Druid - Balance

Purpose

Balance druids have a dual purpose - both ranged DPS and support. With abilities such as an in-combat ressurrection, a giftable mana regen ability, and a 5% buff to spell crit moonkins bring much more to the table than similar spellcasters of other classes.

Talents

Core Raiding Build∞

This is the core of the Raiding Moonkin build for most high level raiders. Note that it does leave two points unspent. How you use these points is a matter of personal preference. Some choose a little more mana regen from Intensity. Others go for a little more DPS with talents like Gale Winds. Also, If your not worried about mana at all then you can shift two points out of Moonglow and put them in Improved Moonfire.

Ability Rotation

As with most dps classes in WotLK, there is no set dps rotation but rather a priority system. The generally accepted method of dps as a moonkin rotates around a particular talent, Eclipse.

1) Apply Faerie Fire
2) Apply DoTs, Insect Swarm and Moonfire
3) Cast Wrath until an Eclipse proc happens (this is what is referred to as a "Lunar" Eclipse).
-- 3a) If an Eclipse proc does not occur before Insect Swarm and Moonfire fall off, reapply those and go back to (3)
4) Starfire until Eclipse falls off.
-- 4a) If your DoTs fall off, refresh moonfire only during the first third (5 seconds) of an Eclipse proc. Do not refresh Insect Swarm during Eclipse.
5) Refresh Insect Swarm, Moonfire, and Faerie Fire (if needed) and continue again at (3)

Put another way, try to keep 100% uptime on Faerie Fire, Insect Swarm, and Moonfire. If all 3 are up and you have no Eclipse buff, cast Wrath. If the Eclipse buff is up, cast Starfire.

Key Cooldowns

1. Force of Nature∞ - The trees, used judiciously, can increase your DPS dramatically. They are controlled via a standard pet bar, and their damage scales with both the Brambles talent and your spellpower. They are fragile, however, so be careful what you drop them into.
2. Innervate∞ - The original flavor of mana regen. Typically a Moonkin may be asked to spend this on another character in the raid. If such is not needed, go wild. The Glyph of Innervate helps here by giving you some mana return even for donating this spell to another player.
3. Starfall∞ - Kind of a hybrid spell since it is affective both on a single target and on a group of mobs. The negitive side to it is that the player has no control over who it targets. It may target mobs of minor importance thus wasting the DPS. It may also target mobs not already in combat resulting in unintentional pulls.
4. Eclipse∞ - Differs from the others listed here in that this is a passive ability; nonetheless, it does carry a cooldown and well-managed eclipse procs can add an easy 200 DPS to the druid's damage contributions; this number can rise sharply based on raid composition, set bonuses and the encounter.
   While the eclipse buff (proc'd off Starfire and Wrath Critical Strikes) lasts for 15 seconds, the hidden cooldown is 30 seconds from the start of the buff. This results in a period of 15 seconds after the end of the eclipse buff where spell critical strikes will not proc eclipse

Stats (In Order of Importance)

1.) Hit Rating (Spell Hit)
2.) Spell Power
3.) Spell Haste
4.) Spell Crit

Recommended Glyphs

1) Starfire∞
2) Moonfire∞
3) Insect Swarm∞ or Innervate∞ depending on the raid's need for Innervate.

Recommended Minor Glyphs

1) Unburdened Rebirth∞ As a caster with a battle rez, removing the reagent on your Rebirth spell is extremely useful.

Elitist Jerks on Moonkin Glyphs∞

Recommended Enchants

Head - Arcanum of Burning Mysteries (+30 spellpower/+20 crit rating, Kirin Tor Revered)

Shoulder - Greater Inscription of the Storm (+24 spellpower/+15 crit rating, Sons of Hodir Exalted) or Lesser Inscription of the Storm (+18 spellpower/+10 crit rating, Sons of Hodir Honored)

Cloak - Greater Speed (+23 haste rating) or Speed (+15 haste rating)

Chest - Powerful Stats (+10 all stats) or Super Stats (+8 all stats)

Wrists - Superior Spellpower (+30 spellpower) or Greater Spellpower (+23 spellpower) or Exceptional Intellect (+16 intellect) or Greater Stats (+6 stats)

Gloves - Precision (+20 hit rating) or Exceptional Spellpower (+28 spellpower)

Legs - Brilliant Spellthread (+50 spellpower /+20 spirit) or Shining Spellthread (+35 spellpower/+12 spirit)

Boots - Icewalker (+12 hit rating/+12 crit rating) or Tuskarr's Vitality (+15 stamina /Minor Speed)

Weapon - Mighty Spellpower (+63 spellpower) or Exceptional Spellpower (+50 spellpower)

If you can augment your own armor with tradeskills often those are better than the ones listed above. For example:
Enchanters - Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower (+19 spellpower)
Leatherworkers - Fur Lining - Spell Power (+67 spellpower)

Recommended Consumables

Flask - Flask of the Frost Wyrm (+125 Spell Power)

Battle Elixir - Spellpower Elixir (+58 spellpower)

Guardian Elixir - Elixir of Mighty Thoughts (+45 intellect)

Food
Tender Shoveltusk Steak (+46 spellpower/+40 stamina) or Firecracker Salmon (+46 spellpower/+40 stamina) or Shoveltusk Steak (+35 spellpower/+30 stamina)

Additional Tips

- Download the addon Squawk and Awe to help manage DoTs, Eclipse Procs, and the Eclipse internal cooldown.

- Never cancel a cast unless finishing it will result in your own death or the death of others. The time lost canceling and starting over is worth more dps than casting another spell. In particular, this means that if you see an Eclipse proc but start another Wrath because of latency, let it go and start the Starfire right after.

Sources and Other Resources

Elitist Jerks Druid Forum∞
Elitist Jerks Moonkin for Dummies∞
Spell hit - WoWWiki∞
The Moonkin Repository∞