Geno
11-29-2005, 5:18 AM
So I know you should write a guide at level 60. But you know what? A lot of people often say "Yea, you're level 60. You can do anything, do it well, and not care what you did to get there!"
Guess what. This isn't a guide like that. Not even close. I'm speaking from the perspective of a level 34 and 2/3 Druid, currently being played on the Cenarius server. I'll write this as of now, and tack on more as I go. Please, if you have comments about your "OMFG LVL 60 PWNAG3 DRUID LOL," I'd rather them go elsewhere. This is a guide geared towards those wanting to hear about good and bad points about being midlevel, which will be more than half your game on the alliance side (Seeing as how levels 28ish to about 36-38ish has no good instances, along with few quests to do if you've had party members help you with hard quests fast).
Druids can be one of two races, one on either side. The Night Elf, or the Tauren. Both have the same type of things available, and have no spell differences. However, the Tauren possess "War Stomp," a 2 second stun, as well as a 5% health bonus, while Night Elves possess "Shadowmeld," which does two things. One is to... Well... Shadowmeld. The other is a passive "Better Sneak" addon. If you read the tooltip, you find out that in Cat form or as a Rogue (The first part applies, obviously), you have better stealth. This is *handy* from the perspective I play. As well as that, they gain Wisp form. Quite handy.
Either race you go can do anything well. If you had to pick the 'better' of things to do, a Taruen would make a better Feral Bear, while the Night Elf would do better in the Feral Cat. You can do either, but those are what the two would be 'geared towards' more.
My build so far? Omen of Clarity Feral. What does this mean? I'm based around two different things, expecially as a cat. First: Agility whoring. Agility not only raises your attack power a little bit, it also increases your dodge and critical chances. As it stands now with my gear and Mark of the Wild buff going (+6 stats), I gain upwards of 16% Critical chance with around a 15.5%, almost 16% dodge chance. For a mid-level range and no "twinked" gear, I'd say this is pretty decent. I'm able to critical every few swings, as well as dodge a lot of blows. Plus, with Stealth, I can get right into combat as a Cat, not worrying about the range dodges that you have to pull sometimes against ranged mobs.
Omen of Clarity was mentioned already. What is this move? I'll tell you. For a smaller cost of 120 mana (At my level >.>), I gain this nifty buff called... Guess? Omen of Clarity! It allows me a chance one every single melee swing (Including Swipe, Maul, Claw, Rake, etc) to give me a possible Druid Clearcast state. Now wait a minute! A DRUID clearcast state? What do I mean?! Well let me explain. Mages and Priests and Warlocks... And maybe a few other classes can gain "Clearcasting." That means that their next mana cost is reduced to ZERO. Nothing. Zilch. That means they get a free shot. Well guess what? The Druid clearcast is better. You not only get just Mana reductions... But in Bear form? Rage is free. As a cat? Energy is free. Yes, that means the clearcast benefits ANY form whatsoever, and can work with just about ANY move! When 1.9 is released, this will even include finisher moves for the cat, and a couple bear moves that *haven't* been added to that clearcast list... But will!
So guess what. That means you can instantly hit another move, be it a free heal, free rake, free maul... Whatever you please! Right then. Bam. Of course, as some moves have cast, that isn't ignored. But the cost sure as heck is! Omen of Clarity at lower levels is a godsend, expecially as a cat with your 1.0 attack speed all the time. Bears don't really benefit from going 11 points into the Balance tree to get it, nor do casters. It only proc's on melee swings. But a cat? That's like free shot heaven. I've calculated with my Druid about how many free shots I get. While in battle with enemies constantly, I get around 15 to twenty free shots off before my buff wears. Now let me see. Let's go low end. 15 free shots. Using a low cost move, such as Rake which is 35 rage to me. That means I end up saving time for 525 energy, or in seconds, give or take, 20-25 seconds! That's nuts, isn't it?! Or even better. One of my favorite moves. If I'm at mid-level health in battle, and feel I need a recharge? Shift, Rejuv, shift. I only pay for the shifting, which sadly, can't work with clearcasting. However, the rejuv is free, and recharges me for a few seconds, giving me a quick boost for free. And I go right back into fighting! That saves me mana for after the fight. Or if I see an ally drop in health, I can shift, go to a Regrowth or even a (Hefty timer on 3.5 cast time) Healing Touch spell and heal them a lot, then go right back into cat, without worrying "Do I have enough mana to do both?"
