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Phaelia Nasirah Kicks Butt … and Helps Cover Yours, Too!

Published on February 15, 2008 by Phaelia
Community, Items and Equipment
7 Comments

Nasirah of A Tale of Two Druids has recently completed a four five six-part series on pre-Karazhan and Karazhan-level Healing gear, both cloth and leather and including tradeskilled items. This is an incredible resource for any Resto-specced Druid approaching level 70 or for a Feral Druid making the switch to a healing role. I know I’ll be directing questions of this nature to these guides!

  • Idols, Weapons, and Off Hands
  • Cloaks
  • Head and Shoulders
  • Chest, Wrist, Hands
  • Necklaces, Rings, and Trinkets
  • Waist, Legs, and Feet

Thanks, Nasirah!

Related Posts

  • Pre-Raid Gear: Back, Waist, Wrist, Neck, and Fingers
  • The Cloak off My Back
  • Achilles What?
7 Comments
Categories: Community, Items and Equipment

Phaelia Mailbag: Idol of the Raven Goddess

Published on February 14, 2008 by Phaelia
Items and Equipment, Mailbag, Obsolete
14 Comments

I have revised my original opinion on this topic. You can find the updated analysis here: Idol Chatter.


Leighbra of Sentinels (US) writes in with this question:

At the moment, I have 494 Spirit unbuffed. I’m at about 675 fully raid buffed. I don’t have any idea how I ended up with so much Spirit and have been looking at what I can do with my enchants to play with that number, but I’m cheap and don’t like to re-enchant things… I have the [Idol of the Emerald Queen] equipped, and of course Lifebloom is my most commonly cast spell. So, from my Tree of Life aura, in raids, that means about 135ish additional +Healing for the people in my group.

I’m trying to figure out if it would be more beneficial to the guild/raid (not just my healing numbers) for me to be in a group with our tanks and to equip that often discarded [Idol of the Raven Goddess], especially after it gets buffed, than me having the [Idol of the Emerald Queen] equipped. Especially on Gruul, when after 8 growths we tell our DPS to heal themselves, and have all 8/9 healers focus on our two tanks.

Phaelia as a 'Raven Goddess'First of all, great question, especially in light of the upcoming update to our idols. Previously, the [Idol of the Emerald Queen] was indisputably the best one available to us. This is kind of sad considering it’s a blue item from a non-Heroic dungeon (Shadow Labyrinth). It really speaks to the — likely unanticipated — power of Lifebloom. With Patch 2.4, however, the bonus to your Tree of Life aura from the [Idol of the Raven Goddess] will jump from 20 to 44, certainly a marked improvement. And while I hesitate to tell you definitively which Idol will be better for you and your raid, I can help give you a list of considerations to help you decide!

Continue reading ‘Mailbag: Idol of the Raven Goddess’…

Related Posts

  • Idol Chatter
  • ToL Aura Change Buffs Some Spells, Nerfs Others
  • Mailbag: A Deforested Restoration Build?
14 Comments
Categories: Items and Equipment, Mailbag, Obsolete

Phaelia Arrrghhh!!! Trinkets!!!

Published on January 26, 2008 by Phaelia
Analysis, Items and Equipment, Lunar Guidance, Obsolete
52 Comments

This article would have been released faster if I'd spent less time stomping around the apartment screaming about how much I dislike trinkets!I hate them. Which is why I haven’t written about them before now. Maybe it’s their non-traditional effects or the fact that many of them are triggered (which means you have to remember to trigger them). Either way, there’s never been a clear best-of-breed pair of trinkets to me. So I collect them and then I put them in the bank, waiting for the day that another Druid blogger will write this article so I can gleefully dust off the pair she’s enthusiastically endorsed. Right now I’d like to take the opportunity to say that the rest of you Restos are slackers for making me do this. I hate trinkets!

The trinkets I’m going to be looking at are the Eye of Gruul, Fel Reaver’s Piston, the Lower City Prayerbook, Essence of the Martyr, Living Root of the Wildheart, the Ribbon of Sacrifice, Bangle of Endless Blessings, Scarab of the Infinite Cycle, the Alchemist’s Stone, the Pendant of the Violet Eye, and the Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon.

Name and Source Passive Effect Active Effect or Proc Notes

[Alchemist's Stone]
Crafted
Requires Alchemy (350)
15 Intellect, 15 Spirit, 15 Stamina Equip: Increases the effect that healing and mana potions have on the wearer by 40%. To find the value of this trinket, I summed the MP5 values for its Intellect and Spirit with the average MP5 values of various potions.

