Resto Druid is just not fun

Yeah, in short yes but nearly the entire focus is Regrowth after making so many changes to encourage and bring back Rejuvenation for no reason? To be fair its just different, I feel it. Maybe I’m crazy lol, maybe me and a few other Rdruid mains / lovers are juss insane but it feels different.

Druid spot healing is and has been addressed with treants and swiftmend the overpower to regrowth was a random design, that hurt the emergency - Instant Cast design which they had with Treants.

The Symbiotic Blooms Suggestion healing change from Regrowth to Rejuvenation.

Would only encourage and aid the viability of Wildstalker in raid / PvP and is simply why I suggested it to be implemented and would compliment a variant Rejuv / Germ build in Mythic + without pushing it away from the Lifebloom - Budding Leaves variant.

Also we already spam rejuvenation to do abundance regrowth? So this change would smooth out the playstyles not delete or effectively change a thing. Just it would make the design make more sense.

(But note they would have to change how the Symbiotic Blooms would proc for Feral, and I believe this is why the design is rooted around Regrowth.)

Yeah, and I mentioned this in my previous response, it could’ve been tuned better if they heal cut by 50% off the tier like it was in PvP like it was in DF S3 /S4 you would’ve seen a balanced iteration that could’ve easily transitioned into TWW druid.

But they didn’t now we “Regrowth Spam GG”.

Uh?

I’m sorry I think you are mistaken. The most played class before was here below, check the link.

https://raider.io/mythic-plus-rankings/season-df-2-post-1015/all/world/leaderboards

Hpally was the king healer their rework was implemented in S2 …

40% play rate? Remember you couldn’t get in if you weren’t a Hpally?

That was all the craze.

Yeah except Grove Guardians not only got nerfed but got changed into a Ramp Amp with Keeper of the Grove.

Essentially deleting the core purpose as I said before and created a new design for no reason.

** More Trees = More Healing Amp = More Dream petals = More Heals – >

Deleting the core purpose of its original iteration to SPOT HEAL.

Not usually, but way more apparent than ever these last two expansions.

Yeah great, I’m glad 1-3 people are able to optimize and play something other than what we all have to play because we didn’t optimize our group / raid for it.

Great point but were talking about Restoration Druid not Feral, and even so if Feral changed its awful in Mythic +, and Amazing in PvP and meh in raid(if I recall correctly)

So the design change isn’t working that well either.

I do understand, and I wish for it. I simply cannot stand this anymore.

The OP doesn’t like the design in short, and I agree. He suggested a fix. He isn’t wrong that it is designed awfully.

Thats not exactly how that works

Stacking HoTs already does this though. Mind you, Regrowth still has backend healing by still being a HoT on top of the direct heal part.

For what it is, its great. You dont have to worry about topping someone off thats at 70% health. Your HoTs will take care of it. Allows you to focus on DPS (if you so choose to do) and not have to revert back to healing just because some people took damage. The stacked HoTs will do that.

And as i said, thats a very valid thing and im not saying it doesnt feel different than it was.

I think it was also in part to the change to dungeons and healing and what not from the complaints of the few healers who felt they had no “agency”. Having 2 Swiftmends hardly was the answer to spot healing. And due to player complaints, trees took a major backseat compared to prior seasons. And while they have a good initial heal, after that theyre another weaker HoT. And reverted to a single target with a 20 second recharge per. So it cant be spammed for spot healing.

You linked a specific patch within season 2 instead of all of S2:

https://raider.io/mythic-plus-rankings/season-df-2/all/world/leaderboards

Nope. Still falls into about the same percentage of all healing spell casts throughout dungeon runs throughout the seasons.

More people do. The fact that 3 or 4 of the top 10 Druids are running different hero tree shows that youre not shoehorned into a single build like youre claiming. But like Shamans, they’re 10 for 10 for Totemic.

Still applies. Just another example of playing the same while feeling different.

I was paraphrasing. The base rate of the mastery would be roughly 40% as it is for Rsham rn.

It would be a baseline heal increase for when the target is low a sort of better spot healing and raid remedy. But results in a lack of direct healing as it does when we ramp HoTs on one target.

