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Balance leveling
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Post by
308065
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Post by
370560
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Post by
oberondreaming
The basic rotation leveling a Balance Druid will be Root, DoT, then Wrath or Starfire.
Personally, I'm finding Starfire -> Roots -> DoT (usually IS)
while backing up
-> Starfire -> Starfire -> (continue if needed) to be the most efficient. (Of course I've just gotten Eclipse, so sometimes the Starfires become Wraths instead.) But this lets me sometimes get off three Starfires (and always two, just like the root -> damage combo) before the mob reaches me.
Obviously this doesn't work anywhere that space is tight or you're likely to back up into another mob.
Post by
370560
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Post by
curlymon
Dots and roots should only be used on elite mobs. Direct damage from SF and W are a better choice and much more mana efficient overall and the mob ends up dying faster.
As for stickies for balance leveling look into the Druid FAQ's general section just after the feral leveling section there is a section for balance leveling talent builds at the least.
Post by
370560
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Post by
170988
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Post by
curlymon
Dots and roots should only be used on elite mobs. Direct damage from SF and W are a better choice and much more mana efficient overall and the mob ends up dying faster.
Curlymom is correct. Please disregard my posts, nobody ever became a better player by practicing a complex rotation and getting a feel for it - use 1 or 2 keys to level as quickly as you can. It will be fun.
Hey now, play as you want by all means you can easily disregard my words... but please don't say yours is the best way when there has been many people who have proved that direct damage nukes are the way to go... Change it up if you like... If it’s boring to you it just going to feel like it’s taking longer so by all means keep it interesting for you. I have always advocated that people level what they enjoy the most. It may technically be faster to level as feral to 58 before going to balance but if someone wants to switch at 40 or go for it at lvl 1 I will cheer them on and welcome them to the balance ranks.
As for a complex rotation... have you see what the Kitties or the Aff. locks need to do? Balance may not be the easiest out there but it's a fair shot from complicated...
Post by
370560
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Post by
curlymon
Oh hell I'm a masochist when it comes to leveling... I have a pally... I leveled as holy for a good 55+ levels :P
Post by
370560
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Post by
curlymon
/salute ! a better man than me... =)
Naw just different. :P
Post by
oberondreaming
Regarding the mana efficiency of roots/dots.
I find roots to be more mana efficient than healing myself, if the thing is going to hit me pretty hard before I kill it.
I find an IS thrown in is more mana efficient than overkilling the thing, if my starfires/wraths are going to leave it with just a few HP left. Or if it's going to take long enough to nuke it that IS basically replicates a wrath cast.
Basically, it often ends up that what rotation I use depends on the thing I'm fighting, exactly how many HP it has and how much it's going to hurt if it hits me.
Post by
367590
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Post by
curlymon
Regarding the mana efficiency of roots/dots.
I find roots to be more mana efficient than healing myself, if the thing is going to hit me pretty hard before I kill it.
I find an IS thrown in is more mana efficient than overkilling the thing, if my starfires/wraths are going to leave it with just a few HP left. Or if it's going to take long enough to nuke it that IS basically replicates a wrath cast.
Basically, it often ends up that what rotation I use depends on the thing I'm fighting, exactly how many HP it has and how much it's going to hurt if it hits me.
Valid point and let me link to you something...
Dots and roots should only be used on elite mobs. Direct damage from SF and W are a better choice and much more mana efficient overall and the mob ends up dying faster.
A Dot's mana efficiency comes only after it is allowed to go through all ticks of the spell. Until the final tick dots do less damage per mana then a direct damage spell. Yes having a dot running along side a direct damage spell is more dps and does in fact kill the mob faster but since you have only used possibly 1/2 of the spells total damage output it places you at a loss over all. This means more time spent drinking and less time spent killing a mob. This is why direct damage is advocated for the avg. mob you face. For an elite roots and dots are a very viable option and should definately not get over looked.
Post by
342189
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Post by
oberondreaming
A Dot's mana efficiency comes only after it is allowed to go through all ticks of the spell. Until the final tick dots do less damage per mana then a direct damage spell.
This isn't necessarily true.
There is a point in the duration of a DoT where it passes a direct damage spell in terms of Damage per Mana, and it isn't always going to be on the last tick.
At level 50, my Wraths do about 400-500 damage per cast, and IS (glyphed) ticks for 150-200. (If I'm remembering correctly off the top of my head.) Since IS costs about 3/4s as much as Wrath, it only takes a couple ticks for it to be more mana efficient. Of course, Starfire is more mana efficient than Wrath, but it also tends to result in more overkill.
Which is another thing to consider, any damage you're doing that the enemy doesn't have in HP is wasted in terms of damage per mana. IS flat-out costs less than Wrath or Starfire, so if you just need something to finish off a couple hundred hit points, then IS is a better bet than either direct damage spell.
Basically, if spamming starfires is going to put something at 200-400 HPs, then it's worth it to throw IS on it after the first one.
Most of the time, I do exactly what you're saying, and just spam starfire until things are dead. But if I'm fighting a specific kind of enemy for a while and find myself consistently getting them to a couple hundred HPs, it becomes clear that IS is going to be worth it.
Post by
105172
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Post by
curlymon
The problem with comparing mana efficiency in a leveling situation is that the spells don't get new ranks in lock-step. IS may be 3/4 of of the cost of Wrath at one level and cost more per cast at another. With out doing a direct comparison and a different rotation for each and every level you can't say that IS is better for one over the other.
Post by
370560
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