Shifting Perspectives: Gearing your Resto Druid for Kara Part 2
by John Patricelli 
Jun 24th 2008 at 9:30AM
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week John Patricelli, the Big Bear Butt Blogger, presents the second part to the Resto Druid gear guide to help you prepare for Karazhan, with the haelp of the lovely and talented 4 Haelz.
Welcome to the second and final part of our guide to gearing up your Resto Druid in preparation for entering the fabled black gate of Karazhan.
Today we pick right back up where we left off last week, by jumping into gear lists, starting with Belts and carrying on through until we're done.
Whether you are a hopeful raider looking for ways to improve your gear, or a seasoned raider about to take a nostalgic trip through the past items you've now grown out of, I hope there will be something of use for you in the lists still to come.
So let's head on in and take a look!
Gear Rankings
This is a direct continuation of the first part of this guide, Gearing your Resto Druid for Kara Part 1. Still, I want to make sure I cover once again the way the gear is ranked in this section, since using your own judgment is especially crucial when selecting Trinkets.
The following lists have been ranked using the new Restoration Druid Item Weighting functionality of Wowhead. These ranking are based PURELY on Mana Regeneration, + Healing, Intellect and Spirit. Special abilities are NOT considered in this ranking.
If you are curious, as I was, as to where they developed their numbers from, make sure you read their FAQ on the subject.
As you do look at the following item ranks, keep in mind a few things.
First, these items are being ranked purely on the basis of measurable numbers for Mana Regeneration, + Healing, Spirit and Intellect. Therefore, some items that have an 'on use' duration may be ranked higher or lower than their actual value. To get the full effect from some of these items, you need to make sure you are using the 'on use' effect whenever possible, perhaps in conjunction with a macro that triggers an item just before a key spell.
Also, special abilities such as Spell Haste would not be weighed in. Be especially careful on Trinkets, as they commonly have special abilities that may completely change the value of the item.
And finally, before jumping on a two-handed weapon as the best choice, make sure you compare the results you would get with the combined effect of a one-handed and off-hand pairing. You might find the one-hand and off-hand work better for your purposes.
Belt
Primal Mooncloth Belt (23.91) - Tailoring BoP (Set is arguably better than Windhawk in Mana regen)
Belt of the Long Road (21.54) - Tailoring BoE
Windhawk Belt (18.53) - Leatherworking BoP (Good hybrid Resto/Moonkin gear)
Cord of Reconstruction (16.52) - Magister's Terrace (Non-Heroic) - Kael'thas Sunstrider
Cord of Sanctification (16.21) - Durnholde Keep (Heroic) - Epoch Hunter
The Sleeper's Cord (13.38) - Arcatraz (Non-Heroic) - Wrath-Scryer Soccothrates
Belt of the Sage (7.18) - Quest reward in Netherstorm
Leggings
Whitemend Pants (24.28) - Tailoring BoE
Pontifex Kilt (23.10) - Steam Vaults (Heroic) - Warlord Kalithresh
Hallowed Trousers (21.23) - Sethekk Halls (Non-Heroic) - Talon King Ikiss
Haramad's Leg Wraps (20.74) - Quest reward.
Pontiff's Pantaloons of Prophecy (20.35) - Durnholde Keep (Heroic) - Captain Skarloc
Pants of the Naaru (17.37) - Quest reward, part of the arcatraz key quest chain
Earthsoul Britches (18.04) - Slave Pens (Heroic) - Quagmirran
Moonglade Pants (14.06) - The Dark Portal/Black Morass (Non-Heroic) - Aeonus
Legging Enchants
Silver Spellthread (cheaper, much better choice for pre-Kara)
Golden Spellthread (expensive, better saved for epic pants)
Boots
Boots of Resuscitation (18.48) - Magister's Terrace (Non-Heroic) - Vexallus
Boots of the Pious (15.23) - Mechanar (Heroic) - Panthaleon the Calculator
Light-Woven Slippers (14.75) - Sethekk Halls (Non-Heroic) - Darkweaver Syth
Jeweled Boots of Sanctification (14.63) - Shattered Halls (Non-Heroic) - Warbringer O'mrogg
Curate's Boots (14.02) - Quest reward.
