Druid

Ask Matt: Raid help?

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It just occurred to me. I’ve spending so much time writing about Guild theory and blogging that I’ve started to deviate from my primary focus: help you heal your raid. Right now, the trend from some of the other bloggers I’ve seen is trouble with Kael’Thas. I’m working on a fairly mammoth sized project that involves covering healing for the entire encounter which includes recommended healers, methods, phase-by-phase breakdown for healers, and so on and so forth. There’s no way I can squeeze that into a post. I wouldn’t dream of doing it like that because it’s too much information to absorb visually.

Grr, it’s too hard for me to explain right now. You’ll have a better idea when you see it.

In any case, any problems with any boss encounters from the healing end that anyone has? I can only offer my experience and wisdom on bosses I’ve done. Sorry T6 Priests/Healers!

Gearing Your Fresh 70 Feral Druid Tank

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Photo by thadz courtesy of sxc.

Matticus’ Note: This is a guest post from a friend of who has no blogging experience whatsoever but still did a great job nonetheless. This will be a great reference for me on my Druid. Thanks Masato!

After seeing the great responses to my first guest post, Matticus told me I should keep writing. So, to see whether it was a fluke or not, here is another.

Well, I’ve seen Matticus’ posts on pre-raid heal gear for Priests and Shamans, so I will do one of my own based on my experiences, but for the one of the other needed roles in any instance: the Tank. Feral tanks do very well in most situations, as they have incredible amounts of armor, tons of HP and dodge. They are seen as a somewhat easier type of tank to heal because they tend to take more consistent damage, rather than unpredictable spiky damage shield wearing tanks take. Druids may be a bit more of a mana sponge in this case, but it’s usually less stressful on the healer to keep heals running, rather than having to react to sudden spikes (this is more adamant on raid boss fights, but still mostly applicable in 5 mans).

Druid tanks are quite easy to gear up to have very decent stats without setting foot in a raid, and not even a single heroic. I’m building this list towards the PvE type person, but if you are the type that likes to PvP, most of those epics are slight upgrades to the ones I’ve listed. It takes a bit of farming, questing and rep grinding, but afterwards, you’ll end up being geared well enough to main tank at least the first half of Karazhan, and more likely than not, offtank the second half. There have probably been other posts with very similar lists, but I’ll write my own version here for you all. For the most part, bears want to look for Armor>Stamina>Agility. It is also important to have 415 defense skill (or 2.6% crit reduction BEFORE talents) so that you cannot be crit by level 73 bosses.

I will also discuss a proper feral spec later on in the article.

Working from the top to the bottom:

Head:
Stylin’ Purple Hat
BoE LW crafted: Pattern: Stylin’ Purple Hat.

This helm is very easy to get a hold of, nice stats, and is your best bet until you hit some heroics.

Neck:
Necklace of the Deep
BoE JC crafted: 3 Motes of Water, 10 Jaggal Pearls, 1 Black Pearl.
This neck is amazing not only because it is ridiculously easy to get, but it has 2 Red gem sockets. Pop in a couple of Shifting Nightseyes and you have a piece that will last you a long time. Not only is it great, but you can equip it at level 65!

Shoulders:
Shoulderpads of Assassination
Assuming you don’t have any rogues in the group to fight you for these, they work decently if you don’t want to PvP for gear. They drop off the last boss in normal Sethekk Halls. They also have 2 Yellow sockets to boot.

Cloak:
Thoriumweave Cloak
Pretty much the second best druid tanking cloak out there (until you hit the armor cap at least), and you can get it from the first boss in regular mode Mechanar. Super easy to farm, and it is awesome.

Chest:
Heavy Clefthoof Vest
BoE LW crafted: Pattern: Heavy Clefthoof Vest
This chest has 2 Yellow and 1 Red Socket, and is not difficult to get.

Jerkin of the Untamed Spirit
You can get this chest piece from an easy 2 person quest in Hellfire at level 58! Incredible stats, and will last you from then until level 70 when you have your Heavy Clefthoof Vest made.

Wrist:
Umberhowl’s Collar
Quite a lengthy quest chain out in Shadowmoon, but well worth it.

Hands:
Verdant Gloves
Another lengthy quest chain for these out in Shadowmoon.

