• If you want to do it solo, and fast, then feral’s the way to go. Balance is also good for soloing, but feral has the least downtime because it is not hindered so much by mana and drinking (not to mention all the stupid mobs out there who interrupt, drain mana, or cause spell pushback). Feral downtime is minimal.
• If you want to solo but also have the ability to heal some dungeons, go balance. You’ll still have good soloing ability, and moderate healing (balance is absolutely fine for healing dungeons as you level). And best of all, you won’t have to worry about changing gear.
• If you want a healing crash course through dungeons on the way to 85, then it’s perfectly viable to go resto from level 1. I suspect that when Cataclysm is released, many people will be levelling existing mains, so that might make it hard to find lowbie dungeons – but remember also that there will be a lot of players who want to level a Worgen or Goblin, PLUS the people who always wanted to play a human hunter, gnome priest, blood elf warrior, night elf mage (and so on). So I think there will be plenty of dungeons to be had.
  
Resto is the poorest spec for soloing, but it’s not awful; however, if you’re going to be doing a fair bit of questing in between dungeons, you might want to consider a balance spec from 1-40, then “learn” resto with your dual spec at 40 onwards.


BOA gear

First of all, when choosing your BOA gear, consider whether you might later like to pass it onto another character. For example, I tend to pick cloth items for my caster druids, because I know that if I choose to create a clothie later, I can recycle my BOA items. I do the same for my melee characters – shaman/hunter/feral druid all have to share each other’s hand-me-downs (so if you see any of my characters without a chest or shoulder item equipped, it’s probably in the mail or on another character). Obviously if you’re swimming in tokens, this won’t be an issue, but it’s something to keep in mind.




Also, I’ll list the resilience items – but remember that you get resilience at the cost of other stats (eg spirit), so only take these items if you can’t afford the PvE equivalent. They still give you 10% experience, so it’s worth grabbing – just prioritise the PvE ones if you can afford them.

By the way – did you know that you can mail your BOA items to your characters on the opposite faction? My gnome rogue is currently using my feral chestpiece. I believe Blizzard have also said they would like to be able to let people mail them across servers, which would be awesome if you rerolled somewhere!

Anyway – here are the items to consider:

For Resto:


For Balance:


For Feral:



Guides to help you

Now, our healing may change a bit in Cataclysm once we are given our new talent trees and abilities; but I don’t think that lowbie healing will change very much. Healing Touch will still be our dungeon heal (with HoTs, of course), and I don’t think there will be sweeping changes to how we heal at low levels.

With that in mind, WotLK levelling guides should still be a good reference in Cataclysm, so here are some guides to bookmark for later.



• Tree Bark Jacket – Levelling as Resto – my resto druid guide (currently being revamped to add even more information – watch this space).
• Restokin – Druid Levelling Guide – Lissanna sets out your levelling options, specs, and strategies – including dual spec options.
• Rolling HoTs: Med School – Healing resto at levels 1-80 – a level-by-level explanation of what you should grab, how our spells work, and how you should heal.


Do you have any tips for brand new Cataclysm druids? Or do you know of another guide to levelling druids? I’d love to include them in the next version of my guide!



Possibly Related Posts:

• Cataclysm talent update, armor specialisation
• Blizz dev chat on Twitter – druid question roundup
• Cataclysm: the brand spankin’ new 31pt talent trees

]]> http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/06/04/thinking-of-going-druid-in-cataclysm/feed/ 31 http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/30/resto-guide-now-with-wowhead-links/ http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/30/resto-guide-now-with-wowhead-links/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:15:42 +0000 Keeva http://treebarkjacket.com/?p=2314 Just a quick note to say that I have fixed up a few of the suggestions and corrections sent in, and I’ve now updated the guide to include Wowhead mouseover links for all talents, objects and abilities.

All 580 billion of them.



http://treebarkjacket.com/restoguide/



Possibly Related Posts:

• Short break
• Wanted: more Resto Druid blogs
• I got bored; here’s the new TBJ

]]> http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/30/resto-guide-now-with-wowhead-links/feed/ 6 http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/27/resto-druid-guide-up/ http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/27/resto-druid-guide-up/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:14:10 +0000 Keeva http://treebarkjacket.com/?p=2289 For a little while now I’ve been working on a Resto healing guide of my own. For ages I didn’t bother, since there were other guides up, and I didn’t think it was worth the effort to reinvent the wheel. But I realised that if I want my site to be any kind of resource, I need it to have information that people are seeking when they come here.

I do have a guides page, but those guides have been a bit few and far between.

So in the future I would like my site to continue to be “bloggy”, but I’d like to put more of an emphasis on helpful and informative guide-type articles along the way, so that TBJ can be a solid resource for resto druids.

As a foundation, I’ve created my own resto PvE guide:


http://treebarkjacket.com/restoguide/


I haven’t added it to my guides page yet – but I will soon. I need to update that page a bit anyway.

Due to the size of the guide, I’m positive there will be typos, a broken link or two, and most likely some wonky advice, no doubt. If you spot something that you think isn’t quite right, would you mind letting me know?

Some of it is accepted theorycraft, but a lot of it is “this is how I do it” based on my experience. If you think something is way off base, or perhaps something is missing, please let me know. I’ve already had to fix one part of it because I wrote it from my point of view, rather than as a new druid.. so I don’t mind if you think something isn’t quite right.

(Just be gentle though, I spent a lot of time on it!)

Thanks!



