Hey, level 51 druid here with some problems. I rolled a druid as a second character because my first character is a caster dps and I wanted some more options, like perhaps tanking or healing. I leveled up to now as mostly feral, because I heard it was good for leveling, and it's been good at that purpose. But recently I've wanted to respec to Restoration, because I think healing is what I would like to try and I need some practice at the spec before I hit Outlands dungeons.
But, my problem here is that druids are too versatile. The most lauded aspect of druids is that they have so many options-- you can go to bear for the armor bonus, you can heal, you can cast or go cat for damage. There are so many different things I can do, I have no idea which one to do at all. As resto, then to take mobs down I can either go cat, and switch out to put up a couple hots then return to cat form. But then that's exactly what I always did with Feral, and my heals were never insufficient: all these Restoration talents I now have just seem excess and unnecessary. Or, I can stay out of form and use ranged casting abilities-- but that completely annihilates my mana, and if I use that strategy why not just spec Balance?
Also, I have no idea which stats a leveling resto is supposed to stack-- do you go intel and spirit because of your heals and spells, or if you're supposed to fight in cat form do I stack strength and agility? Or do I level it all out, in which case everything gets spread thin?
I've been panicking over figuring out how a resto is supposed to play, and have spent a fortune just today in respecs and more respecs. I tried Balance for a while, but I don't know why because that spec is not where I want to take the character at all. The solution to this is just to go back to Feral, but I have no intention of going that direction when I hit level 70. I hate tanking. But if I stay in my leveling spec until level 70, then 1) I'll have no experience when I finally hit the dungeons and 2) I'll have to sacrifice either my leveling feral gear or my healing gear's quality to improve the other. Especially since I won't be able to pick up any healing gear from OL instances, because of course the healer would get first dibs on those.
How do people generally go about levelling as a healer spec?
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My druid is low level but.. So can't give you Druid advice. Get a healing spec. Would think you can find one on this board. Start trying to get healing gear. Run some lower level instances as the healer. If your not spot on at least you probably won't wipe everyone.
Scholar
21 posts
Seems like you're in quite a conumdrum(sp?). The reason I loved being a druid as my first main was that I could do anything, though it seems that the blessing of being a druid for myself and many others have been your curse lol.
Well I'll give my blunt advice and hopefully its not harsh. Just go feral right now and try to get to Outland ASAP. At your level range ZF isnt that great anymore, and getting groups for ST and Mara are a pure pain. Yeah Resto is fun but the chances to get a group to level as a healer in that lvl range is a pain in the ***. So, I would advice going back to the glory that is mangle and make sweet love to it in your cat form and rock face till you reach Outland. With the new wide arrange of gear available to you there will let you go any spec you want.
Honestly my first thought for you was that you'd might enjoy trying Restokin (moonkin with dreamstate, and the rest in resto) but as you said you didnt want to play a caster dps again.
So just grind those last levels in cat form and spam your mangle button. Stack Agi and Stam with any stam and int you may find. You said you had problems with healing too much during or after battles, rightfully so you assume putting some points in resto would help that. IMO what will really reduce all that spare healing IS getting mangle and just face rock everything.
hope this helps..... and get mangle.
Well I'll give my blunt advice and hopefully its not harsh. Just go feral right now and try to get to Outland ASAP. At your level range ZF isnt that great anymore, and getting groups for ST and Mara are a pure pain. Yeah Resto is fun but the chances to get a group to level as a healer in that lvl range is a pain in the ***. So, I would advice going back to the glory that is mangle and make sweet love to it in your cat form and rock face till you reach Outland. With the new wide arrange of gear available to you there will let you go any spec you want.
Honestly my first thought for you was that you'd might enjoy trying Restokin (moonkin with dreamstate, and the rest in resto) but as you said you didnt want to play a caster dps again.
So just grind those last levels in cat form and spam your mangle button. Stack Agi and Stam with any stam and int you may find. You said you had problems with healing too much during or after battles, rightfully so you assume putting some points in resto would help that. IMO what will really reduce all that spare healing IS getting mangle and just face rock everything.
hope this helps..... and get mangle.
You're right, the versatility is what makes druid such a fun class to play (imo). As a feral druid, I won't even consider offering to heal a dungeon. I haven't got the gear. With tanking and dps sets, I haven't got space for +healing gear. My mana pool as a feral druid is an embarrassment to healers the world over. I'm sure the addition of some appropriate caster/healer gear would help that significantly but again...space becomes an issue.
