HoTsTree: T7-Naxx/EoE/OS

Introduction

This list is meant to be an all inclusive list of trinkets providing mana regeneration for raiding Resto Druids. It is meant to be ordered from best mana regen trinket to lesser mana regen trinkets. As such, I am very much open to comments and criticism. I want this to be the best list possible and applicable to as many raiding druids as possible.

This list is meant to only compare trinkets providing mana (Other trinkets to come later, untill then check out these posts.) I compare trinkets on their mana regeneration first and foremost. When the regeneration provided by two trinkets is close, I looked at Spellpower as a tie breaker.

Why a list on mana regen trinkets at all? First, because the crazy proc chances and use effects of trinkets make them fun to compare and graph : P Second, because they can proved so much mana on one piece of gear. If you need more mana for one fight you may be able to get what you need by swapping just one trinket instead of picking up a whole new set of gear.

Who should use this list? Only people who need more mana regen, even if it is just on a few fights. If you don’t ever ever ever need more mana, you need to consider trinkets offering use effects and spellpower that I don’t go into on this list, (but hope to list soon.)

How do you use this list? Start at the top and work your way down! Trinkets at the top are better. Find the one closest to the top that you can most easily get your branches on.

For assumptions, graphs, and math look after the list.

Mana Regen Trinkets for Resto Druids

Spark of Hope – 10 Man Kologarn

About 167 MP5 and 19 Spellpower

Assumes 1.2 sec between casts. This trinket as all about reducing the cost of each spell you cast, so the more you cast, the more you save. Less casting means less saving. If you get this trinket, don't purposefully cast more. That may just dig yourself in OOM deeper, like the person who buys tons of stuff they don't need because it is on sale. If you buy it/cast it you are still spending money/mana, so only buy/cast if you need to. But if you have to buy/cast you might as well do it when its on sale.

I was hoping it wasn't a type-o when I first saw it. I am not disappointed. This trinket was made for us trees!

Also assumes Aert’s most recent Ulduar raid cast ratios. Swiftmend and Nourish heavy healers will get a little more out of this. Rejuv and Regrowth heavy healers will get a little less. You don’t actually save 42 mana per every cast because this trinket is applied before talents. This table is what you will actually save with ToL’s 20% mana reduction to HoTs and Tranquil Spirit's reduction to direct heals.

Lifebloom	31
Rejuv	30
Regrowth	30
Wild Growth	34
Nourish	37
Swiftmend	42
Tranq	38
Healing Touch	34

Meteorite Crystal– 10 Man Algalon

About 132 MP5

With this trinket you build a stack of buffs that gives you mana back for a limited amount of time. Get the most out of this trinket by using it every 2 minutes when it is up and cast instant cast spells to build the stack up fast. It is better to cast earlier in the use effect than later. Even if you don’t keep building the stack you will keep getting mana.

If Spark of Hope is like shopping when stuff is on sale, this trinket is like save for retirement. It is better to save/stack when you are young/early in the proc, because even if you don’t keep saving/stacking, what you saved/stacked will keep gaining interest/mana.

Darkmoon Card Greatness Int (Spirit Proc) – Inscription

About 69 MP5 and About 18 Spellpower Average

Assumes a 1.2 sec cast time. The more you cast, the more mana and spellpower you get - except now we arn't shopping on sale or saving for retirement. With Darkmoon Cards we are playing the lottery. I believe in the statistics of WoW (we cast SO many spells that we can use statistical averages) and the cost (casting a spell) versus reward (healing someone and maybe getting some mana back!) in WoW is such that I think Darkmoon Cards are totally worth it.

There is a 35% chance that any spell you cast will proc this trinket. However, there is a 45 sec internal cooldown, meaning that AT THE MOST the trinket will proc once every 45 sec. Set up a timer to watch when it procs. From the start of the proc until 45 sec after the start of the proc you will not proc this trinket again, so cast sparingly if the fight is all about the mana. After the 45 sec, cast like heck because a 35% chance a a really good chance to proc.

Yes you want the Int one. With replenishment it will give you more mana than the spirit one. Remember, it will only proc spirit if spirit is your highest stat.

If +103 Int will push your Int above your spirit, this may not be the card for you. Still want it? Try enchanting and gemming for more spirit. Don’t want to make a major gear change? See if Kreeg’s Stout Beetdown or a friend with mistletoe makes the difference too.

