Note: As the Tree of Life aura was subsequently increased to a 6% bonus, this post is no longer relevant.

As briefly mentioned and discussed in my previous post, Blue: Changes to Buffs and Debuffs, a significant change is being made to the way that Tree of Life aura will function in Wrath of the Lich King. It will no longer afford benefit based on the Druid’s total Spirit but instead will function in the same was as a Paladin’s Improved Devotion Aura, providing a flat 3% increased healing to the raid. Although it was stated that the values listed were considered maximally-talented, it remains unclear whether 3/3 Improved Tree of Life will be required to meet the 3% bonus or whether it will afford an additional .45% bonus. Either way, this change will affect all spells based on their +Healing coefficient (or their corresponding spell power coefficients).

The TBC Tree of Life aura was a flat +Healing bonus that scaled with Spirit. It’s value decreased as +Healing increased, assuming Spirit stayed constant. Assuming they increased at the same rate, the value stayed the same. The WotLK aura is a multiplicative bonus that will instead scale with +Healing.

To help better explain the significance of this change, let’s consider two spells called DirectHealage and Hawtness. At your current +healing, DirectHealage derives 25% of its total amount healed from +Healing while Hawtness derives 75%. If you were to boost your +Healing by 8%, DirectHealage would get a 25%*8% = 2% total boost. Hawtness, on the other hand, would get a 75%*8%=6% total boost. With the new aura, both spells would simply get 3%.

This means that spells with high coefficients (Lifebloom, Chain Heal) will be nerfed by this change while spells with lower coefficients (Nourish, Regrowth) will be buffed. We can use the following formula to determine how much Spirit would be required under the current Tree of Life aura  (25% of Spirit converted to +Healing) to match the new aura’s bonus:

Spirit = 4 *(((+Healing * +Healing coefficient) + base healed) * aura bonus) / +Healing coefficient

By applying this formula to the 3% and possibly 3.45% auras and using numbers previously determined in Direct Heals in Wrath, we can graph these values of Spirit at increasing values of +Healing.

Assuming you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 Spirit and 2000 +Healing at the conclusion of TBC, this change represents a nerf to triple-stacked Lifebloom and Chain Heal – two spells with the highest +Healing coefficients – and a buff to both Nourish and Regrowth. Although the base amount healed is also a determining factor, you can generally expect heals with higher coefficients to have been reduced in effectiveness by this change while those with lower coefficients to have been increased.

Related Posts

• Direct Healing in Wrath
• MP5 vs. Healing
• Nordrassil Raiment and Regrowth

So Phae Phae is leveling a second Druid. For a class as versatile as ours, this happens a lot. Take, for instance, my friend Lardbutt on Lightbringer: he leveled a second Druid as Alliance both to try out the Alliance and to try out…Balance. I find it odd that we do that. I’ve even met players that have one Druid of each spec. I suppose that could be an indictment of the supposed versatility our class enjoys, but I think there’s more at work here, something a bit more…pragmatic.

See, I think that many of us manage impressive primary roles with our mains, those Druids whose spec is most familiar to us and in which we’ve invested so much time, loot, and interest. Additionally, our guilds often rely on us to continue with what we’ve made our main focus.

Phae Phae is one of our best healers. As such, there is vested interest in her remaining Restoration. When she logs on, we all know what to expect with her. The same goes for me: when I log on, people know I’m going to be able to tank for them. Additionally, the dearth of roles seems to have fallen from healers to tanks over the last year or more (ironic given that Druids and Paladins are MUCH better tanks than they used to be, thus our tanking pool includes far more people than it once did), meaning that though i wanted to try Restoration desperately the last few months, I’ve not had the opportunity to do so…I’m needed doing what I do.

You’re probably thinking, "Don’t be a dumbass, go do dailies. Spend 50 gold per respec. Collect multiple sets." Well that’s great in theory, but for those of us that really focus on our primary role, there’s often some factor locking us in, even if it’s just peer pressure or guild expectations. Alts can be a way to break away from that and give something else a shot. Besides, there’s little like leveling a spec to help show you the ins and outs of it. I won’t whine about playtime. Or did I do just that? Ah well.

After all that incoherent rambling, I bet you expect this post to go somewhere, right? Right? Well, I suppose I owe you that at least. Phaelia has asked what talents she should be taking and in what order and making a general pest of herself. Thus, here’s a little leveling talent primer that’s certainly open to discussion.

We all know we get our first point at 10. Like most other classes your initial expenditures will feel underwhelming but are still crucial to your progression.

So there you have it, a self-important list of things to pick up while questing as a Cat and instancing as a Bear. It isn’t the Dire Cat thing I mentioned last time. Sue me. I think better minds are at work on it already.

