Restoration Druid Class Guide - MoP Classic

Welcome to our Mists of Pandaria Classic (MoP Classic) Restoration Druid Class Guide for Phase 1, it focuses on getting you up to speed with the Spec for PvE content, Dungeons and Raiding. The guide includes key information for what has changed going into MoP, the best Talent builds, Major Glyphs, your Rotation, Gearing and Consumables for Restoration Druid.

Table of Content:

• Changes from Cataclysm to MoP
• Talents
• Rotation & Abilities
• Gearing & Consumables

What’s New for Restoration Druids in Mists of Pandaria Classic

Druid as a class is receiving a lot of changes going from Cataclysm to MoP. For the most part, Feral is the spec that is changing deeply, with now a true separation between Feral DPS and Feral tank, now called Guardian. For Restoration Druid there are the following notable changes:

• Spells like Dash and Stampeding Roar now activate the desired form automatically, without macros.
• Sunfire isn’t replacing Moonfire anymore, and is a separate DoT.
• Insect Swarm has been deleted.
• Might of Ursoc is a new defensive cooldown.
• Celestial Alignment and Astral Communion are two new offensive cooldowns.
• Symbiosis, one of the only MoP exclusive spells (it will be deleted in WoD), gives a copy of one of your spells to a friendly target while copying one of their spells.

Is Restoration Druid Good?

You will never go wrong if you choose to play a Restoration Druid. Druid as a class is a strong pick no matter the specialization because of its toolkit. Incredible crowd control, buffs, debuffs, and Symbiosis makes this class very, very interesting. And as a healer, Restoration Druids are one of the best. They have a great healing throughput, even though they might lack the damage reduction options a Discipline priest can bring. They are still insane healing machines.

Best Talents & Glyphs for Restoration Druid in MoP Classic

With the new revamped talents, we will provide you with 2 talent builds, one for Dungeons and one for Raiding. Don’t forget that, with the new talents, a lot of utility options can change depending on the fight or dungeon you are doing.

Restoration Druid Raiding Talent Build

Druids have a very versatile talent tree, regardless of the spec, but Restoration takes it to another level: aside from Ysera’s Gift, you can change every talent row depending on your needs or your play style and still be a very strong healer.

Feline Swiftness is great, giving you a good passive movement speed. If you feel like you don’t move that much, and you need an instant blink, replace this with Displacer Beast. Typhoon, Mass Entanglement and Faerie Swarm are interchangeable depending on the fight, the dungeon, etc. Soul of the Forest is the default throughput choice in the level 60 row, but in fights with a rare big burst of damage, you might want to pick Incarnation. Mighty Bash, Ursol’s Vortex and Disorienting Roar are also interchangeable, and finally pick between Heart of the Wild and Nature’s Vigil. Heart of the Wild is a great default choice, but if you like Nature's Vigil play style it’s also a great option.

Best Restoration Druid Raid Glyphs

Regarding Major Glyphs, you will want to obtain Glyph of Efflorescence, Glyph of Wild Growth, Glyph of Rejuvenation. Druids also have a few other major glyph choices, like Glyph of Rebirth and Glyph of Stampeding Roar, but as a Restoration Druid the first three glyphs are mandatory.

Minor Glyphs for Restoration Druid are all pretty bad, so just take the ones you like the most.

Restoration Druid Dungeons & Challenge Mode Build

The Dungeon Talent Build is very similar to the Raiding Build. And the same logic applies to every choice here. Change your talents based on if the dungeon has different movement, healing and crowd control requirements.

Best Restoration Druid Dungeon Glyphs

Regarding Major Glyphs, you will want to obtain Glyph of Efflorescence, Glyph of Wild Growth, Glyph of Rejuvenation. Druids also have a few other major glyphs choices, like Glyph of Rebirth and Glyph of Stampeding Roar but as a Restoration Druid the first three glyphs are mandatory.

Minor Glyphs for Restoration Druid are all pretty bad, so just take the ones you like the most.

Rotation for Restoration Druid in MoP Classic

Single Target & AoE Rotation & Priority

Healers don’t really have a rotation, but there are a few things you want to keep in mind while healing the group. Here is the list of priority:

1. Maintain Mastery: Harmony by casting a direct heal every 20 seconds at least.
2. Maintain your heals over time on tanks with Lifebloom at 3 stacks and Rejuvenation.

For Single Target Healing:

1. Use Healing Touch combined with Nature’s Swiftness for a quick, instant heal on your target.
2. If someone is really in high danger, use Swiftmend.
3. Then, use Healing Touch, Nourish and Regrowth to heal a single target. Healing Touch if there is a big damage spike, Nourish otherwise and Regrowth if you need a faster spell to save someone's life.
4. As an external, to prevent damage, use Ironbark.

For AoE Healing:

1. Use Wild Growth. You can pair it with Soul of the Forest by casting Swiftmend just before to make it stronger.
2. In dangerous situations, use Tranquility with Soul of the Forest.
3. Place Efflorescence on your raid by casting Wild Mushroom.
4. Maintain Efflorescence.
5. If you need a big damage spike, you can make your Wild Mushroom Bloom for a quick healing burst.
6. Spread your Rejuvenation on the raid.

Use Heart of the Wild to DPS or get a better Bear form and reduce damage. Don’t forget to Innervate yourself or a friend if needed.

Best Gear & Stats for Restoration Druid in MoP Classic

Best in Slot (BiS Gear) aren’t as big in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Reforging is the new hype, so you can tailor your gear better than before.

The gear you should aim for are: Trinkets, weapons & tier sets.

The best weapons you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Crane Staff, from Inscription.
• Je’lyu, Spirit of the Serpent, from Sha of Doubt, Temple of the Jade Serpent.
• Headmaster’s Will, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.

The best off-hands you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Red Fan, from Inscription.
• Bottle of potent potables, from Hoptallus in Stormstout Brewery.
• Scroll of Whispered Secrets, a BoE.

The best pre-raid trinkets for Restoration Druid are:

• Relic of Chi-ji if you have Inscription.
• Price of Progress, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.
• Empty Fruit Barrel, Ook-Ook, Stormstout Brewery.
• Quilen Statuette, from Archeology.

Restoration Druid Stat Priority

Your most needed stat above all else is Haste. As a healing over time specialization, you want to maximize the number of times your HoTs apply their effects for each single cast. To achieve this, you have to reach very specific soft caps. If you can, you should aim for at least, 8033 haste if you have a 5% haste buff in your raid group. If not, aim for 10559 haste. If you have the haste buff, you can even try and get to 10970 to reach the 32.1% Haste cap. After that, get Spirit to avoid mana problems, and finish with Mastery, Crit in that order. After you’ve reached your soft cap, haste loses its priority and becomes the worst stat you can get. In later patches, you can go for 13162 haste (with haste buff).

Best Consumables, Enchants & Gems for Restoration Druid in MoP Classic

The following tables outline the recommended Consumables, Enchants and Gems for Restoration Druid in Raiding and Dungeon content.

Consumables

Enchants

Gems

We hope this guide helped you improve your Restoration Druid Gameplay and better understand the spec. To check out all of our MoP Classic content, such as Class Guides, Tier Lists and more, you can browse our full library of MoP Classic Guides.