Balance Druid Builds in Wrath

 

An excerpt from the Full Balance build

So, we talked about the amazing, here, let me emphasize that, *amazing* new talents we are theoretically *theoretically* (isn’t that just more fun?) getting in WotLK, and I gave you my oh-so-humble opinion regarding each new talent’s usefulness. But what, you ask, should you do with all of these new talents? Well, I answer, try them out! In this post I’m going to give a couple different possible specs assuming the Alpha talents and level 80. I won’t go over each talent but instead the highlights, similarities and differences between all the builds. 

 

Full Balance: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0tcrziIsAdhAuRtZ

 

This spec essentially takes advantage of all the good Balance talents and takes only marginal Restoration talents. In fact, the only non-Balance talents taken in my specific build were Improved MotW (buffed in Wrath) and Nature’s Focus. This has a lot of flexibility, however. If you follow that link, you will see that I have 1 point in Nature’s Grasp (which will be more useful now that it and Entangling Roots are castable indoors) and Control of Nature maxed out (also more useful now). Those points are somewhat optional and could be put into Brambles instead, if you wanted or you could increase the effect of Nature’s Grasp. 

 

The real highlight of this build is that it takes each and every new Balance talent as well as the current staples, like Dreamstate, Balance of Power, Moonglow, Lunar Guidance and Wrath of Cenarius. Because some of the new talents are focused around specific styles of gameplay (PvP, PvE, solo, etc.) this is a flexible build which, while not min/maxing for one kind of gameplay allows a smooth transition between different play styles, from leveling to instancing to raiding or Arena and Battlegrounds. Some of the talents will necessarily go unused or be weakened in certain situations. Owlkin Frenzy won’t do you much good in a raid (or shouldn’t–if it does, have a polite but firm chat with either your local tank or threat meter and explain your, ahem, grievances). Nature’s Fury might not work the best in Arena’s where you are switching targets often and multi-tasking. I currently prefer this build, but I also do not do any single activity. I mostly run instances and solo. So if this isn’t your cup of tea, keep reading.

 

The Raiding Build: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0xzrdicsAdIVz0tZfMchb

 

This build assumes that your primary focus is raiding and that you have somewhere between “little” and “no” interest in PvP and only deign to solo to farm your mats for raiding. Thus, the talents taken try to optimize for high end PvE and assume you will always be there to not only provide DPS but also boost the raid. It differs from the previous, all-encompassing build in several ways. 

 

 

• Control of Nature only has 1 point in it to get to the third tier, where the other extra points are put into Brambles. This is largely for the extra damage to Thorns, which can boost a Tank’s threat more than you might think (and the more mobs hitting the tank, the better). Plus, Control of Nature is next-to-useless in raids. You might be able to cast Roots indoors now, but you shouldn’t be getting hit. The daze effect is useless, especially since….

• Force of Nature ditched. From what I know, many raiding Moonkins love them, many hate them. There is no denying they are mana efficient. The problem is they have no pet bar, and thus are unsafe during CC and may just sit there not attacking, thus wasting an important global cooldown. But we arrive at the first flexible point. Feel free to ditch Typhoon or 1 point anywhere else to grab these. 1 point out of Nature’s Fury would probably be the best, because even at 80%, the debuff is almost guaranteed not to fall off. 

• Owlkin Frenzy gone. This is less-than-useless in a raid environment. The 10% increased damage is great, but not worth being hit by Arthas. A Frostmourne to the feathers can’t feel good. 400% armor or not, it ain’t worth it. 

• Improved Faerie Fire taken. If you are guaranteed to be in each raid, this means a good 3% less hit that each member needs now. Because it will affect spells as well, it definitely means you need 3% less hit. A big raid boost. 

• Celestial Focus removed. Another PvP/solo talent. Bosses will be immune to the stun, and you, yet again, shouldn’t be getting hit (if you still are, threaten to go into Bear Form and taunt the boss if your Tank doesn’t do it first)

• Eclipse gone. Unless something drastic happens, Wrath just isn’t efficient enough to use on boss fights, so those 3 talents will be useless. 

• Gale Winds gone too. 

• Starfall and Typhoon still taken for the odd AoE pull where you don’t want to be a sitting duck. They are only 2 talents after all. 
• Nature’s Fury kept. I just wanted to mention this, because, like Improved Faerie Fire, this is not only there for you, but for the entire raid. Because the debuff is applied to the target itself, 6% more damage will come from all Arcane Mages, and Elemental Shamans, as well as from Enhancement Shamans with Earth Shock. This is potentially huge. With the recent patch updating Curse of Elements, that’s a possible 17% increased Arcane damage taken on the target (assuming an Affliction-specced Warlock) if I’m not mistaken. Your Starfire will love you. 

Then some important Resto talents are taken. The lower tiers are flexible, but Master Shapeshifter and Intensity ensure some extra punch and more staying power (both of which could be used IRL, srsly). Intensity is a necessity for us mana-starved beasts. And while you are there, Master Shapeshifter is just too tempting. Lots of points can be moved around for certain niche roles. But you get the idea.

The PvP Build: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=0xcrziIsAkhGzoZZfzIhbu

This build makes the assumption that people fighting Arthas are care bears and that you like to pretend that Normal servers don’t exist for your own sanity. That is to say, you prefer killing skilled opponents to scripted events and Arenas and Battlegrounds are the end game. So what’s different than the full Balance build? Read on, if you will. 

• Lots of points in high-end Balance ditched in order to get more flexibility out of Resto. The main purpose being….

• Nature’s Swiftness. Now, in order to get this, Starfall must be dropped, but it can provide a ton of flexibility.

•  Subtlety is taken to provide your instant HoTs some protection and Intensity for some staying power in those long matches and the ability to get an instant Bash off. 

• I like Natural Shapeshifter and Master Shapeshifter because you might be switching forms a lot and it will help you no matter what form you are in. 

• Back in Balance Owlkin Frenzy remains because that will be immensely helpful. Unlike many similar talents from other classes, this doesn’t rely on getting crit, only hit. So even at high-resilience levels it is useful and doesn’t mean making a pact with the devil, errr, the Rogue trying to stunlock you. 

• Typhoon kept for it’s potential. It could be a bust, but, as I discussed earlier, could be your anti-melee spell.
•  And Treants because they are an instant source of damage. You could also move points into Brambles to get them to daze your opponents. Spotty, at best, but potentially a great boon.

• Nature’s Grasp could also be added, but I prefer my Control of Nature. 

And that’s what I consider the 3 main talent builds come Wrath. Of course, there will be massive amounts of variation and flexibility. And, actually, I hope, *hope*  that this is all in vain. Because with any luck, Blizzard will fix the talent bloat deep in Balance and some talents will get combined. Unfortunately, it is more likely that some will get ditched. But we have what we have now, and that’s what I can work with. 

Let me know if you have a comment on just why one part of any of these builds is just totally wrong. I’m always interested in seeing what others can come up with. 

Until next time

/wave

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