Oops, quick edit: Before anyone comments – I realise it is too wide for a 15″ monitor (if you have one). Unfortunately if I make it any narrower, it will make it so that the text in many of the tables will have to be reduced to being almost illegible, in order to fit. I do apologise that you’ll have to scroll – but it has to be that wide. Cheers!



Possibly Related Posts:

• Short break
• Wanted: more Resto Druid blogs
• I got bored; here’s the new TBJ

]]> http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/27/resto-druid-guide-up/feed/ 26 http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/24/moonkin-power-auras-exports/ http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/24/moonkin-power-auras-exports/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:57:09 +0000 Keeva http://treebarkjacket.com/?p=2262 Alrighty – here are my Power Auras exports for balance.

Remember: these settings have my auras show up at the bottom of my screen, off to the right of the middle. You will need to adjust the X/Y settings to put them in the spot that you prefer.


Eclipse

My eclipse notifications are actually two effects on top of each other; a coloured rune, and then the spell icon on top. You don’t have to do this of course, you can use one or the other, but as a beginner moonkin I wanted it to be as plain as day which spell I had to cast.

So I made a green rune with a Wrath icon for Solar Eclipse, and a purple rune with a Starfire icon for Lunar Eclipse, so there was no doubt what to do when they popped up.

Lunar Eclipse (cast Starfire now!)

Starfire icon indicator (with timer):

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.98823529411765; anim1:nu1; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_Eclipse; size:nu0.25999999046326; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.97647058823529; y:nu-471; x:nu312; customname:st48465; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu16; alpha:nu0.34999999403954; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu1; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu2; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; spec2:botrue; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu15; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:botrue; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:st[48518]; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:botrue; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:botrue; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu2; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1; timer.InvertAuraBelow:nu0; timer.dual:bofalse; timer.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; timer.h:nu1.5; timer.ShowOnAuraHide:bofalse; timer.UpdatePing:bofalse; timer.Texture:stDefault; timer.enabled:botrue; timer.Showing:botrue; timer.lastShownLarge:nu12; timer.y:nu-346; timer.x:nu200; timer.CustomDuration:nu0; timer.Transparent:botrue; timer.a:nu1; timer.HideRequest:botrue; timer.id:nu15; timer.cents:bofalse


Rune background:

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; g:nu0.26274509803922; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_Eclipse; size:nu0.45999997854233; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.58823529411765; y:nu-470; x:nu311; customname:st48465; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu2; alpha:nu0.34999999403954; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu1; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu2; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; spec2:botrue; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu20; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:botrue; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:st[48518]; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:botrue; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1


Solar Eclipse (cast Wrath now!)

Wrath icon indicator (with timer):

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.9843137254902; anim1:nu1; g:nu0.9921568627451; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_EclipseOrange; size:nu0.25999999046326; torsion:nu1; r:nu1; y:nu-472; x:nu311; customname:st48461; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu16; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu2; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu2; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu16; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:st[48517]; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:botrue; stance:nu10; spec2:botrue; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu2; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1; timer.a:nu1; timer.dual:bofalse; timer.HideRequest:botrue; timer.id:nu16; timer.cents:bofalse; timer.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; timer.enabled:botrue; timer.Showing:bofalse; timer.y:nu-346; timer.h:nu1.5; timer.ShowOnAuraHide:bofalse; timer.Transparent:botrue; timer.UpdatePing:bofalse; timer.InvertAuraBelow:nu0; timer.x:nu200; timer.Texture:stDefault


Rune background:

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.074509803921569; anim1:nu1; g:nu0.48627450980392; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_EclipseOrange; size:nu0.45999997854233; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.11372549019608; y:nu-470; x:nu311; customname:st48461; groupany:bofalse; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu2; alpha:nu0.10000000149012; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu1; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu2; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu19; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:st[48517]; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; spec2:botrue; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu1



Long cooldowns

This is useful to remind you that an ability is “ready to go”. You could also attach an alarm sound, to alert you to when something comes off cooldown and is ready to go again – this is very useful. Just don’t use it on short cooldowns or it will drive you nuts.

Note: the timers you see on the icons are where the cooldown timers will show when the ability is not ready. When it’s ready to go, you’ll see an icon; when the ability is down, you’ll just see a number in that spot, telling you how long you have to wait.

Starfall icon (with cooldown timer):

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.93333333333333; anim1:nu1; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_Starfall; size:nu0.15999999642372; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.96470588235294; y:nu-512; x:nu234; customname:st53201; groupany:botrue; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:st; bufftype:nu15; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu21; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu1; spec2:botrue; stacksOperator:st>=; realaura:nu1; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu17; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:botrue; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stStarfall; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:botrue; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:botrue; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu2; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0; timer.InvertAuraBelow:nu0; timer.dual:bofalse; timer.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; timer.h:nu1; timer.ShowOnAuraHide:botrue; timer.UpdatePing:bofalse; timer.Texture:stDefault; timer.enabled:botrue; timer.Showing:botrue; timer.lastShownLarge:nu2; timer.y:nu-328; timer.x:nu149; timer.HideRequest:botrue; timer.Transparent:botrue; timer.a:nu1; timer.CustomDuration:nu0; timer.id:nu17; timer.cents:bofalse


Force of Nature (treants) icon (with cooldown timer):