[Bangle of Endless Blessings]
Warp Splinter
Botanica
Equip: Your spell casts have a chance to allow 15% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec. Use: Increases your Spirit by 130 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown) This was the most complicated trinket to analyze since its value is dependent upon cast frequency, whether you have Living Spirit, your base Spirit, and the use of Innervate once every 6 minutes. Please see the graph at the bottom of this article for more information.

[Battlemaster's Perseverance]
75 Heroic Badges
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 88 and damage done by up to 30 for all magical spells and effects. Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown) It is difficult to place a value on the on-use effect of this trinket. Its rank relative to the others in this list is subject to the dynamics of an individual encounter. Obviously, if you would have otherwise died, it is the best trinket to have used.

[Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon]
Deck of Beasts
Darkmoon Faire
— Equip: 2% chance on successful spellcast to allow 100% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec. MP5 value varies widely on caster Spirit. At 400 Spirit and 3 sec casting time, BD is worth 16.5 MP5. At 700 Spirit and 2 sec casting time, BD is worth 39.5 MP5. See below for graph.

[Essence of the Martyr]
Heroic Badge Reward
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 84 and damage done by up to 28 for all magical spells and effects. Use: Increases healing done by spells by up to 297 and damage done by spells by up to 99 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown) (20sec/2min * 207) + 84 = 118.5 +Healing on average

[Eye of Gruul]
Gruul the Dragonkiller
Gruul’s Lair
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 44 and damage done by up to 15 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Each healing spell you cast has a 2% chance to make your next heal cast within 15 sec cost 450 less mana. This trinket can be considered to proc a free Rejuvenation (the most efficient use of its proc) 2% of the time. So, 2% of the time, you will get an extra 415 mana “back” in caster form (332 mana in Tree of Life). This works out to 20.75 MP5 in caster form or 16.6 MP5 in Tree of Life. At a casting rate of once every 3 seconds, it works out to 13.8 MP5 in caster form or 11.01 MP5 in Tree of Life.

[Fel Reaver's Piston]
Void Reaver
Tempest Keep
Equip: Restores 16 mana per 5 sec. Equip: Your direct healing spells have a chance to place a heal over time on your target, healing 500 over 12 sec. As this trinket’s effect only procs from direct heals, I consider its value to only be the 16 MP5.

[Living Root of the Wildheart]
Hydross the Unstable
Serpentshrine Caverns
— Equip: Procs [Sylvan Blessing] in Tree Form and [Cenarion Blessing] in caster form. At a cast rate of once every 2 sec, the proc will be active 20% of the time. At a rate of once every 3 sec, the proc will be active 14.1% of the time. The effects are different for caster vs. Tree of Life. Caster @ 2 sec = 35.7 +Healing. Caster @ 3 sec = 24.7 +Healing. Tree @ 2 sec = 66.6 +Healing. Tree @ 3 sec = 46.1 +Healing.

[Lower City Prayerbook]
Lower City Revered
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 70 and damage done by up to 24 for all magical spells and effects. Use: Your heals each cost 22 less mana for the next 15 sec. (1 Min Cooldown) If used every cooldown and assuming a cast rate of once every 2 seconds, this trinket is worth 22 mana every 2 seconds … 25% of the time. This works out to 13.75 MP5. At a cast rate of once every 3 seconds, it’s worth 9.2 MP5.

[Memento of Tyrande]
Illidan Stormrage
Black Temple
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 118 and damage done by up to 40 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Each time you cast a spell, there is chance you will gain up to 76 mana per 5 for 15 sec. As with the Bangle, the buff from this trinket should be up an average of 23% of the time, making its average MP5 work out to 17.48 at a cast time of 2.0, 15.2 at a cast time of 3.0.

[Pendant of the Violet Eye]
Shade of Aran
Karazhan
40 Intellect Use: Each spell cast within 20 seconds will grant a stacking bonus of 21 mana regen per 5 sec. Expires after 20 seconds. Abilities with no mana cost will not trigger this trinket. (2 Min Cooldown) I found the average mana regeneration during the 20 seconds the buff is active based upon casting speed. This value can be summed with the MP5 equivalent of the passive 40 Intellect. Final results were 24.38 MP5 @ 2 sec and 18.58 MP5 @ 3 sec.

[Rejuvenating Gem]
Blackwing Lair
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 66 and damage done by up to 22 for all magical spells and effects. Restores 9 mana per 5 sec. — Included for completeness, if you don’t already have this trinket, you aren’t likely to acquire it.

[Ribbon of Sacrifice]
Opera Event
Karazhan
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 73 and damage done by up to 25 for all magical spells and effects. Use: For the next 20 sec, your direct heals grant Fecundity to your target, increasing the healing received by the target by up to 30. Fecundity lasts 10 sec and stacks up to 5 times. (2 Min Cooldown) Unless you’re using Healing Touch extensively (as with a Dreamstate build), this trinket’s on use effect holds little value.