Waist:
Manimal’s Cinch
Another Shadowmoon quest, but this is a VERY nice belt, even though it’s a green.

Legs:
Heavy Clefthoof Leggings
BoE LW crafted: Pattern: Heavy Clefthoof Leggings
2 Blue and 1 Yellow gem sockets, straightforward materials.

Feet:
Heavy Clefthoof Boots
BoE LW crafted: Pattern: Heavy Clefthoof Boots
Blue and Yellow sockets, and again, not bad mats.

Rings:
There isn’t much you can do here without Kara/heroics. The Violet Signet of Defense (Kara Rep) and Ring of Unyielding Force (25 Heroic Badges) are the best here until 25 mans, and even then, they’re still good.

But until then…

Iron Band of the Unbreakable
Normal Mode Old Hillsbrad.

Delicate Eternium Ring
BoE JC crafted: Design: Delicate Eternium Ring

Trinkets:
Badge of Tenacity
It is a random BoE drop in Blade’s Edge Plateau, or else costs about 1000g depending on your server. However, it is VERY much worth the pain to get it, especially with its 2 min cooldown 150 Agi for 20 seconds use.

Darkmoon Card: Vengeance
Will cost you a hefty sum of money, but lots of stam, and a proc that adds to your aggro generation.

Commander’s Badge
A nice chunk of Stamina if you feel so inclined to reach Revered with the Netherwing.

Engineering also has 2 similar BoP trinkets, the Gnomish Poultryizer, and Goblin Rocket Launcher.

Weapons:
Earthwarden
This is THE tanking weapon until you get into SSC and hope for a random trash drop. Well worth the grind to Exalted with Cenarion. A MUST have.

Braxxis’ Staff of Slumber
Pretty much a lazy man’s Earthwarden. A decent BoE that you should be able to find on the AH for around 50g (depending on your server). Use this until you’re Exalted with Cenarion.

Enchants:
Throw Agi chants on everything that will take them (cloak, gloves, boots, weapon), and +stats on the others (bracers, chest). Why agi over stam you ask? In my opinion, having avoidance and mitigation is better than just being a sponge. Plus, more agi = more crit which means more threat generation. Also, the agi/stats enchants are overall cheaper than the stamina one.

For the helm glyph, Glyph of the Defender until you’re crit immune, then go to Glyph of Ferocity.

Shoulders: Inscription of the Knight or Inscription of Warding (or the greater ones if you have the rep). Like the helm, use these until you’re safely over the crit cap and switch to Inscription of the Blade or Inscription of Vengeance.

Legs: Clefthide Leg Armor. No point really in getting Nethercleft Leg Armor until you get some nice epics, or you have the extra money to spend.

For gems, there is a lot of debate between druids. Some go Solid Star of Elune in EVERY socket. For starting off, this is probably your best bet, since you’re getting a nice bit of Agi just from the enchants. This isn’t exactly a bad choice, but I personally like balanced stats, once you start getting better gear. I prefer to put Shifting Nightseye‘s in my red/blue sockets, and if there is a bonus that is helpful, I’ll put in Glinting Noble Topaz for the yellow sockets. Why those and not, say, Enduring Talasite? It is because hit means you don’t miss, and when you don’t miss that means you generate more threat. Also, defense rating is next to useless once you’re crit immune.

Use your own discretion though when enchanting/gemming. Gem and enchant to what stats you think you lack or if you’re short a tiny bit from being crit immune.

So what do your stats look like with this gear? For these calculations I used 2 Shifting Nightseye in the neck piece, and 2 Enduring Talasite in the Shoulders to hit the crit cap. The rest of the gems are all Solid Star of Elune regardless of socket color, and all enchants are Agility or Stats. The exalted Scryer shoulder inscription and epic leg armor are used in these calcs, so your stats may vary slightly, and if you’re Aldor, you may need to swap in another Enduring Talasite to stay at/above 2.6% crit reduction. Stats also assume Survival of the Fittest and Thick Hide.

Final Numbers

Armor: 23995
HP: 13558 (Night Elf)
14256 (Tauren)
Dodge: 32.93% (Night Elf)
31.16% (Tauren)
Crit Reduction: 2.62%**

** Also, resilience stacks on top of this as well, so if you have some PvP items, just add up what the tooltip says for the resilience and defense, and if it’s at 2.60% or more, you’re golden.