Related Posts

• Talent Spec: Leveling Restoration/Balance
• Gearing for Arenas
• Innervate and the Arcane Mage

Given unlimited mana, an Arcane Mage is capable of sustaining the highest single-target DPS in the game. An Arcane Mage relies primarily upon the spell Arcane Blast, a spell that only gains viability with the 2-piece T5 set bonus that increases its damage by 20%:

Arcane Blast is unique in that it applies a debuff to the caster that simultaneously increases its casting speed and mana cost. At three applications, the base casting speed is reduced to 1.5 seconds (from 2.5) and its mana cost is increased by 225%. With a full stack of Arcane Blast, an Arcane Mage is capable of spending more than 2000 MP5. Obviously, this isn’t sustainable over the course of an entire boss fight and, at some point, Mages end up having to scale back the use of Arcane Blast in favor of a less expensive, lower output spell (such as Frostbolt or Arcane Missiles). However, Innervate can be used to postpone a Mage’s “burnout” point, increasing his DPS dramatically.

With the changes to mana regeneration in Patch 2.4, all casting classes use the same formula for determining their base mana regen. But while Druids and Shamans share the same formula, Shamans don’t possess a talent like Intensity, making Intellect- and Spirit-based mana regeneration less attractive. At 60% regeneration while casting via Mage Armor and Arcane Meditation, an Arcane Mage effectively derives even greater benefit from increasing his Intellect and Spirit values. In fact, you will often find Arcane Mages sacrificing +spell damage and +spell crit in favor of more Spirit or Intellect. Taken together, these factors make the Arcane-specced Mage an ideal candidate for receiving Innervate. And if you still happen to have any doubt about Blizzard’s intentions for the Mage as a Spirit-driven spellcaster, take a look at these two talents rumored to be in the WotLK alpha:

Potent Spirit: Increases your spell critical strike rating by an amount equal to 15% of your total Spirit.
Student of the Mind: Increases your total spirit by 10%.

Mages: Asking for (and Receiving) an Innervate

It’s important to coordinate the use of Innervate to avoid two people giving it to the same person simultaneously. Not only does the effect not stack, but even if it did, it might actually be overkill (restoring more Mana than can be consumed in twenty seconds). Ideally, a Feral Druid should be assigned to give her Innervate to each Arcane Mage. Many encounters provide this opportunity, even to a Feral who is tanking or off-tanking, though it may be necessary to be aware of transitions and aggro changes .

If a Feral Druid isn’t available to give away her Innervate, you can instead call upon a Restoration or Balance Druid. However, in this case, the Arcane Mage should try to burn through as much of her mana as possible so that Innervate can be used early, giving the Restoration or Balance Druid the opportunity to use her own Innervate six minutes later in the fight if it proves to be necessary. On fights where it’s valuable to really pour out the DPS, a Restoration or Balance Druid can bestow an early Innervate, and a Feral Druid can give hers later.

Whether a Feral, Restoration, or Balance-specced Innervate, it’s a good idea to create a macro that whispers your assigned Druid, politely letting her know that you’re ready for an Innervate when it’s convenient to do so. For example:

/tell Currant ** When possible, I could use an Innervate. Thank you. **

Try not to allow your mana reserves to run dry before asking, just in case it’s not possible for the Druid to stop what she’s doing immediately to Innervate you; this is particularly likely if your Feral Druid is off-tanking and won’t be free until a transition or if the Restoration Druid is maintaining Lifebloom stacks on multiple tanks. Remember to be understanding if a Restoration or Balance Druid refuses you her Innervate, particularly if she’s died early and needs it to replenish her own mana stores or if the fight is known to be especially mana intensive for healers (though the latter case should be discussed prior to an encounter).

One thing to keep in mind as an Arcane Mage is that, unlike a healer, you can burn through a lot more mana in twenty seconds if you make a concerted effort to do so. If you’re spending mana at a rate of 2000 MP5 or more, it’s generally possible to get the full value of an Innervate as early as 80% mana. Watch your typical mana expense when you’re really pushing yourself and adjust accordingly.

If you are lucky enough to be the recipient of Innervate, be a responsible consumer and do all you can to maximize its benefits. Use the techniques described in Mana Regen 2.4: Getting the Most out of Innervate to determine what your gear-appropriate weapon swap should be and swap to it automatically.

