The Boom-King's guide to: PvE Boomkin

#3252492 Sep 29, 2010 at 08:55 PM

Stormrage

9 Posts

Step 1 - Speccing your boomkin
Whats the right spec for a specific boomkinplayer is hard to answer, but I'll share my view on a basic spec & how your needs may vary.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?druid#-tHyaHC-PbTlz,HbI,9551

Mana - Adjust as needed, 10man needs differ alot from 25man etc.
Omen of Clarity > Intensity > Dreamstate > Moonglow
In some specific gear cases Dreamstate (Atleast the first 4% point) might outshine Intensity.

Raid buffs - Most likely to be an issue in 10mans.
* If your not 100% sure to be grouped with a shadowpriest then 3/3 Improved Faerie Fire is a must. In either case a 25man raid boss should allways have a minor armor buff on, this basically means that you should be casting Faerie Fire whenever you arent raiding with a feral.
* If your raid doesn't have a resto druid then 2/2 Imp. Mark of the Wild is a better than 2/3 Nature's Focus

10/25 man
* Imp. Insect Swarm & Celestial Focus are strong dps talents & should be included after you are done filling the mana, aoe & utility talents you want.
* Starfall - Dps increase on singletarget so any spare points could be spend well here.
* Typhoon - Some hate it & some love it. I'd recommed you to try it out & see how you feel about it. With the glyph it has become a pretty useful spell.
* Most Moonkins will want 2/2 Gale Winds for stronger aoe.
* At some point of gearing a 25man raiding moonkin may want to swap all mana talents out & go for minor dps talents. Brambles is an option, but opinions differ.
* Owlkin Frenzy Estimation of % gain for T7 raids Not a huge sample size, but unless you have alot of points to spare I wouldnt invest in this with the current boss encounters.

Focus on singletarget dps spec - 3 points for regen / aoe utility left up to you.
My usual Naxxramas spec - Wouldnt recommend this unless you know what you are doing though.

Step 2 - Setting up your boomkin

Instead of derailing this thread by posting my idea of best pre-Ulduar set i'll settle for some basic advice (Check page 2 for a few wishlists if thats what you are looking for).

*4x Tier 7 - The bonus is too good to ignore, best place to look for the off-piece is legs.
*Hit Cap - You need 10% from gear (9% for alliance grouped with a Draenei), getting hit capped is allways the right answer.
*Gemming Spellpower is a more powerful stat than haste / crit - Your gem choices should reflect this.
- Red = [Runed Scarlet Ruby]
- Yellow = [Reckless Monarch Topaz] or [Veiled Monarch Topaz]/[Rigid Autumn's Glow] if below hit cap.
- Blue = [Purified Twilight Opal] enough to reach meta-requirement, after that you are usually better of going for a red gem in blue slots.
- Meta = [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] is alot better than any other option.

*Crit vs Haste rating - 1 haste rating offers more dps than 1 crit rating, which means that items of equal itemlvl will tend to be stronger if they have haste rating. In 25man raids you recieve a huge amount of crit from buffs (10%mage, 3% ret/ele, 5%moonkin form, 5%T7, 7% talents, Bok+Arc. Int) which eliminates alot of the mana & slow Eclipse proc problems.

*Major Glyphs
[Glyph of Moonfire] + [Glyph of Starfire] are a must for any serious raiding moonkin.
[Glyph of Insect Swarm] is best option as 3rd glyph dps-wise - [Glyph of Innervate] might be an alternative if you are starved on mana.

