The start of Season 2 Arena brought with it new sets of Merciless Gladiator armor, modelled after Tier 5 armor graphics in presumably more intimidating color schemes. As with Season 1, the Merciless Gladiator Gloves each have a special effect that — at least for many classes — make them a “must have” for PvP. This is not the case for druids, however.

As a frame of reference, here are some of the effects available to the various classes:

• Hunter: Increases the damage done by your Multi-Shot by 4%.
• Mage: Improves the range of your Fire Blast spell by 5 yards.
• Paladin 1: Increases the critical effect chance of your Flash of Light by 2%.
• Paladin 2: Increases the Holy damage bonus of your Judgement of the Crusader by 20.
• Priest: Increases the duration of your Psychic Scream spell by 1 sec.
• Rogue: Causes your Deadly Throw ability to interrupt spellcasting and prevent any spell in that school from being cast for 3 sec.
• Shaman 1: Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield by 8%.
• Shaman 2: Increases the critical effect chance of your Lesser Healing Wave by 2%.
• Shaman 3: Improves the range of all Shock spells by 5 yards.
• Warrior: Hamstring Rage cost reduced by 3.
• Warlock 1: Gives you a 50% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Fear.
• Warlock 2: Gives you a 50% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Searing Pain.

Going down the list, hunters get a 4% damage boost to one of their primary PvP abilities (Multi-Shot), mages get a 25% range increase to an insta-cast nuke (albeit, the benefit is less to Arcane and Frost mages), paladins get a nice crit boost to their primary heal (crit > all for paladin healers), priests get a 12.5% duration increase to their CC ability, rogues get an amazing anti-caster addition to Deadly Throw, shamans get a 25% range increase to all shocks, warriors get a 30% cost reduction to their anti-caster Hamstring, and warlocks get either 50% chance to avoid damage interruption to Fear or Searing Pain.

What do druids get?

• Druid: Reduces the cast time of your Cyclone spell by 0.1 sec.

That’s a 6.67% casting time decrease on the recently nerfed spell, Cyclone. And this lackluster, practically insulting set bonus is the same for all three sets, including ferals who can’t cast Cyclone in the form they rely upon to PvP.

To address this problem, each of the three druid spec-specific sets should have a clearly delineated gloves bonus that is more in line with the potency of that available to other classes. It should be obvious from the gloves bonus alone which spec the item is intended to best serve. Here are some possibilities:

0.1 seconds?!

• Restoration: 10% resistance to dispel of Rejuvenation and Regrowth, 25% resistance to dispel of Innervate, 10% resistance to Silence effects, or 10% bonus to the bloom effect of Lifebloom
• Balance: 33% chance to resist interruption by damage while casting Wrath, -15 seconds on the cooldown of Nature’s Grasp, or an additional 0.5 seconds on the duration of Cyclone (making the final cast last 2 seconds instead of 1.5)
• Feral: -10 seconds on the cooldown of Bash, 1 additional combo point awarded from Pounce, or immunity to Hibernate (say the gloves make their paws too itchy to be put to sleep)

The above suggestions are in line with those bonuses available to other classes and would improve the arena performance of druids from all specs. On the other hand, if our set bonus remains as it is, it will only reiterate the idea that Blizzard expects all druids (feral included) to be little more than Cyclone-spam bots in Arena.

Related Posts

• PTR Report: 4-Piece Set Bonus Changes
• 2v2 and 3v3 Points Increased, Cyclone Buffed (Sorta)
• Silence and Interrupts to Have DR

This article became obsolete as of Patch 2.4. For Innervate optimization techniques relevant as of 2.4, please see 2.4 Mana Regen: Getting the Most out of Innervate.

---

Most long time players of the druid class can remember a time when raiding druids were required to spec 31-points into Restoration, if only to pick up that most priest-coveted of talents, Innervate:

Innervate 4% of base Mana 30 yd range Instant cast 6 min cooldown Increases the target’s Spirit based mana regeneration by 400% and allows full mana regeneration while casting.  Lasts 20 sec.

This requirement was much to the chagrin of our feral brethren and was one of the factors that contributed to the feral spec’s lack of endgame viability or acceptance. It was therefore a much-celebrated blessing when Blizzard made the decision to make this formerly talented-skill trainable by all druids.

Today, most Balance and Feral druids freely bestow their Innervate on the most needful members of their raid, healers whose mana level often determines the success of an encounter. But for a Restoration druid, Innervate is generally reserved for oneself. And with much of the endgame itemization lacking in spirit (upon which Innervate’s mana return is based), many Restoration druids are finding that their ability doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. There are, however, some nice tricks that can help.