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.93333333333333; anim1:nu1; g:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_ForceofNature; size:nu0.15999999642372; torsion:nu1; r:nu0.96470588235294; y:nu-431; x:nu233; customname:st33831; groupany:botrue; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:st; bufftype:nu15; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu21; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:bofalse; isResting:nu0; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu1; spec2:botrue; stacksOperator:st>=; realaura:nu1; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu18; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; buffname:stForce of Nature; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:botrue; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu2; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0; timer.InvertAuraBelow:nu0; timer.dual:bofalse; timer.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; timer.h:nu1; timer.ShowOnAuraHide:botrue; timer.UpdatePing:bofalse; timer.Texture:stDefault; timer.enabled:botrue; timer.Showing:bofalse; timer.y:nu-275; timer.x:nu149; timer.HideRequest:botrue; timer.Transparent:botrue; timer.a:nu1; timer.CustomDuration:nu0; timer.id:nu18; timer.cents:bofalse



Possibly Related Posts:

• Talent trees in Cataclysm – scrapped and redone
• Resto Druid calculator!
• Cataclysm: druid forms and other models

]]> http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/24/moonkin-power-auras-exports/feed/ 9 http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/20/moonlighting-as-moonkin/ http://treebarkjacket.com/2010/04/20/moonlighting-as-moonkin/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:00:55 +0000 Keeva http://treebarkjacket.com/?p=2227 Our guild has been without a Moonkin for a long, long time. And even when we had moonkins in the past, they were unreliable or had bad connections. Basically, I can’t remember when we ever had a solid moonkin in the raid.

The raid leaders really wanted one, badly, and were discussing the option of someone swapping to play one. I hated the idea of someone having to give up their main, especially since soon we’ll work on getting our Icecrown drakes. Kinda crappy to miss out on all the achievements and boss kills, just so we can have a buff.

So I volunteered to give it a go.

They laughed.

Can’t really blame them, I’m dual-spec resto and I’ve been resto since I very first started playing, over 4 years ago.

But I was serious. If I did it, it would mean nobody gives up their main character. Plus, I already have pretty awesome gear, and would only have to make a few adjustments to get hit capped and be ready to go – a bunch of my gear is perfectly acceptable as boomkin gear already – so I’m not going to have to be loot trained to a bunch of gear. And, of course, they know I’m reliable.

So I set out to become a Moonkin.

I figured I would share what I did – for anyone else who has been a healer for a million years and suddenly wants to raid as a Moonkin (and isn’t sure where to begin). It’s certainly not an in-depth guide at all, just the steps I took to get myself up to scratch in a big, fat, feathery hurry.


Steps to becoming a moonkin in a hurry

Step 1: Make your UI a bit more DPS-friendly.

Healer UIs and DPS UIs (generally) have some fundamental differences. At the very least, they tend to have elements that are more detailed for one spec than the other. For example, a healer UI will generally shift focus to raid frames, where a DPS UI will usually have frames, but they won’t be focus.

I wanted a hybrid UI, so that I could use it for both resto and boomkin. My trademark “empty” UI wouldn’t cut it if I wanted to DPS. Here’s what I had to do:


• Make sure my player and target frames are nice and clear, and show all appropriate buffs, debuffs, target-of-target, cast bar, and nice clear fonts. I use Pitbull4 for this.

• I kept Grid as-is, because I use it for decursing, finding people who need to be innervated or revived, etc. But boy is it hard to ignore Grid and resist the temptation to heal! I moved Grid closer to my character, but I still prefer not to have it right under my character, because that makes me antsy about not being able to see “behind” me. This is personal preference only.
• PowerAuras – oh how I love you. I’ve set my PowerAuras up to tell me when my cooldowns (Starfall, treants) are ready to go – but also, most importantly, which Eclipse buff I have. PA also tells me that I have debuffs up on my target, as appropriate. (see the rotation section for an explanation of my Power Auras)
• I updated my spreadsheet of key bindings. In Moonkin spec, I’ve had to swap my 1-2-3 (etc) easy bindings to my damage spells. Normally, Alt-W is Wrath, Alt-M is Moonfire, and so on. But having to keep pressing alt hundreds of times a night would probably break my wrist and give me RSI over time, so I had to fix it. In resto spec, my easy bindings are for healing. In balance spec, they are for damage spells – but I can still pop out of form and use my heals.
  
It took me a while to get into the groove with the new bindings, but some time on the target dummies got them cemented in. It won’t take long to have them ingrained, like my healing binds.



Step 2: Fill in the gear gaps

My gear was pretty good as it was – lots of high level ICC spellpower stuff (obviously). But I didn’t have any hit, so I needed to work out what I could gather together ASAP.



• So I headed to Graylo’s site to check out his gear suggestions.

• I brought out my spreadsheet, and decided what could stay, what I could bring out of the bank, and what I’d have to go chase.
• I was super lucky and picked up a few nice balance items, and gemmed them with hit.
• My crit was low so I grabbed the Sundial of the Exiled (heroism badges) to help boost it a bit.

So now I’m hit capped – I can work on ditching more and more pieces of resto gear and working on my moonkin set.



Step 3: Learn the rotation

Four great sites to visit when you’re absolutely clueless but you have to know how to be a raiding moonkin yesterday:



1. Restokin – Moonkin basics for the new level 80 Raider

2. Restokin – Eclipse Basics & Rotations for Beginner Moonkin (in pictures)
3. Wow.com – Balance 101
4. Elitist Jerks – Moonkin PvE DPS (3.3.3)


Once you understand the rotation (and you will, if you visit the above) and you have your keybinds set up, you can spend time on the target dummies, practising.


