Hey all,
So I’m going healer for Shadowlands and MW Monk just isn’t my jam, so I plan to return to my druid. I’ve been a druid on and off many times over the years and I’m looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve been keeping an eye on the beta discussion but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of chatter surrounding resto, so I figured I’d check in.
How are folks who are playing resto in shadowlands finding it?
For the most part everything looks fairly normal, though I do have one concern. Since WoD I’ve fallen in love with the Soul of the Forest Swiftmend spec. Tree was never really my jam since it was an oh crap button and then it was gone, whereas I liked that SotF could boost my next ability and, with management of my Swiftmend charges, I could maintain a fairly fluid playstyle. I did miss HT going away, but it looks like we’re getting Nourish back as an option, so that’s cool.
Having said that, with the removal of Prosperity, is the Swiftmend build still viable? Having it require and consume a HoT isn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world for me; however, having two charges of Swiftmend always seemed central to the way I played my SotF build. Is this still gonna be something that makes sense to play in Shadowlands, or do you guys figure it’ll die off?
Anyway, I appreciate any information and insights folks are willing to provide 
Thanks!
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Swiftmend feels better because even though you’re losing a charge, the cooldown is getting shaved from 25 seconds to 15 seconds. Resto is getting A LOT unpruned and added, more than most other classes.
They’re lining up to be insane, but it’s early to say still.
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Rdruids will be unstoppable in m+ and with the rejuvenation bouncing legiondary they might finally be top 2 in raids as well.
Very strong in mythic plus, mediocre in raids. Pretty much the same as now.
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Rejuv has been gutted by 50% so the lego means its heals are what it was before but now divided over 2 players. Swiftmend cd was reduced bit it now consumes a hot in the process. We are now the only class that cannot remove grievous stacks with healing. Its not looking good for resto druid right now
Thanks for the responses and information, everyone 
Oh, I didn’t know this. That makes SotF still viable… at least for the way I like to play it. Sure I don’t get the double charge for emergency burst, but it’s still fairly similar. Thank you
The direct heal portion of Regrowth doesn’t work?
Yea but that’s not our only legendary to choose from, we will be fine.
Has this actually been tested yet because Regrowth literally applies a direct heal.
And as I believe Tical has stated countless times, Druid is great for grevious because you always have tons of HoTs rolling anyway which can usually handle it
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Lolol.
I wish I could remember to bring this post up s year from now.
Resto Druid has always been and always will be fine. In fact, it’s looking even better than BFA for Mythic+ and PvP especially. Good to great for raids as well.
Yes, it does. As does Swiftmend and a couple covanent abilities as well.
I think this comment is just talking about how Hots overcome it naturally.
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I think the removal of Prosperity, and the changes to Swiftmend are likely to kill the Prosperity/SotF play style. It’s been my preferred build since Legion, so I’ll be sad to see it go. Otherwise, we’re shaping up pretty well. Everything I’ve read/seen indicates that Resto is in good shape for Shadowlands.
Rejuvenation is getting buffed. What are you even talking about? You know absolutely nothing about this game it seems as you claim regrowth isn’t a direct heal as well. Go back to coloring with crayons.
Above someone mentioned that it’s getting its cooldown reduced to 15s. I like that Prosperity gives you a double shot of quick healing on demand, but having a shorter cooldown is ok. The HoT requirement is a bit awkward but should be manageable. It’ll be different than the current build, but I think it should still be ok.
My biggest concern is the initial setup on a target with no HoTs rolling that I then need to do a save on (ie, some jerkwad stood on the bad). Currently, my approach is to hit swiftmend, then regrowth if I think they’ll take immediate damage. If they just need a heal, I’ll let the buffed rejuv handle it. In Shadowlands, I’ll have to put a throwaway HoT on them, hit Swiftmend, then carry on. It’s an additional GCD and mana cost to something that has been pretty fluid for a while now.
We are getting Nature’s Swiftness back, but the CD prevents me from saving dumb DPS regularly. Honestly though, maybe that’s the point… however, if 15 years has taught us anything, it’s that when DPS does stupid things, it’s the healers who get yelled at 
False.
Healing the target above 90% removes grievous. Hots won’t remove stacks below 90%, but they still heal, pushing hp above 90%… Just as they do now.
R-druids do not struggle with grievous, nor do we not have a direct heal. See: nourish.
It’s a non issue.
Wouldn’t it make it better? The vastly lower cd means more usage and more benefit from SotF.
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I can see how you might make that argument, but in my opinion, the flexibility that a second charge affords outweighs the reduced cool down.
Also consider that Swiftmend now comes with significant down sides. Not only are you losing a HoT every time you use it, but you’re also losing a mastery stack. There’ll be windows when those down sides are minimized (i.e. when a HoT is about to expire on its own), but trying to play around those will be a further loss of flexibility.
Soul of the Forest will still be a fine talent on its own. Swiftmend’s reduced cool down may even entice more people to pick it up. But for those of us that have been running the existing Prosperity/SotF build, these changes are going to be a significant, almost entirely negative departure from the play style we’ve enjoyed.
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The last time druids weren’t incredible (or at the very least great) was 2006. Rdruid is always a safe bet, and Slands looks no different!
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I am actually extremely disappointed atm. On PTR Wild Growth is an instant cast but on Beta its still a 1.4… Rdruid plays sooooooo much smoother when WG is an instant cast…
NVM I was randomly in Warmode on that toon (which I am never in) and it was a PvP talent. Man I wish that was baseline though…
I feel like you’re only comfortable saying this now. The expansion is near its end. You’ve run each dungeon 4000 times and there is nothing new under the sun. Prosperity works for you. Even though its been mathematically proven to be inferior to the the other talents, that is all irrelevant now. You likely spend more time kitty weaving than healing. You might throw throw out 2 back to back Swiftmends and never use it again for the rest of the fight…and thats fine.
This wont be the case at the beginning of shadowlands.
Its all new and unfamiliar content.
Everyone is in low item lvl gear.
Youre going to need to pump heals!
Youre going to be using SM on CD.
Using SM on a 15 second CD with SotF?
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I read that Questionably Epic article too, but here’s the thing, higher HPS is only superior if you’re trying to maximize HPS. In my experience, which includes 7.0 and 8.0 after our secondaries were functionally reset, that’s almost never necessary. I appreciate the Prosperity/SotF build for its ability to respond to unforseen damage (usually DPS standing in something they shouldn’t).
You’re excited for the changes. That’s good. I’m happy for you. I’m disappointed that my preferred play style is going away, but I’ll get over it. I’ve been missing my goofy looking tree for the past four years, and now I’ll be able to take it again.
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