salviastria

I've played around 75 games as DK/Druid, and while the comp seems to mesh well vs some teams, we get absolutely DESTROYED by priest/ret and warrior/pally, and sometimes dk/pally. I play dk my partner plays druid....

No matter which way I play I can't seem to either get the priest or pally that low, and my druid consistently gets outmana'd by disc priests.

warrior/pally my druid just dies....all these effin pallies w/ their ridiculous hybrid shield silence builds...

and dk/pally...I play deep frost hungering cold and even if i time it nicely to catch the garg my partner can die in 3-4 gcds if im cc'd.....

 

salviastria

Just finished game ~110 as deep frost/resto, definitely feel that this comp is viable but can be counter comp'd pretty badly. We outplayed a couple priest/ret teams (god damn raid bosses), ran into a bunch of desto/disc (got conflag'd for 6800 then chaos bolt'd for 7500 w/ 629 resil).

It's all about the CC chain....trying to get someone to trinket so you can Cyclone > Cyclone > Hungering Cold > Cyclone > Cyclone > Silence, although usually one of those abilities is the one thats used to force the trinket....

anyways, very fun if done properly. Also surprisingly did very well while sitting in blood presence (usually an Unholy presence junkie) after another frost knight ripped my asshole apart while just tunneling in BP.

 

Mearis

Your strategy against druid/warrior relies on sapping a warrior then opening on a druid. You do realize why this is silly? The warrior will just wait on zerker rage in LoS of the druid. You sap the warrior, he will sit the sap, wait for you to open on the druid, zerker rage, charge and hamstring, and the druid now can liberally hop away from the rogue and your priest can fear the warrior in 5 seconds if he wants to waste that cooldown.

You cannot even repent a druid heh.

<manly> then my sister calls and proposes the one thing that has never before occured in my entire life

 

sahtra

Nearing 200 games played between 2s and 3s. The 2s are W/D and are going extremely well, I'm curious about how others are using the new lifeblooms most effectively?

I'm trying a double stack and see method, trying to let the blooms go. If there is no damage, I'll pop out and stack a 3rd and then not bother with a refresh (assuming I'm snagging a drink). At the first sign of danger on me I'm double stacking the lifeblooms and hovering on my barkskin button.

Second question is about wild growth.

In 3s, i find certain points for it to be extremely effective, but in 2s is it worthwhile at all? Rarely am i and my warrior staying in 15 yards, the only times being when he is peeling or ducking a burst. I am specc'd with wild growth right now, and naturally use it as filler while waiting for swiftmend cd/lifeblooms to hit if I get a burst of damage. Am i wasting mana with this strat?

 

seron

Most druids seem to choose the Deliverance necklace over the Salvation, what is the reasoning behind this? According to WoWWiki the spirit would offer 3 MP5 whereas Salv has a flatout 17 mp5. Gives some out of 5sec rule regen as well but I'm usually in that rule all the time, and if I'm not I'm able to drink. Is it just for innervate? I've read that it will be changed to a fixed amount. Considering this, which necklace would you choose now, Deliverance or Salvation?

 

Lazak

I run a Unholy DeathKnight / Restro Druid combo and sofar im liking it very much.
We seem to be able to win the mana-war against almost any combo and we can sometimes perform a CC-chain for a normal win.

Right now we have a 50% win rate, but this is because my druid friend is severely undergeared. He has severel Brual Gladiator items and some pure PvE items. He runs at 16.5K buffed HP and short of 400 resillience.

Even with those stats, we could win the manawar and cc-chain some combos for a win.

We usually win the manawar by having my pet on the healer (priest, druids or paladins - not shamans because of watershield) and using death grib + chains of ice, to let my druid drink.

When we want to kill by cc-chain, we have 3x Cyclone, Strangulate, Pet stun, Grib+Arcane Torrent, Bash.
We very rarely ever get a perfect chain off, but even some of them in a row, is sometimes enough.