[Scarab of the Infinite Cycle]
Aeonus
Black Morass
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 70 and damage done by up to 24 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Your direct healing and heal over time spells have a chance to increase your spell haste rating by 320 for 6 secs. HoTs do not benefit from the spell haste procced by this trinket.

[Figurine - Talasite Owl]
370 Jewelcrafting
Equip: Restores 14 mana per 5 sec. Use: Restores 900 mana over 12 sec. (5 Min Cooldown) The MP5 on-use effect of this trinket averages out to 15 MP5 (900/(5*60/5)), bringing its total MP5 value to 29.

[Tome of Diabolic Remedy]
Hex Lord Malacrass
Zul’Aman
Equip: Restores 18 mana per 5 sec. Use: Increases healing done by spells by up to 396 and damage done by spells by up to 132 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown) The +Healing on-use effect of this trinket averages out to 66 +Healing.

[Warp Scarab Brooch]
Nexus-Prince Shaffnar
Mana-Tombs (Heroic)
Equip: Restores 13 mana per 5 sec. Use: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 282 and damage done by spells by up to 94 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown) The +Healing on-use effect of this trinket averages out to 47 +Healing.

Prioritizing

From these summarized values and excluding those trinkets irrelevant to the Druid HoT-based style of healing, I would personally prioritize these trinkets in the following way:

Rank Trinket Value
1. [Bangle of Endless Blessings] “Endless” is right! I tried to summarize the sheer awesomeness of this trinket and my table exploded! Please see the addendum at the bottom of this post for math, graphs, and pretty-colored lines.
2. [Alchemist's Stone] 15 Stamina AND
69.25 MP5 when used with [Major Dreamless Sleep Potion]
62.55 MP5 when used with [Fel Mana Potion]
49.25 MP5 when used with [Super Mana Potion]
42.6 MP5 when used with [Mad Alchemist Potion]
3. [Memento of Tyrande] 118 +Healing AND
17.48 MP5 @ 2 sec
15.2 MP5 @ 2 sec
4. [Eye of Gruul] 44 +Healing AND
20.75 MP5 in caster @ 2 sec
16.6 MP5 in Tree @ 2 sec
13.8 MP5 in caster @ 3 sec
11.01 MP5 in Tree @ 3 sec
5. [Tome of Diabolic Remedy] 66 +Healing AND
18 MP5
6. [Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon]* 16.5 MP5 @ 400 SPI and 3 sec
39.5 MP5 @ 700 SPI and 2 sec
7. [Figurine - Talasite Owl]* 29 MP5
8. [Pendant of the Violet Eye]* 24.38 MP5 @ 2 sec
18.58 MP5 @ 3 sec
9. [Lower City Prayerbook]* 70 +Healing AND
13.75 MP5 @ 2 sec
9.2 MP5 @ 3 sec
10. [Rejuvenating Gem] 66 +Healing AND
9 MP5
11. [Essence of the Martyr] 118.5 +Healing on average
12. [Warp Scarab Brooch] 47 +Healing AND
13 MP5
13. [Living Root of the Wildheart] 35.7 +Healing in caster @ 2 sec
66.6 +Healing in Tree @ 2 sec
24.7 +Healing in caster @ 3 sec
46.1 +Healing in Tree @ 3 sec

* The differences between these are marginal and largely dependent upon external factors such as cast speed. Use your best judgment.

Without a doubt, the Bangle comes out on top. It simply blows all the others away. I was shocked to discover this, especially considering that it’s a blue item from a non-Heroic instance. A significant portion of its value comes from its use in conjunction with Innervate, so if you aren’t already doing this … well, I can’t believe you’re reading Resto4Life and not already doing this! I’m strongly considering a follow-up piece to this one that looks at the Bangle in more depth .. and I suspect I may not have a choice in the matter once the incredulous comments start. ;-)


Math

Because not everyone likes math, I’ve separated it out from the comparison portion. Here are some of the fundamentals used to determine the values of these trinkets:

Proc to Restore Mana

The formula to determine the MP5 value of an item that procs a mana restore a certain % of the time is as follows:

MP5 = 5 * (mana restored / (cast frequency/proc rate))

This formula can be applied to the [Eye of Gruul] and applied toward the 415 mana cost of a Rejuvenation when in caster form:

MP5 = 5 * (415 / (2/0.02)) = 20.75

Proc Duration for Items without an Internal Cooldown

The formula to determine the proc duration (in %time) for an item without an internal cooldown is as follows:

t% = 1 – (1 – proc rate)^(duration of buff/casting frequency)

We can apply this formula to the [Living Root of the Wild Heart] (3% proc rate with a proc duration of 15 seconds). This works out to (1 – (1 – 0.03)^(15/2) or 20% of the time, assuming a cast rate of 2.0 seconds. At a cast rate of 3.0 seconds, it drops to 14.1% of the time.

