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Cyverion
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re: Druid Megathread 3.2: Featuring Will Feral & Treena Fey

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Section 1. What is a Druid?
Section 2. Forms
Section 3. Races and Racials
Section 4. Class Buffs
Section 5. Levelling
Section 6. Glyphs

Post 2: In-depth guides to the three trees.


Changes to Druids in Patch 3.2:

New Bear and Cat Form Models!!

Night Elf Hair Colors and corresponding skins for forms

Tauren skin colors for the same stuff

Enrage: This Bear Form ability now generates 20 rage initially, and 10 rage over the next 10 seconds. The armor penalty is unchanged.
Flight Form: Can now be learned at level 60. Flight speed increased to 150%.
Flight Form and Swift Flight Form: Now benefit from a paladin's Crusader Aura.
Innervate: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. This means each use of Innervate will give half as much mana as before, but it will be available twice as often.
Lifebloom: The final heal that occurs when this spell blooms has been reduced by 20% on the base and on the spell power coefficient.
Mangle: Ranks 4 and 5 base points reduced by about 11%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
Rake: Ranks 6 and 7 base points on initial and periodic damage reduced by about 7%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
Rip: Ranks 8 and 9 base points and points per combo point reduced by about 6%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
Savage Defense: The animation for gaining this buff will no longer make the bear stand upright
Shred: Ranks 8 and 9 base points reduced by about 10%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
Swift Flight Form: Druids who have acquired a mount able to go 310% flight speed will now also go that speed while in this form.
Swipe (Cat): Percent of weapon damage done reduced from 260% to 250%.
Travel Form: Can now be learned at level 16.

Talents

Balance
Balance of Power: Now reduces all spell damage taken by 3/6%, rather than reducing the chance to be hit by spells by 2/4%.
Eclipse: The Starfire and Wrath buffs from this talent are now on separate 30-second cooldowns. In addition, it is not possible to have both buffs active simultaneously.
Owlkin Frenzy: Now also restores 2% base mana every 2 seconds for the duration (10 seconds) in addition to its current effects.

Feral Combat

King of the Jungle: This talent now reduces the mana cost of Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form by 20/40/60%.
Primal Tenacity: This talent no longer reduces the mana cost of Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.

Restoration
Empowered Touch: Now also increases the amount of bonus healing effects for Nourish by 10/20%.
Improved Barkskin: No longer provides dispel resistance to all effects on the druid, but now reduces the chance your Barkskin is dispelled by an additional 35/70%.



Section 1. What is a Druid?

"Druids are the keepers of the world. Locked in slumber for generations, they awoke to meet the threat of the Burning Legion during its recent invasion. After Archimonde's defeat, the Druids chose to remain in the waking world and help to rebuild their shattered lands. The Legion's attack left a terrible scar on the natural order, and the Druids seek to heal it."


Druids are a very diverse class, capable of several different and viable specs. Balance offers a ranged dps class that can also be used for PVP, Feral offers a melee dps (and/or) a tanking class with some PVP viability and Restoration offers one of the most diverse healers in the game capable of causing many in PVP to curse them loudly, although much to many people's surprise given popular opinion, not at the same time. Given the correct spec and gear, druids can literally fulfill any role in a group or raid and are very versatile in their group support abilities, such as an in-combat resurrection and in-combat mana regeneration buff (Innervate). All Druids are capable of shapeshifting into various forms to fulfill a particular purpose which includes Bear Form (tanking), Cat Form (Melee DPS), Aquatic Form (SEA TRAVEL), and Travel Form (LAND... TRAVEL). Druids who have spent 31 points in the Balance tree gain a 6th form, Moonkin Form, which is improved caster DPS. Each form provides unique advantages and disadvantages to the druid, and the most important part of learning to be an effective druid involves learning how to use your forms with maximum utility. At level 60 you gain access to Flight Form and later, at 70 Swift Flight Form.




Section 2: Forms

Caster Form

In the druid’s natural form (Tauren or Night Elf), they are powerful spellcasters, able to damage their enemies at range, and heal themselves and their friends. In addition, druids are also able to inflict a number of debilitating status effects (debuffs) on their opponents, which help the druid and his group fight more effectively.

Bear Form / Dire Bear Form (Upgrades at level 40)

"Shapeshift into bear form, increasing melee attack power, armor contribution from items by 180% (Dire Bear is 370%), and Stamina by 25%. Also protects the caster from Polymorph effects and allows the use of various bear abilities."

Druids in Bear Form gain a substantial amount of armor and health, as well as a boost in their attack power (which boosts the damage they cause.) In this form, Druids take on the roll of Warriors and have a number of aggro or threat-generating abilities, designed to focus monsters’ attention on them and mitigate the damage they are taking. While Druid’s abilities, like every other caster, normally require mana to use, when in Bear Form Druids have "rage" bars like Warriors and expend that rage to use their abilities.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Rage

Cat Form

"Shapeshift into cat form, increasing melee attack power by 40 plus Agility. Also protects the caster from Polymorph effects and allows the use of various cat abilities."