The importance of a good Eclipse mod

A moonkin’s DPS rests quite heavily on how well we perform our rotation, specifically within eclipses. It’s absolutely essential that you have a good mod that alerts you to your eclipse procs and cooldown, so that you can time your spells properly.

I use Power Auras to do this – as well as to let me know when my long cooldowns are available. Please excuse the mess, here’s my work-in-progress:



Lunar Eclipse (cast Starfire now!)



Solar Eclipse (cast Wrath now!)



So as you can see in the above pictures, I can very clearly see my debuffs (Faerie Fire, Moonfire, Insect swarm) and their timers. The treant and starfall icons are actually Power Auras indicators that only show when I am able to use those abilities. Basically, they say “I’m ready – use me!”

But the most important part is the eclipse indicator. Now, most people prefer a HUD (heads-up-display) style for their eclipse (see Kae’s examples at Dreambound), so that they can keep an eye on their character’s position (and any fires, etc) while they watch their procs.

Personally, I just can’t seem to get used to it. Plus, I find that with a lot going on around my character, I can sometimes miss indicators. And I’ve never had any problems watching frames AND keeping myself out of bad stuff, so I don’t worry too much about having all of my information in the centre of my screen. So instead I decided to put a big, pretty indicator right next to my target frame.

Again, this is entirely personal preference (and it may even change over time!)


The difference these things can make

I think I’m doing pretty good, so far. I started out doing about 4300DPS on the dummies, being under the hit cap, wearing resto T10 and a healer weapon, no glyphs, fumbling with my new keybinds, and mis-timing my eclipse rotations pretty badly.

With some tweaking, a few gear changes (and gems) and some practice, I was doing 6800-7200. I think that’s pretty good so far, considering how much resto gear I still have (and how much crit I don’t have, ugh).

The numbers aren’t really important, they will vary according to your entry level gear – I was pretty lucky to jump in with 25man ICC resto gear, which acts as a pretty good crutch until you can gear “properly”. I really just wanted to put those numbers in there to show how much of a jump you can make in DPS if you tweak your gear, improve your UI, and practice your rotations until you get the hang of it.

I know I said I’d never be a Moonkin – I never really enjoyed it before. But I’ve never raided as a Moonkin before either – it’s quite fun!

Possibly Related Posts:

• Slayer of Dragons
• Talent trees in Cataclysm – scrapped and redone
• Resto Druid calculator!

First, this is what my PA looks like when I’m resting, and everything is off cooldown. Just so you can get an idea of how the auras fit together and whatnot. Note: They will only look nice and neat around my character like this if I am zoomed out a certain amount; if I have to zoom in or out, obviously the relative size will change.

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I’ll break this one into my druid tips, and some placement tips.

Normally I don’t post strats because various other sites do a great job of them; but I spent the time creating the placement diagrams for my guild and though I would share them. It’s not a full strat, just some ideas for placement that might help you. You’ll need to check out a full strat to understand all of Sindragosa’s abilities and phases entirely.

As usual, this is mostly aimed towards 25man raids, but some tips will carry through to 10man raids also.


Quick tips

Talents

Use a raid healing spec for this fight, and make sure you’re at the haste soft cap – because other than when you have the Unchained Magic debuff, you’ll be casting something pretty much every GCD.

I highly recommend Imp Barkskin if you have room for it; it has saved me a couple of times when hit by Blistering Cold. If you think you might not make it out in time, hit Barkskin to be safe. I lagged once and didn’t quite get far enough away from the boss. I got hit for 27,000 with a 2k overkill; if I had used my Barkskin, I would have lived. If you’re playing with moderately high latency, Barkskin is your friend.

Even if you can’t fit Imp Barkskin into your spec, Barkskin should still save you – it might just be closer. If you have high latency, face yourself with your back to the dragon, so that when you get pulled in, you don’t have to turn – you can just run straight ahead and save a second or two.


Glyphs

I go with Wild Growth, Swiftmend, and Rapid Rejuvenation. WG is a must, mostly because melee will continue to DoT themselves throughout the course of the fight, and hitting 6 of them at a time is very handy.

If you run with another druid, go RR; if not, you may prefer greater raid coverage. If you don’t take RR, perhaps take Nourish (for helping to top up the tank/s in P3) or regular Rejuv, for anyone who can’t control their debuffs very well. We found that tank deaths were a major cause of our wipes in P3, not raid damage (if people learn to control their debuffs), so I value RR here for its ability to tick faster on the tanks.

Rotation

Generally a standard 5×1 (five Rejuvs, Wild Growth, repeat) rotation. In P3 the tank damage can be heavy, so try to keep HoTs on the tanks, especially during a transition, or when you know the tank healers are moving and not able to heal.


Special note: Unchained Magic

Unchained Magic is a debuff that Sindragosa places on random people. While the debuff is on you, anytime you cast any spell, it will add one stack of another debuff, called Instability. After 8 seconds of not casting anything, Instability will expire and do 2000 damage per stack. So if you cast 5 spells and then stopped, after 8 seconds, you would be hit for 10,000 damage. If you cast something again before the 8 seconds is up, the stack will go up by one, and the timer will start over from 8 seconds.

So what I usually do when I get UM (in P1) is to refresh Rejuv on the tank (when it runs out), and toss a WG through melee, to help with their Chilled to the Bone DoT (you should be at 2 stacks now). Refresh WG on cooldown and RJ on the tank. I try not to go past 5 or 6 stacks (10-12k damage); if I get that high, I wait 8 seconds for the stack to reset, then I go back to RJ on the tank, WG on the melee, to maintain a little healing.

