[WOW] Dragonflight Restoration Druid Guide
Updated Restoration Druid Guide in WoW Dragonflight:
1. Restoration Druid Overview:
Restoration Druids in Dragonflight specialize in maintaining a steady flow of healing on select targets in the raid and provide strong burst healing after using cooldowns. They are particularly efficient at healing a small number of targets with disadvantages.
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2. Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths:
- A multitude of impactful cooldowns, such as Tranquility, Spirits of the Wild, and Flourish.
- Ability to maintain effective healing while on the move.
- Retains strong healing even in spread damage situations.
- Very good survivability.
- Good spot healing and healing under disadvantageous conditions.
Weaknesses:
- Lack of a raid-wide damage reduction cooldown.
- Vulnerability to untimely crowd control effects.
- Dependency on cooldowns, making healing outside of them weaker.
3. Guide Changes in Patch 10.1.5:
- Nature's Vigil now lasts for 15 seconds instead of 30.
- Increased ability damage by 25%, excluding Nature's Vigil.
- New talent: Rising Light, Falling Night - increases damage and healing by 3% during the day and Versatility by 2% during the night. Raids and Mythic+ dungeons always count as "day."
- The talent Sunfire's Essence has been moved to row 3 and is tied to Sunfire.
- The talent Rising Light, Falling Night occupies the previous location of Enhanced Sunfire and provides a 3% increase in damage and healing.
- Changes to Nature's Vigil and damage are linked, which may affect the amount of damage in raids and Mythic+. The importance will depend on how much damage you deal outside of Nature's Vigil before the patch.
4. Being a Great Healer:
The attributes of a great healer are crucial for successfully fulfilling your role in any encounter. Below, we will list and detail each of these attributes, along with tips to maximize your performance:
a. Character Proficiency: It is vital to feel comfortable reliably and easily using your character at any time during the encounter. This involves familiarizing yourself with the user interface and keybindings. Make sure you know and efficiently use your abilities and spells.
b. Anticipation and Reaction: A great healer must be able to anticipate the damage that will occur in an encounter and know how to react appropriately. This involves understanding encounter mechanics and knowing your class inside out. Learn when and how to use your healing spells to effectively respond to combat challenges.
c. Understanding Your Role in the Team: It is essential to understand your role within the team and recognize the importance of knowing your specific healing task. Respect your own responsibilities and those of other players on the team. Communication and cooperation are key to optimal performance.
In addition to these core attributes, there are other aspects to consider. Avoiding overhealing is crucial to optimize your resources and avoid wasting unnecessary healing. You must also manage your mana wisely to maintain a proper balance between healing and resource consumption.
5. Leveling Talents as a Restoration Druid:
It is important to note that talent recommendations for leveling may differ from recommendations for Mythic+ and end-game raids.
*Druid Tree Talents:
- Level 10: Starfire
- Level 12: Solar Wrath
- Level 14: Starfall
- Level 16: Lunarwing Form
- Level 18: Rake
- Level 20: Leg Sweep
- Level 22: Maul
- Level 24: Improved Slide
- Level 26: Killer Instinct
- Level 28: Killer Instinct
- Level 30: Skull Bash
- Level 32: Nourish Instinct
- Level 34: Nourish Instinct
- Level 36: Enhanced Natural Healing
- Level 38: Wild Growth
- Level 40: Wild Charge
- Level 42: Primordial Fury
- Level 44: Astral Influence
- Level 46: Astral Influence
- Level 48: Rising Light, Falling Night
- Level 50: Ursol's Vortex
- Level 52: Feral Frenzy
- Level 54: Nature's Vigil
- Level 56: Soothe
- Level 58: Stampeding Roar
- Level 60: Teachings of Lycara
- Level 62: Teachings of Lycara
- Level 64: Teachings of Lycara
- Level 66: Renewal
- Level 68: Heart of the Wild
- Level 70: Mighty Bash
*Restoration Tree Talents:
- Level 11: Flourish
- Level 13: Nature's Swiftness
- Level 15: Ysera's Gift
- Level 17: Cenarion Ward
- Level 19: Improved Rejuvenation
- Level 21: Fleeting Season
- Level 23: Grove Tending
- Level 25: Clarity of Focus
- Level 27: Efflorescence
- Level 29: Tranquility
- Level 31: Ironbark
- Level 33: Soul of the Forest
- Level 35: Cultivation
- Level 37: Flourishing Blossoms
- Level 39: Flourishing Blossoms
- Level 41: Overgrowth
- Level 43: Improved Ironbark
- Level 45: Unstoppable Growth
- Level 47: Unstoppable Growth
- Level 49: Verdant Infusion
- Level 51: Adaptive Swarm
- Level 53: Spirits of the Wild
- Level 55: Verdant Infusion
- Level 57: Rampant Growth
- Level 59: Deep Focus
- Level 61: Cenarius's Guidance
- Level 63: Photosynthesis
- Level 65: Overgrowth
- Level 67: Budding Leaves
- Level 69: Budding Leaves
**Leveling Rotation as a Restoration Druid:
- Use Adaptive Swarm on cooldown to heal and damage.
