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

Shift Happens Deadline Approaching

Just a reminder that the deadline for Shift Happens design submissions is in one week, September 24th. I’ve received one lovely submission so far, so if you still have an idea rattling around in your head, you have seven days to send it in! Once I have them all, I’ll put up a poll for readers to select their favorite (unless of course we only end up with the one submission). You can read more about the contest here!

Great Posts I Recommend You Read

Spell of the Druid by Batoruco

Things have been quiet around here lately, partly due to RL changes (Mr. Phae just finished his dissertation!) and partly because beta has been nigh-unplayable lately. I am working on an extensive new article about using the Nostromo in Wrath which I hope to have live by the end of the week. In the meantime, why not check out some of these other fantastic offerings:

• Beta: The Awesome from ThinkTank
  Kalon shares his optimism amidst all the bemoaning going on about the state of Ferals in Wrath.
• Choosing Professions in Wrath from Yet Another Warlock Nerf
  Horns gives a great summary of some of the new features included with the tradeskills in Wrath.
• PvE to PvP Server Transfers and Overdue Policy Change from Lume the Mad
  Lume gives a highly detailed explanation of the reasons why PvE => PvP server transfers should be — and should have always been — allowed.
• Role Switching: Part 1 from Bringin’ the Wood
  Jive writes about what it takes to switch from playing a pew-pew (or mew-mew) DPSer to a healer.
• Tanked! Revaluing Feral Combat Talents in Beta Build 8926 from Unbearably HoT
  Runycat takes a look at the current must-have tanking talents in Wrath.

Wordle, Wordle!

Thanks to reader Breen of Steamwheedle Cartel (EU) for sending in the following artistically-rendered Resto Cloud:

Blogroll Additions

Several new blog authors appear to have been inspired by my earlier article, So You Think You Can Blog – You’re Right! (and some of whom were already off on the right track before I published):

• Beware Splinters
  Sophilia of Turalyon (US) is a Restoration Druid seeking Salvation and Intellect!
• Draenic Wisdom
  A beautiful blog from a player with an entire corps of Draenei alts!
• Electronic Escape
  Eletronic Escape is a collaborative blog from Maeleigh and Loveth of Blackwater Raiders. Topic selection is pretty diverse but there are several great ones on Magery.
• Less QQ, More PewPew
  Drotara of Illidan (US) publishes one of the most stylish and entertaining Hunter blogs out there. One can only assume that he’s assisted by his feline companion as, last I heard, Orcs can’t write.
• Master Shapeshifter
  Rather than focusing on a single niche, Master Shapeshifter attempts to address all of the roles that a Druid can perform. Includes a plethora of helpful macros for all specs.
• Moonkin Musings
  Neren of Fenris (US) plays a “big furry\feathery Hooter who dances like Chris Farley.”
• A Rogue’s Eye View
  This great new Rogue blog recently snuck on the scene. Breaking with the class stereotype, it doesn’t even have a black background!
• Sheep This!
  Alluding the the polymorph immunity afforded Druids when shapeshifted, Sheep This is a new blog written by Gelaende of Mannoroth (US). Focuses on play as a Restoration Druid as well as Gelaende’s corps of alts.
• Talented
  Rawfle of Onyxia (US) has chosen the interesting blog focus of writing about individual talents, particularly for the three classes he happens to play: Druids, Mages, and Shamans.
• Tish Tosh Tesh
  Rambling, rumbling, and rumination from someone who happens to love WoW … and apparently also adores alliteration!

Related Posts

• "Shift Happens" Contest and Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight or “Stuff to do while Waiting for Server Up”

"Shift Happens" Tree-Shirt Design Contest

To shamelessly steal borrow ideas from a certain ursine friend of considerable girth, I’d like to hold a contest for a new Tree-Shirt design to be added to the Resto4Life Tree Shirts store.

The skinny:

• Inspired by the name of our guild in beta, the theme of the contest is SHIFT HAPPENS. The shirt design should include this phrase. The graphic can be one of your choosing. Ideally, it should be something partially Resto-related.
• To reduce the possibility of problems with copyright infringement, designs should not make use of the model viewer.
• Designs with fewer colors (simpler, less gradiated designs) appear to print better than those with greater color depth.
• Readers will have the chance to select their favorite of the submitted designs (hopefully, there will be more than one).
• The winner will receive a complimentary copy of the shirt they’ve designed in exchange for giving me permission to resell the design (and I recognize that you’re doing me a tremendous favor by doing so).
• The deadline for shirt submissions is September 24 which, not coincidentally, is also my birthday. ^_^

Additional (technical) requirements:

• Design should be 3000 x 3000 pixels at 400 DPI.
• Design should be submitted in transparent PNG format. You can e-mail your submission to me at . If file size is an issue, I can give you temporary access to an FTP server.
• Due to restrictions of the printing process, I will have to smooth out any rough edges and fill in any small gaps by placing a second layer of color behind the design. Just something to keep in mind!

