Dual Spec Artifact help

[FDR1932 0]

Just a quick thanks in advance to anyone who provides feedback.

I'm gonna outline my logic and if anyone can provide feedback to put me on the right path that would be awesome. I'm in the process of leveling my Druid to 110 (currently 104) with the ultimate goal of playing Resto for endgame content. However, even though several different resources have said you can level and do WQ's as Resto with Affinity talent, I really dont like it. So my idea was to dual spec balance (primarily because i like ranged DPS and have some exp playing it in the past) for the grind to 110 and also to be able to do my WQ's endgame. Then i could switch on over to Resto when i ran dungeons/raids etc. So basically Resto to do the fun stuff (mythic's and raiding) and Balance to do the "chores" (WQ's, farming etc)

 

Question 1: Does anyone see a flaw in my logic?

Question 2: Since I did get the Balance artifact weapon, what is the best way to go about distributing AP between both artifacts?

A little info for question 2, I have the upgrade to AK level 20 waiting for when i hit 110. Also, i only need the Balance weapon to be strong enough to make the "chores" easier to do, primarily WQ's. I'm not really hell bent on unlocking all the traits for the Balance weapon.

So which one should i level up first? Should i split it evenly? Is there an optimal path that exists out there for what im trying to do?

Thanks again for the help!!

 

 

 

[Pandacho 286]

I'm sorry you were following guides saying to level in Resto spec - they are a bit outdated :-/

I would suggest you to pick Guardian for leveling and WQ/solo endgame - the quality of life in this spec is outstanding. You don't need to know to tank, the questing rotation is very basic while the ability to gather all the zone and AoE in 10 sec helps a lot.

It's completely enough to get to the first Gold trait (Embrace of the Nightmare) for the comfortable leveling to 110.

Now a small tip: do not start Suramar quest line right away, first hit 110 and use your AK20 boost. Suramar gives tremendous amount of AP - you will be able to get all the Gold traits in both specs in a couple of days.

So the order for the fastest upgrade of your Artifact would be like this:

1. Put all the AP while leveling to 110 into Guardian

2. Open first trait on your Resto Artifact so you'd be able to heal a normal dungeon in the end of every zone main quest line (if you are doing these quests)

3. Hit 110, use AK20 boost, do all the emissary chests after it, do all the quests in Suramar line after emissary, do all the LFR. Use all the AP in your Resto Artifact - should be about enough to get all 3 Gold traits.

 

What you will do after is up to your preferences :)

If you really-really hate Guardian and want to play Balance, nothing changes, just insert 'Balance' in every place I wrote 'Guardian'.

If you want a dps offspec, still level in Guardian and do all the same until having 3 Gold traits in Resto, then start to upgrade your Balance artifact. It all just a matter of days with the catch-up system.

 

Hope it helps :)

[bobifle 14]

Everything Pandacho said is true.

But :o) While guardian may be the easiest way to level up, balance is still a good choice because:

1/ the gear is almost the exact same than resto, meaning you can gear up in balance should you need to. the gear will be BIS for resto as well.

2/ dual spec is to me a requirement in raid content to work around roster issue where you have too much of a role. The question is do you want to dual spec resto/balance or resto/guardian ? Both guardian and balance performs exceptionally well in  their role. If you chose balance, it's best to train yourself while leveling imo. Some will argue that solo content rotation is very different, they're right. I still feel that you need to grasp the spec before trying it in raid content.

Regarding the AP spending which is your actual question :o), I would categorize the weapon level for specs this way:

1/ balance - critical

2/ resto - major

3/ guardian - minor

I'm saying that, putting aside HM/mythic raid content, guardian will perfom correctly with a low level weapon while balance will have a significant drop of DPS in the same situation.

[FDR1932 0]

On 1/20/2017 at 8:26 AM, Pandacho said:

I'm sorry you were following guides saying to level in Resto spec - they are a bit outdated :-/

I would suggest you to pick Guardian for leveling and WQ/solo endgame - the quality of life in this spec is outstanding. ....

