Restoration Druid Healing Easy Mode — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

Last updated on Jan 19, 2026 at 18:00 by Voulk 75 comments
General Information

On this page, we explain how to easily play Restoration Druid in World of Warcraft — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.

1.

Foreword

This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

2.

The Basics of Restoration Druids

Restoration Druids rely on HoTs to set up strong bursts using Convoke the Spirits Icon Convoke the Spirits in raids or have strong and steady output in dungeons. They do good healing on single targets but require some time to set up their HoTs. They require knowledge of the encounter to prepare for the incoming damage.

If you are completely new to Restoration and need more information on your abilities, check out our Spell Summary page.

3.

Talent Choice for Restoration Druids

4.

Best Talent Builds for Restoration Druid

Keeper of the Grove Raid Wildstalker Mythic+
5.

Raid Healing Talents

Use our calculator's 'Export Talents' to quickly import our build!

5.

Dungeon Healing Talents

Use our calculator's 'Export Talents' to quickly import our build!

For more in-depth explanation of all talent choices you can check Builds and Talents page.

5.

Stat Choice for Restoration Druids

5.1.

Raid Healing

Intellect is stronger than all secondary stats, thus making virtually any higher item level item an upgrade. The only exceptions are rings and necks. You generally want to equip higher item level ones, but there might be small exceptions for those within 5 item levels. Gem sockets are worth 3 item levels. You can also drop 5-6 item levels for a piece with Leech; doing more is too much of a survivability loss to be worth it.

Your stat priority for raiding will look roughly like this:

  1. Intellect;
  2. Haste >= Mastery;
  3. Versatility;
  4. Critical Strike.
5.2.

Dungeon Healing

Haste and Mastery are the strongest secondaries for pure healing. However, some players prefer to run as close to 0 Mastery as possible in dungeons. This is mainly done due to Mastery not contributing to your damage output. You should run as much Mastery as needed to heal and invest in other stats. If your priority is healing and nothing else matters, then just equip Mastery because it is by far the strongest healing stat in small group content.

Stat priority for pure healing in Mythic+ will look like this:

  1. Intellect;
  2. Mastery = Haste;
  3. Versatility;
  4. Critical Strike.

If you want to see the full explanation of the stat priority and the absolute top choices for the priority, head to our full stats page below.

6.

Basic Playstyle for Restoration Druid

7.

Basic Rotations

Raid Rotation Dungeon Rotation
8.

Restoration Druid Raid Rotation

The following rotation is a rough idea of what you should prioritize when playing. It is not the correct way to play, and there are many small ways you could improve your gameplay, but it will give you a general idea.

  • Maintain Efflorescence Icon Efflorescence under the melee group. Ignore this if running Lifetreading Icon Lifetreading.
  • Keep Lifebloom Icon Lifebloom on a tank or priority target.
  • Use Swiftmend Icon Swiftmend on cooldown. Follow it up with Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation.
  • Use Wild Growth Icon Wild Growth on cooldown. It heals for a good amount and will spawn a Grove Guardians Icon Grove Guardians.
  • Cast Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation when damage is coming up soon. Follow up with Regrowth Icon Regrowth when your Abundance Icon Abundance stacks are high.
  • Cast Wrath Icon Wrath to regenerate Mana (via Master Shapeshifter Icon Master Shapeshifter).
  • Use Clearcasting Icon Clearcasting procs to cast Regrowth Icon Regrowth.

The most challenging part of Restoration Druid is the usage of cooldowns. Check the cooldown section at the bottom of this page or, better yet, the Rotation page:

8.

Restoration Druid Dungeon Rotation

  • Maintain Efflorescence Icon Efflorescence under the tank and melee. Ignore this if running Lifetreading Icon Lifetreading (it's in the default build).
  • Keep Lifebloom Icon Lifebloom on the tank. If they are standing away from the group then it is ok to put it on a DPS.
  • Use Swiftmend Icon Swiftmend and follow it up with either Regrowth Icon Regrowth or Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation, depending on whether you need healing now or in a little bit.
  • Cast Wild Growth Icon Wild Growth on cooldown during light to moderate damage.
  • Keep Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation on the tank and on members of the group that just took damage or are about to take damage.
  • During downtime, use Moonfire Icon Moonfire, Sunfire Icon Sunfire and Wrath Icon Wrath on enemies to help contribute damage.

For a more detailed and optimized version of the priority list, check the full rotation page linked below. On top of that, doing competitive damage as Restoration Druid can be rather complicated, but there's more information on that on the rotation page too.

8.

Cooldown Usage for Restoration Druid

  • Tranquility Icon Tranquility should be used during heavy raid damage or when you are assigned to use it by your raid leader. Make sure you cast a lot of Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation beforehand since Tranquility Icon Tranquility will extend them all.
  • Innervate Icon Innervate should be used as often as possible during the fight. Refresh Efflorescence Icon Efflorescence, cast Wild Growth Icon Wild Growth, and spam Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenations during Innervate. The basic idea is to use Innervate as often as possible.
  • Convoke the Spirits Icon Convoke the Spirits in raids should be used often. Cast some Rejuvenation Icon Rejuvenation beforehand and try and line it up with the most dangerous moments of the fight.
  • Ironbark Icon Ironbark should be used to reduce the damage a tank takes during critical moments (such as when important boss abilities are about to be cast). In the absence of such situations, you should use it on players who are taking damage. You may be assigned to use it at a specific time as part of a rotation with other healers and the tanks' cooldowns.
9.

Combat Assistant

The Combat Assistant feature introduced in Patch 11.1.7 does not work for healing. Both Combat Assistant and One-Button will only make you use damage spells but you are better off just casting Wrath Icon Wrath. They will also not work at all when you are in Bear Form Icon Bear Form.

10.

Changelog

  • 19 Jan. 2026: Updated for Midnight Pre-Patch.
  • 30 Nov. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.2.7.
  • 05 Oct. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.5.
  • 06 Aug. 2025: Showing stat priority as a list.
  • 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.0.
  • 15 Jun. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.7.
  • 21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for 11.1.5.
  • 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
  • 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
  • 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for TWW Season 1.
  • 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
  • 20 Mar. 2024: Updated for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.7.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.0.
  • 24 Mar. 2023: Changed build recommendations.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 29 Dec. 2022: Adjusted recommended talent builds.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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