Also, if your stacks got a bit high, hit Barkskin and wait your 8 seconds. This is also why I like having Imp Barkskin, because it gives you more wiggle room with those Instability stacks. You can also make Lifebloom your last cast on yourself, since it will bloom conveniently right after the 8 second stack expires; but you need to weigh up whether it’s worth doing that, or whether adding another stack of the debuff (by casting Lifebloom) might endanger you.

IMPORTANT: In P3, Unchained Magic will do more damage according to the number of Mystic Buffet stacks you have; so don’t go racking up as many stacks of Instability in this phase. You might get away with it in P1, but in P3 it could kill you. Keep HoTs on the tank, but don’t kill yourself!


Setting up Power Auras for Unchained Magic and Instability

The problem with Unchained Magic is that you can easily miss it if you’re busy watching health bars.

I set up Power Auras to put a big, fat, DANGER sign right across my character – but also to play a really annoying siren noise. This immediately tells me that I have the Unchained Magic debuff, and to be careful with the spells I cast for the next 30 seconds.

Plus, I set up Power Auras to show me the number of stacks of Instability, and the seconds left until that stack expires:




If you’d like to copy this PA setup, here’s the import code. Note: you’ll need to set up one code for the Unchained Magic debuff, and a separate one for Instability:

Unchained Magic

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0.16470588235294; anim1:nu1; g:nu0.027450980392157; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Spell_Arcane_FocusedPower; size:nu0.75; torsion:nu1; r:nu1; y:nu-139; x:nu-8; customname:st; groupany:botrue; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:st; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu43; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:bofalse; isResting:bofalse; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu1; buffname:stUnchained Magic; spec2:botrue; stacksOperator:st>=; realaura:nu1; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:stburglar_alarm_going_off.wav; combat:nu0; id:nu16; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0


Note: you’ll need to choose your own sound effect and change the file name. I recommend finding a really annoying danger/alarm/siren noise.

Honestly, I really can’t recommend more highly the use of hideously annoying siren noises for debuffs like this, because even if you are terrible for tunnel-visioning your raid frames, you can’t miss a debuff screaming “AWOOOOOGA AWOOOOOOGA DON’T CAST” at you.


Instability

Version:st3.0.0E; gcd:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu1; g:nu0.34117647058824; optunitn:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; stacksLower:nu0; target:bofalse; icon:stInterface\Icons\Spell_Arcane_ArcaneTorrent; size:nu0.76999998092651; torsion:nu1; r:nu1; y:nu-139; x:nu-8; customname:st; groupany:botrue; isAlive:botrue; timerduration:nu0; unitn:st; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu0; focus:bofalse; raid:bofalse; texture:nu43; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st; symetrie:nu0; owntex:bofalse; isResting:bofalse; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; multiids:st; inVehicle:bofalse; speed:nu1; anim2:nu1; buffname:stInstability; spec2:botrue; stacksOperator:st>=; realaura:nu1; InactiveDueToState:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; sound:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupOrSelf:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; id:nu17; inParty:nu0; HideRequest:bofalse; Active:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; inRaid:nu0; tooltipCheck:st; customtex:bofalse; stance:nu10; isSecondary:bofalse; thresholdinvert:bofalse; spec1:botrue; Debug:bofalse; beginSpin:bofalse; Showing:bofalse; UseOldAnimations:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; party:bofalse; texmode:nu1; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; randomcolor:bofalse; finish:nu0; timer.InvertAuraBelow:nu0; timer.dual:bofalse; timer.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; timer.h:nu1.4500000476837; timer.ShowOnAuraHide:bofalse; timer.UpdatePing:bofalse; timer.Texture:stDefault; timer.enabled:botrue; timer.Showing:bofalse; timer.lastShownLarge:nu1; timer.HideRequest:botrue; timer.lastShownSmall:nu30; timer.y:nu-101; timer.x:nu-122; timer.CustomDuration:nu0; timer.Transparent:bofalse; timer.a:nu1; timer.DurationInfo:nu111933.698; timer.id:nu17; timer.cents:botrue; stacks.a:nu1; stacks.Showing:bofalse; stacks.HideLeadingZeros:bofalse; stacks.enabled:botrue; stacks.y:nu-103; stacks.h:nu2; stacks.id:nu17; stacks.Transparent:bofalse; stacks.UpdatePing:bofalse; stacks.lastShownValue:nu7; stacks.x:nu89; stacks.Texture:stDefault


When marks go out, they assemble; everyone else runs to the top to avoid extra iceblocks.

Make sure you have the mark debuff (Frost Beacon) on your raid frames, so that you can Rejuv the people who get marked up so they are healed while they are inside (2 people in 10 man, 5 people in 25man – you have time to Rejuv them).

We have a set position for our marks:




DPS the back ones down fast.




Then we DPS the front blocks from right to left, so everyone knows which ones will die first.




Remember you have to LOS the bombs, but LOS doesn’t just mean standing directly behind them. You have to look at where the bomb is going to land (look for the white swirly) and put the ice block between you and the bomb spot.




Throw a regrowth & rejuv on the tank as she lands and runs back over to him, so he gets heals while everyone is getting into position.


Phase 3 (combo phase)

These ones basically speak for themselves – we tank her out have two designated ice block spots. Our second tank will run and put green flares down in these spots at the start of P3 (since he’s not doing much else at that point!) and it really helps people to get the positioning down.




The important thing is that as a healer, you should still have LOS on your tank, even when you’re standing behind the ice blocks to drop your debuffs.