That's great info, thanks so much. I've been hearing quite a bit that leveling with Guardian is the way to go. And I'd be willing to try it but as the other person who replied to this thread pointed out it seems like it would be a huge pain in the a$$ to manage the gear. While im leveling, what do i set my loot to? I guess if i could figure out how to use Mr Robot to manage that for me i could try it. Thanks again for feedback, it helped a lot!!

Edited January 23, 2017 by Pandacho
snipped too long quote

[Pandacho 286]

2 hours ago, FDR1932 said:

That's great info, thanks so much. I've been hearing quite a bit that leveling with Guardian is the way to go. And I'd be willing to try it but as the other person who replied to this thread pointed out it seems like it would be a huge pain in the a$$ to manage the gear. While im leveling, what do i set my loot to? I guess if i could figure out how to use Mr Robot to manage that for me i could try it. Thanks again for feedback, it helped a lot!!

I wouldn't exactly agree about gear. First of all, the only reason your guardian offspec may be problematic is if you will evenly play resto/guardian in raids, not being allowed to roll for offspec. I hardly can imagine this scenario.

Talking about a difference in stat prio, it's not exactly right too if we are talking about levelling to 110 or solo questing on 110.

A BearDPS stat prio according to class discord is: Agi>Hast>Crit>Vers>Mast. A Resto raid stat prio is: Int>Hast>Crit>Mast>Vers. Int and Agi switch when you switch spec, Haste>Crit are the same for both specs. Well, you obviously will need different trinkets but there are plenty from World Quests. The bear tanking stat prio is different, though we are talking about solo play if I understand it right.

In every scenario gearing any offspec is not a problem if you are not raiding Bleeding Edge. You will get plenty of gear from M+, Caches, Weekly Chest, raids and all this gear drops with random stats. Having a loot spec set only ensures that trinkets and Legendaries will drop for this spec, all the rest is random.

When I was levelling, I set my loot spec to the levelling one, changed to the main spec once hitting 110.

PS: I have 3 specs on druid: Resto with 42 traits, Guardian with 27 and Boomkin with 3 Golds (don't remember the number), I tried to do WQ in Balance but it's just longer and 'squishier' if I may say so. I'm sure good Balance druid would easily beat me on this but I'm not good so Guardian is way easier :)

If you want a playable raiding dps offspec, then get your Guardian to 15 Artifact traits and use your Resto gear when questing. Then you can focus on Resto/Balance.

[FDR1932 0]

6 hours ago, Pandacho said:

I wouldn't exactly agree about gear. First of all, the only reason your guardian offspec may be problematic is if you will evenly play resto/guardian in raids, not being allowed to roll for offspec. I hardly can imagine this scenario.

Talking about a difference in stat prio, it's not exactly right too if we are talking about levelling to 110 or solo questing on 110.

A BearDPS stat prio according to class discord is: Agi>Hast>Crit>Vers>Mast. A Resto raid stat prio is: Int>Hast>Crit>Mast>Vers. Int and Agi switch when you switch spec, Haste>Crit are the same for both specs. Well, you obviously will need different trinkets but there are plenty from World Quests. The bear tanking stat prio is different, though we are talking about solo play if I understand it right.

In every scenario gearing any offspec is not a problem if you are not raiding Bleeding Edge. You will get plenty of gear from M+, Caches, Weekly Chest, raids and all this gear drops with random stats. Having a loot spec set only ensures that trinkets and Legendaries will drop for this spec, all the rest is random.

When I was levelling, I set my loot spec to the levelling one, changed to the main spec once hitting 110.

PS: I have 3 specs on druid: Resto with 42 traits, Guardian with 27 and Boomkin with 3 Golds (don't remember the number), I tried to do WQ in Balance but it's just longer and 'squishier' if I may say so. I'm sure good Balance druid would easily beat me on this but I'm not good so Guardian is way easier :)

If you want a playable raiding dps offspec, then get your Guardian to 15 Artifact traits and use your Resto gear when questing. Then you can focus on Resto/Balance.