- Spirits of the Wild is a powerful spell that you can use both to damage an enemy and quickly heal your group.
- Moonfire is an excellent damage-over-time spell that you should use against any enemy you're fighting.
- Sunfire deals damage to a target and also applies a damage-over-time effect to all enemies within 8 yards starting at level 32.
- Ferocious Bite deals damage based on the number of combo points spent. The damage increases further for each energy point used beyond 25, up to an additional 25.
- Use Rip instead of Ferocious Bite if you expect the enemy to live long enough for the damage-over-time effect to fully take effect.
- When you obtain your first talent point, invest it in Rake.
- Use Thrash if there are 2 or more enemies near you.
- In Cat Form, you move 30% faster. Additionally, you unlock Shred, a single-target attack that can only be used in feline form and grants 1 combo point.
- Use Swipe if there are 2 or more enemies near you and you have already activated Thrash.
6. Equipment:
1. Onyx Ring:
For raids, you should use this ring if the effects account for more than ~6% of your total healing. For Mythic+, you generally only use it for damage. Although it has been nerfed by 40% in Patch 10.1.5, it is still a good option for DPS, although not as powerful as it used to be. Consider using raw stat rings instead, unless you solely care about damage and nothing else.
2. Best-in-Slot for Restoration Druids:
We do not believe it is possible to create a strict Best-in-Slot list due to how stat weights work for Restoration Druids. Secondary stats are very close to each other, with Intellect being the stat that increases the most per item level. The optimal gearing strategy in this case is to equip the highest item level pieces whenever possible, except for trinkets and Azerite.
Your main goal should be to obtain the 10.1 Restoration Druid Class Set (4 pieces). Both for Mythic+ and raids, it provides an increase in healing and a minor increase in damage through the Nature's Vigil ability from Spirits of the Wild.
If you are still using bonuses from previous tiers, you should aim to replace them with the 10.1 Restoration Druid Class Set (2 pieces) as soon as possible. Not only will it be an item level upgrade, but the new 2-piece bonus is much better than the old 4-piece bonus.
2.1 Dragonflight Crafted Equipment:
Crafting is an essential way to obtain high-level gear. You can obtain a Shadow's Spark naturally every 2 weeks unless you choose to have half of your weekly vault spark. By combining the sparks with the Enkindled Flame Blazon or the Enkindled Flame Aspect Blazon, you can craft item levels 424-437 and 434-447 respectively. You can obtain the latter by completing Mythic+ dungeons at level 16 or higher and defeating Mythic bosses.
Since there are only a few crafts you can make at these item levels, it is important to choose the slots wisely. We do not recommend crafting anything in the potentially upgradable slots (Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Legs). Another factor to consider is the Embellishments. You can only use two items with these effects, similar to legendaries in previous expansions. These effects will not be as powerful but can still add some healing or damage.
Embellished Equipment:
There are many embellished items available, so we will only highlight some good ones that you might consider crafting, in no particular order:
- Undulating Mushroom Cape: This is an incredibly useful item for progressing through any content. It provides high healing and can potentially save you from death.
- Healing Dart Magazine: Unfortunately, one of the best trinkets for healing.
- Elemental Loop: This is a necklace with a built-in embellishment. It is desirable because the effect is decent, you can choose the stats, add gems and infusions, and the end result can be Haste or Mastery. The power of the effect heavily depends on how many gems you are utilizing and your performance. Do not use this unless you have almost all the potential gems available. Since it scales from your healing, you should have an HPS higher than 150k for this embellishment to surpass the Healing Dart Magazine.
- Toxic Thorn Bandages: These are boots with a unique effect that is only available on this specific piece of equipment.
- Potion Absorption Inhibitor: Increases the duration of potions by 50%. This effect stacks. Unfortunately, after the nerfs to the Icy Clarity Potion, this embellishment is not very effective.
2.1.2 Crafting Recommendations:
Creating a one-handed weapon will be the best initial upgrade you can obtain. If you are a raiding Druid, you should have the Healing Dart Magazine on it. For Mythic+ players, you can use items with last season's embellishments until you can obtain replacements for those slots.
For the second spark, you can consider creating the Elemental Loop or the Toxic Thorn Bandages if you are focused on Mythic+. You can also get the Undulating Mushroom Cape if you are progressing in raids or pushing Mythic+.
After this, you can choose anything to craft. Crafted rings have a guaranteed socket. We do not recommend crafting trinkets of any kind, as there are other very powerful options available in raids
2.2 Best-in-Slot List for Raids (BiS):
Having said all that, there will be some situations where item level upgrades will not actually be an improvement. Sockets generally outweigh 10 item levels, Regeneration in the first 2-3 pieces is worth around 10 item levels, and Avoidance is worth around 5 item levels. Because Regeneration provides so much power, we will only give a definitive Best-in-Slot list if the benefits of the effects on them are better than a random piece with Regeneration in that slot.
