One of the most frequently asked questions on the official Druid Forums seems to be, “How much +Healing do I need to successfully heal in Karazhan/Heroics?” While different players may choose to focus on one stat or another (pursuing longevity through MP5 or a larger mana pool through Intellect), due to the balanced nature of most of the items that can be acquired before entering Karazhan and Heroics, +Healing is a good indicator of the overall quality of a healer’s equipment. But how much healing is enough? For Karazhan, somewhere around 900 is recommended. But what does this number mean and how does it apply to the myriad of healing spells available to the Druid?

+Healing increases the HPM (healing per mana) of a given spell; this is sometimes referred to as “scaling” since it allows the same heal spell to become more and more effective as its caster’s gear improves. However, +Healing affects different spells and spell ranks differently, the degree to which is determined by two factors: the casting time of the spell (or, in the case of Heals over Time, the number of ticks) and the level of the spell’s rank relative to caster level.

Casting Time

There are several types of heals (direct, heal over time, channeled, area of effect), and casting time affects the scaling of each type differently:

• Direct Heals (Healing Touch)

  To determine the scaling of a spell with a direct heal component, divide its cast time by 3.5:

  S_direct = cast time / 3.5

  For example, 3.5 second Healing Touch is afforded 100% of +Healing. Note that talents which reduce the casting time of a given spell (such as Naturalist for Healing Touch) do not reduce scaling.

• Heals over Time (Rejuvenation)

  The scaling of HoTs is directly related to the spell’s duration:

  S_hot = duration / 15

  Rejuvenation, lasting a total of 12 seconds, receives 80% scaling divided over each of its 4 ticks.

• Mixed Method Heals (Regrowth)

  Some spells such as Regrowth have both a direct heal component as well as a portion that heals over time. The scaling for these spells are divided between the two portions and are determined as follows:

  

  

• Area of Effect Heals (Tranquility)

  Because Area of Effect heals hit multiple targets, the benefit of +Healing is divided by 3. Otherwise, it uses the same formula as a direct heal:

  S_aoe = (cast time / 3.5) / 3

  Since Tranquility lasts eight seconds, the scaling for this spell is 76% divided among its four ticks or 19% per tick.

Spell Level vs. Caster Level

Spell Level is defined as the level before which the next rank can be trained. For example, since Rank 8 of Healing Touch is first trained at level 44, the effective spell level for Rank 7 is 43. To discourage downranking (using a lower level spell with a large amount of +Healing to increase its HPM), Blizzard reduces the +Healing awarded to spells whose effective spell level are significantly below that of the caster:

S_downrank = (spell level + 6) / player level

Thus, a level 70 player casting Rank 7 of Healing Touch would have her +Healing bonus reduced to 70% ((43 + 6) / 70). These diminished returns have eliminated the technique of using the faster-casting Rank 4 of Healing Touch that was popular before the release of the Burning Crusade since Rank 4 only receives 44% of +Healing. Note that the ranking modifier cannot result in a bonus to +Healing; the maximum is 100% regardless of how the calculation works for later ranks.

Here are two figures which illustrate the HPM statistic (healing / mana cost) for ranks 4 and 10-13 of Healing Touch as +Healing increases from 500 to 1500. Notice that as +Healing increases the HPM efficiency of Healing Touch Rank 4 increases more quickly than that of ranks 10-13, even after the mitigating penalty is applied. The penalty keeps this spell from being especially viable, however, as an average untalented HT 4 is only 847 with +1000 Healing so don’t let the figure mislead you into reconsidering downranking to such a degree.

Figure 1. HPM of Untalented Healing Touch Ranks

Figure 2. HPM of Talented* Healing Touch Ranks

* Healing Touch talents under consideration include Empowered Touch, Naturalist, Tranquil Spirit, and Gift of Nature.

