Patch 3.09

Balance

Brambles

Ranks: 3

• Entangling Roots and Thorns damage + [Talent Rank x 25%]
• Treant damage + [Talent Rank x 5%]
• [Talent Rank x 5%] chance to Daze the target for 3 seconds by Treant damage or activated Barkskin.

Early Game

Only Entangling Roots and Thorns will be available at this level, but the damage increase would only be substantial for Entangling Roots (50 damage at Rank 2, upgraded to 87-88 with max talent rank). A poorly geared Balance Druid should actually favor this talent if they are consistent with their Entangling Roots usage.

Many Balance and Restoration Druids don pick this talent for raiding mainly because of talent point scarcity. PvP sees a little use with the Daze effect, but most times often involve the Restoration or Balance Druid and a party to provide cover.

Nature Grace

Prerequisite Talent: Nature Majesty

Ranks: 3

• [33%/66%/100%] chance after spell critical to reduce the casting time of your next spell by 0.5 seconds.

Early Game, Raiding and PvP

With Nature Majesty in your talent retinue (and hopefully some good gear) when this becomes available, casting time reduction will lead to an overall decrease in your time spent leveling, especially with Wrath increasing cast time.

Nature Splendor

Prerequisite Talent: Nature Majesty (Tier 1)

Ranks: 1

• Moonfire duration + 3 seconds
• Rejuvenation duration + 3 seconds
• Regrowth duration + 6 seconds
• nsect Swarm duration + 2 seconds

Early Game, Raiding and PvP

While it might be a cheap talent at first glance, this requires 3 talent points to access. None of the first 2 talent points support the skills in Nature Splendor, but the added damage or healing to a glyphed Moonfire, Regrowth and Lifebloom make this a critical in any Balance or Restoration tree.

Nature Reach

Ranks: 2

• Faerie Fire (Feral) and Balance spell range + [Talent Rank x 10%]
• Balance spells threat - [Talent Rank x 15%].

Feral Combat

• Faerie Fire might be useful for pulling mobs, but beyond that, there not much use for a range increase.

Balance

But Balance spell threat reduction is far more important in raids, range excluded. Most bosses don need the Druid to stand a long distance away, but your high DPS will bring trouble for the tank.

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Feral Combat

Feral Swiftness

Ranks: 2

• Cat Form movement speed + [Talent Rank x 15%]
• Cat Form, Bear Form,Dire Bear Form dodge rate + [Talent Rank x 2%]

Early Game

You move faster and you have a better chance of dodging attacks. What there to not like about this?

Raiding

But that survivability is only useful if you e a bear tank for a raid group. Bear Druids cannot block or parry, so it up to your dodge rate and absurdly high HP (Reportedly reaching 60k) to survive boss attacks.

PvP

On its own, Feral Swiftness will work during your early days, when enemies have about as many roots and snares as they do epic equipment. Later on, combine this with Infected Wounds so you can be more and more like an annoying Rogue with Crippling Poison.

Survival Instincts

Ranks: 1

• Temporarily grants 30% of your maximum health for 20 seconds. After the duration, the health is lost.

Early Game and Raiding

It’s Last Stand for Druids. There are monsters that can and will rip chunks off your HP bar, sometimes before any healing spell can reach you, so save yourself the spirit run and pop Survival Instincts for 30% more HP to finish the fight. But if you e focusing on dealing as much damage as possible and surviving with healing before your HP reaches a critical point, you won need Survival Instincts.

PvP

As a ganker, you e very unlikely to be countered if you go in with a stealth attack first. Maybe you should get this talent if you expect to get shot in the butt by other gank-happy players, but just maybe.

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Sharpened Claws

Ranks: 3

• Prerequisite for: Primal Fury (Tier 3), Primal Precision (Tier 3)
• Bear, Dire Bear or Cat Form critical strike chance + [Talent Rank x 2%].

Early Game, Raiding and PvP

The talent-to-effect ratio is decent, but the 2 succeeding talents force the issue. Whether you e well-geared or not, Feral Druids will need every claw-sharpening talent they can muster, not furniture.

Restoration

Intensity

Ranks: 3

• Prerequisite for: Nature Swiftness (Tier 4)
• [Talent Rank x 10%] of mana regeneration while casting
• Enrage generates + [4/7/10] Rage.

Early Game, Raiding and PvP

Feral Combat

Using Bear Form to level is all about user preference, but still ill-advised because of damage output lower than Cat Form . And spending three talent points to gain ten extra Rage, which can be easily generated by damage given or taken, doesn make for an impressive point-to-effect ratio.

Restoration and Balance

Even before the changes were made to Spirit, which balanced the amount of mana regenerated from the formula previously implemented in TBC, Intensity has always been a prime talent for Moonkin and Tree of Life Druids through all situations, no questions asked.

Omen of Clarity

Ranks: 1

Each of the Druid damage, healing spells and auto attacks have a chance to reduce the Mana, Rage or Energy cost of your next damage, healing spell or offensive ability by 100%.

Early Game, Raiding and PvP

Bears gain the least use of this because of their slow attack speed, but all other Druid types can keep this in their retinue. Don be surprised if Clearcasting activates when you e doing the most mundane things, like making bandages.

Master Shapeshifter

Prerequisite Talent: Natural Shapeshifter (Tier 1)

Ranks: 2

• Bear Form damage + [Talent Rank x 2%]
• Cat Form critical strike chance + [Talent Rank 2%]
• Moonkin Form spell damage + [Talent Rank x 2%]
• Tree of Life Form healing + [Talent Rank x 2%]

4 percent bonuses for the different forms... from 5 talent points. Druids that are purely dedicated to one of the raiding types should put points into this, but beyond that, think very hard about that 0.8-to-1 effect-to-point ratio.