This thread is to encourage item related discourse to help make more informed gear selections for end game raiding Tree of Life druids. End game raiding druids will have access to Mount Hyjal and Black Temple gear but this guide will not only include items from these instances. Also this guide focuses on items that are more centered on a balanced +healing and +spirit selection rather than forgoing socket bonuses in favor of a +MP5 or all +healing build. Obviously this is a general guide that should work in most situations; however there may be better choices for more specific encounters. This will cover the top 5 items from each category. This listing will include badge items (from 2.3) and also cloth items as well. Also the armory “Find an Upgrade” typically does a very poor job of showing which items are truly upgrades. Sometimes it even shows items not in the same category as main healing items or in rare cases feral items as upgrades.

Note: I would like this to become a repository for Tree druid gear choices and information. I will be reformatting it to be easier to browse and adding more information (with a ranking and detailed breakdown of stat differentials between items) including which gems/enchantments are better than others. This will be getting constantly updated into the foreseeable future (including ZA, Sunwell, and WoTLK). I would prefer to have it updated with information as it's being collected (even before it goes live) so that druids may make appropriate gear choices based on non-live information. The whole point of this thread is to encourage discussion so please don't hold back in your comments, suggestions, and critiques of this thread. At the moment 2.3 data is not assimilated into this thread so any information that you guys feel needs to be added please feel free to post it.


Last Updated: (11/11/07)


Head:

• [Thunderheart Helmet]
• [Guise of the Tidal Lurker]
• [Cowl of Benevolence]
• [Nordrassil Headguard]
• [Merciless Gladiator's Kodohide Helm]

Neck:

• [Lord Sanguinar's Claim]
• [Teeth of Gruul]
• [Necklace of Eternal Hope]
• [Shining Chain of the Afterworld]
• [Nadina's Pendant of Purity]

Shoulders:

• [Thunderheart Spaulders]
• [Nordrassil Life-Mantle]
• [Runetotem's Mantle]
• [Veil of Turning Leaves]
• [Merciless Gladiator's Kodohide Spaulders]

Back:

• [Sunshower Light Cloak]
• [Shroud of Forgiveness]
• [Shroud of the Final Stand]
• [Stainless Cloak of the Pure Hearted]
• [Red Riding Hood's Cloak]

Chest:

• [Thunderheart Tunic]
• [Nordrassil Chestguard]
• [Don Rodrigo's Poncho]
• [Gnarled Chestpiece of the Ancients]
• [Chestguard of Malorne]

Wrist:

• [Rejuvenating Bracers]
• [Grove-Bands of Remulos]
• [Bracers of Martyrdom]
• [Veteran's Kodohide Bracers]
• [Bracers of Renewed Life]

Hand:

• [Item not found!]
• [Nordrassil Gloves]
• [Bark-Gloves of Ancient Wisdom]
• [Mitts of the Treemender]
• [Botanist's Gloves of Growth]

Waist:

• [Belt of Divine Guidance]
• [Girdle of Zaetar]
• [Cord of Nature's Sustenance]
• [Belt of the Long Road]
• [Veteran's Kodohide Belt]

Legs:

• [Thunderheart Legguards]
• [Leggings of Eternity]
• [Kilt of Immortal Nature]
• [Nordrassil Life-Kilt]
• [Earthsoul Leggings]

Feet:

• [Boots of the Divine Light]
• [Orca-Hide Boots]
• [Enchanted Leather Sandals]
• [Archbishop's Slippers]
• [Gold-Leaf Wildboots]

Finger:

• [Coral Band of the Revived]
• [Band of the Eternal Restorer]
• [Violet Signet of the Grand Restorer]
• [Mender's Heart-Ring]
• [Blessed Band of Karabor]

Trinket:

• [Memento of Tyrande]
• [Essence of the Martyr]
• [Tome of Diabolic Remedy]
• [Eye of the Dead]
• [Warp-Scarab Brooch]

Main Hand (2H):

• [Staff of Immaculate Recovery]
• [Apostle of Argus]
• [Ethereum Life-Staff]
• [Crystalheart Pulse-Staff]
• [Ethereum Life-Staff]

Main Hand (1H):

• [Crystal Spire of Karabor]
• [Lightfathom Scepter]
• [Merciless Gladiator's Salvation]
• [Hammer of Atonement]
• [Light's Justice]

Held In Off Hand:

• [Scepter of Purification]
• [Touch of Inspiration]
• [Talisman of the Sun King]
• [Aran's Soothing Sapphire]
• [Merciless Gladiator's Reprieve]

I'll preface this reply with the statement that I operate from the point of view of +healing stacking, but I'll endeavour to remember that you do not - apologies if I fail. A nicely made guide - most of my additions are from 2.3 items, which you may not have analysed quite as obsessively as I have, or may just value differently.


[Hood of the Third Eye] is superior to the [Merciless Gladiator's Kodohide Helm] in my opinion. The matching [Pants of Splendid Recovery] from badges are better than [Earthsoul Leggings] also.

The [Light-Blessed Bonds] would seem worthy of inclusion under hands, as would [Gargon's Bracers of Peaceful Slumber] under wrists.

While I accept that you're primarily aiming at endgame loot, some parts of Primal Mooncloth are superior to items on your list - [Primal Mooncloth Belt], especially, but the [Primal Mooncloth Robe] and [Primal Mooncloth Shoulders] are still very good, despite lacking in stamina. The new [Life-Step Belt] from badges in 2.3 is worth adding, as well, best as it is aside from Primal Mooncloth.

