I skipped so much content!

Champion of the Naaru, in particular this time.

Oddly enough, I don't have that title yet. The Naaru trial quests for Shadow Labyrinth and Arcatraz have been sitting in my quest log for forever, and I've just never gotten them done. Honestly, who needs Heroics when you're in BT every other night? Badges can be found lying in the carcasses of Karazhan bosses!

But, I digress.

To finish up the Trial of Strength, Sharlet and I recruited some PUGs (read: Sharlet did dailies while I advertised in trade chat) and headed in, me hoping to finally see Murmur. Grand Master Warlock Voidwalker Eating Banishing C*ckblock Vorpil had always stopped me from getting anywhere in Heroic Shadow Labyrinth other than the floor. Of course, the eventual "run away we're going to wipe I'm almost at the door OH CRAP TELEPORT *death*" is always amusing, in that repair bill sort of way. But to complete the trial, you have to kill him, not just be morbidly amused by your ineffectiveness.

First two bosses go out without a hitch, Sharlet and the lock dying in one of the early pulls thanks to a lag spike on my part. Followed by a disconnect in which no one died, and we're off to a great start! Still, the first two bosses are downed, including my favorite, without incident. "It's time for fun!" is truly what it is. Goodness but I love that boss.

I digress.

Anyway, we got to Vorpil, and unlucky banishes screw us over time and again. The worst was where Sharlet was banished...three times? in a row. Kiting was non-existant, dps was dying, and our repair bills mounted. By that point I was no longer amused, just frustrated. But he finally went down, and I was proud of myself for feral charging and bashing voidwalkers when I got a free moment to slow them down. Utility pvp spec ftw!

So then it's the mind controller pulls before Murmur, and 2 out of 3 times I ended up dead. Luckily, no one else did. You know, luckily for them.

Anyway, so now we're at Murmur. Sharlet explains him, and in we go. And there we die. And then we die again. And again. And one of those was completely my fault for dying in the first Sonic Boom. I felt horrible; I hate causing wipes. Hate it. So, back in we go. And this time, I watch it. I watch it so close that I don't get hit with it but once when I got Touched right before a Sonic Boom and got thrown into the air at an unfortunate time.

Thank you Health Potions.

Anyway, what was interesting about this fight was...well, the only ones who didn't die were Sharlet and me. Warlock died, hunter died, rogue died twice. Sharlet and I DPS, tanked and healed Murmur for about 10% of his life. And when he starts out at only 30%, that's a third of the boss. The rogue was taking bets about when I was going to run out of mana; he must have seen me chuggin' pots. In my mind I was thinking "What do you mean? I'm a resto druid, beyotch. Until the expansion, I don't run out of mana!" and, in actuality, I ended the battle with about 1/5th of my mana gone in total, due to needing to innervate at about 2%.

It was a scary game, me relying on my Vial of the Sunwell for a Silence, ticking HoTs for others, my Redeemer's Alchemist Stone helping me get more from my Health Potions, my Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch for an emergency, and quickly memorizing exactly how far I had to go to avoid the SOnic Boom but still get in without taking his ranged attack to the face At one point I ran too far and Feral Charged in. In the end, it was exhilerating. A tank and a healer, against all odds, ripping into Murmur and kicking him til he dropped his loots.

I think I earned my reward for the Naaru trial of Strength.

Next up, saving Millhouse Manastorm, my absolute favorite NPC of all time. I'm coming for you, Mr. Manastorm.

Restoration Raiding Consumables

Yes, it’s another of those posts. Inspired by Bear’s consumables post for Feral tanks, I want to take an in-depth look at all consumables available to a Restoration Druid. There’s a variety of these things to choose from, so let’s get cracking, shall we?

Elixirs and Flasks
For at least every boss fight, and perhaps some of the trash, you’re going to want either both a Battle Elixir and Guardian Elixir or a two-hour Flask. Generally, Flasking is cheaper, especially on new content, while Elixir combinations are more powerful, but fade when you die. It’s often a good idea that, if you expect to die a lot with little or no progress, Flask. Let’s take a quick look at all your options available to you.

Elixirs
Battle Elixirs
Elixir of Healing Power – This is hands-down the best Battle Elixir you can chug. It’s a straight-up +50 healing to you, and everyone loves the higher healing. However, when WotLK rolls around, it seems like…
Adept’s Elixir - …this sort of elixir may be a better all-around choice. Phaelia revealed that critting with heals will give a great bonus to a Tree’s spells. Though I am sure WotLK will bring all new alchemy recipes, including probably a better version of this. Still something to consider bringing along if you run out of mats for Healing Power; it does have a bonus of +24 healing.

Guardian Elixirs
Draenic Wisdom – Thanks to the changes in mana regen from patch 2.4, this has become the premiere raiding Battle Elixir. Increasing both your Intellect and Spirit by 30 helps your mana regen, increases your mana pool, and adds about 7 +healing to your tree aura. A triple threat!
Elixir of Major Mageblood – This elixir is a straight 16 mp5. If you’re going to be out of tree form for a while, this is arguably a better Elixir for the job than Draenic.
Elixir of Major Fortitude – Sometimes, you just need a boost to your health. Many upper level encounters have large AoE burst damage you just cannot mitigate, such as Naj’entus in BT, who deals an unavoidable 8k+ of pain when you burst his bubble. If you don’t have enough stam, consider bringing this along for 250 extra health and 10 hp5.

Flasks
Flask of Distilled Wisdom – There is some debate over this Flask. After 2.4, an increase in Intellect is an increase in the mp5 benefit of Spirit. This also has the added benefit of giving you a larger mana pool, which is almost as good as mp5. And for fights like Kaz’rogal, where your mana is drained and a lack of mana to drain results in someone exploding for over 10k damage, starting with a bigger mana pool can never hurt.
Flask of Mighty Restoration – This is a straight-up, no math required addition of 25 mp5 to your mana pool. This is a huge amount of straight mp5, so if you’re down on this vital stat this isn’t a bad flask to pick up.
Shattrath Flask of Mighty Restoration – This flask is exactly the same as the above mentioned buff, but it can be purchased using a Mark of the Illidari from those snooty guys in your Scryer or Aldor bank. However, you must be exalted with either the Scryer or the Aldor, the Sha’tar, and the Cenarion Expedition.
Flask of Chromatic Wonder - This flask was recommended by ryfo in my comments. He lists many great reasons to use this flask: it's cheap, it stacks with Blessing of Kings, it gives resistances, and is an all-around well-balanced flask. Consider this alternative, especially if you're going to be hitting Mother Shahraz or other resistance-sensitive fights.