Druids in cat form gain a significant amount of attack power, much more than in bear form, and are able to act as rogues, with abilities that cause a substantial amount of melee damage to targets which are focused on other players. Like rogues, druids in cat form are able to stealth to hide from monsters and other players. In cat-form, druids exchange their mana bar for an "energy" bar, use special abilities to build combo points, and have finishing moves to spend their combo points.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Combo_points


Moonkin Form (31 point Balance talent)

"Shapeshift into Moonkin Form. While in this form the armor contribution from items is increased by 370% and all party and raid members within 45 yards have
their spell critical chance increased by 5%. Spell critical strikes in this form have a chance to instantly regenerate 2% of your total mana. The Moonkin can only cast Balance and Remove Curse spells while shapeshifted."

Moonkin are laser and Hadoken shooting feathery chicken things. I really have no experience playing one, but supposedly they're "totally awesome."


Tree of Life Form (41 point Restoration talent)

"Transforms the caster into Tree of Life Form. While in this form you increase healing received by 6% for all party and raid members within 45 yards, and you
can only cast Restoration, Innervate and Barkskin spells, but the mana cost of your healing over time spells is reduced by 20%. Also protects from Polymorph."

This, of course, is your staple healing form. Increasing your own healing spells and reducing their cost is pretty awesome. However, I have little experience with this, either. Oh you can also cast Warstomp in this form if you're a Tauren.


Aquatic Form (Level 16, can also be gained from a quest)

Druids in aquatic form are able to swim faster than any other characters (swim speed is equal to run speed for everyone on land), and are able to breathe underwater indefinitely. Also protects the caster from Polymorph effects.


Travel Form (Level 16)

Druids in travel form move 40% faster than the standard run speed of all players. Also protects the caster from Polymorph effects. Only usable outdoors.


Flight Form (Level 60)

An instant ability that transforms the druid into a flight form, increasing movement speed by 150% and allowing you to fly. Cannot use in combat, can only be
used in Outland and Northrend.

Swift Flight Form (or Epic Flight) (Level 70)

An instant ability that transforms the druid into a swift flight form, increasing movement speed by 280% and allowing you to fly. Cannot use in combat, can only be used in Outland and Northrend




Section 3: Druid Races and Racial Abilities

There are only two possible races that can be Druids - Night Elves for Alliance and Tauren for Horde. Both Tauren and Night Elves receive a +2% chance to avoid being hit by Nature Spells.


Night Elf Racial Abilities


Nature Resistance

Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

Meh, whatever.

Quickness

Reduces the chance that melee and ranged attackers will hit you by 2%.

2% may not seem like a huge amount, but you get it for free and it's always good to avoid things.

Shadowmeld

Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is Restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect.

This is a very interesting ability you probably won't use very often in PvE but it may save your life. Effectively, you can use it to drop combat if it's going badly against one monster or try and hide from a patrol you'd rather not encounter.

Wisp Spirit

Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing speed by 75%.

This increases your movement speed as a ghost 25% more than normal. Uhh... don't die, but I guess it can be helpful from time to time.



Tauren Racial Abilities


Cultivation

15 skill bonus to Herbalism

Great if you choose to be an Herbalist. Useless if not. Whoopie.


Endurance

Base health increased by 5%

This skill provides around 40 stamina at level 80. It's always good to have more stamina, no matter what you're doing with your Druid.


Nature Resistance

Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

Meh, whatever again.

War Stomp

Activate to stun up to 5 opponents within 8 yards – lasts 2 seconds – 2 min cooldown

A very useful ability, although not useable by a Druid in any form save caster, Tree and Moonkin. This provides Druids with an extra spell interrupt, as well as the ability to buy some time to get off a heal while they are being attacked at close range.


Teleport Moonglade (Not really a racial, but it's a Druid only spell)


Both Tauren and Night Elf Druids get this spell, which teleports them at level 10 to a small village controlled by the neutral Cenarion Circle Druidic organization. This can be used as an alternate means of getting around the world, as Druids can teleport from anywhere in the world to Moonglade. For Night Elves, this spell is very convenient, as it is a short 2 minute or so flight from there to the Night Elf capital of Darnassus, which is otherwise a 15-20 minute trip from the other alliance capitals in the Eastern Kingdoms. The spell has somewhat less of a utility for Tauren Druids, as after going there there only option until they get to max level is a ~10 minute flight to Thunderbluff. Basically, for Night Elves the spell almost acts as a second hearthstone to get back to a capital city in a hurry, whereas for Tauren its mostly an inconvenience to get out of there once you teleport in.




Section 4: Class Buffs

Druids don't really have a lot of Class buffs, thankfully. The only ones you'll cast often are Mark of the Wild and Thorns.

Mark of the Wild (MotW)

At Rank 1 (level 1), MotW gives the friendly target's armor by 25 for 30 min, which scales up with level to Rank 9 (level 80), Increases the friendly target's armor by 750, all attributes by 37 and all resistances by 54 for 30 min. There is also a group buff called "Gift of the Wild" that affects all targets. It can be trained just like the normal version.

http://www.wowhead.com/?search=gift+of+the+wild
[url=http://www.wowhead.com/?search=mark+of+the+wild]
http://www.wowhead.com/?search=mark+of+the+wild[/url]


Omen of Clarity (OoC) - requires 10 points in Restoration (Not really a buff anymore, it's passive, but whatever, it's unique to the class)

Each of the Druid's damage, healing spells and auto attacks has a chance of causing the caster to enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state reduces the Mana, Rage or Energy cost of your next damage, healing spell or offensive ability by 100%. This ability is passive now, so while not technically a "buff," it is still rather important.
[url=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16864]
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16864[/url]

Thorns
At Rank 1 (level 6), Thorns sprout from the friendly target causing 3 Nature damage to attackers when hit. Lasts 10 min. This scales up to Rank 8 (level 74), Thorns sprout from the friendly target causing 73 (+13% Spell Power) Nature damage to attackers when hit. Lasts 10 min. This ability scales with spellpower, meaning it is more effective when cast by those with spellpower than without.