Bonuses and penalties to a spell’s +Healing benefit are cumulative. A spell that is downranked to receive only 70% of +Healing and that has a 2.0 second cast time (57%) that is cast with +1000 Healing would receive 399 points of healing (1000 * .57 * .7 = 399).

Individual Spell Scaling

Because spells scale according to their cast time, duration, type and rank used, the relative efficiency of Druid heals (measured in HPM) fluctuates as the amount of +Healing changes. Below are two figures which describe the relative scaling of the various heals available to Druids, including talented versions if applicable. Lifebloom has been separated from all other heals to prevent its high HPM values from skewing the graphs:

Figure 3. HPM of Heals other than Lifebloom

Figure 4. HPM of Lifebloom

Clearly Lifebloom outclasses all other heals, even without considering the 20% mana reduction afforded by Tree of Life. Also notable is that, as +Healing increases — representing an improvement in gear — the HPM efficiency of an untalented Rejuvenation eclipses that of untalented Regrowth (although a fully talented Rejuvenation far outperforms a talented Regrowth). Also notable is that, while it would seem that Healing Touch is an underperformer in the HPM stat, it does make a superior showing in the HPS stat, as any Heroic healing Druid can attest.

The two figures below demonstrate the healing power (measured by HPS) of Druid heals. Figure 5 compares the HPS of Healing Touch against the initial direct heal component of Regrowth and the final burst heal of Lifebloom were it allowed to expire. Figure 6 compares the HPS of all heals over their full duration (for example, for Regrowth, total time is 2 seconds of casting time plus 21 seconds of healing over time).

Figure 5. HPS of Direct Heals and Direct Heal Components

Figure 6. HPS of Heals over Time

As predicted, Healing Touch is a better choice under a high damage scenario where mana is less likely to be a factor (such as trash mob fights in Heroics between which the caster is free to drink). The other HoTs such as Rejuvenation and Lifebloom are efficient enough to be used to provide some padding against emergencies, however.

While none of the data collected and presented here invalidates the use of a particular spell or style of healing, it does demonstrate the relative strength — and subsequent prioritization — of certain spells over others under specific conditions. In general, Lifebloom is an excellent choice for low, sustained damage levels. Should DPS increase beyond that which can be handled by a triple stack of Lifebloom alone, Rejuvenation can be applied. At further escalating levels of damage, a Tree should fall back upon a combination Swiftmend and Regrowth. A non-Tree druid would instead fall back upon Swiftmend (if available) and the highly powerful, less efficient Healing Touch. So, too, might a Tree druid, should Regrowth prove insufficient to the task.

The bonuses of Tree of Life are not included in any of the above calculations, due to the fact that — in its current form — it is too impractical to be used most of the time. In general, this would push the HPM efficiency of all HoTs up slightly, but you would lose the ability to handle burst damage (not to mention the ability to decurse and remove poison). The subjective viability of Tree of Life is something that will be addressed in another post.

Assumptions: The following talents were factored into the “talented” statistics for each heal:

• Healing Touch: Empowered Touch (20% scaling bonus to +Healing), Naturalist (-0.5 seconds cast time), Tranquil Spirit (-10% mana), Gift of Nature (10% bonus to the end total)
• Regrowth: Empowered Rejuvenation (14% scaling bonus to +Healing of the HoT portion), Gift of Nature (10% bonus to the end total), Improved Regrowth (50% additional crit rating)
• Rejuvenation: Gift of Nature and Improved Rejuvenation (resulting in a cumulative bonus of 26.5% to the end total (1.1 * 1.15)), Empowered Rejuvenation (16% scaling bonus to +Healing)
• Lifebloom: Empowered Rejuvenation (+10% single stack, 31% for a stack of 3), Gift of Nature (10% bonus to the end total)

References: Many of the formulas and values included in this article were taken directly or derived from the following articles on WoWWiki.com:

• Formulas: Plus Damage and Plus Healing
• Healing Comparison

Download the Spreadsheet
used to calculate these values.

