Reader Seperioth of the Venture Co (US) writes in with this question regarding the Leotheras the Blind fight in Serpentshrine Caverns:

My guild is attempting Leotheras the Blind in SSC. When Leo spawns your mirror demon on you, I run into trouble.

I got mine once, and [another Resto Druid] got his once. I got mine down 25% before the raid wiped... and he almost got his killed before the demon killed him.

My question is... as a Resto Druid is there anything I can do to work through this? My DPS as Resto is almost non-existent. I also get squished by my demon's hard hits.

I stack Stamina gems wherever I can and Stamina patches, but I still get smacked down.

So I was wondering if you or anyone you knew had an idea on how Restos should go at this fight.

Since my guild has currently stalled out after taking down Lurker, I haven't seen this fight personally. But I'm not opposed to doing some research. WoWWiki.com describes this ability as follows:

Inner Demon

• Around ~25s into the Demon Form phase, Leotheras will summon an Inner Demon from up to five raid members.
• Inner Demons spawn with ~11,000 health.
• Each Inner Demon can be attacked only by the person it spawned from. You have 30 seconds to kill your own Inner Demon. If Leotheras returns to humanoid form while your Inner Demon is still alive, you will become Mind Controlled for 10 minutes (non-removable except through death).
• Inner Demons hit for very little and can easily be healed through, dealing ~1000 damage melee and casting a 3.5k damage Shadow Bolt (reflectable!).
• Inner Demons take increased damage from Arcane, Nature, and Holy spells.
• Inner Demons will not be summoned on the person with aggro.
• Hunters, Warlocks, Shamans, Mages and even Priests should make sure their pet doesn't get the killing blow; the Mind Control is only prevented if the player's character deals the death blow.

And from the Leotheras the Blind Guide from Equisite Pain of Proudmoore (US):

You have approximately 30 seconds to kill your Inner Demon and it should be the only thing you focus on if you have one. If you do not kill it in the time given then you will be Mind Controlled and the raid will have to kill you. Some classes may find it hard to deal with the Inner Demon. Here are some suggestions for each class:

Resto Druids: Change your weapon and go into Caster form, spam Wrath and Insect Swarm. Have at least +500 spell damage.

So from this, we can infer the following:

• At this level of progression, you're likely to have around 1500 or more +Healing. That converts to the 500 or more of the spell damage that Exquisite Pain recommends. A weapon swap to a high spell damage weapon wouldn't be a bad idea, though, assuming you have access to one that will give you more spell damage than does your healing weapon.
• Wrath spam is better DPS than is Starfire spam (at the expense of lower DPM, but this is an issue of generating burst) and doesn't suffer as much from spellcasting delay woes. You should also keep Moonfire ticking away on your demon and use Insect Swarm if you have it since your Inner Demon is susceptible to both Nature and Arcane damage.
• While the DPS from Thorns isn't stellar, there's no reason not to use it for this fight. Avoid using any form of damage shield for this fight. If your Mirror Image dies due to damage taken from Thorns, you won't get credit for the killing blow and will get mind controlled (ouch!). (Thanks to Dellan for this information!)
• You should not be healing yourself unless absolutely necessary. Even casting a Lifebloom is using a GCD that could otherwise have been spent to cast Wrath, Moonfire, or Insect Swarm. Trust in your other healers to keep you alive.
• Use Barkskin. That will reduce the damage you take by 20%, 40% of the total time you're facing your Demon. If possible, pop it while she's winding up for her first Shadow Bolt. It affects spell damage, too, and will let you get off a few Wrath spells that won't be delayed by incoming damage. For this reason, it's great to use when you already have your DoTs running. (To take full advantage of the spellcasting delay prevention, I'd avoid casting anything insta-cast unless you need to do so to stay alive.)
• If you have a +Healing trinket like the [Essence of the Martyr], use it. The EoM will grant you an additional 100 spell damage for 20 seconds (66% of the fight against your Demon). That's also a 20% increase to your +Damage, assuming you're running 500 spell damage. This works even better if you have a spell damage trinket such as [Xi'ri's Gift].
• Consider using consumables like spell damage food ([Crunchy Serpent] or [Poached Bluefish]) or [Superior Wizard Oil]. These are easy and relatively cheap increases to your spell damage.
• If you're still having trouble, consider speccing into 5/5 Starlight Wrath, shaving 0.5 seconds off the casting time of your Wrath spell. This could represent up to a 25% increase to your DPS output when spamming Wrath and will make your Wrath easier to cast when Barkskin is on cooldown.