Darkmoon Card Blue Dragon – Ace drops in Blackrock Spire

About 85 MP5 at 1.2 sec cast; 64 MP5 at 1.6 sec cast

Scales so much with cast time and gear that it is hard to distill this trinket into one little paragraph. It was also nerfed badly in 3.1. Most people who will opt for this trinket probably won’t have the gear levels (think fully Naxx geared) to get mana regen quite that high, which is why I put it below Darkmoon Card Int. However, as you become fully Naxx geared, you would see your regen surpass what Darkmoon Card Int can provide.

This card does not have an internal cooldown the way the Darkmoon Card Greatness cards do. Blue Dragon has a 2% chance whenever to put your mana regen outside the 5 sec rule. When this procs, keep casting. It would be a waste to sit outside the 5 sec rule with this up.

If you have Spirit World Glass (while it doesn’t make it onto the top of my list in own right) rocks with Blue Dragon. If you are having serious mana issues, wait for Blue Dragon to proc, then use Spirit World Glass.

Soul Preserver - Normal Caverns of Time

About 65 MP5 at 1.2 sec cast time and 75 Spellpower

2% proc chance to reduce the cost of your next by 800, but our most expensive spell is Lifebloom, which is 782 mana (with ToL’s 20% mana reduction to HoTs and Tranquil Spirit's reduction to direct heals). The more you cast the more you save. You also save more if you are casting more expensive spells, like lifebloom and regrowth and save less if you are cast cheep spells like rejuv and nourish.

This card has the same extreme scaling 2% proc chance dependent on cast time that Blue Dragon has, but it still gives you a set 75 spellpower, which rocks. That's why I ranked it above the next three cards.

Warning - if you are running with Spark of Hope you don't get to save mana twice, so this trinket would give you about 3 MP5 less (or 62 MP5).

Majestic Dragon Figurine – 10 Man OS

62 MP5 and 34 Spellpower

I can think of very few reasons why a resto druid should not be able to keep this trinket fully stacked all the time. It would have to be a very busy fight. That’s a lot of yummy spirit to increase our tree regen and spellpower.

Darkmoon Card Greatness Spirit (Spirit Proc) – Inscription

About 63 MP5 and 35 Spellpower Average

I put this after Majestic Dragon Figurine because at cast times greater than 1.6 seconds it does not perform as well as MDF, while MDF will give you consistent regen and spellpower, provided you can cast often enough to keep stacks up.

Assumes a 1.2 sec cast time. The more you cast, the more mana and spellpower you get. Please see what I wrote above about proc'ing Darkmoon Card Int (Spirit Proc), the same rules apply.

You only want the spirit one if you do not normally have replenishment. Warning – Blizz developers assume replenishment for raid encounters. But if you typically run 5 mans, this might be for you. Remember, it will only proc spirit if spirit is your highest stat. Or you may want the spirit version if you want

Sapphire Owl – Jewel Crafting

63 MP5 and 21 Spellpower

If you are a jewelcrafter just starting out raiding, Sapphire Owl offers versatility. If you REALLY need mana, socked a Sparkling Sky Sapphire. If your mana cup start to overflowith, swap to Purified Twilight Opal or Runed Scarlet Rubies.

Darkmoon Card Greatness Int (Int Proc) – Inscription

About 65 MP5

Watch for this ‘deadly’ combination. I put this as best last for mana because resto druids really should not be proc’ing the Int buff. Our gear is itemized such that if your Int is higher than your spirit, you are ‘wasting’ a lot of itemization on Int that should be spent on Spirit. We just get more bang for our buck from Spirit.

Please see what I wrote above about proc'ing Darkmoon Card Int (Spirit Proc), the same rules apply.

If you are proc’ing the Int buff you really need to do something to up your spirit, at least in raids, especially if you are having mana issues. DO NOT just strip gear of Int. That is never helpful. Instead REPLACE Int Spirit gems and enchants, roll/bid on gear with high spirit not high Int. Grab yourself some Spirit Scrolls, some Kreeg’s Stout Beetdown, or a friend with Mistletoe – something until you can pull your raw Spirit up.

Darkmoon Card Greatness Spirit (Int Proc) – Inscription

About 60 MP5 and About 17 Spellpower

Show of Faith – 25 Man Yogg-Saron

About 51MP5 and 140 Spellpower

Spirit World Glass – 10 Man Gothik

48 MP5 and 27 Spellpower

Pair with DMC:BD and use SWG with BD procs for max mana.

Pandora’s Plea – 25 Man Mimiron

About 42 MP5 and About 149 Spellpower at 1.2 sec casts

The more you cast, the more it procs and the more spellpower you get out of it! But be careful, more spellpower obviously won't help your mana regen.

