Usually I write guides for levelers (mixed pvp/pve builds for variety) but as I said yesterday, we all level for a reason and I want to do a few articles on end game builds that will work well for you.

By the time you ding 80, you should know your build pretty well, so I’m not gonna bore you with talking about every last talent.

I’m gonna give you the tree, and call out a few things I think are important, depending on where you are as an end game shaman…

So here’s the build:

59/11 Enhance PvE Build

The main points I want to talk about in this PvE enhance build are;

1. Toughness & Anticipation
2. Improved Windfury totem
3. Strength of Earth & Stoneclaw totems
4. Other useless PvE talents

Firstly, point 1 – toughness and anticipation are generally useless talents. Your goal is to get all the health you need via gear, so that you don’t need to waste a whopping 5 points just to get more HP. If you’re a brand new 80 shaman with pitiful gear I’d forgive the 5 points in toughness and anticipation, but once you get even 3 pieces of purple gear you should be respeccing and taking those points out.

You are DPS – not a tank. You should avoid getting aggro and use other talents you have to stay alive when things go pear shaped (stoneclaw/spirit wolves/imp fire nova).

Second is improved windfury totem. Its a nice sounding totem on paper (although a few extra % of melee haste doesn’t sound great to me), but as you should know you want to keep both weapons above 2.5 speed. Too many pieces of haste gear/buffs can screw with proccing WF… and unless you’re in a big raid with many dps classes an extra couple percent just won’t make a huge difference most of the time.

Third, strength of earth & stoneclaw. Sink points in to these totems.

They’re not “cool” but they’ll help you hit harder and help your spell casters heal/damage better. 15% goes a lot further than 4% on your WF totem.

Don’t forget either that your strength of earth will help your tank’s blocking… (and feel free to remind anyone questioning you dropping it).

Stoneclaw is another good totem for when things turn ugly or you pick up ads that you want to get off you asap. Glyph stoneclaw totem too for an extra 4k hp shield.

Lastly, keep away from frozen power for PvE. I love it in PvP, but its too big a waste of points for PvE. Let crowd control do their job and you focus on doing damage & wind shearing.

Try this build out, and let me know how you go.

Related posts:

1. 80 Enhancement PvP Build Take this talent build for your enhance shaman and go...
2. Enhancement Shaman PvP Glyphs What glyphs should you be using as an enhancement shaman?...
3. Shaman Talent Builds: The Enhancement Shaman Find out exactly what Enhancement Build you should be using...

So, given I love writing about talent builds, I’m gonna share the build I’m using now.

This build is specialist. It won’t work very well outside PvP.

The build also works on a critical strike heavy theme, we want crits to trigger elemental devastation (extra melee crit chance), and when we do crit with spells & shocks we will crit hard thanks to elemental fury.

We’re also trying to reel in a few weaknesses us as enhancement shammy’s have – lack of stuns and low survivability.

So here’s my 17/54 PvP enhancement build, and below that, notes on how these talents work together:

17/54 Enhance Build

I want to talk about a few key things for you new level 80 Shamans, and you other Shammy’s out there that are just lost on how to make this class work in PvP.

Oh and for you doubters it DOES work in PvP – I know of a few enhance shaman’s in arena PvP in top 5 for 2v2… so the problem is not enhance shamans, its YOU.

First thing – if you’re a new 80, you might want to draw points from other talents & max out our stam buffing talent. Until you have a full set of deadly or furious gear your health will lag around 15k HP and with our chain for protection you’re just a 1 shot rogue magnet.

So 5 points in toughness for new guys, drop it when you’re in your pvp gear.

Now lets talk about the elemental side of the tree.

You’ve got a good 6% damage reduction if you max out elemental warding, and a 2 second stun from improved fire nova totem. These are musts, and go well with spirit wolves for stunning and staying alive when you use them right.

I’ve chosen to go 4 points in elemental fury, but you might take another point to get the full 100% crit damage increase on spells, and take one out of elemental warding – especially for those of you with some survivability in your gear.

You can’t go too far wrong in the enhance tree as long as you don’t do something stupid like putting points in earth’s grasp or guardian totems, or god forbid anticipation.

Again if you’re well stam’d up and have decent gear, also leave toughness alone.

Get your hp from your gear not your talents.

The key talents you need to keep in mind for this pvp enhance build are the 2 points in frozen power, 2 points in earthen power and 2 points in imp ghost wolf. Bind imp ghost wolf to an easy hot key or mouse button and use it regularly.