Now, these are very good stats, especially for not even having to step foot inside a heroic! Also, aside from a couple of drops, these are all rep/quest/crafted items, so you don’t have to worry about the dice for most of your gear. If you look at Matt’s Kara Requirements for bear tanks:
415 def with 3/3 Survival of the Fittest, 12000 hp, 30% Dodge, 20k armor
You’re over the mark with this gear setup. Not too shabby. Now, that Survival of the Fittest comment brings us to spec.

Speccing Your Feral Druid for Endgame

Survival of the Fittest (SotF) is the only mandatory talent, while there are many that are strongly suggested to have, and others that are strongly suggested not to have. Why is SotF mandatory? Because with 3/3 you reduce your chance to be crit by 3%. Seeing as level 73 bosses have a 5.6% chance to crit, this means you only need 2.6% from gear. Also, the added 3% to all stats is a nice thing to have as well. Hopping over to the resto tree, 5/5 Furor for extra rage at the beginning of pulls, 5/5 Naturalist for 10% extra damage, and Omen of Clarity for rage free attacks every now and then.

As for talents you shouldn’t get, Feral Aggressions is pretty much useless. Nurturing Instinct is more than useless as well. Shredding Attacks is nice if you plan to be kitty in groups a bit, but if you don’t plan on it, skip it. The rest of the feral tree is pretty much a must have. That means you have 1-3 extra talent points that you can put wherever. Natural Shapeshifter is nice, or Nature’s Grasp if you plan on some PvP. Yeah, it may sound like I’m telling you how to spec, but honestly, look at any feral druid that has at least cleared Kara, and their spec probably follows these guidelines.

Well, I hope you made it through my long post (I honestly didn’t think I had that much to say!) and hopefully helps get you started on your way towards druid tankage. If people find this helpful, I may be so inclined to make a resto version of this guide.

Masato
Feral one day, Resto the next.

Matt’s note: Make a comment and persuade him to make a resto guide. If he does that, then I can finish up my Paladin gear list and I’ll have all four bases covered =).

20 Questions with Phaelia (Resto4Life)

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20 Questions by Matticus

Every week, Matt gets a chance to sit down with a WoW Blogger chosen from a hat. Find out a little more about your favourite bloggers as he tries to get to know them a little more!

To kick off this weekly feature, Phaelia of Resto4Life was gracious enough to set aside some time in her schedule to answer a few questions.

Image of Phaelia from her About page

1: Where did the name Phaelia come from?

When I was much, much younger I started a fantasy book. “Phaelia” was the name of its main character. I later used the name when I created my Ranger in EverQuest I, but I don’t think I was aware where I’d pulled it from. It was only years later that I found an old 3.5″ floppy with the aforementioned book on it that I realized where I’d originally used the name.

2: You picked a Druid as your class. How come?

So, why a druid?

I originally created a Hunter in the first phase of the open beta since it was the class that most closely corresponded with the Ranger from EverQuest. But then Mr. Phae decided that he wanted to play a Hunter as his main. Knowing how much he’d end up “showing me up” if we played the same class, I chose the “next best” thing, the Druid. The Druid also had a strong affiliation with nature, and the video where the beautiful Night Elf shapeshifts into a sleek purple panther didn’t hurt either. Little did I know I would NOT be playing Feral.

Phaelia was my first real healing character, and I was fortunate enough to have the leisure to spec Restoration since I was levelling with my husband’s Retribution-specced Paladin. I’ve since discovered a real love for it and think I’ve found my calling. I doubt I could play any other role long-term and be as happy.

3: How did you get your start in World of Warcraft or gaming in general?

Like many, I’ve been gaming since the early days of the NES. I used to watch my older brother play Mario Brothers and get so excited that I’d kick the Reset button on the front of the console. He’d subsequently ban me from his room for the morning/afternoon.

I started playing EverQuest when I was in college, initially atracted to the pretty picture of Firiona Vie on the box cover. I had an extremely hard time levelling up and spent an inordinate amount of time in zones that were far too low for me for fear of dying. I had the opportunity to experience all aspects of the game over the course of 5 years: guild leadership, RPing, in-game marriages, and finally a raiding guild lead by a certain female High Elf Enchanter. I remember being so disappointed to find out that “she” was actually a “he.” I eventually got over it, though, and the two of us are approaching our 3-year anniversary this July.