*Minor Glyphs
[Glyph of Typhoon]
[Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth]
[Glyph of Thorns]
[Glyph of Dash]

Consumeables
Flask = [Flask of the Frost Wyrm], no Elixir combo can match it
Food = [Tender Shoveltusk Steak] or one of the other +46spellpower options fx [Fish Feast]. Hit Rating food if you can utilize a huge portion of it, but in reality staying below hit cap with gear+talents+debuffs is hard.
Potion = [Potion of Speed] for dps / [Runic Mana Potion] if needed

Enchants
Im only listing best, most have cheaper options (Not listing profession specific enchants).
Head - [Arcanum of Burning Mysteries]
Shoulder [Greater Inscription of the Storm]
Cloak - [Item not found!]
Chest - [Scroll of Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats]
Bracers - [Scroll of Enchant Bracer - Superior Spellpower]
Weapon - [Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower]
Gloves - [Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower]
Belt - [Eternal Belt Buckle] Techically not an enchant, but worth mentioning.
Leggings - [Brilliant Spellthread]
Boots - [Scroll of Enchant Boots - Icewalker]

Step 3 - Rotation
IFF = Improved Faerie Fire
IS = Insect Swarm
MF = Moonfire
W = Wrath
SF = Starfire

Strategy at the pull -
IFF->IS->MF->W*x->Eclipse proc -> SF*x
IFF only if you dont have a shadowpriest or other moonkin applying the 3% hit buff.
IS/MF first doesnt matter much, my reasoning behind this order is to secure that Eclipse procs as close to the initial MF cast as possible.

Priorities
*If Eclipse is procced -> Spam SF.
*If Eclipse is on hidden cooldown & all dots are up -> Spam SF
*If Eclipse is on hidden cooldown & dots arent up -> Reapply MF+IS. Reapplication doesnt overlap & reapplying dots fast is key to high owldamage. MF the best spell of the two dots so prioritize that.
*If Eclipse is ready -> Apply dots as needed, spam W if dots are up.
*Use Starfall Whenever it comes off of cooldown it has a 1min CD so abuse it.

The last few %
*Force of Nature -> Communicate with your shamans & make sure to cast trees just before heroism. Having a warrior use battle shout at this point helps aswell (but less important than heroism).
*During Heroism -> Drop IS from your rotation as heroism boosted SF in most cases will outperform it. Keep casting MF & use W to proc SF-Eclipses.
*[Potion of Speed] - Optimal time to use this is just as Eclipse procs, use it at the time you start spamming 80%+ crit Starfires.

*Plan ahead Most fights involve movement, if you know that you will be forced to move soon (Fx Thaddius) then wait with dot reapplication till your moving anyway -- A fight like Grobbulus involves more constant running, make sure to get all your movement done while your casting dots & waiting for the global CD anyway. Working on stuff like this & being able to perform it, while wathing for aggro+fissures+lava waves+a 2nd dragon with nasty breath landing behind you, is what seperates the good player from the bad - Any idiot can run a rotation on Patchwerk.

Step 4 - Mods & Professions
Mods
Scrolling Combat Text - Getting a clear indication of when Eclipse procs (If you fail to see the giant moon) & Nature's Grace proc info is nice for knowing when to expect an Eclipse proc to happen soon.

Squawk and Awe - Moonkin musthave addon. Tracks dot duration, eclipseprocs & more important it shows you the hidden eclipse cooldown time.

Ratingbuster - Shows you the actual % gain from haste & crit, also converts Intellect+Spirit into Spellpower. Not really needed, but helpful.

Spreadsheet
Wrathcalc is a great tool to help you finding the right rotation & learning when dot reapplications are worth it: WrathCalcs - Moonkin DPS Spreadsheet

Professions
*Jewelcrafting - 3x Prismatic gems, which on top of being very good means reaching socketbonuses you would skip elsewhise & not having to use blue gems for metagem bonus. Minimum gain with current gems is 56spellpower / Minimum gain with epic gems is 46spellpower.
*Blacksmithing - 2 additional sockets. 38spellpower with current gems, 46spellpower once epic gems arrive.
*Enchanting - 38spellpower from ring enchants.
*Leatherworking - 37spellpower from better bracer enchant.
*Alchemy - 37spellpower from Mixology boosting your flask (& double duration on flasks).
*Inscription - 37spellpower from better shoulder enchant.

Min-maxing for now means JC + BS/Ench.
Min-maxing with epic gems means JC + BS.

Edited by Stormrage over 1 year ago