Section 5:Levelling

Talent Specializations

There are four major talent specializations available to Druids - Balance (moonkin), Feral (cat), Feral (bear), and Restoration (tree). This can be further
divided into PvP trees for each of the specializations, but that's really an entirely different subject. The general opinion in terms of leveling is to go Feral, but some people may want a change of pace.

Suggested Feral Levelling Build

Level 10 - 14: 5/5 Ferocity
Level 15 - 17: 3/3 Feral Instinct
Level 18 - 19: 2/2 Savage Fury
Level 20 - 21: 2/2 Feral Swiftness
Level 22 - 24: 3/3 Sharpened Claws
Level 25: Survival Instincts
Level 26 - 28: Predatory Strikes
Level 29 - 30: 2/2 Primal Fury
Level 31: Feral Charge
Level 32 - 36: 5/5 Furor (Resto Tree)
Level 37 - 38: 2/2 Brutal Impact
Level 39: 1/2 Primal Precision
Level 40 - 44: 5/5 Heart of the Wild
Level 45: Leader of the Pack
Level 46 - 47: 2/2 Improved Leader of the Pack
Level 48 - 50: 3/3 Survival of the Fittest, respec at 50 and ignore Furor and pick up 3/3 Survival of the Fittest and 2/3 Predatory Instincts instead.
Level 50 - Mangle
Level 51 - 55: 5/5 Furor
Level 56 - 60: 5/5 Naturalist
Level 61: Omen of Clarity
Level 62 - 64: 3/3 Improved Mangle
Level 65 - 67: King of the Jungle
Level 68 - 69: 2/5 Rend and Tear
Level 70: Berserk

Glyphs while levelling: Glyph of Claw (Until Mangle, but I wouldn't get the Glyph of Mangle since it doesn't really help you any) Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth (I know it seems weird but just get it and never have to pay for your reagents again)

You may then fill out the rest of Rend and Tear and any other talents you see in the Feral Tree. I would suggest Shredding Attacks, either when you respec at 50 or simply at another time. You may also consider picking up Infected Wounds at some point as it helps a lot with runners and if you're on a PvP server.

Some people may prefer to level as Moonkin, and while I personally do not agree with this line of thought, here is a tenative levelling guide for it as well.

If you intend to AoE grind as Balance, I would suggest picking up Brambles as soon as possible and also pick up Owlkin Frenzy later on. Please note, a great deal of this can be modified (Feel free to take Celestial Focus early on if you like it, or take Nature's Splendor, it doesn't make a huge difference). These are just suggestions, of course, if you feel there's a better way to level then by all means, spec how you want.

Level 10 - 14: 5/5 Celestial Wrath
Level 15 - 16: 2/2 Nature's Majesty
Level 17 - 19: 3/3 Moonglow
Level 20 - 22: 3/3 Nature's Grace
Level 23 - 24: 2/2 Nature's Reach
Level 25 - 29: 5/5 Vengeance
Level 30: Insect Swarm
Level 31 - 33: 3/3 Lunar Guidance
Level 34: 1/3 Celestial Focus
Level 35 - 37: 3/3 Moonfury
Level 38 - 39: 2/3 Dreamstate
Level 40: Moonkin Form
Level 41 - 45: 5/5 Furor (Resto Tree)
Level 46 - 48: 3/3 Natural Shapeshifter
Level 49 - 50: 2/2 Improved Mark of the Wild
Level 51: Omen of Clarity
Level 52 - 54: 3/3 Improved Moonkin
Level 55: 3/3 Dreamstate
Level 56 - 60: 5/5 Wrath of Cenarius
Level 61: Typhoon
Level 62: Force of Nature
Level 63 - 65: 3/3 Eclipse
Level 66 - 68: 3/3 Earth and Moon
Level 69: Nature's Splendor
Level 70: 2/3 Celestial Focus
Level 71: Starfall

Glyphs while levelling: Glyph of Moonfire and uh, I dunno, probably the Rebirth Glyph still.



Section 6: Glyphs

Glyphs, created by Scribes and added in 3.0 are a major boost to the Druid class as a whole.

You gain glyph slots as follows:

Level 15: 1 Major, 1 Minor.
Level 30: 1 Major (total 2 Major, 1 Minor)
Level 50: 1 Minor (total 2 Major, 2 Minor)
Level 70: 1 Minor (total 2 Major, 3 Minor)
Level 80: 1 Major (total 3 Major, 3 Minor)


Major Glyphs

Balance Glyphs

Glyph of Entangling Roots (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the damage your Entangling Roots victims can take before the Entangling Roots automatically breaks by 20%.
Glyph of Hurricane (Req. lvl. 40) - Your Hurricane ability now also slows the movement speed of its victims by 20%.
Glyph of Innervate (Req. lvl. 40) - Innervate now grants the caster full mana regeneration while casting for 10 sec, in addition to the effect on the target.
If the caster targets themself, the mana regeneration effect of your Innervate is increased by 20%.
Glyph of Insect Swarm (Req. lvl. 20) - Increases the damage of your Insect Swarm ability by 30%, but it no longer affects your victim's chance to hit.
Glyph of Monsoon (Req. lvl. 50) - Reduces the cooldown of your Typhoon spell by 3 seconds.
Glyph of Moonfire (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the periodic damage of your Moonfire ability by 75%, but initial damage is decreased by 90%.
Glyph of Starfall (Req. lvl. 60) - Reduces the cooldown on Starfall by 30 seconds.
Glyph of Starfire (Req. lvl. 20) - Your Starfire ability increases the duration of your Moonfire effect on the target by 3 sec.
Glyph of Wrath (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the chance you'll resist spell interruption when casting your Wrath spell by 50%.

