The talent system Starting at level ten all characters get one point per level to invest in the talent system. Every class has three talent trees focused on specializing a particular aspect of the class (also called speccing). For a Druid the three trees are Balance (for specializing in spell damage), Feral (for boosting cat and bear forms), and Restoration (to help heal more efficiently). The value of each tree and of each talent is really based on how you play your druid.
Don't worry too much about messing up, you can always pay your class trainer to refund all of your spent talent points (also called respeccing). It does cost more money each time you do it though, so plan out your path ahead of time using Wowhead's
talent calculator.
Choose a specialization The first decision to make is which tree to invest your points into. The more points you invest into one tree or another makes you that much more effective in the associated role, so its important to identify which role you enjoy playing the most. The three talent trees for Druids are Balance, Feral, and Restoration. Balance boosts your spell damage capability and efficiency, Feral helps your Cat and Bear form abilities, and Restoration focuses on healing spells.
Feral is considered the best option for fast leveling but you should choose a primary talent tree that fits your personal playstyle. Balance might be the way to go if you prefer spell damage to your claws and restoration can work if you spend a lot of time healing in groups.
Keep in mind when choosing between these talent trees that a balance Druid still heals, a restoration Druid still tanks, and a feral Druid still spams Moonfire. If you expect to spend all of your time in one form or one role, you might be better off making another character class that would be better suited to it.
Secondary talent tree If you are filling a dedicated role as part of a group you could put all of your points into one talent tree (you will have a few left over if you are feral or balance). It isn't always the best idea though since our greatest strength is our versatility. Common builds put as many as 20 points into other trees to take advantage of the synergies between the talents. In some combinations it is better to go further in your secondary tree, in others you just might want to invest a few points. Choosing a secondary tree can modify your playstyle almost as much as your primary playstyle, so I will try to provide examples for all the common combinations.
PvE or PvP You should also decide whether you want to focus on Player versus Player (PvP) capability, on being able to solo out in the world, or on your effectiveness in instance groups. PvP builds will center on how much burst damage or healing you can do in a short amount of time since those battles move very quickly. Soloers will want to make sure they don't pass up talents that add to survivability. A group oriented build will maximize spell efficiency and defensive skills to help you last through long instance encounters.
Feral Feral is the most common build for Druids while leveling up. Most talents in the feral tree boost both bear and cat forms, but a few are specific to one or the other. Solo, you can fight longer in melee forms and save more mana for healing. Since you don't have to stop and rest you will rake in the experience very quickly. With a friend or two you can spend more time in bear or cat form depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the other class. In instance groups you can be the main tank and use your skills to keep the attention of enemies away from your squishy friends.
Focus in this tree should be new abilities, damage increases, and reduced costs for your favorite skills.
Key talents:
Feral Charge - immobilization and spell interruption, absolutely nasty in PvP
Faerie Fire (feral) - a cost-free ranged ability for pulling and making Rogues hate you
Leader of the Pack - 5% crit boost to everyone in your group
Mangle - an extra attack that is devastating in any situation
Step by step:
Level One - Ferocity is amazingly powerful for a level one talent. Feral aggression is decent for raiding Druids in later levels, but is not considered as valuable as Ferocity.
Level Two - Tough choices already. Druids who love cat form or pvp usually take Feral Instinct and Brutal Impact (one second seems like forever in pvp). Tanking Druids might prefer some combination of Thick Hide and Feral Instinct.
Level Three - Feral Charge is used more often in pvp than pve. It should be a given for any build though. Sharpened Claws is strong on it's own and should be maxed out here because it leads to Primal Fury at the next level. Feral Swiftness is great for leveling Druids who don't have a mount or Travel Form yet. Pvpers also get great use out of the extra maneuverability.
Level Four - Predatory Strikes leads to Heart of the Wild at the next level and so that's a given. Primal Fury is also a given. In cat form it is a huge boost to dps and helps bear form tanking. Shredding Attacks helps in groups and pvp so you might want to come back for it in later levels.
Level Five - Savage Fury is a huge boost to Mangle, so only pass it up if you aren't going all the way down. Faerie Fire (feral) should be a given unless you spend all your time raiding with other druids who can keep FF active. Nurturing Instinct is questionable. Even a feral druid shouldn't be playing main healer in strength gear. This is a good level to pass up skills for some that you liked but skipped at earlier stages.
Level Six - Heart of the Wild is arguably the most valuable talent in the tree. Get it. Survival of the Fittest is very strong for tanking Druids. It will allow you to build agility and stamina in you tank gear instead of defense.
Level Seven - Leader of the Pack is such a large boost that you should get it even if you spend all your time running solo. Improved Leader of the Pack is also highly valuable in solo and raiding, though pvpers often take Primal Tenacity instead.
Level Eight - Predatory Instinct is a modest boost to cat dps and maybe worthwhile for a raiding main tank. Many Druids go back for talents they passed up at earlier levels or throw in just enough points to get to Mangle.
Level Nine - Mangle will become your favorite ability in cat and bear form. Very few feral druids decide to go without it.
Balance Balance isn't as popular for leveling until level 40, where many Druids respec to try it out. Early in the game a balance Druid must rely on Roots to keep enemies at a distance, but once you get Moonkin Form you will have enough armor to engage in close combat. Solo work is mostly root and nuke but a Moonkin can regenerate mana by swinging their melee weapon. In instance groups a balance Druid can focus on doing damage most of the time and change gears to healing or even tanking when the team gets in trouble.
Focus in this tree should be damage and crit increases and casting time reductions.
