Hi, All.
I went back 5 pages and haven't really seen a Resto druid spec discussion for 4.0.1+ and on in to Cataclysm. Fiddling with the talent calculater, there really aren't a whole lot of useless talents (coming from a PvE perspective) so most points will be used up in the Resto tree.
I do not claim to be pro at Resto healing! Hell, I just hit 80 a week ago!
Here's the spec I'm thinking of: 3/2/36
Restoration
Tier 1:
Blessing of the Grove (2/2) - 4% healing to Rejuvenation
- I don't see Rejuv going away as a regular heal so may as well buff it a bit.
Natural Shapeshifter (0/2) - Reduces mana cost of shapshifting by 10%/20%.
- With the change to Tree of Life, this doesn't really seem like a useful talent that is only used 1/6 of the time at best (30 secs every 3 mins).
- This is a prereq for for Master Shapeshifter, though.
Naturalist (2/2) - Reduces the cast time of Healing Touch and Nourish by 0.5 seconds.
- With the slower Nourish, this is pretty much a requirement.
Heart of the Wild (3/3) - Increases Intellect by 6%.
- Could be swapped for Natural/Master Shapeshifter talents if you don't have mana issues.
Tier 2:
Perseverance (0/2) - Reduces all spell damage taken by 2%/4%/6%.
- PvP talent, mainly. Does nothing for healing.
Master Shapeshifter (0/1) - Tree of Life/Caster Form - Increases healing by 4%.
- Nice talent but you have to use 2 talent points for the prerequisite talent (Natural Shapeshifter) to get it.
- This with Natural Shapeshifter could be swapped for Heart of the Wild if you have mana issues.
Improved Rejuvenation (3/3) - Increases the effect of your Rejuvenation and Swiftmend spells by 15%.
- Nice increase to two often used heals.
Tier 3:
Living Seed (3/3) - When you critically heal a target with Swiftmend, Regrowth, Nourish or Healing Touch spell you plant a Living Seed on the target for [10%/20%/30%] of the amount healed. The Living Seed will bloom when the target is next attacked. Lasts 15 sec.
- Good for tank healing.
- Prerequisite for Efflorescence.
Revitalize (3/3) - When you periodically heal with your Rejuvenation or Lifebloom spells, you have a [8%/16%/24%] chance to instantly regenerate 3% of your total mana. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 sec.
In addition, you also grant Replenishment when you cast or refresh Lifebloom. Replenishment - Grants up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 1% of the maximum mana per 10 sec. Lasts for 15 sec.
- Mana regen. With the way healing is going to be, this seems very necessary.
- Replenishment is a nice bonus.
Nature's Swiftness (1/1) - When activated, your next Nature spell with a base casting time less than 10 sec. becomes an instant cast spell.
- Very handy to cast with Healing Touch for a quick, big heal.
Fury of Stormrage (2/2) - Reduces the mana cost of your Wrath spell by [50%/100%], and when you deal damage with your Wrath spell you have a [15%/30%] chance to cause your next Starfire to be instant cast within 8 sec.
- Not a Resto-y talent but it is a prerequisite for Malfurion's Gift.
Tier 4:
Nature's Bounty (3/3) - Increases the critical effect chance of your Regrowth spell by [20%/40%/60%], and you have a [33%/66%/100%] chance when you critically heal with Healing Touch and Nourish to reduce the remaining cooldown of your Swiftmend spell by 0.5 sec.
- 60% crit to Regrowth? Yes, please.
- Reducing the cooldown for Swiftmend (and Efflorescence) is very nice.
Empowered Touch (2/2) - Increases the healing done by your Healing Touch and Nourish spells by [5%/10%], and your Nourish spell has a [50%/100%] chance to refresh the duration of your Lifebloom on targets.
- Bonus healing to the bigger heals. Nourish being our main heal so buff it!
- Refresh Lifebloom. Keep that Lifebloom rolling on the tank.
Mafurion's Gift (2/2) - Whenever you heal with your Lifebloom spell, you have a [3%/6%] chance to cause Omen of Clarity.