Applying this formula to the [Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon] (2% chance with a proc duration of 15 seconds), we find that the buff should be active (1 – (1 – 0.02)^15/2) or 14% of the time at a cast rate of 2.0 seconds. At a cast rate of 3.0 seconds, this buff should be active 9.6% of the time. I found the additional 70% mana regeneration provided by the Dragon card when the proc was up (100% – 30% from Intensity) and discarded the at least 5.56% of the time you’d be likely to be under the effects of an Innervate. I then graphed the contribution of the Dragon Card to your mana regeneration at values of Spirit ranging from 300-700:

Proc Frequency for Items with an Internal Cooldown

The formula to determine the proc rate (measured in PPM) for an item with an internal cooldown is as follows:

PPM = 60 / ((casting frequency/proc rate) + internal cooldown)

We can apply this formula to the [Bangle of Endless Blessings]. With a 10% proc rate and 45 second internal cooldown, the Bangle would have an average PPM of 60 / ((2/0.1) + 45) or 0.92 PPM, assuming a cast rate of 2.0 seconds. At a cast rate of 3.0 seconds, the PPM would drop to 0.8 PPM. So that we can reuse the method used to determine the MP5 value at varying levels of Spirit for the Blue Dragon, we need to convert PPM into the percent of time that the buff will be active. This formula is simply:

%t = (duration * PPM) / 60

With a 15 second duration and cast frequency of 2.0 seconds, the percent time this buff will be active is 23%. With a casting time of 3.0 seconds, 20%. As with the Blue Dragon, the proc is worthless to us while under the effects of Innervate, so we have to exclude its benefits by multiplying what it gives by (1 – 20/360) or 94%. Graphed against values of Spirit ranging from 300-700:

Of course, the world would be too simple a place if this were the only component involved in determining the value of the Bangle. We also have to take into consideration its on use effect, twice without Innervate and once with Innervate. Luckily, this calculation isn’t too heinous since it’s a flat Spirit bonus of 130 for 15 seconds (149.5 if you have Living Spirit). We can determine the value of a tick of Spirit-based mana regeneration with the following formula:

MP5Spirit = SPI/4.5 * 5/2

We then multiply this value by 4 since there are 4 ticks in 20 seconds:

Mana Return = MP5Spirit * 4

And then multiply it again by 0.3 due to Intensity and given the nature of Lifebloom:

Mana Returnin combat = Mana Return * 0.3

So if we plug in 130 for the value of Spirit, we get 86.7 total mana back when used. With Living Spirit, we’d get 99.7 mana back each use. In a six minute period, we’ll include two of those uses and then a third use in conjunction with Innervate:

Mana ReturnInnervate = SPI/4.5 * 5/2 * 4 * 500%

Without Living Spirit this comes out to an additional 1444.4 mana. With Living Spirit, it’s worth 1661.1. To determine the MP5 afforded by this trinket’s on use effect we consider 2 instances of it without Innervate plus one instance of it with then divide the total additional mana return by the number of ticks in 6 minutes:

MP5w/o Living Spirit = (86.7 + 86.7 + 1444.4) / (6*60/5) = 22.5 MP5

MP5w/ Living Spirit = (99.7 + 99.7 + 1661.1) / (6*60/5) = 25.8 MP5

Since the two components rely upon cast frequency, your Spirit total, and Living Spirit, we end up with a range of possible values.

Download the spreadsheet used to calculate these values.

Valuing the [Alchemist's Stone]

Using the analysis from MP5 vs. Intellect and assuming a fight length of 8 minutes and the 10% bonus from Blessing of Kings, 15 Intellect converts to 2.58 MP5. Applying the analysis from MP5 vs. Spirit and assuming Blessing of Kings, Living Spirit, Innervate, and 80% of the time in FSR, the 15 Spirit converts approximately to 6.67 MP5. The MP5 value from stats alone is therefore 6.67 + 2.58 or 9.25 MP5. The MP5 value of its potion augmenting effect will depend upon the type of potion used but can be determined as:

MP5Potion Increase = Avg. Additional Mana Returned/Ticks in 2 Min

Therefore, the additional MP5 contribution for various mana potions will be:

