Cataclysm Classic Restoration Druid Talent Builds

Restoration Druid, like most Cataclysm specs, is heavily restricted to its namesake specialization tree, Restoration. You will always want to put points into this tree first and foremost, with the few leftover points after you hit the capstone talent, Tree of Life, being dedicated to passive damage increases in the Restoration tree.

If you have absolutely no Mana issues, consider dropping Moonglow in favor of Genesis. Furor is there to give you enough Energy to instantly use Stampeding Roar or Skull Bash whenever needed, but if you absolutely do not need this utility, feel free to swap its point to Genesis.

In this section we will go over some of the key talents you will use when you are playing a Restoration Druid. Be sure to understand your most important talents as they are vital to play the build to its top strength.

• Naturalist — makes Healing Touch and Nourish cast 0.5 seconds faster. This makes them much more likely to cast in time to save another player.

• Master Shapeshifter — increases your healing by 4% with a single talent point.

• Nature's Swiftness — causes your next healing spell to be instant, free and heal for 50% more. This should be used with Healing Touch for massive emergency healing.

• Revitalize — causes Lifebloom and Rejuvenation ticks to have a 20% chance to regenerate 2% of your Mana. Applying or refreshing Lifebloom will also grant Replenishment for even more Mana sustain, making this a great talent.

• Empowered Touch — increases the healing of Healing Touch, Nourish, and Regrowth by 10% and allows them to refresh your Lifebloom automatically when cast on a target with it, which is a great quality of life increase.

• Malfurion's Gift — reduces Tranquility cooldown by 5 minutes and gives Lifebloom a 4% chance per tick to grant Omen of Clarity, which makes your next Regrowth free, making it even easier to refresh Lifebloom with the previous talent.

• Wild Growth — heals the 5 most damaged friendly targets within 30 yards of the primary target over time. This will be one of your main area heals.

• Efflorescence — converts your Swiftmend into a powerful area heal over time on the ground around the Swiftmend target.

• Nature's Cure — allows your Remove Corruption to also remove magic effects, which is critical for dealing with certain dungeon and raid mechanics.

• Tree of Life — is a powerful healing cooldown that changes how your core spells work for its duration. You will be able to apply Lifebloom to more than one target, Wild Growth will hit 2 more targets per cast, and Regrowth will be instant cast for its duration.

Prime glyphs are new to Cataclysm, giving you a third "row" of glyphs you can use on your character. While there are a couple of different options to choose from, there are some very clear front runners for each specialization.

• Glyph of Swiftmend — makes Swiftmend no longer consume one Regrowth or Rejuvenation healing over time effect from the target, which is both a quality of life and healing increase.
• Glyph of Rejuvenation — 10% healing increase to your Rejuvenation healing.
• Glyph of Lifebloom — another passive boost, this time granting 10% extra critical strike to Lifebloom healing.

Major glyphs typically offer utility-based options and can be highly situational. While there are many different options for Restoration, we will list below the ones we find more useful.

• Glyph of Rebirth — makes your Rebirth resurrect players at 100% health, making them much less likely to instantly die again.
• Glyph of Healing Touch — reduces the cooldown on Nature's Swiftness whenever you cast Healing Touch.
• Glyph of Wild Growth — this glyph makes you more Mana efficient, as you will be able to hit more targets for the same Mana cost.

Minor glyphs typically provide very minor benefits. Your choices will typically depend on what quality of life increase is the most meaningful for you. We give a few suggestions below.

• Glyph of Mark of the Wild — reduces the Mana cost of Mark of the Wild by 50% which makes it cheaper to cast when buffing someone recently resurrected.
• Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth — removes the reagent requirement from Rebirth, saving some gold over time.
• Glyph of Dash — reduces the cooldown of Dash by 20%, increasing your potential mobility in the process.