- Clearcasting proc. Nice for popping off the occasional Regrowth.
- The percentage may not seem high but add in Tree of Life and Lifeblooms on multiple targets and you can have chain clearcasts for 30+ seconds! Regrowth spam for all. They'll be instant, too, due to ToL.
Tier 5:
Efflorescence (3/3) - When you critically heal with your Regrowth spell you also sprout a bed of healing flora underneath the target, healing all nearby friendly targets within 8 yards for [20%/40%/60%] of the amount healed by your Regrowth over 7 sec.
- Another nice AoE HoT centered on the target of the Swiftmend.
- Big, green glowing circle of healing with no limit to people healed (as far as I know). Let's just hope dps is smart enough to move into it. >.<
Wild Growth (1/1) - Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 2866.15 over 7 sec. Prioritizes healing most injured party members. The amount healed is applied quickly at first, and slows down as the Wild Growth reaches its full duration.
- Our main AoE heal.
- 6 targets when glyphed.
- Tree of Life : Affects an additional 2 targets.
Nature's Cure (0/1) - Empowers your Remove Corruption spell to also remove a magic effect from a friendly target.
- Another thing we can remove! Unsure how necessary this is. Was thinking of swapping out a talent point from Furor to get this.
Nature's Ward (0/2) - Whenever you take an attack while at or below 50% health, you have a [50%/100%] chance to automatically cast Rejuvenation on yourself with no mana cost.
- Seems like a PvP talent to me. Does nothing to add to healing.
Tier 6:
Gift of the Earthmother (3/3) - Increases the healing done when your Lifebloom expires by [5%/10%/15%], and causes your Rejuvenation spell to also instantly heal for [5%/10%/15%] of the total periodic effect.
- Nice healing buff when you let Lifebloom drop off.
- Upfront heal when applying Rejuvenation seems very nice to me.
Swift Rejuvenation (2/2) - Reduces the global cooldown of your Rejuvenation by [0.25/0.5] sec.
- Nice for spamming Rejuvenation on your group during AoE damage.
Tier 7:
Tree of Life (1/1) - Shapeshift into tree of life, increasing healing done by 15% and increasing your armor by 120%. In addition, some of your spells are temporarly enhanced while shapeshifted. Lasts 30 sec.
- Enhanced spells: Lifebloom, Wild Growth, Regrowth, Entangling Roots, Thorns, Wrath
- Lifebloom: Can be cast on multiple targets.
- Wild Growth: Adds 2 more targets.
- Regrowth: Instant cast.
- Entangling Roots: Instant cast, damage increased 200%.
- Thorns: (Not sure here! Can't find the info. :P)
- Wrath: Cast time reduced by 50%, Damage increased by 30%.
- Nice cooldown for bosses and tough groups.
Balance
Tier 1:
Nature's Grace (0/3) - You gain [5%/10%/15%] spell haste after you cast Moonfire or Insect Swarm, lasting 15 sec. This effect has a 1 minute cooldown.
- I thought about this. Toss out a Moonfire once in a while for a decent haste buff.
- May not always have time to use this talent on hard fights where you're just spamming heals.
Nature's Majesty (2/2) - Increases the critical strike chance with spells by [2%/4%].
- Extra crit is good for pretty much everything we do.
Feral
Tier 1:
Furor (3/3) - Grants you a [33%/66%/100%] chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear Form, allows you to keep up to [33/66/100] of your Energy when you shapeshift into Cat Form, and increases your maximum mana by [5%/10%/15%].
- 15% more mana is always nice!
- Swap a point out for Nature's Cure.
So, there you have some information and a little insight as to why I picked these talents. Please feel free to discuss and change my mind, here! That's the whole point of this thread, afterall. I want to be the most useful spec I can for the expansion.
---------- Post added 2010-10-06 at 11:48 AM ----------
My glyph choices.
Glyphs:
Prime:
Lifebloom
Rejuvenation
Swiftmend
Major:
Healing Touch
Innervate
Wild Growth
Minor:
Unburdened Rebirth
Wild