Resto Druid Shadowlands FAQ
Note: This was a preview article, but has been updated for the current patch. Some references will still read as originally written, but information is accurate.
It’s time. The Shadowlands are here. Grab your 34 slot bag, delete the last corrupted items from your inventory, pick a levelling spec and join us. The following FAQ will focus on quick, accurate answers. There’s more depth to a lot of these questions, and more paths you can take if you aren’t looking to min max. If you’re set on Necrolord, or think Theotar is your soulbind no matter what then the tools will still have full support for you but this article will mostly focus on what is optimal. If you’re returning to the game or spec I’d suggest starting with the 9.0 FAQ which covers the changes we received in the prepatch.
Covenant
Night Fae is a dominant covenant choice for Resto Druid. The gap for us is larger than any other healing spec and you’re looking at a 3-4% throughput loss if you pick Venthyr instead. More for Necrolord or Kyrian.
Soulbinds
Dreamweaver is currently shaping up to be our strongest Soulbind tree owing mostly to the strength of Empowered Chrysalis, which is on a row of the tree that doesn’t usually get big throughput increases. Soulbinds are still being heavily iterated on and our pick here could easily change by the time Mythic raids launch. Stay tuned. QE Live also has a full covenants module that’ll tell you how much throughput to expect from your choices. It will go live with the expansion.
Conduits
There is a full, up to date Conduits guide here. QE Live also has a full Conduit section. The quick version:
Potencies
The other potency conduits are not viable at this time and in some cases are comparable to not wearing a potency at all.
Endurance
Well-Honed Instincts is a clear number one. Tough as Bark likely slots into your second Endurance slot where applicable.
Finesse
You have a lot of flexibility here but Front of the Pack is an easy, effective raid choice.
Legendaries
There is a full guide to legendaries here. For raid you’ll be crafting Vision of Unending Growth first, known as the “Rejuv Spreader”. The pattern drops from Torghast and you should have it very early on in the expansion. Don’t stress if you’re not ready to craft your legendary in the first 2 weeks. The better play is going to be to wait until you get the right pattern, and for any late tuning to conclude.
If you’re more interested in Mythic+ than raid then Verdant Infusion has become a dominant choice following buffs in 9.0.5. For pure damage you might also consider Circle of Life and Death, but you’re usually better off grabbing the healing focused legendary first.
If you both raid and Mythic+ then I’d recommend Verdant Infusion first, and then Vision of Unending Growth second. Verdant Infusion will perform acceptably in raid, whereas Vision is near unusable in Mythic+ so it makes sense to craft in that order.
Trinkets
We’re still collecting information on trinkets so this section could change but the current top tier appears to be
Soulletting Ruby > Cabalist’s Hymnal >= PVP Trinkets = Unbound Changeling
Some notes
- The Unbound Changeling bug was fixed and it’s now very solid.
- Darkmoon Deck: Repose is a very solid buy for your pre-raid set. It’s a high item level and is very competitive even against 200 ilvl trinkets. You will likely replace it with mythic raid trinkets, or very high item level dungeon trinkets from the Great Vault. The price for the deck is dropping quickly and you should be able to pick one up for 10-20k on most servers by the end of the week.
- Both PVP trinkets are very good, but you’re likely to get better value out of the Insignia of Alacrity unless you’re excellent at combining your cooldowns with the Badge.
The Stats Question
Item Level is much more important than it was at the end of BFA and in most cases you will wear your highest item level gear outside of trinkets. Individual items can be compared in Questionably Epic Live. As a very very general stat priority you should look at something like
Raid
ItemLevel > Haste > Crit = Vers = Mastery
Mythic+
ItemLevel > Mastery = Haste > Crit = Vers
Once you’re comfortable with the dungeons you’ll drop mastery for more offensive stats. You can comfortably gem for Haste since no intellect gems are available.
Quick-fire Questions
- What food buff do I want? In raid you’ll use the new Feast option, while solo you might consider using Tenebrous Crown Roast Aspic instead. They’re incredibly similar in value.
- What are weapon oils? Weapon oils are like a temporary enchant that you add to your weapon. They aren’t particularly strong so don’t feel like you need them for your heroic dungeon clears but when you do you’ll use Embalmer’s Oil for healing and Shadowcore Oil for damage.
- Which flask do I use? Spectral Flask of Power.
- What about enchants?
- Chest: +30 to all stats. The mana option isn’t competitive at this time.
- Wrists: +15 Intellect.
- Cape: +20 Stam & +30 Leech.
- Rings: +16 haste, or your highest stat weight.
- Weapon: Celestial Guidance (Intellect proc).
- Which spec should I level as? Resto is the slowest levelling spec. Guardian, Feral and Balance are all similar in speed if you have a preference.
- Which professions should I be? Professions aren’t particularly important to individual player power in Shadowlands. Alchemy is very good for extended flask duration but you have a lot of flexibility here.
- Which slot should I craft my legendary in? Some slots give more stats than others. Use the list below as your priority order.
