, regrowth instant casts,... i forgot some stuff i guess but not online on beta atm. overall ToL going to be alot better then it is today.

people tend to forgot ToL was implemented in tbc, there was no druid shapeshift for healing back in vanilla.

[ZenitusX]

the tree form deal; most people see tree form as an iconic symbol of the spec. removing the tree is the same as making druids unable to heal for some people ( me being one of them ).after all druids are meant to be in form for combat. taking the form away is like taking the druid out of resto druid.

Druids were meant to have forms for one talent tree out of 3. Treeform and moonkin are just some stupid things that got implemented later on. I mean, seriously. Chicken and a tree? How exactly does transforming into tree help you heal? Or how do the feathers apply magic powers? Kitty and bear make sense, naturally more melee damage with the claws and sharp teeth. But feathers and bark increasing magical attributes... it's just stupid - and it looks stupid. Normal casterform is way cooler, especially when troll druids are incoming

[Mardo Stoneshield]

ToL is our key signature abilty and i for one love it, diddnt they say they will change the way it look also to a more ent way?

[Niter]

They say that because they think they need ToL to be competitive. That is not the case any more. Some others just say that because they love the form.

Others may say "NAY!" because they feel that Resto Druids are just healers and the new tools to help apply pressure in PvP or extra DPS in PvE is not what playing a healer is all about.

The true problem I see with Resto Druids in Cataclysm is because we have many healing spells. I am not sure if that is the case any more, but our HoTs were healing for more once our party members were lower in HP, but this is not very productive, since in such situations we use direct heals to get their HP back up.

So far, it looks like this:
- Regrowth is our "Flash Heal" (quick, but expensive)
- Nourish is our "Heal" (medium speed and more efficient)
- Healing Touch (big, slow and inefficient)
- Swiftmend (our emergency button)

And:
- Wild Growth (group heal, expensive)
- Tranquillity (another group heal + panic button, stronger and even more expensive than WG)
- Rejuvenation (our beloved HoT)
- Lifebloom (another beloved HoT, mainly used for tank healing)

It seems too much to fit in their new model, and most players advise against using Regrowth (again...), they feel that our HoTs are not going to be such a big part of our healing and that they play-style may change too much.

I, myself, welcome Blizzard's new philosophy for healers. Having tanks dying in 2 seconds was too much. I do, however, feel that more direct heals are fine, but HoTs are what Druids are all about and they are yet to balance that. Most fear they will not do it properly and make Druids too similar to Priests.

Time will tell, but the sky is definitely not falling. If you like your Druid, keep on playing it and be happy with it. It is too early to decide whether or not the spec is not going to be enjoyable

[Millhi]

They say that because they think they need ToL to be competitive. That is not the case any more. Some others just say that because they love the form.

Others may say "NAY!" because they feel that Resto Druids are just healers and the new tools to help apply pressure in PvP or extra DPS in PvE is not what playing a healer is all about.

The true problem I see with Resto Druids in Cataclysm is because we have many healing spells. I am not sure if that is the case any more, but our HoTs were healing for more once our party members were lower in HP, but this is not very productive, since in such situations we use direct heals to get their HP back up.

So far, it looks like this:
- Regrowth is our "Flash Heal" (quick, but expensive)
- Nourish is our "Heal" (medium speed and more efficient)
- Healing Touch (big, slow and inefficient)
- Swiftmend (our emergency button)

And:
- Wild Growth (group heal, expensive)
- Tranquillity (another group heal + panic button, stronger and even more expensive than WG)
- Rejuvenation (our beloved HoT)
- Lifebloom (another beloved HoT, mainly used for tank healing)

It seems too much to fit in their new model, and most players advise against using Regrowth (again...), they feel that our HoTs are not going to be such a big part of our healing and that they play-style may change too much.

I, myself, welcome Blizzard's new philosophy for healers. Having tanks dying in 2 seconds was too much. I do, however, feel that more direct heals are fine, but HoTs are what Druids are all about and they are yet to balance that. Most fear they will not do it properly and make Druids too similar to Priests.

Time will tell, but the sky is definitely not falling. If you like your Druid, keep on playing it and be happy with it. It is too early to decide whether or not the spec is not going to be enjoyable

about nourish and healing touch. currently they have same casting speed, though HT's mana cost is higher but when there is need of high healing Ht will heal more then nourish +hots+glyph.

[Niter]

I seriously doubt it will be like that when the next beta build goes live.

On a side note, I think Resto Druids would be much better with no 'flash heal' spell and no spammable 'big heal'. I do not feel that developers should try to make all of our spells useful or niche spells. Nourish, for instance, was something that we needed for WotLK, but when we started using it, Regrowth was killed in the process.

The way I would like it to be:
- Lifebloom (cast on tanks, rolling all the time)
- Rejuvenation (when somebody takes damage, but is not going to die soon. Also present on the tanks all the time)
- Regrowth (our medium heal, adds a HoT and that would be the unique thing about our medium heal)
- Healing Touch (used combined with Nature's Swiftness, mainly saved for tanks or ourselves, used in dire situations)
- Swiftmend (our big heal)
- Wild Growth (our situational spell, used whenever there is AoE damage, especially predictable one)
- Tranquillity (the mother of all "oh crap" buttons)

No Nourish, no healing spell refreshing Lifebloom, Swiftmend consuming our Rejuvenation again (so our efficient HoTs would not lead to us having OP mana regen like before), no long cast/big heal, so Swiftmend remains unique as it is. No short cast/small heal since that would be done by our HoTs, and would keep us unique.

[Cerelli]

I seriously doubt it will be like that when the next beta build goes live.

On a side note, I think Resto Druids would be much better with no 'flash heal' spell and no spammable 'big heal'. I do not feel that developers should try to make all of our spells useful or niche spells. Nourish, for instance, was something that we needed for WotLK, but when we started using it, Regrowth was killed in the process.

The way I would like it to be:
- Lifebloom (cast on tanks, rolling all the time)
- Rejuvenation (when somebody takes damage, but is not going to die soon. Also present on the tanks all the time)
- Regrowth (our medium heal, adds a HoT and that would be the unique thing about our medium heal)
- Healing Touch (used combined with Nature's Swiftness, mainly saved for tanks or ourselves, used in dire situations)
- Swiftmend (our big heal)
- Wild Growth (our situational spell, used whenever there is AoE damage, especially predictable one)
- Tranquillity (the mother of all "oh crap" buttons)

No Nourish, no healing spell refreshing Lifebloom, Swiftmend consuming our Rejuvenation again (so our efficient HoTs would not lead to us having OP mana regen like before), no long cast/big heal, so Swiftmend remains unique as it is. No short cast/small heal since that would be done by our HoTs, and would keep us unique.

so you want it to be the exact same that it is right now? give it 6 months into the expansion and people will be begging for change. 2-3 years of playing the same healing model will drive people crazy.

[Niter]

Of course not, it would not be the same. We would be casting a lot more direct healing spells, since the new models demands it

It would be much like what happens to Disc Priests right now. Their Shields (which I am comparing to our HoTs) still do a large amount of their 'healing' (50~60%), but they need to cast other spells a lot more often.

Regrowth, Nourish, Healing Touch and Swiftmend are all direct heals. If we are using all of those, there may not be much room for our HoTs, which is something that Blizzard should seriously consider not doing. If we become a direct healing class plus a few HoTs, then playing a Druid might (might!) not be so different from a Holy Priest with Renew and Shield.