Frozen power is kick ass for stopping runners, or stopping some annoying super fast rogue from dancing around you. Its also great in WSG where you can stop flag carriers for a vital few seconds (glyph it if you’re doing a lot of WSG).

Earthen power’s snare & root breaker is also awesome, especially in AV if you have a lot of friends that just got nailed by an ice nova.

Make sure those spells are all bound to easy to remember hot keys and practice till you never fail.

In the next few days I’ll write some follow ups on exactly how to use these talents to their full advantage, glyphs, addons, and a few gear ideas you might have not even known existed.

Related posts:

1. Enhancement Shaman PvP Glyphs What glyphs should you be using as an enhancement shaman?...
2. 80 Enhancement PvE Build A PvE only Enhancement Shaman Build. Try it out, your...
3. Shaman PvP Build: Level 29 Elemental Spec Own Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin With This Elemental Shaman...

19/52/00 Fire Mage

Become a Fire-Spewing Combat Monster!

When it comes to the Mage class in WoW these days, all I ever seem to see lately is a Pyroblast spec, or a non-Pyroblast spec.

How boring! I mean – I LOVE the spec, but when everyone is the Pyro, it becomes old.

I’m tired of seeing big chunky rocks of fire flying from Fire Mages in WoW, and I’m here to do something about it!

Introducing the “FireCane”, or “Dragon Breath” Mage.

If you’re cringing already at losing Pyroblast, you should probably leave now, because this build is as much about doing something different as it is making an effective Fire Mage spec.

And effective it is!

While you might lose Pyroblast and Blastwave, you also can now lose another 3 points from the Hotstreak talent.

Where do these missing 5 points go now that we’ve “lost” Pyroblast? Generally speaking – we’ve added utility, longevity, and flexibility where before we simply stretched for a few percent higher DPS.

Get the whole story of the build below, and the link to the build itself to the right.Before we discuss why we’re choosing particular talents, and where you can or should make changes to suit yourself, you might be asking, “Who will this build suit?

Primarily, this Fire spec is for someone who is into the later game, doing PvE to level – around 55 plus for the best Fire-breathing action, or lower for anyone who wants to be flexible enough to enjoy WoW without pigeon holing themselves into a “raider” a “PvPer”, and so on.

So lets begin!

How to Create a Well Rounded Fire Mage Build in WoW

Row 1 (Improved Fire Blast, Incineration, Improved Fireball)

Improved Fire Blast can be nice for PvP, any insta-cast spell is in my book, but unless you lean far into the PvP camp, leave it out, and take its two solid cousins — Inceneration (increased crit chance by +6%) and Improved Fireball for a half a second faster casting speed.

Row 2 (Ignite, Burning Determination, World in Flames)

Ignite is another nice critical strike bonus – when maxed you’re doing another 40% damage over 4 seconds, great in any Fire mage’s (burning) tree.

Burning Determination is a weird one. During PvP it can be handy, but as a cloth wearer you’ll know the first time you’re interrupted or silenced is usually the last time – in other words, you die very soon after. Drop BD and move on.

World in Flames is an easy choice – 3 points here nets you another 6% critical strike chance, which with Incineration makes 12% bonus crit strike chance.

Row 3 (Flame Throwing, Impact, Pyroblast, Burning soul)

Sink 2 points into Flame Throwing for a multi purpose boost to your fire spells – an extra 6 yards is handy in PvP, and lets you get another spell off before a mob hits you with melee attacks.

I can’t decide on Impact – the 10% chance to stun on hit for 2 seconds is handy, but I find I will usually look at Burning soul and other spells first. Speaking of Burning soul – 2 points there to help with push back from the inevitable casting you’ll be doing in CC.

Pyroblast!

The skill that set me in motion to write this Mage build — no doubt its a great skill, in fact I wrote a build centered around it not too long ago… Its high damage, efficient mana, and can be insta cast down the line, but we’re going to skip it and its supporting skills in favor of concentrating on Dragon’s Breath and other very handy abilities from the arcane tree.

Row 4 (Improved Scorch, Molten shields, Master of Elements)

This row is one of my favorites with Molten shields making an appearance – 2 points here makes your Fire and Frost ward spells very handy for reflecting damage. Either in PvP or PvE I commonly have a ward up (when I remember to cast it… !) and I think this talent is one of the most underrated in this spec.

Improved Scorch is great for the extra crit chance, and for grouping and raids is awesome for its ability to increase spell vulnerability on the target. 3 points here, and 3 in Master of Elements for some mana savings on crits.

