Restoration Druid Beginner's Guide

This is intended to be a simple guide to the basic rotation and dynamics of the spec that gets you up and running without requiring more advanced optimization.

Information on hero talents will be coming soon, but in general know that overall they add a minor layer on top of how each spec plays, and most of what’s here should be applicable regardless.

Talent Build #

This is a simplified talent build designed to avoid complex interactions and skip unnecessary abilities. While not optimal in all cases, it should be a great way to get started learning the spec and should work reasonably well in world content, delves, dungeons, and raids. Abilities and talents not chosen in this build are not described here, and the rotation information assumes you’ll be using the build.

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Wowhead Link

Resources #

Mana – Like all healers Restoration Druids use Mana for many of their core abilities, and part of your rotation is avoiding depleting Mana when doing heavy healing. The best way for Restoration Druids to accomplish this is to be judicious about using Rejuvenation, and to prefer casting Regrowth with Omen of Clarity active.

Forms #

The signature ability of Druids is being able to shapeshift into different animal forms. While in a form you’ll have access to unique abilities and gain certain bonuses. You can re-activate your current form while already in it to return to humanoid (also known as caster) form.

Cat Form – As a Cat you’ll gain increased auto attack damage and movement speed, and take reduced falling damage. Some Restoration Druid builds more strongly rely on cat form damage, but for simplicity our recommended build keeps you in caster most of the time. That said cat form is still useful for getting around quickly indoors, both in combat and out.

• Prowl – An important ability related to Cat Form, Prowl lets you, while out of combat, enter stealth and be undetectable to enemies. Doing damage or using abilities will take you out of stealth. You can also re-activate Prowl to exit stealth manually. Hugely useful to avoid enemies in the world.

Bear Form – In Bear Form you’ll gain increased armor and health, and have access to tank-like abilities. All Druids can and should use Bear Form as an on-demand defensive utility against expected major damage, but you won’t want to spend extended time in it since you’ll lose access to your normal healing and damage abilities.

Caster Form – When not in one of your animal forms you’ll have access to magic and healing abilities. As a Restoration Druid you’ll spend most of your in-combat time in this form to have full access to you healing spells.

Travel Form – Only usable outdoors. Shifts you into a form that works like either a ground or flying mount depending on what’s available in your location. This means you can forgo using normal mounts, and avoid the cast time for summoning them. Additionally, if you’re underwater this will shift you into an aquatic form that can breath underwater and has increased swimming speed. Unlike the other forms, there are no unique abilities for Travel Form.

Healing Abilities #

Regrowth – Short cast to heal the target and apply a 12s HoT. Your Lifebloom will occasionally grant Omen of Clarity, which can be used to remove the mana cost from regrowth and increase its healing through Flash of Clarity. If you cast Regrowth on an ally that already has the HoT active it’ll have an increased chance to crit via Improved Regrowth. Finally, the Soul of the Forest bonus from Swiftmend can be used to increase Regrowth’s healing. All of this makes Regrowth a good heal to reach for when someone needs urgent healing, but you want to think about it as an important “top layer” once you’ve set up other heal-over-time effects.

Lifebloom – A strong, 15s HoT that can be placed on up to two targets with Undergrowth. When it expires (or is refreshed with less than 5s remaining) it will heal for a larger amount. With Budding Leaves the healing increases over the duration of the HoT. Has a few other important interactions:

• Omen of Clarity – each time Lifebloom heals you have a chance to generate up to two stacks of Clearcasting, which removes the mana cost from your next Regrowth
• Photosynthesis - When Lifebloom is on yourself all your HoTs will heal faster, and when Lifebloom is on an ally they’ll occasionally receive the larger bloom heal before it expires
• Verdancy – Whenever a Lifebloom blooms, allies in your Efflorescence are healed for a small amount

In total this is a crucial ability that you’ll always want to keep active on yourself and at least one ally, usually your tank. You’ll also want to avoid refreshing it early so you can benefit from the bloom effect.