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Good news from the European Forums today; according to Community Manager Vaneras, the development staff is aware of the poor performance of Druids in Arena and are “looking into” possible improvements:

The Druid class is somewhat under-represented in the Arenas, which there of course are various reasons for. The developers are looking into the Druids overall performance in the Arenas, so I would say that it is too soon to give up on your Druid just yet.

I personally enjoy PvPing on my Druid, but I play mostly in the battlegrounds.

Vaneras made a similar post in the European Rogue forums today, responding in much greater detail to a post which laid out several of the perceived issues with Rogue Arena viability.

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Voodooray of the Maelstrom created a video which answers the question I know I asked while watching Frank Miller’s 300 — wouldn’t this movie be better if they replaced all these half naked Spartans with 350-lb birdmen covered in fur and feathers? Voodooray does an amazing job of seemlessly integrating Moonkin models into the film’s trailer, likely having pulled animations from the WoW Model Viewer to achieve such high resolution. A must see, especially for fans of the original film.

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Lately there’s been a great deal of hubbub about the lack of endgame viability for the Restoration Druid relative to that of our healing counterparts, the Paladin, Priest, and Shaman. One of the primary complaints is that our class-specific buff, Mark of the Wild, scales so poorly in comparison to those brought to the table by other healers. The description of the group version, Gift of the Wild reads as follows:

While the spell’s description may sound lackluster, it’s only by comparing Mark to the spells, blessings, and totems that can be brought to the table by other healing classes that the gross imbalance is demonstrated.

Priests: Prayer of Fortitude and Divine Spirit

While it is true that — unlike Prayer of Fortitude — Mark grants a benefit to all stats, most classes benefit only from a few specific stats, usually no more than three. Casters generally rely upon Intellect and Spirit, while melees focus on some combination of Strength and Agility. Common among the two groups is Stamina which benefits all classes. Gift of the Wild grants a total of 14 Stamina. Compare this to Prayer of Fortitude which grants a total of 79. Untalented, Mark grants 140 hit points, Fortitude 790. Are 650 hit points really countered by either 210 mana and whatever benefits can be derived from 14 Spirt (widely subject to the class in question) or 14 more Strength (28 AP for warriors, 14 for rogues) and 14 more Agility (14 more AP for rogues and a negligible amount of dodge)?

Also worth noting: any Priest who has made healing her focus is likely to have picked up Divine Spirit, a buff which grants 50 additional Spirit, further widening the buff gap between Priests and Druids. And, while it costs Restoration druids 5 talent points to grant an additional +4 to all stats, Priests have only to spend 2 talent points to gain the same 35% improvement — a 35% improvement to a spell that’s already much more desirable.

Hands down, Prayer of Fortitude is a vastly superior buff to the Druid counterpart, Gift of the Wild.

Paladins: Blessings

Here’s where Druids are hurt the most. Paladins bring a whole host of available buffs, and despite the hefty upkeep necessary to maintain them, they can afford a myriad of tremendous benefits to a raid group:

• Blessing of Kings: Increases total stats by 10% for 15 min.

  Although this ability requires an eleven point investment in the Protection tree, it effectively affords more than double the benefit of Mark of the Wild. And it scales. As raid members improve their core stats by upgrading their gear, this buff keeps pace by granting them additional stat points at the same rate as before.

• Blessing of Wisdom: Restores 41 mana every 5 seconds for 15 min.

  Untalented, this Blessing affords casters 41 mana per 5. It can easily make the difference between loss and success for a given boss encounter by tremendously increasing healer longevity. And a Holy-specced Paladin will have picked up the talents to improve this blessing (20% for two talent points), increasing its return to nearly 50 mp5.

• Blessing of Might: Increases attack power by 220 for 15 min.

  Compare this to the maximum of 28 AP granted by Mark of the Wild.

• Blessing of Salvation: Reduces the amount of all threat generated by 30% for 15 min.

