2. Balance leveling

2) Balance Leveling v3.1
Okay, so now that the new talents are out, Balance looks like it is finally a viable leveling build, especially at higher levels (40+). At very low levels, you may not have a lot of mana, so remember that you don’t lose your other forms just because you have points in this tree. Keep plenty of water and drink as needed. Keep in mind that your gear matters a lot as a caster (so read parts of section 6 & 7 that apply to balance).

Balance Tree (so you wanna be a Moonkin):

Click here for the 3.2 update version post. Either of the two builds will work.

From the balance tree:

  • 10-14: Starlight Wrath 5/5 – Decreased casting time means more damage done.
  • 15-17: Moonglow 3/3 – At low levels, you’ll have to stop and drink all the time, but this will give you a little more mana efficiency.
  • 18-19: Nature’s Majesty 2/2  – A little crit is nice, and you have to take it to unlock later talents.
  • 20: Nature’s Splendor 1/1 – Makes your moonfire (and soon insect swarm) last longer.
  • 21-23: Nature’s Grace 3/3 – gives you haste bonus (speeds up your casting) after you get a critical strike.
  • 24: Nature’s Reach 1/2 – gives you longer range
  • 25-27: Celestial Focus 3/3 – Gives you spell pushback protection for starfire (yay!). Also speeds up your casting times (ie. gives you haste).
  • 28-30: Vengeance 3/5 – Only put three in here for now. We’ll come back and fill the rest out later!
  • 31: Insect Swarm 1/1 – Got a nice damage boost in the 3.1 patch. This should be worthwhile for leveling now.
  • 32-34: Lunar Guidance 3/3  – Increases your spell power, based on how much intellect you have.
  • 35-37: Moonfury 3/3 – Increases your damage done for starfire, moonfire, & wrath
  • 38-39: Dreamstate 2/3 – Gives you some mana regeneration, but only put 2 in here for now so you can get:
  • 40: Moonkin 1/1 – Yay! Finally moonkin form!
  • 41: Dreamstate 3/3 – Now, you can go back and put the final point in dreamstate.
  • 42-43: Vengeance 5/5 – You can also go back and put those last 2 points in vengeance.
  • 44-45: Balance of Power 2/2 – Increases your chance to hit things, and decreases their chance to hit you.
  • 46-48: Imp Moonkin 3/3 – Gives you and your group more haste (for even faster cast times), and gives you more spell damage from spirit.
  • 49 – 2/2 Nature’s Reach – This is a good point to fill out that talent before you get…
  • 50: Treants! – Summons little tree buddies to attack for you.
  • 51-55: Wrath of Cenarius 5/5 – Gives you more damage
  • 56-58: Earth and Moon 3/3 – Even more spell damage
  • 59-61: Owlkin Frenzy 3/3 – When something hits you, you do more damage & don’t get interrupted.
  • 62: Starfall 1/1 – A new AOE spell
  • 63-64: 2/2 Gale Winds – Buffs your AOE spells (hurricane & starfall), so you can kill more things at once.

Dipping into restoration:

  • 65-69: Furor 5/5 – Increases your intellect in moonkin form.
  • 70-71 – Imp Mark of the Wild 2/2 – Increases stats by 2% and also increases your MOTW buff.
  • 72-74: Natural Shifter 3/3
  • 75: OOC 1/1 – When you gain this buff, your next spell cast is free.
  • 76-77: Master Shape Shifter 2/2: increases your damage done by 4%.

Here is what the talent build would look like.

At that point, there are still 3 talent points left to spend, which you could invest in Eclipse, brambles, or intensity while finishing your way up to 80. At level 80, you would change your talent spec into whatever spec bests fits your role at level 80.

I decided, for the sake of time, to just use the leveling spec I put in my blog post a couple weeks ago. To see comments other people have posted about the spec, you can look at the original blog post.