My assesment is that this combo is very viable and sofar i have not seen any hard counters.
Our hardest matchup seems to be Resto Shaman/Retribution Paladin.

 

Grunge

The entire point is to get him to zerker rage so you can fear him after he charges.
Gouge on the druid works wonders against a Charge "peel".

Also if the warrior is peeling you off the druid, the priest can come fear both, prompting a trinket by someone.

And once you've caused enough mana-loss on the druid you can simply switch to the warrior and kill him, that's what it all boils down to.


Back to things relative to Druids:

I actually feel that Unholy DK's are much better suited for Druids than Frost,
the 25 second cd on grip, coupled with pet stuns is highly effective in peeling rogues.

Frost has it's benefits but at least against Rogue/Priest, Unholy provides more utility.

Fans glory to the Gladiators,
Gods glory to the Heroes.

 

safffira

What is everyone thinking about in terms of warlock/druid?

My friend has full deadly and is use to playing an affliction spec. Me and him are gladiators from seasons 2-4 (I played a pally then but stopped when Wrath was coming out). With the new changes to locks we are planning on running druid/destro lock. Do you think this will be as viable now as when druid/lock played in BC? I am use to playing very defensive since I played a pally. I would have to change that mindset and play more offensive since I am playing a class who can CC now.

Currently I have about 400 resil and 1400 healing. Nothing great in terms of gear, but it will only go up from here.

With my lock going the new 0/17/54 build do you think we have a chance?

I am reroll. My paladin got banned.

 

Amera

The problem with a lock right now is how much you have to CC versus just playing with a melee and sitting in tree (basically you have to actually do something). That opens you up to some nasty switches. Good warriors can just charge and bladestorm you to death while you're in caster, or just bounce back and forth and run down your mana pool pretty quickly. It seems like it will still be a pretty decent combo, but probably with a lot higher skillcap for the druid than other setups.

 

khel

My personal opinion is that warlock+druid is dead. Rogue+priest counters it and is the most popular 2v2 setup now. Even with just the fear nerf, affliction+resto would have died because affliction warlocks cannot kill healers without having dots on them while they are feared. Now their pressure is reduced, and fear only works if the person is taking extremely minor damage.

So finally warlock+druid could beat dk+paladin very well after 3.1, but then priest+rogue rises to stomp the comp out of existence. Destruction warlock+resto druid is even worse vs anything with a dispeller. Dispeller+melee is even worse, as your crowd control and burst damage both get neutered.

I am just going back to moonkin to play with my warlock in 2's. I would probably be best off with an arms warrior, and her with a rogue, but destruction+moonkin or destruction+feral seem like the most viable druid+warlock comps now.

 

seron

Sorry to bother, but is there anyone that could provide some insight? I'm really doubting what to buy.

 

MatsT

Your math is off. The 42 spirit on the furious neck will give roughly 37 mp5 while not casting, and thus 18.5 mp5 while casting. In addition, it also provides you with spellpower while in tree form and extra mana back on the innervate. The mp5 neck is simply not an option for classes that have spiritregen while casting.

 

malthrin

Indeed. The options for neck/cloak are spirit or spell hit.

 

Awshlia

I know this is a "Tree Tank" thread, but I wanted to post my 2 cents on resto druid 2v2 specs. it's a bit left-over from s3 / s4, but I think it's still very viable, especially with the new lifebloom. My Spec


I'm currently running with a marks hunter and it's working pretty well. DK's and Warriors are easily kited and controlled, and I can kill most of them them without much difficulty in duels, so it forces the healer to heal himself and his partner in 2's, allowing a mistake. The only weakpoint in healer / DPS teams would be teams with a priest: if my hunter can't kill the priest fast enough, it can be costly. The worst possible 2v2 opponent, I think, is priest / hunter, possibly priest warlock (though they're pretty squishy, so my CC is often enough to keep heals off the lock while he's killed).

