Restoration Druid PvP guide: level 60 flag carrier and battleground healer build

Overview

Level 60 · Restoration Druid in battlegrounds and world PvP.

Restoration Druids were among the best flag carriers and hardest healers to kill in Classic battlegrounds. In WoW Forever they gain Swiftmend and Wild Growth on top of that. This build keeps the full Restoration core up to Wild Growth and puts 20 points into Feral Combat for Feral Swiftness, Thick Hide and Feral Charge, so you can run in Cat Form, survive in Bear Form and heal yourself in caster form.

Your role in a fight

In battlegrounds you either carry the flag or heal your team’s fighters. As a carrier, run in Cat or Travel Form, shift to break snares and keep heals over time rolling on yourself. As a healer, stay near your team’s damage dealers and use Wild Growth on groups. In world PvP, a Restoration Druid is hard to kill but has little damage.

Darkspear Islands

The Darkspear Islands battleground, as described by Blizzard, is 15 vs 15 with control points and Arathi Basin-style flag captures and defense, which fits both of your jobs. As a carrier you can take a flag and outlast the chase with heals over time; as a healer, stay one step off a contested point so area damage and Rain of Fire do not catch you with the defenders. The map itself is not known yet.

Honor and ranks: WoW Forever is reported to bring a 14-rank Honor track, earned from battlegrounds and PvP content. Thresholds, weekly caps and decay are not announced; see the PvP and honor hub for what is confirmed.

Strengths

• Hard to kill: heals over time, Swiftmend, Nature’s Swiftness, Bear Form and Barkskin.
• Fast and slippery: Feral Swiftness in Cat Form, Travel Form and shapeshifting to break snares.
• Group sustain with Wild Growth.
• Utility: Innervate, Entangling Roots, Hibernate and curse and poison removal.

Weak points

• Low damage: you rarely kill anyone alone.
• Mana drain and silences: Mana Burn, Viper Sting and Counterspell hit healers hardest.
• Fear: warlocks and priests can pull a carrier out of position.
• PvP at 60 is unannounced: rewards, ranks and the full battleground list are not confirmed for WoW Forever.

Level 60 PvP talent build

Balance 0 / Feral Combat 20 / Restoration 31, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Restoration (31)

• Nature’s Focus 5/5 — Heals are much harder to push back while you are attacked, which happens constantly as a carrier.
• Naturalist 5/5 — A faster Healing Touch cast between shifts.
• Reflection 3/3 — Regeneration while casting to last through long flag runs.
• Gift of Nature 2/5 — +4% healing at 2/5.
• Gift of the Earthmother 1/1 — A shorter global cooldown on your instant heals, so you spend less time in caster form.
• Tranquil Spirit 1/5 — One point of cheaper Healing Touch that opens the next row.
• Improved Rejuvenation 3/3 — Stronger Rejuvenation, which is your main heal while running.
• Swiftmend 1/1 — Instant burst healing from a heal over time already on the target.
• Nature’s Swiftness 1/1 — An instant Healing Touch or Entangling Roots.
• Living Spirit 3/3 — +15% Spirit for regeneration.
• Improved Regrowth 5/5 — Regrowth crits much more often, a strong direct heal when you have time to cast.
• Wild Growth 1/1 — Heals your whole party over time: great when your team fights together.

Feral Combat (20)

• Heart of the Wild 5/5 — More Stamina in Bear Form, where you wait out burst as a carrier.
• Feral Swiftness 2/2 — 30% faster Cat Form and +4% dodge.
• Thick Hide 3/3 — More armor in Bear and Cat Form.
• Savage Fury 2/2 — Filler to reach Predatory Strikes.
• Feral Charge 1/1 — Interrupt a caster or leap behind a target to escape a line.
• Sharpened Claws 2/2 — Filler for the next row, with some crit in forms.
• Shredding Attacks 2/3 — Filler that lowers Shred’s cost if you fight in Cat Form.
• Predatory Strikes 3/3 — More Attack Power in forms, so your Bear Form still threatens a little damage.

Key abilities

• Rejuvenation, Regrowth and Swiftmend: the heal-over-time loop you keep on yourself and allies.
• Wild Growth: party healing when your team stacks.
• Nature’s Swiftness + Healing Touch: the emergency full heal.
• Cat Form, Travel Form and Bear Form: speed, snare removal and survival.
• Barkskin: damage reduction while you heal; use it before a rogue or warrior opens, not after.
• Entangling Roots and Hibernate: stop a chaser or a cat druid.
• Innervate: for yourself during long fights or for a teammate healer.

Matchups

• Rogues · keep heals over time rolling before they open; Barkskin through their stuns and Bear Form when your health is low.
• Warriors · shift away from Hamstring, root them and outheal Mortal Strike’s healing reduction with instant heals.
• Mages · shift out of Frost Nova and Cone of Cold slows, and keep heals over time up so Counterspell does not leave you empty.
• Warlocks · Remove Curse and keep moving; Fear is the main threat to a carrier.
• Priests · Mana Burn drains you, so keep your distance and avoid long duels.
• Hunters · Hibernate their pet and break line of sight; Viper Sting drains your mana.

Resources and cooldowns

Mana is your life bar as a healer, and shifting costs mana too. Keep Innervate for your own long fights, and plan to spend Nature’s Swiftness only when an instant heal saves a life. Carriers should shift to caster form for a quick heal-over-time refresh, then back to Cat or Travel Form before the global cooldown ends.

Gear

The datamine still lists the Classic druid PvP sets. The rare Champion’s and Lieutenant Commander’s Wildhide give up to 23 spell damage and healing at 2 pieces, 15% faster movement in Bear, Cat and Travel Form outdoors at 4, and +20 Stamina at 6. The epic Warlord’s and Field Marshal’s sets come as Wildhide (spell damage) and Refuge (healing), with +20 Stamina at 2 pieces and the outdoor form speed bonus at 3. Whether WoW Forever’s honor track awards these exact sets is not confirmed. The Refuge sets suit Restoration, since their 6-piece bonus adds healing, and the form speed bonus helps a flag carrier in Cat and Travel Form. Until the honor rewards are confirmed, take Stamina and healing power together; a carrier needs more Stamina, a group healer more healing and Intellect.

Consumables and engineering

• Major Mana Potion and your own Innervate for long flag carries.
• Free Action Potion against stuns while carrying.
• Swiftness Potion for the last run to your base.
• Engineering: a net or grenade to stop the player chasing your carrier.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Druid PvP Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Restoration Druid Healer Guide
• Icy Veins: WoW Classic Honor System Overview
• Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What’s Next Panel Recap