Weapon Swap

There are very few druid usable weapons having 15 or more Spirit, and these weapons aren’t always ideal to be used at all times. Luckily, weapons and offhands are the two slots that can be changed even while in combat, and adding a weapon-swap to your Innervate macro can be one of the easiest ways to increase its efficiency. Here are a few weapons that I recommend for this purpose:

• [Serpentcrest Life-Staff]: 27 STA, 27 INT, 46 SPI, 227 +Healing; drops from Mekgineer Steamrigger of Steamvault.
• [Staff of Divine Infusion]: 23 INT, 50 SPI, 194 +Healing; world drop, easily purchaseable for around 50g on the Auction House
• [Nightstaff of the Everliving]: 33 STA, 34 INT, 55 SPI, 348 +Healing; drops from Nightbane in Karazhan. This staff is probably good enough to be used full time, but it’s relatively easy to acquire for any Kara-capable guild and could serve as a weapon swap item far beyond Karazhan.
• [Dathrohand's Ceremonial Hammer]:13 STA, 14 INT, 18 SPI, 227 +Healing, one-handed mace; Drops from Captain Skarloc in Heroic Old Hillsbrad. While the spirit on this item is lower than on the staves listed above, it frees your offhand for a [Draenei Crystal Rod of Spirit], a level 70 green item that has 32 Spirit additional spirit.

Whether you choose a 1-hander or 2-hander, have it enchanted with Mighty Spirit, a +20 Spirit bonus acquired from Honored with Thorium Brotherhood. You can then use an addon such as Evocation2 to automatically change to your highest Spirit weapon or weapon + offhand for the duration of your Innervate.

Alternatively — if you prefer to run with as few UI addons as possible — you could set up a macro to perform your weapon swap:

/cast [target=player] Innervate /equip Nightstaff of the Everliving

Note that the above macro will prevent you from accidentally innervating someone else. To make this macro allow you to Innervate your target when you hold down CTRL, simply change the macro as follows:

/cast [modifier:ctrl] Innervate; [target=player] Innervate /equip [nomodifier] Nightstaff of the Everliving

If you opt for the macro’d weapon swap, you should also create a second button that swaps you back to your original weapon(s).

To determine how much additional mana you will gain from the addition of a weapon or a weapon and offhand item, use the following formula (which assumes you have the 3-point Living Spirit talent):

((SPI * 1.15) / 4.5) * 50

Applying this formula to the weapons listed above:

• [Serpentcrest Life-Staff]: 46 SPI + 20 SPI = 66 SPI = 843 mana
• [Staff of Divine Infusion]: 50 SPI + 20 SPI = 70 SPI = 894 mana
• [Nightstaff of the Everliving]: 55 SPI + 20 SPI = 75 SPI = 958 mana
• [Dathrohand's Ceremonial Hammer] and [Draenei Crystal Rod of Spirit]: 18 SPI + 32 SPI + 20 SPI = 70 SPI = 894 mana

Bangle of Endless Blessings

The [Bangle of Endless Blessings] drops from Warp Splinter, the final boss in Botanica. It can drop in both normal and Heroic modes, but obviously is easier to farm in normal. Botanica is unique in that you can skip any bosses that you aren’t interested in drops from, making this item particularly easy to farm.

Bangle of Endless Blessings Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Trinket Requires Level 70 Equip: Your spell casts have a chance to allow [15 - max(PL - 70,0) / 2]% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec. Use: Increases your Spirit by 130 for 20 sec.

In addition to the amazing proc on this item (approximately once per minute), applying the formula outlined above works out to approximately 1660 additional mana, assuming the druid has all three ranks of the Living Spirit talent. Because trinkets cannot be swapped in during combat, you must plan ahead to have this item equipped if you don’t intend to use it at all times. Then add its use to your Innervate macro as shown below:

/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide() /use Bangle of Endless Blessings /script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show() /cast [target=player] Innervate

The “/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()” and “/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()” lines above are optional but are useful for hiding the “item cannot be used” errors that automatically occur when you don’t have your Bangle equipped.

With only the Bangle and the [Staff of Divine Infusion], you can get an additional 3555 mana back from your Innervate. That’s 500 more mana than a maximized [Super Mana Potion] on every boss encounter (2 if the fight goes much longer than 6 minutes). And all it takes is a few runs through Botanica and a 50 gold Auction House expenditure … plus however much it costs you to get your new weapon enchanted with 20 Spirit.

---

As a reader-suggested addendum, I’m also including discussion of the Masquerade Gown:

Masquerade Gown

The [Masquerade Gown] is a drop from Julianne of Karazhan’s Opera event:

Masquerade Gown Binds when picked up Chest Cloth 194 Armor +34 Stamina +32 Intellect Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases healing done by up to 88 and damage done by up to 30 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Chance on spell cast to increase your Spirit by 145 for 15 secs.