These are just some extrapolated strategies from what I've been able to read about the fight. I'd love to hear from a few of you who have actually seen this fight.

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Lilleknurhår of Thunderhorn (US) writes in with the following question:

My guild is doing Zul’aman, and my question is about two of the chest-drops which you get there. One is [Robes of Heavenly Purpose] and the other one is [Shimmer-pelt Vest]. As you know, one is leather and one is cloth. I went to ZA with my guild, and got the “Robes of Heavenly Purpose”, although some of my guildmates couldn’t see the point in a Druid wearing it since it’s cloth and say that the Shimmer-pelt Vest is better for a Druid. Currently I’m wearing my cloth chest, and I’m very happy about it. I dont think I would change to the leather chest even if it dropped … but am I the one who is wrong?

I’m glad that Lille wrote in with this question. I recently picked up the Shimmer-pelt vest myself and have been wondering how it compares to its cloth counterpart. I personally have no qualms about picking up a cloth item if has superior healing stats (although all things being equal, including aesthetics, I’d opt for the leather item). This, of course, does not apply to PvP where our ability to turn into a Bear can be so helpful. So let’s do a quick comparison of these two items.

While the Shimmer-pelt Vest is pretty straightforward, the Robes have 3 sockets (2 blue, 1 yellow) to worry about. My preference for slotting these would be 2 x [Royal Nightseye] and 1 x [Dazzling Talasite] since, as you know, I value mana regeneration. If we assume that we’ve slotted the Robes in this way, here’s the breakdown of what you would gain and lose from opting to wear the cloth chest piece over the leather one:

Obviously the leather chest piece wins out in overall survivability with higher Stamina and Armor. However, since switching to Bear Form is not generally the preferred method of dealing with threat in PvE, I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on the additional armor. Let’s consider the other stats. The leather chest piece affords you an additional 120 mana and 6 MP5 at the expense of 15 Spirit and 27 +Healing. With the recent changes to Intensity and assuming that you have Living Spirit and use Innervate as often as you can during boss fights (where mana is more likely to be an issue), Blizzard’s current item value for Spirit matches up fairly closely to its value for MP5. That is, 2.5 SPI = 1 MP5. That makes the 6 MP5 gained basically cancel out the 15 Spirit lost. That simplifies our comparison to the following:

Now it comes down to your personal preference. If you’re trying to bolster your +Healing value and are happy with the size of your mana pool, I’d say go with the cloth chest. If you want to increase your longevity a bit, choose the leather. Either way, the two items are so close in value that I’d recommend deferring the cloth to Priests first since they don’t have the option to pick up the leather chest. (If the cloth were far and away better than the leather chest piece, I wouldn’t necessarily make this consideration.) Of course, the aesthetics of the cloth chest piece might be reason enough for you to opt for it over the leather chest, but still politeness seems to imply that you would wait for a run where no other cloth wearers need it before rolling. Both chests drop from the introductory bosses of ZA so you’re likely to see plenty of both.

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While Lifebloom remains one of the most powerful spells at a Druid's disposal, its regimented timing causes many players to complain that they find Tree of Life healing mind-numbingly boring. While other healers need only watch health bars, a Tree has to also watch — and allocate screen real estate to — HoT timers (the nerf to trinketed Lifebloom will at least have the benefit of making the loss of a Lifebloom stack less grievous). However, effective utilization of the other spells in a Tree's repertoire (Rejuvenation, Regrowth, and Swiftmend) can help make fights less monotonous by increasing the amount of decision-making necessary to succeed. Reader Bigtoy of Cho'gall (US) generously sent in the following tips for leveraging Tree of Life and its respective spells under different raid conditions:

Tree Tactics In order to be effective, Lifebloom needs to be renewed every six seconds. This means that a Tree can cast three spells from the first Lifebloom to when they need to renew the Lifebloom again. Depending on the situation various patterns are more useful or less useful. Here's a rundown of some of the basic templates you'll run into.