Rejuvenation – Applies a moderately strong 15s HoT to the target. If used following Swiftmend will have its healing increased via Soul of the Forest. This can be helpful to either increase healing on an individual target or to spread healing across a group, but be careful because it can burn through mana quickly. Much like Regrowth think about this as an extra layer on top of more efficient spells to reach for in a pinch.

Wild Growth – Short cast to apply a 7s HoT on up to 5 nearby allies. The amount of healing decreases over the duration. 10s cooldown. If used following Swiftmend will have its healing increased via Soul of the Forest. This is your easiest way to deal with group damage, but like other mana-intensive spells should be used only if more efficient abilities aren’t keeping up.

Efflorescence – Mark an area on the ground for 30s, healing allies within. With Spring Blossoms applies an additional HoT to each ally healed. An important foundation to your healing, this should be active around where allies are fighting at all times.

Swiftmend – 15s cooldown. Consume the HoT from Regrowth, Wild Growth, or Rejuvenation on an ally to do substantial immediate healing, and with Grove Tending apply a minor 9s HoT. Triggers Soul of the Forest which will increase the healing of your next cast of those same three spells. This is a great way to urgently heal an at risk ally, or alternatively to set up a powerful group heal with an empowered Wild Growth.

Grove Guardians – Summon a treant that will heal your allies for 15s. It will prioritize the ally targeted when cast. 3 charges with a 20s cooldown. The multiple charges mean you can either trickle these out continuously or dump several at once for a burst of healing. Try to avoid sitting on a full set of charges if possible.

Healing Cooldowns #

Ironbark – 1.2m cooldown. Reduces damage taken by an ally by 20% for 12s. Use this whenever someone’s at risk and you can’t immediately heal them, or when you expect someone to take a bunch of damage imminently.

Convoke the Spirits – 1m cooldown. Quickly cast several randomly selected damaging and healing spells over 3s. Will automatically select appropriate targets. Note that you can move while this is being channelled. If you’re in cat or bear form it will prioritize abilities from those forms. A great source of either damage or healing with a short enough cooldown that it should be used frequently.

Tranquility – 2.5m cooldown. Channels for 6s to heal allies in a wide area for a substantial amount, and applies a minor 8s HoT to anyone affected. With Inner Peace reduces damage taken and prevents knockbacks while being used. A powerful emergency heal that can usually top off your whole group, but make sure you get into a reasonable position before activating since moving will cancel the effect.

Damage Abilities #

Note that for simplicity we talent into and focus on damage abilities that can be used in caster form, but if you’re looking to increase your damage you can also incorporate cat form abilities.

Wrath – Short cast to do minor ranged damage to the target. Fill time with this when you already have your DoTs active and you want to do single target damage.

Starfire – Medium length cast to do minor area damage around the target. Fill time with this when your DoTs are already active and you want to do area damage.

Moonfire – Apply an 18s DoT to the target. Keep this active on as many enemies as you can when trying to do damage.

Sunfire – Apply an 18s DoT to all enemies around the target. Another one to keep active when you’re doing damage.

Effects #

These are some of the more notable effects, interactions, and passive talents that you should be aware of. It’s not covering effects (even if they’re very strong) that provide flat bonuses or that don’t require much thought to use, and it only includes those used in our recommended build.

Mastery: Harmony – Restoration Druid’s mastery increases healing done with each HoT you have active on a target, with the degree of the bonus increasing with more Mastery points. This effect is central to their gameplay and rewards you for layering up as many healing effects as possible. It also means that when using direct heals like Regrowth or Swiftmend you’ll want to make sure you have a few other HoTs active first. Note that Lifebloom counts for 3 stacks of this mastery so it’s a great starting point.

Ysera's Gift – Passively heal yourself over time, with the healing spilling over to nearby allies once you’re at full health. This is a small effect and won’t affect your gameplay much other than giving a minor incentive to keep yourself topped off.

Rotation Overview #

This is an overview of the core rotation. It’s not a strict priority order but rather an outline of how the different abilities interact and are used. It assumes you’re using the recommended talent build above.

