5.0.4 Resto Druid Changes and Resources

A quick overview of what will have changed when you log in today:

• Obviously, the overhaul of our Talent system is the biggest change you’ll see.  We now only have 6 talent to choose from (at level 85 we will be able to choose 5 of those).  Remember to have fun and experiment with the new system, because they really aren’t many “right” and “wrong” answers anymore.
• Harmony now lasts 20 seconds, up from 10.
• Lifebloom now lasts 15 seconds, up from 10.  It no longer grants Replenishment, nor do we get mana back from Revitalize.
• Nature’s Cure (which is now the name of our dispell ability) has an 8 second cooldown.
• Rebirth now brings its target back to life with 60% health, up from 20%.  This makes this Glyph of Rebirth less of a mandatory choice than it was before.
• We have two shiny new spells!  The first is   Ironbark, which is essentially a Barkskin we can cast on other players.  We also have  Wild Mushroom: Bloom.  Just like moonkin can put down 3 mushrooms and then detonate them to deal AoE damage, we can place 3 mushrooms and then use Bloom to provide a small AoE heal to everyone within 8 yards.
• Mana pools are now fixed at 100,000.  Though the cost of spells has been slightly reduced to compensate, this is still likely to require us to be more conservative with mana than we have been, particularly this late in an expansion.  If you’ve reforged away from Spirit on all your gear, now may be the time to consider restoring some of it, as the changes to Replenishment and Revitalize mean we are now completely dependent upon Spirit for our mana regen.
• Our travel form now has a stag model by default.  If you don’t like it (ARE YOU CRAZY?!), the Glyph of the Cheetah will give you the old model back.
• Glyphs have also received a huge overhaul.  A full list of our glyphs is available here.

With 5.0.4 soon to be live on servers, I have taken down my Cataclysm Resto guides and replaced them with Mists of Pandaria Resto Druid Guides.  There you will find:

• An updated Spells page reflecting the few changes to our existing spells in this patch, and our new spells (Ironbark, Wild Mushroom:  Bloom, and Symbiosis).
• A Talents page reviewing the new talent system.
• A permanent home for the Resto Druid Pre-Raid Gear Spreadsheet.  Any future changes I make to the spreadsheet will be described in the change log on that page.  I have also uploaded a Google Docs version of the spreadsheet for those without Excel, though unfortunately Google Docs does not support all the formulas needed for the sheet to be fully functional.  The Google Docs version will, however, have the full gear list available.
• Links to other Resto guides and resources.

Happy Patch Day!