This quote from Megan of the Out of Mana blog was just too good not to share:

And I’ll say this once, I’ll say it again — against DOT heavy teams who rush the tempo or even Bloodlust/Heroism gib teams in Blade’s Edge, powering a Tranquility underneath the Blade’s Edge Bridge while the fighting goes up on top tastes so good it should be packaged and sold next to Bacon.

Am I the only Durid (the Druid equivalent of “Huntard”) who hasn’t figured out how to make this work, yet? I once tried this in a 5v5 and watched helplessly as my four teammates were turned into so much guildmate-flavored paste. And were subsequently eaten by the 5-year old playing a Warlock on the opposing team. He was alone, too.

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Force of Nature is the 41-Point Balance talent that’s popular to use against casters for the damage-based spell delay they can provide:

Many Balance Druids complain, however, that the Treants summoned are often ineffectual since they can’t be directed via a pet bar like the one used by Frost Mages to control their Frost Elemental (as it is, you target someone and summon trees onto them). If your target dies before the 30 second duration has elapsed, they simply stand around looking like so much shrubbery, a rather disappointing outcome for a 41-point Balance talent.

Apparently, the talent is more than a little buggy. A Horde Moonkin summoned his trees onto me in Alterac Valley earlier this week. His little tree buddies proceeded to follow me around, not attacking, looking a lot like my own personal retinue of plantlife. I’d like to think that it was poetic justice for one Druid attacking another (Why would trees want to hurt me? After all, I’m a Tree, too!), but that’s easy for me to say since I’m specced Restoration and the extent of my “attacks” can be summed up as “Moonfire Spam.”

I love you, you love me, we’re a happy group of Trees …

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Today’s Dark Legacy comic, while hilarious, illustrates an important aspect of Druid Arena play: staying out of line of sight of your opponents. This concept applies to more than just Orc Mages, however. Staying out of line of sight can protect you from Warlock Fear, Warrior Intercept, or Mage … Druid-Explode. Luckily, two out of the three Arenas provide different geography that can help you remain out of line of sight of your opponents so that you can avoid being insta-gibbed long enough to heal your partner.

Perhaps the mosily easily conceptualized, the Nagrand Arena features four pillars that are wide enough to allow you to position yourself on one side with a bit of leeway to run in the opposite direction of your opponent, keeping him (it’s almost invariably a him ) at bay. In the Blade’s Edge Arena, you can use the pillars on either side of the bridge to the same effect. Running a short ways down either ramp will also break line of sight. The Ruins of Lordaeron are a bit trickier, and I haven’t exactly figured out the appropriate use of the sarcophagus in the middle, but Hafu seems to have a good handle on it, so be sure to check out her video if you haven’t already.

From the PvP videos I’ve seen, many of the best Druids are able to angle their camera in such a way that they can keep a view of their opponent, allowing them to easily anticipate the direction they need to run. I am terrible at this! I just can’t manage strafing and rotating my camera at the same time. I’ve discovered, however, that if you turn on enemy nameplates (by pressing “V”) it’s much easier to observe their movement since the plates show through pillars! This way I don’t have to maneuver my character and my camera at the same time, all while monitoring my partner’s health.

Dark Legacy Comics are skillfully written and illustrated by Arad Kedar. Be sure to check them out!

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Ah, Fear. That lovely ability that endears Warlocks to all other players. As a 2v2 Arena player, I spend the majority of matches against X + Warlock trying desperately to stay out of LoS of the Warlock so that I’m able to retain control of my character. As annoying as fear is, something I hadn’t considered when expounding upon the inferiority of Mark of the Wild was that the 25 base resistance is actually enough to grant 5% resistance.

According to WoWWiki.com, the formula for determining spell resistance is:

Average Resistance

= (Target’s Resistance / (Caster’s Level * 5)) * 0.75

Assuming your opponent is level 70:

(25 / (70 * 5)) * 0.75 = 5.3%

With 5/5 Improved Mark of the Wild (which you probably won’t have if you PvP):

(33 / (70 * 5)) * 0.75 = 7.0%

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Keep in mind that this resistance does not apply to abilities like Intimidating Shout, only those spell-based varieties of fear from the Shadow and Nature schools of magic: Fear, Howl of Terror, Psychic Scream, and Scare Beast. Nor do the Resistances granted by Mark stack with those conferred by other classes’ Auras, like the Paladin Shadow Resistance Aura which grants a 15% resistance to Shadow-based fears. Of course, in 2v2 you’re pretty unlikely to be paired with a Paladin, and if you were, I don’t imagine you would run into many Warlocks at the Rating that would likely result.

