The Restoration Druid heals over time in Forever, and its HoTs can now crit. Regrowth is the core of the spec, Swiftmend only works with your own HoT, and the new Bloom heals when a Rejuvenation or Regrowth runs out. The rankings rate Restoration A, three sources even say S, and the druid leads the healing simulation.
Talents and builds
The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.
- Leveling: Restoration leveling (HoTs and DoTs) (points 23/0/28). Hybrid caster/healer build for solo play and dungeons: Improved Wrath first, then Reflection, then Insect Swarm, Nature's Grace and Overgrowth for damage and crowd control. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
- Raid: Restoration raid (Nature's Grace/Regrowth) (points 21/0/30). Lets you add damage on fights with low healing requirements: Insect Swarm and Wrath are easy to weave between heals, and Improved Entangling Roots handles stray adds.
- Dungeons: Restoration dungeons (Restokin) (points 35/0/16). Damage-focused healing build that speeds up dungeon runs: keep Rejuvenation on the tank, cover damage with Regrowth and fill with Wrath and Starfire casts.
- PvP: Restoration PvP (points 16/11/24). Takes Improved Entangling Roots and Insect Swarm from Balance and Feral Charge from Feral, then fills Restoration up to Nature's Swiftness, tools for surviving, killing and controlling enemies.
Where it ranks
| Category | Tier | Range |
|---|---|---|
| PvE healers | A | A–S |
| PvP (battleground/open world) | A | B–S |
| Leveling | C | D–B |
- PvE healers: Leads the simulation, by a wide margin in group healing. Since 10 November Nature's Swiftness also makes Wild Growth instant. Most lists say A, three sources say S.
- PvP (battleground/open world): Rises from B to A: since 10 November Nature's Swiftness also makes Wild Growth instant, and shapeshifting is your escape. Two new lists say S.
- Leveling: B and D: hardly any damage while questing, but wanted as a healer in dungeons.
The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.
How you heal
- Rejuvenation ahead of time on targets about to take damage.
- Regrowth for spikes. It leaves a long HoT and is one of your strongest and most efficient heals. Bind a lower rank for less urgent targets.
- On active tanks, keep Rejuvenation and Regrowth rolling.
- Swiftmend as an emergency instant heal. If no HoT is up yet, Rejuvenation followed straight away by Swiftmend still works.
- Wild Growth (the 31-point capstone) when at least three players in one party are hurt. It only affects the target's party, has a 3-second cast, 0.5 less with Naturalist, and is expensive. Ideally on a Clearcasting proc. Since 10 November Nature's Swiftness also makes Wild Growth instant, which is your emergency button for group damage.
Bloom heals the target for 100% of your Spirit when your Rejuvenation or Regrowth expires naturally, 50% if it gets dispelled. HoTs don't scale with haste. Healing Touch is hardly worth casting except with Nature's Swiftness, and Tranquility is weak and only heals your party. In quiet phases, put Insect Swarm on the boss to lower its hit chance and throw in cheap Wraths.
Cooldowns
- Nature's Swiftness plus a full Healing Touch is your strongest emergency heal.
- Innervate: on yourself when you are deep into your mana, or on a healer who gets more out of it.
- Rebirth is the only combat resurrection in Forever.
The raid build
The linked raid build is built around Regrowth and Improved Regrowth with 50% extra crit chance, and deliberately skips Wild Growth, which would need 3/3 Living Spirit. The Balance points are flexible. If your group eats a lot of party-wide damage, rework it toward Wild Growth.
Stats
Healing power first. Crit is now a real stat, because HoTs crit. Spirit gives mana outside the five-second rule, Reflection keeps half of it running while you cast, and Bloom turns it into healing; Living Spirit adds 15%. Haste is rare and does little. Guides disagree on the order after healing power.
Common mistakes
- Spamming HoTs until you are out of mana instead of using lower ranks.
- Refreshing HoTs early.
- Wild Growth on a group where hardly anyone is hurt, or forgetting it only heals one party.
- Swiftmend on another druid's HoT, which no longer works.
- Cutting Tranquility short, or counting on it in raids.
Leveling
Solo, Restoration levels slowly, though you are very hard to kill. Level as Feral or Balance and add Restoration at 40 with dual talent specialization. In dungeons you heal very well thanks to HoTs and Swiftmend.
In groups and raids
Besides healing you bring Innervate, Rebirth, Remove Curse, Abolish Poison, Mark of the Wild, Thorns and Faerie Fire. You have no crit aura; that comes from a moonkin or Leader of the Pack.
Further reading
- Druid class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
- The other specs: Balance Druid, Feral Druid
- Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
- Druid talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link
Frequently asked questions
Does Swiftmend consume my HoT in Forever?
No. Swiftmend needs your own Rejuvenation or Regrowth on the target, but it doesn't consume the HoT. It keeps ticking.