That being said, if healing is what you'd like to try then the best way thing to do might be to try it. You'll still be able to kill things fairly easily in cat form and your bear form will still be a robust "oh crap" option. You won't kill as fast as a dedicated feral or balance druid, but you're definitely much better off in the solo department than a holy priest or holy paladin. If you haven't done so already, get an addon like Outfitter. I recently installed it and having the option to automatically change gear whenever I shapeshift is fantastic. (Even better when I show up to tank a dungeon with a PUG and I'm in caster form...someone always inspects me and seems to develop a nervous twitch). Carry around a dps set and a caster/healing set and go nuts. Just splurge on the bigger bags, ya?
That being said, if healing is what you'd like to try then the best way thing to do might be to try it. You'll still be able to kill things fairly easily in cat form and your bear form will still be a robust "oh crap" option. You won't kill as fast as a dedicated feral or balance druid, but you're definitely much better off in the solo department than a holy priest or holy paladin. If you haven't done so already, get an addon like Outfitter. I recently installed it and having the option to automatically change gear whenever I shapeshift is fantastic. (Even better when I show up to tank a dungeon with a PUG and I'm in caster form...someone always inspects me and seems to develop a nervous twitch). Carry around a dps set and a caster/healing set and go nuts. Just splurge on the bigger bags, ya?
My advice is to just stay feral for leveling and keep any healing pieces you find. With a decent healing set it is perfectly possible to heal through even outland instances as feral specced. That way you get the fast killing speed and the option of running as healer whenever you find a group.
14 posts
Alright, sounds like the consensus is to stick with Feral for the time being. So that's what I'll do-- thanks for the advice.
Also: I don't have Mangle yet, because I put points in Resto for Omen of Clarity. Bad decision?
Also: I don't have Mangle yet, because I put points in Resto for Omen of Clarity. Bad decision?
You should absolutely go back and re-spec to get Mangle and work on filling out those Resto talents on your climb to 70. Personally I absolutely love feral and tanking is a lot of fun for me. But if you don't like it, no worries. Stay feral on your way to 70, solo quest and when it comes time to instance just specifically tell people you're a dps and that you either don't like tanking, don't know how or don't have the gear for it. Whatever you want to say, people will often still take you as a dps as long as you can put up respectable numbers and offtank when things get hairy. Then once you're 70 spec Restoration and have a blast with it.
So to recap, re-spec for Mangle and if you can, Make Furor the first Resto talent you put points in. I put points into Furor early and I'm glad I did, it really can be a godsend.
So to recap, re-spec for Mangle and if you can, Make Furor the first Resto talent you put points in. I put points into Furor early and I'm glad I did, it really can be a godsend.
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Edited, Aug 26th 2008 11:31pm by kawainui
Edited, Aug 26th 2008 11:31pm by kawainui
Quote:
You're right, the versatility is what makes druid such a fun class to play (imo). As a feral druid, I won't even consider offering to heal a dungeon. I haven't got the gear. With tanking and dps sets, I haven't got space for +healing gear. My mana pool as a feral druid is an embarrassment to healers the world over. I'm sure the addition of some appropriate caster/healer gear would help that significantly but again...space becomes an issue.
my bags would drive you crazy aurelius. i dont think ive had more than 10 slots of open space on my druid since he was in his 40's.
then again, im **** like that. i get a kick out of going "yeah, ill heal that" then having them inspect me and be like "....but youre feral."
my top two favorite responses to the implied question are:
healing as resto is too easy.
+healing gear affects LotP.
Scholar
38 posts
Im feral and i've always been feral. So fwiw -
I would stay feral spec until 70. You can heal any instance as feral until heroics/raids assuming you keep yer healing set relatively up to date (which can be a bit of a challenge/drag).
If this does not sound appealing, then I would say go resto and level up by running instances. Instances give good exp, but lower lvl instances don't see that much play... so befriending a good tank will help alot.
Good luck,
-B
I would stay feral spec until 70. You can heal any instance as feral until heroics/raids assuming you keep yer healing set relatively up to date (which can be a bit of a challenge/drag).
If this does not sound appealing, then I would say go resto and level up by running instances. Instances give good exp, but lower lvl instances don't see that much play... so befriending a good tank will help alot.
Good luck,
-B
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Edited, Aug 26th 2008 11:31pm by kawainui
Edited, Aug 26th 2008 11:31pm by kawainui
Everyone already said what I was going to say, so in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:"
1. Stay feral to 70, then decide how you want to specialize.
2. Carry a healing set (or keep it in the bank) so you can heal when the opportunity arises.
3. Respec straight up to Mangle, then go back to Resto for Furor, Naturalist, and OOC. You'll miss OOC, but Mangle is worth it about a bazillion times over.