Row 5 (Playing With Fire, Critical mass, Blast Wave)

Get more critical power in this row by maxing Critical Mass, otherwise leave the other two.

Obviously Blast wave is left out due to lack of its pre-req, Pyroblast.

Row 6 (Blazing Speed, Fire Power)

Another “maybe” PvP talent here is Blazing speed – I’m tempted to take it, but in practice the ability doesn’t fire often enough, and by the time it does, your cloth wearing ways means you die fast – pass again… and Blizzard, make this one an insta cast with a 3 second duration and you might get more takers.

Put 5 points into Fire Power which gives off a solid 10% bonus to all fire damage, another easy pick.

Row 7 (Pyromaniac, Combustion, Molten Fury)

Another awesome ability in this line is Combustion, and is required to progress on to Dragon Breath – so 1 point here. Since this insta cast ability is on a relatively short cooldown, be sure to use it often, and when you do, spam your insta cast fire spells and fireballs to get your critical chances flowing!

Row 8 (Fiery Payback, Empowered Fire)

Another Fire Mage talent I feel doesn’t do enough is Fiery Payback – again we’re so weak that once we’re down to 35% health (the point at which this talent procs) we’re about to die anyway. More useful for PvE than PvP, and of course, definately a taker if you’re making out Pyroblast, but for us, we’re passing on Payback.

Empowered fire is another taker for this build, 3/3 here for yet more increase in base fire and frostfire damage.

Row 9 (Fire Starter, Dragon’s Breath, Hot Streak)

One of my favorite talent lines for the Fire Mage gives us the Fire breathing talents. Dragon’s Breath and its helper talent, Fire Starter get maxed out here, and let us unleash a torrent of magical fire in a cone ahead of us for a whopping 35% base mana cost, and disorienting them for 5 seconds.

This talent is pure gold, great fun, and usable almost anywhere. Fire starter makes it even better when maxed – giving you an insta cast Flamestrike immediately after using Dragon’s Breath… lots of time to line up your target!

Row 10 (Burnout)

A lonely talent in row 10, Burnout is another no brainer, increase your spell crits damage bonus by 50% and pay 5% extra mana for those spells that do crit. I’ll pay that all day long, 5 points here.

Row 11 (Living Bomb)

Ahh Living Bomb! Great fun, great damage, a good way to finish up the Fire Tree. Obviously take the point and have fun learning how to use it well.

Summation and Arcane Talent Additions

That’s the basis of the build – I’ve taken nothing that didn’t keep our spells doing the most damage possible (that’s why we’re fire magi!) and left enough to add some very handy arcane talents which will help keep our mana costs down and damage out put up.

Take special note that I’ve chosen Magic Attunement – this talent and its accompanying spells, Amplify and Dampen magic, are very much underrated, and most Fire Mages could do with dampen magic running 100% of the time while solo and in PvP – there just isn’t enough healing being done to justify otherwise!

For the Arcane row, max out every row up to 3, but leave out Arcane Stability, Magic Absorption (though I was really on the fence on this one) and Focus Magic.

Thats it! Get out there and give this build a go – I know you’ll have fun, and above all, you’ll actually be different!

[adrotate group="4"]

Related posts:

1. Hunter Talent Builds: The Beast Master Spec How should you construct your Beast Master build? Find my...
2. Hunter Talent Builds: The Marksmanship Spec If you're looking for a Marksmanship build for your Hunter,...
3. Hunter Talent Builds: The Survival Spec A Guide on Getting the Most Out of the Misunderstood...

Enhancement/Elemental Shaman

Shaman’s are one of my favorite classes – they offer amazing flexibilty, and some really great tools that help you get by in your day to day leveling and adventuring.

One of those paths is the Enhancement Shaman. I’ve spent a lot of time putting together this Shaman spec to make it well suited for players who want some flexibility. One day you might be raiding, the next some PvP, and then maybe some solo and perhaps dailies when you level to that point.

With that in mind, the build below will serve well as a DPS focused build. This means you’ll be doing a lot of damage, and will be well suited for groups, PvP or solo work.

Solo is always better to do with a strong DPS build, and raids obviously will need an assortment of roles – DPS being one of them.

Row 1 (Enhancing Totems, Earth’s Grasp, Ancestral Knowledge)

The first row is totem heavy, with a nice intelligence buff.

