Questing as a Boomkin?

[goldberry]

Sooooo, I have a level 80 druid who is resto/balance. I leveled mostly as resto through dungeons but now that I'm 80 and headed into Hyjal, I've started questing as balance. I.... must be doing something wrong because I feel like I'm getting beat! Granted, I haven't quested much as a boomy, but I feel like I'm just letting mobs beat on me until I'm

Comments

[digital_muse76]

Can you post an armory link so we can check your toon out and help you better? My main is a boomkin and that's all she's ever been. Maybe I can help.

[goldberry]

Sure! Here she is: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/hydraxis/Seravee/simple

Still in a mix of gear but do please let me know if there is anything I can do spec or talent wise. ♥

[fm_gatekeeper]

I had this exact same problem when I started questing in Cata zones without any gear when the expansion first hit (on my rogue). You'll likely be fine once you get some actual Cata gear--I'd check the AH for cheap greens; that's what I do on my alts now. Even just a few pieces will make a HUGE difference.

It's perfectly possible to level as a boomkin, so don't give up!

[digital_muse76]

From what I'm seeing, some gear upgrades would go a long way in upping your dps. For me, my main focus was on gear with intellect on it. Because you get a huge defense boost when you go moonkin of course. So if your dps is high enough you'll just be burning things down before they ever get to you. I know there are certain dungeon runs you can do for caster specific gear upgrades, but you'll have to do some research for the right ones. Your glyphs look good and I like how you've got your skills mapped out. But it mostly seems like just your gear is killing your dps.

[eloren]

If your boomie is wearing Wrath gear, then you will be as squishy as all get out until you get some upgrades from quests or the AH. My poor rogue, who hit 80 in full heirlooms went from cuisinart to ... salad shooter.

I bought her a handful of cata greens (usually decent "of the ____" level 77-79 cata greens will be commanding a pretty high price on most servers),found a blue cata weapon for a relative steal, and hubby helped me through the first dozen or so Hyjal quests till she got her second dagger. At that point she was level 81 and starting to feel more like her normal stabbity self..

PS. This level 80/wrath geared=squishy effect seems to hold true for every character of mine who has crossed the level 80 plane, except for my fully raid geared main, who only turned somewhat softish once she became a Cata 80.

[hooves]

this so much.

my resto/boomie druid had one helluva time until I picked up more greens. Rings are usually worth getting off of the AH btw. I sadly never got any real upgrades from the dungeon finder on my druid--I ran like 50 dungeons and at 84 am still wearing vashj'ir gear because NOTHING DROPS. EVER.

[thistle_chaser]

This, so much. I tried questing on my rogue in Wrath stuff, and it was just SO PAINFUL. I quit (questing) nearly in tears. But AH greens make everything better!

[frieliegh]

OMG yes this... I still bless the pally who wandered the starter area of Vash and popped open trade to give me a cata green breastplate that had dropped, but he had better by then. My DK's survivability went up drastically with just that!

[amanda]

If you're still using wrath end-game gear, then you will find it hard. Mobs will have 2-3 times more health than you in the starter zones. Hit up the AH if you feel like you want better stats without waiting for quest rewards/rep rewards. I levelled cata as boomkin with no issues, and that was without hitting up the AH for better gear. I did have to basically heal up between every fight, so if you're looking for speed questing, def get gear from the AH.

[goldberry]

Definitely hitting up the AH! Thanks so much for the advice!

[suiten_sakamake]

It's always like that when you get from Wrath to Cata...wait until you get the gear and it's going to be better.

Leveling as a cat there is actually pretty exhausting from my experience because you get hit very hard all the time and the heals do pretty much nothing. With owl gear you have at least the spell power so your heals are helpful and don't use up all your mana.

[goldberry]

Gotcha. I'll stick it out with Balance and hope it gets easier with gear. :) Thanks for the advice!

[amy34]

My ex recently took his boomkin from 80th to 85th and was complaining about low DPS and squishiness, so it's not just you. It's been a while and several patches since I've done it, so all I can advise is be sure you're using the best spells. Drop both dots, then starsurge, then whichever of the two nukes is correct for the point you're in in the eclipse cycle. Starfall is a great DPS boost, especially single target--just be careful nobody is fighting something near you because it will aggro their mobs onto you. Barkskin is your friend if you get into trouble, as is Force of Nature. Another desperation move: entangle, run off a bit, heal up. Mushrooms are great for AOE groups, but I don't think you get them until 84 or 85. I often had to heal between fights at those levels. Sometimes I had to heal in the middle of a fight.

[goldberry]

Thanks so much for the spell advice! I'm going to stick with it and hopefully it will get easier as I get more Cata gear. :)