Post by Gwannatar
This is the spec you should be using as an arena resto druid.
Hey! Why no
Blessing of the Grove?
Because it's a
horrible talent as it's good for Rejuvenation only. 4% more Rejuvenation is not worthy of 2 talent points. Especially when you can use those points for
Perseverance, reducing
all the damage you take from spells by 6%. Compare this to a +4% rejuv tick. You cannot save anyone with +4% Rejuvenation tick in 3 seconds but receiving 6% less spell damage can save your own life, to save others. Since we have to endure insane amounts of spell damage in Cata these days, Perseverance is an awesome talent.
Why no
Naturalist?
Why no
Empowered Touch?
You will probably never have enough freedom to cast these pve heals in an arena environment. If you do and still aren't interrupted/silenced/school-locked, you are probably facing some idiots, you will win that match anyway.
Even though Regrowth will be added to it next patch, this will still be a pve talent.
A resto druid's strength is his/her mobility granted by forms and instant casts. We are the most mobile healers and only by using your advantage you may overcome the pressure.
The only time you really need to actually show a cast bar should be when you will be CC'ing an enemy.
Why no
Efflorescence?
Not only because it's heal is ridiculously low but mostly because there isn't anything more
stupid than announcing the enemy that you just used your Swiftmend and won't be able to do it again for some time.
This talent is worthless even for pve.
Why spending only 1 point on
Nature's Ward and not maxing it?
"Whenever you take an attack at or below 50% health, there's a 50% chance that a free Rejuv will be cast on you".
Beleive me, if you are below 50% health, you will be taking so many attacks that this 50% chance will never do you wrong.
This talent is great since it gives you the chance to instantly Swiftmend yourself, without casting the Rejuvenation before it thus saving you a GCD when you're in danger.
Why no
Nature's Grace?
Because it is stupid to waste 3 points on a talent that gives you haste only when you cast those spells, and sometimes giving you that haste and going on CD when you dont need it. The 1 min CD is what makes it worthless, since you should be casting Regrowth only when you are in tree form, when you don't have any haste problems anyway. As for MF and IS, you may not always be free enough to dot someone to make your next Cyclone a bit faster. Or the ability may be in CD because you used IS on that warrior like 30 secs ago, remember? Now where are your 3 talent points gone? ..The key and skill is, to time your casts by anticipating the game and casting only when you know that you will be able to finish your cast; not hopelessly trying to make the cast itself faster.
Since you still have to spend 5 points on the top tier of Balance tree anyway, it is more practical to use them on
Starlight Wrath to make Wrath casts faster by a nice 1 second. While Enemy1 is cc'ed, firing 2 Wraths to Enemy2 which was already being damaged by your dps can bring you the advantage of being the side who pressures the other, thus result in a game-breaking difference.
Why
Nature's Majesty? Isn't 4% crit a bit low?
Yeah it isn't much BUT now our HoT's can crit, which makes this a great talent. Imagine having 3 HoT's on you, every tick of those 3 will now have a chance to crit, which is nice.
Why
Balance of Power? and why only 1 point?
Because it's an awesome talent that gives you the freedom to gem/enchant for other important stats. Only 1 is enough since as a Resto druid you should have more than enough spirit on your gear to make yourself hitcapped thanks to this talent.
Why not maxing
Moonglow instead of
Furor?
Each point spent on Furor gives you 5% of your total mana.
Each point spent on Moonglow gives you 3% less mana cost per spell.
Do the math.
If you think you have enough mana for arena, think again. And if you still think that you have enough, you may trade this talent for
Genesis, which I do NOT recommend tbh. Even though 2% more heal looks nice, it still isn't as helpful as having a 3% mana discount on every damage and healing spell.
Explanation on the empty Glyph Slot:
Normally this is where we use the Glyph of Entangling Roots, a.k.a. insta-root glyph. Since the next patch nerfs it to a "0.2 seconds faster Entangling Roots cast", you may want to use
Glyph of Innervate if you are teamed with a caster. Or according to your gameplay, you may want to stick to the Root glyph as well.
I hope this post was helpful to you. Although you may tweak the spec according to your gameplay/gear/teammate; I find this 7/3/31 as the spec which gives the most of it for arenas, compared to other combinations.
G.