Since this build includes a talent further down the tree that takes strength from high intelligence, max out 5 points in Ancestral Knowledge, and put 3 points into Enhancing Totems to give yourself another 15% Strength of the Earth effect, and 15% to Flametongue. Leave Earth’s grasp – we’re looking for damage per second, not extra tanking ability.

Row 2 (Guardian Totems, Thundering Strikes, Improved Ghost Wolf, Improved Shields)

Leave Guardian totems alone, it can be great for adding to a raid or party but not in this build. Put 5/5 into Thundering Strikes – the 5% extra chance to crit is too good to pass up on a DPS build. Leave Improved Ghost Wolf, but put another 3/3 points into Improved Shields for an extra 15% buff to your lightning, water and earth orbs.

Row 3 (Elemental Weapons, Shamanistic Focus, Anticipation)

This row includes one of the enhancement Shaman’s biggest draw cards – a buff to their impressive Windfury Weapon effect of 40% to damage. I recommend everyone use Windfury above any other weapon effect, its been proven by countless players as the highest DPS of them all. So 3/3 into Elemental Weapons is an easy one.

Put 1 point into Shamanistic Focus – reducing the mana cost of one of your best instant cast spell lines is another no brainer – 45% savings is awesome and welcome to any Shaman.

I leave Anticipation, the benefits just aren’t worth it, maybe PvP players will consider putting 3 points into it, otherwise leave it alone.

Row 4 (Flurry, Toughness)

Flurry is another killer Shaman talent you can’t afford to miss. 5/5 points here to get an increased attack speed of 25% for 3 swings after you crit – great to combine with your previously taken Thundering strikes. Toughness is another great talent, 5/5 gives your stamina a 10% boost, and reduces movement slowing effects. Being all geared for damage can make you a little fragile so take this talent.

Row 5 (Improved Windfury Totem, Spirit weapons, Mental Dexterity)

A great row, with some attack boosting effects and reduction of threat. Max out this entire line – Mental Dexterity gives you a big boost in attack power thanks to your row 1 selection of Ancestral Knowledge.

Row 6 (Unleashed Rage, Weapon Mastery, Frozen Power)

We begin this row by leaving Unleashed Rage — points can be better spent elsewhere to provide you a more balanced Shaman, but if you’re big into raids you might consider filling it. Weapon Mastery is up next letting you increase damage you deal with all weapons by 10% – A big, big boost and another no brainer for a DPS build… all 3 points go in here. Frozen Power gets 2 points for a 100% chance at an ice root effect, which is awesome for PvP or tight spots you and party need to flee from.

Row 7 (Dual Wield Specialization, Dual Wield, Stormstrike)

A great line of talents, being an Enhancement Shaman to me means going Windfury, Flurry, and Dual Wield to the max, which means this whole line gets filled up, DWSpecialization means you’ll hit more often, which is very important for our dual wielding DPS Shammy. Stormstrike, I’m on the fence about, but with a good selection of shocks after your Stormstrikes, a 20% damage increase can’t be passed up.

Row 8 (Static Shock, Lava Lash, Improved Stormstrike)

A sparse line for those wanting to keep their DPS ticking along strong. 0/3 for Static Shock – the lazy man’s shield solution, 1/1 in Lava Lash for an ok instant cast that can be combined with Flametongue, but which I really only took to open up the next line. Improved Stormstrike, again on the fence about this one, getting 40% mana back after a SS is awesome, but its robbing us of more important DPS generating effects right now. Come back & fill it after you max out the Enhancement tree, and I won’t scoff at you.

Row 9 (Mental Quickness, Shamanistic Rage, Earthen Power)

Max this line out – Mental Quickness benefits from our two intelligence talents earlier and piles on the benefits, Shamanistic Rage lets you shrug off 30% of damage with a 2 min cooldown, and Earthen Power can be great again for groups in tight spots of PvP with snaring opponents.

Row 10 (Maelstrom Weapon)

Hold out here, and go straight to Row 11. Insta cast spells are good and all, but as Shaman’s we’re already loaded with them, so I see these as five wasted points. Perhaps a good idea for builds that want to be able to deliver emergency heals.

Row 11 (Feral Spirit)

Feral Spirit, the end of the enhancement tree and a great DPS burst for big bosses, or for the occassional one of when the time is right in pretty much any other time in WoW.  The three min cooldown and 45 duration make this pair of wolves difficult to time well, but just hold off on the temptation to overuse them and you’ll be fine.