Boots of the Glade Keeper (13.25) - Mechanar (Non-Heroic) - Cache of the Legion
Boot Enchant
Vitality, mp5 and healthp5
Rings
Band of the Crystalline Void (13.66) - Mana Tombs (Heroic) - Yor
Cosmic Lifeband (12.96) - Mechanar (Non-Heroic) - Nethermancer Sepethrea
Band of Halos (12.85) - 25 badges. Not high-priority, as you should be going through your Violet Eye rep soon
Ring of Fabled Hope (11.71) - Underbog (Heroic) - The Black Stalker
Spiritualist's Mark of the Sha'tar (11.37) - Quest reward. Quest chain begins from The Journal of Val'zareq
Kharmaa's Ring of Fate (10.75) - Magister's Terrace (Non-Heroic) - Kael'thas Sunstrider
Signet of Repose (8.51) - Blood Furnace (Heroic) - Broggok
Ring of Spiritual Precision (8.15) - The Dark Portal/Black Morass (Non-Heroic) - Chrono Lord Deja
Ring Enchant
Healing Power (Enchanter only)
Trinkets
Redeemer's Alchemist Stone (Alchemist's only!) (18.14) - Shattered Sun Offensive - Exalted
Essence of the Martyr (12.81) - 41 badges. You will have this trinket for quite some time, as it has an excellent boost to your raw +healing and a good on-use boost.
Vial of the Sunwell (9.15) - Magister's Terrace (Heroic) - Priestess Delrissa
Oshu'gun Relic (8.08) - Quest reward.
Warp Scarab Brooch (7.93) - Mana Tombs (Heroic) - Nexus-Prince Shaffar
Scarab of the Infinite Cycle (10.67) - The Dark Portal/Black Morass (Non-Heroic) - Aeonus
Lower City Prayerbook (10.67) - Lower City Revered
Bangle of Endless Blessings (unranked) - Botanica (Non-Heroic) - Warp Splinter
Two-Hand
Exodar Life-Staff (75.94) - Drop BoE Healing Staff
Rod of the Blazing Light (67.81) - Magister's Terrace (Heroic) - Vexallus
Seer's Cane (45.62) - Staff, Scryer Revered
Epoch Mender (45.55) - The Dark Portal/Black Morass (Non-Heroic) - Temporus
Staff of Divine Infusion (38.67) - Drop BoE Healing Staff
Main Hand
Hand of Eternity (54.67) - Blacksmithing BoE Mace
The Ancient Scepter of Sue-Min (52.01) - Drop BoE Healing Mace
Shockwave Truncheon (51.98) - Shadow Labs (Heroic) - Murmur
Gavel of Pure Light (51.70) - Sha'tar Exalted
Hammer of the Penitent (41.67) - Mechanar (Non-Heroic) - Mechano-Lord Capacitus
Essence Focuser (41.31) - Drop BoE Healing Mace
K'iru's Presage (40.84) - Shattered Sun Offensive - Revered
Lightsworn Hammer (40.62) - Shattered Halls (Non-Heroic) - Warchief Kargath Bladefist
Battle-Mace of the High Priestess (38.70) - Magister's Terrace (Non-Heroic) - Priestess Delrissa
Dathrohan's Ceremonial Hammer (38.47) - Durnholde Keep (Heroic) - Captain Skarloc
Runed Dagger of Solace (34.60) - Botanica (Non-Heroic) - Thorngrin the Tender
Northshire Battlemace (29.15) - Durnholde/Old Hillsbrad Foothills (Non-Heroic) - Captain Skarloc
Weapon Enchants
Major Healing
Spellsurge
(Weapon enchants are not worth it for pre-Kara as they are really expensive)
Off-Hand
Tears of Heaven (15.09) - 25 badges. Has raw mp5 and +healing.
Voodoo Shaker (13.81) - 35 Badges, ranked lower than Tears of Heaven but a better overall Off-Hand item.