Which is why further in the post I stated Evoker Preservation mastery makes more sense. As Yseras gift tops us off AFK and would make sense with the more HP then ur target increase healing by %.

But requires stacking HoTs >.>

Influences the player to take dead beat talents like cultivation and spring blossom that heal next to nothing for mastery amp.

I mean you can like it by all means, just as I dislike it.

Yeah, and we covered this?

Counterintuitive because they brought back forest flow? Buffed regrowth? Added two swiftmends?

When Swiftmend and Strong Trees were “agency” and were powerful direct heals that actually allowed us to weave dmg.

But what do I know, I guess DF Season 3 / 4 statistics aren’t enough.

Yes the patch that lasted nearly half a year of Druid just being absolutely terrible. after they nerfed them ?

The other first half correlated Shamans being the top tier and Hpally and Priest being the only healer brought to 28 + and beyond?

So I’m confused.

Thenafter if you examine … ummmm we got a rework? Usually devs don’t rework functioning things.

I’m confused ? That statement pertained to the healing capability gap and work effort compared to other healers? I’m a little lost with this.

Yeah but still the cookie cutter single build.

Yeah you took Wildstalker, Yeah you took Grove Guardians but everything else is the same.

I’m glad you mentioned Rsham cause it doesn’t help ur case.

Rsham Totemic and Farseer play completely different; and have various builds you can do, heavy chain heal, riptide HoT or a blend of the two.

Whilst Rdruid is cookie cutter Rejuv buff regrowth heal with regrowth outside of flourish -incarn - tranq ramps.

Nope, two different things, one has energy and combo points the other is mana.

Mastery heals requires HoTs to do extra healing the other just has it baseline given within its mastery.

So no completely different.


I’m tired of responding I’m sorry were going no where its a waste of time. GL though!

Our mastery works better for spot healing as is as we can control just how much we increase the potency of our spot healing without needing the target to be in dire straits. It does not do well with HoT based healing

This is what YOU said you wanted.

Does no such thing. That’s more an issue with pathing and those “dead” talents being better options than their alternatives in the routing to get to the bottom of the tree. I mean if Spring Blossoms is such a dead talent, why not take Overgrowth? That would really help with your spot healing. Hint: Because Spring Blossoms is the better choice between the two on that node.

And you keep bringing it up, so I’ll keep saying you can keep feeling that way as I don’t argue against it.

Not counter intuitive as you need clear casting procs in order to get forest flow to work, meaning it’s not constant like it was and not always reliable as it’s not always there when you want it whereas before it was guaranteed with pressing trees.

People still out there doing this. Especially with Wildstalker. This hasn’t changed.

Paladins have gotten like 4 re-works in the last year and they’ve worked just fine.

It pertained to the usage and reliance of resto mastery of stacking HoTs. The thing you’re failing to understand is how the healing profiles are different. Sure a shaman can press 3 abilities AFTER A PERSON TAKES DAMAGE and the target went from 60% to 100% health. If done right, a Druid doesn’t have to do anything to the target after he takes damage and he heals back without any focus from the Druid.

If a Shaman leaves someone at 30%, they’re going to be at 30% going into the next pull. Not true for Druids. Trying to compare “topping up” when that’s not a Druids forte is a bad faith argument. That’s not how Druids heal, nor how they’re meant to operate.

Everyone has various builds. No one takes various builds. RSham runs the same cookie cutters too. It’s just how the game works nowadays.

I’m not comparing Feral to Resto. Not sure how you decided to try to spin it that way.

I’m comparing Feral before to Feral after which plays the same as it did before, but feels different after

Like Resto before to Resto after, which plays the same as it did before, but feels different after.

