WoW Update

[jdotmi]

Last night was a momentous occaision for me. My druid finally hit level 43. Now, level 43 may sound like an odd level to rejoice over, but being a fully feral druid who is my guilds regular tank in our 40's instance runs, it's quite the power-up level.

Why is that?

Warden Staff.

Awww yeah! My fully self-buffed Dire Bear Form AC is 4005 now.

Now I just need to clean out her bags and bank. ~_~

Comments

[blakesrealm.livejournal.com]

So without the ability to hugely twink a druid how would you say they are at soloing from level one onward? And 4k AC at 43rd level? Wow nice.

You have that staff already? If so nice solid weapon there for sure.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

I primarily soloed my druid all the way up. It's actually one of the easiest classes to do it with due to the multiple forms available and the ability to heal. I have become something of an instance whore of late, though. I love running through them with my guild, but if nobody is available I can solo things that would make other characters wet themselves. It's not quite like a solo hunter being able to take out even level elites at low levels thanks to their pet, but it's a definite boost in power later on.

Levels 1 through 10 play like a cloth caster, but with slightly better armor. Level 10 you get your Bearform quest, which can be a pain in the ass, but once done it makes you quite the fun little microtank for a while. Bear form starts to lose it's shiny for soloing around level 16, though, so focusing on your Balance powers (most of your direct damage spells are balance) will help you get to level 20 when Cat Form becomes available. If you've ever played a Rogue, you'll know what this is like. You don't have all the cool Rogue toys, but with the self buffs and heals available you won't much care. Cat form remains the primary form of solo levelling for any non-Balance specc'd druid for pretty much the remainder of their career. I can handle two even non-elites in cat form without much problem, three adds some stress. Popping out of form for a heal or two after killing one usually makes it doable.

Level 40 brings Dire Bear Form and a big shift in what you can accomplish. Dire Bear Form is essentially like Warriors getting the ability to wear Plate armor. Add that to the ability to shift heal as necessary and you've got some really scary possibilities. I don't freak out over large groups of non-elites anymore due to the health and armor boost I get in Dire Bear form. Armor contribution from gear (not counting enchants/kits) is increased by 360%, for example.

At this point, you have hopefully become comfortable in all 3 of your forms (Caster, Cat, and Bear) and are relatively proficient at flipping between them as need be. Knowing when to pop out of a form to heal/de-curse or change to another form is a big part of my gameplay. Also using quick-shifting to escape snares and chill effects is very useful. Knowing when NOT to shift out, especially when grouped, is even more important. Bear Form getting low on health? Quit using specials and build up rage and hit Frenzied Regeneration.

It's fun. It's a lot to keep track of, but every class has that.


I got the staff from my co-worker/guildmistress winterlady. She asked if I was actually going to stick around in game (I had the game for one month last september, two months in january, and came back two months ago) and I said I was so she handed it to me. It had dropped for one of her 60's while she was grinding out getting components for various things.

[blakesrealm.livejournal.com]

Wow thanks for the great run down of the Druid, I really appreciate it. I think I'll start one up and see how it goes.

Also great GM you have there, that's an amazing gift. Bet you finally had fun clicking on it to equip it, or will anyway once you ding.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

I carried it with me when I logged on last night. ;) I knew I'd ding in the middle of a quest, and I did, so I equipped it right away and had all sorts of fun with it!

[winterlady.livejournal.com]

The druid class is an incredible class to play - but it takes a lot of skill. It's a great class for experienced MMORPG players that are used to calculating in a lot of factors. I've got a druid that I can't play nearly as well as jdotmi can play his (nifty staff or no). He's been our main tank on several occasions - and did an amazing job of tanking a four man group through Scarlet Monastery.

If you're experienced, I'd definitely check it out. They have the versatility of many classes. Rogue dps in cat form, Healing/caster in human form, and warrior/paladin in Bear form. If you can keep all those straight (and carry many different sets of clothing in your bag), you'll be good to go. :)

[blakesrealm.livejournal.com]

Thanks, yea they do sound like a lot of fun. I've started a couple but never got past level five or six, as my main called my time, or an urge to try another alt overtook the druid urge.

