Restoration Druid Healing Spell Summary — Shadowlands Pre-Patch 9.0.1

If you are new to Restoration, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialisation, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Restoration and are comfortable with it in Legion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

If you are leveling a Restoration Druid, you will not have access to every single ability on this page, nor will they have all the effects. However, our leveling guide will offer you a way to learn the spec as you go.

Mana is your only resource as a Restoration Druid. All of your healing abilities cost Mana, so managing it so that you do not run out over the course of each encounter is crucial to being able to heal competitively.

Rejuvenation is an instant-cast HoT which also provides a small initial heal. This is your most frequently used spell.

Wild Growth places a HoT on up to 6 lowest health raid members around the target you cast it on. The HoT heals for more damage initially, then for less and less as it goes on. Wild Growth is very expensive, yet very Mana efficient. You should be casting this spell any time 6 people need healing and plan your Mana usage around it.

Swiftmend consumes a Regrowth, Wild Growth, or Rejuvenation effect to heal the target for a moderate amount. It is instant cast, and it has a 15-second cooldown. It is an inefficient healing spell, mainly due to consuming a HoT, but it enables Soul of the Forest. Swiftmend follows a simple priority list in which HoT it consumes: Regrowth, then Wild Growth, then Rejuvenation. It does not matter which of them have lower duration or any other factors.

Lifebloom is a HoT that can only be on one target at one time. You should always keep Lifebloom up on a target who is taking constant damage, such as the tank. When Lifebloom expires, it Blooms — heals its target for a large amount. This also happens if you refresh it with 4.5 seconds remaining or less, which you should aim to do in order to not waste any uptime.

Regrowth is an emergency heal. It heals for a moderate amount instantly and a smaller amount over 12 seconds. Without Abundance, Regrowth is inefficient. Abundance makes Regrowth a decent spot healing tool.

Efflorescence creates a healing zone that lasts for 30 seconds, healing up to 3 players standing in it every 2 seconds. Efflorescence is the most efficient healing spell outside of Tranquility. Unlike Wild Growth, Efflorescence is not a fully smart heal, which means it will pick a random injured player within its radius to heal. Spring Blossoms makes your Efflorescence prioritise targets that do not have Spring Blossoms HoT on them and ignore the injured player rule.

Barkskin reduces damage you take by 20% for 12 seconds and prevents damage from delaying your casts. It is a very strong ability, especially when coupled with Bear Form. It has a 1-minute cooldown and is usable in any form.

Soothe dispels all enrage effects from the target, and has a 10-second cooldown. It removes various strong buffs from enemies in dungeons, as well as the Raging buff.

Entangling Roots root the target in place for 30 seconds. Almost any damage will quickly remove the effect. The ability is useful for various skips in dungeons: usually each trash pack has a leading mob and all other mobs will stop moving when it is rooted. Keep in mind that Entangling Roots have a 35-yard cast range, which is 5 less than the vast majority of your healing and damage spells.

Hibernate puts enemy Beast or Dragonkin to sleep for up to 40 seconds. Any damage will awaken the target. Hibernate is limited to which targets you can use it on, but it works in the same way as Entangling Roots for stopping patrolling packs in dungeons without pulling them. It can also be used to interrupt casts of NPCs without removing DoTs from the target. Range of Hibernate is only 30 yards, so it might be dangerous to cast in some places.

Rebirth resurrects a friendly player. Usable in combat. Cooldown is shared between entire group in raids and Mythic+ dungeons. You will accumulate one charge at the rate of 90/Group Size during raid encounters and every 10 minutes in Mythic+ dungeons, shared between everyone in the group. In any other content Rebirth has a personal 10 minute cooldown, not shared with anyone else.

Nature's Cure removes all Magic, Curse, and Poison effects from friendly target, and has an 8-second cooldown.

Prowl activates Cat Form and places you into Stealth. Important to note that Prowl can be cast in your caster form and does not require Cat Form. It is often used to evade certain packs in dungeons or to take shortcuts. Can be coupled with Night Elf's racial Shadowmeld to escape combat in open world and dungeons.

Dash activates Cat Form and increases movement speed by 60% while in Cat Form for 10 seconds. A very useful tool to move quickly from one spot to another.

