Warden questions from a returning but newbish player

jrt66 · 11-08-2012, 06:35 PM

Hi wardens...Please bear with me. I played the game sporadically several expansions ago, but never got any traction. I restarted a little while ago, first with a dirge, and now a warden. The warden, at 88, is my highest level. Other than a few pug's very early on, it's been entirely solo. I took it slowly as I was advised to lv lock for AA, so I have 313 aa. I didn't expect to get this far without much grouping, but as the game is mature, there just hasn't been that many opportunities. Plus, with either a Pally or SK merc, soling has been easy if not fast. Unfortunately, as I approach the lvl for SS faction groups etc., I'll admit that I have some stagefright SMILEY I have a few quesitons which I hope aren't too dumb...I've read these forums as well as Flames, but again as the game is mature there isn't a lot of really recent info.

I've followed the path of a melee warden, and have spec'd for that with AA. One question that nags at me...do you keep both the 'casting' version and the melee version (of dawnstrike and icefall) on your hotbars, or do melee druids only use the melee version? And related to that, can I use the melee hotbutton as my guideline as to when I'm in melee range? In other words, if the melee hotbutton isn't greyed out, I can assume that I will land melee hits? I ask this because in many situations, it seems like I'm pretty far away from the mob but can still use those melee combat arts. This seems important given a lot of the healing comes from procs on landing a melee hit. Finally - although I'm bought into the melee spec, why do the cast spells list more damage than the combat art?

Also - Rosvita's flames guide seems to suggest a 2 hander vs. 1 hander and buckler. For lack of a better word...why? Two handers have bigger damage spreads, but are 6 second delay. If we proc heals on melee hits, don't we want to swing more often?

Power hasn't been too much trouble, but again I haven't been in any intense groups. On really long fights with the pally merc, I've used the SC full power pot. Nevertheless, when healing do you consider power cost when casting, or just focus on the healing. Put another way...does running out of power happen much, and are you considered lousy if you do?

On the big 'emergency' heals with long recasts, do you use your own discretion, or will tanks/group leaders give you a heads up that the tough fight is coming up, so don't use it now? Same question with cyclone.

If anyone feels willing to help with these questions, it would be much appreciated - thanks!

11-08-2012, 06:35 PM	#1
jrt66 Lord Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 11	Hi wardens...Please bear with me. I played the game sporadically several expansions ago, but never got any traction. I restarted a little while ago, first with a dirge, and now a warden. The warden, at 88, is my highest level. Other than a few pug's very early on, it's been entirely solo. I took it slowly as I was advised to lv lock for AA, so I have 313 aa. I didn't expect to get this far without much grouping, but as the game is mature, there just hasn't been that many opportunities. Plus, with either a Pally or SK merc, soling has been easy if not fast. Unfortunately, as I approach the lvl for SS faction groups etc., I'll admit that I have some stagefright I have a few quesitons which I hope aren't too dumb...I've read these forums as well as Flames, but again as the game is mature there isn't a lot of really recent info. I've followed the path of a melee warden, and have spec'd for that with AA. One question that nags at me...do you keep both the 'casting' version and the melee version (of dawnstrike and icefall) on your hotbars, or do melee druids only use the melee version? And related to that, can I use the melee hotbutton as my guideline as to when I'm in melee range? In other words, if the melee hotbutton isn't greyed out, I can assume that I will land melee hits? I ask this because in many situations, it seems like I'm pretty far away from the mob but can still use those melee combat arts. This seems important given a lot of the healing comes from procs on landing a melee hit. Finally - although I'm bought into the melee spec, why do the cast spells list more damage than the combat art? Also - Rosvita's flames guide seems to suggest a 2 hander vs. 1 hander and buckler. For lack of a better word...why? Two handers have bigger damage spreads, but are 6 second delay. If we proc heals on melee hits, don't we want to swing more often? Power hasn't been too much trouble, but again I haven't been in any intense groups. On really long fights with the pally merc, I've used the SC full power pot. Nevertheless, when healing do you consider power cost when casting, or just focus on the healing. Put another way...does running out of power happen much, and are you considered lousy if you do? On the big 'emergency' heals with long recasts, do you use your own discretion, or will tanks/group leaders give you a heads up that the tough fight is coming up, so don't use it now? Same question with cyclone. If anyone feels willing to help with these questions, it would be much appreciated - thanks!