PvE: A great combination is Starfire and Moonfire. It will only apply an extra 9 seconds total per Moonfire soon, but that's still a decent DPS increase even
if you have to recast Moonfire every so often to keep the debuff up. Insect Swarm is also great. Innervate may be better now, if you have terrible mana problems.

PvP: Probably Entangling Roots and Wrath.


Feral Glyphs

Glyph of Berserk (Req. lvl. 60) - Increases the duration of Berserk by 5 seconds.
Glyph of Claw (Req. Level 20) - Reduces the energy cost of your Claw ability by 5.
Glyph of Frenzied Regeneration (Req. lvl. 36) - While Frenzied Regeneration is active, healing effects on you are 20% more powerful.
Glyph of Growl (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the chance for your Growl ability to work successfully by 8%.
Glyph of Mangle (Req. lvl. 50) - Increases the duration of Mangle by 6 sec.
Glyph of Maul (Req. lvl. 15) - Your Maul ability now hits 1 additional target.
Glyph of Rake (Req. lvl. 24) - Your Rake ability prevents targets from fleeing.
Glyph of Rip (Req. lvl. 20) - Increases the duration of your Rip ability by 4 sec.
Glyph of Savage Roar (Req. lvl. 75) - Your Savage Roar ability grants an additional 3% bonus damage done.
Glyph of Shred (Req. lvl. 22) - Increases the damage dealt by Shred to stunned and incapacitated targets by 20%.


PvE:

Bear: Maul, Frenzied Regeneration, Survival Insticts.
Cat: Savage Roar, Rip and Shred.

PvP: Can be anything you want, really, Rip helps a lot, Maul is great if you have two really dumbass people beating on you. Survival Instincts might help in Arenas.

Restoration Glyphs

Glyph of Healing Touch (Req. lvl. 15) - Decreases the cast time of Healing Touch by 1.5 sec., the mana cost by 25%, and the amount healed by 50%.
Glyph of Lifebloom (Req. lvl. 64) - Increases the duration of Lifebloom by 1 sec.
Glyph of Nourish (Req. lvl. 80) - Your Nourish heals an additional 6% for each of your heal-over-time effects present on the target.
Glyph of Rebirth (Req. lvl. 20) - Increases the amount of health on a character brought back to life via Rebirth by 100%.
Glyph of Regrowth (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the healing of your Regrowth spell by 20% if your Regrowth effect is still active on the target.
Glyph of Rejuvenation (Req. lvl. 15) - While your rejuvenation targets are below 50% health, you will heal them for an additional 50% health.
Glyph of Swiftmend (Req. lvl. 40) - Your Swiftmend ability no longer consumes a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect from the target.
Glyph of Wild Growth (Req. lvl. 60) - Wild Growth now affects up to 6 targets.

PvE: Swiftmend, Wild Growth, Nourish.
PvP: Swiftmend, Lifebloom and perhaps Rejuvination.


Minor Glyphs

Glyph of Aquatic Form (Req. lvl. 16) - Increases your swim speed by 50% while in Aquatic Form.
Glyph of Challenging Roar (Req. lvl. 28) - Reduces the cooldown of your Challenging Roar ability by 30 sec.
Glyph of Dash (Req. lvl. 16) - Reduces the cooldown of your Dash ability by 20%.
Glyph of the Wild (Req. lvl. 15) - Mana cost of your Mark of the Wild and Gift of the Wild spells reduced by 50%.
Glyph of Thorns (Req. lvl. 15) - Increases the duration of your Thorns ability by 50 min when cast on yourself.
Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth (Req. lvl. 20) - Your Rebirth spell no longer requires a reagent.


Of these, the ones I see as the most useful are Unburdened Rebirth, Dash and whatever else you like. Thorns could be helpful if you hate recasting it, but there's really not much else to get. Aquatic form is nice for questing.

Gearing and speccing Feral and rotations

First, you need to decide "Do I want to tank?" or "Do I want to dps?" While you can do both as Feral, with dual-specialization being an option you're just silly to not spec primarily towards one or the other. Obviously, however, if you want to PvP then you should change some talents accordingly.

Sample Level 80 Bear Build

I don't think putting 16 points in Restoration is a good idea just to get Master Shapeshifter for Bears is a good idea but your mileage on the subject may vary.

Gearing for Feral (bear)

Collect any gear with stamina and agility you can. ALWAYS be on the lookout for items with armor (rings, trinkets, necks) but don't forego upgrades just for armor. In general, Bear Druids are expected to wear the same gear as Rogues now, so keep that in mind. It's pretty slim pickin's on your way to 60, but at 60 you'll start to notice itemization slightly more in-line with gear you might actually wear.