  • It’s better for consistent healing on 1-3 targets where HoTs can be actively maintained on each target.
  • My goal is for HoTs to do significant healing on their own, not just serve as a setup for a large Regrowth.
  • Since Overgrowth only applies to one target, we need healing amplification for multiple targets, especially for Mythic+ and raid situations where damage comes in AoE waves. Meanwhile, in PvP, we’re forced into talents like Cultivation just to stack more HoTs, compensating for a weak mastery.
  • I’ve already made my point. This iteration of the playstyle is awful. Take me back to the Shadowlands Resto Druid days—or even BFA would be better.
  • Forest Flow was never up 24/7; it required Clearcasting. It’s terrible now at 60% effectiveness. A 400k heal now translates to 240k, whereas it used to scale up to 800k in Seasons 3 and 4 of Dragonflight. This isn’t a reliability issue; it’s about poorly designed, over-nerfed talents.
  • That’s incorrect—we’re forced into Wildstalker because Symbiotic Bloom is just Adaptive Swarm? And it’s our only way to weave in damage?
  • No, it had a major spec tree overhaul once and the other two were minor tuning and talent changes. Holy Paladin has only seen around three significant changes in about two years span: one at Dragonflight’s launch on November 28, 2022, another in Season 2 around August 2023, and a third on August 26, 2024, for The War Within. So, what are you talking about? 4 reworks in one year did not occur.
  • No, I can do something similar with Riptide, double Healing Stream, and Earthen Wall in under three to four globals to prevent damage to all five party members. Then I use Totemic Recall to do it again.
  • Resto Druid is limited to a single “cookie-cutter” build for raiding, two for Mythic+, and one for PvP.
  • You did compare Feral and Resto, mentioning they play the same but just shifted from DoTs to burst.

???

This is comparing … you’re actually making a comparison here, even though you say you’re not. By discussing “Feral before to Feral after” and “Resto before to Resto after,” you’re highlighting the similarities in how both specs have changed over time. This structure ends up implying a comparison between Feral and Resto, even if indirectly, since you’re drawing parallels in how they each play the same but feel different.

When you bring up both specs this way, it’s natural to interpret it as comparing your experiences with Feral and Resto over time.

Well we’re just going to keep butting heads so I think this is where we shall split ways. As a leaving argument I’m going to put this:

Regardless of how it feels, regardless of the “new design” RDruid took on, it still plays the same way it has in the past. May feel different/bad due to a rework with talents, but it’s still played the same way.

By all means, discuss how it feels and how you don’t like it and what you’d like to see changed. But don’t act like this is suddenly a “new” thing for RDRuids

Our Mastery is absolutely terrible. It doesn’t feel good to spend many GCDs peppering weak HOTS as a way to activate % increased healing. It is spammy, not fun and annoying.

Rejuvi used to be a spell you threw on someone to heal them slowly over time or to help mitigate periodic damage intake. Now, the spell’s sole purpose is to buff Regrowth or Wildgrowth via Soul of the Forest - yet we have no way of spreading Rejuvis to multiple people without individually targeting each player, not to mention the duration is down to 12 secs. This means the Druid has to constantly reapply Rejuvi in very quick ‘healing’ cycles.

It doesn’t feel good to play. This isn’t even taking into account the sheer lack of healing tools the spec now suffers from. HOTs (as a buffer to help mitigate damage intake) aren’t a Druid specific thing anymore - all other healers have access to a variety of HOT effects and ways to proc them. Yet the Druid class has no instant group-wide heal + dispel, no blessing of freedom / protection / sac, no % hp increases with heals, no shields – nothing but pure throughput which most other classes match anyway.

This is very much apparent in higher keys where no amount of healing can avoid 1 shot mechanics and the Druid class offers no way to mitigate the damage (spirit link, barrier, %hp increase, shields).

3 Likes

I mean kinda but not really.


I have discussed how I want to see it changed via rework; I have discussed how it feels.

It is different from previous iterations TWW, hero talents are a new concept.

Unless we had all of this in previous expansions.

Which isn’t true.

Therefore it is new, this is a new playstyle. A very unloved “new” playstyle.


I guess agree to disagree here.

Hero Talents add passives to the things we are already doing. It’s not like we play around them. They’re just bonuses to our usual rotations

Not true, we play around Keeper of the Grove - Grove Guardians.

Utilizing Trees as ramps playing around the passives given to us by Hero Trees.

As well Wildstalker,

Deliberately the passives make you catweave.

Vice Versa with the heal proc off Regrowth, crit amp.

All tied too … Hero Tree passives changing our playstyle.