This build is great for people who want a Shaman that fights toe to toe with his foes. He’s great for any part of the game, but not super specialized. If you want to take a tertiary healing role while you dole out big damage, or you just want to help a single grouping buddy out better as you level up, go resto.

If you’re keen to raid or PvP, Elemental is the obvious choice.

[adrotate group="4"]

Related posts:

1. Shaman Talent Builds: The Elemental Shaman Elemental Shamans - how to build a monster spell critting...
2. Shaman Talent Builds: The Resto Shaman Resto Shaman's are a unique breed with a very specialized...
3. Enhancement Shaman PvP Glyphs What glyphs should you be using as an enhancement shaman?...

Holy Priests – How to Build the Ultimate Group and Raiding Spec

Holy and Discipline Priest Build

When it’s time to be in a large raid group, or quest with a group of friends, getting the most out of your Holy talent tree is important. It’s the only tree where you can maximize your health regen and at the same time increase places like spirit, mana, and movement speed in your favor.

And now that you can duel-spec with the patch 3.1 changes, it will be important to keep the Holy talent tree set up for specific runs.

I’ve played my priest a lot, and actually respecced the guy so many times I’m almost embarrassed – but in the process I’ve worked out what really works in a hard-core raid.

This is it.

Row 1 (Healing Focus, Improved Renew, and Holy Specialization)

As a healer you probably know how important it is to be able to heal without interruption. This is why you should place 2pts in Healing Focus and gain 70% reduced pushback during any healing. Right now, don’t worry about the Holy Specialization. Instead, fill the IR and increase the amount you heal by 15%.

Row 2 (Spell Warding, Divine Fury)

I played back and forth with these 2 forever. When it comes down to it, just add 5pts to each run and move on. You reduce the amount of damage you take from spells by 10% with SW, and reduce casting times for 4 different abilities by .5 seconds.

Row 3 (Desperate Prayer, Blessed Recovery, Inspiration)

Well, you definitely need to add 1pt to the DP because it gives the caster an instant 263 to 325pt heal. The other 2 abilities I just skip for now because they don’t give me immediate results.

Row 4 (Holy Reach, Improved Healing, Searing Light)

Even after only adding 2 points in the 3rd row, you should have opened up the 4th. Here it’s important to maximize Holy Reach out because you gain 20% extra range on 6 different healing spells. IH will need to be full as well so you can get the 15% reduction in mana cost for 5 different abilities. I skipped over Searing Light for now, but only because it increases damage from spells and isn’t a healing setup.

Row 5 (Healing Prayers, Spirit of Redemption, Spiritual Guidance)

Healing Prayers is another mana reduction, and when full it will take away 20% of the mana cost for Prayer of Healing and the Prayer of Mending. The Spirit of Redemption is a great weapon when you’re in a group or raid. It allows you to run out of health, but heal others for 15 seconds, and then die. You never know who will need more help. Obviously you need a little fight in you during your adventures and the SG will do this easily. Add all 5pts and receive a 25% increase of your Spirit to spell damage.

Row 6 (Surge of Light, Spiritual Healing)

Okay, you have two options here. I personally try to stay away from Smite and Flash Heal when I’m at the higher levels, but if you use them a lot you’ll want to fill Surge of Light. I say skip it for now and fill the Spiritual Healing. It increases the amount of health you heal by an additional 10%. Plus it opens the next level.

Row 7 (Holy Concentration, Lightwell, and Light Resilience)

One of my favorite abilities in the Holy talent pool is the Lightwell ability. It is kind of like the equivalent to a portal, and members of your group or raid can click on it to gain additional health. They will receive 801 health over a 6 second period. It’s a lot nicer then shuffling through each person. Plus, you can skip over the other two and still reach level 8.

Row 8 (Body and Soul, Empowered Healing, and Serendipity)

I like the body and soul ability, but it’s not needed right now. I pass on it when trying to keep some of the talent points, and only add 2pts to Empowered Healing. The idea here was to keep 5pts in the row, and filling up Serendipity with 3 did the trick.

Row 9 (Empowered Renew, Circle of Healing, Test of Faith)

This is probably one of the most important rows to fill up. The Circle of Healing is my 2nd favorite trick, because it can heal 5 party members at the same time. Keep in mind they have to be within a 15 yard radius of you though. Test of Faith gives you a 12% increase in healing abilities towards any friends that are below 50%. Then of course, the ER does pretty much what it says.

