Difference between Balance and Resto gear.

[Bonsaii]

So I've been considering what I want for my second spec in addition to feral. In the past I've never really used that second spec for anything other than switching between DPS and tank. I've done some basic research into boomkin, but not much for resto.
I want to know if I can just respec from Balance to Resto or vice versa and just stay in the same gear. Well other than tier bonus gear that is.

My question is, what is the main difference between balance and resto gear.
I know both use haste as a high priority. I know that boomkins must reach the hit cap (What if I reach this with spirit, how crucial is spirit to a resto druid). I also know that mastery is pretty weak for boomkins, and I've heard it is for resto as well. But, what else is there I should know?

Thank you in advance for the help.

[Deleted]

Haste breakpoints really, for resto you pretty much want 917, or ideally 2005. Not sure what it is for Boomkins, tho I'm sure the sticky will tell you. But for resto haste is THE secondary stat to worry about, once you have hit 917 (or 2005) haste, then stack mastery.

Spiritwise (did you mean hit cap instead of "haste cap"?), resto's needs vary, some people raid 6/7 HM's with ~1400 spirit, and others raid the same 6/7 HM's with 2500 spirit. It's more a preference thing (and a not going oom thing) more than a set in stone "target" amount.

Obviously there are set bonuses that will benefit only 1 of boomkin or resto, but I've healed troll heroics happily in boomkin gear by accident many times without even noticing.

TLDR:
Resto - stack haste to 917 or 2005, then stack Int where possible then mastery, spirit add to preference
Boomkin - not a clue - read the stick and/or wait for a boomkin type to reply .

[Bonsaii]

Aha, I did misstype something. I did indeed mean to say hit cap.
Thank you for the reply!

I'll be sure to check the sticky but I just wanted to know how much gearing work it was before I read the whole thing.

[Deleted]

Gear is similar. I think it will depend on what you want to do. Hc raiding? Normal Mode? 5mans? For normal mode and 5 mans you can use the Same gear. Just be shure to get the haste breakpoint and enough spirit for 17% Hit. There are other prioritys After this.
Moonkin: int>=Hit/spirit( until 17%)>haste>>Mastery>crit
Resto: int>haste(until 2006)>Mastery>=crit>spirit( if you r Not ooming)

[huth]

Really depends on what you want to do, yes.

For hardmodes, you definitely want a dedicated set, for normal and 5 man resto should be fine.
Both have largely the same stat priorities.

[Romulan1993]

Gear is similar. I think it will depend on what you want to do. Hc raiding? Normal Mode? 5mans? For normal mode and 5 mans you can use the Same gear. Just be shure to get the haste breakpoint and enough wisdom for 17% Hit. There are other prioritys After this.
Moonkin: int>=Hit/wis( until 17%)>haste>>Mastery>crit
Resto: int>haste(until 2006)>Mastery>=crit>wisdom( if you r Not ooming)

Wisdom? What game are you playing?

[Deleted]

Wisdom? What game are you playing?

sorry used the wrong abbreviation because i play the german version

[Mudkiper]

As far as sharing gear goes. I'm currently using the same neck, shoulders, cloak, wrists, weapon, relic, ring 1, ring 2 and boots, for both specs.

[krelianzg]

My main-spec is Resto (all my gear is itemized/enchanted for Resto) and I have absolutely no problems pulling competitive DPS in Balance. Pretty much all I switch out are my trinkets. We raid with two main-spec Boomkins, so it's hard really gearing up for off-spec in a timely fashion, but really my only problem is being a couple hundred points over hit cap. As someone else said, unless you're looking at being able to use both specs in Heroic content, go Resto, pick up DMC: Volcano and Chalice or Mirror and you're good to go.

[Deleted]

You can use shared gear for Balance and Restoration for a lot of situations, but if you actually want to do the most challenging content out there you'll likely not make the cut without a dedicated armor set for the respective talent spec you're using.

[Kenny2813]

Resto is going to require more spirit while boomkin has more haste. other than going for dps trinkets, its really the same stat priorities.

[hempaa]

i only use a dps trinket instead dmc: tsnunami , as moonkin gear, its ok for normal modes.

[Mroz123]

In resto you need to CAP haste (2005) and STACK spirit
In balance you need to CAP spirit(hit) and STACK haste.

When I was at 360 average ilvl I had only about 1 or 2 spec-specific items simply because I could achieve 2005 haste and 17%hit with the one set of gear.

But now in firelands I have two almost completely different sets.