Food
Food buffs are delicious, but perhaps only if you’re into seafood. Though you’re generally not supposed to exercise on a full stomach, being well-fed should ensure you’re never running out of steam.

Golden Fishsticks – This is the best food buff for both healing Priests and Druids. +44 to your healing and 20 spirit. The spirit adds to your mp5, as well as gives your aura another +5 to healing. Beneficial and well-rounded, this is almost always the food of choice.
Blackened Sporefish – This is a more situational bit of fish, as the straight 8 mp5 is not as beneficial as the spirit to a Tree druid, but that extra 20 stam can be a boon if you’re lacking health.
Spicy Crawdad/Fisherman's Feast - Providing a +30 stam buff and a +20 spirit buff, this is also a great option for when you need more stam than regen, and +20 just isn't enough. These were also suggested in the comments by kaaylia.
Feltail Delight – Though there are many food buffs that supply the same +20 stam/spirit combination (Mok’Nathal Shortribs, Talbuk Steak to name a few), I like this one because I can get it at the same time I fish for the other food buffs. It’s great for farm content/trash, and is generally much less expensive than the other two.

Weapon Oils
Brilliant Mana Oil – This is the best oil for the job. Well-rounded, with 12 mp5 and +25 to healing, the only problem with it is the cost. It’s an old-world recipe (Zandalar Rep), and rather rare, so expect its price to be gouged in the AH when you can find it, and the mats to be a bit more difficult to come by.
Superior Mana Oil – Acceptable and a nice mp5 boost, this is the most commonly used mana oil. 14 mp5 is nothing to scoff at, and every enchanter worth their salt will have the recipe.
Superior Wizard Oil - thanks to my amazing readers, this oil has been pointed out to have an unstated +42 buff to healing. Which is great if your mp5 has been soaring up but your base healing has been lagging behind. Thanks guys!

Scrolls
Though these don’t stack with player buffs, it’s nice to have something to spot-buff yourself with in-between chain pulls should you be unfortunate enough to die or after a Rebirth. This is particularly helpful with streams of pulls like in Mount Hyjal, where all pulls are timed and there are no/very few breaks for rebuffs. Included in this are Scroll of Spirit V, Scroll of Intellect V, and Scroll of Stamina V. Not necessary by any means, but, should you pick some up, they’re worth hanging onto.

Potions
Super Mana Potion – This is the mainstay of all mana-users. It’s a straight return to your mana, and therefore keeps you going when you’d otherwise be basically useless.
Auchenai Mana Potion - Just as good as a Super, this potion is purchaseable with two Spirit Shards. A nice, money-saving alternative.
Mana Potion Injector – This is a primo item. It saves bag space (something druids are always in desperate need of). There are a few mats needed besides just 20 Super Mana Pots, but I believe the space saved is well worth it. You need the room for all those epic loots.
Super Healing Potion – It’s always a good idea to carry a couple of these around. Sometimes, your mana pool is just fine, but you desperately need a boost to your health.
Auchenai Healin Potion - Just as good as a super, and purchaseable with two Spirit Shards.
Healing Potion Injector – Since you shouldn’t use so many Health Pots, this isn’t really necessary, but once again nice for the bag space.
Super Rejuvenation Potion – These suckers are great when you need health and mana! Just suck it down, enjoy the lovely grape flavor, and get back to healing without having to heal yourself. As much, anyway. Their mats are a little more extensive than a Health or Mana pot, however, so if you have the choice it might be better to go with…
Mad Alchemist Potion – Only for alchemists, these are like Super Rejuvs only with way less expensive mats and an interesting side-effect: a random elixir buff. The random buff won’t replace your current buffs, so feel free to use the whenever.
Fel Mana Potion – Though this potion supplies a debuff to your healing, its Mp5 value is arguably greater than a slight momentary drop in heal value. Obviously, this depends on the fight and your own gear, so it’s a judgment call. Phaelia did an article on the advantages of the Fel Mana Potion, but it may be out of date with the changes to mana regen in 2.4.

Remember, when available, to use raid-specific potions such as Cenarion Healing Salve and Cenarion Mana Salve for SSC (purchaseable with Coilfang Armaments right outside the instance, if you are Exalted with CE), and Bottled Nethergon Vapor and Bottled Nethergon Energy for TK.

Other
**Be aware: all of the following share a cooldown with your Healthstones**
Fel Blossoms – These mini-shields are handy for times when your healing isn’t going to do anything; such as the first phase of Reliquary of Souls, where all healing is effectively reduced to zero, including that of pots and stones. They can help keep you alive for just a bit longer. They are also only available to Herbalists.
Charged Crystal Focus – If you’re out of healthstones and there’s been no time to lay down a new soulwell, these work nicely in a pinch. You should find one or two every day you do your dailies in Blade’s Edge, and they only take a few Apexis Shards to charge up.
Demonic Rune – These are good for “oh no my mana pot is down but I really need some mana NOW” situations. They hurt you, and the return is small, but with how inexpensive Lifebloom is, it’s basically worth it to squeeze out another few if you’re in danger of going OOM. They're easily farmed from satyrs in Felwood.
Luminous Bluetail – A very small amount of mana, it may not be worth the healthstone cooldown. However, this one doesn’t hurt you like the Darkrune does. They're fishable on the Isle of Quel'danas, so you can snag some while you're doing your dailies, if you don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back.

Now that I'm done critting your face with my wall of text, I hope that's helped you decide what you need for raiding!

EDIT: i r dum when it comes to Mana Injectors. They are splittable. Thanks, Jon!

"Fun" with Ahune

I have not yet had a good run at Ahune, and I've downed him only twice. Never on Heroic. Let's see what we have...

Too much melee dps, and most under-geared.

A moonkin who socketed blue gear with spell haste (for a total of +16 haste, woo!) and melee'd the rock elemental mob (the one with the stacking AoE debuff?) to get mana back.

A rogue who wanted the paladin to run back and rez him on a complete wipe so he could talk to a guildmate for a strategy, when we had already stated the strategy. And everyone else was running back.

A group just running in and summoning without clearing any of the packs of trash that roam through the area.

A group asking multiple times what the strategy was, while in combat, while I was trying to heal everyone and everything and get them to move away from the giant earth elemental mob and keep the trash off of me and stay out of the shiny ice (because it's totally cool to get shot in the air, guys!) and dps the boss when he's just a core.

At this point I don't think my luck will let me have a good Ahune run. I think he could be an amazingly fun boss. If my group is never at least 2/5ths full of stupid.

/cry

Illidari Council: Notes from a First Try

To know more about the mobs and their abilities, check the guide found here.