4: Aside from WoW and blogging, what’re your other interests and hobbies?

As if I have time for other hobbies! =) I’ve been a long-time fan of X-Men comics, especially the two characters Rogue and Gambit. I also enjoy web design and development, movies, tabletop roleplaying, and cooking. I am the quintessential geeky girl.

5: If you could shape shift into ANY other form or animal, what would it be and why?

A unicorn … no, a pegasus. No, a PEGACORN!! Scratch that. I’ll take a Pegacorn and shift into a bunny rabbit instead. They’re sooooo cute. Druids definitely need an ambient form.

6: If you could change or add an ability to your class what would it be?

Out of combat resurrection. The lack makes me angry enough to spit tree sap.

7: Let’s hypothetically assume Blizzard goes out of business and decides to shut down their servers and WoW for good. You have 5 hours before the server shutdown is permanent. What would you do in 5 hours?

First of all, I’d port to Moonglade and purchase the Formal Dangui dress I’ve been eyeing since beta (it’s 50 GOLD!). Then I’d go buy a hippogryph from Cenarion Expedition and fly around fishing in far off, dangerous places until the world (of Warcraft) came to an end.

8: Blog Azeroth: Success or not quite there yet?

Success!! Lots of people have commended me on how well it’s doing, but — as my husband has pointed out — what did I expect would happen when I put together 100+ people who like to write on the Internet?

9: What’s in store for 2008 in terms of Resto4life?

I’ve been resistant to doing an HEP analysis (one that allows you to break down every item in terms of the raw +Healing it provides), but it would be pretty useful. So that’s a big project I’m looking at doing long term. I also have some plans to create Restoration Druid-based t-shirts and even have an artist friend who’s interested in splitting profits with me. I’m really hoping that can help offset some of the cost of hosting so that this becomes more of a recreational hobby than an additional expense! Other than that, I just hope that I can continue to grow my readership by delivering quality content that is either easily applied to everyday gaming or just consumed for its entertainment value.

And now for the speed questions.

10: Coffee or energy drinks?

Coffee. Red bull tastes like liquid sweet tarts mixed with cough medicine.

11: Raiding or blogging?

Blogging while I raid.

12: Overpowered: Rogues or Warlocks?

Oh, tough call. I’d have said Warlocks, but from what I understand of Season 3, Rogues are pretty much the bane of a Restoration Druid.

13: The White Tree of Gondor or the Tree of Nordrassil?

If you’re asking if I prefer the Lore of Warcraft to the Lore of Middle Earth, I’d have to go with Middle Earth. My knowledge of Azerothian lore is disappointly lacking.

14: If I weren’t a Druid, I would’ve rolled:

Priest without a doubt. I’ve actually played a Priest to 60 before and, while I didn’t enjoy their style of healing nearly as much as that of a Druid, I know I’d have to play a healer and they DO get the best looking armor sets in the game. /jealous

15: Mining, Skinning, or Tailoring?

Tailoring!! Without a doubt, tailoring is the most enjoyable tradeskill I’ve ever levelled. And I’ve done so on three different characters.

16: Aldor Rise needs an escalator: Agree or disagree?

I have insta-cast flight form. My favorite thing in the world is to run past someone waiting patiently for the elevator, flip off the edge, pop birdie form, and laugh at the /whisper of “!” NO ESCALATOR!

17: Given the opportunity, you would rather write a WoW blog for: WoW Insider or NY Times

I’d not like to write for anyone, really. I enjoy my freedom of expression and design. But if I had to choose, I’d go with WoW Insider; the audience there seems much more appropriate.

18: The road to success is paved with:

Well, I’m guessing it isn’t “Chardonnay” but it should be. Let’s go with “Passion”. The most successful and HAPPY (more important) people are those who are passionate about what it is they do.

19: Matthew Perry, Matthew McConaughey, or Matt Damon?

Matt Damon; he seems to me to be the most intelligent of the three.

20: Thanks for the interview. Shouts to?