The people marked for ice blocks alternate between the left and right positions, and the raid stands behind them each time to drop their stacks.


Your strat may vary – but hopefully these tips help a little. I definitely recommend Power Auras with an annoying siren for Unchained Magic – it could save you from killing yourself. Good luck!

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So it’s a fight where healers have to think as if they are a DPS class – and squeeze every last bit of extra healing out. Normally, we react to incoming damage, and choose the heals to counteract that damage. Sometimes it works, sometimes not; sometimes our heals land for full, and other times they overheal because someone healed our target first.

Not in this fight; there’s millions of health to be healed, zero overhealing, no such thing as sniping – just an open invitation to put out the highest HPS you possibly can. And because there’s no overhealing, druids can perform very well when pitted against the traditional single-target healers.

This is the one fight where the healing meters really DO matter.

So, in the interests of putting out as much healing as you can, what steps can you take to maximise your performance?* Below are some tips that may help you maximise your healing for this fight.

*Note: some of these tips may seem a bit extreme for you, particularly if you’re not in a guild that min/maxes for raiding. You may not be willing (or able) to swap gems and glyphs around for one single fight; that is absolutely your choice – but for those of you who want to maximise your healing potential, like a DPSer would – here are some options.

Also, obviously, these tips are aimed at healers who will be healing the dragon primarily. If you are assigned to heal the raid, then you should be throwing HoTs on Dreamwalker, but raid healing “as normal” – so I wouldn’t advise you to change to a throughput spec/set – you may run into mana troubles.

• Revitalize and Wild Growth are useless, skip them.

• 2 points in Natural Perfection for 2% crit (there’s that incidental crit we can pile on!)
• Living Seed is nice to have, but it is unreliable since she isn’t being hit very often and most of the seeds will be overwritten as you spam. It’s a nice bonus, but if it won’t fit, don’t worry about it.**

**Note: I believe you’ll get more out of 2 points in NP rather than 2 in LS. If you believe this isn’t the case, please let me know.

No CF

If you’re already haste capped (or almost) and you can free up those Balance points, I would go this way: 14/0/57



• 3/3 Nature’s Grace. Nourish should already be a <1sec cast, so NG won't help you there, but it will make a marginal difference to your Regrowth refreshes, and fill in the gaps if you are just shy of the haste cap. It's one of those "might as well fill it out" talents, for this particular fight.

• 3/3 Natural Perfection for 3% crit.
• 3/3 Living Seed – every little bit helps. LS will be unreliable and mostly wasted, but it came in at ~4.5% of my healing (and I wasn’t even critting for the big numbers that come with getting your buff stacks up).. so it’s another “nice to have” talent.


Non-negotiable talents

2/2 Empowered Touch and 5/5 Nature’s Bounty. 60-70% of your healing is going to come from Nourish, so you definitely don’t want to skip Empowered Touch, especially.

I’ve seen some people deliberately skip over these (probably because it has something to do with their every day spec). Don’t – Empowered Touch especially will provide a huge boost.


Rotation

Set Dreamwalker as your target and focus before the fight starts. On the pull, pop a Potion of Wild Magic. As you run in, toss a Rejuv up, hit your Nature’s Swiftness/Healing Touch combo (for a chunky heal before you lose Wild Magic), and Swiftmend. Find your position, and start your normal rotation.

The basic rotation should go like this:



• Keep Rejuv and Regrowth up at all times

• Slow-stack Lifebloom
• Nourish “spam” in between
• Swiftmend your Rejuv on cooldown. Note: you’ll need to make sure it’s Rejuv and not Regrowth; the easiest way to do this is to cast Swiftmend straight after you cast Regrowth, so that Regrowth is definitely the longer HoT, and it chooses to Swiftmend your Rejuv.
• When NS comes up again, it should be roughly in time for everyone to pop all their cooldowns (Bloodlust/Heroism, GS, potions, etc) because they have a large stack of portal buffs. When it’s called, pop another Potion of Wild Magic and hit your NS/HT combo, hopefully for some obscenely large amount Note: Bloodlust/Heroism won’t help you here as you’re casting instant HT plus <1sec Nourishes, but timing your NSHT with all of the buffs and a potion means you should get an enormous HT crit.
• Try to Rejuv just before you enter a portal, and as soon as you come back out, for maximum uptime.



UI enhancements

HoT timers

First of all, unless you’re a Healbot user or an LUA guru and you can create your own HoT timers, you’re probably going to run into the problem I had, first attempt:

“AMG, I CAN’T SEE MY HOT TIMERS!” *flail*

I’m used to having all of my timers on Grid, and everything is precise and neat and in static positions. Since Valithiria isn’t a raid member, she won’t show up on Grid, so you can’t use Grid to track HoTs on her. Healbot users can set her as their focus, and she will show up on Healbot (yay!), but for Grid users, you’ll need a HoT counter to track your timers on her.

There are a bunch you can use – HoT Candy, Dotimer, Quartz, Class Timers, I think Lifebloomer does all HoTs too. So if you’re already using one of those, you’re fine.

I quickly grabbed Class Timers and configured it to show me a large HoT icon (bars don’t work for me) and a simple timer next to it. As the HoTs tick down, they reshuffle to display the next-to-expire spell at the top. So basically all I have to do is keep an eye on whatever is on the top of the list, and refresh that next.

Alerts and alarms

Using Power Auras, I assigned some super annoying alarm bells and whistles to Swiftmend and Nature’s Swiftness, to make sure I use them on cooldown each time. I have to say – having Swiftmend chime at me is a much easier system than looking at a cooldown.

