The Weekly Innervate - World of Warcraft - Patch 4.3 Resto Druid Best In Slot Gear List

Hello fellow shapeshifters! Patch 4.3 is coming out within the next few weeks which means we have a whole new batch of gear coming out as well. This guide will be for the raiding Restoration Druids. The guide will be made as if you are full Item Level 378 and will need no gear from Random Heroics or the Random Raid Finder.

Helm Upgrades

• Deep Earth Helm - If you have a Tier 12 Helm you're going to want to replace it with another piece of tier. This helm has a lot of Haste and will be your best in slot.
• Source: Warmaster Blackhorn, Dragon Soul
• Helmet of Perpetual Rebirth - If you didn't pick up a Tier 12 Helm then this is a perfectly acceptable side grade until you can get your hands on a Tier 13 token. This has Mastery instead of Haste so you will want to replace it with your Tier 13 Helm as soon as possible but since they drop from the second to last boss in the instance it may be awhile.
• Source: 2200 Valor Points

Necklace Upgrades

• Petrified Fungal Heart - This will be the one necklace you will want to go for. It has Spirit and Haste and will be your best in slot. The Valor Point necklace has Spirit and Critical Strike making it almost entirely useless and a waste of Valor Points. Morchok is also the first boss in the new raid so it will be easy to get your hands on one.
• Source: Morchok, Dragon Soul

Shoulder Upgrades

• Deep Earth Mantle - This is an easy pick because it's the only one. There are no shoulders available for Valor Points and only Leather Agility shoulders drop from a Raid Boss. This doesn't make much sense and there may be a trash drop somewhere but as of yet your Tier 13 Shoulders are your only bet. Spirit and Mastery don't make them perfect itemization but what can you do?
• Source: Hagara the Stormbinder

Cloak Upgrades

• Woundlicker Cover - This is another easy pick because once again it is your only choice. No cloaks drop from raid bosses this time around so you will have to cough up Valor Points to get your back upgrade. It is Spirit and Haste so it will be your Best In Slot.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points

Chest Upgrades

• Deep Earth Robes - This Tier 13 piece has Spirit and Haste will be your best in slot. The Valor Point chest piece will be worthless to you because it once again has Critical Strike. This chest piece also has three sockets, two of which being red and the last being yellow with a socket bonus of +30 Intellect you will want to get your chest piece as soon as possible.
• Source: Ultraxion

Bracer Upgrades

• Mycosyth Wristguards - Another item where this will be the only one you will want to go for. The Valor Point Bracers have Crit again while these bracers that drop off the first boss in the instance have Mastery.
• Source: Morchok

Glove Upgrades

• Fungus-Born Gloves - Will be your best in slot item over the Tier Gloves. The Tier 13 Gloves have Mastery and a Blue Gem Socket while the Valor Point gloves have Haste and a Red Gem Socket. If you're going for min/maxing and are close to your next Haste break point then these will be your choice.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points
• Deep Earth Handwraps - If you're way over your haste break point and don't have your 4-piece set bonus then picking these up may be a better choice for you. Once you get your Helm/Shoulders/Chest/Pants you may want to swap the tier hands out for the VP gloves instead.
• Source: Warlord Zon'ozz

Belt Upgrades

• Girdle of the Grotesque - Will probably be your best in slot if you get your hands on all you other items on this list. There is a lot of Haste to go around and even though this belt has Mastery instead it has two Red Gem Sockets not including the third Gem Socket you'll gain when adding your Belt Buckle. It also has a +20 Intellect Socket Bonus making this belt give you extra Intellect over it's Valor Point counterpart.
• Source: Hagara the Stormbinder
• Belt of Universal Curing - If you need some more Haste then this will be where you go for. 20 more Intellect than the other belt may not seem like a lot but having more Haste than is necessary is actually bad for your healing because it is just wasted stats. Being dramatically over a haste break point without hitting the next break point makes all that extra Haste useless because it isn't really doing anything to help your HoTs. So if you can't reach your next Haste break point by reforging/gemming with this item just go with the Raid Boss drop.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points

Leg Upgrades

• Deep Earth Legwraps - Will be your final Tier 13 item. Once again there is no choice here unless you want to switch out the Boomkin Tier legs for the Haste and Mastery instead of Spirit and Mastery for the extra Haste if you need it. However, you will more than likely just go for your tier legs of your spec because of the glove choice.
• Source: Yor'sahj the Unsleeping

Boot Upgrades

• Boots of Fungoid Growth - Blizzard has an obsession with putting Critical Strike Rating on Intellect Spirit Leather this upcoming tier. However, we have been saved by the Valor Point boots. And Hazzah they are BoE. Which means if you have Alts in two weeks you can buy yourself a pair of boots that will be your best in slot until Heroic Raid drops. IE: You don't have to waste time spending the VP on your main to get these raid upgrades when you can run Random Heroics on an 85 Alt and get two pieces of gear in the same week.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points

Ring Upgrades

• Band of Reconstruction - This will be your first of two rings. This is also Valor Point bought. This has Mastery and a Yellow Gem Socket with +10 Intellect.
• Source: 1250 Valor Points
• Signet of Suturing - This will be your Best in Slot ring and the Dungeon Journal has all rings listed as possible drops from every boss in the instance (apart from Deathwing himself). I don't know if this is just some coding error or if you will have six chances every week to have you ring drop off of any of the raid bosses.
• Source: Warmaster Blackhorn, Ultraxion, Hagara the Stormbinder, Yor'sahj the Unsleeping, Morchok, Warlord Zon'ozz

