There is some exciting news about Patch 2.4 from Community Manager Drysc today:

Although not terribly relevant to your discussion I thought I’d jump in and let you know about some Spell Haste changes in the upcoming patch.

In 2.4, Spell Haste will reduce the global cool down on spells, down to a minimum of 1 second. It won’t apply to melee and ranged abilities though however.

Ironically, this news comes just days after an e-mail from Sydera of Vek’nilash (US) in which she inquires:

I have been wondering about something for a while and have no other resto druids to ask. Why do you think there is so much spell haste on the Zul’Aman and T6 content items? What are we going to be doing in Hyjal and Black Temple that makes spell haste necessary? Is this bad design, or is there something to be learned here?

My healing style relies almost exclusively on instants. My guild is 1/4 TK and 3/6 SSC right now, and I tend to use regrowth about once per boss fight and healing touch pretty much never. If I use HT, it’s with nature’s swiftness every time. My general rotation is rolling lifeblooms and rejuvenation on tanks. Is something going to change this for the T6 stuff?

In responding to her question, I generated a list of spell haste items that would be appropriate to a cloth or leather-wearing healer by filtering the armor on WoWHead. Those previously scoffable eight items are now looking a lot more attractive. Because in the now immortal words of reader Zackoria:

HAHA! LIFEBLOOM! LIFEBLOOM LIFEBLOOM!!! Castable healing? BAH! ONLY THE ACCURSED GLOBAL COOLDOWN CAN RESTRAIN US FROM WORLD HEALING DOMINATION AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

(Endgame-equipped) Druids just got (up to) 33% closer to World Healing Domination.

Read about 2.4 details as they arrive at ElitistJerks.com.

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• Impressions Solicited: Spell Haste
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Visitors frequently ask for recommendations or critiques on prospective talent builds. These builds range from builds for leveling to just starting out in Karazhan, to specs that allow for a mix of farming (hello, Epic Flight Form) and instance/raid healing. This is the first in a series of posts designed to address these types of questions, giving me something to which I can refer readers who write in.

While it’s possible to level purely Restoration, I don’t recommend it unless you have a constant companion for the duration of your leveling experience. Instead, I encourage players who want to level up while learning to heal to consider a talent spec that mixes Balance and Restoration. Because although many Druids opt to level with a Feral spec, if your passion is for Healing, you’re more likely to gravitate toward and derive more enjoyment from damage dealing via spells than claws. I also think that the synergy between Balance and Restoration is stronger than that between Feral and Restoration. Here is a guide of recommended talent selection from levels 10-70 with an emphasis upon Healing talents alongside a smattering of Balance talents to provide you with the firepower to get to the Outlands (where, as we all know, the real fun begins).

Assuming you chose a fifth point of Subtlety at level 70, this build looks like this. This build emphasizes the use of Healing Touch over HoTs which generally fare better at higher levels of gear than you will have first starting out. It’s more or less a variation on the popular Dreamstate build which dips deeper into the Balance tree at the expense of Swiftmend. I’ve gone back to this build several times, and it remains one of my favorites, being especially useful in Heroic instances since you will rely heavily upon the high HPS of your Healing Touch — at least at first — whether specced for Tree of Life or not.

There are, of course, several other possible viable talent builds at level 70, but I’ll save those for a later time.

If you are looking for a build that more heavily emphasizes the firepower of the Balance tree and are comfortable with learning the in’s and out’s of Druid healing later, check out the great guide Beneficial Balance Builds from Nasirah’s “A Tale of Two Druids”! And for Big Bear Butt’s perspective on a Feral leveling build, check out his recent article over on WoWInsider.com! Note that you are only permitted to use one of these two specs if you promise to spec back to healing once you hit 70. /shakes finger

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Community Manager Hortus points out:

Abilities should not trigger from crits on sitting players; this is in the 2.3.2 patch notes but doesn’t seem to be very clearly explained.

Technically, it isn’t explained at all as the patch notes read:

Effects triggered from being critically hit: Many abilities and talents were changed in 2.3.0 to allow them to trigger from critical strikes that occurred while the player benefitting from them was sitting.

What’s the significance? Prior to patch 2.3.2, a Restoration Druid with the Natural Perfection talents could go behind a pillar and sit three times while a low melee DPS assailant (such as a Warlock’s Felhunter) was beating on them to guarantee a 3-stacked proc and 15% damage reduction for 8 seconds. I’m not surprised that this was changed as it definitely does seem exploitive. Keep in mind that this does not mean that you will not be critted while sitting (for instance, when you drink); it just means that these crits will not activate abilities that normally activate upon being crit.

Among the known issues with Patch 2.3.2 is that:

Shapeshifting does not remove the movement impairing debuff Frost Breath.

Since I don’t recognize this ability from the Mage retinue, I’m guessing this is an effect from one or more NPCs.

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• Guest Post: Leveraging Shadowmeld
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Matticus posted a great article on the Priest spell, Shackle, today. Shackle is very similar to the Druid crowd control spell, Hibernate:

• Both are limited target. While Hibernate can be used against Beasts and Dragonkin, Shackle Undead can be used against … well … Undead.
• Both have three ranks, cost 150 mana, and have a 1.5 second cast time.
• Both can be refreshed before their durations have elapsed.
• Both have a chance to break early that can be reduced by wearing items with spell hit.
• Both break on damage. Yes, even yours, Mr. Swipe-Happy-Druid-Tank!
• Neither can be cast at the same time as a heal spell.

Due to their similarities, I recommend going over there, reading his article, and mentally substituting the word “Hibernate” everywhere you see “Shackle” for a stellar set of tips on how to leverage this limited-use crowd control spell effectively. And so as not to be a complete slacker, I’ll throw in a tip of my own for using Hibernate in instances. You can use a focus target macro to easily associate your crowd control target with your Hibernate ability for the duration of the fight:

#showtooltip Hibernate
/clearfocus [button:2]
/stopcasting
/cast [target=focus,exists,nodead] Hibernate
/stopmacro [target=focus,exists,nodead]
/clearfocus [target=focus,exists,nodead]
/focus [harm,exists,nodead]

Assuming you do not already have a focus target, this macro will store your current target as your focus target. From that point on, you can click or press the button to automatically cast Hibernate on that mob without switching targets. If your focus target dies and you click the button, your focus target will automatically be cleared (or reset to your new target if you have one selected). Alternatively, you can right click on the button to clear it manually. In a hectic fight, this macro can be a lifesaver since it’s not always easy to target your assigned Beast or Dragonkin while keeping everyone alive. It also makes refreshing your Hibernate before its duration elapses a lot easier.

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• Forum Watch: Druids Don’t Lack Crowd Control
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In response to a question regarding Mark of the Wild posed on a thread about Power Word: Fortitude, Community Manager Eyonix indicated that it’s possible that the Druid class buff may be re-evaluated in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion:

We recognize the concerns expressed in regards to Mark of the Wild and it may very well see improvement for Wrath of the Lich King. I do strongly disagree that it’s anywhere as useless as you claim, however.

Also keep in mind, because it affects all stats, some class/specs benefit from it more than others.

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