Good starter stats to aim for for tanking heroics

HP: Around 24,000 in Bear form with Mark of the Wild
Armor: 24,000 as well, at least
Dodge: 30~%
Hit: Doesn't really matter, but some number above 100 would be good.
Expertise: Also doesn't really matter, if you have Primal Precision. If you don't, get some somewhere.


HOW DO I TANK OH GOD

Maul: On next swing - Increases your next attack by a set amount of damage. Please note if you use the Glyph of Maul your thread from Maul is divided against the targets it hits for some reason.

Swipe (Level 16): Instant, no cooldown - Instant attack that hits nearby enemies. Great for multi-mob tanking. Use this when a Maul is queued and Mangle is on cooldown.

Mangle (41 point Feral talent): Instant, 6 second cooldown - Does an enormous amount of threat! Use this every time it's up.

Lacerate (Level 66): Instant, no cooldown - Hits an enemy and also applies a bleed effect. Maintain 5 Lacerates on the mob being focused on.

Generating threat on one mob for a bear is not difficult at all. Make yourself a macro that is the following:

/cast Mangle - Bear
/cast Maul
/startattack

This macro will use Mangle if it's up, queue a Maul for your next attack if it is not up, and begin attacking that target if you'd only tab-targeted it.

It is important to note that Maul takes the place of your next swing, so you will not gain rage by using it. If you are in a low-rage environment (by which I mean you are not gaining a significant amount of rage) do not use Maul. Simply auto attack and Swipe when you can. If you are not rage-starved, hit Mangle when it's up, queue Mauls every time, and Swipe until Lacerate needs a refresh.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FERAL TANKING PLEASE GUIDE YOURSELF TO: This Feral Tanking Thread



Gearing for Feral (cat)

Get gear with strength and agility. Any weapon with a large amount of stats on it would be good. After 60 it’s pretty easy to find leather with dps stats.
It's also easy to find "Feral Attack Power" weapons which work in forms and grant a substantial amount of attack power, so much so that if you use anything else you are silly.

Level 80 Cat DPS Build

There is a great deal of debate as to what the best Cat DPS build is, so your mileage may vary on this. Glyphs should be Shred, Rip and Savage Roar.


How do I DPS in Cat Form?

Until level 50, you're rather limited in what you can do to cat DPS. Just use Claw and Rake if you're by yourself or Shred if you're in a group and use Rip when you're at 3-4 combo points, as the mob will most likely die once you get to 5. Ferocious Bite can take the place of Rip once you get it. Once you reach level 50 and gain Mangle, when you solo your rotation would look something like this:

Pounce -> Rip -> Mangle. You really don't need to do much else on a single mob. You can really just Mangle it to death if you want. Yes, it's that good.


Basic raid scenario:

Make sure Mangle is up.
Keep Rake up at all times.
Savage Roar at 2 Combo Points when possible.
Rip at 5 combo points.
Shred when Omen of Clarity Procs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FERAL DPS, PLEASE GUIDE YOURSELF TO: Cat DPS Guide for Dummies courtesy of the EJ forums.



Feral gemming:

Bear:

Red = Agility or Agility+Stam
Blue = Stamina
Yellow = Don't care unless you're going after a meta, but if you -have- to have something go for defense + stam or hit + stam
Meta = Austere Earthsiege Diamond

Cat:

Red = Agility
Blue = More Agility, use Agility+Stam if you need to hit blue meta requirements
Yellow = Whatever you need, Hit+Agility or ArP+Hit
Meta = Relentless Earthsiege Diamond



Gearing, speccing Balance and rotations

Shamelessly borrowed from http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t59457-..._updated_3_2_a/ on EJ.


Talents and Glyphs

TLDR version: if you need a spec right now and don't want to read, go with this:
Moonkin Talent Build

Talents
The core of the spec will include the following talents:
Core Talents

Firstly, you need to put 2 points into either Moonglow (mediocre mana talent) or Improved Moonfire (very weak DPS talent). If mana is ever a concern, go with Moonglow, otherwise, IMF. IMF becomes a good DPS talent once you have the 2T9 bonus.

This leaves 5 points. Fill them in the following order:
Intensity: put points in as necessary to alleviate any mana concerns.
Gale Winds: take this if you have any interest in speccing for AoE DPS; this is an enormous boost.
Typhoon: take this if you like having another instant spell to press, basically. Sometimes it's handy.
Improved Insect Swarm: Best remaining single-target DPS talent.
Brambles: Adds a small amount of raid DPS through Treants and Thorns.

Glyphs

Major Glyphs: the best three for single-target DPS are Insect Swarm, Moonfire, and Starfire.

Some people like to use Glyph of Starfall, as it stlll gives some single-target DPS contribution, and it's a very strong AoE spell to have available more often. If you want to use it, replace Moonfire (if you have 2T9, replace Insect Swarm instead).

Note that Glyph of Insect Swarm removes the 3% miss debuff, which may make it worthwhile for your raid to have you unglyph it at some fights.

Minor Glyphs: none of these add any DPS, so it's entirely up to personal taste. Typhoon is the only one that affects combat mechanics, but it's still up to you whether you prefer it or not.


Gear

Stats

Stat priority runs in the following order:
Hit rating (to cap) > Haste rating (to soft cap) > Spellpower > Crit rating > Haste rating > Intellect > Spirit.

