Recommended Reading

Warsong Gulch Druids by Tigon

Before you can head out to celebrate Friday and libation liberation from 9 to 5 weekdays, make sure you do your homework!

• 5 Improvements to Tailoring and Why We Need Them from Destructive Reach 
  Tailoring is a common profession choice for Druids. After all, we need the bag space. Saresa details five great proposals for making the profession more entertaining and useful.
• A Better Stance Bar from Of Teeth and Claws
  You’re not still using the default shapeshifting bar, ARE YOU?
• Brewfest – Drunken Cavortin’ Fer All from Slash Hug
  With just two days left to enjoy the festivities, you can take best advantage of everything that Brewfest has to offer with Aurik’s in-depth guide.
• The Great Armor Nerf from Of Teeth and Claws
  Karthis shares his thoughts about the removal and reduction of much of the additional armor on many TBC items formerly considered to be staples of a Feral Druid’s potential armory.
• Expertise and the Swing Timer from Big Bear Butt Blogger
  BBB takes a look at expertise and why it’s so valuable to (but often overlooked by) Feral Druids.
• Inscription Guide from Banana Shoulders 
  Siha contributes another fantastic guide, this one aimed at helping the budding Inscription practitioner. Includes a wonderfully helpful PDF version for reference while playing!
• Is Lifebloom Obsolete? Another Look at Resto Druids in 3.0 from World of Matticus
  World of Matticus’ Druid author Sydera weighs in on recent changes to the Restoration spec.
• So what am I (not) Wearing (yet)? A particularly Heroic shopping list. from Unbearably HoT 
  Runy shares a list of potential Wrath drops and rewards from Wrath.
• WotLK: What Spell Do I Use? – Spell Rotations from Gray Matter 
  Wondering whether Wrath or Starfire will be king in Wrath? Graylo explains in easy-to-understand terms the recommended nuking rotations for Moonkin and Restos “moonlighting” (C WUT I DID THAR?) as Balance for the purpose of easing their leveling experience.

Forgotten Shift Happens Submission

I’m abashed to admit that I forgot to include one of the earliest submissions to Shift Happens contest. It was sent in by Nic of Nic Get Life and, while I loved the concept and execution, I unfortunately had to decline since it uses in-game models. It’s featured at left.

Thanks, Nic! Sorry for the absent-mindedness!

I hope to announce the results of the Shift Happens competition early next week (though honestly, you could probably just watch the poll results).

Blogs to Check Out

• Feral at Heart
  Feral at Heart contains thoughts and commentary on playing a Feral Druid.
• The Gnogue
  A green-haired gnome has never looked so dangerous. Or would if you could see her.
• Hearthstone
  Aleathea and her husband co-GM a guild on the Draka (US) server. Hearthstone serves as a chronicle of her WoW life and a place to share character-based stories.
• Lorecrafted
  Lorecrafted is a fantastic resource for roleplayers. Warning: may just turn you into a lore aficionado.
• Muffin Factory
  Blueberry, lemon poppy seed, and strawberry. All pale in comparison to the awesomeness that is Revast’s Mage-themed blog.
• The Sacred and the Profane
  A Shadow and Holy Priest unite to bring you a blog from the perspective of two raiding Priests.
• Spam Moonfare
  The author of Spam Moonfare is a fearsome amalgam of feathery Boomkin and leafy Tree goodness.
• Udder Madness
  Beathooven of Aman’Thul (US) is very punny Tauren Druid. /moo

A Message from Runycat

For all U.S. readers, be you Democrat or Republican, it’s your civic duty to vote! Be like Voter Cat! (And that’s seriously Runycat’s cat at right.)

Unconvinced? Check this out.

Related Posts

• Welcome, Karthis!
• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight

I woke up this morning to several comments and e-mails (thank you!) informing me that Wild Growth is getting some much-needed attention from developers:

We are going to "run the numbers" again on Wild Growth and Nourish. What I mean by that is we’ll do some tests and compare them to similar heals and to other druid spells.

Wild Growth was nerfed pretty hard and I have some confidence that we can bring it up, though probably not as high as it was before. We’ll have to see about Nourish.

We don’t want to mess with Regrowth much more since it is now a button that seems worth pushing. We’re standing by our Lifebloom changes for now. It just felt like the solution to every healing situation that druids encountered. I suspect druids will still use it in its current form, but we’ll see.

Sorry I can’t offer anything more concrete than that. Making promises until I actually see the changes made can be pretty dangerous and just ends up frustrating the community in those situations where we can’t deliver.

