World of Warcraft: Druid Talent Tree, Tier 0
MMORPG.com WoW Guide Correspondent James Wood has submitted this Tier 0 Druid Talent Tree for our reading pleasure.
As a Druid, you’re diverse, but you’re also going to need to gather gear with different stats to support your specialization. This is a nightmare when it’s time for epic gear, as you’ll often be fighting with other classes to get 3 pieces of gear that are equipped in the same slot.
Needing all that gear is the price you pay for your diversity, but because Druids can fill a lot of roles within groups, they can enter most raiding groups in need of the basic classes (Tank, DPS, Healer).Balance turns the Druid to Ranged DPS, Feral Combat to Melee DPS or a Tank, and Restoration makes them a Healer.
Balance
Starlight Wrath Ranks: 5 Reduces cast time of Wrath and Starfire spells by [0.1 x Talent Rank] seconds.
PvE
Early Game (Level 10 - 30) By the time talents become available to you, Wrath will have a 1.7-second cast time, followed by a 2-second cast time at the next learnable ranks for the rest of the game. That’s 1.2, then 1.5 seconds spent casting Wrath. With Starfire, the cast time reduction only reduces the cast time for this spell as an opening attack. Later talents will give Starfire greater effectiveness.
Middle Game Onwards You’ll have come across several Balance talents that affect the casting time, damage and critical chance of both Wrath and Starfire, including immunity to pushback effects caused by physical damage attacks. Starfire can now make an appearance as more than just an opening attack with the talents found deeper in the Balance tree.
PvP
As a Balance Druid, you need to deal damage with as little time spent casting spells. The more time spent to cast a spell, the greater the chance that damaging attacks will push your cast meter to nothing, especially with Starfire.
With Moonkin
Once you’re in Moonkin form and with Owlkin Frenzy, pushback won’t be your concern. The reduced casting time of Wrath and Starfire means that against single targets, you just need to keep them in range.
Without Moonkin
Chances are that you don’t have Moonkin because you don’t have enough talent points to reach it. Since you’ll be in PvP-active zones by level 30 or earlier, the less time spent casting is less time for interrupts to cut you short.
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Genesis
Ranks: 5 Increases damage and healing done by your periodic spells and effects by [1% x Talent Rank].
PvE and PvP
Damage With or without glyph support for Insect Swarm and Moonfire, some Balance Druids often skip this talent because of its point-to-effect ratio. This talent does not affect Feral Combat damage-over-time effects. Healing As a Restoration Druid, most of your healing spells are either heal-over-time or have a heal-over-time effect added to them. Once you’ve selected your talents from the Restoration tree, this is the logical option to access any talents within the Balance tree that support healing.
Feral Combat
Ferocity
Ranks: 5 Reduces cost of Maul, Swipe, Claw, Rake and Mangle abilities by [1 x Talent Rank] Rage or Energy.
PvE
Early Game (Minimum talent points to use this talent) Bear Form is the first Feral Combat form you gain, but the bonus provided by this talent at that level still would not make Bear Form suitable for leveling quickly. Wait for Cat Form. Middle Game Onwards As a Feral Druid, you’ll be more inclined to cast Maul, Rake or Mangle in most situations and the reduced cost is most important if you keep to Cat Form while you level, especially when combined with Improved Mangle (Cat). If you’re in Bear form and tanking for dungeons, you will often generate more than enough Rage to use your skills, making the lowered costs unnecessary.
PvP
Early Game (Introduction to Contested Areas) By the time PvP comes to you (or the other way around), you will need your skills to be castable as soon as possible. In Cat Form, most point-generating skills take up nearly half of your energy bar, so the cost reduction should be welcome. Late Game If you prefer putting your opponent in a stun lock, you’ll need to reduce the cost of your cheapest point-generating skill, which will most likely be Mangle with Improved Mangle (Cat).
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Feral Aggression
Ranks: 5 Increases attack power reduction of Demoralizing Roar by [8% x Talent Rank] and the damage done by your Ferocious Bite by [3% x Talent Rank].
PvE
Tanking Without a shield, Bear Form Druids must rely on tons of HP and their dodge rating. Demoralizing Roar will soften physical blows against you and will be noticeable at any level ,I>Damage The crowd is often in favor of Rip over Ferocious Bite. Even if Rip cannot deal critical damage, a Mangle-boosted Rip tends to do more damage than a normal Ferocious Bite.
PvP
Because of Ferocious Bite’s energy consumption, it’s not the best option if locked in PvP. The extra energy consumed could be used for other attacks instead of dealing just a little more damage. And while Ferocious Bite benefits from critical rate, it can also be reduced by the amount of armor a target has. Demoralizing Roar during PvP will be felt by physical classes. Shifting to Bear Form and using Demoralizing Roar while recovering health lowers the chance that you’ll be wiped out by physical classes.
Restoration
Improved Mark of the Wild
Ranks: 2 Increases effects of Mark of the Wild and Gift of the Wild by [20% x Talent Rank].
During the early game, this talent?s benefits to the Druid are quite low. The bonuses are much more significant at later levels, when Mark affects player stats as well. When solo and several ranks into Mark of the Wild, 2 talent points is a small price to pay for a 40% increase. Restoration Druids will have this as a logical pick for raiding groups, so other specializations should look to the two other talents in the Restoration tree instead.
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Nature’s Focus
Ranks: 3 Reduces pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Healing Touch, Wrath, Entangling Roots, Cyclone, Nourish, Regrowth and Tranquility by [23% / 46% / 70%].
Damage Often a situational talent, Nature’s Focus can sometimes be applied in raids where damage taken can affect your casting time. Healing During raids, you will encounter groups of enemies. If you have a reliable tank, you won’t have to worry about any of those mobs picking you as a target. In other cases, you may need to reduce pushback for other reasons, such as boss mechanics or if Barkskin is still on cooldown.
Furor
Ranks: 5 [20% x Talent Rank] chance to gain 10 Rage when you shapeshift into Bear or Dire Bear Form, and you keep [20 * Talent Rank] Energy when you shapeshift into Cat Form, and increases your total intellect while in Moonkin form by [2% x Talent Rank].
It goes without saying that Moonkin Druids would benefit best from this talent regardless of the player-versus situation.
Feral Druids get the shorter end of the stick on this talent. A prepared Feral Druid will approach PvE combat with a full energy bar in Cat Form or generate enough Rage in Bear Form to do what they need to. PvP Feral Druids will need this if they switch between Bear and Cat Form in battle.
But don’t expect that 100 Energy to be there every time you shift to Cat Form. Shifting out of Cat Form after using all your energy and shifting back will only leave you with a normally regenerated amount on the second shift.