Row 10 (Divine Providence)

You will notice that you don’t need to fill this up with 5pts to reach row 11, like other trees. Just use 3pts. It will still give you a 6% increase on several healing abilities, but we don’t need the other 4% possible.

Row 11 (Guardian Spirit)

As a player this isn’t my favorite thing to use, unless I throw it up on a tank or something. Whoever you heal gets a 40% increase in HP. There’s a few other things as well, but if you haven’t paid attention to it before, I won’t spoil everything.

20 Points Away! Do you go Shadow, or Discipline?

Personally, when I’m healing raids I’ll use up the rest of my points on Discipline to up my survivability a tad. The last thing your group needs is their primary healer getting killed (don’t you HATE that feeling?), so I tend to err towards Discipline.

Will that in mind here’s a bonus Discipline suggestion for super dedicated raid healers who want to keep that whole dying thing to a minimum:

Unbreakable Will 5/5, Silent Resolve 3/3, Improved Power Word Fortitude 2/2, Martyrdom 2/2, Meditation 3/3, Improved Power Word Shield 3/3.

All of the effects under these talents will boost your survivability by either making you harder to kill, or by reducing threat. The combo of which should help you stay alive that extra 10 or 20 seconds you need.

[adrotate group="4"]

Related posts:

1. Priest Talent Builds: The Shadow Priest Find the top Shadow Priest build here, we include a...
2. Priest Builds: The Discipline Priest Why and How to Use The Discipline Priest Spec: The...
3. Priest Leveling Guide: Get Holy With A Shadow Spec Class Guide: Priest Leveling Guide How to Level Up Your...

Discipline Build With Shadow

The discipline Priest is one of the least understood of all Priest builds. Is it good for PvP? Should I forget about discipline if I’m raiding or the primary healer? And what about solo – shadow is the clear choice right?

Those are the major questions being asked about discipline priests, and I’ll briefly answer them for you here…

Let me start with PvP.

PvP Discipline priest are an awesome sight to behold. One on one, discipline priests can be a really tough opponent to kill.

With reflective shield sending almost half the damage your receive back to your opponent (look out rogues), and then your basic healing skills backing you up, you can pretty much survive anything.

Your damage dealing isn’t quite as impressive, but if you play with a good team you can hold points until the cavalry arrives and punishes whoever thought it was a good idea to attack you.

So a big tick to discipline priests if you’re considering that route.

Grouping and Raiding.

Discipline priests can be a great build for raiding and grouping, but obviously won’t ever match a pure holy healer. What IS great about discipline priests is that in raids as a secondary healer they’ll be a bit like an anchor to the group. While your primary might die quickly when it takes aggro, you’ll be there till the finishing line unless you really mess things up, and you’ve got a real healing punch to back it up. And lets not forget that if you get attacked you’re reflecting some damage and adding to group DPS…

Solo.

Meh… while I love the discipline build for almost anything (its a great jack of all trades and has amusing abilities), solo simply won’t be as fast as a good shadow build. On the other hand, if you like to keep yourself flexible, able to solo, heal, or pvp, and you DON’T want to waste a ton of gold respeccing all the time, you won’t go wrong with discipline.

The following build is a good all-round discipline spec.

Here’s my Priest Discipline Talent Build:

Row 1 (Unbreakable Will, Twin Disciplines)

This interesting build starts with placing 3pts in the UW, and 2pts in Twin Disciplines. We only need 5 total, so mix it up and utilize a little bit of both. Neither one of them are going to be a massive help, which is why I don’t fill either one of them.

Row 2 (Silent Resolve, Improved Inner Fire, Improved Power Word: Fortitude, and Martyrdom)

Silent Resolve will be vital since it reduces Holy and Discipline threats by 20%. Plus there’s a 30% chance they won’t be dispelled. Just skip the Inner Fire for now, but if you use it more than I do, come back to it later. Fill the IPWF with 2pts so you get a 4% Stamina increase. Lastly, fill Martyrdom so you can continue casting through strings of PvP blows from those pesky melee classes, or when you need to get that last heal off before you die in a raid .

Row 3 (Meditation, Inner Focus, Improved Power Word: Shield)

I love the Meditation ability simply because it has a ridiculous 50% mana regen while you cast. So add 3pts there and placing a point in the Inner Focus gives you a mana reduction of 100% on your next cast. In fact, you should fill up the entire row. Your IPWS when full, will give you a 15% increase in damage absorbed.