Hit cap is 263 (237 for Alliance with a Draenei in their group). Otherwise, raid composition is not an issue, as we provide the spell hit debuff ourselves. Against a sub-83 target, talents are sufficient to reach cap, so hit on gear does not add anything.

The soft haste cap is the point at which your GCD hits the 1 second minimum with Nature's Grace up. With Improved Moonkin Form, Celestial Focus, and Wrath of Air Totem, this occurs at 401 haste rating. Missing WoA, it's 585.

As far as the remaining stats, spellpower, haste, and crit will always be preferred if you can find items with all 3. Spellpower is the strongest. Spirit and Int give small DPS contributions.

Exact stat comparisons of course depend on your current stats/talents, but a typical set of values might look like:
Spellpower: 1.4
Haste rating: 0.9 [1.5 if not soft-capped]
Crit rating: 1.1
Intellect: 0.6
Spirit: 0.5

Gems

In general, gem Runed in all sockets (or Veiled/Rigid to make the hit cap), save two for Purified wherever you can get the best socket bonuses to meet your meta requirement. In your meta socket (only use hats with meta sockets), use Chaotic. You can potentially use a Reckless/Potent or a Purified if a piece has a strong socket bonus.

If you're looking to increase your HP for certain raid encounters, Glowing gems are good way to do so without a large DPS loss (either by replacing Purified gems, or Runed gems in pieces with good socket bonuses).

Set Bonuses

The T7 4-piece and T8 2-piece bonuses are very strong. Use one of them if you can, regardless of what stat upgrades you may be able to get from other pieces. The T7 2-piece is typically worth maintaining until you have strong Ulduar-level gear replacements.

The T8 4-piece fix is now live. It hasn't been modeled in great detail yet, but early estimates show that it's likely worth using, especially in fights with multiple targets or movement.

The T9 2-piece is very strong and you should aim to get it quickly. The T9 4-piece is mediocre and worth little to no upgrade over a 2T8/2T9 setup.

Idols

Buy Idol of Lunar Fury for Emblems of Triumph. Otherwise buy Idol of the Shooting Star for 25 Emblems of Valor.

Consumables

Use Flask of the Frost Wyrm and a spellpower food (such as a Feast).
The best DPS potion is Potion of Speed (during an Eclipse), if you don't need to use a Runic Mana during the fight. Wild Magic is nearly as good.

Enchants
Excluding profession bonuses.
Head: 30 spellpower/20 crit (Kirin Tor revered)
Shoulders: 24 spellpower/15 crit (Sons of Hodir exalted)
Back - 23 haste
Chest - 10 stats. 8 stats is cheaper option at a tiny DPS loss
Wrists - 30 spellpower
Gloves - 28 spellpower
Leggings - 50 spellpower/20 spirit. 50 spellpower/30 stamina is another option if you want more HP.
Boots - Run speed/15 stam. Run speed/9 stam is a cheaper option until you need the HP.
Weapon - 63 spellpower to a 1H, or 81 spellpower to a staff.

Professions

Tailoring gives the strongest DPS benefit due to the cloak enchant. Beyond that, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Inscription, Jewelcrafting, and Leatherworking all provide a roughly equal gain of 46 spellpower. Engineering and Skinning are weakest, both giving less benefit than 46 spellpower. Mining and Herbalism provide no DPS gain.

Spell Rotations

The Eclipse Rotation

You will generally operate in a four-step cycle.
1) Pre-Lunar. Cast Wrath until the Eclipse buff appears (have some mod that will make it very obvious when you gain the buff).
2) Lunar Eclipse. When you see the buff, finish casting your current Wrath and then cast Starfire for the duration of Eclipse.
3) Pre-Solar. When Eclipse fades, continue casting Starfire. Note that a Starfire only gains the benefit if it is fully completed while the Eclipse buff is up, so if you only have time for a partial cast, your Eclipse is effectively over (and you'll typically refresh some DoTs here, see below). Cast Starfire until the Eclipse buff appears.
4) Solar Eclipse. Cast Wrath for the duration. Continue casting when it ends (with DoT refreshes as before) to loop back around into step 1.

TL;DR version:
Cast Wrath until Lunar Eclipse buff appears, then switch to Starfire.
Cast Starfire until Solar Eclipse buff appears, then switch to Wrath.

One subtle quirk you may want to pay attention to: Wrath procs Nature's Grace when the cast completes, but procs Eclipse when it actually hits the target. This enables a sort of clairvoyance regarding Lunar Eclipses--if you see Nature's Grace refresh when you cast a Wrath, you know that that cast is a crit, and therefore that it has a 60% chance of proccing an Eclipse when it reaches the target. I haven't yet researched in detail how best to take advantage of this, but if you have instants to cast, that's a good time for them, and if you feel like experimenting, you can also try switching to Starfire as soon as you see the Nature's Grace.

DoTs

Against a single target, refresh MF and IS whenever they drop. MF should have higher priority for refresh, but the difference is tiny. During a Wrath-heavy part of the cycle, it may be best to refresh MF last (after IS or other instants) to minimize the chance that it will drop before you cast SF again.

There's currently a slight open question about whether it's worth waiting until Eclipse ends if a DoT expires in the final few seconds Eclipse. This is hard to model and the DPS difference is very small, so consider it a matter of personal taste for the moment.