Druids: Giving away Your Innervate

To avoid two Druids giving an Innervate to the same person simultaneously, announce when you’re giving your Innervate to someone else, both to your raid and to the lucky recipient (so that she can perform any necessary weapon swaps). Such a macro might look like this:

/cast Innervate
/rsay ** This Innervate brought to %t by Resto4Life.com! **
/script SendChatMessage(“Innervating you!”, “WHISPER”, nil, UnitName(“target”));

You can modify the above macro so that it casts Innervate on yourself by default but casts it on your target if you hold down CTRL:

/cast [mod:ctrl]Innervate;[target=player]Innervate;
/script if IsControlKeyDown() then SendChatMessage(“** Innervating you!”,”WHISPER”,nil,UnitName(“target”));SendChatMessage(“** Innervating %t!”,”RAID”,nil,nil);end;

Naturally, giving your Innervate away puts you at risk for needing it later yourself and not having it available. Do your best to be conscious of when you think you’ll need it, and work the details out ahead of time so that the Mages in your raid know whether they should conserve their Mana. But keep in mind that, even if giving away your Innervate forces you to use one or more mana potions, it’s probably worth it on DPS-sensitive encounters (assuming that the potions are enough to allow you to continue healing). And, should you need further convincing to pry an Innervate from your waggly little fingers, here is an (only partially self-motivated) example from Mr. Phae:

With 1200 spell damage and a 20% base spell crit, Frostbolt spam does about 810 DPS for an Arcane Mage, while Arcane Blast is about 1385 DPS. So every extra second an Arcane Mage can spend spamming AB will do about 576 extra damage. The base mana cost for Frostbolt is 246 after talents for a 2.5 second spell versus 612 for Arcane Blast for a 1.5 second spell (factoring in the value of Arcane Concentration), so each extra second of AB spam costs 310 extra mana, and every extra point of mana you give an Arcane Mage will cause 1.86 extra damage. For a typical Arcane Mage with 650 Intellect and 350 Spirit raid buffed, an Innervate would provide 8323 mana, so you can think of it as an insta-cast, zero threat nuke that does 15,485 damage.

And hey, at least you aren’t feeding a Holy Priest more mana with which to outheal you!

For a Mage’s point of view, check out Do you dare to ask for innervates? by Larisa of Larisa’s Corner!

Related Posts

• Revaluing Spirit
• MP5 vs. Spirit
• Intensity to Become 30% Regen while Casting

Prior to Patch 2.4, Druids were best served by switching to a high Spirit weapon during Innervate, the idea being to boost Spirit-based mana regeneration as much as possible during that 20 second period (the [Bangle of Endless Blessings] was recommended for the same reason). Now that Intellect and Spirit both affect mana regeneration, however, Innervate frequently returns more mana than we have. In this case, use of the Bangle becomes overkill, and a high-Intellect weapon is preferable since it temporarily increases the size of our mana pool. Of course, which group you fall into depends on your current balance of stats, and you can use the Mana Regeneration Calculator to easily determine which option you should pursue: Bangle + High Spirit Weapon or No Bangle + High Intellect Weapon. For the sake of completeness, let’s look at both options.

Spirit-Based Swap

Under this strategy, you’re trying to temporarily boost your Spirit during Innervate so that your regeneration rate increases, bringing the amount of mana returned closer to your total mana pool. If you’re just starting out in your healing kit, you’ll probably end up in this group. The [Bangle of Endless Blessings] is among the best mana regeneration trinkets available to you due to it’s use granting an additional 130 Spirit for 20 seconds. Here are a few of the high Spirit weapons available at your likely level of progression:

• [Staff of the Ashtongue Deathsworn]: quest reward from Akama’s Promise in Shadowmoon Valley
• [Ameer's Judgement]: Quest reward from Nexus-King Salhadaar in Netherstorm
• [Ironstaff of Regeneration]: drops from Exarch Maladaar of Auchenai Crypts
• [Serpentcrest Life-Staff]: drops from Mekgineer Steamrigger of Steamvault.
• [Staff of Divine Infusion]: world drop, easily purchasable for around 50g on the Auction House
• [Nightstaff of the Everliving]: drops from Nightbane in Karazhan
• [Rod of the Blazing Light]: drops from Vexallus in Heroic Magister’s Terrace; 3 gem slots
• [Ethereum Life-Staff]: drops from High Astromancer Solarian in Tempest Keep; more than likely overkill at this level of gear
• [Dathrohand's Ceremonial Hammer]: 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 additional Spirit.

Whether you choose a 1-hander or 2-hander, have it enchanted with [Mighty Spirit] and fill any available gem slots with [Sparkling Star of Elune]. Assuming you have the [Bangle of Endless Blessings], equip it before any fight where you think you might be pressed for mana. Including a weapon swap, your Innervate macro should look something like this:

/use Bangle of Endless Blessings
/cast [target=player] Innervate
/equip [High Spirit Weapon]
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear();

Note: A more convenient option for Spirit-based weapon swaps is the use of the now out-of-date Evocation2 addon. It will swap to your highest Spirit-based weapon or mainhand/offhand combination while you’re under the effects of Innervate then swap back once the effect expires. Users of the Outfitter addon can use the walkthrough provided by Walkere of Rolling Horde to set up a custom outfit that activates automatically during Innervate.