Faol's Signet of Cleansing (13.26) - Ramparts (Heroic) - Omor the Unscarred
Windcaller's Orb (13.02) - Cenarion Expedition - Exalted
Swamplight Lantern (12.04) - Slave Pens (Heroic) - Quagmirran
Lamp of Peaceful Repose (10.86) - Arcatraz (Non-Heroic) - Dalliah the Doomsayer
Lordaeron Medical Guide (10.20) - Durnholde Keep (Heroic) - Lieutenant Drake
Unearthed Orb (8.82) - Quest reward
Idol
Idol of the Emerald Queen - Shadow Labs (Non-Heroic) - Ambassador Hellmaw; (the preferred Resto Idol)
Idol of the Raven Goddess - Quest reward
Harold's Rejuvenating Brooch - Quest reward Requires all 9 Mastery Quests from Nesingwary.
A look at the Moonglade Raiment
Moonglade Raiment, BC Druid Dungeon set
This set is weird. It's supposed to be "hybrid" but it's more "resto." At the same time, it has a bunch of unnecessary stats, like Strength and Agility. The two-set bonus is rather nice, especially for your tanks, but the four-set is lackluster at best. Would not recommend picking up more than two pieces. The headpiece may not be worth the money it takes to socket it with a meta, especially with T4 coming to you courtesy of Prince in the hopefully-near-future.
The "I just turned 70 a week ago" Gear Set
Head: Watcher's Cowl
Neck: Living Ruby Pendant
Shoulders: Ravenwing Pauldrons (1 Purified Jaggal Pearl, 1 Luminous Flame Spessarite)
Back: Sha'tari Anchorite's Cloak
Chest: Lifewarden's Breastplate
Bracers: Goldenvine Wraps
Gloves: Cryo-mitts
Belt: Belt of the Sage
Pants: Haramad's Leg Wraps (3 Purified Jaggal Pearls)
Boots: Curate's Boots
Ring: Cosmic Lifeband
Ring: Spiritualist's Mark of the Sha'tar
Trinket: Oshu'gun Relic
Trinket: Lower City Prayerbook
Weapon: The Essence Focuser
Off-hand: Unearthed Orb
Idol: Harold's Rejuvenating Brooch
With this set equipped, you will gain +937 Healing, +40mp5, +126 Stamina, +189 Intellect, and +167 Spirit.
The "I'm ready for Kara but Don't Have a Crafting Profession" Gear Set
Head: Hood of Primal Life (Glyph of Renewal)
Neck: Necklace of Eternal Hope
Shoulders: Gladiator's Kodohide Spaulders (1 Luminous Flame Spessarite, 1 Purified Jaggal Pearl)
Back: Sha'tari Anchorite's Cloak
Chest: Robes of Summer Flame (1 Luminous Flame Spessarite, 1 Purified Jaggal Pearl, 1 Teardrop Blood Garnet)
Bracers: Goldenvine Wraps
Gloves: Cryo-mitts
Belt: Cord of Belief
Pants: Pants of the Naaru
Boots: Curate's Boots
Ring: Kharmaa's Ring of Fate
Ring: Spiritualist's Mark of the Sha'tar
Trinket: Lower City Prayerbook
Trinket: Scarab of the Infinite Cycle
Weapon: K'iru's Presage
Off-hand: Swamplight Lantern
Idol: Idol of the Emerald Queen
With this set equipped, you will jump to +1054 Healing, +28mp5, +185 Stamina, +278 Intellect, and +176 Spirit.
Not too bad at all, to bring you exactly where Bellwether recommends you should be while successfully healing in Karazhan, and all that without one single drop from the upcoming Raid instance.
With this kind of advance preparation, you can be confident that you are starting strong, well able to support your raid and help keep your tank and your team alive.
And do it all, of course, in that inimitable leafy style.
I hope you have found this list useful, and good luck to you on your adventures in healing your raid as you take on Kara!
Bellwether and Big Bear Butt would like to early thank our sources for the information in this article; without you, this would have been flat out impossible!
WoWWiki
Wowhead
Resto4Life
4 Haelz
Part Time Druid
A Tale of Two Druids
Special thanks to Doodlebug of Hots and Dots for being my model for the cover shoot. Way to work it, Doodle! Is that not one smoking hot tree, ladies and gentlemen? I think so!