  • [Major Dreamless Sleep Potion]: 1440/24 = 60 MP5
  • [Fel Mana Potion]: 1280/24 = 53.3 MP5
  • [Super Mana Potion]: 960/24 = 40 MP5
  • [Mad Alchemist Potion]: 880/24 = 33.3 MP5

By summing the MP5 value of its stats and the MP5 increase for various potions, we arrive at the following values:

  • [Major Dreamless Sleep Potion]: 9.25 + 60 = 69.25
  • [Fel Mana Potion]: 9.25 + 53.3 = 62.55
  • [Super Mana Potion]: 9.25 + 40 = 49.25 MP5
  • [Mad Alchemist Potion]: 9.25 + 33.3 = 42.6 MP5

Valuing the [Pendant of the Violet Eye]

As with the Alchemist’s Stone, we can convert the 40 Intellect on this item into MP5. Assuming a fight length of 8 minutes and the 10% bonus from Blessing of Kings, 40 Intellect converts to 6.88 MP5. Since the mana regeneration afforded by each application of the buff within 20 seconds increases in a linear fashion, we can determine the likely number of applications (based on cast frequency) and use the average mana regeneration between the first and last applications:

Avg. MP5 = ((duration/cast frequency) * 21 MP5) / 2

At a cast frequency of once every 2 seconds, the average MP5 value of this trinket while the buff is active would be 105 MP5. At a cast frequency of once every 3 seconds, this value is 70 MP5. If used every cooldown, it is active for 20 seconds out of every 2 minutes or 16.7% of the time. Multiplying this percentage by the MP5 values gives an MP5 of 17.5 with a cast frequency of 2.0 and 11.7 with a cast frequency of 3.0. Adding the MP5 equivalent of its passive +40 Intellect, we arrive at a final value of 24.38 at 2.0 and 18.58 at 3.0.

Related Posts

  • Getting More out of Innervate
  • Omen of Clarity
  • Revaluing Spirit
52 Comments
Categories: Analysis, Items and Equipment, Lunar Guidance, Obsolete

Phaelia Updated Resto Gear Calculator

Published on January 22, 2008 by Phaelia
Community, Items and Equipment
11 Comments

Ahh.... WildheartFlynx of Bronzebeard (US) recently completed an update of Hydrar’s Resto Gear Calculator to include those items made available in Patch 2.3 and has generously offered to make this update available through Resto4Life.com. From the original post on Hydrar’s Resto Gear Calculator:

Hydrar of Uldaman has created an amazing spreadsheet that automatically calculates many healing stats including HP, MP, +Healing, MP5, and tick values for Druid Heals over Time. Possible inputs include “race, gear, set bonuses, gems, meta gems, socket bonuses, talents, buffs, and enchants.”

Thanks, Flynx and Hydrar!

  • Download Hydrar’s Resto Gear Calculator (updated for Patch 2.3)
  • Download Hydrar’s Resto Gear Calculator (original)

Note: I have attempted to contact Hydrar for permission to post the updated version of his gear calculator, to offer him the option to host it himself, or to offer not to share it but have so far not received a response. Should he contact me with a request to not host this updated version, I will willingly remove it.

Related Posts

  • Hydrar’s Restoration Spreadsheet
  • Wearing PvP Gear for PvE Content
  • Community Spotlight or “Stuff to do while Waiting for Server Up”
11 Comments
Categories: Community, Items and Equipment

Phaelia Mana Management

Published on January 8, 2008 by Phaelia
Items and Equipment, Lunar Guidance
32 Comments

For an additional perspective on Mana Management, check out that of Bellwether from 4Haelz! She looks at talents — both Balance and Restoration — additional trinkets not listed here, and group dynamics that can aid your Mana recovery.


One of the design quirks for Restoration Druids is a heavy emphasis on Spirit. This dependence dates back to the days when the once-defining Restoration ability, Innervate, was a 31-point talent. Multiplying its recipient’s out of combat, Spirit-based Mana regeneration by 500%, it has always been best given to a high Spirit spellcaster. With the release of the Burning Crusade, the Tree of Life was introduced, converting 25% of the Druid’s Spirit directly into a +Healing received aura for her groupmates. Living Spirit, a 3/3 talent on the same tier as our Tree of Life form, gives an additional 15% bonus to total Spirit. Like Priests, Druids have a 3-point talent that allows a portion of our Spirit-based Mana regeneration to continue while in combat. Prior to 2.2, this regeneration percentage was only 15%, but has since been increased to 30%, making Spirit an even more attractive stat relative to MP5 for a Restoration Druid. And perhaps one of the most telling changes to our class came when our caster forms’ Spirit-based Mana regeneration formula was adjusted from its previous value of SPI/5 + 15 to SPI/4.5 + 15. And while Priests continue to have the stronger base regeneration formula (SPI/4 + 15), a Druid who specs for the 15% bonus from Living Spirit can close this gap considerably.

