World of Warcraft

[Dis]

You have a few options as a druid. At level 10 you will be able to turn into a bear (see your trainer to get the quest). If you are a night elf, you will have to go to some cave in darkshore (just east of aberdeen)

At this point you will get talents. Druids have 3 basic builds (3 talent trees). Healing druid (caster form), damaging spell caster (also caster), and feral (cat and bear forms).

You can use offensive casting spells, but you aren't a mage, so it will burn through mana quick, and you don't have as much crowd control as a mage (though you do have entrangling roots). I think they get some kind of scare beast spell as well (hunters also have this). It's been so long since I played my druid.

If you are a healer, you really want to be in a group and not being solo. It will be difficult to kill stuff alone. YOu can always change your talents at any time (first time costs 1 gold).

Or go feral and put your talent points into improving your cat and bear forms.

In some ways I was playing my druid "wrong". not that there is a wrong way. It's whatever you enjoy. And I enjoyed staying in cat form mostly (you get this at level 20).

The most efficient way to beat tough mobs, or groups is to start off in cat form. Build up 5 combo points and do your finishing move (which is a damage over time unlike rogues eviscerate). Switch over to caster form, heal yourself, then switch to bear form and continue pounding away. I used to switch back to cat form, but it seems most people go to bear form at this point.

My biggest problem was trying to heal myself while getting pounded on. Sometimes I wouldn't get it off in time. sometimes I would. I might start off with a renew until I get can the more effective longer casting spell off.

druids get other forms as well, but they are less effective in combat (though I don't know about moonkin- they might be a good caster- haven't got up that high). They are mostly for travelling in water or on land (or in the air)

Usually I didn't have to go cat/caster (for healing myself)/cat. I could destroy single mobs myself.

For quick grinding through an area, I stay in cat, switch to caster after a battle or two, heal myself, then back to cat. Never have to worry about mana really.

[FrostyBoy]

aww I remember when Dis was clueless, now look at him, all growed up!

[Dis]

I'm still a noob about some things. I never had an item enchanted until today. at first I didn't trust the person. yeah the item was soulbound. I thought you actually had to give them the item.

not great enchantments, but they were free.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Dis


I've read advice that the best way to level up is to kill monsters over and over. I can't do that. And I don't think it is. Even at level 55 questing is helping me level. Just not as much as it used to.

You can quest but you need to throw in a decent amount of grinding to on the way to quests and after quests. Whenever you find a decent spot with unthreatening (but decent level) mobs really.

[Jon Miller]

the only enchantments you should pay for are the 300 lvl req ones and (possibly) higher

JM

[Dis]

yeah most people just want to level up their skill. just seems I haven't met up with many enchanters until today really (had 2 of them want to enchant my stuff).

[Sparrowhawk]

Finally got my Druid to have Bear form last night (made it to level 12 in the process of completing the quests). I laughed when I changed for the first time into bear form, all I could see on the screen was the back end of a bear, had the change the view angle slightly

Now I am going to try going back and see and I can finish those quests which have been giving me a hard time in my regular druid form (some of which are now green so before long I think they will be grey if I don't complete them soon).

I picked up a pile of quests in the other lands, should keep me busy for a while.

I have also taken up fishing now, and have quickly become jouneyman at it.

/me

[Dis]

bear form is quite powerful. druids pretty much suck until level 10 or so (you could say this about most classes actually).

stay in bear form primarily. They attack slow, but they get the job done. You can heal yourself after the fight if need be. or during. It's harder to heal during. You could try to cast entangling roots and move away.

I usually cast a quick heal spell, then the longer one. sometimes all 3. Druids will eventually get 3 healing spells (possibly more, I only got mine to level 30). One is an instant cast, but heals slowly over time, one is a long cast, but heals a large chunk at once, and one is in between.

Personally I find it easier to choose feral (cat and bear) talents. Melee primarily shifting in caster form for healing and special cases.

i think what caused me to struggle most as a druid was the inability to pull in cat or bear form. you have no ranged attack. Body pulling is inefficient and can cause wipes in instances (dungeons).

In some cases I would be in caster form and use moonfire to pull. But when you switch to cat, you have no energy. I suppose I could switch to bear, but you still start with no rage, so it isn't that great a difference.

[Jon Miller]

feral faery fire gives you a (free) pull in cat/bear form

you were trying to tank in cat form? are you crazy?

there is a teir 1 talent in resoration which has the benefit of providing energy when you switch into cat or rage when you switch into bear

but if you are in an instance, I would pick just one job and do it (DPS - Cat, Tank - Bear, Healing - Caster... there might be a place at higher levels for ranged DPS - Moonkin, but I never was successful at that)

you should only shift in an instance in an emergency or to do buffs/healing out of combat

JM
(my druid was most often a tank)

[Dis]

my post was kind of abmiguous. I wasn't tanking!!

I was mainly talking about warriors who insist on body pulling in instances. It only costs 1 silver to learn guns. jeez. my warrior knows crossbows.

I never really could find an instance group with my druid (night elf). I think that's why I quit playing him.

For some reason the horde seems to be much friendlier and easier to find groups. I think the alliance are all stuck up.

Horde rules

For the horde!!

[Jon Miller]

body pulling can work fine

I think that ranged pulling is a bit easier though

JM

[Sparrowhawk]

Not sure I understood the last few posts entirely, but I will settle for asking one question.........I understand the concept of "pulling", but "body pulling" and "ranged pulling"? Not sure which one I am doing, or what is the difference.

I am now at level 13, and as a bear was able to complete a couple of quests that killed me fairly easily in human form (the harpies for instance killed me without much trouble in human form, in bear form I was not only able to cut through them, but I stayed around a bit afterwards to assist a couple other individual players who showed up as I was leaving).

I am now thinking of going back and trying a quest that is frustrating not so much in the difficulty of the "mobs" but in the map gets me lost and I end out covering the same ground over again and often end out back at the start and have to cut through the same mobs in order to get back to where I wanted to go. Last time as a human I died as much from frustration and impatience as because of lack of ability.

One more question.......not sure if I am doing something wrong or not, but all my skills are going up with the exception of class skills (defense, weapons, plus professions). Is there a step I am missing or do they not start rising until later in my development?

/me

[FrostyBoy]

I think body pulling means to fight melee, but keep walking back as to pull the enemy with you, but this won't work on ranged npc's.

ranged pulling is attacking with a ranged weapon, effectively forcing (a melee npc) to run towards you.

Appearences are too decieving in WoW. Doesn't matter that I am a 9ft tall muscle bound bull, I'm still as weak as a human. Does anyone feel this is a little too unrealistic? Shouldn't the fact that I am a Tauren give me bonuses in certain areas, such as Tanking, no matter what my class is? If I were a Warrior Tauren, then I would simply get even more Tanking bonuses.

[Jon Miller]

Tauren's get a 5% HP bonus.

JM

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sn00py
I think body pulling means to fight melee, but keep walking back as to pull the enemy with you, but this won't work on ranged npc's.

ranged pulling is attacking with a ranged weapon, effectively forcing (a melee npc) to run towards you.

Appearences are too decieving in WoW. Doesn't matter that I am a 9ft tall muscle bound bull, I'm still as weak as a human. Does anyone feel this is a little too unrealistic? Shouldn't the fact that I am a Tauren give me bonuses in certain areas, such as Tanking, no matter what my class is? If I were a Warrior Tauren, then I would simply get even more Tanking bonuses.

yeah it's frustrating. Especially when a little teeny bird knocks you down.

Kind of scary a gnome warrior is just as strong as a Orc warrior.