Note: For an additional 3.2% resistance to Shadow-based fears that can’t be chomped by a dastardly Felhound, pick up the Shadow Resistance enchant for cloaks.

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Luarana of Feathermoon writes:

I am a full Restoration Druid and I very rarely PvP. While watching your blog over the past few months I have realized how wrong I was about Resto Druids and PvP, and I would love to get started in an Arena team! I am using your blog for the main re-building of my character for days I’m not in Karazhan; All the tips & tricks, Talents, etc. One thing I’m not sure what to do, is about my gear. I think it would be fantastic if you could some how post about what type of gear for a resto druid in arena. I am pretty sure I don’t want to stick with all my healing gear, for example, but I don’t want to lose all the healing bonuses, and such.

For a great list of starter Arena gear by slot, Mookysolo’s Arena Guide just can’t be beat. I wouldn’t presume to think I know more than he does, but I will share what I have learned are some good general guidelines to follow for PvP gear!

Cloth is for Tissues

Which is what you’ll need if you continue wearing cloth armor in PvP. If you’ve been healing primarily in PvE, you probably have a fair number of cloth pieces. You’ll want to replace these pieces with something made of leather as soon as possible. As a Restoration Druid, you’ll often find yourself retreating to the mitigation of Bear Form when attacked by melee (Rogues, Warriors, Feral Druids, Retribution Paladins, or Enhancement Shamans), so every bit of armor counts!

Before I was able to replace my cloth gear with leather healing items, I even wore two pieces of Heavy Clefthoof. While these items have no +Healing, Intellect, or MP5 on them, they do have incredibly high armor values and just beg to be slotted with +12 STA Solid Stars of Elune. Don’t feel bad about investing in these items as they’ll serve you well should you ever decide to give Feral a try (Heavy Clefthoof is generally regarded as a great starting set for Bear tanks just hitting 70). Leatherworkers also use these recipes to raise their skill so they shouldn’t be too expensive.

Battlegrounds

Don’t discount the value of Battlegrounds. They’re a great source of PvP-oriented items and offer items for slots that Arenas do not. Your first acquisition should be the Medallion of the Alliance, popularly known as the “PvP-trinket.”

The Medallion will cost you 16983 Honor Points. There is a less expensive version called the Insignia of the Alliance, but it’s on a longer cooldown (5 minutes versus 2) and doesn’t have the 20 Resilience that the Medallion has. In my opinion, you’re better off saving toward the Medallion than spending 3300 Honor on an item you’ll eventually replace.

After you’ve purchased the PvP trinket, the best piece to acquire from Battlegrounds are the Veteran’s Kodohide Boots:

I recommend getting the boots first because leather +Healing boots are hard to find, and feet are one of slots with the highest armor yield (your other options include bracers and belt, both of which typically have lower armor values). Getting these boots will also justify paying someone to enchant them with Boar’s Speed, an enchant that grants +9 Stamina and an 8% run speed increase.

After the Boots, what you pick up is really up to you. Be sure to replace any of your cloth pieces first, though. The bracers are a good choice since it can be difficult to find healing bracers that aren’t cloth.

Arena Gear

Because the seasonal Arena gear is built on Tier 4 and Tier 5 points, you will likely find pieces that are upgrades for both PvE and PvP, especially if you don’t rely heavily upon Spirit (a statistic that is thankfully absent from our Arena sets) and if your guild isn’t much further than Karazhan in terms of progression. I recommend picking up the pieces that are PvE upgrades first, followed by those that would be the largest upgrades over what you currently wear for PvP.

For many classes, the Arena gloves provide must-have bonuses, but the Druid bonus is a measly 0.1 seconds off the cast time of Cyclone, so don’t feel like you need to pick those up first. On the other hand, our 4-piece set bonus (15% speed increase in Cat, Bear, and Travel forms) is so good, I’m surprised it isn’t a class feature of level 20 Warlocks. Get four pieces of the current seasonal set as quickly as you can for a huge boost to your survability, both through mitigation and avoidance.