So, do i need to keep separate gear? Forgive my inability to grasp this right away lol. I'm almost to 110 as of this writing (107). My goal is to do all raiding and dungeons as Resto, and do all solo stuff(particularly WQ's) as something else. Should i set my loot spec to guardian until i hit 110, then switch it to Resto to for completing my WQ's? And further, do i just switch trinkets when i want to raid vs when i want to do WQ's? Could you briefly outline how i would go about my day to day as Resto as main spec and guardian as secondary spec? I appreciate your patience and clarification!!

[bobifle 14]

I would have some minor objections to pandacho post but it would only confuse you about minor details.

I think that we could agree on one point: weither you choose to offspec guardian or balance, you'll be successful. So I'd advise you pick the style that suits you :)

[FDR1932 0]

50 minutes ago, bobifle said:

I would have some minor objections to pandacho post but it would only confuse you about minor details.

I think that we could agree on one point: weither you choose to offspec guardian or balance, you'll be successful. So I'd advise you pick the style that suits you :)

I'd love to hear your input, however confusing it may be to me =)

[Pandacho 286]

4 hours ago, FDR1932 said:

So, do i need to keep separate gear? Forgive my inability to grasp this right away lol. I'm almost to 110 as of this writing (107). My goal is to do all raiding and dungeons as Resto, and do all solo stuff(particularly WQ's) as something else. Should i set my loot spec to guardian until i hit 110, then switch it to Resto to for completing my WQ's? And further, do i just switch trinkets when i want to raid vs when i want to do WQ's? Could you briefly outline how i would go about my day to day as Resto as main spec and guardian as secondary spec? I appreciate your patience and clarification!!

I will try to clarify it a bit more :)

The whole point to set a loot spec is to get Legendaries and trinkets (from personal dungeon and raid loot) that are spec specific. All the other gear peaces that will drop for you, will switch their main stat according to your current spec and will have totally random secondary stats no matter what loot spec you choose.

Trinkets and relics from World Quests are not set to your loot spec, they just pop randomly for any spec of your class.

Theoretically you don't have to keep separate gear for questing, but it just gather up with time. To make it even more simple, let's say you got a cloak with Mastery+Vers which is crap for a Resto. Though you can say to yourself "Okay, these are best stats for a bear so I wouldn't DE or vendor the cloak but start a new set for my tanking bear and add there all the Mastery+Vers peaces that dropped".

TL;DR: doesn't matter what loot spec you set before 110. On 110 always have your main spec set for loot and never change it because the Legendaries drop for your set LOOT spec.

Always gear your main spec first, don't try to perfectly gear the offspec, just keep in mind or write down the offspec stat prio and relics and check whether the loot you don't need for the main spec may be good for off. 

[bobifle 14]

3 hours ago, FDR1932 said:

I'd love to hear your input, however confusing it may be to me =)

When you hit level 110 you'll still be offspec and do a lot of World quest and donjons. So there will be a fuzzy transition from the moment you solo the 110 low level content to the moment where you can actually raid (most guild will raid nighthold and you'll need 850+ ilevel).

During this transition, you may end up with a problem with your enchants and gems, unless money is not a problem for you. For you resto spec you should gem and enchant +200 intel. totally useless for your offspec.

In the end I'm not even sure that would be a big problem, world questing with the wrong enchant should not be an issue, considering how OP is the guardian anyway.

I have this guildmate, main spe balance who switch to guardian for world questing. I am resto and I prefere to switch to balance for world questing, I just obliterate packs of mobs and my single target dps is way better than the guardian. Both are viable, and guardian may be better before level 110.

So to help you decide, regarding Pandacho's arguments and mine, my advice: use the guardian spec :o)

[FDR1932 0]

20 hours ago, bobifle said:

When you hit level 110 you'll still be offspec and do a lot of World quest and donjons. So there will be a fuzzy transition from the moment you solo the 110 low level content to the moment where you can actually raid (most guild will raid nighthold and you'll need 850+ ilevel).

