EDIT: I took in everybody’s feedback and came up with this leveling route (for early Nature’s Focus and Insect Swarm):
Balance:
10: 1/1 Nature’s Grasp
11-15: 5/5 Improved Wrath Restoration:
16-20: 5/5 Furor
21-25: 5/5 Nature’s Focus (just in time for contested territory)
26: 1/1 Insect Swarm Balance:
27-29: 3/3 Natural Shapeshifter
30: 1/5 Improved Moonfire
31-32: 2/2 Nature’s Reach
33-36: 5/5 Improved Moonfire
37-40: 4/5 Vengeance (just in time for when people get their final tier talents)
41: 1/1 Nature’s Grace
42: 5/5 Vengeance
43-45: 3/3 Moonglow
46-50: 5/5 Moonfury Restoration:
51-55: 5/5 Improved Healing Touch
56-58: 3/3 Reflection
59: 1/3 Improved Rejuvination
60: Nature’s Swiftness
= = =
Heya. Made this druid on a PvP server. I’ve absolutely no interest in Feral Combat, so I’ll be leveling as Balance. I’m hoping to solo quest and heal dungeons using the same spec. How well would something like this work for leveling, or could somebody present me with a more efficient Balance leveling build? Thanks!
I’ve also thought about dipping into Resto soon after getting 5/5 Improved Wrath for early Improved Healing Touch and Insect Swarm and then hopping back over to Balance, but I’m not sure if it’s worth sacrificing early access to Vengeance and Nature’s Grace for early access to quicker healing/an extra DoT.
Moonglow/Natures Swiftness is a fun. Umm id get both DoTs first because i feel like it adds more dmg.
Personally i wasted respec money trying out moonkin and resto, and now im back on feral, the regeneration of mana while in forms makes you a 1 man army. Balance seems fun… its just without caster leather, it makes you wanna cry
5/5 Improved Wrath and 2/3 Improved Entangling Roots is better than
4/5 Improved Wrath and 3/3 Improved Entangling Roots
Since you’re on a PVP server, I also recommend 5/5 Furor over 5/5 Improved MoTW
since you don’t have 2/2 Improved Enrage, if you don’t have 5/5 Furor, you won’t be able to utilize Bear Form -> Bash when you need a stun (and you will).
I prefer 1/3 Improved Rejuvenation over 1/5 Subtlety, you won’t be pulling aggro with healing spells with a 4% threat reduction. +5% to Rejuvenation isnt much, but it’s better than -4% healing threat.
I’m also leveling a Balance/Resto (Alliance) and Resto/Feral (Horde) Druid… again.
Hmm. Good points! I’ll swap out 5/5 Improved Mark of the Wild for 5/5 Furor. Unfortunately, Improved Rejuvination is on the tier above Subtlety, so I decided to take the point from Subtlety and a point from 5/5 Tranquil Spirit and go 2/2 Improved Enrage. How does that sound?
If you have 5/5 Furor, you wont need 2/2 Improved Rage
If you’re intention is to get 20 points in Restoration so you can get Nature’s Swiftness, this can be accomplished via
5/5 Furor
5/5 Improved Healing Touch
5/5 Nature’s Focus (I recommend this over the alternatives, you will need to heal yourself when being attacked)
3/3 Reflection
1/1 Insect Swarm
This brings you to 19 points. The 20th point can go anywhere (of the available options, I choose 1/3 Improved Rejuvenation). Then 21st point in Nature’s Swiftness.
Yeah, between having Natures Grasp and just being able to cast Entangling Roots normally @ 1.5 seconds, there is really not much need for Improved Roots…it could help in certain situations, however, Natural Shapeshifter is a real game changer when leveling and for PvP.
You want to go Moonglow (24/0/27) and get Insect Swarm first. You also want to prioritize gear with stam/int <of the eagle>. When you hit level 20 you could look for gear with arcane damage <of arcane wrath> to increase the damage of Starfire. It’ll be cheaper than fire/frost/shadow gear and you get the full 1:1 coefficient because it’s a 3.5 second cast spell. For example with +50 arcane damage from gear at level 20 you would be doing as much damage as Rank 2 Starfire.
At level 30 you could think about a respec to 5/5 Vengeance with Nature’s Grace. Also be aware that healing as a resto druid in dungeons can be frustrating because you don’t have a real resurrect spell. If someone dies they have to run back unless you have a Ret Paladin / Shadow Priest in group.
I think you are going to have a bad time! Rogue don’t have to spec Combat to level but if we don’t it sucks! Because trying to Gouge a mob with 45 energy and then run around him to back stab is counter intuitive. When I can just sinister strike 3 times!
Probably best to level as Feral or Healer until you are high enough to make Boomkin work!
Why wouldn’t you just feral? Bear Tank is the best in the game right now ppl are saying, I see Bear Druids killing 4-5 mobs at a time while I am killing one.
Its just funny because you are playing a class know for its many forms and you seem to hate the forms hahaha. It would be like me playing a Priest but hate healing.
I blame Retail and being spoiled by its Glyph of Blue Ghost Thing. I’ve always been a huge fan of Balance, and I’m stupidly stubborn to boot haha. I don’t mind kitty form, but don’t care to level a second rogue. I innately love casters, and I figured that dipping into both Balance and Resto would allow for me to have the best of both worlds I love (DPS and healing casters) while avoiding having to play as an animal 24/7. I know it’s not logical, but I just wouldn’t be able to look at a bear’s backside all of the time. At least I’ll be hopping in and out of bear form for stunning people… so… that makes me druid-ish… right?