2.3 Best-in-Slot List for Mythic+ (BiS):
For Mythic+ gearing, you generally want to stack Mastery until you feel comfortable with the healing requirements. Some players choose not to have Mastery on their gear to do more damage, while others focus on it more intensely. There is no magic number we can give you.
2.4 Upgrading Your Gear:
The Valor Upgrade system has been removed in Season 2 and replaced with a new system that allows for item level upgrades from a wider variety of content.
Season 2 of Dragonflight introduces two new currencies: Soaring Stones and Shadow's Crests, which can be obtained from practically any form of content in the game. They can be used to upgrade gear up to an item level of 441, which is the base item level of Mythic raids. They can also be used to upgrade crafted gear up to an item level of 447, which is the maximum item level for Mythic content.
3. Weapons:
No particular weapon will make you lose item levels. Equip yourself with any combination of a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon plus an off-hand item that provides you with more Intellect and Leech.
4. Raid Trinket Recommendations:
S-Tier - Rashok's Molten Core, Resonant Tyrstone.
Tier A - Shrieking Black Dragon Scales, Sinister Chromatic Essence.
Tier B - Neltharion's Sorrowful Gaze, Neltharion's Thunder, Idol of the Dreamer, Song of Rain.
Tier C - Throbbing Heart of the Waters.
7. General Concerns:
In the healing role, precision and responsiveness are more important than in any other role. Your ability to perform your role will be heavily influenced at every step of the way by how easily you can input commands to your character.
While tanks and DPS players sometimes have to make split-second decisions, healers' decisions are made every time they cast a spell.
Therefore, it is important to dedicate this section to provide you with the necessary information to adjust your character and achieve optimal performance.
4.1 Recommended Add-ons and UI Setup:
The standard Blizzard interface has improved significantly over time, including features that were previously only available in third-party add-ons. Although it is possible to perform healing functions using only the standard interface, we believe there is room for optimization.
Below, we list UI elements that we recommend customizing. Remember that the goal is to have an interface that assists you in fulfilling your objectives without hindering your actions. Investing time in adjusting and fine-tuning your interface will have a significant impact on your gameplay.
4.1.1 Raid Frames:
Raid frames are a crucial part of your UI. You will spend most of the encounter looking at them, so it is important to feel comfortable with their appearance and layout.
There are several add-ons that offer enhanced and highly customizable versions of Blizzard's raid frames. Before mentioning the names, we want to highlight some important aspects when customizing these frames.
- Ensure they are large enough not to strain your eyes after looking at them for a long time.
- Position them centrally on your screen, usually beneath your character.
- Make sure they display all relevant buffs and debuffs present on players.
- In certain situations, set pet frames to also be shown (usually disabled by default).
These guidelines are flexible and can be adjusted to your personal preferences. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable with your interface and that it does not interfere with your actions.
We emphasize the importance of properly displaying buffs and, especially, debuffs on raid frames. As a healer, you will often have to remove or dispel debuffs from party members (magic, poison, curse, or disease). Additionally, as detailed below, you must have your dispel or cleanse ability properly bound.
The most popular and reliable raid frame add-ons are:
- VuhDo: our personal choice, highly customizable (see our VuhDo guide).
- Enhanced Raid Frames: allows the use of Blizzard's default raid frames.
- Grid2: a popular option with many add-ons to enhance and customize it further.
- HealBot Continued: another popular choice.
4.1.2 Buff and Proc Monitoring:
Most healing specializations have several cooldowns and healing effects. It is essential to master and utilize them to your advantage in order to maximize your performance.
We recommend using WeakAuras. This highly customizable add-on allows you to create visual and auditory indicators to help you track a variety of elements.
You can also find a wide library of weak auras on wago.io, among which we recommend "Raid Healing Cooldowns" to track the usage of raid healing cooldowns.
4.1.3 ElvUI:
In all of our class guides, we recommend using ElvUI. It is a comprehensive interface add-on that modifies the appearance of your UI in various aspects. We have found that its minimalist approach allows you to see a large portion of your screen and focus on important events.
4.1.4 Raid Announcements:
Communication is extremely important for healers. In general, healers have many cooldowns that affect other players (such as raid-wide damage reduction cooldowns or raid-wide mana regeneration cooldowns). Therefore, it is useful to have a way to communicate the usage of these cooldowns without cluttering the group's voice chat.
We recommend the add-on "Raeli's Spell Announcer," which is highly customizable. We suggest announcing raid-wide damage reduction cooldowns and raid-wide mana regeneration cooldowns in raid chat.
Other single-target abilities, such as "Pain Suppression," can be set to send whispers to the corresponding target.