Getting Started in PvP as a Balance Druid - A Guest Blog by Lufitoom

So, you are a fluffy, feathery Moonkin and you want to start pvp-ing and you aren’t sure where to start.  I completely understand this.  When I went from an unkillable tree in battlegrounds to a Moonkin that seemed to day way too often, I had to rethink my play style and strategies.  With improvements to our survivability and our offensive skills, we are now viable and even dominating in battlegrounds.  I hope that these tips can get you started in the right direction and you find as much fun and satisfaction in melting faces as I do.

I am going to focus more on battlegrounds and world pvp rather than arenas.  Battlegrounds are the best way to get your feet wet and become comfortable with pvp.  They will also allow you to accrue honor and pick up some nifty off pieces that will increase your resilience, spellpower and stamina.  I am a firm believer that different people can excel with different builds and gear but there are some things that work best.

Getting the Right Spec and Glyphs

The first thing I suggest if you are interested in being the best you can in a battleground is to create a pvp spec.  If you are interested in seeing my spec, you can view it at here. There are many variations, however I suggest the following as “must haves” that are not used in pve much or at all:

Brambles:   Put 3 points into this skill.  It increases the damage of your Thorns and Entangling Roots by 75% (you will be amazed at how many Warriors and Rogues kill THEMSELVES on them) and increases the damage caused by your Treants by 15%.  In addition, while you have Barkskin up, the attacks done to you and done by your Treants have a 15% chance to daze the target/attacker.

Owlkin Frenzy:  Attacks done to you have a 15% chance of sending you into a frenzy that not only makes your wings/hands glow a sexy fiery red while you let out a loud Moonkin bellow, but increased your damage by 10%, stops any pushback of balance spells, and returns 2% base mana every two seconds.

Gale Winds:  Some people use this, others say it’s a waste.  I personally love having the extra 4 yards added to my Cyclone range and the 30% extra damage to Typhoon and Hurricane can be extremely handy.

Typhoon:  Some people use this in PvE, others don’t but it is so important in pvp.  The knockback and daze can get you away from a bad situation and also knock enemies away from teammates.  Oh, and let’s not forget the satisfaction of knocking enemies off of high cliffs.

Now on to glyphs.  I have tried almost every combination that you can imagine and when I finally stuck with these three glyphs I saw my damage and survivability increase substantially.  I highly recommend that you give them a whirl even if you “love” the glyphs you have.

Glyph of Focus:  Yes, it reduces the radius of your Starfall by 50% but it does increase the damage by 10%.  Back when Starfall stunned/dazed and broke people out of stealth the large radius in battlegrounds was great.  Now, the increased damage is what you are looking for and this will be one of your biggest and best killers.

Glyph of Starfall:  This reduces the cooldown of your Starfall ability by 30 seconds.  This is HUGE.  Starfall does a ton of damage and being able to use it so much more often will be so important for you in battlegrounds.

Glyph of Monsoon:  You will use your Typhoon spell more than you think and this glyph will reduce the cooldown by three seconds.  Doesn’t sound like much but it really is.

Gearing Up

I highly suggest grinding out at least a full Furious set.  You will need the resilience and the set bonus (Wrath of Elune) gives your Wrath casts the chance to reduce the cast time of your next Starfire by 1.5 seconds.  As for your idol, I suggest using your favorite pve one since the pvp ones are earned in arena and in my opinion, sorely lacking.  I won’t go into any more on gear since most of it is earned and this is just to get you in there and started.  Just remember, have ~6% hit and at the least, 74 spell penetration.

Tips For PvP Play

Now for the fun part.  Getting into the battleground and making the other team cry.  Some of these might make you groan and say “Duh!  I knew that!” but you would be surprised at how many people miss a few of these.

Cyclone, Cyclone, Cyclone!  This ability is so important.  Sure, it will let you get away or stop the damage on you but it does so much more than that.  Save a teammate from a pesky Rogue, stop a healer from healing, stop the hots from ticking on a target, stop another Moonkin’s Starfall, etc etc.  Don’t forget to Cyclone Shadowfeinds.  It stops the Priest from getting any of its benefits.  There are probably a million scenarios where a Cyclone is called for so DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE IT!

Don’t over-extend yourself!  I don’t know if it is our size or what, but we tend to run in like tanks.  You are ranged.  Get close enough for Starfall and to use your spells but STAY RANGED!

Hots and Nourish!  You can heal yourself but your first choice should be to cc the target first.  Cyclone, Entangling Roots, run like Hell.  But don’t forget to heal yourself.

Heal Others!  Battlegrounds are a team sport.  Don’t be stingy with your hots.  They might not be big heals but they might just be a life saver.

Buff the Raid!  It’s pvp.  Don’t just toss a Gift of the Wild before it starts.  Throw Thorns on everyone and their pets.

Be Prepared with Extra Buffs!  If you are world pvping or in battlegrounds, you can’t always depends on a Priest or Pally to be there to buff you.  Buy (or make) Runescrolls of Fortitude and Drums of Forgotten Kings.

Flask it Up!  Flasks are relatively cheap and it’s always nice to have the buff from Flask of the Frost Wyrm.

Stop the Mana Burn!  Priests will be one of the most (if not the most) annoying adversaries.  Shapeshift to Bear or Cat when you are getting mana burnt.

Warstomp and Shadowmeld.  Don’t forget you have one of these abilities.  If you are Tauren, warstomp to stun and get away/ranged.  Night Elves, this is so handy in situation like when you are versus a Mage.  Arcane Barrage?  Shadowmeld!

Abolish Poison/Decurse!  Do it.  To yourself, to your teammates.

Starfall!  Do it well and do it often.  Single target, multiple targets. 

Innervate!  I usually innervate at about 30%  Any lower and it causes mana problems for long fights.

Pvping as a Moonkin is a blast.  You will learn your own tricks as time goes on but this should get you in there and causing your enemies to drop dead around you.

Oh, and don’t forget to /dance every now and then.  It’s what we do!

You can find Lufitoom at www.lufitoom.com.