Looking for more Druid goodness? Every week Shifting Perspectives provides you with advice, strats and humor for Druids of all specs. Read the first part to the Resto Gear guide for Karazhan, our complete guide to gearing your Bear Tank for Karazhan, and also check out our leveling tips for Moonkin.Filed under: (Druid) Shifting Perspectives, Druid, Analysis / Opinion, Guides, Alts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ActiveNick Jun 24th 2008 9:51AM
Thanks! I've been waiting for these posts for a while since unfortunately Rawr was initially designed for druids and supports warlocks and healadins, but yet still no support for Resto druids. Time to work on my 4th gear set.
Doodlebug Dec 11th 2008 10:30PM
Oh, hi there... ^_^
ActiveNick Jun 24th 2008 10:03AM
Oh, I forgot to ask... I noticed that none of the Kodohide battlegear pieces are in your lists. For those that do not know, these are the PvP blues you get at 70 from being honored with the 5 main Outland/TBC factions.
I'm a feral druid and when I dinged 70 a few months ago and was gearing for Kara I used Rawr to identify the various quest rewards, craftables and drops I needed, but even until now, I've been wearing the Dragonhide Shoulders, although I'm finally getting the S2 shoulders today.
But after building Kara-specced bear and cat suits, I decided to focus on building a moonkin suit and assembling what I could find into a healing suit too. For the caster/moonkin suit, I found the Wyrmhide battlegear to be a good starting point as they are cheap blues, same with the Kodohide battlegear. Sure, casters and healers do not need resilience when raiding, but the healing bonus on the Kodohide gear is still a very good starting point for less than 100G.
I'm curious as to why Kodohide gear is not mentioned here. Are there any readers out there starting to heal in Kara and still using a few pieces of Kodohide gear?
Silverrealm Aug 1st 2008 4:28PM
I used 3 kodohide's from rep to start kara and the PVP kodohide to start kara.
ActiveNick Jun 24th 2008 10:09AM
Another decent healing ring you can easily get since it is a quest reward is the Keeper's Ring of Piety (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29322). It requires that you run Cot2 but at least you just need to run it once and don't need to pray for the right boss drop. Plus you might get more healing gear on that same run.
Bellwether Jun 24th 2008 10:14AM
Hmm. I'm definitely sure I put those on the list. Blame Bear!
Anyway, I actually started to heal Karazhan with a couple pieces of Vindicator's/Gladiator's gear, and I still use my Vindicator's Kodohide Belt in BT (haven't been on a ZA run for that Belt). The blue PvP gear wasn't out at that time, but I see plenty of people using it.
PvP gear is good to a point. It has a great amount of stam, so they're good to have around for high-raid damage fights, but they are not the best itemization. If you gem/enchant them for PvE, they are a bit better, but realize you are gimping your spirit with them. Unless you're a feral druid, resilience is a wasted stat.
But an upgrade is an upgrade, so if it's an upgrade, wear it!
ActiveNick Jun 24th 2008 10:19AM
Yeah, I agree, I avoid PvP gear for raiding in caster or tree form, especially the blues, but when you have nothing or just a crappy level 62 green, those level 70 PvP blues are a nice way to gear-up to allow you to run and heal all the listed instances until those better pieces drop.
As you said, if it's an upgrade, wear it!
juicyjuice Jun 24th 2008 10:15AM
Are there plans for a "gearing your fat feathered moonkin for Kara"? Preferably one that will be up by next week? My moonkin is surging through the 60s right now with all the midsummer buffs, hope I see one soon!
Love these kara gear guides btw!
ActiveNick Jun 24th 2008 11:52AM
To gear up your Moonkin/caster form, use Rawr, I swear by it and use it on my mage,and also on my druid for my bear, cat and moonkin specs/suits:
- Equip all the caster gear you have, log out and make sure it shows on Armory.
- Install Rawr: Download from www.codeplex.com/rawr. It's a .NET app and you even get the source code if that's your fancy.
- Start Rawr and using the menu, switch to the moonkin model.
- Load your character from the Armory.
- Using the menu options, choose "Load possible upgrades from Armory".
