Crusaders of Light

In the early days, the reason to chose Druid was mainly to be able to shapeshift into cool animal forms and to be able to do more than just 1 thing. But now, we realy end up doing a single thing (mostly healing).

But after The Burning Crusade there are some nice possibilities to go back again to ''a bit of all''. Though still not all guilds are a fan of this idea, more people seem to get interested by the idea of this versibility.

There are two Hybrid specs possible, Balance/Resto and Feral/Resto. This page will focus on the Balance/Resto for now.

Hybrid Druid (Balance and Resto)

There are several hybrid specs between the two trees and i tried a lot of them. I define hybrid by the fact you do NOT have 41-points in either of the talent trees. Reason is... well, with 41 in a single tree, there won't be anything to hybrid about. As a tree you cant deal damage, also you might as well spend the rest of your points in the Restoration tree that way. And for 41-Balance, you might as well get the other talents for extra damage (and take like 18 points in Resto for other cool stuff as Moonkin :P).

Swift Moonkin (40/0/21)

There are several Druids who like this spec very much. It is an Arena-spec, with the instant heal as nice back-up if you are close to losing one of your teammates or yourself. Since Force of Nature is pretty weak against some opponents, this spec might end up to be better. But for PvE it is better to not waste talents on some healing ofcourse.
There isn't a lot to say about this spec, it is damage-only mixed with a bit of healing. Gear is ofcourse whatever you focus on as Moonkin, won't discuss that in here.
Requirements: Lunar Guidance, Moonglow, Dreamstate, Moonkin, Wrath of Cenarius, Intensity, Nature's Swiftness

Restokin (34/0/27)

This build is the best known Hybrid spec, normaly known as Restokin or HT-spec. This is because of the very high mp5 you can get with the dreamstate from the Balance tree. This makes HT-casts good to use, also downgraded HT.
Another great part of this spec is that you can do more than just healing. It happens that some bosses got mutliple fases, but not all need your healing. Go Moonkin and you can do good damage and hopefuly they are smart enough to put you in a caster group so they can your aura aswell.
Bosses this spec was great on were for example Relinquary of Souls (dmg/heal phases), Gurtogg Bloodboil (realy high mp5) and new bosses mostly require high mp5 (and flasks), so it is a very good spec in my opinion.
Disadvantage though is not having Swiftmend, though that spell isn't needed with your HT-spells ofcourse.
With gear, your focus should be on intellect (doh!), mp5 and you will always need the +healing or if you reach Black Temple, get spellhaste. And ye, make sure you got good damage gear aswell ;)
They loved this spec in my 5on5 Arena team, with the aura and possibility to be a back-up healer. This spec is pretty much useful in every Arena size, but you will always need a real damage dealer to win battles. As a main healer in an Arena team this spec should be avoided though.
Requirements: Lunar Guidance, Moonglow, Dreamstate, (Moonkin), Naturalist, Intensity, Tranquil Spirit, Nature's Swiftness, Empowered Touch, Gift of Nature (4/5)

Cheapmend (27/0/34)

Not like Restokin, this spec is more focussed on HoTs. Yes, more... not 100%! The big chance here is losing the dreamstate and getting swiftmend. It still has the low mana-costs, so it's a great spec before you realy get the high-end gear. The ''cheap'' in the name refers to the mana ofcourse. Thats why you need talents to reduce mana or get extra mana regen.
While Restokin was pretty much Balance in PvP, this spec is realy hybrid there. Normaly i would say its better to be a healer, but it seemed realy useful as a 5th player of the team. As a player who has a bit of everything, you can do a lot in Arena and add to the group what is needed against your opponents. In 2on2 and 3on3, you realy are forced to heal with this spec and do some DoTs and Cyclones when possible.
Focus on gear should be on a bit of all... find a nice combination. Keep a nice balance between spirit and mp5, get enough int and +healing.
Requirements: Lunar Guidance, Moonglow, (Nature's Grace), Naturalist, Intensity, Nature's Swiftness, Empowered Touch, Gift of Nature, Swiftmend

Crit-Regrowth (24/0/37)

This spec is totaly based on using Regrowth as main-healing spell. With your realy high critchance (should be around 60%) on Regrowth, chance is realy big you get 0.5sec less casting time on your next one. Great for use with downranked ofcourse, making it a very useful raid healing spell.
The spell is still a pretty expensive heal, so best is to pick Moonglow as a talent to reduce the costs. But if you have enough of this, you better take Luner Guidance.
In Arena this will always be a main healer spec, and a realy useful one aswell. With your fast (and even faster!) casts and possible Swiftmend you shouldn't have a big problem keeping players up. Natural Perfection is a must-have for this spec, which is a realy nice addition for Arena aswell.
As you will keep on casting, mp5 is the stat you need. Ofcourse +healing never hurts, but that is standard on every gear anyway.
Requirements: Lunar Guidance or Moonglow, Nature's Grace, Naturalist, Intensity, Nature's Swiftness, Gift of Nature, Improved Rejuvenation, Improved Regrowth, Swiftmend, Natural Perfection

Int-Healing (23/0/38)

Maybe the strangest spec to chose from these hybrid possibilities, it is the one I am using right now. In here Lunar Guidance is a must-have in the Balance Tree, and in Restoration everything has to be considered for HoTs (though some extra for HT is still nice, still might wanna consider EmpTouch). Why take this spec you might think, well... Not all want to have Tree of Life (ToL), and some don't have the gear for it (spirit). Also, this spec can generate even higher HoT's then a tree or at least equal.
Resto gear in later dungeons is either based on spirit+healing or int+mp5. Tier-sets are a combination of both, so that allows some free-choice. If you pick the spirit+healing, stop reading and just go spec ToL ;). In the other case, dont waste talents on ToL and Living Spirit. Get Lunar Guidance for nice +healing.
In Arena this spec is as useful as the above 2 specs for healing, it just requires good mp5 from your side. It works the same as a ToL-Druid, but you can't be banished and can still deal some damage. Especialy in smaller Arena-teams, this spec is in my opinion better, especialy if you end up in a 1-on-1 situation.
For gear, as said: get int and mp5, but some spirit wouldn't hurt either.
Requirements: Lunar Guidance and Empowered Touch combo (6 points to devide, best is imo 3/3 and 3/5), Naturalist, Intensity, Nature's Swiftness, Gift of Nature, Improved Rejuvenation, Swiftmend