So why then do I refer to this heavy emphasis on Spirit as a design “quirk”? Primarily because, unlike Priests, a Druid cannot reasonably expect to take advantage of time spent outside the Five Second Rule. Our HoT-based style of healing — a style which first became effective with the release of the Burning Crusade and the introduction of Lifebloom — dictates that we be casting at least once every six seconds to maximize effectiveness and healing output. And if maintaining a Lifebloom stack on more than one target, you cannot expect to be outside the Five Second Rule at any time. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques and items that can be employed to assist with Mana management.

Potions

Perhaps the most intuitive and readily-available means of restoring Mana is through the consumption of Mana potions, sticky-sweet blue (or green) alchemical concoctions. Use the following guidelines when filling your bags before a raid:

  • Bring a combination of at least 12-15 [Super Mana Potions] and [Fel Mana Potions]. Fel Mana Potions are best leveraged as your final potion for longer fights. (Why?)
  • Bring a few “baby” Mana potions, potions which are the equivalent of [Major Mana Potions]. These come in several easily-obtainable varieties, including the [Unstable Mana Potion] and [Major Combat Mana Potion]. These are perfect for fights where you need a little extra push toward the end but using a larger, more expensive Super or Fel Mana Potion would be overkill (overheal?). They’re also good to use early on in fights where you don’t anticipate needing to use a larger mana potion (but would still have the option to do so two minutes later).
  • Are there any zone-specific Mana potions for this raid? These potions are generally cheaper than those purchased off the Auction House. These include the [Cenarion Mana Salve] (SSC and other Coilfang instances) and [Bottled Nethergon Energy] (Tempest Keep). Ask a Mana-using raidmate if you aren’t sure.
  • Will there be one or more “breaks” during the encounter lasting 12 seconds or more? If so, you might consider the use of a [Major Dreamless Sleep Potion]. While these share a cooldown with other Mana Potions, they return more than any other type (3600). They do, however, take you out of the fight for 12 seconds, and it’s important that your dispellers know not to remove the Magic debuff that’s caused by imbibing one, lest your potions be on cooldown and you not receive the full return. Some examples of fights where you might consider the use of a Dreamless Sleep Potion are Curator evocations and between Tidewalker earthquakes.
  • If you are an alchemist, consider wearing the craftable [Alchemist's Stone] trinket on any fight where you expect to be chain-chugging potions. This trinket will cause all the restorative potions you consume to restore 40% more Mana than they would have otherwise.
  • Alchemists can also craft the [Mad Alchemist Potion]. While the average mana return on these is lower than that of a Super Mana Potion, the components for creating them are much less expensive, and they have a chance to grant you a random elixir buff upon consumption.
  • On fights where you anticipate taking damage as well as needing a mana restore, consider downing a [Super Rejuvenation Potion]. These boysenberry-flavored draughts restore as much mana on average as the Mad Alchemist Potion (and thus, a little less on average than Super Mana Potions) but include an average health restore of 2200. As the average mana difference between a Super Mana Potion and a Super Rejuvenation is 200 and a Lifebloom costs around 220, Super Rejuvenation Potions are best leveraged when you can’t afford the GCD of a Lifebloom cast on yourself or if you cannot afford to wait for the health restore over time.

When possible, consume a potion as soon as you are missing the maximum Mana that can possibly be restored by that potion. It can be helpful to use a unitframes addon (such as Pitbull) that can be configured to display the value of Mana missing.

Flasks and Elixirs

In addition to Mana Potions that directly restore Mana, there are a variety of consumable elixirs and flasks that provide other regenerative benefits:

  • [Elixir of Major Mageblood]: Grants 16 MP5 and lasts for one hour. This is a Guardian Elixir and can be used in conjunction with an [Elixir of Healing Power].
  • [Flask of Mighty Restoration]: For the truly discerning raider, a Flask of Mighty Restoration provides 25 MP5, last two hours, and persists through death. Flasks cannot be used in combination with Guardian or Battle Elixirs, so you can’t use both a FoR and an Elixir of Major Mageblood.

Innervate

Once our spec-definining ability, Innervate is now available to Druids of all talent specs. It remains, however, of greatest benefit to a Restoration Druid since our Balance brethren tend to focus more heavily upon Intellect (I won’t even begin to delve into the politics of trying to pry an Innervate out of the [Grasp of the Moonkin], however). As a Druid, you should be aware of how much Mana will be restored by Innervate under various raid conditions (Blessing of Kings, Divine Spirit), so that you can leverage it in the same way as a potion, using it as soon as you are able to do so without wasting any of the Mana restored. (Because you can continue casting while under the effects of Innervate, you can use it a little before you’re missing the total Mana it will restore). On longer fights, using your Innervate as early as possible will often allow you to use it twice. Netherspite is one example of such a fight.