The AoE's are ridiculously easy to avoid. I have my spell effects on medium and I play with 6 fps; the only time I died to an AoE was when another unfortunate combination occurred, such as Deadly Poison.

I would really like a mod that pings the map to let me know where someone who is affected by Deadly Poison is located.

The room is just big enough and the steps just awkward enough that LoS is deadly.

I was put on helping heal people who have the Deadly Poison debuff; I'm still debating if this is a good choice. My HoTs can't seem to stack fast enough and my other heals are too slow on the cast. I'm thinking I should request a tank assignment in lieu of raid healing.

If the WWS Report ever stops erroring, I'll be able to explore my effective healing a bit better.

I need more runs to decide if I should be out of tree form constantly or simply shift out when I need to run from an AoE. In some of the guide videos, I saw tree druids running out of the AoE without shifting forms; with the two second delay in damage taken it may be possible, if not the safest.

Tonight it is back to Black Temple to clear it all over again! Hopefully we'll just steamroll right on through so our next raid night will have more than an hour and a half for Council trash and attempts.

In other news, Part One of the Pre-Kara Resto Druid Guide is up! Thanks, Bear!

Mother Down!

Lacking SR pants and only having 24 members in the raid, along with being under-equipped with healers (we had two holy pallies, three holy priests and me), we took on Mother Shahraz for the first time tonight, and downed her after only about an hour and a half.

*happy sigh*


EDIT: I had most healing done and least overheal on the kill of Mother Shahraz. /flex

Karazhan Healing Cheat-Sheet

I realize now that I have not talked very much about Karazhan, which is quite surprising. Prior to my inception to Sunder, I had spent many, many months farming Kara over and over, almost exclusively. In doing so, I learned quite a lot about the different bosses and how to navigate them on a Restoration spec’d druid. This was requested by Kakalaki.

Attumen the Huntsman
Attumen is a very straightforward fight. A well-geared Restoration druid (or any healer, really) can solo heal him, but it’s not recommended if you’re uncomfortable with the fight. The basic idea is to keep HoTs ticking on the tank(s) (depending on your guild’s strategy). As soon as Attumen and Midnight combine, hug the horse’s butt. If you are too removed from Attumen, he will charge you, and sometimes one-shot you. To make things easier, it’s recommended to mark someone with a raid symbol and require everyone to stand on them.

Moroes
As a Restoration druid, this fight for you is very, very straightforward. Keep HoTs on the tanks, throw some heals on anyone else who needs it. If your group runs out of ways to eliminate the garrote, stack Lifeblooms on those affected. You don’t have to watch them too carefully; usually one Lifebloom is fine, and you can even let it bloom. It’s more important to keep your tanks up and those in charge of CCing the adds. Abolish Blinds when they come up (a mod like Decursive makes it very easy to see when this happens).

Maiden
Maiden is also very straightforward. You cannot dispel the Holy Fires, so you are purely healing. Watch your melee and keep them alive through the consecration, but more importantly keep your tank up. Watch for the Repentance and make sure your HoTs are fresh before it goes off. Staying in the consecrate will give you a silence debuff; however, if you can time it well, it’s helpful to jump into it right before a Repentance so the consecrate ticks knock you out of a stun. Be careful of doing it too early, or an ill-timed Holy Fire can kill you. Another option is having your tank aware of where you are standing and having him draw Maiden over to you for a consecrate tick.

Opera
Romulo and Julianne
This fight can be summed up simply as: heal the tanks. Throw a HoT on those hit by Julianne. Keep Abolish up on the Romulo tank.

Big Bad Wolf
Make sure you are prepared to Swiftmend or NS+HT the little Red Riding Hood. If you become Little Red Riding Hood, be aware of your surroundings and where to run. Pop Barkskin and pray for healing or a BoP. Otherwise, heal the tank.

Wizard of Oz
Like the Moroes fight, you cannot do much but heal and stay out of the way. If you have a Paladin, have him Judge Wisdom on the tin man once all the others are dead, and chase after him, giving him a little whack with your tree fists. Avoid the cyclones with the crone, and you’re home free.

Curator
Heal the tank on Curator, and throw some HoTs on the dps snagging the flares. Keep an eye out for who takes hurtfuls, and give them some Resto love. At 20% he will Enrage; watch his health and prepare to put all your HoTs on the main tank. During his Evocations, no one should be taking damage. If no one is in desperate need of healing, take advantage of a Dreamless Sleep Potion or simply your 5SR to regen some mana.

Illhoof
Your guild should give out raiding assignments. If you have three healers, the assignments generally go Tank, Raid or Warlock. Keep your assignment up with as many different HoTs as you need. If you can spare it, throw some HoTs up on those not your assignment, as they are always a help. Heal the person in Demon Chains, and if you start to be sacrificed, pop your Barkskin and pray your DPS is on the ball.

Shade of Aran
Resto Druids are very, very sneaky for this boss fight. Every other healer cannot stand close to Shade because of his counterspell ability he likes to spam. However, due to the instant-cast nature of Druid healing, you can stand basically on top of him, spam heals and never worry a bit about Blizzard. If you need to do anything with a cast time, simply back up, get it off, and go back in. When he pulls everyone to the middle, shifting forms will dispel the debuff. If you have the mana for it, while you’re at the wall, throw a Moonfire onto him.

Netherspite
Netherspite and I have a love-hate relationship. The Green Beam is excellent for healers, as it increases your healing output by a very large amount. However, as time goes by, it reduces your mana pool and, if your pool reaches zero, the beam continues to heal Netherspite. Most guilds assign a non-mana using dps for the Green Beam. If you have a Beam assignment, watch for the black circles opening up beneath you. Only move forward or backward. If you do not have a beam, still stick close to Netherspite, and remind your whole guild to do so as well. Everyone takes AoE damage, and if they are out of range of their healers, they die. When you run to the wall as Netherspite banishes, encourage everyone to bandage so you can conserve your mana.

Chess
Pick a piece. Use its abilities. Kill the enemy’s King. Win! (Our Chargers seem to always be the pieces which kill the King, go figure.)

Nightbane
Keep yourself at max range from the tank; this will help you avoid any and all AoE fears. Barkskin during rain of bones and try to keep HoTs ticking on as many people as you can. Move out of the Scorched Earth, and keep on your toes. Nightbane loves to decimate unwitting raids.

Prince
Prince can be a jerk in more ways than one. To eliminate most of your infernal problems, keep most of your ranged at the doorway and put the tank at max distance along the left wall. During Phase 1, feel free to throw HoTs on the melee and anyone else taking damage. Watch for Phase 2 at 60% and get every HoT on the main tank. Tell your melee to bandage if necessary, but your tank must be fully HoTted at all times. When Phase 3 arrives, you can relax a bit on your main tank. Barkskin when axes come for you, and make sure everyone who takes damage from them calls it out so you can throw them a heal or two.

