Pros
For a long time now, many people have been begging for Restoration Druids to be nerfed since they have a buffet of talents that make them appear more powerful than other classes. Most of their spells are instant casts, which gives them mobility. They can throw out HoTs on main tanks and other raid members while swiftly moving out of danger. This comes in handy during fights that require a lot of movement like the “Dance Dance Revolution” fight with Heigan in Naxxramus. They have more Heal over Time spells than any other class and what’s more? Some of them stack, making the HPS even more effective. They also have a spell that is an AoE AND a HoT all in one. Innervate is another useful tool that Druids have as it increases the target’s spirit based mana regeneration by 400% and allows mana to fully regenerate while casting. Druids also have the invaluable ability to resurrect a team member during combat and I’ve personally see plenty of wipes avoided as a result of this nifty tool. Druids do well healing single targets like main and off tanks.
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Cons
Druids are leather wearers so if the tanks aren’t watching carefully, these healers can be quickly taken down by bosses and mobs. When a druid dies, the group loses their battle rez and Innervate along with the flurry of HoTs that can keep a tank alive during strenuous battles. Though druids possess one Area of Effect Spell in Tranquility, they must keep channeling in order to maintain the spell and the cool down is very long. Aside from that, this spell is a huge threat generator and means certain death for any Resto Druid that dares use this during combat. These healers are not ideal for multiple targets.
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A. Useful Stats
1. Spirit – This increases the effectiveness of Innervate
2. MP5
3. Intellect
4. Spell Damage
B. Strengths
1. Innervate
2. 4 Heal over Time Spells:
a. Lifebloom - Heals the target over 7 sec. This effect can stack up to 3 times on the same target
b. Regrowth – Direct heal that also has a HoT affect that lasts over 21 seconds
c. Rejuvination – Heals the target over 12 seconds
d. Wild Growth – Heals up to 5 raid members within 15 yards for 7 seconds
3. Raid Buffing Abilities
a. Mark of the Wild – increases target’s armor and resistances
b. Tree of Life – while in tree form increase party and raid healing received by 6% for those within 45 yards
4. Cleansing
a. Abolish Poison - Attempts to cure 1 poison effect on the target, and 1 more poison effect every 2 seconds for 8 sec.
b. Remove Curse – Dispels one curse from the friendly target
5. Rebirth – resurrects an ally during combat
6. Oh $#@* Button
a. Battle Resurrection – gives the druid the ability to resurrect another player while in combat. This is very useful for circumstances when a tank or another healer die early into the fight.
b. Swiftmend – consumes a Rejuvination or Regrowth affect on a friendly target turning it into an instant heal
c. Nature’s Swiftness – Turns any nature spell less than 10 sec into an instant cast
C. Weaknesses
a) Leather Wearer – Pretty Squishy
b) Absence of worthy AoE spells make this class less effective at healing multiple targets