Other spells

Starfall: use this on cooldown against a single target (if there are others mobs in range, remember to make sure it's safe to cast). The best time to use it is theoretically during the pre-Solar phase, as this is when you benefit most from the added Nature's Grace uptime, but it's probably best to simply use it when convenience dictates. In AoE situations, try to use it as often as possible on multiple clustered targets.

Force of Nature: use this as many times as possible in a given fight. If you know when Bloodlust/Heroism is coming, try to cast this immediately beforehand (but not if this requires waiting so long that you can't use it as many times during the encounter). As you learn each fight, pay attention to things that kill the Treants and time your cast to avoid them if possible.

Faerie Fire: Unless your raid has both a Shadow Priest and a Feral Druid, keep this on every mob. Even if it does have both, it doesn't particularly hurt to cast this at the pull if you think there's a chance either of the other classes' buffs will ever drop.



Gearing, speccing Restoration and Rotations


Warning, I know nothing about Restoration Druids. They just heal me and I don't die. This is all taken from other sources!


IdeoPhantus was kind enough to submit some resto druid stuff, so here it is.

---

Glyphing

PvE: Swiftmend, Rejuvenation, Rebirth

I don't see a huge pull toward glyphing wild growth (+1 target) because it doesn't have a preferance as to who it will land on. It may or may not even land on your target. It can also land on temporary pets (treants, army of the dead, etc). It would be nice if they had the spell prefer players->permenant pets->temp pets, but it doesn't.

If you don't run into mana issues, you can always swap out swiftmend for a different glyph. Same goes for Rebirth if you mostly raid & don't feel like you need to bring them back at 100% hp.

Important Talent Points

Top of the list (must have's):
-Nature's Splendor (rejuv +3sec, regrowth +6sec, lifebloom +2sec)
-Improved Mark of the Wild (improves the spells by 40%)
-Omen of Clarity (when it procs, the next spell cast costs 0 mana)
-Tree of Life (reduced HoT costs by 20%, 6% bonus healing in ToL form)
-Improved Tree of Life (bonus armor, increased healing spellpower)
-Wild Growth (multi-target healing spell)
-Intensity (allows a percentage of mana regen to continue while casting)
-Swiftmend (insta-heal based on your HoT's, 15sec cooldown)

Nice to have:
-Gift of the Earthmother
-Revitalize (the gift that keeps on giving)
-Living Seed (crit heals plant a seed that "blooms" when that player is next hit)
-Living Spirit (+15% spirit, nice for bonus SP in ToL form, and mana regen)

PvP top of the list (must have's):
-Natural Perfection (stacking armor bonus when you get hit by crits)
-Improved Barkskin (bonus armor in caster/travel form; so you can DoT/HoT/run safely)
-Brambles (boosts the power of your thorns spell)

All other talent points are going to be a matter of personal choice, because everyone has a different healing style, different glyph choices, raid vs. 5-man, etc.

Talent Specs

When you hit 80 and start doing heroics, the following build will do well. I hit all the main talents for keeping people alive in 5-mans, with 6 points to spare. Talents to consider for those 6 remaining points; brambles, empowered touch, revitalize (good runic returns, but not much else), and some people like nature's swiftness. If you're dead set on points in master shapeshifter, you can just move some/all out of naturalist & into natural/master shapeshifter. I personally feel it's a waste to spend 5 points just to get 4% bonus healing.
Build 1

Once you've hit the point where you're geared pretty good for heroics, and you're starting to move on to raids, you can move some points around. If you want revitalize, I wouldn't waste more than one point in it; I only see decent returns with runic power. Tranquility has no use in raids (it only heals people in your party). Odds are poor that you'll be assigned to single target heal; your HoT's make you a good raid healer. This build leaves you with 7 points to put wherever.
Build 2

Rotation

Lifebloom is pretty much defunct now & I would remove from the rotation. It's been nerfed enough the last few patches (including 3.2) that if you're going to use it, toss it out during an OoC proc.

A rotation (for 5-man instances) in 3.2 should probably look more like this...

1. Rejuv on the tank right before they engage/pull so that the first tick picks up the first bit of damage. (side note, keep thorns on the tank; they put out threat toward whoever they're on)

2. Throw a regrowth on the tank as they start taking on more damage than the rejuv is healing for. It'll heal that gap damage & add some nice HoT padding.

3. If you know there's going to be incoming AoE damage, take this time (while the tank is already taken care of with HoT's) to throw out a rejuv on the people most likely to be hit.

4. Always keep rejuv up on the tank, wild growth if there are a few people in range, regrowth the tank when necessary (I keep it up non-stop in boss fights).

5. For spike damage on the tank, swiftmend is your first go-to so you can immediately take care of some of the damage; nourish after if they need it.

6. Anytime you get an OoC proc, toss out a lifebloom on someone. It's free mana gained when it blooms.

7. If shit hits the fan for the group, tranquility is your "oh shit" heal.

8. If your tank dies & you're glyphed to rebirth someone at 100% health, toss HoT's on the person who was 2nd on the threat list, then rebirth your tank. If you're not glyphed, just throw everything necessary to keep the new "tank" up, and HoT everybody. Un-glyphed rebirth may work better in a raid setting where you have several people to heal the target up.