4. If you find you aren't having fun, respec to whatever you want whether it's efficient or not. Because fun is the most important thing in the world, after pie.
1. Stay feral to 70, then decide how you want to specialize.
2. Carry a healing set (or keep it in the bank) so you can heal when the opportunity arises.
3. Respec straight up to Mangle, then go back to Resto for Furor, Naturalist, and OOC. You'll miss OOC, but Mangle is worth it about a bazillion times over.
4. If you find you aren't having fun, respec to whatever you want whether it's efficient or not. Because fun is the most important thing in the world, after pie.
teacake wrote:
2. Carry a healing set (or keep it in the bank) so you can heal when the opportunity arises.
This is a key point. Druids are versitile, true, but we do need different gear to reach that versatility. I built up both a tanking and healing set as I leveled without much difficulty. Quest rewards typically offer one or the other. Sometimes neither :( but I can't think of a time where I had to choose between feral & resto gear from rewards.
Also, stay feral up until 70. I found myself healing at least as often as tanking (because I had both kits!). Healing as a feral can definately be done up through the normal lvl70 instances. Plus you learn how to heal with just a bare-bones set of skills. You will benefit from this in the long run.
AureliusSir wrote:
You're right, the versatility is what makes druid such a fun class to play (imo). As a feral druid, I won't even consider offering to heal a dungeon. I haven't got the gear. With tanking and dps sets, I haven't got space for +healing gear. My mana pool as a feral druid is an embarrassment to healers the world over. I'm sure the addition of some appropriate caster/healer gear would help that significantly but again...space becomes an issue.
As I leveled, I found my tanking gear = my dps gear. There just wasn't much differentiation (sp?). So building my healing gear wasn't much of a space issue. Well, it was, but no more than any other druid. Now that I'm into raiding, I do have two full sets - tanking and healing along with a decent DPS set (we rarely run with rogues, so I get a lot of off spec gear). Space is an issue, but that's what bank alts are for!
teacake wrote:
4. If you find you aren't having fun, respec to whatever you want whether it's efficient or not. Because fun is the most important thing in the world, after pie.
But fun = pie! How can fun come after pie? Or is it like a Holy Trinity thing?
For this is the Kingdom of Fun, and Pie, and Fresh Homemade Ice Cream
As a counterpoint to everyone saying stay Feral til 70...
Something I've recently discovered when levelling my Paladin. It's not necessarily as important to level with an optimal spec as it is to level with the one you enjoy/are most interested in. I had pretty much given up levelling my (Ret) Paladin. I respecced him Prot and I've been having a blast. Technically, as ret I'd have levelled faster, but as I was now enjoying myself more as prot I've logged in and played him more. Thereby making (for me at least) Prot more efficient than Ret.
If you enjoy Feral, then yes, I'd imagine it is the most efficient levelling spec. My druid is Feral and I love it, but then again, I always wanted my Druid to be feral from the day I rolled him and can't imagine speccing anything else.
but it's important to remember it's your toon. The advice here is good, but if you want to play resto, you don't have to wait til 70. If you can deal with a little LFG/slower questing, go for it. Groups will always need healers.
Something I've recently discovered when levelling my Paladin. It's not necessarily as important to level with an optimal spec as it is to level with the one you enjoy/are most interested in. I had pretty much given up levelling my (Ret) Paladin. I respecced him Prot and I've been having a blast. Technically, as ret I'd have levelled faster, but as I was now enjoying myself more as prot I've logged in and played him more. Thereby making (for me at least) Prot more efficient than Ret.
If you enjoy Feral, then yes, I'd imagine it is the most efficient levelling spec. My druid is Feral and I love it, but then again, I always wanted my Druid to be feral from the day I rolled him and can't imagine speccing anything else.
but it's important to remember it's your toon. The advice here is good, but if you want to play resto, you don't have to wait til 70. If you can deal with a little LFG/slower questing, go for it. Groups will always need healers.
Rasen wrote:
It's not necessarily as important to level with an optimal spec as it is to level with the one you enjoy/are most interested in.
QFT.
The character that levels fastest is going to be the one you play the most. The one you play the most is going to be the one you enjoy the most. Fun should always be your number one consideration.
Although, again, next to pie.
actodd wrote:
But fun = pie! How can fun come after pie?
Making pie crust, for example, while okay, is not especially fun.
Edited, Jul 2nd 2008 6:46pm by teacake
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