Glyph Decisions

Today I will review the major glyphs that will be available appropriate for the resto druid come patch 3.1 and bang my head repeatedly on my desk in angst over trying to just pick 3.

First, as a reminder, here is what we have already:

Glyph of Swiftmend - Your Swiftmend ability no longer consumes a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect from the target.

Glyph of Regrowth - Increases the healing of your Regrowth spell by 20% if your Regrowth effect is still active on the target.

Glyph of Lifebloom - It increases your Lifebloom with one second.

Glyph of Innervate - Your Innervate spell now grants you full mana regeneration while casting for 20 sec, in addition to the effect on the primary target. Innervate's effect is instead increased by 20% if you are the primary target.

Glyph of Rejuvenation - While your rejuvenation targets are below 50% health, you will heal them for an additional 50% health.

Glyph of Healing Touch - Your cast time is reduced by 50%, mana cost 25% and healing by 50%

Glyph of Rebirth - Increases the amount of health on a character brought back to life via Rebirth by 100%.

I will admit with my healing style my current glyph choices are a no brainer. First, every resto druid regardless of healing style should use the Glyph of Swiftmend. I tend to use Regrowth as my goto heal so for me the Glyph of Regrowth is quite tasty. Those really are the only two I absolutely MUST have at the moment. For my third, I go back and forth between Glyph of Innervate and Glyph of Rebirth. Since I don't have to innervate myself terribly often right now, both of these are currently situational.

So, glyph changes currently proposed in the PTR patch notes:

• Glyph of Nourish (new) - Heals for an additional 6% for each HOT present on the target.


• Glyph of Rebirth (updated) - Target returns to life with FULL health


• Glyph of Wildgrowth (new) - Wildgrowth now effects up to 6 targets

With these additions along with the changes to mana regen and nerf to Lifebloom, it is now a difficult decision for me to just choose 3. Glyph of Swiftmend is still important, now even more so as a means to add efficiency. The Glyph of Innervate that was once so situational is also now looking more like a must have since I have a feeling I will be forced to Innervate myself every boss fight now and every scrap of mana will be precious. So, here is where I have issues. I cannot have both the Glyph of Nourish and the Glyph of Regrowth. And the Glyph of Nourish finally gives that spell the edge to make me willing to use it (as much as I did NOT want to embrace it). The Glyph of Wildgrowth could be tempting to hit another target if it weren't so expensive to cast. If I am more concerned about mana efficiency I am going to have to be choosy about spell selection. I love the new look of Glyph of Rebirth though too. Imagine the turn of a fight if someone can get brought back from dead with full health to keep going. Heck, it may actually be more mana efficient at times to let someone die and then rebirth them back to full, lol ... just kidding I would never do that but it is funny.

I think I will personally go with Swiftmend, Innervate, and Nourish and silently mourn the loss of my Regrowth. But seriously, this is a tough choice. What are other people thinking?

Proposed Lifebloom Changes

So unless you have been living under a rock you have heard about the proposed changes to Lifebloom that most in the resto druid community see as tearing us apart by our roots. In case you missed it, to summarize, Lifebloom (should the PTR go live) would cost twice as much mana as it does currently but when allowed to bloom would refund back half of the mana cost.

I am just going to jump out there and say this is not a change that has me terribly upset. The changes made across the board to all healers concerning mana regen meant they had to address Lifebloom in some way ... it was just TOO efficient. I see it as a balancing ... and YES, I have done the math to see how this change effects the healing efficiency of the lifebloom roller. I actually like the mechanic being implemented where if we choose to allow the bloom to occur we get back mana which could be used on something else. In a time where Blizzard is trying to make mana an issue they are handing us a way to get some back.

Blizzard never said all along that rolling Lifeblooms was the only way to heal as a druid, they gave us quite a few spell choices in our arsenal. We are hybrids after all and bring utility. I for one top the 25 man healing meters consistently (both at 70 and 80) with a style that relies heavily on regrowth with rejuv, wildgrowth, lifeblooms, and swiftmends sprinkled in situationally to stabilize people. Lifebloom doesn't have to be the "centerpiece of existence" as I read one blogger refer to it. Honestly, with the proposed Nourish glyph and 4 piece T8 bonus involving rejuv, we all need to be open to thinking outside our comfort zone. Lifebloom is A tool but it is not the ONLY tool.

The Beginning

In the beginning when I was but a sapling, I randomly came across the lovely Ms Phae and Resto4Life. I used her gearing tips like a bible at 70. I eagerly awaited her thoughts when class changes were being handed down. Having learned so much about what it is to be a tree from her, I could not begin a blog that didn't start by paying tribute to her. Thanks Phae for all your hard work and best wishes with your new adventures.