Resto-Moonkin - Viable?Follow

Just a quick word;

the build is usually called Restokin. It's great for PvP, when you can take a lot of damage while in Moonkin form, and dish some decent wrath crits when not healing. You get great mana regen from the two talents (forgetting the names, but one gives you mp5 based on your int, and the other provides a % of mana to regen while casting). It is viable, yes, but obviously will fall behind a regular Tree druid in healing in PvE.

For heroics and PvP, I see it as fine. Although in heroics, you might want a second healing class there too, or have you be the off-healer/DPSer.

There are a lot of topics on these boards about it, or just google "Restokin."

I was TOL main healer for a long time, and went restokin to see what would happen. While my HOTS are about 10% weaker, I've gained major mana regen and that ability to do more direct heals without changing forms. So I mostly heal the same way... stack lifebloom and keep rejuv up... and use regrowth or HT for spikes in damage. Nothing nicer than a 9K crit HT when the tank is struggling :).

We can't figure out if I've "lost" anything as a raid healer or not... I used to lead or be second in healing on raids and with the same gear in restokin I either lead or am second. My mana longevity seems as good or better. My healing bonus and MP5 went up of course, but I've lost the HOT bonuses and TOL form that is deep in the resto tree. I also have gained insect swarm, which is a nice spell to keep up on bosses in fights.

My guild has no interest in me respeccing back too TOL, as I am still an effective raid healer.

And I solo MUCH better, which is no surprise.. I've also been able to step in as a DPS for heroics or Kara when needed. In fact, in Kara a few times I've done moonkin for mobs and early bosses, and switched to healer for those bosses that require a third healer. Again, my guild likes the versatility.

Restokin loses 20% mana efficiency from ToL form, but can gain some of that back with Moonglow. The bonus healing you get from Lunar Guidance is on par with the bonus healing recieved from ToL aura. The difference is, the healing aura benefits all the healers that are healing that target, Lunar Guidance only helps you. You also lose Swiftmend, a good way to insta heal someone in a pinch. At higher amounts of +healing, the missing 20% healing coeff from Empowered Rejuvination will really be noticable.

That being said, you gain a lot for PvP and solo PvE. If you plan on just doing 5-man dungeons/heroics, the difference between the ToL aura and Lunar Guidance is basicly non-existant. The extra mp/5 from Dreamstate makes up for the lost mana efficieny, and at lower levels of +healing, Empowered Rejuv is a lot less noticable.

Edited, Apr 21st 2008 7:07pm by AstarintheDruid

So, thinking I'd start out easy with my, yet again, reborn Restokin, I went to heal a bunch of lowbies in Ramparts. The group setup was an Arms Warrior (tank, atlhough he tanked with a two-hander), two Shadow Priests (dps), a Holy Paladin (support) and me (healer).

Only went below 90% mana once and that was when we were clearing the area inbetween Omor and Nazan. One of the Priests caught aggro and used Psychic Scream, effectively pulling all four or five groups in the area. At one point I slapped on HoTs and tanked four or five mobs myself, simply because the Warrior couldn't pull aggro off of my heals.

Maybe that was a good thing, because I still outleveled him by far and could easily tank a couple of Ramparts mobs.

Was a fun and interesting run, though. I learned a lot about efficiency as I noticed that Lifebloom and Rejuvenation made for very boring, but very efficient healing. Slapping Rejuvenation and Lifebloom x 3 on a target also enabled me to take advantage of the 5sec rule, giving me almost endless mana on regular pulls.

Once the **** hit the fan, though, I found myself thankful of having a support healer. I just couldn't dish out spike healing fast enough to keep them all afloat. Once I got some Lifeblooms and Rejuvenations out there, it helped, but if someone suddenly took two Shadow Bolt crits and a melee hit, they went from 100% to 30% health in one blow. Lifebloom just couldn't follow that.

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I was curious if the Moonfury talent (+10% damage for Moonfire, Starfire and Wrath) is a great loss, or if it can easily be made up for with +spelldamage gear. Personally, I'm not very fond of the spell that summons trees, a few times, especially with my warrior, I've seen it do more damage then it did good to the group.

Can you guys dish out some other example talent builds please, just so I can compare them with mine, and see if I've missed out on some sweet talents.

Thanks in advance,


Teodoc (soon-to-be Tauren Restokin)

It requires some skill to use in a dungeon, as if it kills something and there's something close enough that's not aggro'd it can occasionally go for them (or get feared) though the trees are smart enough to leave CC'd mobs alone.

In general pve they're a great "oh shi-" button, and are great against casters in pvp, but it really comes down to preferences, that's for sure.

For your build I would say swap out Advanced Natures Grasp 4/4 for the Wrath reduced cast time. Wrath is a Restokin staple and with the reduced cast time you will do more DPS, compared to the one grasp per 5 mins you get with ADV. Nature Grasp. With "control of Nature" you get 100% chance to cast entangle without interruption, so really I would say ADV Nature Grasp was overkill unless you are PVP soloing often.

In the Resto Tree I prefered to take Naturalist over Natures focus to give me a bit more power when in Bear or Cat, and allow me to pop of heals as quick as I can. If I am in an emergency pull and need to heal without interruptions, thats what Barkskin is for.

I also preferred to take Intensity and Natures Swiftness for that emergency last second heal. I sacrificed Subtlety which will cause problems in heroics (when I get there) but with Natures Swiftness I can always top off my health instantly in case S#*% hits the fan.

I would also highly recommend swapping out the Improved Mark of the wild for Furor as you will find having the extra rage when you go in to bear form will really help in those last few seconds when you swap in to bear before getting mangled. I just swapped this myself and with extra druid gear that gives you extra rage/energy you definitely notice things dieing faster.

This is my current build
http://talentcalculator.merciless-gilde.com/?lang=en&show=t&t=282594

I highly recommend two gear sets to become a Solo Machine

Ive been playing this build all day and heres what ive seen so far.

- Damage pretty much sucks so have more than 1 person around when trying to kill things.

- 2 guys hitting me? Pshh, you cant do enough damage. Oh you just burst, watch this. NS + HT = Instant 5k health if I dont crit.

- The onlything that stops me is running out of mana in the bgs where Im pretty much constantly casting heals between everyone.

Overall its pretty fun, but Im not sure if Ill stay this or go back to feral cause I dont see being able to solo much with this like I could before.

I have absolutely no problems whatsoever damage wise. But I am deep into the balance tree. For me, like I said, this is a very viable build both solo and in groups.

TOtally agree that part of the whole point of a restokin is getting both dreamstate AND intensity.. otherwise you're nerfing a major strength of this build.