  This buff can theoretically increase the total DPS output of your raid by an incredible 30% since it effectively raises the aggro ceiling that must be exceeded by the raid’s main tank.

Best of all, Paladins stack incredibly well. Adding another Paladin healer means one more of the amazing buffs listed above to be given out to raid members. Like the dilemma faced by Holy Priests, adding another Druid affords no additional benefit to the raid group.

Shamans: Totems, Totems, Totems!

I admit only passing familiarity with the Shaman class. However, take a look at some of the buffs that can be granted to a Shaman’s group in the form of one or more immobile totems:

• Windfury Totem: Enchants all party members main-hand weapons with wind, if they are within 20 yards. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting the attacker 1 extra attack with 445 extra attack power.
• Grace of Air Totem: Increases the agility of party members within 20 yards by 77
• Mana Spring Totem: Restores 12 mana every 2 seconds to group members within 20 yards.
• Mana Tide Totem: Restores 6% of total mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20 yards.

Any of the above buffs is inarguably superior to Mark of the Wild, and in some cases, more than one can be made available to a Shaman’s party. And — like Paladins — it’s almost always advantageous to bring as many Shamans to a raid as there are groups. They stack almost as well.

“Buffing Our Buff”

What can be done to bring the quality of our class buff more in line with those of other healers? One or more of the following changes would be helpful:

• Change the stats granted by Mark to take into account the fact that all classes do not benefit from an increase to all six of their stats. Improve the power of this buff accordingly (perhaps a 25 to all stats).
• Reduce the cost of the Improved Mark of the Wild talent from 5 points to 3 points, in line with the point cost paid by Priests. This would also help reduce the bloat of the Restoration talent tree.
• Add 40 Resilience to this buff. This would improve Druids’ PvP desirability without tremendously affecting PvE balance. At level 70, 40 Resilience reduces the chance to be crit by 1%.
• Allow the resistances granted by Mark to stack with those granted by other classes’ auras (which are inevitably superior and almost invariably available).

At one point hailed as “the best buff in the game,” Mark quite simply can no longer compete. It is outshone in every way by buffs which grant greater and/or more universally useful stat bonuses. This combined with the fact that Druids stack no better than Priests but have fewer, feebler buffs to bring to the table (Mark of the Wild and Thorns versus Prayer of Fortitude and Divine Spirit) make us a far less attractive addition to a raid group than any of the classes with which we compete for a limited number of slots. Without regard to any of the other issues which plague healing-focused Druids, addressing the disparity between our class-specific buff and those brought to the table by Shamans, Priests, and Paladins would go a long way toward improving our viability as valued raid contributors.

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One of the techniques demonstrated by Gronzy in his Restoration Druid Arena Video was the use of Cyclone spam. Assuming your chosen target won’t or can’t use his trinket to dispel the effect, you can effectively lock a caster out of play for 10.5 seconds (6 + 3 + 1.5). This sort of efficiency takes some time to intuit since you have to begin your recast before the target has broken free, and can easily lock you out of play for the duration. However, you can set up a macro that will allow you to divert your attention to other tasks (such as healing your teammates) rather than solely keeping an opponent incapacitated:

/clearfocus [button:2]

/clearfocus [target=focus,dead]

/clearfocus [target=focus,noexists]

/focus [target=focus,noexists]

/cast [target=focus] Cyclone

The first time you target someone and press this button, it will set them as a focus. What this means is that you can perform actions upon them without having to switch back to them as your target, allowing you to target someone else for another purpose. Pressing this button again will recyclone your original target (the one you set focus to) without changing your current target. To change the person with whom your button is associated, target someone else and right click the button (this refers to the “/clearfocus [button:2]” line). Your focus will automatically clear should your focus die or leave your arena instance.

This macro (adapted from one of those listed at WoWWiki.com) can greatly enhance a Restoration druid’s efforts to assist her team with crowd control while not hindering her ability to heal teammates (or herself).

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