Well, there you have it! A quick overview of all the bosses in Karazhan, except the animal bosses. But, ah, not many people do those, and I personally never have.

Good luck, and happy raiding!

Reliquary Down!

Reliquary of the Lost was downed by Sunder on Sunday night, and I was there for it. My first guild first in my new guild! Huzzah!

Loot:
[Grips of Damnation] (Hunter), [Naturewarden's Treads] (Elemental Shaman)

Here's a quick overview of the fight:

RoS is a very interesting fight. First phase is intense, since no one can heal. Druids can't dispell the soul drain, so if you can do it, put up Insect Swarm on the boss to help it miss people. Pop Barkskin when you're fixated, and only take a Fixate once unless you're a feral druid with enough HP to take it twice. All you can do is DPS, so keep it up until Desire.

When Desire is out, keep an eye on the dps. Be aware of who has high burst damage and get HoTs up on them before Deaden is active so they have a little leeway. Don't bother minding your mana, as it's constantly being decreased and the ghosts will fill it back up at the end anyway.

Anger has to be burned and fast. You will start taking too much damage too quickly the longer he is alive. On the flip side, your tanks will have to burn through their rage/mana to keep it from burning them, so your dps will be riding your tank's tail for the whole fight. I'd advise you to save your Nature Protection Potion for when Spite falls on you instead of popping it in the beginning; if you don't get Spite you'll want your Health Potion ready to go. Pop Barkskin when you think you need it, and Tranquility is one of the most amazing group heals for this boss. Make sure you use it, especially if you're in the main tank group. Your guild should have CoH priests and resto shamans assigned to the raid for this; your HoTs cannot keep up and cannot stack fast enough. Instead, make sure all your HoTs, and I mean all of them, are on the main tank. Throw a few on yourself and others, but keep HoTs ticking.

When we downed RoS, six people remained alive (and luckily two of them were paladins), including myself. The main tank died at roughly 3% of the boss; we burned them down. The holy paladin Sharlet got the killing blow on RoS.

This is a fun, fast-paced, technical fight.

Don't kick the Deadens, rogues.

I am NOT a Potted Plant

I’m calling shenanigans. Tree Form has to be a colossal joke upon the entire druid class. I’m not kidding.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Tree of Life Form. It’s spectacular with its aura and the reduction in mana-cost to healing. The tree dance is great (let’s do the twist, kids), and the animations we have are hilarious. I love to “sleep” by sticking my little root feets into the ground and hang my head.

But the fun stops there. And, oddly enough, it is stopped by what is perhaps the weirdest and most arbitrary mechanic built into the Tree of Life form:

The 20% speed reduction.

Now, I know there are issues with how Remove Curse isn’t available in Tree Form, but even that doesn’t get my goat as much as this ridiculous mechanic. It actually forces druids to not use the form best suited for their job in upper raid boss encounters. When mobility is an issue, you leave your wooden hide behind and muck it up in caster form.

Well, you say, this is easy enough to do and not that detrimental. Why do we care?

I’ll tell you why.

Look at your Shadow Priest. See that nice, pretty Shadowform? Would you ask the priest to leave Shadowform to DPS? No? What about a Moonkin? Bear tanks? No? So they never, even when mobility is involved, have to leave the forms which maximize their abilities? But, say, if we resto druids have to move a lot on, perhaps, Archimonde, it’s best the Tree is, well, not a tree.

Well, we ask them to switch out if we need an emergency off-healer, you say. And I would reply, of course you do. Because that was not the role that form was designed for. If I’m in a fight where I cannot heal, I am out of tree form and putting up Insect Swarm and Moonfire. But if I’m in a fight where I expect to heal, I expect to be in the form best suited for my intended role.

Being able to “get away” is highly important in many later raid fights. Being in tree form, rather than being an asset to your raid through auras and mana longevity, makes you a detriment to your raid. If you can’t run out of Doomfires, if you take a second longer in the Volcanoes, you are a problem. Most likely, you are also dead.

I am often placed in the main tank group so that my aura can affect as many tanks as possible, increasing the healing output of all healers assigned to them. On half of the fights TK and up, however, I’m a fixture without utility in that group, waiting for trash so my aura can go back up. I cannot keep up with the pain train through gauntlets like the one in ZA or the one before Reliquary of Souls in my Tree Form, and those are perhaps where mana efficiency and a steady stream of good healing on the tanks is needed the most. Half of the Kael encounter I am out of form, I am out of form for Archimonde, Supremus, Void Reaver, even Netherspite, for crying out loud, all because of some silly, weird, completely arbitrary 20% speed decrease.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to how this ridiculous mechanic is necessary. I cannot think of a single reason to keep this mechanic in the tree. Perhaps it is to keep Restoration druids from increasing their healing output in arenas. However, Tree of Life aura is increased by a quarter of your Spirit. Arena gear has no spirit, so healing will be increased only marginally. There is also still the danger of being banished while in form and being out of a fight for much too long. Add in the base mana cost of tree form and it is highly ineffective in arenas.

So, I’ll ask again:

How is the speed reduction anything other than arbitrary?

Wow, You're A Big One

Decisions, Decisions...

While I already had my opinion on the matter, it's come to my attention that not everyone shares this opinion. I'm willing to forgive the fact that this is blasphemy and explore these other ideas.

The topic of the day: PUGs and Guildies.

Now, I'm no longer in a guild. So, I PUG or do things with old guildies who still love me. Twice, on two seperate days, right in a row, however, I was removed from a PUG by the group leader to make way for their guildy.

The first was a hopeful ZA clear that just needed a healer. They explained their guildmate had better gear and had wanted to go. I said cool, no big deal, guildies come first, and left the raid. I then went to ZG with some fun people and played with the raptor guy and Gahz'ranka. No mount or tome, but I did get this cool Primal Hakkari Tabard that I lack the rep to turn in.

The next day it was a heroic Slave Pens run (not the daily), which I was removed from not five seconds after joining, with a whispered apology about a mix-up and a guildy wanting to go. Once again, no big deal.

Now, how I see it is that, no matter my reaction, I was not getting to go in this group. Had I thrown a fit or freaked out, all I would have done was made myself look bad. And honestly, in both groups, I had not gone anywhere, bought anything or gone out of my way before I had been removed, so I had not been inconvenienced in the slightest. I didn't need Cenarion Rep; I'm Exalted. And running Raids with PUGs isn't the most fun, I know. So, not a problem in any sense.

