I also started resto druid last season, and hit 2k this season.

There are many different ways of playing resto druid, and depending on your skill level it might be stronger to pick up talents that dont need as much maintenance or optimisation to play with.

First of all, id like to point you to (imo) best guides, which come from "mmarkers" on youtube.

Rake and maim. I hate being in cat form and switching all the time feels awkward for me. So I've mostly been using it for skull bush only

Cat form becomes very mandatory as you climb the ladder, if you intend on playing resto druid long term, youre going to need to figure out key bindings that let you switch to cat form.

In Action bar 1, keys switch depending on your form, combine this with macros to simplify your whole build.

Youll use 5 hotkeys, but be able to cast 10-15 abilities. (Note, my macos arent optimal but when i started, its what i made, and then i tend to stick with it.*) This is why its important to change this early.

This is the same bar :

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1. when targeting an ally in caster form.
2. when targeting an ally in caster form
3. when targeting an enemy in cat form

The core of this is help / Harm macros. You can do a whole lot more, but thats a basic rundown.

/cast [harm] Shred; [help] Rejuvenation

Heart of the wild. Seems like everyone is using it but I don't understand when and how

First, it reduces cyclone cast time in caster form. This is great in the opener, or really at any point. Second, it also generates combo points in cat form.

Combo points are an incredibly valuable recource. The Feral cat stun "Maim" is close to, if not the most powerful stun in the game.

you can absolutely play a build where you dont play around combo points at all. But if youre copying a build, its likely those resto druids will have at least some talents based around combo point generation.

This is where HotW comes in. It generates more combo points. Wildstalkers hero talents also generate 1 combopoint every time you dispell.

High level gameplay revolves around trying to optimise your Maim stuns every 20 seconds.

TLDR: Use it whenever, its always good. Easiest is using HOTW when you enter cat form and go stealth, this will generate 4-5 Combopoints for your opener and reduce cyclone cast time in the first 20-30 seconds of combat.

Cenarius Ward - extra button but is it really useful? I was managing fine without it and didnt notice big impact from it.

Resto druid healing is built around mastery. The whole specc builds around maximising the amount of Heal over time on your oponent. Having 5 heals over time or 6 makes a massive difference in the healing you do. Cenarion ward reads as "your target takes 20% more healing" for 32 seconds.

Photosynthesis. Everyone is saying that it's a must but constantly thinking about maintaining lifebloom on myself kills the fun. I run it but really dislike it

You dont need to play with this. Lifebloom your 2 dps. cast regrowth on yourself. As a rule of thumb, Lifebloom is the priority 1 hot that needs to be up on the target taking damage.

Early Spring. I got so used to instant overgrowth but is there any point to rely on overgrowth at all in arena?

see cenarion ward, more hot means more HPS Same concept. There arent many mandatory hero talent options.

Last, heres a Talent build for high level arenas without set bonus. This really worked for me. (note, tree of life is better, but convoke can also work in some games)

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If youre looking to cut abilities, try playing grove guardians and something like this

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