A 5 Minute Guide To 6 0 Balance Feral Guardian And Restoration Druid Changes For Warlords Of Draenor

If you're like me and just want to hop in-game without reading a wall of text, here's a VERY brief summary of the changes you need to know for each spec in 6.0. I'll include a link for each spec to read more for those that want to.Changes For All Druids * CHARACTER STATS SQUISHED. Smaller numbers across the board, don't freak out. Everything is about 10% of what it used to be, so don't freak if you're suddenly doing only 10k DPS/HPS instead of 150k. * REFORGING IS GONE. Luckily, there's much less need to reforge anymore. * HIT, EXPERTISE, PARRY, AND DODGE ARE GONE. No more caps to worry about. * MULTISTRIKE AND VERSATILITY ADDED. Multistrike gives a chance to proc additional hits/abilities/spells at 30% strength, while Versatility gives a small across-the-board buff which increases damage/healing and reduces damage taken. * SNAPSHOTTING IS GONE. For those that don't know, this was the strategy where you attempted to get as many procs stacked up as possible (potion, trinket, etc.) and get DoTs up while the procs were up. Procs dropped, but the DoTs continued to tick for massive damage. (Especially if you were Feral and the boss was below 25%, letting you roll super-Rip for the rest of the fight.) * SYMBIOSIS IS GONE. That wave you're feeling is the massive shrug from every druid who touched it once. * PROFESSIONS NO LONGER INCREASE COMBAT PERFORMANCE. In the name of making things easier; no more profession buffs. Similarly, enchanting and gemming are much reduced at level 100. * TRAVEL FORM IS NOW SMART-CAST. Auto-Stag in non-flight zones, Auto-Bird(Bat) in flight-zones. Definitely seek out the new Glyph of Travel.
Balance Changes * ECLIPSE SYSTEM TOTALLY REVAMPED. Eclipse now auto-cycles between Lunar and Solar, with mastery bonus highest at the peak of each end. Cast the appropriate spell at the appropriate time. Takes a bit of getting used to, but pretty easy to pick up. * STARSURGE NOW WORKS ON A CHARGE SYSTEM, SHARES CHARGES WITH STARFALL, AND BUFFS YOUR NEXT STARFIRE/WRATH CASTS. Managing Starsurge charges is now key; you want to use Starsurge near the peak of each cycle. Starsurge is also your cast-while-moving spell. * STARFALL IS AWESOME/DEADLY. It hits EVERYTHING and does disgustingly good AoE damage, just watch for accidental pulls. * NO MORE HASTE CAPS. All DoTs/HoTs add an additional ending tick that takes your Haste into account.Basic Balance Rotation * LUNAR: Cast Moonfire once to put it up, cast Starsurge once to proc Lunar Empowerment, else cast Starfire. * SOLAR: Cast Sunfire twice (entering and leaving) to keep it up, cast Starsurge once to proc Solar Empowerment, else cast Wrath. * Use Astral Communion on cooldown. * For AoE situations, swap Starfall for Starsurge, and multi-DoT with whatever Eclipse you're currently in. For a full guide, see Hamlet's Balance guide on Wowhead.
Feral Changes * COMBO POINTS ARE ON THE PLAYER NOW, INSTEAD OF THE TARGET. Just let that sink in for a while. 3 adds and a boss? Rake all 3 and Rip the boss, if you feel inclined. * CAT MANGLE IS GONE. SHRED NO LONGER REQUIRES YOU TO BE BEHIND THE TARGET. But you're a good little kitty, so you will stay behind the target to avoid parries. * RAVAGE/POUNCE ARE GONE. Shred from Stealth is basically Ravage, and Rake from Stealth is basically Pounce. * NEW SAVAGE ROAR GLYPH. You can now choose from one that makes Savage Roar permanent at 75% effectiveness, or one that give you a free 5 CP Roar when you leave Stealth.Basic Feral Rotation * Keep Savage Roar and Rip up as much as possible. * Keep Rake up. * Use extra energy to Shred and Ferocious Bite. * Use Tiger's Fury and Berserk on cooldown. For a full guide, see my full 6.0 Feral guide, or the 6.0 Feral Changes post, or Tinderhoof's Feral guide on Wowhead.
Guardian Changes * VENGEANCE HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH RESOLVE. Similar, except it only increases your self-healing and shields, not damage. * NEW GUARDIAN MASTERY. Now generates a shield when hit. * BONUS ARMOR HAS BEEN RE-ADDED AS A SECONDARY STAT. It's the best secondary stat, so snap it up when you can. * LOTS OF ABILITY TWEAKS. Swipe has been removed, but Thrash and Lacerate no longer have cooldowns. Tooth and Claw can store 2 charges. Might of Ursoc is gone.Guardian Basic Rotation * MANGLE ON COOLDOWN. * KEEP THRASH UP. * SPAM LACERATE. For AoE, skip the Lacerates and spam Thrash. * Use SAVAGE DEFENSE when you can, and use FRENZIED REGEN when you can't SD or are low on health. For a full guide, see Arielle's guide at The Inconspicuous Bear (or his Wowhead guide whenever he gets around to updating it).
Restoration Changes * SPIRIT IS NOW ONLY FOUND ON JEWELRY. It's still precious, just harder to find. * NO MORE HASTE CAPS. All DoTs/HoTs add an additional ending tick that takes your Haste into account. * SOME ABILITY TWEAKS. Wild Growth is no longer instant. Efflorescence is now permanently attached to Wild Mushroom. Lifebloom only stacks once.Restoration Basic Rotation * SINGLE-TARGET: Lifebloom, Rejuvenation, Healing Touch. Swiftmend when it's available. * ST COOLDOWNS: Ironbark, Nature's Swiftness. * AOE: Wild Growth, Wild Mushroom. * AOE COOLDOWNS: Tranquility. For a full guide, see Lissanna's posts at Restokin, or Hamlet's Resto guide on Wowhead.

Source: invocation-rituals.blogspot.com