Multiple Tanks (FLK, most 25-man trash pulls) Cast Cycle: LB Tank A, LB Tank B, LB Tank C, LB Tank D. Stack Lifebloom on every tank and keep them rolling and triple-stacked. Could not be more boring or more effective.

Two Simultaneous Tanks (Crystalcore Devestators in TK, 10-man trash) Cast Cycle: LB Tank A, LB Tank B, Rejuv Tank [A or B], Free GCD Keep Lifebloom and Rejuvenation on both tanks. There should be one GCD cooldown available in the cycle that should be reserved for aggressive use of Swiftmend (when possible) or NS/HT (if necessary) without letting the Lifebloom stacks fall off. Note that keeping Rejuvenation up can be swapped out for healing the raid in a 10-man setting.

Save the AoE! (casters during Murlocs, Solarian adds in phase 2, non-elite trash packs) Cast Cycle: Rejuv Caster A, Rejuv Caster B, Rejuv Caster C, etc. This is an exercise in the power of Swiftmend. When the AoE is about to begin, start throwing Rejuvenation on all potential aggro targets (Mages/Warlocks). Usually one of them pulls ahead, pulls aggro and needs healing fast. Swiftmend the Rejuvenation to provide instant healing and a chance for the FoL/LHW/FH to land.

Single Tank Support/Raid Heal (10-man instances, Akil'Zon) Cast Cycle: LB Tank, [Rejuv Tank or Insect Swarm Boss], [Rejuv or LB DPS/Healer] x2 In 10-man instances, the best use of a Tree is to support the main tank with a triple Lifebloom stack and heal the raid. Rejuvenation and Insect Swarm (if the tank wants it, not all do depending on rage needs); both have 12-second durations, which means that alternating them after the renewing Lifebloom means they will always be up. Two GCDs remain in the cycle, which are best used healing the raid. Lifebloom is easily the most efficient topping spell, especially in a 10-man setting where it is less likely to be healed over. But generally I like to use Rejuvenation as it heals for more and allows for a Swiftmend emergency if something goes awry.

Note that this is also what I do on single tank fights in 25-man content. Raid healing is a lot weaker in 25-mans since Chain Heal/Paladins will usually overwrite your HoTs, but a Rejuvenation never hurts and during frantic periods (ex. Vashj, Morogrim phase 2) it provides valuable insurance.

Alternating Tanks (Hydross, Nalorakk, VR) Cast Cycle: Icky Easily our worst situation as trees, as we're given two bad choices. Either we waste mana and GCDs keeping Lifebloom on both tanks all the time, or we ramp up Lifebloom on the switch where we spent 5 seconds doing crappy healing when healing is needed most. The first rule is to first get Rejuvenation up before Lifebloom, so you can Swiftmend if something goes wrong. The second rule is to look at the fight/raid. Is it a 10-man raid where you are responsible for raid healing? Is it a 25-man raid with lots of support? Are the transfers unpredictable? Get a feel for the fight and the raid composition and figure it out. All else being equal, you cannot go wrong keeping Rejuvenation on all possible tank targets, and cycling Lifebloom on the newest target.

General Tree Tips:

Regarding Regrowth With 2/5 Tier 5 and Improved Regrowth talent, it's actually not that bad of a spell to use efficiency-wise, though it will never be a bread and butter spell. Don't be afraid to put it on a single tank fight and let it tick for 27 seconds. It's also a better choice to use as a fast raid heal in 10-man raids than Rejuvenation/Swiftmend, though due to the VERY long HoT period it's best used where there is recurring damage (ex. Eagle boss in Zul'Aman).