While the Mana regeneration afforded by Innervate is nice enough on its own, there are a couple of additional techniques that can be utilized to maximize your return, including an automated weapon swap to a high-Spirit weapon and the activation of the on-use effect of the [Bangle of Endless Blessings]. These techniques are detailed in my earlier article on Getting More out of Innervate.

When to share?

Depending on your guild’s policies on such things, it’s not entirely uncommon to hear “Can I get an Innervate?” over voice chat. If you look around and notice that you are the only Druid in the raid, it’s possible that the person is talking to you. So when do you share? Well, first of all if it’s a Paladin or a Shaman, it’s time to hit your self-Innervate macro so you can truthfully respond, “Oh sorry, it’s down.” If it’s a Holy Priest, it’s time to employ some discretion. Things to keep in mind when making the judgment call:

  • Is the person making the request responsibily consuming Mana potions? You should not have to subsidize someone else’s unwillingness to use consumables. Help those who help themselves.
  • Is the person making the request ordinarily a meaningful contributor? Less of an issue in progression-based guilds where dead weight is cut away with regularity, in a casual raiding guild, it isn’t uncommon to receive Innervate requests from healers performing at 60% of your throughput.
  • Bonus points for the person requesting if you know they run an addon such as Evocation2 that will automatically perform a Spirit-based weapon swap, ensuring they get more out of your Innervate.
  • Remember that a Restoration-specced Druid with 3/3 Living Spirit derives close to the same benefit from Innervate as does a Holy Priest. Many Priests aren’t aware of this and may subsequently feel a sense of entitlement to your Innervate. Remember that as a Restoration Druid, you are equally deserving of your Innervate.

In my experience, Shadow Priests are often self-conscious about requesting an Innervate since they’re aware they aren’t among the “Mana essential” healers. However, they frequently serve as Mana batteries for the raid’s healers, and so it’s a good idea to watch their Mana yourself, volunteering an Innervate when possible (or better yet, a Feral raidmate’s Innervate) to ensure that their groupmates continue benefitting from Vampiric Embrace.

As you may have guessed, I’m pretty selfish about sharing my Innervate. To do so requires holding down CTRL and the middle mouse button while panning the camera in and out. Then I have to spin around in my chair three times while reciting the EULA backwards and in Latin. A dialog window then pops up to confirm that I really, actually want to give my Innervate to [Target]. Two possible choices are displayed: “NO” and “HELL NO.” I have to click in between these two buttons on a secret “MAYBE” button. When this happened (the one time), a zone-wide announcement was made (with my blog address, of course) in addition to /rsay, /gsay, and /say. Every decision to give Innervate to a raidmate is one calculated to ensure our raid’s success.

Prioritizing Potions vs. Innervate

Because both can be used early on to ensure their respective cooldowns are available sooner, it’s important to correctly prioritize the use of each. In general, on fights lasting eight or more minutes, use Innervate as soon as it’s possible to do so without wasting any of the Mana returned. For fights that are close to the 8-minute mark, it’s okay to use it a little earlier even if a bit of Mana is wasted if it means that you will have it available to you again near the end of the fight. In any case where you Innervate before consuming a Mana potion, watch your Mana total closely so that you can drink a potion as soon as you can. On shorter (but Mana-intensive) fights, use a potion first since there is little chance of being able to use a second Innervate.

Enchants and Gems

Regemming and enchanting gear is a great (if somewhat expensive) way to shuffle around your stats if you find yourself needing more Mana regeneration on a semi-permanent basis. While far from a complete list, here are a couple that I recommend:

