Monday, September 28, 2009

Best Druid glyphs for your spec/area of play

Glyphs were added with the Insciption profession in Wrath of the Lich King, and they have added a new dimension to character customization. Because there are many druid glyphs, I figured it would be a good idea to write a guide to which ones I think are best. (However, because of the wide number of roles druids can fill and the fact that we don't have many more abilities than other classes, we don't have many glyphs to choose from for each role, so the decision isn't as difficult as it is for other classes.) That said, this is just my opinion, and if you feel you would get more use out of a glyph not mentioned here, feel free to use it.

Major

Balance (Leveling/Solo)
Glyph of Entangling Roots
Considering that Entangling Roots is the one thing keeping a mob from getting all up in your grill (I apologize for using that phrase), the utility of this glyph should be obvious.
Glyph of Wrath
Sometimes, however, no matter what you do, mobs will attack you, in which case its nice to have a spell that you can use without being interrupted frequently.
Glyph of Monsoon
Of course, sometimes you just want to get those pesky mobs out of melee range, and this glyph will help you do that more frequently. (Note: If you don't take Typhoon in your leveling build, then take either Glyph of Innervate or Glyph of Starfall.)

Balance (PvP)
Glyph of Wrath
Though you will have some interruption protection from Nature's Foucs, the fact that many people will probably be attacking you means that an uninterrupted stream of Wrath casts will certainly be helpful.
Glyph of Monsoon
You'll want to keep those players out of melee range as much as possible, so you'll want to be able to knock them back as much as possible.
Glyph of Barkskin
Of course, you will take damage no matter what you do, but with this glyph and with Barkskin up, you'll take less, especially from those stun-happy rogues.

Balance (Raiding)
Glyph of Moonfire
Since most raid battles tend to go on for a long time, Moonfire will do more damage with its DoT than its instant damage, so this glyph is a no-brainer.
Glyph of Starfire
Combine this glyph with Glyph of Moonfire and your Moonfire will be doing very mana efficient damage in no time.
Glyph of Insect Swarm
This one is a bit trickier. If you have a hunter using Scorpid Sting in your raid, then you have nothing to worry about, but otherwise you're tank will be taking a bit more damage. Still, it's worth it to make one of the most mana efficient spells in the game even better.

Feral (Leveling/Solo)
Glyph of Claw
Useful while leveling. However, the moment you get Mangle, replace this glyph with something... anything! (Except for Glyph of Mangle. Since you'll probably be solo-ing in cat form, you'll be using Mangle a lot anyways, so there is no point in getting a glyph that increases its duration.
Glyph of Rake
Keeps your enemies from running away. This way you won't need to chase after those runners to keep them from bringing some of their friends back with them.
Glyph of Berserk
Makes our only offensive emergency ability even better. Berserk is fantastic, so five more seconds of it is even better. That's three more multi-target mangles or 100 more free energy.

As for your third glyph after you hit 80, just take your pick from any of them. These are the only glyphs that directly benefit solo-ing ferals.

Feral (PvP)
Glyph of Berserk
PvP is all about burst damage, so now you can make your burst damage last even longer.
Glyph of Barkskin
This glyph is useful to all specs in PvP, so take it.
Glyph of Survival Instincts
For when you need to be that much harder to kill. Survival Instincts is a great way to add a bit more fight to your druid, so this glyph allows you to add even more fight to your druid.

Feral (Tanking)
Glyph of Frenzied Regeneration
Since this is one of our two defensive cooldowns in Bear Form, why not make it even better? It's going to be draining your threat anyways, so you may as well get the most out of it.
Glyph of Maul
Tanking two targets is a tricky game, but this glyph makes it a bit easier. Since you'll be using maul a lot, you may as well get the most out of it.
Glyph of Survival Instincts
While I personally don't use Survival Instincts, and thus have no use for this glyph, I know that many tanks do, so if you do use Survival Instincts, take this glyph. (If you don't, just take Glyph of Growl.)

Feral (DPS)
Glyph of Savage Roar
You should have Savage Roar up all the time as a raid DPS, so this way you will increase all damage you do by 3%. That's pretty damn good.
Glyph of Rip
Rip is an incredible finishing move, so this glyph makes it even better and gives you more time energy for Shreds of even the occasional Ferocious Bite.
Glyph of Shred
And speaking of Shred, since you will be using it so frequently, you may as well get the most out of it. This glyph makes Rip even better, allowing for a full 22 seconds of bleeding goodness.

Resto (PvP)
Glyph of Barkskin
Because they always seem to go after the healer, for some reason.
Glyph of Regrowth
In the frenzied pace of PvP, I usually end up throwing Regrowths on people whom I have already cast it on, so this glyph will be helpful for you if you do the same thing.
Glyph of Swiftmend
In PvP, you don't have the extra time to re-apply to HoT, so this glyph will be invaluable.

Resto (5-Mans)
Glyph of Swiftmend
So you never need to worry about sacrificing healing later for healing now.
Glyph of Nourish
Though PvE can get very frenzied, you should be collected enough to be able to cast Nourish on your targets with Regrowth active on them, so the Glyph of Regrowth will have limited utility. Thus you'll want to take this glyph instead.
Glyph of Innervate
This is more of a filler glyph than anything, since the really gem of a resto glyph isn't useful until you move on to 10-mans or 25-mans

Resto (Raids)
Glyph of Wild Growth
Ah, here we go. Though this is admittedly more useful in 25-mans than 10-mans, the fact is that it makes one of the best raid-healing spells in the game even better.
Glyph of Nourish
Raid bosses usually end up doing a lot of damage to the tank, damage you can't heal with just your HoTs, so this glyph will be even more useful than it is in 5-mans.
Glyph of Swiftmend
Saves time and saves mana. You know why you love this glyph.

Minor Glyphs:
Since these are mostly matters of personal choice, I'll simply say who I think each glyph is good for and leave the choice up to you. I have ordered these in what I see as order of usefulness, with the most useful ones on the top.
Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth
Though the reagents for Rebirth don't cost very much, this glyph frees you up from needing to carry them around. Although you can drop this glyph if you want three of the glyphs bellow, I recommend it for any druid.
Glyph of Thorns
This glyph is a life saver for any solo-ing or leveling druid. I highly recommend it. Anyone who has ever solo-ed without this glyph knows what a pain it is to keep shifting out of your forms to cast Thorns. It's also pretty useful for tanks in 5-mans, but if you have a druid with spellpower gear on in your group (which is more likely in raids), they should be casting Thorns on you instead
Glyph of Dash
Invaluable for PvP as any spec. Also good as a filler glyph for raiders for those long runs back after wiping on a boss far in the instance.
Glyph of Aquatic Form
This can be a pretty good glyph for people leveling, but its still more of a filler glyph than anything. Take it if you don't want anything else.
Glyph of the Wild
Nothing more than a filler glyph, but still worth taking if you are a raider and have an empty glyph slot to fill.

And those are what I think are the best druid glyphs. This is just opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt if you want, but I think you'll agree with at least some of what I say here. As for which order you take your glyphs in while leveling, I leave that up to you. By the time you unlock you first glyph slots at level 15, you should know enough about your playstyle to know which glyphs will help you the most.

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