Then you are ready to look at the various slots on the right side, each shoing the list of potential upgrades. As you mouse over them, it tells you where they come from. If unclear or you need more info, just right click and look it up on Wowhead.
Enjoy!
juicyjuice Jun 24th 2008 1:48PM
The idea of downloading and running third party codes never really excited me, but I keep hearing about rawr, maybe its worth trying...on someone elses computer, first.
Carmentia Jun 24th 2008 10:42AM
Are the base healing guidelines (1000-1200 bonus healing) based on having 2 healers in the Kara raid, or 3?
Also I have seen Boar's Speed as a suggested foot enchant for a Tree of Life druid, to help counter the movement penalty.
Bellwether Jun 24th 2008 11:37AM
Three. You will need more base +healing for just two. About 1300 for the first half of Kara, and 1500 for the second. And you will need to be very on your toes, diligent, and ready for anything. :)
Bellwether Jun 24th 2008 11:40AM
I do like Boar's Speed (though, in all honesty, it does not completely make up for the movement penalty), but it's a very expensive enchant for pre-Kara-just-into-Kara, whereas Vitality is cheaper. Also, in Kara, there are fewer bosses where mobility is such an issue, and getting higher mp5 is a priority when your gear is just making the cut. Therefore, I suggested Vitality :)
Naix Jun 24th 2008 10:46AM
Nice article. I myself play a Druid tank and roll on healing items just in case 1 day I want to heal as a Druid. I also have a somewhat geared holy priest. As a holy priest I can still do some damage (Smite!) and heal. As with my Druid I can do damage and still tank. But once you go resto with healing items sure you can not be killed but you cant do too much damage either. At least not as much as a priest.
Carmentia Jun 24th 2008 12:24PM
Regarding "But once you go resto with healing items sure you can not be killed but you cant do too much damage either. "
I recently coached a guildie tree druid who was never able to kill his inner demons fast enough on the Leo fight in SSC. When he got an inner demon, he was dropping from tree to cat to do DPS, and that made no sense at all to me. Advised him to drop to caster to kill his demon, since healing gear has a fair amount of spell damage on it (and I think the demons are more susceptible to nature and arcane, maybe holy too but that doesn't matter to a druid). He was successful thereafter!
I have recently switched from a Kara/Gruul/badge/SSC geared moonkin to an undergeared tree. I had picked up some healing gear along the way while I was a boomkin, but I passed on a lot more of it, because I never expected to try out the Tree. Therefore, I really appreciate this guide (how timely for me!), since my resto gear is at the point of being nicely upgraded from Kara drops. But 2-healing upper Kara with just under 1200 unbuffed healing seemed unrealistic, so I appreciate Bellwether's responses to my earlier questions! :-)
KJS Jun 24th 2008 12:51PM
Another good healing off-hand that is fairly easy to obtain is the Netherwing spiritualist's charm ( http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31493 ).
Introit Jun 24th 2008 1:40PM
I'm going to disagree with you here on this point:
Whitemend Pants (24.28) - Tailoring BoE
Pontifex Kilt (23.10) - Steam Vaults (Heroic) - Warlord Kalithresh
Druids gain a lot more from spirit than Mp5 and thus imo making Pontifex Kilt a better choice than Whitemend Pants.
irishdoom Jun 24th 2008 9:51PM
Good work guys, and thanks again for more linkage to my blog. :) Heck, my most popular post by far is my Fresh 70 Resto Druid Gear Cheat Sheet (http://parttimedruid.com/2008/04/16/fresh-70-resto-druid-gear-cheat-sheet/), so there is obviously a market for stuff like this!
PTD
Brent Jun 24th 2008 10:50PM
I think you missed the two Rep Reward rings at 12.68 each.
Ancestral Band from Thrallmar Revered
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29168
Ring of Convalescence from Honour Hold Revered
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29169
And then their little brother (which can be had from 67 onwards):
Celestial Jewel Ring
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29814
Adam Jun 25th 2008 4:43PM
Thanks so much for this - I am rolling a resto Druid right now in anticipation of the fact that tanks will be a dime a dozen once everyone rolls a DK in WotLK. Though of course they will all need an update when that happens....