New-dinged balance druid looking for a few tips & tricks

[Snixs]

Hey there fellow druids!


I recently hit 90 on my druid which is gonna be my new main. I have been competetive as enhancement shaman on WoL rankings in WotLK/Cataclysm, so i know a bit about min/max and the math behind things you do when playing WoW.


I have however, had troubles with my druid, and would ask if you guys would mind clarify a few things for me, if i am right or not i would be thrilled.

First off; i only have 472 equipped gear, but i find myself in a VERY hard position when i am doing my dailies. Starfall makes me pull others if a person runs by, and it seems overall damage on mobs is low and takes long. Any tips to make quick process of mobs, or should i just stop using Starfall when in crowded areas? I fear that i might pull with Starfall/not be able to control it on boss encounters where you need to switch targets and DPS bosses simultaneously/stop DPS' such as the good old Putricide HC fight.


Furthermore, i am curios about the start up of a fight, and when you guys pop Celestial alignement + when you're using incarnation.


Best Regards!

[SolHeiM]

Starfall will only attack players from the opposite faction or mobs you are already in combat with, and you should always use it when it's available. There are plenty of guides out there to help you improve and get better. You use CA when you have 15 seconds left on Incarnation. You start the boss fight at one spell away from hitting a Lunar eclipse. Starfall, Wrath and then you pop CDs and follow the standard Moonkin DPS rotation.

[Deleted]

The optimum single target DPS rotation is as follows,

Start fight one cast pre-Lunar.
Starfall
Wrath once
Incarnation
Nature's Vigil (if you have it)
Sunfire, Moonfire
Starfall (when first Starfall duration ends)
Starfire until 0 energy
Celestial Alignment
Starfall (when second Starfall duration ends)
Moonfire (Sunfire will automatically be applied)
Starfire (utilize shooting stars procs)
Refresh Moonfire immediately before Celestial Alignment expires
Starfire to Solar Eclipse
Moonfire, Sunfire
Wrath until Lunar Eclipse.
Rinse and repeat (from the 'Starfall' below Celestial Alignment)

This is pulled from the moonkin guide on the druid forums.
This should be your opener for most fights except for special fights like Jin rohk for example where you would want to save your cooldowns for the first pool

[SolHeiM]

The optimum single target DPS rotation is as follows,

Start fight one cast pre-Lunar.
Starfall
Wrath once
Incarnation
Nature's Vigil (if you have it)
Sunfire, Moonfire
Starfall (when first Starfall duration ends)
Starfire until 0 energy
Celestial Alignment
Starfall (when second Starfall duration ends)
Moonfire (Sunfire will automatically be applied)
Starfire (utilize shooting stars procs)
Refresh Moonfire immediately before Celestial Alignment expires
Starfire to Solar Eclipse
Moonfire, Sunfire
Wrath until Lunar Eclipse.
Rinse and repeat (from the 'Starfall' below Celestial Alignment)

This is pulled from the moonkin guide on the druid forums.
This should be your opener for most fights except for special fights like Jin rohk for example where you would want to save your cooldowns for the first pool

You should never over-write a more powerful DoT with a weaker one. Do not re-apply your Incarnation-ed DoTs until they run out. Your post makes it seem as if you should immediately re-apply your dots when you hit an eclipse, which is only true for the non-eclipsed DoT.

[Layuth]

Balance is very gear dependent, at lower ilvls it will suck. Keep your Rejuvenation up at all times. Nature's Vigil and Nature's Swiftmend (w/ Healing Touch) are nice combos to help when low on health.

[Varna]

The key to balance is keeping things going, you can't stop/start easily like other classes can as you need to gain momentum and keep it going, just don't stop and always use StF, don't be afraid to use it - even if it pulls unwanted adds, it just means more to MF/SF which means more SS, which means more NG and more StF - as I said, keep things going, once you stop you've then gotta spend time getting the ball rolling again.

[NightZero88]

Starfall will only attack players from the opposite faction or mobs you are already in combat with, and you should always use it when it's available. There are plenty of guides out there to help you improve and get better. You use CA when you have 15 seconds left on Incarnation. You start the boss fight at one spell away from hitting a Lunar eclipse. Starfall, Wrath and then you pop CDs and follow the standard Moonkin DPS rotation.

Don't listen to this guy as he's completely wrong. Starfall will hit any mob that is currently in combat with ANYTHING. So if a guy rides past you on his mount pulling 10 enemies starfall will hit all of them and guess what, they will aggro to you. Also, my favorite is when you're on the isle there's a section in the 4th unlocked phase where two of those guys (bloodguards I think?) who drop the rage zone are fighting each other (they'll be at half health) and if you starfall it will pull them both. Starfall is our most damaging spell but by far the most annoying in terms of pulling everything on the planet. Be careful with it.

As for a tip, we're good at killing stuff once you get higher ilevel. I'm 503 right now and on those quests that say kill 10 guys, I'll grab about 6 and use NV+starfall*2+hurricane and you'll typically end the fight at max health with them all dead. As someone else said, macro NS+HT and keybind it for those oh crap situations and remember typhoon+vortex is a good combo to keep people away for a few moments.