I've also been in the position before of having to decide if we keep the PUG we just picked up or lose them in favor of a guildmate. It's a hard decision, especially when it comes to raids. It's even more difficult for the person who has to tell the PUG "sorry, we can't take you" and deal with the lashback. So, understanding that, my feathers weren't ruffled in the slightest.

Of course, this does not mean I advocate elitist mentalities or other such insulting behavior. I simply understand the problem that can arise from inviting a PUG over a guildmate. Heck, I've seen problems arise when one guildmate is invited over another!

I've always thought Guildies Come First.

I was a little surprised that when I mentioned it off-hand to my friend that he became a tad bit miffed. He said he would never ditch someone he had already invited, as it was the guildmate's fault for not speaking up sooner, or being not being online, or what have you. I can see this side of the argument, especially if you're trying to teach your raiders the consequences of not showing up when they sign up.

Still, in the end, pitching a fit won't change anything, and it is a difficult decision. People also apolgize much more profusely about it if you swear it's okay. Apparantly, being perfectly fine with being removed from a group invokes more guilt than if you had bit back.

Anzu and Utilizing the Spirits; a Healing Guide

So, you've got yourself the epic flight form quest, and you're off to Heroic Sethekk. Or, in my case, a fellow druid has, and you have offered to heal. This is excellent; a druid is the most efficient healer for the Raven Lord fight due to certain peculiarities.

It is not a difficult fight by any means, and can easily be done in your first try as long as everyone is on top of their game.

Anzu has two phases.

In Phase One, he is, mostly, a tank-and-spank. I would suggest being out of tree form unless you have a mage or moonkin who is capable and willing to multi-task; there is a dangerous ability Anzu has called "Spell Bomb." Spell Bomb is a curse which causes the target it affects to be mana burned for a high amount of mana and health whenever the person who is affected by it casts a spell. The only safe spell to use while affected is Decursing spells. Since this ability is not available in tree form, it is better to conserve mana by staying out of tree rather than switching in and out.

Besides Spell Bomb, Anzu has several other abilities. One is called "Cyclone of Feathers," which should be interrupted whenever it is cast. It is much the same as a druid cyclone, and it affects random members of the group (besides the tank). This can be extremely detrimental.

Another spell is Paralyzing Screech. While this has a cast time of five seconds, it is not able to be interrupted. This will stun the entire group for six seconds, so it is imperative that you keep HoTs stacked on the tank before this happens. Your Lifebloom will, more likely than not, expire in this time, so be aware it will have to be restacked.

At 66% and 33% life, Anzu will Banish himself and summon a group of non-elite crows. It is imperative at this time that you keep any AoE dps up, though the whole group will likely be taking damage. Anzu will still cast Spell Bomb at this stage, so this is another thing to watch out for. An addon like Decursive is very helpful in quickly identifying and eliminating the debuffs.

But wait, that sounds like a normal boss fight, not much more intricate than others. You said there was something peculiar about it that made druid casters great healers for this boss. And that I did!

When Anzu is summoned, three friendly NPC's are summoned with him. They are three bird spirits: Hawk Spirit, Eagle Spirit, and Falcon Spirit. These Spirits are arranged in a triangle around Anzu, and it's imperative you're within range of all of them. Standing in the middle of the room becomes a Good Idea.

Why is it important, though? Well, the spirits at the time of summoning are "stone" and require druid HoTs to wake them. As long as a HoT is ticking on them they will be awake and provide certain buffs to the party, or debuffs to the enemy. These are as follows:

Hawk - Players receive 500 less damage from attacks
Eagle - All enemies in the room receive 300 periodic damage (300 damage per second)
Falcon - 25% increase to movement speed, melee haste and casting haste

The most important Spirit to keep up at all times is the arguably the Hawk. This will make your healing job easier, as you will have to split your focus between keeping HoTs on your Spirits, your party, and decursing.

The Eagle is most important in Phase 2, but Anzu has a smaller health pool than many heroic bosses, so it is still worth the druid HoT otherwise.

Falcon is useful in all cases, and, with the change of spell haste lowering the GCD, may be more beneficial for druids in the long run.

There are several accepted macros for making this much easier. They are:

/target Eagle Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

/target Hawk Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

/target Falcon Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

OR

/target [button:1] Hawk Spirit
/target [button:3] Eagle Spirit
/target [button:2] Falcon Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)
/targetlasttarget

The first allows for a set of three buttons you can click depending on which Spirit you wish to target, and then it will return to your last target so you have no downtime in healing your party. The second allows for one macro which changes targets based upon which mouse button is used to click it. Left mouse is 1, right mouse is 2, middle is 3.

Unfortunately, past the end of your epic mount quest, there is not much to look forward to in drops from Anzu for a resto druid. There is a socketable leather dps belt, and there is the rare and coveted mount, but otherwise it is merely for the sake of another badge and some drops for your party members. Which isn't a bad thing, no?

Why Prince is ALMOST Not Worth It

In WoW, there are generally different types of fights for PvE and PvP. You go into one expecting something different for each one. PvP is much more luck-oriented, as no matter how much you think you have a winning strategy for that one type of class, someone’s going to pull something unorthodox, or you’ll fumble your keys, or someone else will come out of nowhere with a stun proc, or someone’s trinket turns you into a chicken, and you have to adapt your gameplan. PvP is half luck and half skill, because no matter your skill, you’re still going up against free-thinking individuals who don’t always play by the rules. The best-laid plans and all that.

In PvE, you learn the encounter, you get it down, and then you go to work. There’s a little variability, such as in the location and patting of spawned mobs or length of time the boss waits past their cooldown to use that one ability, but past a few d/c’s or people hitting their buttons in the wrong order or a little bit of judgement error, there’s not much luck to it. Sure, it can just so happen that as you’re trying to get away from Onyxia’s tail the tank can shift slightly and put it in your face, but otherwise you’re mostly golden. You learn it, you get it down, and you work those bosses like a machine. You learn to follow the Blizzard and not move in Flame Wreath.

However, PvE sometimes throws wildcards at you, and if you do not adjust rapidly, you’ll find yourself trying to figure out why you’re taking a dirt-nap sometimes. Even then, you learn that Apoko is a healer and a dpser, so in the Heroic MrT five man arena fight you have to do something about him and the priestess. Still, there are some fights that just spit on your raid coordination and laugh at your pitiful attempts to be organized. This is why, as per the title, Prince is almost not worth it.

Prior to 2.4, there used to be some “safe spots” which would suffer minimal interference from infernals. One could land behind your dps, or between the casters and dps, and people could still die, but as long as you remained in these areas, you were generally safe. It was slightly gimmicky but there was still challenge to it, and I still had to work hard to keep people healed through enrage and then axes.