Maintenance - keep these active or use these as much as you can

• Have Lifebloom active on yourself and either your tank or an ally that urgently needs healing
• Keep Efflorescence down around where combat is happening
• Use Grove Guardians if you have 3 charges

Healing - use these to respond to normal amounts of damage

• Regrowth if you have Clearcasting and someone needs moderate healing
• Swiftmend on allies that need immediate healing, especially if they already have a HoT you can consume
• Wild Growth if several allies need healing
• Summon more Grove Guardians if things are getting hectic
• Rejuvenation if one or more allies still need heavy healing and the above isn’t keeping up

Emergency – use these when major damage is expected or people are otherwise at risk of dying

• Ironbark on allies that are in danger and that you can’t immediately heal, or allies that you expect to take substantial damage soon
• Convoke the Spirits anytime you need a burst of healing, but try to have a few other HoTs out first to maximize its effect
• Tranquility if several people are at risk of dying or if you need a way to survive major incoming damage - but make sure to position yourself first so you don’t need to move

Damage – use these if all the above is set and you want to contribute damage

• Keep Starfire and Moonfire active on all enemies
• Wrath to damage single targets
• Starfire to damage groups

Defensives #

Barkskin – Reduces damage taken for 12s. 1m cooldown. With Verdant Heart also increases healing taken while active. A strong defensive on a fairly short cooldown, this should be used regularly any time you’re taking damage, and especially ahead of expected major damage.

Bear Form – While in bear form your armor and health are increased, so you should view it as a defensive tool. Swapping in an out regularly will interfere with your rotation, but going into bear form right ahead of major damage or if you’re in imminent trouble can be very helpful. This is especially so when combined with other defensives.

Crowd Control #

Entangling Roots – Roots the target for 30s, but damage will break the effect. Will shift you to caster form when used.

Ursol's Vortex – Slows all enemies in the targeted area, and pulls them back in the first time they try to leave. 1m cooldown. Several potential uses including grouping enemies up into one place, keeping enemies away from you or your group, preventing them from reaching a destination for a mechanic.

Incapacitating Roar – Shifts into Bear Form and incapacitates all nearby enemies for 3s. 30s cooldown. A very useful way to disrupt a group of enemies on a fairly short cooldown, you should use this anytime you either need to stop one or more dangerous abilities or when you want to give your tank/healer some breathing room by slowing down damage from a large group of enemies.

Mobility #

Dash – Increases your movement speed for 10s, and shifts you to Cat Form if you’re not already in it. With Tiger Dash increases the speed bonus and shortens the cooldown, but it only lasts 5s. Use this frequently to speed up getting around the world, or in combat if you need to change location in a hurry.

Stampeding Roar – Increases the movement speed of all nearby players for 8s. 1m cooldown. Very powerful when your group or raid all needs to move somewhere at the same time, but can also be used as a secondary dash while not with a group.

Utility #

Mark of the Wild – Grants a 1hr buff to Versatility to you, your party, or your raid. This should be active at all times in all content.

Rebirth – Resurrects the targeted dead ally, even while in combat. 10m cooldown. The long cooldown means you’ll have a limited number of times you can use this during a dungeon or raid, but can save your group if things have gotten dicey.

Renewal – Instantly heals you for a substantial amount of health. 1.5m cooldown. Usable in all Forms. A powerful self-heal that you should use if other healing isn’t cutting it.

Remove Corruption – Removes all curse and poison effects from the targeted ally. 8s cooldown. Even if you’re not healing you should look for opportunities to use this.

Soothe – Removes enrage effects from the targeted enemy. 10s cooldown. Enrage can be dangerous so you should make sure you’re able to see when enemies have the effect and use this when they do.

Quality of Life #

Teleport: Moonglade and Dreamwalk – Teleport: Moonglade will transport you to the Moonglade in northern Kalimdor. If you’ve started the Legion campaign quests it will be replaced with Dreamwalk. This brings you to the Emerald Dreamway which has portals to a number of other nature-focused locations throughout the world. Both have a 1m cooldown. Neither is tremendously useful unless you’re doing previous-expansion content and are looking for some ways to get around far-flung parts of the world.

Revive – Resurrects the targeted dead ally while outside of combat.