  • Metagems: In addition to passively granting 12 Intellect, the [Insightful Earthstorm Diamond] has a chance to proc a 300 Mana restore on every cast. According to user-submitted information on WoWHead, it’s worth up to 20 MP5 (assuming you are chain casting Lifebloom with little to no latency). Considering a Restoration Druid’s other PvE-oriented meta gem options ([Bracing Earthstorm Diamond]), it’s a great choice for a healer who often finds herself strapped for Mana. Similar to the Insightful Earthstorm Diamond, the Tier 4 2-piece set bonus has a chance to proc a 120 Mana restore on every “helpful” spellcast. With no internal cooldown, an approximate 5% spell cast, this set bonus would yield an additional 36 MP5 assuming that you were casting Lifebloom every 2 seconds.
  • Weapon Enchant: The Spellsurge weapon enchant represents approximately 8 MP5 (assuming 1 PPM) for your entire group. To obtain this, you opt to forego the 81 +Healing enchant, so it’s not the best of tradeoffs unless you know that multiple group members will be using it (5 group members = 40 MP5 for all). Alternatively, there are some addons that will automatically swap your weapons around once Spellsurge has procced, but that’s another article that needs writing…
  • Head-Slot Enchant: The [Glyph of Renewal] can be purchased from Honor Hold/Thrallmar at Revered reputation and affords an additional 7 MP5 as well as granting 35 +Healing.
  • Shoulder-slot Enchants from Aldor and Scryers: Players having chosen the Scryer faction gain access to the [Inscription of the Oracle] at Honored reputation and the [Greater Inscription of the Oracle] at Exalted. Aldor members gain access to the less regenerative [Greater Inscription of Faith] at Exalted reputation.

Other Consumables

Of course, no discussion of Mana management would be complete without a look at the various consumable foods and other items that can enhance your Mana regeneration (either directly or through Spirit):

  • [Superior Mana Oil]: Crafted by Enchanters (but usable by all), Mana Oil can be applied to your weapon to grant 14 MP5 for one hour. Best of all, this effect persists through death (unless you get killed by a roll of paper towels or a Kleenex).
  • [Drums of Restoration]: Available to Leatherworkers, each has 50 charges and affords an additional 25 MP5 to you and your groupmates when used each cooldown. Because these Drums are on a separate timer from Mana potions and affect your group, it’s best to wait until you’ve run through the batch of Mana restored by your first potion. This helps to ensure that the Mana restore is less likely to be wasted since other casters in your group are likely to also be missing Mana.
  • Foodstuffs: [Blackened Sporefish] may initially appear to be a better choice than [Golden Fish Sticks] from a purely mana regeneration viewpoint, but the MP5 of Sporefish is roughly equivalent to the mana regeneration from the Spirit afforded by Fish Sticks. Essentially, you’re choosing between 44 +Healing and 20 Stamina.

Other Items

Jewelcrafting Trinket: Talasite Owl

Jewelcrafters have access to the [Talasite Owl], a crafted trinket that affords 14 MP5 passively and can be activated to grant an additional 900 mana over 12 seconds once every five minutes. This works out to be a total of 29 MP5 if used every cooldown ((900/(5*60) * 5) + 14).

Items Granting Mana Regen while Casting

There are several items that allow a portion of your out of combat mana regeneration to continue for a certain period of time, either passively or through a proc from spellcasting:

  • [Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon]
  • [Primal Mooncloth]
  • [Bangle of Endless Blessings]

You can determine the MP5 value of these items by determining their proc rate (if applicable) and your Spirit-based mana regeneration when outside of the 5SR.

Conclusions

All of these techniques when used together may be overkill. Or they might just free you up to bestow your Innervate on a deserving raidmate (if there is such a thing; personally I think this is just a quaint myth used to scare sapling Restos). But for fights where longevity is key, you can opt into one or more of these methods to ensure you can keep on going when other healers have run bone dry.

Related Posts

  • 2.4 Mana Regen: Getting the Most out of Innervate
  • Fel Mana Potions
  • 2.4 Mana Regen: The Mana Regen Calculator
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Phaelia
Hey, Stormwalker! Great to hear from you! Our little sprout is growing fast, but don’t call him “little” when he’s around or he’s sure to tell you “I a little bit big!” :-)

Stormwalker
I…I…kinda miss you and your Druidic writings of old. Good to see you’re still around, busy with RL. The little sproutling looks a little bigger now! Regards, Stormwalker, of old.
The Sprout(ed) Seed (91)

Triadx
Gratz on the mini sprout!

Keybinding
Oh my gosh! You look beautiful. Is that a new druid in training? Maybe he will rebel and spec feral or oomkin? /cheer!

Bolink
Beautiful! Congratulations! (I know this is just a tad late) .-= Bolink´s last blog ..Druid Defense in Warsong Gulch =-.

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Awesome, dude! Congratulations!

tkc
15 short years till he wants to borrow the car! Cheers!
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Claire Swazey
I have a cat who has learned to open the pet door lock. I’d never have thought…
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Alahnna (Mama Druid)
Over two years later and this is still relevant and so very helpful. I hope you are having a blast with your little sprout, who’s probably running all over the place now. =D

Marc
Hi, Too bad this blog is no longer maimtained. Thanks for you post though. I wanted to address the issue of lefties. I am on, and use the N52TE. I use a trackball with my right hand and the n52TE with my left, no problems.
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