Great gift by you, as I said. =)

What server do you two play on anyway? I'm on Feathermoon, Alliance side, and on Silver Hand, Horde side. My main, 60 hunter Gromda, is on Feathermoon.

[winterlady.livejournal.com]

We play on the Aggramar server, all alliance side. We've got a small guild that is alt crazy. (I've got 2 lvl 60's and a 58 priest and just started a baby warrior.)

Thank for the compliment - it really just makes sense, though... if your group is well geared, then everyone has a better shot at living. =)

[blakesrealm.livejournal.com]

Ah, so you're a real WoW addict. Unlike me who fakes it. I have a 60 and then the next highest is a 42 war. I bow to your power!

[celtcub.livejournal.com]

I agree with everytihng you said about playing a Druid. I also know that mine is perastuck at 42. Once he got Dire bear, for some reason I just couldn't hang. Either I couldn't get the timing right, or couldn't control agro or whatever, but I end up dead a lot more often than I'd like to post 40...

Which really sucks ass, because I am getting pressure to hit 52 (the magic level at which my guild starts to realize I exist), and right now both my mage and my priestess are 35ish... If I could go back tot he druid, I could get him there sooner. But he's just not "doing it" for me post 40....=/ (and I am an Old Skool MMOer, so I have seen it, done it, played it..)

Not sure what the issue is, but glad to hear someone making them work. They really ARE a great class to play, but you have to know what you are doing at ALL times...

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

The way I've been able to get as far as I have, honestly, is to go pure feral. Balance is nice, restoration is nice, blah blah, but Feral keeps you alive while you're levelling up. Once I realized that, I ditched almost all my caster-stat gear and started looking primarily for Agility, Stamina, and Strength in that order. And high AC gear as well. I can still do the root-n-nuke of a Balance druid, I just don't have the DPS in caster form for it to be reasonable. I can still heal fairly reliably, I just don't have the mana pool to make it efficient. Put me in Bear form or Cat form, however, and I will gleefully give a Warrior or Rogue a run for their money.

Soloing, Cat Form is your biggest strength. I have Feral Faerie Fire to pull with (couldn't live without it) if I need to, and if not I open with a Tiger's Fury/Ravage combo that, if it crits, will devestate anything close to my level that I'm fighting.

Aggro control as Bear Form while tanking is... well it's a pain in the ass, frankly. I've had to tell my groups to wait for me to get a good lock on what we're doing before engaging, or to let me pull with Feral Faerie Fire (it has a nice big Aggro bonus attached). Once that's done, I can pretty much own the control of the enemies. Challenging Roar is good to get things attention if you get a big pull, but you have to dish out some good Claw damage in order to keep the attention. DPSers need to learn to manage their own aggro or they'll get stomped in no time, but if they let me have a minute to establish my own aggro at the start, it takes a lucky crit streak to get things off of me. Sadly, our Fire Mage tends to do that alot. :-p So I have to break off and go unpeel her from the wall frequently. :-p

What has helped me a lot with my tanking is the group I play with is experienced. They all have 60's already, so they've all been there. They've all played a variety of classes to high levels as well, so they know what the rest of the group is capable of. Best of all, they listen when you tell them something. It's a great group of people and we have a lot of fun.

[winterlady.livejournal.com]

Sadly, our Fire Mage tends to do that alot. :-p So I have to break off and go unpeel her from the wall frequently. :-p

hahhahahaha poor fire mage. =) I'll tell her not to crit so much. ::snickers:: You should get a better warlock, too... I hear she causes all sorts of problems. This is a good discussion by the way - I ran into the same problem as celtcub. It may just take a special *kind* of person to level a druid.

[edit: cuz html>me]

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

We have to keep the warlock! Where else would I sit during down time?!?!?!?

^_^