Featured Posts

Night Elf by Erica Batton

Another round of best of the best blog posts that I’ve found

• The 3.0 Patch – Cat Build Edition from Kalon of ThinkTank
  Kalon plays with a possible build for kitty cats in Wrath with an eye toward the elimination of powershifting as a DPS tool.
• Addressing Druid Tanking in WotLK from Runycat of Unbearably HoT
  Runy rants about the troubles faced by Ferals in Wrath of the Lich King, analyzing at length the comments made by Ghostcrawler regarding changes to Bear itemization and mitigation.
• Character’s Theme Song from Tigerfeet Secret Agent Cat
  It shouldn’t take a leap (or Feral Charge) of intuition to guess what theme song Tigerfeet chose for herself.
• Debuffs Made Easy: Blizzard’s Way Out from Natarumah of Twisted Faith
  Natarumah comments on the change to buff and debuff stacking and changes to mana regeneration affecting Shadow Priests.
• Epic Flight Form Questline: A Guide from Aurik of /hug
  A highly detailed, beautifully illustrated guide to completing what is, in my opinion, one of the best questlines in the game. Hats off to Aurik for doing it justice!
• Ferals and the Restoration Tree from Tigerfeet of Secret Agent Cat
  Tigerfeet discusses the Feral-oriented talents within the Restoration tree, including Furor, Naturalist, Natural Shapeshifter, and Master Shapeshifter.
• Keybinding Guide from Horns of YAOWN
  Don’t be a clicker. Please.
• Tree of Life History Lesson from Keredria of Tree of Life
  Get schooled by Keredria on the myths surrounding the "Tree of Life" in various world cultures.

World Tree Additions

Just one new Druidy place to read and subscribe to this week:

• Glyph of Thorns
  Arianthorn of Moonglade (EU) plays a Balance Druid with a bad case of altitis. Plenty of Beta commentary … not that I’m into that sort of thing …

Wordle Cloud

Wordle is a free, Java-based service that creates keyword-density clouds of a blog’s most recent posts. You can see my Wordle cloud below:

The words "change" and "Northrend" make prominent appearances, probably because of the recent Wrath of the Lich King posts. Spirit, +Healing, Aura, Tree, and Life are also unsurprising. I was a little abashed to see the word "want" featured so prominently, though! And I’m not sure how the word "melee" snuck in there. ^_^

I shared this service with Runycat last week. Here were her immediate thoughts:

[13:50] Phaelia: try this out
[13:50] Phaelia: http://wordle.net/create
[13:50] Phaelia: it’s fun!!
[13:51] Runycat: what is it?
[13:51] Phaelia: it makes a word cloud from your most recent posts
[13:51] Runycat: I hope mine says BONER BONER BONER
[13:51] Phaelia: LOL

Thanks to Anna of Too Many Annas for originally sharing this fun site!

New Tree-Shirt: Restoration Cloud

Using the Wordle service, I created a set of Tree-Shirts featuring words commonly associated with Restoration Druids. These are only available in black but come in a variety of styles for both men and women. Prices range from $15.90 to $23.90. 

 » View All Restoration Cloud Shirts

Related Posts

• Timber!! New Tree Shirts Are Here!
• New Tree-Shirt Designs and Store Changes
• New Tree-Shirts!

Last week’s Community Spotlight with highlighted articles got such a great reception that I think it’s something I’ll try to continue. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the gems I’ve set aside for you (they’re 11 +Healing, 5 Spirit)!

Recommended Reading

Another fantastic set of posts to educate, entertain, and edify you!

Staff of the Golden Salamander by Orsolya Berecz

• Best Looking Druid Set from Horns of YAOWN
  Horns gives further evidence of his secret love affair with Druids with his poll of what the best-looking set of Druid armor is. I won’t spoil the surprise of who the winner is, but I must express disappointment that Nordrassil didn’t fare better than it did.
• Nature’s Swiftness (for Shamans) from Anna of Too Many Annas
  Ever notice how all the races who can play Shamans have funny feet? Hmm. Anyway, in this article Anna explores and encourages the use of Nature’s Swiftness for Shamans.
• So What are You Wearing? from Runycat of Unbearably HoT
  This week Runy writes about the advantages and best methods of optimizing multiple gear sets with an eye toward maximizing DPS and threat for Ferals. And with that post title, she’s sure to double your entendre!
• The End Heal of Lifebloom Generates No Threat from Lume the Mad
  A must read for Restoration Druids, this article details controlled tests he performed to determine that the end heal of Lifebloom generates no threat whatsoever, either for its caster or its recipient. This article is preceded by Lume’s also useful Threat Mechanics post.
• Druids Dance with So Little Provocation from a Scary Bear
  So true. I know the first thing I did when speccing into Restokin last night was to /dance /dance /dance the night away. And then I Moonfire-spammed a squirrel.
• No More Salvation? What to Do! from Rollin’ Horde
  Learn about the new threat mechanic that will replace the Paladin’s Blessing of Salvation in Wrath of the Lich King!

