Restoration Talent Builds

[BGrifter]

Hey, somebody had to start the inevitable "Here's what I have sketched up on the talent calculator" thread. :D Currently in the mid 20s and reaching the point where i'm going to have to make some decisions where to go with my talent points, haven't seen too many threads discussing specific abilities rather than whole trees so I figured i'd toss one up and see what comes of it. :)

The Base:
Restoration:
5x Improved Mark of the Wild
5x Nature's Focus
4x Improved Healing Touch
1x Gift of Nature
5x Improved Rejuvenation
1x Nature's Swiftness

Pretty standard core, nothing too unusual, the 5th point for Healing Touch would be nice. At this point i'm pretty much decided on pushing thru to Innervate, which means:

5x Reflection
5x Subtlety
1x Innervate

Bumps the total up to 32 points in Restoration. Again, nothing here too outrageous, pretty standard Restoration talents.

Where things become interesting is what to do with the rest of the points. Five points in Improved Regrowth would be very nice (especially in light of the recent thread), and with all of the shifting to Cat Form i've been doing lately Intensity looks much better than I would have initially guessed. Could toss five points in each, an extra in Healing Touch, and play with some of the roots abilities over in Subtlety. I'd probably sketch up something along these lines:

5x Improved Regrowth
5x Intensity
1x Improved Healing Touch

1x Nature's Grasp
4x Improved Nature's Grasp
2x Nature's Reach
1x oddball point left over

Not tremendously excited about the stuff from the Balance tree, but overall not too bad. If Cat Form slacks off as badly as some claim at higher levels that's pretty much exactly what i'd push for. I suppose the crux of the question is, are the rumors exaggerated about how poorly Cat Form fares in the 40+ range? If it's still worthwhile (meaning that the standard Moonfire/Faerie Fire/shift to Cat/shift out for healing soloing is still optimal) then i'd give some serious thought to dipping into the Feral tree. It'd probably look something like this:

5x Ferocity
5x Sharpened Claws
5x Improved Prowl
2x Improved Shred
1x Faerie Fire (Cat)

The first two are just prereqs, so the tradeoff appears to be Improved Prowl, Shred and the convenience of in-form Faerie Fire vs Regrowth and Intensity. There appears to be no middle ground here, Shred/FF are the reason for dipping into Feral, without them any points are a waste.

Any ideas? Any rave reviews for Intensity, Nature's Grasp, or Improved Regrowth?

[Chikitar]

In my experience, natures grasp almost immediately roots the mob. I see no need for improved. (If I remembre right, this ups the percentage that it will root right?) Improved regrowth sounds very very nice. I use it alot in groups, as well as solo.

[Ndainye]

Personally I think that any druid that is planning to be in caster form the majority of the time should take balance to 11 and get omen of clarity. Using OOC I generally get at least 1 proc per fight when using staff and several per fight when using dagger. It keeps me fighting longer with less down time and very often saves my butt when I have an add or a chain of mobs with no regen time.