Grave Healing Druids make shockingly good grave healers on Morogrim. If they come in topped off, hit each graved individual with a single Lifebloom and Rejuvenation, they'll be topped off by the time they make it back up. If they come in hurt, blow Nature's Swiftness first, Regrowth second, and Rejuvenation/Swiftmend third. Also sometimes you can try and cheat over to help heal the AoE, though be careful that a grave doesn't catch you way out of position.

Zul'jin Healing Regrowth is the ONLY spell you should use during Eagle phase: good cast time and strong total heal while allowing for Swiftmend. Scatter Rejuvenation during the Dragonhawk phase to Swiftmend spike damage from Holy Fire. For Lynx phase the best usage is Regrowth/Swiftmend during the burst damage (for a two second, 5k heal).

As a member of a guild just beginning our progress into Zul'Aman and SSC (we downed Lurker for the first time last week), I'm sure that I will benefit from this advice. As I believe that many readers are in a similar place progression-wise, I hope that some of you will, too! Have any additional raid-specific tips you'd like to share? Please feel free to comment.

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I was flattered to receive this e-mail from Gillir of Stormrage’s Dreaming (who recently completed a very nice update of his site’s aesthetics – be sure to check it out!):

Thought I’d run this question by you and see if you can help. I healed my first heroic the other day and did it as tree, but it was tough. Is it viable to tree-heal in heroics? Or is caster form preferable? Thanks for your help.

This is a pretty common dilemma faced by healing Druids when we first begin running Heroics. On the one hand, our Restoration tree (pun intended) encourages a more passive HoT-based style of healing. This style works great in raids where you can provide a nice buffer against spike damage on one or more targets while still retaining your ability to throw Lifeblooms to raidmates who take only occassional damage. But in Heroics, you will often find yourself hard-pressed to keep up with the high damage output of many of the trash mobs leading up to bosses (in my experience, most of the bosses are only marginally more difficult than their non-Heroic counterparts). For many of these mobs, the +Healing total you’re likely to have when first starting makes it near impossible to keep up through Lifebloom, Rejuvenation, and Swiftmend alone. Access to Healing Touch is a near essential.

Even with the higher +Healing totals you’ll have after your guild has completed Karazhan, there are still some mobs and pulls on which you may not feel comfortable being unable to burst heal. Two examples of these types of pulls are the Bog Giants of Heroic Underbog (hitting for 7.5k on cloth) and the 2-pull of non-CCable Coilfang Defenders in Heroic Slavepens. Of course, with the recent change to shifting so that actions taken which cannot be performed in your current form will cause you to deshift, using Tree of Life should seem substantially less cumbersome than it did before. There’s no harm in starting out a fight in treeform as long as you are able to anticipate needing to use a Healing Touch. And as long as you can unshift should you need to move somewhere quickly.

This isn’t to say that Tree of Life doesn’t have its uses (using it on Blackheart the Inciter in Shadow Labyrinth will keep you from doing anything but walking around, hitting groupmates with your leafy branches); it’s a great mana conservation tool when you don’t need to move around, decurse, or use Healing Touch. But you shouldn’t even feel slightly bad about not being able to leverage it well in Heroic instances, especially when you’re first starting.

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This is a fun question that was sent in by Carlvonlinné of Skullcrusher (EU), author of the new blog called Carl the Tree blog. Carl writes:

Which is your favourite tank? (class)

I guess I would have to say a Bear is my favorite tank for 5-mans because I get 2x the Innervate lovin’, and he can help supplement my lack of a normal resurrection spell, making things easier on my group if things were to when things go wrong. It’s nice that Druids have such great synergy together, even especially when we’re different specs. My second favorite tank is the Warrior since they tend to mitigate damage better than do Paladins. Of course, Paladins hold aggro incredibly well, but I group with some great Warriors where aggro is rarely an issue. A Paladin might be considered the ideal tank for a Druid healer, however, as their ability to resurrect can make up for our deficiency. In raids, a Druid can be harder to heal since they tend to get their fur crushed, but I’m really not one to complain (over voice chat) about who is tanking for any given encounter.

Thank you for the question, Carl! What about you guys? Do you have any tank preferences and, if so, why?

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