[SolHeiM]

Don't listen to this guy as he's completely wrong. Starfall will hit any mob that is currently in combat with ANYTHING. So if a guy rides past you on his mount pulling 10 enemies starfall will hit all of them and guess what, they will aggro to you. Also, my favorite is when you're on the isle there's a section in the 4th unlocked phase where two of those guys (bloodguards I think?) who drop the rage zone are fighting each other (they'll be at half health) and if you starfall it will pull them both. Starfall is our most damaging spell but by far the most annoying in terms of pulling everything on the planet. Be careful with it.

As for a tip, we're good at killing stuff once you get higher ilevel. I'm 503 right now and on those quests that say kill 10 guys, I'll grab about 6 and use NV+starfall*2+hurricane and you'll typically end the fight at max health with them all dead. As someone else said, macro NS+HT and keybind it for those oh crap situations and remember typhoon+vortex is a good combo to keep people away for a few moments.

Completely wrong about Starfall, I'll admit. I had never noticed that it would aggro mobs that were engaged with players I'm not grouped up with.

However, everything else I've said is correct.

[Deleted]

Starfall will only attack players from the opposite faction or mobs you are already in combat with, and you should always use it when it's available. There are plenty of guides out there to help you improve and get better. You use CA when you have 15 seconds left on Incarnation. You start the boss fight at one spell away from hitting a Lunar eclipse. Starfall, Wrath and then you pop CDs and follow the standard Moonkin DPS rotation.

Starfall hits anything within 40yards thats in combat with anyone/anything ever. I have reported this more times than I care to count and its still not fixed

[Snixs]

You should never over-write a more powerful DoT with a weaker one. Do not re-apply your Incarnation-ed DoTs until they run out. Your post makes it seem as if you should immediately re-apply your dots when you hit an eclipse, which is only true for the non-eclipsed DoT.

This is the kind of advices that are golden. Thank you.
Is there any add-on to keep track of if a DoT is applied w/o Nature's Grace / Incarnation?

I don't understand the change at Solar Eclipse from Moonfire, Sunfire where as you would Sunfire Moonfire at lunar eclipse, anyone care to explain?

Are you guys waiting the 2-3 sec downtime on DoT's so the applied DoT's are eclipsed DoTs/Natures Grace DoTs, or do you just assume Natures Grace are up at each DoT apply?

---------- Post added 2013-04-12 at 04:08 PM ----------

Starfall hits anything within 40yards thats in combat with anyone/anything ever. I have reported this more times than I care to count and its still not fixed

Thanks for sharing the point of view on Starfall, it is hell anoying. This reply is also intended to other sharing this view, i thought i was the one using the spell wrong!

---------- Post added 2013-04-12 at 04:10 PM ----------

Also guys, what's your thoughts on SpellFlash?

[SolHeiM]

The reason you do Sunfire, Moonfire on the pull is because of Lunar Shower. Lunar Shower increases the direct damage by 45% per stack. But since you should never over-write a stronger dot, you'll usually only have to do it once on the pull. I don't even bother doing it because the damage increase is so small. Your dots will usually not end at the same time because Wrath or Starfire crits will extend the duration of your dots.

[land]

I've used SpellFlash on a bunch of my alts, gave me some idea of what to do early on when leveling... I wouldn't recommend it if u want to raid on ur balance druid.

[asharia]

stack crit to start with

don't starfall if it's pulling other mobs. i can't think of a boss where it's a problem though (dark animus maybe?)

[SolHeiM]

stack crit to start with

don't starfall if it's pulling other mobs. i can't think of a boss where it's a problem though (dark animus maybe?)

Starfall is only a problem if the other players in your guild are bad. If you pull aggro with Starfall, put your foot down and tell the rest of the players in your guild to stop being shit. Starfall should never be a problem on any boss if your fellow raiders are doing their jobs.

[mikoslav]

Hey there fellow druids!


I recently hit 90 on my druid which is gonna be my new main. I have been competetive as enhancement shaman on WoL rankings in WotLK/Cataclysm, so i know a bit about min/max and the math behind things you do when playing WoW.


I have however, had troubles with my druid, and would ask if you guys would mind clarify a few things for me, if i am right or not i would be thrilled.

First off; i only have 472 equipped gear, but i find myself in a VERY hard position when i am doing my dailies. Starfall makes me pull others if a person runs by, and it seems overall damage on mobs is low and takes long. Any tips to make quick process of mobs, or should i just stop using Starfall when in crowded areas? I fear that i might pull with Starfall/not be able to control it on boss encounters where you need to switch targets and DPS bosses simultaneously/stop DPS' such as the good old Putricide HC fight.


Furthermore, i am curios about the start up of a fight, and when you guys pop Celestial alignement + when you're using incarnation.


Best Regards!

best advice would be:
1) read moonkin guide sticky
2) read "fix my balance DPS" thread