Seeking advice - Feral/Restoration Druid build

[WarLocke]

So I've been looking at Ehlianna's options for talent distribution, and since the Balance tree doesn't really interest me (don't really want to be a plain healer/nuker) I'm pretty set on going Feral Combat/Restoration. Anyone want to comment on this potential build?


Balance Talents (0 points)

# None


Feral Combat Talents (31 points)

# Ferocity - 5/5 points
Reduces the cost of your Maul, Swipe, Claw, and Rake abilities by 5 Rage or Energy.

# Sharpened Claws - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance while in Bear or Cat form by 5%.

# Improved Prowl - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while Prowling. More effective than Improved Prowl (Rank 4)..

# Predatory Strikes - 5/5 points
Increases the Attack Power bonus from your Cat form ability by 20%.

# Feline Swiftness - 1/1 point
Increases your movement speed by 30% while in Cat form. Only active outdoors.

# Thick Hide - 5/5 points
Increases your Armor rating from items while in Bear form by 10%.

# Strength of the Wild - 4/4 points
Increases your Strength while in Bear or Cat form by 12%.

# Primal Instinct - 1/1 point
Reduces the Mana cost of your shapeshifting abilities by 25%.



Restoration Talents (20 points)

# Improved Mark of the Wild - 5/5 points
Increases the effects of your Mark of the Wild spell by 35%.

# Furor - 2/5 points
Gives you a 40% chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear form.

# Improved Healing Touch - 5/5 points
Reduces the mana cost of your Healing Touch spell by 15%.

# Gift of Nature - 1/1 point
Increases the effect of your Healing Touch, Rejuvenation, Regrowth, and Tranquility spells by 5%.

# Intensity - 2/5 points
Gives you a 40% chance to gain 40 Energy when you shapeshift into Cat form.

# Improved Rejuvenation - 5/5 points
Increases the effect of your Rejuvenation spell by 15%.


I tried to stick with Feral talents that applied to both forms. I also wanted the Subtlety talent from Restoration (since I'll probably be healing quite a bit in groups), but I didn't have the points to get it as well as Primal Instinct.

Right now I have Improved MotW 5/5, and 5 banked points, so nothing else is necessarily set in stone.

[Bun-Bun]

So I've been looking at Ehlianna's options for talent distribution, and since the Balance tree doesn't really interest me (don't really want to be a plain healer/nuker) I'm pretty set on going Feral Combat/Restoration.  Anyone want to comment on this potential build?

I'll take a stab at it, although I favor Balance builds personally. I'd like to try something like this myself, but I'm holding my altitis in check for the moment.

Balance Talents (0 points)

# None

A gutsy choice, going without Swiftshifting. Can't argue it, though. It's a lot of wasted points to get there in the Balance Tree. There's a reported bug in Swiftshifting that I need to test out that makes it relatively worthless in any case.

Feral Combat Talents (31 points)

# Ferocity - 5/5 points
Reduces the cost of your Maul, Swipe, Claw, and Rake abilities by 5 Rage or Energy.

# Sharpened Claws - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance while in Bear or Cat form by 5%.

# Improved Prowl - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while Prowling. More effective than Improved Prowl (Rank 4)..

# Predatory Strikes - 5/5 points
Increases the Attack Power bonus from your Cat form ability by 20%.

# Feline Swiftness - 1/1 point
Increases your movement speed by 30% while in Cat form. Only active outdoors.

# Thick Hide - 5/5 points
Increases your Armor rating from items while in Bear form by 10%.

# Strength of the Wild - 4/4 points
Increases your Strength while in Bear or Cat form by 12%.

# Primal Instinct - 1/1 point
Reduces the Mana cost of your shapeshifting abilities by 25%.

Generally right on the money.

You might want to divert a point from Improved Prowl to get Feral Charge. It's tailor-made for nailing runners and shutting down spellcasters.

I'm not sold on the usefulness of Primal Instinct, but it's just one point and it does reduce the bottom-of-the-mana-barrel needed to sustain a shift after healing. My impression is that if you're doing things in feral forms most of the time, your mana pool will be full, or full minus one Healing Touch when you shift. That may bee too much of a soloists perspective. :)

If you don't get Primal Instinct, you can then shave points off Strength of The Wild, which doesn't seem like the best bang for the buck.

Mana does regen while you're in forms.

Restoration Talents (20 points)

# Improved Mark of the Wild - 5/5 points
Increases the effects of your Mark of the Wild spell by 35%.

# Furor - 2/5 points
Gives you a 40% chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear form.

I think this should be maxed. It's tough to get Rage fast in Bear form, and an early Demoralizing Roar can cut damage taken by a lot.

Edit: A Wolfshead Helm gives Rage/Energy on shifting, which can mitigate the necessity of this talent. If I get my behind in gear, Hykim (my leatherworking druid) will eventually be able to make you one.

# Improved Healing Touch - 5/5 points
Reduces the mana cost of your Healing Touch spell by 15%.

# Gift of Nature - 1/1 point
Increases the effect of your Healing Touch, Rejuvenation, Regrowth, and Tranquility spells by 5%.

# Intensity - 2/5 points
Gives you a 40% chance to gain 40 Energy when you shapeshift into Cat form.

On the flip side, energy regenerates so fast in cat form, I don't see the need for this at all.

# Improved Rejuvenation - 5/5 points
Increases the effect of your Rejuvenation spell by 15%.

A very good pick, as Rejuv is the most-used healing spell (for me, anyway).

You really need to squeeze a point into Nature's Swiftness. You've got 20 points in Restoration, go the extra inch and get the best talent in the tree. With it, you can pop to caster form, cast Nature's Swiftness, Healing Touch, and save about 2-3 seconds getting back to feral form. It's also excellent if you're the group healer, and Things Go A Bit Wrong.

I tried to stick with Feral talents that applied to both forms.  I also wanted the Subtlety talent from Restoration (since I'll probably be healing quite a bit in groups), but I didn't have the points to get it as well as Primal Instinct.

I don't think Subtlety is worth the points. At least, it's not worth crippling other parts of your build to get it.

Right now I have Improved MotW 5/5, and 5 banked points, so nothing else is necessarily set in stone.
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You can always untrain and relearn your talents with the vast surplus of cash druids always have. :)

A very solid build. I look forward to see how it pans out.