Real quick question.
I now have a gabillion alts that I’m going to be leveling at approximately the same rate.
I have the clever idea of getting them all started, setting them aside to gain rest XP and then cycling through them to deplete rest XP.
Since there are only 3 races I will play on the Alliance side, I’m looking at repeating a lot of content in a very short period of time.
To avoid boredom burnout, I have an equally clever idea to rotate dungeons in the leveling process as soon as they are available. It should be interesting to see the same dungeon from different perspectives close to the same time.
I know, I still haven’t gotten to the question yet, I lied about it being quick.
Dual spec isn’t available until 30 or 40 (I can’t even remember) and I am interested in exploring both DPS and healing specs (and maybe, just maybe tanking).
Prior to dual spec, what is the etiquette for spec selection in the dungeon queue?
I’m not sure how much I’m gimping the group if I join up as a resto druid even though my points are in balance.
And I’ll leave you with a second question, posed by one of my guildmates:
clearcasting 
Dual spec is lvl 30.
You could probably get away at the beginning with healing as balance, but it will not be great. Your group might get suspicious when you have to drink after almost every pull.
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Disc Priests can get away with DPSing… but it’s always going to be the lowest in the group unless someone really sucks. But it can be pretty decent. On bosses as a disc priest I can get 2nd in DPS easily.
Not sure that druids would be the same because Disc Attonement is meant to be a sorta DPS/Heal hybrid where that synergy probably does not exist in Druid classes.
I wonder if it would work better the other way and you DPS as resto… cast them wraths! heh. Least nobody would die when you queued heals/dps.
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My only real experience of this comes from healing a lowbie dungeon or two on my balance druid. It’s doable, but not ideal. As long as you get a fairly good group, things should work out okay, but if you get a huntard pulling everything or some newb trying to tank in cloth, it’ll get real ugly. Main problem is mana efficiency. Not having meditation sucks, especially if you’re a class that has mana problems to begin with, like a priest or a druid.
Might be better to spec for healing first and queue as both a healer and a DPS. You’ll usually end up healing, and if you don’t, most lowbie groups won’t suffer at all from one person having low damage. Killing the bosses might take 15 seconds instead of 10.
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So from level 15 to 30 either I have to respec before joining a dungeon as a healer or I have to potentially kill my group as balance or I have to solo as resto in between dungeons.
This is silly. Dual spec should be available at level 15, when you can get in to dungeons. Bet we would get more tanks and healers that are specced appropriately.
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Based on my experience with my shaman (and, to a lesser extent, my pally), questing as a healer doesn’t get painful until around level 30, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
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I think i healed as shadow once in a low lvl dungeon and once as elemental. its not bad. :)
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I’m doing my whole 10×85 challenge, so we’re very much in the same boat (that’d be all ten classes to 85). I’m on my 7th now, so things are starting to wear a little thin. Here’s a few tips:
Your rested bonus in early levels is going to evaporate like crazy – as in after maybe 1 dungeon it’ll be gone. Later, it’ll last longer, but early on, don’t worry so much about having rested bonus. Play on the toon you’re liking the most, which helps offset boredom more than anything else.
Tank or heal whenever you can. Your queues will be ridiculously faster, meaning you can get more done and have more fun. Additionally, while it might seem scary, it’s not. Low level dungeons are painfully lenient to mistakes, so don’t worry.
Make every character a gather/gatherer; it doesn’t matter which two. You can always go back later and do what you need to to switch to a crafting profession, but you’ll have so much money from double gathering it won’t matter. Plus fast mounts on every toon is always nice.
Don’t sell PvP short. I hate PvP, yet with the right toons, I had a LOT of fun leveling in it. I wouldn’t do it end game, and I wouldn’t do it on every toon, but with the right toons, you can have a blast and break the dungeon monotony.
Try to utilize the massive amount of leveling zones for when you’re not in a queue. Do EK with two toons, Kalimdor with two others, and even then you can completely avoid overlap in questing up until BC. Plan it out to some extent.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Shoot me an email some time if you want to talk more about it, particularly the PvP side; I had several sources who gave me tips as a leg up since I knew nothing about the BGs when I first started in them.
Oh! Heirloom gear when you can; even if nothing else, you can probably get the helm and cloak simply for a few thousand gold (if you have it).
Have fun!
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The last time I levelled a druid from scratch without heirlooms was at the end of wrath, so dual-spec wasn’t an option until level 40, and I healed 5-mans in balance spec all the way.
Whether your run is smooth or not will mostly come down to the rest of the group composition. If you’re healing a tank who is properly specced and geared and understands his abilities, and you have DPS that will let the tank pull for himself, then you’ll be laughing your way to the XP bank. You could probably heal with bandages.
However, if the tank is pulling the same trick as you, and is acutally a balance druid in Int gear who thinks tanking in cat form is okay because it’s prettier than bear (I’ve seen it more times than I would have liked, it’s amusing the first time, and only the first time) and your dps think that Leeroy Jenkins was an early Tankspot how-to guide, then yeah, you’re in trouble. But you were probably in trouble anyway.
Basically, go for it. It’s less faff than respeccing, it’s less tedious than questing as resto (just don’t even try that zomg) and it’s actually more fun than running dungeons in the proper spec with full pimping heirlooms because that’s not a challenge and after the 100th Scarlet Monastary run (keep count on all toons, I dare you) you’ll be bored to tears. At least in balance you’ll have to pay attention.
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