And five and a half hours later …

Here are the changes we’re making next patch. See how they feel.

Wild Growth: Coefficient and healing increased. Mana cost decreased. Cost should be about the same as Circle of Healing. It doesn’t heal instantly, but will heal for about double what CoH does over its duration.

Nourish: Reduced mana cost by somewhere between 15 and 20%. This is supposed to be your Flash Heal, but we recognize that it doesn’t have the same versatility — you can’t just drop one on a wounded rogue or something since you need the hot up first. Hence the lower price.

Druids have quite an arsenal of healing spells now, and it can be tricky to find niches for all of them.

First let me say, “NOM NOM NOM!” (and not on crab cakes). This change should make Wild Growth cost about 21% of base mana, a much more palatable expense. How much it heals for will be dependent upon its +Healing coefficient which will be different than Circle of Healing’s since CoH is an insta-cast AoE heal and ours is a heal over time, but we should see considerably higher ticks than we are currently.. Either way, it’s a respectable buff, and the changes to Wild Growth and Nourish made me a happy sappy tree this morning! I’m guessing it will only be a matter of time before Lifebloom is adjusted again to make it a little stronger than where it is now.

More credit to the ever-awesome Eggo

Ghostcrawler also commented on Blizzard’s general healing philosophy in Wrath which I think makes for an interesting read. I won’t copy and paste it all here (lucky you), but you can read the whole thing over at MMO Champion’s fantabulous BlueTracker. If you don’t want to wade through the whole thing, here’s a summary:

• Changes are never made by a single individual but are instead a collaborative effort.
• Blizzard regrets the dominance of AoE heals in TBC.
• The downranking mechanic was removed because of the difficulties it presented in terms of balance when they sought to once again make mana management an issue for healers.
• Blizzard is happy that Spirit is a valued stat for casters.
• Blizzard wants to encourage mana management through reliance on HoTs, limiting overhealing, coordinating targets among healers, and “knowing when a fight is won so you can take a break and start mana regeneration.” The last is included in quotes because I found it so interesting.
• Without requiring mana management by healers, encounters must be balanced around having mobs hit so hard that bad luck can result in your tank dying, strict enrage timers, or overly complicated tactics that take a long time to learn.

I can accept encounters being built around healer mana management if it means I don’t ever have to try to explain fights like Lady Vashj again. (And yes, I know that sounds n00bish, but it’s the most complicated fight I can think of that I’ve actually attempted.)

* Article title dedicated to Runycat of Unbearably HoT. She would be so proud. *Sniff*

Related Posts

• Blue: Nourish may be Affected by Wild Growth
• Ghostcrawler: Wild Growth May Receive 6-Second Cooldown
• Speculation: Revitalize and Wild Growth

Apollo and Daphne by Adam Rosenlund

While it might be easy to get lost in the doldrums of nerfdom, I thought I’d lighten the mood with a piece inspired by a recent post made by Horns of Yet Another Warlock Nerf, a Restoration Druid version of What It Means to be a Warlock. Format shamelessly stolen from Horns!

What are Tree Druids?

Druids are “keepers of the world who walk the path of nature, following the wisdom of the Ancients and Cenarius.” Traditionally, Druidism was a vocation limited to males of the Night Elf race whose eyes glowed with golden light, indicating their propensity toward the class. Female Night Elves have since taken up the vocation (though their eyes continue to glow silver), and the path of the Druid has also been embraced by the nature-loving Taurens. Druids are known for their ability to shapeshift, assuming the form of specific, often low-polygon animal totems.

The word “Druid” is made up of two words: “Dru” meaning “Anything you can do, I can do better” and “Id” from Freudian psychology:

[The Id] is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of it we have learnt from our study of the dream-work and of the construction of neurotic symptoms, and most of this is of a negative character and can be described only as a contrast to the ego. [...] It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle. — [Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis]

Which of course explains the often conflicted nature of the official Druid forums.

A Tree Druid specifically is one that has embraced the path of Restoration. Through dedication and wisdom, she is granted the ability to restore living energy. Unlike civilized Paladins and Priests or the wild but elemental Shaman, her restorative abilities mirror that of Nature and are as inexorable as time itself (except, of course, when countered by Purge). The Earth Mother Elune has conferred upon Druids the ability to restore living energy to an empty vessel —even amidst the carnage of battle. A Druid is adept at cleansing the disruptive forces of Poison or countering unnatural Curses. She fights primarily defensively, protected by thick bark and even thorns that serve to deter those who would harm her.