To give yourself the option to share your Innervate with another player without using the Bangle or swapping your weapon, you can add a required modifier. Your macro would then look something like this:

/use [nomodifier] Bangle of Endless Blessings
/cast [modifier:ctrl] Innervate; [target=player] Innervate
/equip [nomodifier] <High Spirit Weapon>
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear();

Assuming you don’t use an addon like Evocation2, you’ll also want to map your regular weapon or weapon and offhand to a separate key so that you can swap back once Innervate elapses. To determine how much additional mana you’ll gain from the above swap, check the Mana Return from Innervate field on the Mana Regen Calculator at your current values then again at the value of Spirit you’ll have once you’ve made the swap (be sure to include the effects of Living Spirit, if applicable).

Intellect-Based Swap

Under this strategy, you’re trying to temporarily boost the size of your mana pool to eke out as much mana as possible from your Innervate (note, however, that Intellect will also boost your rate of regeneration). It works differently than the Spirit-based swap since it isn’t necessary to have the Intellect weapon equipped during the effects of Innervate but between the time where your mana begins to approach full until you’ve spent all the additional mana gained. You can opt to tie a weapon swap to your Innervate macro or — to maximize efficiency — you can micro-manage the weapon swap yourself by performing the swap near the point where Innervate is about to completely fill your mana bar and keeping an eye on when it will be "safe" to switch back. The addon CasterWeaponSwapper can assist with this as it has a setting for "high mana" swapping.

There are a ton of high Intellect weapons available post-Karazhan (where you’re more likely to be needing an Intellect-based swap) so I won’t list them here. Instead, I’ve created a set of filters through WoWHead to generate a list of weapons to consider:

• High Intellect weapons

Whether you choose a 1-hander or 2-hander, have it enchanted with [Major Intellect] and fill any available gem slots with [Brilliant Dawnstone] or [Brilliant Lionseye]. If you opt to swap your weapon on the use of Innervate, your macro might look something like this:

/cast [target=player] Innervate
/equip <High Intellect Weapon>

To determine how much additional mana you should expect to get from performing an Intellect-based weapon swap, find the amount you expect your Intellect to increase by when you change weapons and multiply it by 15. So, for instance, if I were to swap from the [Ethereum Life-Staff] with 44 Intellect to a full-gemmed and enchanted [Staff of Dark Mending], I could expect an additional 57 Intellect or 855 Mana.

Related Posts

• Getting More out of Innervate
• 2.4 Mana Regen: The Mana Regen Calculator
• 2.4 Mana Regen: The Basics

After further consideration as a consequence of some coefficient testing, I am revising my original opinion on this comparison, originally published in February, 2008.

Leighbra of Sentinels (US) wrote 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.

Most people consider the [Idol of the Emerald Queen] to be one of the best healing idols available. This misperception is likely based on a misunderstanding of how its tooltip reads:

While the above tooltip seems to imply that we will get 88 +Healing from this idol, we can employ the technique outlined in Method: Coefficient Testing to determine its actual +Healing value. To start with, I parsed the values for the total +Healing to the HoT portion of Lifebloom under varying conditions:

• No Idol, Tree of Life: 1624
• Emerald Queen, Tree of Life: 1670
• Raven Goddess, Tree of Life: 1654
• Naked (0 +Healing): 316

To find the amount of +Healing actually afforded by each, we can use the following formula:

From the above formula, we can determine that the [Idol of the Emerald Queen] affords 67 +Healing and the [Idol of the Raven Goddess] affords 44 +Healing. Taken at face value, you might think the Emerald Queen superior, but remember that the Raven Goddess affects not only all your spells (Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Swiftmend) but all the spells of healers healing members within your group. With the exception of fights where you will roll Lifebloom stacks on 3-4 tanks you’re not grouped with, the [Idol of the Raven Goddess] is the superior choice. Outside of such a unique circumstance, you’re choosing between 24 +Healing to your Lifebloom vs. 44 +Healing to all of your other spells and the spells of other healers in your raid. Of course, if given the option and assuming you make frequent use of the spell Regrowth, the [Idol of the Crescent Goddess] is the one I would recommend as it affords nearly a 10% mana cost reduction to Regrowth.

Related Posts

• Mailbag: Idol of the Raven Goddess
• 2.4 Mana Regen: Regrowth as the New Raid Heal?
• ToL Aura Change Buffs Some Spells, Nerfs Others