Growl only usable in Bear Form. Taunts the target to attack you. A very useful tool specifically in Mythic+. You can use it to grab a mob or even a boss for a few seconds so that your tank can drop Necrotic stacks. You can taunt the boss across the room after tank death in raid to give your group a little bit of extra time to finish it off.

Stampeding Roar activates Bear Form (in case you were not in either Bear Form or Cat Form) and increases movement speed of all friendly players within 15 yards by 60% for 8 seconds. It has a 2-minuite cooldown.

Cenarion Ward extremely potent HoT on moderately short cooldown. The only downside is that it requires the target to take damage before it starts healing them. It is perfect for tank healing or dealing with any type of DoT.

Tiger Dash replaces Dash with a 45-second cooldown, 200% movement speed sprint that decays over 5 seconds when activated.

Wild Charge is an active ability that is off the global cooldown and which differs based on the shapeshift form you are in, as follows.

• No shapeshift form: you fly to an ally's location.
• Travel Form: you leap forward.
• Moonkin Form: you leap backwards.
• Bear Form: you charge an enemy, immobilising them for 4 seconds.
• Cat Form: you leap behind an enemy, dazing them for 3 seconds.
• Aquatic Form: your swim speed is increased by 150% for 5 seconds.

It is an incredibly powerful tool to use in any scenario. Wild Charge has a very short cooldown and it is off global cooldown, making it very convenient to use both to avoid certain mechanics and to move to allies or enemies quickly.

Renewal is an active ability with a 90-second cooldown. It heals you for 30% of your maximum health, it is usable in all shapeshift forms, and it is off the global cooldown.

Frenzied Regeneration heals you for 24% maximum Health while you are in Bear Form. 36 second cooldown, reduced by Haste. This is a strong tool to recover your Health for free, but unfortunately it is on global cooldown. Most of the time you are better off casting Regrowth on yourself instead. Only available if you spec into Guardian Affinity

Shred, Rake, Swipe, Maim, Rip, Ferocious Bite are DPS abilities you can use in Cat Form. All of these except for Shred and Ferocious Bite are only available if you spec into Feral Affinity. The full usage of these abilities together is rather complicated. It is explained in-depth on a dedicated DPS page.

Mighty Bash is an active ability with a 50-second cooldown, which stuns the target for 5 seconds. It is usable in all shapeshift forms.

Mass Entanglement is an active ability with a 30-second cooldown, which roots the target and all enemies within 15 yards of them in place for 30 seconds. Damage done to rooted targets may break the effect. Mass Entanglement is usable in all shapeshift forms.

Typhoon is an active ability with a 30-second cooldown. It knocks back all targets within 15-yards in a cone in front of you, dazing them for 6 seconds. It is usable in all shapeshift forms. Requires Balance Affinity.

Heart of the Wild is an active ability with 5-minute cooldown. It increases the potency of your selected affinity substantially. Use it when you plan to spend a long time in the form associated with it.

For a full overview of spells that Restoration Druids get from talents, make sure to check our talent page link below.

Each time your Lifebloom ticks, you have a 4% chance to get a proc from Omen of Clarity, making your next Regrowth, cast within 15 seconds, cost no Mana.

• Innervate is a buff you can place on yourself or on an allied healer, which allows them to cast spells free of Mana cost for 12 seconds.
• Tranquility is a channeled spell that heals all raid members for a large amount of health over 8 seconds and leaves a stackable HoT.
• Flourish increases the frequency of healing from your HoTs by 100% for 8 seconds and extends the duration of all currently active HoTs by 8 seconds.
• Ironbark reduces all damage taken by the target by 20% for 12 seconds.
• Incarnation: Tree of Life is an active ability with a 3-minute cooldown. It lasts for 30 seconds and increases all healing done by 15% as well as increasing your armor by 120% and making you immune to Polymorph effects. Moreover, it improves some of your spells.
  • Wild Growth affects 2 additional targets.
  • Regrowth is instant cast.
  • Rejuvenation has its healing increased by 50%, and its Mana cost reduced by 30%.
  • Entangling Roots is instant cast.

Using cooldowns effectively is a core component to Restoration Druid's throughput in raid environment. Make sure you check Rotation and Cooldowns page to fully understand how you should use them.

Rotation and Cooldowns