Now, post 2.4, all safe spots have been officially removed. Prince has become a complete luck fight. Placement of infernals determines everything. If your tank is in a bad spot, your enfeebled dps or casters are going to eat a faceful of stone and spend the rest of the fight calling out ill-framed direction commands, calling for a brez, or AFKing to get something to drink. You can adapt, but there will be times where your tank has to run through infernals to get anywhere, or your healers have to, or your dps, and that’s when enfeeble will hit to wipe you out. Or you’re adjusting well, until your only escape path is blocked off and you’re sitting there wondering how in the world you’re supposed to dps when none of your melee can get near and your spellcasters are dead.

What is frustrating about Prince is he can stop a well-oiled machine in its tracks. No matter how often you have done Kara, no matter what your guild progression, if you get bad infernal placement, you are boned. Quick dps to get less infernals seems to be the only option, but a lot of lower-end Kara guilds don’t have that option. He also drops the all-important T4 Helm, and, for priest and druid healers, Light’s Justice. He’s not exactly skippable, since his loot isn’t really all that replaceable for at least a little while or 150 badges. My guild skips Netherspite if people aren’t getting the beams down or if he seems particularly buggy (like last time, he banished for twice as long and would randomly shoot nether breaths if you were at max distance, and not if you were next to him), but we cannot justify giving up on Prince until we wipe to the point where people do not want to pay anything more in repair bills. And it varies, night to night. Some nights, we get him first or second try. Other nights, his infernal placement is merciless and we find ourselves taking a dirt nap before we get him down to second phase, or even at the very end of third phase.

Our guild will continue to do Prince because, as I said, the loot is good, we want our T4, and I’m tired of missing out on Light’s Justice. However, he will also continue to be the bane of our Kara runs, who disrupts a well-oiled, working machine into chaos and oblivion.

No matter how we adjust, there always seems to be an infernal in my face. /endQQ

Shackle? Who Needs Shackle?

We went through a period of time where we just could not get anything done. No bosses went down without a supreme struggle, people weren't showing up, people were having peronal issues, on and on the problems went. And then, last night, something miraculous happened.

This miracle did not have an auspicious beginning, to tell the truth. It was raid night, and our raid leader was absent, our guild leader was unsure about whether or not he wanted to go, our warlock backed out. It was shaping up to be a fine mess. I was frazzled, a little frustrated, and a little high-strung. But we decided to do it anyway. We got our people together and headed into Kara. The Hunter CO and I exchanged nervous and slightly pessimistic outlooks on the turnout of the raid.

We had no priest. This shocked people. Our GL (filling in as RL as well) voiced his opinion that we should not move past Maiden. Our team make-up was, as follows:

Two Prot-Spec Pallies
One Arms-Fury PvP-geared Warrior
One Ice Mage
Two BM Hunters
One MM Hunter
One Holy Pally
Two Resto Druids

We wiped early in the beginning on an Attumen pull, as a hunter's pet was feared into another pull and we couldn't hold out. No worries, everyone knew it wasn't anyone's fault. We kept going, and one-shot Atumen like no one's business. Now, we're aware this isn't a big deal, but for a guild who had been having trouble even getting raids going for a week, it was a huge relief.

From there we moved on, Moroes as the second course. We didn't have a shackle and we...were not worried, not much. We're a rather priest-light guild, so we've been working on ways around this adamant need some guilds have to get it done by the book. Then again, we've been using prot pallies since before it was cool, so we're not known for our orthodox measures.

Burn the shadow priest, kite the prot warr. Trap the other two (it isn't really my business to know these; my main goal is to watch the little bars on the left-hand side of my screen). Two hunters on one, one hunter and our holy pally on the other, the pally fearing when necessary. Sorli and Greid tanked Moroes like champs, and he went down with nary a hitch. Sweet deal.

Now, it's Maiden's turn. We weren't worried; after all, we had Sorli with us, the Prot pally in healing gear who saved the whole raid by taking out Maiden's last 1% the last time we'd gone up against the stone lady. Lare, our arms-fury warr, slapped on some tank gear, our protadins, suited up to cleanse, and in we went, ready to make her fall. And fall she did, though once again, no mace has appeared. What a stingy lady. All we do is smack her around a bit.

We're feeling a little more pumped, now, seeing as how our ragtag group full of unorthodoxy is kicking butt without bothering to take names, and we hit the most interesting part of our run. Those nasty duo pulls with the ice shackles. What did we do? Well...hunters might not like this, but we had the two pallies tanking one, and our Warr plus every single one of the hunter pets (with growl turned on) smacking on the other, keeping them off our squishies. Our only casualties of the pulls involving those monsters were myself and one of our BM hunters. Oh, and the pets. They had to be rezzed and treated after every pull. But, we were free! And on to Opera.

Opera was...wow, Opera was interesting. We had Romulo and Julianne. And Julianne got a heal on herself off, no lie, two times, that ended in, no lie, two re-rezzes of Romulo. And we still killed them. My mana was hurting, I felt the pain. But I trucked through it with every trick in my arsenal, as did everyone involved, and they finally fell. And I got this wonderful new dress you see Bellwether wearing at the beginning of the post. The proc on it is called "Love Struck," and I have to say I am quite enamored with it. Last time it dropped, I passed on it so our PUGalicious priest could pick it up. He's helped us out quite a few times, and it was much better for him than me. At the time. Now it's mine! All mine!

We decided, as we have moved through this much without nary a blip, we could continue. So we stormed to the back of the keep and marshalled our way through to Curator. Straight through, with a short break for bio necessities, and it was onto the great construct himself. One-two-three, and our on-again-off-again Resto druid got her Balance t4. I'm so proud.

We called it there, after only an hour and a half in the instance. Hour and a half, and we had taken down Attumen, Moroes, Maiden, Opera and Curator. I feel cleansed.

And oh so pretty.

Encouraging Bad Habits with Good Healing

I have an obsessive need to see everyone's hp bars at full. It's true. I was running Steamvaults with a mix of PuG and guildies when one of our members had to go (it was kind of late). So, we asked our Hunter CO, Harl, to fill in for us. He was nice and gracious and logged off his little priest so we could use his amazing BM dps. Now, I knew he wasn't in the group prior, I knew he wasn't in the instance and he wasn't even in the same zone, but, since we were in battle, immediately as he joined I noticed there was a small chunk of his life missing and I tried to toss him a lifebloom. I was upset when it said "Out of Range." I told my guildmates and they laughed, and Harl thanked me for trying to save him.

You might be thinking, "That's all well and good, but what does it have to do with the title of the blog post?" Well, I'm getting to it.