Trinket Upgrades

• Reflection of the Light - This is your first of a couple of possible choices. This Trinket gives you +458 Spirit making it the "Healing Trinket" but it has an On Use ability givving you 2,290 Spell Power every 1 Minute and 30 Seconds. I'm not a huge fan of On Use procs because I find myself always forgetting to use it on cooldown.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points
• Bottled Wishes - May be the one you wish to go for instead. It gives you +458 Haste which makes it amazing if you're a bit of a ways off from your Haste Break Point. It's On Use is the same the previous trinket 2,290 Spell Power so if you feel you don't need the extra Spirit and would rather get more Haste this is the better trinket for you.
• Source: 1650 Valor Points
• Heart of Unliving - This Trinket seems extremely lack luster. It gives you no secondary stats and gives you a stacking Spirit proc every time you heal for 10 seconds giving you a total of 880 Spirit.
• Source: Spine of Deathwing
• Seal of the Seven Signs - +458 Intellect with a 2904 Haste proc possibility whenever you heal. Again, the Proc is pretty useless for Resto Druids because you need to have your Haste Rating at specific points and anything above or below makes it useless. Almsot 3,000 more Haste will bring you to your next two or three Haste break points but only for 20 seconds every minute or two.
• Source: Warlord Zon'ozz
• Windward Heart - This is going to be the trinket you go for. +458 Intellect and Critical Heals have a chance to heal a nearby alli for 21,352. It is Dragon Souls upgrade to Eye of Blazing Power from Alyzrasor. Every healer in your raid will be going for this trinket. This is another one of those trinkets that says it drops off of every boss aside from Deathwing and this seems like an extremely powerful trinket to drop off of every boss in the instance.
• Source: Warmaster Blackhorn, Ultraxion, Hagara the Stormbinder, Yor'sahj the Unsleeping, Morchok, Warlord Zon'ozz
• In summation, you're probably going to want to go for Windward Heard and Seal of the Seven Signs. Intellect is always your best stat above all else and with all of the Haste you're getting on your gear you won't really need any Haste trinkets. But if you find you still do you might want to switch out the Seal for Bottled Wishes or Reflection of Light and Reforging half of the Spirit for the Haste based on how far you are from you Haste break point.

Weapon Upgrades

Two-Handed Weapons

You generally don't want to go for staffs over the One-Hander and Off-Hand Combo because it is just generally better for healers and staves are for the caster DPS. But there is only one Off-Hand and a staff upgrade may drop before your main-hand AND off-hand drop so don't be afraid to pick one up if you feel it's going to be a while.

• Ti'tahk, the Steps of Time - This weapon doesn't have Spirit but it does have an interesting proc. It gives you 1,928 Haste and gives up to 3 allies around you 386 Haste. This gives you a Support-y vibe and if it drops you might want to pick it up if you're having very unlucky drops but it by far shouldn't be your first pick.
• Source: Madness of Deathwing
• Visage of the Destroyer - This is you healing staff. Spirit with Mastery and Spell Power. This drops a little earlier in the instance and if it's taking you a little while to get to kill Deathwing you might want to pick it up for the time being. However, this time around you really want to go for your Main Hand/Off Hand Combo.
• Source: Warmaster Blackhorn
• Main-Hand Weapons

• Maw of the Dragonlord - This Main Handed Mace has no Spirit on it but it has an extremely interesting proc. Healing Spells have a chance to cause "Cleansing Fire" which heals ALL nearby friendly targets in front of you for 6600. This weapon will be extremely beneficial for stacking fights and depending on the internal cooldown timer this will do extremely well in your raid healing. However, you get no Spirit and no secondary stats besides spell power so you will be getting this for the proc only and if you need stats this wont be the weapon for you.
• Source: Madness of Deathwing
• Scalpel of Unrelenting Agony - Main Hand Dagger with Spirit and Haste. If you would rather have the extra stats this will be the weapon you will want to go for. My plans might be to pick up the Scalpel first and still go for the Maw when we get to Deathwing and switch out my weapon based on the fight. If we're spread apart or there isn't a lot of raid damage I would stick with the Scalpel but if we're clumped like Ultra then I will switch out for the Maw.
• Source: Yor'sahj the Unsleeping

Off-Hand Weapon

• Ledger of Revolting Rituals - This is the only off-hand that drops in the instance. Which means it's the one you will be going for! Spirit and Haste makes it amazing for you as well.
• Source: Ultraxion

Relic Upgrade

• Lightning Spirit in a Bottle - Your only choice once again. No bosses drop Relics and you'll have to cough up Valor Points. Interestingly enough they have the same Item Icons on the PTR as they did for the Tier 12 ones. The Lightning Spirit in a Bottle looks like a feather. O.o
• Source: 700 Valor Points

There is a lot of great gear coming out of Tier 13. It seems that Blizzard is finally turning away from the Leather Spirit Mastery gear they were pushing in Tier 11 and are going back to the Leather Spirit Haste that all Druids really love. There is a nice balance of the really important items like Trinkets and Weapons and Tier off of only bosses while your not so important items like Rings and Cloaks being bought with Valor Points. 

They are also going back to the Vanilla and Burning Crusade gear designs with three Gem sockets in your Chest pieces and Legs as well as two sockets in Belts and sockets in your Rings. As well you can't buy your Tier with Valor points anymore so if you're wearing Tier it means that you're raiding and you are set apart. And don't worry, the Raid Finder tier has a nice indicator like Heroic tier does so everyone knows you killed the bosses for real.

I wish all my Druid brothers and sisters luck with their future raid drops and may you be the fastest geared of all your guildies!

Tune in next week as the PvP Season comes to a close and I go over the changes we will see and my questions for the future of the World (of Warcraft).

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