
Restoration Druid Healing Tips and Tricks
Updated 4 weeks, 1 day ago for patch 9.2 by Preston. View the change log.
Healing doesn't have a rotation of spells to go through like a DPS spec does, however, there are often certain types of situations that arise where you can respond in a certain fashion. I've detailed some of the most common situations below, as well as how to heal them. In the heat of battle, you may not always be able to stick to these things exactly, but with a little practice they should become second nature.
If you have any questions or feedback, you can leave a comment below, contact me, or tweet @PrestonDvorak.
Things to always do
- Maintain
Lifebloom on a player at all times, usually the current tank, or yourself if using
Photosynthesis.
- Maintain
Efflorescence under the largest group of players, or under the tank(s) if players are spread out.
What to do when there's no major healing to be done
- Continue to keep
Lifebloom and
Efflorescence active.
- Consider helping DPS.
- The cheapest way to do this is with
Solar Wrath.
- You can also use
Moonfire and
Sunfire if mana permits.
- If you know you have a long period to DPS, and have taken
Balance Affinity or
Feral Affinity, you can shift into these forms, too.
- Catweaving (
Feral Affinity)
- Against 1-2 enemies:
- Maintain
Moonfire and
Sunfire on all enemies.
- When possible, start by using
Rake from
Prowl.
- Maintain
Rake on all enemies.
Swipe to gain combo points against two enemies.
Shred to gain combo points against one enemy.
- Maintain
Rip on all enemies.
- Use
Ferocious Bite if the enemy is unlikely to live for 15+ seconds.
- Maintain
- Against 3+ enemies:
- Against 1-2 enemies:
- Catweaving (
- The cheapest way to do this is with
- Be mindful of incoming/predictable damage so you can start putting
Rejuvenations on players ahead of time.
Healing heavy tank or single-target damage
- If you know the damage is coming, place
Ironbark or
Cenarion Ward (if talented) on the target ahead of time.
- If the target is already <50% health and nearing death, use
Nature's Swiftness with
Regrowth and follow-up with
Swiftmend to heal them up. Continue using
Regrowth or
Nourish (if talented) if the damage is going to continue.
- Once the target is stable >50% health, place
Rejuvenation on them and then follow up with another large heal (
Regrowth,
Swiftmend, etc) if they risk dying again without it.
- The main thing is to recognize when the damage is no longer critical so you don't waste mana or cooldowns.
Healing group-wide damage
- If you know the damage is coming, start placing
Rejuvenations on as many players as possible ~10 seconds before the damage will start.
- For low to moderate damage where you were able to place
Rejuvenations beforehand:
- Use
Wild Growth as the damage starts.
- Move
Lifebloom to yourself if you've taken
Photosynthesis.
- Continue to place
Rejuvenations and use
Wild Growth as-needed.
- Use
Ironbark,
Swiftmend,
Nature's Swiftness, or
Regrowth to save players that will die otherwise.
- Use
- For heavy damage where you placed
Rejuvenations beforehand:
- Use
Wild Growth as the damage starts.
- With the
Soul of the Forest talent, use
Swiftmend to buff this first when possible.
- With the
- Depending on your talent choices:
- Use
Flourish just before the
Wild Growth heal over time effect expires.
- Move
Lifebloom to yourself if you're using
Photosynthesis.
- Use
Incarnation: Tree of Life.
- Use
- Continue to place
Rejuvenations on players and using
Wild Growth as needed.
- Use single-target spot healing like
Swiftmend and
Regrowth on players that will die otherwise.
- Use
- For moderate to heavy damage with little to no
Rejuvenations placed beforehand:
- Use
Wild Growth after the damage starts.
- With the
Soul of the Forest talent, use
Swiftmend to buff this first when possible.
- With the
- Move
Lifebloom to yourself if you're using
Photosynthesis.
- Begin placing
Rejuvenations on players not affected by your
Wild Growth.
- Just before
Wild Growth's heal over time effect expires, use
Flourish (if talented).
- Use
Incarnation: Tree of Life if you've taken that talent
- Continue placing
Rejuvenations on players and using
Wild Growth as needed.
- Use
- Finally, for critical, unexpected damage,
Tranquility should be used. Using it should be your last-ditch plan to keep the group alive. If you're assigned to use
Tranquility at a specific time by the group leader, try to hold it for that time at all costs. If you've taken
Flourish, try to always have it available to extend the heal over time effect from
Tranquility after it's done channeling.
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