Row 4 (Absolution, Mental Agility, Improved Mana Burn)

The first 2 reduce mana so it’s important to fill them both up. I skipped over the Improved Mana Burn simply because I never use it. If you do, come back to it later and cut your casting time down by 1 second.

Row 5 (Reflective Shield, Mental Strength, and Soul Warding)

I love the Reflective Shield because I don’t have to do anything and can still reflect 45% of the damage someone throws towards you, back to them. I skip over the Mental Strength because I can gain more intellect on armor and enchantments. However, adding a point to SW is important since it reduces your cooldown on PWS by 4 seconds.

Row 6 (Focused Power, Enlightenment)

I would usually just skip over these, but you will have to add 1 point to both areas, just to get your points up enough to open up the next level.

Row 7 (Focused Will, Improved Flash Heal)

You will notice that Power Infusion isn’t listed. This is because I didn’t place 5pts in Mental Strength. I do place 3 pts in the IFH, but only 2 in Focused Will.

Row 8 (Renewed Hope, Rapture, Aspiration)

Players will absolutely love you if they get a taste of the Rapture ability. Check it out on your tree and make sure you add all 3 pts. Aspiration needs to be filled so you cut down on the cooldown of Inner Focus, Power Infusion, Pain Suppression and Pennance abilities by 20%. Handy.

Row 9 (Devine Aegis, Pain Suppression, and Grace)

Okay, once you reach this level you need to make a decision. Either add a total of 5pts in the row, or move along and look at row 10. I’m not so keen on any of this row unless you want to lean towards being a healing discipline priest, and I went back to MS because I didn’t plan on building the Discipline talents to help others. Plus I could now get Power Infusion.

If you do choose to go and max out these talents, be sure to dump your remaining points (after you reach Penance) into Holy. Otherwise, its a total waste.

Row 10 (Borrowed Time)

Borrowed time is pure gold, and you’ll definitely want to max it out to gain the 25% spell haste and power word shield buff. Get it.

Row 11 (Penance)

You’ve reached the pinnacle of the discipline talent tree. Penance shoots a volley that will either cause damage or heal depending on the targets. You can’t go wrong with this one and it adds even more flexibility to your priest.

You probably noticed that I love this tree mostly for the reduction in mana usage and flexibility. In the end its one of those builds that you can be flexible with and still do well, but if you use it like I did, you’ll have more spells to cast, good mana replenishment, and the ability to be useful in many different parts of World of Warcraft.

[adrotate group="4"]

Related posts:

1. Priest Talent Builds: The Holy Priest Spec [adrotate group="6"] Holy Priests – How to Build the Ultimate...
2. Priest Talent Builds: The Shadow Priest Find the top Shadow Priest build here, we include a...
3. Priest Leveling Guide: Get Holy With A Shadow Spec Class Guide: Priest Leveling Guide How to Level Up Your...

Tauren Druids

Welcome to the Where to, When to, and How to Guide on Being A Druid in WoW!

Welcome to the life of a druid, where nature, quite literally, is your ally.

Druids are only offered in two races in WoW, Tauren of the Horde, and Night Elves of the Alliance, but since this IS the “Horde Leveling Guide”, I’m going to leave you Night Elves at this point and talk to my fellow Horde, so go away now, shoo!

This is strictly Horde business!

This post is an introductory overview, I’ll shortly be doing an in depth talent build for each tree, so you’ll have all the druid info you need at your finger tips.

So if you need a druid feral spec, it’ll be covered. If you need a balance build for raiding, we’ll cover it. Stop in again soon to find out more!

An Introduction To The Druid Class

Horde friends!! Welcome. Nature truly is your ally… I say this due to the characteristics of druids – our damage spells are either Arcane of Nature, our Healing spells are ALL nature, and any physical damage is (or should be) done while in a form taken from nature, be it Bear, Dire-Bear, or Cat form.

What’s the difference between Bear and Dire-Bear?

I hear that a lot, and I’ve even asked it myself once. Dire-Bear form is different from Bear form in the way that Plate is different from Mail, that is, the armor value is higher.

The important thing to remember is that bear form gives a 180% armor contribution from items while Dire-Bear gives a 370% contribution, so consider it the equivalent of a different class learning to wear a new armor type.

Keep in mind that druids do not learn a higher armor than leather. We start with it, and we end with it. Our “armor upgrade” is Bear Form, which is learned at lvl 10 and is replaced by Dire-Bear form at lvl 40 (which is the same as when a different class learns to upgrade their armor type).

In Short, Bear form is a Tanking form, but we’ll get back to that later.

