Restoration Druid Healing Easy Mode

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Contents
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
    • 3.1. Raid Healing
    • 3.2. Tank / Mythic+
  • 4. Basic Playstyle
    • 4.1. Raid Healing
    • 4.2. Dungeon Healing
  • 5. Cooldown Usage
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Abilities
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Cooldowns
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression
    • 1.1. Patch 7.2 Artifact Points
  • 2. Relic Choice
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Rotation / Playstyle
    • 1.1. Raid Healing
    • 1.2. Dungeon Healing
  • 2. Cooldown Usage
  • 3. Optional Read: Mastering Your Restoration Druid
    • 3.1. Understanding Your Spells
    • 3.2. Procs and Mechanics
      • 3.2.1. Mastery: Harmony
      • 3.2.2. Clearcasting Procs
      • 3.2.3. Ysera's Gift
      • 3.2.4. Living Seed
    • 3.3. Detailed Cooldown Usage
      • 3.3.1. Tranquility
      • 3.3.2. Ironbark
      • 3.3.3. Artifact Ability
      • 3.3.4. Innervate
      • 3.3.5. Tier 1 Talents
      • 3.3.6. Tier 3 Talents
      • 3.3.7. Tier 4 Talents
      • 3.3.8. Tier 7 Talents
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. Raid Healing
    • 1.2. Tank / Mythic+ Healing
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Druids
      • 1.1.1. Rebirth
      • 1.1.2. Nature's Cure
      • 1.1.3. Displacer Beast
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Restoration Druids
      • 1.2.1. Mouseover Macros
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Druids
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Omen Threat Meter
      • 2.1.5. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.6. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.7. Recount / Skada / Details!
      • 2.1.8. Grid and GridClickSets (Optional)
      • 2.1.9. TellMeWhen
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Restoration Druids
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 19 & 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Legendary Items
  • 3. Loot Competition
  • 4. ChangeLog

This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialisation without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

1. The Basics

Restoration Druids rely on HoTs to provide a steady stream of healing throughout a fight. They do well healing single targets, but they require some amount of time to set up their HoTs, and as such they require knowledge of the encounter in order to set up for the incoming damage.

2. Talent Choice

These are currently the best talent choices as a Restoration Druid.

• Level 15: Cenarion Ward (raids) or Abundance (dungeons)
• Level 30: Displacer Beast
• Level 45: Guardian Affinity (raids) or Feral Affinity (dungeons, although Guardian Affinity can also be used)
• Level 60: Typhoon (or Mass Entanglement if using Sephuz's Secret)
• Level 75: Cultivation
• Level 90: Spring Blossoms (raids) or Germination (dungeons or small raids)
• Level 100: Flourish

3. Stat Choice

Currently, you will want to prioritise secondary stats as follows, depending on whether you are interested in raid healing or tank / Mythic+ healing.

It is important to note that Restoration Druid stats are close to each other in value, generally, and the item levels of the items you are comparing usually matter more than their stat distribution. For reference, a 5 item level difference for raids, and a 10 item level difference for dungeons is enough to offset almost any stats present on the items in question.

3.1. Raid Healing

1. Mastery;
2. Haste ~= Critical Strike;
3. Versatility.

3.2. Tank / Mythic+

1. Mastery >= Haste;
2. Intellect;
3. Critical Strike;
4. Versatility.

4. Basic Playstyle

4.1. Raid Healing

• Maintain Efflorescence under the melee group.
• Keep Lifebloom on an active tank. Refreshing it with less than 4.5 seconds left in order to proc the final Bloom and not lose any ticks is recommended.
• Use Clearcasting procs on one of the tanks.
• Use Cenarion Ward on cooldown.
• Use Flourish and Essence of G'Hanir as often as possible (no need to use them together).
• Apply Rejuvenation to the active tank(s) and members of the raid who are taking or will take damage.
• Use Wild Growth when at least 6 members of the raid are damaged and you have some Rejuvenations up.

4.2. Dungeon Healing

• Keep Lifebloom on an active tank. Refreshing it with less than 4.5 seconds left in order to proc the final Bloom and not lose any ticks is recommended.
• Use Clearcasting procs on one of the tanks.
• Use Cenarion Ward on cooldown.
• Keep Rejuvenation on the tank and on members of the group that just took damage or are about to take damage. Keep up both Rejuvenations on targets on which the damage is too high for a single one.
• Use Wild Growth when at least 4 members of the group are damaged.
• Use Tranquility, if group is still taking heavy damage (it does 100% more healing 5-man content).
• Use Swiftmend on a player that just took heavy damage. If they are not in immediate danger, you should apply Rejuvenation to him first.
• Use Regrowth as an emergency heal.
• During downtime, use Moonfire and Sunfire on enemies to help with the damage.
• If you have more free time, shift into Cat Form (if you have the Feral Affinity talent) to do more damage; if you do not have this talent, cast Solar Wrath instead.

5. Cooldown Usage

• Tranquility should be used during heavy raid damage or when you are assigned to use it by your raid leader. It is recommended not to stack it with anything else. Casting Wild Growth before Tranquility is recommended to increase the benefits from Mastery.
• Innervate should be used as many times during the fight as possible. Refresh Efflorescence, cast Wild Growth, and spam Rejuvenations during Innervate.
• Ironbark should be used to reduce the damage a tank is taking during critical moments (such as when important boss abilities are about to be cast). In the absence of such situations, you should just use it on players who are taking damage. You may be assigned to use this at a specific time, as part of a rotation with other healers and the tanks' own cooldowns.
• Essence of G'Hanir should be used during heavy raid damage, when your Tranquility is on cooldown. Ideally, you should use it together with Wild Growth. Depending on the situation, you can also couple it with Velen's Future Sight or Flourish.
• Flourish should be used as close to on cooldown as possible.

About Our Reviewer

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Torty, a theorycrafter in the Dreamgrove Discord server, author of this Restoration Druid spreadsheet, and currently raiding in Pure.

6. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 12 Jun. 2017: Updated this page to reflect the changes made to the rest of the guide.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 18 Dec. 2016: Added easy mode page.