Key talents:
Nature's Grasp - greatly improves survivability, especially in pvp
Insect Swarm - very useful in 10 man and larger raids
Moonkin Form - opens up a whole new playstyle
Force of Nature - happy tree friends!! awesome in any situation
Step by Step:
Level One - Nature's Grasp is a must have, but Starlight Wrath is considered more valuable than Imp Nature's Grasp. SW is a huge dps boost and normal NG will almost always fire by the third swing anyway.
Level Two - Control of Nature is great for PvP and good for soloing but keep in mind we don't learn Cyclone until level 70. Focused Starlight and Imp Moonfire are both considered more valuable in general.
Level Three - Insect Swarm is more of a group PvE talent but is not uncommon in PvP builds. Brambles is a nice PvE talent since one spell or the other should be hurting the mobs at all times, but could be passed up. Nature's Reach should be taken by PvPers for the extra maneuverability it affords.
Level Four - Vengeance should be a given here. Celestial Focus is a PvP talent that some Druids skip at this level but come back for later.
Level Five - Nature's Grace should be taken here simply because it is a prerequisite. Lunar Guidance is a valuable damage increase as well. Moonglow leans a bit to the PvE side and is particular to a Balance/Resto build.
Level Six - Moonfury is pretty much a given here no matter what your focus. Balance of Power can make a difference in raid groups, but chance to hit can be built up to 100% through gear.
Level Seven - Moonkin is the primary goal for most balance Druids, and a stopping point for some. Dreamstate is more useful in PvE than PvP as is Imp Faerie Fire. At this point you may want to go back and fill out earlier level talents you may have passed up.
Level Eight - The value of Wrath of Cenarius is dependant on your gear. You won't find much gear with + damage to spells until after level 60. Skip this one until you have at +200 damage or so (wild guess).
Level Nine - Force of Nature is a great spell for any Druid. The drawback is that you have to give up the possibility of reaching Nature's Swiftness in the Restoration tree. You should take this talent if you've come this far, otherwise you should have stopped putting points in at Moonkin Form.
Restoration Restoration is the most common build for Druids that are in active guilds and spend most of their time in groups. Leveling up solo as a restoration Druid is slow since you don't have the damage capability of a feral or balance druid, but you will almost never die. In groups you can play the main healer and keep everyone else alive while they do all the grunt work of taking out enemies.
Focus on decreasing casting time, increasing effectiveness and conserving mana.
Key talents:
Omen of Clarity - out of mana does not mean you are out of options
Nature's Swiftness - an instant cast Healing Touch can save a wipe again and again
Swiftmend - get in some quick burst healing or boost your mana efficiency with a little timing
Tree of Life - makes the heal over time style effective and efficient
Step by step:
Level One - Improved Mark of the Wild isn't too potent, but very valuable in raids and group pvp. Furor is one of the most valuable feral talents for the class, making you wonder why it's in the restoration tree. Don't pass it up if you use bear or cat form often.
Level Two - Natural Shapeshifter is another feral talent that can be more or less valuable depending on your playstyle. Naturalist should be a given here whether you are primarily feral or restoration. Nature's Focus is very strong for pvp Druids of any spec and maybe balance Druids while soloing.
Level Three - Intensity is very valuable to raiding druids and should be a given since it leads to Nature's Swiftness. Omen of Clarity is a great talent no matter what specialization you are. It can help a Moonkin or healer find a free cast and really boosts cat and bear form dps. Subtlety is good for newer Druids in 5 man instances but experienced Druids shouldn't have trouble managing threat.
Level Four - Tranquil Spirit and Improved Rejuvenation are both great talents. You might want to come back and fill out this whole level if you have extra points later.
Level Five - Nature's Swiftness is life-saving in a pinch. With only three minutes cooldown you will use it all the time. Gift of Nature is also a given here since it affects all healing spells. Improved Tranquility is nice but many Druids pass it up if they don't use the spell often.
Level Six - Empowered Touch is a talent that scales with your gear. If you don't have much +healing gear you might want to pass it up, but if you have been running instances and raiding for a while it can be a huge boost. Improved Regrowth is an odd one. Critical hits aren't alwasy a good thing when it comes to main healing, but it can really boost your effectiveness in raids and pvp. If you take this talent for a pve build you should consider taking Subtlety at level three to balance your threat management.
Level Seven - Swiftmend is a given. If you work on your timing you can almost double the effect of your Regrowth or Rejuvenation spells by casting Swiftmend just before they wear off. Natural Perfection is a great pvp talent, though in pve you might again want to consider maxing out Subtlety to balance your threat. Living Spirit is nice for a raiding druid who might be rotated in and out of healing shifts for long fights, but isn't as strong as some other talents. It can reduce downtime and boost the effects of Innervate though, so you might take this if you like playing main healer for 5 man instances.
Level Eight - Empowered Rejuvenation is a great talent for pvp and raiding Druids, but in solo or 5 man groups you might use Healing Touch so often that this talent might not be worth as much.
Level Nine - Tree of Life adds a whole new twist to being a healer. With this new form you can spread around a lot of healing in a short time and help group healing efficiency on the whole. You won't use it all the time but you will be glad that you can.
Sample builds PvE
Balance - sustain damage over long periods of time
Feral - boost cat and bear form
Resto - tree of life style
PvP
pewpewpew RAWR Arena healer There is a nicely written guide for what order to take talents while leveling posted on the oboard
here that should help you on your way to endgame.
Edited, Mar 19th 2008 3:02pm by highRfrequenC Edited, Jun 18th 2008 5:20pm by Azuarc