You’re No Melee

So don’t act like one! A Restoration Druid benefits less from a weapon upgrade than does a melee class like Rogue or Warrior. In the beginning, you’ll want to focus on raising your defenses. Arena weapons — while often superior to those available in PvE — will avail you little in your quest to stay alive long enough to do your job. At the same time, they’re the most expensive items available. Pick up a PvP weapon only after you’re comfortable with where you are Armor wise.

Resilience, Stamina, and Armor or “Dying Less Quickly”

In general, any item you see with Resilience on it is likely to be considered “PvP-oriented” item. You’ll want to get your Resilience up as quickly as you can as it’s one of the stats that can limit your Arena progression. Obviously, the Battlegrounds and Arena gear will be your best source of items with Resilience on them, but there are a few exceptions:

• Resolute Cape: with 349 Armor, 30 Stamina, and 21 Resilience, this cape is an amazing addition to any Druid’s PvP set. When shifted into Bear Form, this item will give you 1745 Armor (1920 Armor if you have 3 points in the Thick Hide Feral talent). This is a crafted item requiring a Nether, 10 pieces of Primal Mooncloth, and 12 Primal Earth. The downside to this item is that it can be very hard to find a tailor with the recipe (an epic world drop) so expect to spend some time searching.

  Resolute Cape Binds when equipped Back Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 21.

  A cheaper, dropped alternative to the Resolute Cape is the Thoriumweave Cloak which has 390 Armor and 35 Stamina (but no Resilience). This item drops from Mechano-Lord Capacitus in the Mechanaar.

• Seal of the Exorcist: This ring is purchased with 50 Spirit Shards (obtained from all bosses in Auchidoun instances while your faction holds the Terrokar PvP objective). While it isn’t pure +Healing, the other stats make this ring a nice PvP item when just starting out.

  Seal of the Exorcist Binds when picked up Unique Finger +24 Stamina Requires Level 67 Equip: Improves spell hit rating by 12. Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 11. Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 28.

• A’dal’s Recovery Necklace: This item is a quest reward for killing Harbinger Skyriss in Tempest Keep’s Arcatraz. It’s obvious lack of Stamina makes it inferior to the Heroic Badge necklace that’s available, but if you’re doing the quest, you may as well hold onto it until you find something better.

  A’dal’s Recovery Necklace Binds when picked up Neck Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 24. Equip: Increases healing done by up to 51 and damage done by up to 17 for all magical spells and effects.

• Exorcist’s Wyrmhide Helm: Another Auchidoun PvP reward, this item also isn’t a pure +Healing. Nonetheless, at only 21 Spirit Shards, this is a great starting helm.

Roar Softly and Carry a Big Stick

Since shifting to Bear Form is one of our most frequently used means of defense, you should invest in a high armor weapon that you can automatically swap in when you shift. An easily acquired option is the Braxxis’ Staff of Slumber:

Assuming 3/3 Thick Hide, equipping this staff in Bear Form will yield a staggering 3025 Armor! You should be able to pick this item up from the Auction House for approximately 50 gold; definitely a worthwhile investment! To set the staff to autoequip on shift, use a macro something like the following:

/cancelform [modifier:ctrl]
/cast [nomodifier:nostance] Dire Bear Form
/equip [nomodifier,stance:1] Braxxis’ Staff of Slumber

The above macro will switch you to Bearform when pressed the first time then equip your staff on the second click, but only once you’ve shifted. It’s important that you shift before swapping weapons because changing weapons activates the Global Cooldown and can prevent you from shifting altogether. Hold down CTRL and hit this button to shift out of Bear Form; requiring a modifier prevents you from accidentally deshifting. (I didn’t include a weapon swap when deshifting because you may need to instantly access abilities and may not be able to wait for the Global Cooldown.)

Gear can be a tremendous barrier of entry to Arenas. When you first start out, sacrifice healing-oriented stats for defensability. As you unlock better gear through Arenas and Battlegrounds, your PvP healing stats will begin to more closely resemble those of your PvE gear. But you’ll need to survive long enough to get to that point.

I hope this guide is helpful to those considering or just starting out in Arena PvP. Thank you, Luarana, for the question!

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