Sif’s Remembrance – 10 Man Thorim Hard Mode

About 41 MP5 and 110 Spellpower

Energy Siphon – 10 Man Flame Leviathan

43 MP5 and 68 Spellpower

Living Ice Crystals – 25 Man Malygos

43 MP5 and Use effect 1/min direct heal landing for about 3,100

Je’Tze’s Bell – World Drop

About 26 MP5 and 106 Spellpower

Darkmoon Card Illusion - Inscription
20 MP5 and 100 Spellpower

Assumptions, Graphs, and Math

I make the following assumption:

Effective spellpower assumes spellpower from spirit for being in Tree of Life,
Effective mana regen includes raw MP5, replenishment, and regen from spirit and int. Mana regen is a rough estimate - but it should remain more or less proportional when comparing gear. It is a rough estimate since spi/int regen will vary slightly depending on the amount of spirit and int you have currently. I assumed 1250 spirit and 1050 int raid buffed before equipping the new gear. I went with lowish numbers, because you are taking off the piece of gear you are about to replace.
Effective Int and Spirit for the above two calculations assume Blessing of Kings, Living Spirit, the 2% stat increase from Imp MotW, and the 2% Int meta gem .

Math to come when I am feeling a little less lazy…

Graph!

Zoom in of that crazy part of the graph

I jest!

It wasn't even remotely the end of the world. In fact I found it COMPLETELY AWESOME that Wild Growth was on a cool down! I actually LIKED having one more thing to do. I LIKED that Lifebloom and Rejuv were NEEDED for raid healing and not just afterthoughts.

Here are my thoughts on resto druid healing after 3.0.8

The Really Good:

1. I used Wild Growth almost every time it was up. Screw the theory of "saving it until it is really needed". I say top them off while you have the chance! Of course you must be wise about when you actually DO need to save it, like for Vortexes on Malygos. But other than that, use it or lose it!

2. I didn't have any problems on Malygos's Vortexes. This seemed to be the "oh noes we are never going to be able to do that boss without AoEhealspam" issue. Even with the laggy crappy servers and other issues related to guild moral, it took us about 2 attempts to realize - no - no one was dieing in Vortexes because of true lack of AoE heals.

3. Still no mana problems! Any time a patch comes out that is going to change your healing style and bug the crap out of other things, this is always a worry (at least for me.) I can confidently say Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon still works (and rocks). I can't say the same for Majestic Dragon Figurine, which I hear is bugged when related to HoTs.

4. My effective healing was not nerfed to hell and back. I still felt competitive on the healing meters. Maybe it helps that my biggest competition was also nerfed. I still felt as though I fell in the same general overall healing rank area... thing... There was definitely less of a difference between the top and the bottom, which I also think is great. But I'm mostly being completely selfish and thinking about my effective healing right now : P

5. Blizz saw the light and shut down Wintergrasp! Wintergrasp related lag has been screwing over our raids for weeks now. Its hard to fight Thaddius with 20 second lag. No, this isn't directly related to healing, but I am a PvEer. I NEVER PvP. (Yakra made me join an arena team the other night for 3 matches.) I get very frustrated when things happen or don't happen, or Blizz makes changes or doesn't make changes, because of PvP. Wintergrasp being shut down is a refreshing turn of events.

The Not as Bad as I Thought it Would Be:

1. I still didn't use nourish that much. Maybe I need to warm up to it. Maybe it was because I was assigned to tank heal most of the night. Maybe I just have never liked it and still prefer Regrowth.

2. You can't cast Wild Growth during Malygos's Vortexes. WTF? I understand the cool down, but... it was giving me an "invalid target" error. Priests were having the same issue with CoH. We were able to heal through it. I cast Wild Growth right before the vortexes started and then hit people with Rejuv in order of closest to dead to less close to dead and hoped for the best.

3. I don't know how I feel about the T7 set bonus change. When I first saw that it was coming, I was really excited because I love Lifebloom. But I was actually starting to use Rejuv like crazy since I got Idol of the Awakening. Like crazy is relative... I guess its not really "like crazy", but there have been plenty of fights where I have chosen it over Lifebloom and now I'm not sure which I will pick!

So, no, the sky did not fall, the earth did not open up and swallow us, it did not start raining blood. But I still plan on making a QQ outfit - so for serious! Even if you don't think I'm funny, clue me in on some items with neat names! (You can e-mail me is you prefer.) Also - tell me what YOUR first impressions were of the six second cool down and other extraneous and less important 3.0.8 changes.