Arena Pole Dancer Shirt

To celebrate her blog’s 100,000th visitor, Megan from Out of Mana decided to give away an autographed PvP-themed T-Shirt to the lucky winner. She had some great ideas and, in thanks for letting her sell the design myself, I offered to execute my favorite: Arena Pole Dancer. Here’s a preview of the shirt, both front and back (not to scale):

Arena Pole Dancer Shirt Front	Arena Pole Dancer Shirt Back

This shirt is now available within the Resto4Life Tree-Shirts store, albeit without the “Out of Mana” design on the back because printing two designs on a shirt increases the shirt price significantly. I prefer this design on red, yellow, brown, white, or even black shirts, but free color selection is enabled for all of them. You can read more about the T-Shirt winners (all four of them) at Megan’s post #100,000 Winnars, Shapeshifted Indeed.

New Blogs the World Over

And here are some new or newly-discovered additions to the blogosphere!

Emerald Dream by Orsolya Berecz

• Grumble ‘N’ Autumn
  Written by a husband and wife who play Hunters on the Shandris server, Grumble ‘n’ Autumn details their in-game explorations.
• Hoofed Hybrid
  Formerly the author of the blog entitled Lifebloom, Boudi of Feathermoon (US) now writes about both her Druid and her baby Shaman on Hoofed Hybrid!
• An Old Druid’s New Druid
  The Alliance welcomes a Tauren-become-Night Elf Druid who enjoys raiding casually and apparently enjoys Druids enough to roll a second.
• Secret Agent Cat
  Tigerfeet writes an entertaining and cleverly-themed Feral blog. They’ve give her a Mangle and taken away her Mane.
• ThinkTank
  This blog explores the role of tanking from the perspective of multiple tanking classes. There seems to be a plethora of great Feral-related articles, though!
• Unpack Your Adjectives
  You did pack your adjectives, right? After all, you never know when you’re going to need words like: Feral, Wry, and PvP-oriented. In fact, those words would come in handy if asked to describe this blog!

Featured Artwork

This week’s Featured Artwork comes from Orsolya Berecz.  Be sure to check out all of her great work at her DeviantART gallery under username ShakSaag. (Wow, can you tell I listened to NPR on the way into work this morning?)

Related Posts

• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight

Another weekend, another crop of community contributions!

Notable Contributions from the World Tree

• Gearing up for Feral DPS by Jacemora
• Spell Damage vs. Spell Haste (for Moonkin) by Graylo
• Spell Damage vs. Spell Hit by Graylo

New Blog Author Based Healer Community: Plus Heal

Plus Heal, a new all-healer forum community, has been created by a group of blog authors including Druid author of Lume the Mad. Each healing class has its own forum in addition to forums dedicated to general theorycraft discussions, UI addons, macros, and instances of all flavors (5-, 10-, and 25-man). From their official announcement:

This community is intended to serve as a place where healers can come together to exchange tips, mods, macros, math, questions and ideas. We hope to create an environment where healers with multiple levels of experience can benefit from our shared knowledge and experience.

Why not stop by, sign up, and join in one or more of the discussions?

New Blogs

Horde Lion by Altana

• Awlbiste’s Thicket
  From her About Page, it sounds like Awlbiste has leveled and played four Druids, both Horde and Alliance side. Something tells me she knows where I can find Fallen Sky Lake in Ashenvale.
• Feh – The Naked Druid
  Feh is attempting to demonstrate that it’s possible to level a Druid without armor or weapons. Just how much exp can dancing atop a mailbox be worth, anyway?
• LF3M – A Couple’s WoW Blog
  Edgeworth and Kiyomi are a couple living in rural Japan with plenty of time to spend in Azeroth … and to blog about it!
• Tank Like a Girl
  She’s big, she’s mean, and she’s green. She’s a female Orc Warrior and was somehow able to resist naming her character for a She-Hulk reference.

Related Posts

• Blog On, Azeroth … Blog On
• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight