Patch 4.0 : Restoration Druid Review

Today is DAY 1. We have just entered a new era in this game. After 6+ years of development, devs have decided that things went beyond control, that this game has been too much of a spamfest. They want us to actively think and use spell accordingly to the situation. They have undertaken a big mix of Vanilla, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, so that in term of class design, gameplay, resource management, choices, tradeskills and much more.

If I think it is day 1, it's probably because I already tested the BETA and all the changes brought by the patch are just a foretaste of what you can expect from Cataclysm. This is why this topic is not a huge and complete guide because what you will do in raid after 4.0 and what you can expect to do in Cataclysm raids is very different.

Though, this patch brings a lot of fresh stuff and we might consider forgetting what we are used to. From Mastery and new talents to stats revamping and gameplay improvements, we are preparing for Cataclysm. A month and a half to release, we must watch every changes through the prism of a new extension. The current available content is not really tuned for the new overall system they are implementing. But I have no doubt we will outperform the previous values in term of dps, healing, mana regen, etc.. Probably not for every class, but the vast majority will be affected.

Let's take a quick look at all the changes.

Important changes

Mastery

This is a new feature that gives you a bonus related to your spec. Here is the Restoration Druid Mastery :

Symbiosis - Increases the potency of your healing spells by 10% on targets already affected by one of your heal over time spells. Each point of Mastery increases heal potency by an additional 1.25%.

Reforging

This new itemization customization feature allows you to partially change the stats on an item. You can reduce the value of an existing stat on an item, and add an equivalent amount of another stat that was not already present on the item.

It's an extremely interesting possibility that allow us to redesign our gear. Best In Slot lists will be way harder to make and many opportunities of reforging can be explored.

Spells changes

This aspect of the game has been revamped the most. Before exploring the talent that increase our spells, we need a quick recap of the spellbook changes.

• Rejuvenation: now heals over 12s. The amount it heals is a bit lower than before and you will no longer be able to cover a lot of target with it. You can get more ticks if you stack haste. 
• Wild Growth: now has a 10s CD and heals for a bit less than before. You can spam it as much as you are used to and it's use must be careful. It very interesting spell combined to Rejuvenation. A Wild Growth that hits 6 targets allow you to take advantage of your mastery on a lot of targets. You must avoid to waste it on one target. 
• Nourish: this spell is no longer our flash heal. It's now a 2,5s cast spell that heals for about 8k. It's the "efficient spell" because the mana cost is very low but the amount and the cast time aren't that engaging. It still benefits from a hot on the target and along with a talent, refresh your Lifebloom. 
• Regrowth: it's the new flash heal with a 1,5s cast time. It costs quite a lot of mana but this spell is engaging in many ways. Through talent it has a 60% chance to crit, buffing the target with Living Seed. The dot duration has been greatly reduced (from 27s to 6s) but the small hot allow you to benefit from mastery. Combined with Rejuvenation its potency is very interesting. 
• Lifebloom: you can now cast Lifebloom only on one target. Its mana cost has been reduced and it no longer returns you mana when it blooms. As before, the perfect target for it is the tank. You must keep it up much more than before because our Regen talent works a lot with it. 
• Swiftmend: now heals for a fixed amount regardless of the hot on the target. It still works only with Rejuvenation and Regrowth. This spell will be link with a new talent: Efflorescence. It procs a 8y green zone that heals anyone standing in it for 60% the amount healed by Swiftmend. You can still use Swiftmend to top up someone but you must now consider a lot more its use with Efflorescence: AOE heal. 
• Healing Touch: this is now our big heal with 2,5s cast. It's expensive in mana but heals for a good amount. Its role in Cataclysm will be really important but, I still feel it is not really an adapted healing tool for the Wotlk content. Encounter design does not really allow you to use this spell if you want to be effective. 
• Tranquility: it still targets 5 players but is now raid-wide. It's still a channeled ability but now also leaves a hot stackable each time you direct heal someone. This cd is now much more interesting than before. 
• Tree of Life: sorry forest lovers, but we will no longer fight in Tree Form. This spell is now a cooldown that gives a bonus to our other spells. It lasts 30s and has a 5min CD. In other words you can probably use it only once per fight. While in ToL form you can cast Lifebloom on as many targets as you want. Your Regrowths are now instant as well. 
• Remove Corruption: this spell now combines Curse and Poison. Its mana cost has been up and you can now cast it even if the target isn't debuffed. 
• Innervate: now returns 20% of your total mana. 
• Mark of the Wild: druids now got BoK! It now gives 5% to all stats except Spirit. It does not stack with the Bok of paladins.

Talent changes

Talent trees has been greatly revamped. We have a lot of talent remaining but  many things have changed. When you start spending points in a talent tree you need to spend 31 points to be able to use other talent trees. You also get new spells and bonus depending on the spec you have chosen.

Here is a good spec to start with :

http://wowtal.com/#k=qj-bT7g.a67.druid.9Se4xx

While you probably already know all the talents and are used to them, some new things appeared with the patch :

• Heart of the Wild : +6% Intellect! Really good talent now that intellect in our main stat.
• Revitalize : it the best regen talent we have. It gives us 3% of our total mana with a 6s internal cooldown. According to maths, the first point gives you the best bonus. The second point is very interesting as well. The third point is a bit less valuable but compared to all other regen talent we have, it's still better or equal. In other words if you want to spec for more mana regeneration, 3/3 in this talent is mandatory. 
• Empowered Touch : now additionally allows us to refresh Lifebloom with Nourish. 
• Nature's Bounty : it now only affects Regrowth but is very powerful. You can expect Regrowth to crit almost all the time and you can easily rely on it. The second part of the talent is a good bonus for aoe healing. Efflorescence is very powerful if many targets stand on it and reducing the cooldown on Swiftmend, allows more uptime for Efflorescence. 
• Efflorescence : it's now part of our aoe healing tools. It procs a 8 yards zone that heals anyone who stand in it for 60% the amount of Swiftmend. Along with Wild Growth, wasting this spell on just one target is quite frustrating. You must be aware of the target position to maximize its utility. Remember that you can use it on you to get the best of it in some situation. 
• Nature's Cure : add a magic component to your Remove Corruption. 
• Swift Rejuvenation : this talent is currently bugged and you must not spec in it. If you place 1 point, your haste no longer reduce your gcd. I recommend not to spec in it. 
• Gift of the Earthmother : more throughput oriented. The Lifebloom part isn't that interesting because you will almost always refresh it, but the Rejuvenation part is good for the current content. This talent will become less powerful with the HP pool increase in Cataclysm.

Mana spec: http://wowtal.com/#k=Rq6zTME.a67.druid.

Throughput spec: http://wowtal.com/#k=qj-bT7g.a67.druid.

MG spec: http://wowtal.com/#k=q5wxwig.a67.druid.

NG spc: http://wowtal.com/#k=gjfGnc72.a67.druid.

Glyph and Enchant

The Glyph system has been revamped quite a lot. But it's only at first sight. It's working the same as before but they added 3 new slots of "Prime Glyphs". Colored glyphs are my choice.

Prime:

- Swiftmend: does not consume hot

- Lifebloom: increase by 10% the crit chance of the hot

- Rejuvenation: +10% amount healed

- Regrowth: refresh the hot on target below 25%

Major:

- Wild Growth: +1 target

- Rebirth: target resurrected with 100% life and mana. I assume the mana portion is not intended.

- Healing Touch: reduce cd of Nature's Swiftness

- Innervate: gives 50% of the Innervate if you use it on someone else

- Entangling roots: instant root but 10s CD.

Minor glyphs remain the same.

Enchants remain the same.

Quick Gameplay summary

Since we are no longer able to blanket the raid, we will have to focus more on choosing the right spell according to the situation. But this aspect of the game will be soften by the current content design. The new system is tuned for Cataclysm, and Wotlk content is not designed for it. Keep in mind that we will outperform pre-patch values.

To sum it up, here is a list of ideas and things you must consider :

• Keeping x3 Lifebloom up on the tank. You can refresh it with Nourish or just by recasting a new Lifebloom. 
• Using Swiftmend on melee to benefit a lot from Efflorescence. 
• Using Swiftmend on stacked caster, once again for Efflorescence. 
• Using Rejuvenation on players buffed with Wild Growth, to take advantage of Mastery. This has a double effect. Wild Growth will fade but Rejuv will last longer enough to apply a new Wild Growth that benefit from Mastery, etc.. 
• Using Wild Growth on a target you know the position. You must avoid "wasting target" 
• Using Regrowth as a flash heal in many situations, following by Rejuvenation (mastery) if needed. 
• Spamming Nourish on the tank when there is no danger. If you are assigned to tank healing, use a typical x3 Lifebloom, Rejuvenation, Nourish spam and replace Nourish with Regrowth and Healing Touch if you feel the need to. 
• Using Tranquility when things go wrong. You might prefer channeling the full duration to take advantage of the stacking hot. 
• Using Healing Touch is you are sure you won't overheal.
• When you feel the need to, use ToL and start spamming you Regrowth! You can still add some Rejuvenation (mastery) and Lifebloom.

Stats changes

Spell Power: Spell Power got removed from all your gear except your weapon. It now comes from Intellect. 1 Intellect = 1 Spell Rower

Intellect: this is your primary stat. It gives you Mana, Spell power, Regen and a bit of Spell Crit. This is the replacement for Spell Power.

Haste: works pretty much the same as before the patch but with a new feature : it reduces the length of your hot AND will add new ticks to your hot when you reach certain amount.

Spell Crit: all our hots can now crit. This stat becomes much more interesting than before.

Spirit: they removed the "5s rule" which means that when you engage a fight, your mana regeneration becomes a fixed value. Moreover they removed MP5 from the game. Spirit is now the only Regen stat for all healers.

Mastery: increase a bonus related to your current spec. See above.

Regarding Reforging, you should probably drop some spirit here and there to get more Haste and Crit. It's up to you to try it and figure out if you need a lot of mana regen or not.

Check the updates and new posts for more info. Stay tuned.