Acquiring your target

Most people set Dreamwalker as their focus target; unfortunately when you take portals, your focus resets, and you have to get it back again.

Kae from Dreambound suggests a couple of macros to get her back as your target ASAP:

/focus Valithria
/cast [@focus] Rejuvenation

/target Valithria
/cast Rejuvenation


Both of these macros will re-acquire her as either your focus or just your target (I recommend focus, because if you accidentally click on someone else in the raid, you’ll lose the dragon as your target again), but it also casts Rejuv, which saves you a keypress. Seconds count in this fight, so bundling a Rejuv in with finding your target is a great idea. Thanks Kae <3


HPS, HPET, and Rapid Rejuv

I've heard people discount the RR glyph because "it makes you refresh Rejuv more often, which means you are wasting GCDs that you could be using to spam more Nourishes."

I'll repost something my mage friend Cogfizzle posted, because it explains quite well why this thinking is incorrect (he's a creepy gnome.. but he's good at math, so I don't mind having him around most of the time).



As far as DPS (err… HPS?) strategy on this fight, basically think of yourselves as affliction warlocks in a general sense.

Your goal is to maximize healing done in a given time. Since you only have a certain number of seconds available before the boss dies (err… is healed?), if you want to maximize HPS, it stands to reason that on any given one of those seconds, you want to be using whichever ability you have at your disposal that will cause the highest amount of damage (err… healing?) to the boss. It’s not about the HPS of a spell per se, it’s about the HPET (Healing Per Execute Time) – so even though a Rejuv lasts 15 seconds (unmodified), it only costs 1.5s (unmodified) to cast. Its HPS may not be as large as nourish, but its HPET is enormous.

Since I’m not a druid, and also not active in wow anymore (so no parses from my guild to draw from), I’m going to pull the first set of HPET numbers I see off EJ, and sort largest to smallest. They may not exactly match your numbers, but they’re probably roughly proportional (poster did not state which glyphs were in use.)

Rejuv – 19603
Regrowth – 15756
Lifebloom – slow 3 stack w/bloom – 15067
Lifebloom – rolling – Once it is rolling, 1 cast is worth 7 ticks of 1893 or 13251.
Nourish(w/glyph 3 hot) – 12169
Nourish(w/glyph 2 hot) – 11640
Lifebloom – fast 3 stack w/bloom – 10649
Nourish(at least 1 hot) – 10582

And then you simply base your next spell on this priority list. Rejuv is at the top for HPET, so that’s going to always be your obvious first choice – spending a second casting rejuv is always going to give you more raw healing than spending a second casting nourish (no matter how many hots are buffing it). Rejuv, Regrowth, slowstack lifebloom, and use Nourish as a filler when there are no higher-value spells to cast.

Now, as for the rapid rejuv glyph causing you to need to recast rejuv more often? That’s a good thing. Because rejuv is your #1 top HPET spell – the more often you cast it, the more often you’re taking a second or so of time that would otherwise be spent on low-value Nourish filler and using high-value rejuv instead.


So you can see, the Rejuv, Regrowth, slow stack Lifebloom (w/bloom), and Nourish strat is going to give you the best output for this fight. Oh, and don't be tempted to fast-stack Lifebloom (a bad habit of mine), thinking that getting it ticking a 3 stack faster will mean more healing - as you can see from the example numbers above, it actually cuts the HPS quite a bit if you do that.

Again, if you use Hamlet's spreadsheet, you'll be able to plug in your own stats and spec to find your personal potential HPS for a Regrowth, Rejuv, slow stack LB and Nourish spam rotation.


So - do you have to do all these things to win against this fight? Nah.. as long as your healers are getting their stacks up, and doing a moderately decent job, you'll win. If you don't want to change your gems or spec etc, you'll probably still do fine (not sure how heroic mode be, though)... But this is the one fight where we can sit down and put together a proper rotation for maximum HPS - and theorycraft how to gem/gear/enchant/play in a way to maximise our potential output. It's so different and interesting to our usual buffer-style healing - I'm making the most of it

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• Keep Rejuv up on as many people as you can, particularly on Stinky, who has a continuous damage aura.

• DBM (or similar) should give you a countdown to Decimate. Hit Barkskin just before Decimate goes off.
• Make sure the tank has HoTs going into Decimate; I Swiftmend him immediately and then focus on picking up others in the raid.
• If you can, put full HoTs on the tank who is temporarily unhealable, so that when the debuff lifts, he immediately gets healed.


Festergut



• We put some/most of our healers in melee range so they don’t have to run to get spores (and stop casting); but as a druid, you can easily run and heal, so being out at range is fine. Better you running around than a ranged DPS (as this fight is a DPS check).
  
Even so, during the third inhale, you’ll want to stand and heal the tank, so make sure you don’t have far to run to the designated spore point.

• If you are raid healing, this is what I do:
  

  • First inhale: Rejuv as many people as possible, WG the melee.

  • Second inhale: HoTs on the tank; WG to cover limited raid damage, spot heal if required
  • Third inhale: Full HoTs on the tank (I roll a 3 stack of Lifebloom), WG the melee, Nourish the tank between HoT refreshes. Pre-HoT the next tank before the switch.
• When Festergut begins to cast Blight, hit Barkskin, and begin Rejuving the raid again (return to first inhale).
• Resurrecting someone can be dicey if they won’t get at least 2 lots of Inoculated; other healers can protect them from dying during Blight, or you can wait to rez them until just after Blight, so they get a full set of Inoculated. Communicate with your other healers on this – and don’t forget to give the person Mark of the Wild when they pop back up.