During this transition, you may end up with a problem with your enchants and gems, unless money is not a problem for you. For you resto spec you should gem and enchant +200 intel. totally useless for your offspec.

In the end I'm not even sure that would be a big problem, world questing with the wrong enchant should not be an issue, considering how OP is the guardian anyway.

I have this guildmate, main spe balance who switch to guardian for world questing. I am resto and I prefere to switch to balance for world questing, I just obliterate packs of mobs and my single target dps is way better than the guardian. Both are viable, and guardian may be better before level 110.

So to help you decide, regarding Pandacho's arguments and mine, my advice: use the guardian spec :o)

See, I'd rather offspec Balance too. Not bc Pandacho's advice didnt resonate with me, but simply bc I like Balance better, and have more experience playing it. It also seems like the gear fits better across both specs, being Int specs. I wasn't understanding that the gear you get from questing is based on the actual spec you have active, not what you set your loot spec too. That makes a lot of sense , and I thank Pandacho for explaining that really well. I was also a little confused bc I just like to accumulate gear and use Best in Bags from Mr Robot so it just tells me what is the best stuff to equip. I wasn't sure how that would work with two specs. I really hate the idea of keeping two sets of gear for both specs, but hopefully that isnt necessary if I off spec Balance and main Resto.. Thanks so much guys and keep the conversation going if you have anything else to add, I love hearing your insight!!

[Pandacho 286]

45 minutes ago, FDR1932 said:

 I wasn't understanding that the gear you get from questing is based on the actual spec you have active, not what you set your loot spec too. 

I want to point out before you make a mistake in game, I was talking only about World Quests gear pieces that are shown as rewards on map not being set for your loot spec, they pop randomly for any spec of your class. All the other drops - raids, dungeons, weekly chests, emissary caches, world bosses are for your set loot spec.

[FDR1932 0]

29 minutes ago, Pandacho said:

I want to point out before you make a mistake in game, I was talking only about World Quests gear pieces that are shown as rewards on map not being set for your loot spec, they pop randomly for any spec of your class. All the other drops - raids, dungeons, weekly chests, emissary caches, world bosses are for your set loot spec.

Ok, so what about quest rewards as I go through all the zones and Suramar? 

[DeathsDesign 92]

Basically what Pandacho is saying is this:

Quest rewards (leveling or max level), raid loot, dungeon loot, emissary caches, Weekly challenger (M+ weekly chests) chests = Loot spec

World quest rewards = set gear regardless of your spec or loot spec.

 

Also regarding stat priority for guardian, icy-veins gives the following: 

1. Basics

The stat priority for a Guardian Druid is:

1. Armor;
2. Versatility >= Mastery;
3. Haste;
4. Agility;
5. Critical Strike.

 

Noxxic gives the following:  Stamina > Versatility > Mastery > Haste > Agility > Crit .

 

I'm not in the Druid class discord so i'm not sure where the guardian stat priority there is coming from but based on the previous stated resources these priorities do not match.

 

Pandacho can you specify the resource the class discord stat prio is based off of?  (not doubting you just wanting all info before recommending anything)

 

Also since you have AK 20 waiting for you once you hit 110 I would suggest getting your first Gold Trait in whatever off-spec you will be using to do WQ/Solo content and then focus on getting up to and including your third Gold Trait in Resto if that is what your main spec will be.  Once you have that the choice is yours if you want to max out 35 traits in your main or get to 3 gold traits each then max one out.

 

Hope this helps.

[Pandacho 286]

7 hours ago, DeathsDesign said:

Pandacho can you specify the resource the class discord stat prio is based off of?  (not doubting you just wanting all info before recommending anything)

Sure:

I wouldn't copy+paste here all the pinned links from discord class guardian channel but you can see and read plenty of them in Pinned messages. Every link opens to a Google Doc with an in-depth explanations.

I wouldn't suggest to read all the running text messages in any Discord class channel but pinned documents are pretty accurate in my opinion (at least for specs I play).