Against 2 DPS teams, it's still a strong spec. I used to have trouble with rogues, but I've found that if I just toss on a few lifeblooms and hop in boomkin form, then combined with barkskin + the glyph (reducing crit chance by 25%), I take very little damage. Plus, you can poison cleanse in boomkin form, limiting the amount of time you actually have to be in caster. This is where the new lifebloom shines: I still retain most of my +healing in resto so my lifeblooms tick for quite a bit and can restore a ton of my HP assuming I have no wound poison, and if it crits then it's overheal. I also have swiftmend which can come in handy.

Has anybody used a similar spec? Note that the boomkin talents can be adjusted a little bit to allow for more damage; this spec is more of a thorns / roots dmg spec, combined with max CC ability (+hit, range).

 

sahtra

I can see where that comp would shine, combining the range dominance, mortal strike, and powerful cc mixture, however I think a strong melee comp will put you in a bind. I agree the new lifebloom is great to shift out of boomkin and pop and then return to boomkin, however directed damage on you from a melee class that requires more aggressive healing will force you to do that healing in caster form. An outstanding hunter will keep you peeled, ontop of being a druid and elusive, but if a team is able to force your hand enough, I think you are in trouble.

I have seen most moonkin struggling in mana, so i think this spec will get you in trouble fast against higher survival teams. Without the reduced cost on hots, an expensive appetite on damage spells, and a mediocre at best innervate (worse depending on if you go moonkin gear) you basically ensure 2 min 'go big or go home' games.

Honestly the roots/thorns/cc range abilities can all be easily picked up with a treeform spec. And if you forgo the wild growth, insect swarm can be mixed in for extra damage/mitigation.

 

Humbaba

This doesn't have to be the treetank thread. That just seems to be a common resto strategy right now. I'm actually interested to hear how a heavier balance build is treating people.

I did some 3s last night with a frost dk and a survival hunter. We hadn't ever played together before so our coordination was piss poor, but we still were 12-6 then dropped four straight and called it a night. Most of those losses were vs 3 dps teams where my partners either didn't peel me (my fault for not calling for it - twice) or outranged or LoSed me and got blown up (the rest). I was wearing around 750 resil with 1880 or so spellpower and while I wasn't ever going oom, I was rarely being focused. I think next time I'll probably drop to 400 or 500 resil and stack up some pve pieces with more raw sp.

 

Awshlia

As far as restokin is concerned, I only use it in 2's, though it may be handy in a 3's with other potential healers (say, an elem/resto combo shaman), though that team may suffer in the DPS department: I'm not sure.

I had good success tonight on my 2's team with my restokin / hunter combo. We're still learning each other, and I'm trying to convince him to try survival for the burst damage rather than marks for the long drain, but I think either combo has potential. Our biggest problem right now is priests: they're just OP and my hunter has trouble killing them.

The restokin spec really stood out in pally / warr or priest / warr combos, since they can get rid of my roots rather easily, making it harder to kite warrs. It's really nice to be able to toss on a few lifeblooms and jump in boomkin form, take some hits, and CC when it comes back up. I used to play feral / resto combo for the charge / bash sequence, but I prefer the armor bonus with the ability to use cyclone / roots.

We were also able to take down mage / rogue teams (they had given me trouble in the past) without too much difficulty, though it's been hard for me to gauge exactly how we're doing since the season is still early and teams haven't fully separated yet.

 

Maligne

I'm thinking of trying a heavier balance spec with priest and rogue in 3's. Something like this. Mostly healing while glyphed IS provides non-trivial pressure while people run from burns.

Inform your dealers and whores of my credit, and pour me a goddamned drink!

 

Awshlia

Maligne, my opinion on these hybrid specs in 3's is that they may require too much mana, but if the priest were shadow, it may work. However, disc priests are extremely OP right now, so if I were you I would capitalize on that.