I’m new at Rdruid coming from this character which is my main as Hpriest.
I have experience in doing 12s and pushing 13s right now with my priest

Moving to Rdruid has been fun, not doing high keys just moving around +4-+6 since I don’t have gear (Around 590 ilvl).
Maybe I haven’t played other versions of Rdruid but the spec feels it does a ton of healing when doing the right prep.

I feel like with more Haste and Mastery my healing is going to be insane. tbh with my hpriest I need to rotate between 4 healing cds to handle mid-heavy situations, meanwhile with my rdruid I just have to do good prep of hots and then follow with regrowths and just saving Convoke for unexpected stuff, which tells how much healing Rdruid can output.

I feel the spec is in an ok spot with all the last buffs it got from launch to now. It can be better? sure but feels ok, and kinda hard to master. Ok defensives, Ok mobility, strong output, curse/poison dispel is bis for this season and brings a Battle rez and an Interrupt. Of course Rsham can do this and more, but that’s just Rshams being overtuned, none other healer can do all the things rshams do.

And coming from my Hpriest you guys maybe don’t know how crazy it feels to be able to interrupt and dispel curses and poisons this season. I don’t feel useless in these scenarios.

Again haven’t played other versions from previous expansions, but as a new rdruid enthusiast it’s been a good experience. I’ll have to check again when starting doing 10s++

1 Like

I think anyone that isn’t a Shaman or Monk feels super mid right now.

Hi all OP here.

Thanks for the vigorous discussion. I have a small update

When I originally wrote this post, It was me gearing up my resto druid after already maxing and gearing other healers like evoker, priest, shaman, pally. Now that I have an incredibly large amount of haste (around 16,000) I want to say that it does feel much better to play. Getting into a groove, doing the ramp, spreading rejuves is much better and I’m performing much better which is more fun. The haste itself does not fix core design issues like dungeon spot healing and ramp time.

I still think resto druid felt better in dragonflight, especially the 200% grove guardian nourish build, and double lifebloom + flourish.

I also think TWW hero talents are kinda lack luster for druid. I mean this is no Voidweaver or Totemic or Chronowarden, those have great identity and gameplay changing choices they offer the player if chosen. R Druid hero talents feel really passive and bland. Personally I think they should really differentiate the playstyles via the hero talents. Maybe Cenarius hero talent removes HOT effects but buffs treants and ST healing? Or maybe lean into the healing while kitty with wildstalker?

That’s all, if anyone reading I just wanted to share that it does get better once you get a lot of haste, don’t be discouraged!

1 Like

Remember when Blizz said TWW would be less spiky damage? Yeah, that was a funny joke.

I started out on my Druid which i love so much. But now I’m starting to gear my Priest. I mean, it’s way more fun with a lot less work. Being able to move all the HP Bars up esp while in Shadow Covenant is “Less Stress Express”.

Druid needs some major Buff’s to it’s CD in 5 Mans. Now we have Bursty dmg and huge health pools. Also, can we please make Germ and Rejuv apply with 1 Global?

3 Likes

If regrowth is your top heal then you’re playing resto Druid wrong

Have you not tied m+ yet as resto? It’s your top heal by a country mile.

Yes I have. My top heal is wild growth > rejuv> regrowth. The second and third most spells change but my first is always wild growth

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Love the idea of germ amd revj on one global. Something like the lifebloom mastery stack talent would be a quick change to make. Or work it into SotF, so its not completely broken

I was wondering when SOMEONE would say it out loud.

I fell in love with my resto druid healer back in WOTLK. Been playing her as my main, until now!

I feel resto druid has been nerfed into oblivion.
Like trying to put a bandaid on a compound wound. Or trying to put out a house fire with a thimble of water.

I now HATE my druid! And she was my love.
I’m back to Holy priest healing.
Sooooo sad.
I knew it wasn’t my imagination!!!

FIX IT BLIZZARD!

My druid will always be my main alt. Right now I’m feral/resto and have 2 full sets of gear (almost) but only really play feral. I want people to say, hey do you mind switching to heals for this? But it ends up being the shamans who are asked, which is fine.

I know things go up and down. One day the time for resto to shine again will be upon us. I’m going to heal the pants off those 2 weeks before they nerf it again.

Fun fact: resto druids are the top healer on mythic bloodbound (not my resto druid but others who are good at it) it’s a great fight for resto.