Cat form is acquired at lvl 20, and its not too difficult to tell that it is the Melee DPS (Damage Per Second) form for druids.

Upon taking cat form, a druids melee attack power (AP) is increased by 40+ your agility rating, that is, if you had zero agility it would give you +40 AP, and if you had 60 agility, it would give you +100 AP.

Both Bear form and Cat form are learned in the natural progression of a druid’s leveling. The forms themselves do not require a talent specialization, but to be effective in either form will require that talent points be spent appropriately in the Feral Talent Tree. With each form comes various beast abilities, Claw, Maul, Swipe, Growl etc, these skills are not available in non-Feral forms, and casting non-feral spells while in feral form will force you back to humanoid form.

Travel Forms:

At lvl 30, you are able to learn Travel Form, in this form your appearance is that of a cheetah, and your movement speed is increased by 40%. Note that regular riding mounts have a 60% speed increase, so if you’re looking to level and travel fast, a little investment in an actual mount can go along way.

Flight form (60% Speed Increase) is available at lvl 68, and has an upgrade at lvl 71 to Swift Flight form (280% Speed Increase), you are required however to train your riding skill to 300 for Swift Flight form.

Note: Your land based Travel form does not have an upgrade like Flight form, so if you revisit the Classic World, and do not have a land mount, you will be limited to a 40% speed increase.

Talent Based forms:

The only two forms not covered thus far are the Moonkin and Tree of Life forms. To be a Moonkin (commonly referred to as “Boomkin” for it’s DPS spell abilities) you need to learn the 51 point talent in the Balance Talent tree. Likewise to be a Tree of life you are required to learn the 51 point talent in the Resto (Restoration) Talent tree. A player cannot be both without doing a respec or, now with Dual-Speccing, activating a second spec which has the appropriate talents.

– Jimster from Eitrigg

[adrotate group="4"]

Related posts:

1. Druid Leveling Guide: Races, Forms and Balance Anyone, and I mean anyone who hasn’t had the chance...
2. Druid Changes in Patch 3.2 The official changes coming to druids in patch 3.2, and...
3. How To Use a WoW Leveling Guide Make Your World of Warcraft Leveling Guide Work For You!...

Talents! Those juicy extra toppings you get every level which can either make the perfect leveling sandwich or spoil your fun like off mayonnaise.

How do you choose them, and which ones are right for your class?

First off, we need to establish that we are in fact picking talents to optimize your leveling speeds for PvE. Some of my readers here do in fact like to pick talents which allow them to dominate in PvP – and rightly so – its a fun and different part of the game we can all enjoy.

But for those of you who simply want to get up those levels, and fast, its time to do a little research.

Here’s just a few quick & dirty tips on choosing the right talents (an entire NEW book could be written on the details of the below points):

1. Stick to one tree! This is the worst sin we can commit in picking talents… if nothing else, be sure that you stick to one tree until its complete, then, and only then…
2. Build up ONE of your second preference talent trees.

   World of Warcraft is a well balanced game, and if you follow just these two steps your leveling speeds will be very respectable.

3. Picking PvE talents will reduce your efficiency in PvP, and vice versa.
4. Some builds are geared towards group play, while others are tailored to solo play – shadow priests for solo, and holy priests for group play are two good examples.

   If you’re going to be examining your talent lists, keep in mind that most of your time will likely be spent solo… or…

5. If you have friends or a guild you’re regularly playing with, be sure to pick builds which are effective when friends are around.

Some basic truths about each class when it comes to talent builds:

1. Priests are a support class designed for healing, not soloing.
2. Hunters & Warlocks are the best solo classes, bar none.
3. Retribution Paladins are the best solo, keep the other specs to group play.
4. Shamans – go elemental if solo, otherwise, stick to group or PvP.
5. Rogues – get assassination/combat balanced out & you’ll do fine.
6. Mages – get into the frost tree, you’ll probably do just as well as fire, but survive more fights.
7. Warriors – Fury all the way, unless grouping in which case I always recommend protection.
8. Druids – I like balance for PvE, or restoration for group based PvE.

Related posts:

1. The 10 Commandments of Horde Leveling – Part 6 Thou Shall Have Friends In High Places This is not...
2. The 10 Commandments of Horde Leveling – Part 5 Thou Shall Be a Hunter or a Warlock! While I...
3. The 10 Commandments of Horde Leveling – Part 3 Thou Shall Make Gold Ah, gold! Sweet, shiny gold! The...