As far as the spec goes, I would take 5/5 Genesis instead of Starlight Wrath: unless you plan on standing and spamming wrath, I wouldn't use the 5 points on reducing cast by .5 sec. I would also redistribute the points from Vengeance into Nature's Grace and Moon Glow: as this spec is mana intensive, the 3/3 Moonglow would help, and nature's grace allows you to throw a wrath if a spell crits without forcing your hand too much. What I mean by this is that the 5/5 Starlight Wrath requires you to stand and spam wrath to effectively use your spec, whereas nature's grace procs can be used in healing or damage, thus has a bit more utility in a healing spec that "applies pressure".

 

Amera

Given the absurd amount of resist I ran into today, I'm leaning towards this for a hybrid 2s damage spec with a warlock. You may be right about going for the increased dot damage instead of wrath, though. I only find myself spamming wrath on pretty rare occasions, but that might still be a factor of burst. Damage can still be so high on my partner it is sometimes difficult to get time.

 

• Lanky

In Threes Humb that will probably get you killed unless you get amazing peels. Anything without an immunity effect is absolutely a legitimate tunnel target in threes, and Druids are no exception. Since they can't sheep you, RMP will just jump all over you instead and sheep the Hunter. Have the DK try Unholy/Endless Winter with Wandering Plague and Glyph of Diseases. Get him to Spread his aids as much as possible and Gargoyle Early for extra chaos.

Maybe even get the Hunter to try BM so that you can coordinate Gargoyle and Beast Within. I'm honestly not sure what a viable BM pvp spec would be right now, especially in threes, but I think you want maximum control from your hunter, so Aimed Shot and Scatter Shot are a must. Chains of Ice into Freezing Arrow is also a fantastic CC chain from range.

 

Mygore

So with the change to innervate I'm thinking spirit now is pretty terrible. It has a nice perk of more healing in ToL but other than that I can't see much use. I'm thinking about getting Mp5 instead of spirit where available.

Anyone else feel the same?

 

Maligne

So after playing with the hybrid IS spec I'm still not sure if it's worth it. The 3's with priest/rogue was interesting. We never saw one caster, it was all melee cleave. I think the key to it is getting ahead on CC early and never letting up. If you get stuck trying to heal a rogue against two melee you're probably going to lose. I rarely had spare GCDs to use on IS and Moonfire.

Playing 2's with a warlock the extra damage from the dots really helps apply pressure, but again it's hard to find GCDs with the rampant melee that exists. I think the hybrid spec might be better for a DK or warrior partner who can take hits on quick switches, but with a rogue or warlock I'm feeling living seed and GotEM might be better.

The spirit change is interesting. I've been considering getting 2 wyrmhide pieces anyway for the double resilience bonus and this might tip the scales in that favor. I'm not sure how much giving up the 4p swiftmend bonus is going to hurt though...I use swiftmend a lot.

Inform your dealers and whores of my credit, and pour me a goddamned drink!

 

Amera

Yeah I'm also not liking the IS spec nearly as much as I thought I might. Some games it puts out a fair chunk of damage, but I generally find I should probably be using the GCD CCing instead. Also, I actually miss the extra hot from WG in emergencies when my lock is getting raped by a melee who's temporarily immune to peeling for whatever reason.

 

Nemantopia

Finally having jumped into the Arena pool for real [as opposed to one week forays of patches past], I can say that the new/current trees are very hard to kill...and I'm a Mage running with a Paladin. I'm not going to pretend i'm running around in the higher end yet, but judging from one match where I ended up pumping everything I could solo into a tree...I'm doubtful if even in full Furious I could drop a serious resto-tree in either Frost or Arcane alone. Dropping healing druids in the new season has consited of locking down their ally [sheep, Hammer of Justice, frost nova] long enough for both of us to bring our full DPS to bear including stuns. Note that this even only applies to druids that REMAIN in tree form. Shifting to cat, bear, or base form proved a significantly easier kill. Tree tanking is alive and well from what I've seen as a viable tactic.

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