Due to my excessive need to make sure everyone is alive and well and performing optimally, I cover for others' mistakes. I do overgear for 5-mans. I'm at 1299 +healing with enough mana to ride through most bosses with no innervate or trinketing. Now, some mistakes are honest and unavoidable. The pet got feared into another group. That's what I'm here for, the honest mistakes. I'm geared up as much as I am so that I can keep you alive. It's what I live for, honest. I tried to BG on my hunter and was frustrated with my inability to fill the flag carrier's health bar while he was being attacked.

What I'm really addressing is the attitude that occasionally carries over with a healer who is well-geared and over-geared for an instance. People start to get sloppy. "I can handle the threat because of my gear." No, handling the threat implies you are making sure you are not generating more than the tank, especially when it's a tank who needs practice and wants practice. Making things hard on him is not going to instill confidence.

Unfortunately, due to my obsession with not letting people die and my fear of being yelled at, I cover for others' purposeful mistakes as well as innocent ones, as I'm sure many do. It's difficult sometimes to just let your teammate die because they are playing the "who has more threat" game, because healers tend to feel responsible, and they are often held accountable when the group dies. Unfortunately, when people see that they can pull these stunts and get away with it, it just reinforces the idea that they can do it again, and that it's acceptable. Meanwhile, the healer is chain-chugging pots and innervating and working their butt off to make sure everyone in the party stays in tip-top shape in case another pat is pulled. At the same time, the feral druid shifted from kitty to bear to play taunt tug-of-war with the warrior and the hunter is meleeing with his pet unrezzed for half the instance, while the mage wands the CC.

Maybe these are your guildmates, and they're just trying to have some fun and relax. Explain, calmly and clearly with no accusatory language, that you are not having fun, you are not able to relax, and you are using valuable consumables to try and keep them alive while they have their fun. If there is a guildie who is being "trained," as it were, explain that this is setting a bad example and is not helping them to improve their skills. Help them understand that it is not a good idea to screw around in level 70 instances, even if they're geared from SSC and beyond, especially when there are lesser-geared members along. If they continue along the same path, let them die. When they become upset, tell them you explained it and you cannot use your time in such a way. If you're feeling charitable, give them one more chance to fix it. But remember, your repair bill, especially as you start getting to the point where you over-gear for instances, is oftentimes more expensive than what you will get from the instance. Remind them of this.

If it is a PuG, you owe them nothing, and you do not owe them an increase in your repair bill. Explain that you cannot finish it with the group, and leave. Do not be derrogatory or accusatory, simply state that you cannot finish, and leave. If you feel like maybe they will listen, then explain the situation. If it does not improve, you can leave with a clear conscience.

Oh Lazy Pallies...

Running Karazhan, no big! We do it all the time. So what made this run different?

Well, for the first half of the run, I was the workhorse.

Run makeup was (at the time): Sannhet, tankadin extraordinaire; Podias, raid leader and reluctant off-tank feral; Lare, arms warrior with pvp fury unmatched; Esyla, sick and groggy but lock-ariffic; Twalkins, shiny and pally-powered; Hezakarth, totally new mage with wide-eyed gleeful wonderment; Finnvarra, boomkin doomkin deathkin awesomekin; Darelin (and Moonshade), with the traptastic skillz; Evenfall, our puggalicious priest with the shackle we crave; and...me. /wave.

Everything goes great. We down Attumen, one shot. I'm wearing the round condom of shame to signify that everyone needs to stand on top of me (having done nothing shameful, it was either that or wear a "nipple" on my head and at least with a condom I'm protected).

Sannhet is a kickass pally (CC? Whazzat?) and therefore there is only one target to heal throughout the whole boss fight (for those of you who don't know, it's Sann). This allows me to keep 3 stacks of Lifebloom, a rejuvenation and a regrowth on him constantly. I also had to innervate, pop my trinket twice and pot once.

At the end, what does Twalkins say?

"Hey Bellwether, look at our mana."

So, like an obedient little druid, I do.

...huh??

They had barely a chunk out of theirs. Due to our strategic placement, a single heal target and my ever-ticking HoTs, Evenfall and Twalkins had barely had to lift a finger the entire battle. Maybe Even threw out a DoT or two, but...nothing!

On one hand...this means all the time I have spent grinding and pvping and working for gear is starting to pay off.

On the other hand...I worked harder than them all and had to use a valuable mana pot to do what I did when, if they had simply said "You don't have to do that, Bell, conserve your mana," I wouldn't be one pot down.

So. I think, next time the three of us are on Attumen, I'll scale back on the HoTs. And ask for a heal meter next time. And take a screenshot. And make many shaming noises. And pop my Barov's Peasant Caller instead of my trinket.

That'll teach 'em.

Heal Meters

Many people tend to be competitive about things. DPS meters are a good example of this, though they can cause some problems. But what about healing meters?

I have a love-hate relationship with healing meters. In Kara, I'm generally third out of three healers on it for amount healed. I run with two pallys or a pally and a priest generally. Most people would say "that makes sense."

No, no it doesn't.

I'm talking about healing meters where over-heal is factored in. We have very good healers in my guild, and they do their job. But I am a mitigation healer. They are reactive healers. My HoTs stop ticking when their target is health-capped. Reactive healing such as Flash of Light and Greater Heal will hit a target for their amount regardless of where the person's health is, and any extra is lost as "over heal."

Druids can overheal in four ways:

1. The initial burst of Regrowth
2. Swiftmend
3. Healing Touch
4. Lifebloom's bloom (self-only)

Of those four ways, the third is used least of all heals on a druid (save for perhaps Dreamstate spec). Regrowth is the least used HoT of the three, and Swiftmend is situational. And you shouldn't let Lifebloom bloom if you can help it, though Lifebloom's bloom only counts as your own personal heal when it blooms on yourself. A druid's heavy reliance on continuous stacks of Lifebloom and Rejuvenation means, more often than not, we don't overheal, or at least it isn't counted as overheal.

Instead, when using a heal meter, check to make sure the option that counts overheal is removed. Or do a heal per second chart. This should give a more accurate idea of what your healing actually is and how well you are doing. Don't forget to also post pure over-heal, as that should help you see if you need to be more careful when applying your skills with that potential.

As druids are generally employed as "off-healers" who keep HoTs on the tank(s) while spot-healing the raid, you should actually be healing for more, depending on your gear and your other healers.

Just be careful you don't get too competitive! Remember, first priorities are to work with your fellow healers to keep the raid alive. Competition comes second.

Kara Druid Loot List

A druid in my guild asked if there was any loot for druids in Kara.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Karazhan_Loot

Check it out for yourself. Of course there is sweet druid gear. I think I got everything in this list though.