Origins of the Tree of Life

The original Trees of Life were saplings from the first World Tree, Nordrassil. Through the planting of one of these trees, Night Elves were able to maintain their connection to Nordrassil, regardless of distance.

The Tree of Life is regarded as the most important of the ancients within Night Elf society. Like the Druid form by the same name, Trees of Life rarely enter battle unless surrounded by allies and then only fights defensively. The Tree of Life Form available to Restoration Druids is likely a less powerful version of these Ancients. Perhaps with the passage of time, we will outgrow our miniature brown broccoli form and assume a form that matches the majesty of our namesake.

Druid Facts

• While primarily defensive, a Restoration Druid will often eschew her barky, thorny exterior to “Heal Face” in Arenas. Her elaborate, almost spiritual dance around and about pillars serves as testament to her arboreal nature.
• While a group of Druids is entirely self-sufficient, a group without at least one Tree will find itself unbalanced and savage, cut off from the restorative qualities of their patron goddess Elune.
• Once a Restoration Druid has successfully taken root, she will continue to send off shoots that can overwhelm a delicate ecosystem like that of Arenas.
• Despite the fact that Nature contains an astonishing array of color, Druids primarily adorn themselves in green and brown. It is believed that this decision stems from a desire for ease of color coordination.
• Arbor Day is the annual celebration of Restoration Druids. Traditional activities include taking elaborate pictures of oneself, debauching on an excess of water, and lighting others on fire.
• Restoration Druids are frequently surrounded by adoring animal companions – and not just Feral Druids.

Why Go Green?

Druids that choose the path of Restoration and a life in bark often do so in order to support their companions or because they have a particular affection for a specific key on their keyboards, typically the one bound to Lifebloom. A career in pillar dancing attracts many young druids looking to make their Mark in small scale Arenas, where Restoration excels. Whatever the reason for choosing Restoration, a Tree Druid must be possessed of patience, a high QQ-tolerance and a love for broccoli.

Things to Say to Demonstrate Your Treeness

It’s important to assert your deciduous disposition, lest you be asked to “tank” (a process whereby you are bashed repeatedly in the face so that your companions are spared). You can do so by yelling out one or more of the following leafy phrases:

• “I’m sorry you died. Run back.” (obsolete as of 3.0.2 – yay!)
• “Rez me; my Rebirth is still available!”
• “Do I make you THORNY, Baby?”
• “Sorry, I’ve already used Innervate.” /cast [target=player] Innervate
• Any statement that can be typed in the sporadic, six-second increments between refreshing Lifebloom.
• “Stop overhealing my HoTs!”
• In Wrath of the Lich King: “OOM!” (sometimes confused with the call of the Moonkin)

Good Times to Assert Your Treeness

There are times when it’s best to reveal your leafy nature. Here are a few examples:

• When hiding behind a pillar.
• While rolling Lifebloom on three or more raidmates (macros are preferred).
• When casting Rebirth on a fallen comrade.
• When casting Hibernate on a frisky Feral.
• ARBOR DAY
• When wanting a hug.

Bad Times to Assert Your Treeness

Sometimes, however, it’s preferable to downplay your affinity for Treedom. These times include:

• While banished by a Warlock.
• When confronted by an OP Death Knight.
• When carrying the flag across Warsong Gulch.
• When standing in fire.
• While being chased by anyone carrying an axe.
• The Midsummer Fire Festival

What to Do as a Tree

Finally, some general tips on how to make the most of your Restoration experience:

• HoT Anything that Moves … While Moving
  As a Restoration Druid, you should cast Lifebloom and Rejuvenation on all friendly targets. Revel in your ability to heal while on the move by targeting Paladins, Shamans, and Priests and using the /rude or /golfclap emotes.
• Blog
  A lot. Encourage others to do the same.
• Drink
  Trees need lots of water. Satiate this need in real life by consuming many alcoholic beverages, especially when raiding and PvPing. Wine is preferred, but Tequila works, too.
• Take Control of Nature
  Leave other healers all wet by using your Tranquility spell. Allusions to “Singing in the Rain” are encouraged.
• /dance
  ‘Nuff said.

Special thanks to Horns for the “calling out” on this post. I’d like to challenge Runycat of Unbearably HoT and Graylo of Gray Matter to share their thoughts on What it Means to be Feral and Balance Druids respectively!

Related Posts

• Andrige’s Tree of Life Wallpaper
• Midsummer … WHAT?!
• Festival … That’s What!