- Helm, Chest, Pants
- Shoulders, Gloves, Boots, Belt
- Rings, Neck
- Cape, Bracers
Hello, I have a question about the stats weight: we are saying that INT is superior than haste and mastery, but at what extend ?
I did a very simple test (probably that’s the problem) where I put 4 hots on me to see the ticks displayed on my rejuv. I did it with a trinket 65 INT and then with another 90 haste. The results surprised me: I’ve got 300 hps (600 over 2 sec) with rejuv and 300 hps too with the INT trinket (630 over 2.1 sec). What am I missing ? I was expecting a real difference in favor of INT , something like 1 INT = 0.4 – 0.5 haste
Checking baseline Pawn stats: Intellect (7.21) > Mastery (6.61) >= Haste (6.59) >= Crit (6.57) >= Versatility (6.54) It is very close
What could you suggest to compare at least pure HPS power ? It is not the only thing that matters but it counts too 🙂
Thank for you site by the way, it is a golden mine !!
Hey Voulk,
Ik have a question. I’m considering crafting memory of the mother tree. I run a soul of the forest raid spec with fae covenant for now and I am wondering. Is it worth not spending my SOFT on wild growth but use it rejuv or regrowth prior to whenever i get the legendary proc? (that would mean i get 4 rejuv/regrowth with 200% healing.
Hi Voulk 🙂
I was wondering how close Unstoppable growth and Conflux of elements are in terms of numbers. Since i don’t seem to be lucky to get a 184 UG, here comes my question: which one is gonna be better: a 171 Unstoppable Growth conduit or a 184 Conflux of ele conduit?
Unstoppable Growth is a little ahead. I’d take the 171 Unstoppable over 184 Conflux for raid at least. You could opt for Conflux in Mythic+ if you were focused on damage, but otherwise I’d take Unstoppable Growth for healing there too.
Thanks for answering 🙂 !
Have a great day!
Hey Voulk !
Can we craft our legendary now or do we must wait a bit to see if there is any changes ?
I want to craft Vision of Unending Growth but some guildmates tell me to wait one week or two.
What do you think ?
Thx for your work 😉
Hey! I’d recommend holding off for now for the following reasons:
– They do a tuning pass at the end of heroic week that could change which legendary is best for us. This was very impactful for Resto Druid in Uldir, when they nerfed our dominant azerite trait by 25%.
– We need to confirm all of our formulas hold up in live raids since they’re based off beta data right now. Resto legendaries are quite similar in strength so it would only take a small change to push something else ahead.
– You save a bit of gold going straight to rank 2. A smaller bonus, but considering the above two it’s an added extra.
I would only ever consider crafting it next week if you’re stuck on a boss and you think that an injection of healing power might be the difference for a kill.
I’ve noticed some unfortunate changes to movement and travel form, If you are working more closely with Blizzard, I am having serious issues with a few things that all druids programmers need to consider. #1 we can transport friends or guidlies in our travel forms anymore (ground mount) #3 travel form is moving below mounted speed in the open the world. And our tooltip shows it gets immediately reduced on combat to a very slow rate. Travel form and Cat form are major utility issues and I understand a ton of druids blew it for the rest of due to MB farming and botting, but for honest players this makes playing a druid less fun, less helpful to our raids/guilds, and less oriented to being a helper in our communities as an MMO. I know it is hard to believe but most of us aren’t cheaters and have guilds with people who need rides and us to gather stuff in a timely manner?
Hi! Just a few follow up questions to make sure we’re on the same page. Blizzard separated Travel Form into two separate forms in Shadowlands.
– Travel Form, which can’t be used to transport people
– Mount Form, which is completely separate but *can* be used to transport friends and guildies.
For travel form speed it should remain unchanged in that if you go into the form out of combat, then you should get to keep your maximum speed. If you’re not finding this to be the case then it could very well be bugged and I can pass that on.
I’d like to know why on earth they made the travel form and mount form separate? The workaround is obviously a macro that either picks mount form or flying form, but my Travel Form and Mount form are identical models, so I have two buttons that do the same thing, except one doesn’t let my peeps hop on. This is nonsensical to me.
Secondly, travel form works the same as it always has, where you get a 55% boost in combat, and a 100% boost out of combat. At least for me.
Vision of Unending Growth can be placed in Helm and Boots Slot.
What Slot to choose?
Helm gives more stats but the helm drop in Natharia will be 7 itemlvl higher than the boots.
Greetings
Hey! In this case you are better off crafting in the Helm slot. You won’t get your higher item level boots until very late in mythic progression, and Helm as a slot offers so many more stats than boots that you’re going to benefit a lot from having it at a very high item level.
Even considering sockets can’t be placed on Leggos and the fact that Sire drops a helm of a higher item level?
We’re actually not sure whether legendaries will be socketable yet. Evidence is pointing to yes. If you have anything that contradicts that I’d be interested in reading it. Sire Denathrius loot is only considered at heroic level, because you are building your character to progress to that boss, and loot you get after it’s dead is only useful for farm.
Thank you Voulk 🙂