Rotface



• If you are targeted for Mutated Infection, hit Barkskin to help mitigate the damage as you run over to the ooze kiter. Throw a Rejuv on yourself, too.

• Depending on your assignment, try to keep HoTs up on the MT and on the kiter; if the kiter goes out of range of heals momentarily, or the healers have to move briefly, your HoTs will act as a buffer on those tanks until everyone can reposition.
• Make sure you can see Mutated Infection on your raid frames. As soon as it pops up, I cast Regrowth on the victim as they run out; the direct healing will land at a good time to counter the first chunk of damage, and leave a small HoT on them to help to top them up while they are taking their ooze over to the kiter. This is personal preference; you may prefer Rejuv/Swiftmend – whatever works best for you.
• When Rotface starts doing his Slime Spray ability, hit WG on yourself, and it should pick up anyone in range of the boss who took a small amount of damage from Slime Spray (hopefully they got out after a tick or two!)


Professor Putricide



• I specced into Imp Barkskin for this fight (mostly), as there are a lot of predictable chunks of damage that he throws out, and that little bit more damage reduction can save you. For example:
  

  • Glued to the spot by an ooze, and the boss throws a slime pool under your feet (more common than you might think)

  • Malleable Ooze is thrown towards you and you only spot it at the last second – Barkskin to try to save yourself.
  • Final phase – a bit more damage reduction means surviving longer and keeping the tanks up longer.

  If you have space in your spec (ie, if you’re haste capped and can afford to spend the points), I recommend it, at least while you’re still learning the rhythm of his abilities, and the healers are getting used to the damage in Phase 3.

• Revitalize returns energy to the Abomination (see post here for more information). This may help you smooth out the fight by guaranteeing the abomination always has enough energy to slow the oozes, plus do damage as well. You may like to consider a talent build that has Revitalize in it.
• If you have Revitalize, keep Rejuv up on the abomination, and cast WG through it. You’re going to fall down the healing meters a bit, but giving energy to the abom will help the fight go more smoothly if you’re still learning it.
• If you are targeted by the green ooze (and rooted to the spot), or you are running over to stack on the person who is, hit Barkskin just before the ooze reaches its target, to mitigate some of the explosion damage.
• Try to Rejuv as many people as possible before that explosion, so they are healing themselves as they go flying across the room.
• If you’re targeted by the brown ooze, Barkskin, Rejuv yourself, run – and be ready to go to cat form and sprint if it gets too close to you.
• If it targets another person, put full HoTs up on them before they run away, so that if they run out of range of other healers for a few seconds, they still have HoTs as a buffer.
• In the final phase:
  

  • Barkskin yourself.
  • keep Rejuv up on the tanks at all times; if they die, Putricide heals for an insane amount, and it will likely mean a wipe.
  • be ready to Swiftmend/NS+HT the tanks.
  • blanket as much of the raid with Rejuv as you can, to try to counter the raid damage.
  • Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation will heal the raid faster, but you’ll be covering fewer people – so you may prefer only to use it if you are working with a second druid. Coordinate with your partner on which groups to cover. For example, I’ll cover 2&3, you cover 4&5, and we overlap on tanks. That way, almost the entire raid should have Rejuv up.
  • if you don’t play with a second druid, you may find RR to be a hindrance because you can’t cover as many people, to counteract that huge raid damage.
  • if you can, get extra HoTs up on the tanks to give them a buffer. In particular, find out what the tank rotation order is, and try to pre-HoT the next tank in line, so that when he takes the boss, he already has heals ticking.
  • WG through the melee if you have any spare GCDs.
• Mana shouldn’t be much of an issue in the early phases, as there isn’t too much damage that can’t be avoided. So I can usually afford to toss my Innervate to someone else. If you find you are having problems with mana, particularly in the third (blanketing) phase, consider having your Idol of Awakening handy, to swap in for Phase 3.

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1. Just before the tank runs in, set him up with a full stack of Lifebloom, a Regrowth, and a Rejuv.

2. As he runs in, refresh your Lifebloom, then Innervate yourself BEFORE you enter combat, to get back to full mana before the fight starts.
You may need to coordinate this with your tank – if he pulls too quickly you won’t get your mana back before you go into combat (remember, Innervate will stop working as soon as you enter combat) and if he pulls too slowly, your HoTs will drop off.
3. Quickly refresh your Rejuv also, while you have innervate. You should hit full mana before you enter combat.
4. After the tank engages the boss, refresh your Lifebloom stack just before it expires.
5. Refresh once more just before it expires – so that’s one initial stack, and two subsequent refreshes.
6. Let your Lifebloom expire the next time. This will (hopefully) give you a heal on the tank, and will also return part of your mana back.


You’ve just given your tank a Regrowth, Rejuv, three cycles of full Lifebloom ticks, and possibly a Lifebloom bloom (if he took damage at the right time), and all for “free” – you should be back at full mana after you let your Lifebloom expire.


Most people will pre-HoT tanks before pulls anyway – but this way you can guarantee that you start combat with full mana, and keep those full-strength Lifeblooms rolling for a couple of cycles – all for “free”.


Oh, and don’t forget – if you need to battle rez someone (and you’re the absolute last resort – DPS druids should be doing it before you if possible) jump in the black puddle to do it, if you can – it will save you some precious mana.

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