For Trinkets, I'd put [Essence of the Martyr] and [Tome of Diabolic Remedy] above [Memento of Tyrande] due to Lifebloom stacking, and might even remove it all together and add [Zandalarian Hero Charm].

While I would replace [Aran's Soothing Sapphire] with [Tears of Heaven], I've no idea how you rate Intelligence.

For necks, Nadina's pendant should be on nr 2 (way more +heal which is key).

For cloaks, Shroud of Final stand should be on top. Even though +healing is less, the mp5 boost is huge.

For belts, the new belt coming with heroic badges in 2.3 will be the best one. It's similar to the Zaetar belt, but it has mp5 on it and a red socket instead of a blue one.

For staves, the Apostle is better than Bloodboil's staff, it has more mana (mp5 difference > spirit and more int) and more +healing.

For off-hands, I'd prefer Touch of Inspiration over the Scepter. 12 mp5 vs 13 +healing and 25 spirit, it's still a lot of mana you will lose.

I know +healing is the better stat for druids, but I don't think you should ignore mp5 completely. It's all about balance and when doubting between mana/+heal you should choose +healing over mana regen. However, on some of these items, the mp5 outweighs the +heal by far and in those cases I think it's better to go for the mana regen items instead.

You may consider ranking Nadina’s Pendant of Purity higher. It's nearly the same as Lord Sanguinar's Claim, which you rated highest and clearly superior to Teeth of Gruul.

Also as pointed out, the new Life-step Belt from badges beats all other available healing belts for druids, it's definitely worth including even if you don't rate it as 'best'.

Nice list, keep it up.

You've got [Ethereum Life-Staff] listed twice - [Staff of Dark Mending]* around #3 should fill out the top 5 nicely.

For necks I think [Veteran's Pendant of Salvation] is a better neck then [Necklace of Eternal Hope]. The actual ordering of the necks seems a bit strange, but that's been mentioned.

* Assuming this does drop in 2.3. Otherwise... [Item not found!] I guess?

[Emberspur Talisman] should rank above [Shining Chain of the Afterworld].

Considered [Helm of Natural Regeneration]? Should rank higher than [Merciless Gladiator's Kodohide Helm] no ?

There's no meta gem slot in the first helm, the chance to restore mana gem is ~10 mp5. But from a point of pure +healing stacking it's many times better. All depends on what you value most, I guess.

If this is meant to be an ordered list, Nadina's necklace should be #1 or #2. There's also the new [Brooch of Nature's Mercy] from Zul'aman, [Life-Step Belt] from badges, and [Voodoo Shaker] also from badges. Life-step is arguably the best belt in the game and the other two items are not shabby. Also, if you replace the curly quotes with straight quotes in your item links then the ones with apostrophes will work.

I saw one post kind of hinting at this but I wanted to ask to get a more directed answer anyway. Concering the Primal Mooncloth set, I've heard some druids say they like it, other druids say it would be complete stupidity for any druid to wear that. I have an alt druid that I'm just getting to 70, and as it hasn't been my main toon up to this point I haven't done as much in the theory and research area on the class. Is the Primal Mooncloth set worth the investment or is it a laughable offense to be seen in it?

I never wore it for three reasons: 1) I don't use cloth. 2) It has no stamina. 3) I'm not a tailor.

Those things aside, it's a really good set. The socketbonuses are useless so you can just stack +healing gems, the setbonus is awesome and it fits really well with the Whitemend-set (which is really cool as tailor since you get the setbonus).

Primal Mooncloth/Whitemend is an amazing first set, provided ~nothing~ hits you. If you're dedicated to the idea of getting it, fill in the remaining slots with PVP gear until you can get more stamina elsewhere.

I like the idea of a ranked list in the way that it provides a narrowed range of items to focus on when making your comparisons. However, like some have posted above, each stat has it's own merit depending on

• Which stats does your current gear lack?
• Which stats are more favorable for a particular encounter?

The difficulty for me comes when I try to make a decision between a particular mace/offhand or a staff. There's also the question of trading armor/stamina leather for cloth that is usually more int/heal bonus heavy. Does anyone have any suggestions for a spreadsheet/website/tool that would help in making selections by giving each stat a variable value?

example:
For long fights I tend to value mp5 more than +heal, but with the recent changes to intensity I'm often at a loss as to how much to consider spirit in this selection.

Encounters (even long ones) that give the opportunity to keep multiple lifebloom stacks going are the ones that I really pile on the +healing, even if it means chain drinking mana potions.

Bosses that have the ability to do heavy damage to the entire raid are the reason I always carry high stamina/resilience/resist gear.

So I guess what I'm really getting at is that I'm trying to find a way to reorganize this original list, along with the contributions of the other posters, into something that can be ranked according to what will be most effective in a given scenario. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on how/if this is actually possible?

I use lootrank.com to do what you are describing. I have a resto PvE list already set up if you're looking for some starting numbers to mess around with: Loot Rank

I don't know if I'd use that Loot Rank you have set up. Way too much emphasis on +heal and mp/5. I've found a balance of stats to be more effective for a 10min fight and not everyone can simply put +22 heal gems in everything they have. :-)

I changed mine up a bit, removed cloth, removed pvp, set gems to rare. The listing came out a bit more normal for my tastes.

edit: and thanks for the link to lootrank.com, haven't seen it before.