Although the proc rate is unconfirmed, the 145 Spirit works out to about 1297 mana (the 15 second effect would only be effective for at most 7 of 10 Innervate ticks). At first glance, this seems like a substantial bonus. However, while this robe can proc an additional 150 spirit, it has no inherent Spirit of its own. Compare this to the the [Primal Mooncloth Robe] which has 20 Spirit of its own (256 mana returned during Innervate) in addition to the +5% mana regeneration while casting set bonus. (Admittedly, this item is only available to druids who have maxxed tailoring and chosen the Mooncloth specialty.)

Another downside to the Masquerade Gown is that you have to wait for a proc to use Innervate. When you most need it to proc, you’ll be nearly out of mana, and the robe only procs from spellcasting. Finally, unlike a weapon which can be swapped in after Innervate has elapsed or a trinket that can contribute as much over time as the Bangle can, the Masquerade Gown must be worn the entire duration of the fight and the +150 Spirit would really only be useful if it procs around the time you need to Innervate (at other times, it grants 15 seconds of +43 healing assuming Tree of Life + Living Spirit). Still, for all its limitations, this is a great Healing chest if you don’t happen to be a Mooncloth-specialized tailor (it certainly doesn’t hurt that it looks amazing).

Related Posts

• 2.4 Mana Regen: Getting the Most out of Innervate
• Adding Trinkets to Your Macros
• Arrrghhh!!! Trinkets!!!

With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, several healer-oriented, on-use trinkets were added to the game. Unfortunately, using trinkets like these requires a lot of micromanagement, so much so that many players take less advantage of these items than they might otherwise. An addon like Gello’s Trinketmenu is helpful for cycling through multiple trinkets, but it can be difficult to remember to actually use your trinkets so that the addon can do its work. To ensure that you actually use your trinkets, you can add them to a macro:

#showtooltip Lifebloom

/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()

/use 13 (13 = upper trinket; 14 = lower trinket)

/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()

/cast [help] Lifebloom;

Note: The “/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()” and “/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()” lines above are optional but are useful for hiding the “item cannot be used” errors that automatically occur when the trinket you have equipped is on cooldown.

In the above example, trinket use is tied to the Lifebloom spell. I consider this spell ideal since you can easily opt to forego using it in any given fight should you need to save the trinket’s use for an upcoming boss fight. Using it normally, however, will result in your use of a trinket every time one is available. Once the fight is over, Trinketmenu will automatically cycle in the next in the series you have created. Adding a trinket call like this one to one of your heal buttons is an excellent way to get the most return for the inventory slots occupied by multiple trinkets.

On a related note, be sure to check out the Fade! Not just for Priests anymore. article for help staying alive when you have to perform a large burst of healing to keep one or more group members alive.

Related Posts

• Getting More out of Innervate
• 2.4 Mana Regen: Getting the Most out of Innervate
• Arrrghhh!!! Trinkets!!!

Wearers of the Tier 5 helm (or those planning to get the helm from the Season 2 arena set) will be happy to know that there are plans to allow avatar hair to show when wearing this item. Temis of Lightninghoof posted on the Test Realm Forums inquiring about the possibility for both the Malorne helms and Nordrassil headpieces and — surpringly enough — Blizzard QA Hortus responded:

The Nordrassil helms will be fixed in a future patch.

After trying it both ways It was decided by the designers that the Malorne Helms looked best without hair.

Nordrassil Current	Nordrassil Future	Malorne Current	Malorne ???

Edit: It’s being reported on the PTR that the Malorne helms are showing hair, so it’s possible that both may be changed after all when the patch goes live.

Related Posts

• Hortus: Lifebloom Cannot Trigger Nature’s Grace
• PTR Report: Drinking to have Increasing Returns
• Natural Perfection No Longer Triggers from Crits while Sitting

Patch 2.12 will include the start of Arena Season 2. Along with reduced costs for the currently available Arena armor sets, new class armor sets will be made available at the old costs. Just as the Season 1 set was modelled after Tier 4 armor, the Season 2 set is modelled after Tier 5 (sans kilt) with new textures decidedly less “sunny” than their PvE counterparts:

Image courtesy of MMO-Champion.com

Set bonuses for Season 2 will remain the same with the 2-piece set bonus for all three druid sets being +35 Resilience. The 4-piece set bonuses are:

• Merciless Gladiator’s Sanctuary (Restoration): Increases your movement speed by 15% while in Bear, Cat, or Travel Form. Only active outdoors.
• Merciless Gladiator’s Refuge (Feral): Increases your movement speed by 15% while in Bear, Cat, or Travel Form. Only active outdoors.
• Merciless Gladiator’s Wildhide (Balance): Reduces the mana cost of your Moonfire spell by 10% of its base cost.

Related Posts

• PTR Report: 4-Piece Set Bonus Changes
• Season 2 Gloves Lackluster
• Cheetaz R 4 Run