A word to you all...

I marked everything as to what type of druid would get the most from what is available. Of course, Balance and Resto can sometimes have interchangeable gear. However, what I marked as only one of them means that it is my opinion that that type of druid would get first dibs against other druids. This does not include things like rings, off-hands, weapons, necklaces, backs and trinkets where you will have to also compete against other non-leather wearing classes. I did not include cloth items

Trash Mobs
Ring of Unrelenting Storms
Balance druid
Zierhut's Lost Treads
Feral druid

Attumen the Huntsman
Bracers of the White Stag
Balance druid
Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation
Feral druid
Spectral Band of Innervation
Balance druid
Worgen Claw Necklace
Feral druid

Moroes
Brooch of Unquenchable Fury
Balance druid
Edgewalker Longboots
Feral druid
Idol of the Avian Heart
Resto druid - idol (druid only)
Lucky Pocket Watch
Feral druid
Royal Cloak of Arathi Kings
Feral druid
Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran
Balance druid
Signet of Unshakable Faith
Resto druid

Maiden
Barbed Choker of Discipline
Feral druid
Bracers of Maliciousness
Feral druid
Mitts of the Treemender
Resto druid
Shard of the Virtuous
Resto druid

Opera Event
Red Riding Hood's Cloak
Resto druid - Big Bad Wolf
Romulo's Poison Vial
Feral druid - Romulo and Julianne
Earthsoul Leggings
Resto druid - Any Opera Event
Ribbon of Sacrifice
Resto druid - Any Opera Event

Curator
Forest Wind Shoulderpads
Resto druid
Garona's Signet Ring
Feral druid
Staff of Infinite Mysteries
Balance druid
Gloves of the Fallen Defender
Any druid - Tier 4 Glove Token (druid, warrior, priest only)

Illhoof
Cord of Nature's Sustenance
Resto druid
Mender's Heart-Ring
Resto druid
Shadowvine Cloak of Infusion
Balance/Resto druid
Terestian's Stranglestaff
Feral druid - druid only
The Lightning Capacitor
Balance druid

Shade of Aran
Aran's Soothing Sapphire
Resto druid
Drape of the Dark Reavers
Feral druid
Pendant of the Violet Eye
Balance/Resto druid
Rapscallion Boots
Feral druid
Saberclaw Talisman
Feral druid
Shermanar Great-Ring
Feral druid

Chess Event
Bladed Shoulderpads of the Merciless
Feral druid
Forestlord Striders
Resto druid
Girdle of Treachery
Feral druid
Mithril Chain of Heroism
Feral druid
Ring of Recurrence
Balance druid

Netherspite
Cowl of Defiance
Feral druid
Jewel of Infinite Possibilities
Balance druid
Mithril Band of the Unscarred
Feral druid
Shining Chain of the Afterworld
Resto druid
Skulker's Greaves
Feral druid

Prince Malchezaar
Adornment of Stolen Souls
Balance druid
Farstrider Wildercloak
Feral druid
Jade Ring of the Everliving
Resto druid
Light's Justice
Resto druid
Nathrezim Mindblade
Balance druid
Ring of a Thousand Marks
Feral druid
Ruby Drape of th Mysticant
Balance druid
Stainless Cloak of the Pure Hearted
Resto druid
Helm of the Fallen Defender
Any druid - Tier 4 Helm Token (druid, warrior, priest only)

Nightbane
Chestguard of the Conniver
Feral druid
Emberspur Talisman
Resto druid
Nightstaff of the Everliving
Resto druid
Stonebough Jerkin
Resto druid
Talisman of Nightbane
Balance druid

Dalliah the Doomsayer and Tree Form

Most 5-man bosses (heroic and non) are cake for Restoration Tree Druids to heal through. They all have their quirks, but generally we keep our Lifebloom stacked and Swiftmend when appropriate and everything goes well. Perhaps we even chuckle a bit when we get that “increased cast time” debuff. “Oh noes, my instant casts are…still instant cast!” But there’s one boss who can be a real pain if you don’t know what you’re coming up against. That would be Dalliah the Doomsayer of the Arcatraz. This is a guide for those Resto Druids who are Treeform Healers and have never had to come up against this particular boss but are planning on soon/eventually (you need to do Arc for your Kara key and she drops a good off-hand and on heroic a nice healing gem).

Two of her abilities are not your concern. These are her Whirlwind (you should not be standing close enough to her to get hit by this) and her Heal (which is the responsibility of other group members to interrupt; you don’t have one and need to concentrate on healing anyway). The two of her abilities you need to watch for are Gift of the Doomsayer and Shadow Wave.

Gift of the Doomsayer is the reason Treeform Druids have such an issue with this fight. Periodically during the fight she will cast this debuff on the target highest on her aggro list. This should be the tank. When this debuff appears on the tank, all healing needs to stop. This is because this particular debuff (looks similar to Shadow Protection buff with a red box around it) gives the caster (Dalliah) a healing every time the affected (your tank) is healed. This means every potion used, every straight heal and every tick of an HoT will heal Dalliah. Any healing done with this debuff on needs to be emergency only, as it will only prolong the fight. Therefore, it is important to try something new.

Get out of Treeform.

Whenever the debuff is on the tank, do not heal. When the debuff is off, however, cast Regrowth + Swiftmend, then Healing Touch. If your tank is really low on life, Rejuvenation + Swiftmend for a quick jump can be substituted. Repeat Healing Touch if necessary, but be ready to cancel it if the debuff reappears. This is the best way in my experience to heal through Dalliah.

The other attack you have to watch for is only in heroics, and is not as situational as the Gift of the Doomsayer debuff. This is Dalliah’s attack “Shadow Wave.” There are two reasons you need to watch this: 1) it attacks a target for 2500 and gives a debuff lowering Shadow Resistance; 2) it targets the player furthest away from Dalliah. Do not let this be you. Whether you’re with a PUG or Guildies, explain to them this particular nuance, decide appropriately who will be in the back (either due to high Shadow resistance or high HP) and then make sure this player is kept topped-off. This player will not receive the Gift of the Doomsayer debuff, and therefore can be HoT’d to your heart’s content.

As long as your tank and melee immediately exit Whirlwind and someone interrupts her Heal, Dalliah should be an otherwise easy fight.

To add, Dalliah is immune to taunts. Therefore, if you're worried about your tank (most likely happens in a PUG, not with experienced guildies) bring something like a Hypnotist's Watch to lower your threat. Also, your tank, if preferred, could always just "click off" your HoTs, but it adds much more hassle than required than if you simply do not add any.