Mr. Phae for all his support and help; Valenna for his friendship; Kestrel for his kindness; Vonya, Amanna, and Kirk for the inspiration; and to all the Druid authors out there that make our mini-blogosphere such a wonderful, welcoming, and warm place to be!

Why Raiding With PvP Gear Is a Bad Idea

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Matticus,
First off, I want to commend you on the very nice extensive blog you run, a lot of great resources and discussion. I have an issue and am seeking some general advice and maybe to stir up some discussion. I am currently in Iraq right now BUT i get about 3-4 hours of playtime with acceptable latency. I have a 70 Druid that I just recently (1.5 weeks) re-specced to healing due to feral frustration and a noticable lack of heals on my server. Right off the bat I hooked up with some friends (2 mages+1 hunter) and have been doing BG’s to get honor and marks in order to attain some of the PvP epics.

I’ve been doing some research via blogs to find out some easily attainable gear to help my healing and survivabilty in PVP and eventually to start up some daily instancing. I thoroughly enjoy healing and I’m going to stick with it but I can’t make the decision to PVP or PVE as my main concentration.

Right now, i am trying to do a little of both and i dont see it going anywhere fast. What im looking for is to be able to PVP/Arena grind and get myself in good shape to be a full time raid healer once i get back to the U.S. where i will have ample time to dedicate to raiding. My overall question is: Am I wrong to assume that PVP gear (since it’s mostly a solo endeavor aside from arenas), is probably the best route to achieving pre-Kara quality gear? And are there any other resources out there that might be able to lend some guidance to an undecided healer? I know my question is most likely un-answerable and is mostly self chosen, but I’m just looking for suggestions, thoughts, or guidance.

Thank you,
Jordon

P.S. Whats up with all of the ?‘s instead of “‘s

Wow, I had no idea my blog was being read overseas. I salute you, sir, even though I’m from Canada. Thank you for the kind word =)!

Now, let’s get to business.

I know there are a lot of players who recommend supplementing raiding gear with some PvP Gear to help increase their survivability. Either that, or they’re unable get access to any kind of raiding gear because the population on a server is ridiculously low.

I definitely think DPS classes benefit with a mix of several PvP pieces. As a Priest, I have even added the [item]Veteran Mooncloth Bracers[/item] to my Priest raiding gear list as suggested by you readers (You know who you are).

As a healer, would I recommend going all out for arena gear just to be able to start raiding in Karazhan?

No, I would not.

Remember that PvE gear is tailored differently than PvP gear. Even though the healing or spelldamage increase may seem similar, the difference lies entirely in stat distribution.

PvP gear has a ton of stamina allowing you to withstand and deal serious firepower within a limited amount of time.

PvE gear has added longevity and endurance so you can deal firepower over a longer amount.

It’s like comparing an A-10 to a Spectre gunship. The A-10 comes in, drops its payload, and speeds off. The Spectre just flies circles above an area protecting it’s assignments.

It’s all about endurance.

If you want to raid, stat collecting raiding gear. PvP gear isn’t going to help you much at all because it lacks important stats like mana regeneration. Five minutes into a boss fight and you’ll be OOM (after innervates and potions).

What I can recommend is this: Start arenaing and get a few points under your belt. Keep doing this for several weeks. Meanwhile, if you don’t have a good set of bracers, hook yourself up with a Vindicator’s Kodohide Bracers.When you feel ready for Kara, start running the lower level of it a few times to help gradually build up your pieces. If you’re having trouble getting Maiden’s Shard of the Virtuous, put the Arena Points to good use and grab the [item]Merciless Gladiiator’s Salvation[/item] (S2 heaing mace). That should take you anywhere between 4 – 8 weeks.

How will you know if you’re good enough? Refer to my Minimum Kara Requirements for classes. Alternately, I’m sure Phaelia, Karthis, and Big Bear Butt can help you get in the right direction as they’re both Druids and far more familiar with what you’ll need. Well, the latter two are feral. But I like to randomly link to bloggers anyway.

P.S. The ?’s occur due to a CSS oversight on my part. Will be fixed when my new layout goes live. Hopefully it will be up before Christmas. Basically, what happens is WordPress interprets my apostrophes and quotes in a weird fashion.

And godspeed, Jordon.