Resto Gearing (pre-raid)

Shoulders (spellpower/MP5 rep enchant):
Silent Spectator Shoulderpads (Svala Sorrowgrave, H UP, BoP, 25-50%)

Helm (spellpower/mp5 rep enchant):
Helm of Anomalus (Anomalus, H Nexus, BoP, 25-50%)
Conqueror's Nightsong Headpiece (58 Emblems of Conquest, BoP)

Back:
Wispcloak (BoE/AH, crafted epic, tailoring)

Chest (+10 stats enchant, +8 if it'll be replaced soon):
Ymirjar Physician's Robe (H UP, BoE/AH, 1-2%)
Conqueror's Nightsong Robe (58 Emblems of Conquest, BoP)

Wrist (spellpower enchant):
Putrescent Bands (Naxx, BoE/AH)
Plague-Infected Bracers (Mal'Ganis, H CoS, 15-24%; if you can't afford the others)

Hands (spellpower enchant):
Awakened Handguards (H HoL, BoE/AH, 1-2%)
Gloves of Dismal Fortune (Chest drop, H TotC, 15-24%, BoP)

Waist (eternal belt buckle):
Sash of Blood Removal (Gal'Darah, H Gundrak, 25-50%)
Vine Belt of the Woodland Dryad (40 Emblems of Heroism, BoP)

Legs (sapphire spellthread):
Earthgiving Legguards (BoE/AH, crafted epic, Leatherworker)

Feet (spirit enchant):
Earthgiving Boots (BoE/AH, crafted epic, Leatherworker)

Staves (spellpower enchant):
Staff of Sinister Claws (Harold Volazj, H OK, 25-50%)
Staff of Draconic Combat (Ley-Guardian Eregos, H Oculus, 25-50%; better than the other staff)

Main/Off Hand (spellpower enchant):
War Mace of Unrequited Love (Keristraza, H Nexus, 25-50%)
Handbook of Obscure Remedies (25 Emblems of Heroism, BoP; check the conquest vendor in case there's something better now)

Trinket:
Egg of Mortal Essence (40 Emblems of Heroism, BoP)

Idol:
Idol of Flaring Growth (Rejuv/spellpower bonus, 25 Emblem of Triumph, BoP)
Idol of the Flourishing Life (Nourish bonus, 19 Emblem of Conquest, BoP)

-The new triumph vendor also has a nice ring & helm. However, your first triumph purchase (if you use rejuv) should be the Rejuvenation idol.

Set Bonuses

T7: The two piece bonus (5% reduced lifebloom cost) is pretty worthless. The four piece bonus is fine if you're frequently tank healing, but you could just as easily put points into empowered touch to make up for not using the set.

T8: Very good set bonuses. The two piece bonus (10% increased healing to swiftmend) is a nice increase. The four piece bonus (instant rejuv tick) is really nice to have as well, because if you don't pre-hot, it'll help get everyone up a little faster. I still feel this set is the sweet spot.

T9: The two piece bonus (5% increased crit to nourish) is pretty dismal. The four piece bonus (chance for rejuv ticks to crit) sounds nice, but it's up to chance as to how often they'll proc, and if they proc when the target's at full health, it was a wasted crit tick.

Stats

Intellect vs Spirit: If you're having trouble determining when to pick spirit over intellect & vice versa; a good balance is 1:1 intellect to spirit. It should keep you to where you're not going out of mana, but you're also not left with too much mana. Plus you get some increased healing power based on your spirit. The only issue in 5-man heroics is if your tank is squishy, or if your dps are having trouble doing at least 1200dps; at that point fights are going to last longer & your tank will be a mana drain.

Haste: To hit the 1sec global cooldown, I believe you need about 650 haste. Haste is something I put on the backburner to a certain extent. If you feel like you need more, and you're good on your int/spi, then add more haste.

Spellpower: When starting heroics you can heal fine at 1000 spellpower as long as you're on top of your game, and that includes running with a group who's also working on gearing up (so long as they've stayed up to date with their gear & don't stand in fire forever).

MP5: Not a useless stat. If you need more mana regen & are having trouble finding an upgrade with spirit on it, this works. Otherwise, always go for spirit.


Restoration gemming:

Red = Spellpower
Blue = Spirit Spellpower
Yellow = Spellpower+Int
Meta = Ember Skyflare Diamond



FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO BE A GOOD TREE PLEASE GUIDE YOURSELF TO: The EJ Resto PvE Discussion Thread


Other Helpful Links:

Level 80 Combat Ratings


Feral
[url=http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t49702-feralbynight_cat_bear_simulation_tool]
Feral by Night, a Feral DPS/Tanking Combat Simulator[/url]
[url=http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/badkitty.aspx]
BadKitty[/url] - A mod developed to help cats and bears alike keep debuffs up.

Tankspot - Tankspot is where you'll be going if you want in-depth videos on how to tank anything. They're super.

Feral Tank Pre-Raid Gear



Balance


Squawk and Awe A convienent way of tracking your DoT's and Eclipse timers, and assorted other class-specific procs.

WrathCalcs The most developed Moonkin theorycrafting tool. Will give you the exact value of stats/talents/glyphs in your current setup, and lets you experiment with different rotations. Made by Adoriele here. I've since been using it for my own theorycrafting, reflected in the version posted here.


General Use

Toskk's DPS Gear Methodology - Put in gear, get numbers!
[url=http://www.codeplex.com/Rawr]
Rawr - Multi-class item simulator tool [/url]- This can scan your gear and tell you what upgrades to shoot for.

Elitist Jerks Druid Section


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