Your mana normally rejuvinates at it's normal pace while in battle as a cat. You're not casting "Spells" as a cat, but rather, energy moves. This means that once you cast a spell, shift to cat, the 5 second timer goes, then your mana rejuves. This often times can leave you in a predicament if you can't figure out what your mana would be at. But clearcasting can save you! Let's say you aggro a mob, and find out you have an add. Oh hell! You can't take both, and you know it. Well, you fight a while as a cat. You just shifted, knowing you could die. But what's this?! You hit clearcast! Holy crap! Shift back, Regrowth, try and shift. Uh oh! Out of mana! But guess what? You're not screwed! Swing melee a while. If you hit another clearcast, throw another rejuv on top of that regrowth. That way, you have double the heal, and you can still gain back mana at a normal rate, since Omen DOESN'T INTERFERE WITH MANA GAIN! Yes, that's right, you still gain mana, even after casting your clearcast! Nice, isn't it? Once you shift back, kick their butts and be glad! ^.^
So yes. That's what my build is focused on. Fast attacks, lots of dodge and critical, as well as free shots here and there. Now for what it plays like.
In the early game (Levels 1-13 for me), I leveled up in the NE newbie area and part of Auberdine. Why only part way, though? Guess what. NE quests suck. Horribly. They have some of the worst and longest, and drawn out quests. I only returned once to that area, which was to do both my poison and water quests at once. I could hold off on "Cure Poison," only because I went to the human lands to get quests for Deadmines. Once I hit 16, though, I ran back, finished both quests, then ran back, leveling up as I went. I reccommend hitting at least "Honored" reputation with Darnassus before you leave, if only for the reason that it'll be what you need for your mount. No way in hell you'll pull of "Exalted" anywhere before 40, nor will you do it even with Darnassus. Therefore, just move on to human lands afterwards.
From 13-20, I pulled off all the quests I could in Westfall, followed by some Deadmine runs to get equipment. I ended up finding a blue staff in there (The name eludes me) that I used from that level up until about 32ish. Why? It had tons of +Int, along with spirit and another stat. That was rather handy to have, and the damage was decent. It was my friend until I got my maul of +Stam / +Agi later... But that's in due time. The Deadmines are good levels and drops, as well as wool for 8 slot bags if you haven't gotten them already. If you get lucky, you can get a few high priced drops in there, such as Cookie's tenderiser, and if you have no "Awesome" gear, try and get the Defias leather set. I wore 3 pieces of it for a time until I got better gear overall. Don't stick with Defias just because it's a set. Sure, it's cool to get... But if you can find better, by all means, TAKE IT! Duh!
After pulling level 20ish, I went to Redridge and did that deal. Boy, were those fun quest lines. I play a Skinner / Leatherworker, and found PLENTY of nice things to skin there, including dragon whelps to make some good cloaks, armor and such that I could sell for decent profit, as well as level my skill. Beyond that, the place has good level mobs and a few places you can camp the spawn quite literally forever... Or until the server goes down :P (I'll share if you ask). Getting up to around 25, I realized many of the quests were getting to be higher level fast (There's about 6 or 7 quests you can solo, followed by about 5 or 6 you *must* party with unless you level a while), so I decided against the party. I only have a few friends to contact, so I moved on...
...To Duskwood! Duskwood was my b*tch. Skinable money dropping werewolf creatures. Those things are gods to most Druids that skin. Fast, free kills, as well as cash and leather. Light leather? Make it Medium! Medium leather? Score! Heavy Leather? W00t for a good drop! A lot of the quest lines there are killing quests, as well as FedEx at the same time, and can be completed two or three at a time, although the run from the town all the way to Raven kind of sucked... But if you spec Feral to get your speed / dodge skill first, it's not so bad. However, I went for Omen first, which slowed me a little bit. But once you do get Speed... Oh boy, is that fun! :D
After tottally smiting 90% of Darkshire, I went back to Redridge, finding 90% of those quests easy. Why? Cat form. Prowl. Improved Prowl talent. You can sneak around just about anything there when you match the level or even are a level or two down. I pulled that off many times, solo'ing nearly everything out there, minus the stupid "Kill this level ** elite" thing that's off in the forest... God, he gave me hell... But a group of me, another druid, and a pair of rogues (Stealth FTW!) dropped him in no time flat, all of us completing the quest, and still keep in contact now for quests similar to it (Whee! Friendship among stealthers ^.^). That was fun and all, and from there, I moved into Gadgetzan at about level 30 to 32, completing everything so far, except for the final boss killing (Which our group has died 10 feet from him every time due to someone stupid luring half the level to kill us. Where's "Vanish" when we need it? >.<).
From Gadgetzan to now, I did a couple quests in Altari, then moved from there to my current place, Desolace. Why? There's noone there. Noone levels there. The quests are "Stupid" and "Overrated" among many members of my guild. I don't complain though. Centaurs are easy to drop, give me about 200+ exp a kill, and I get about 3000+ exp per quest, and still claiming as I go.
Now... That's a long winded way of leveling, methinks. Sure, it's only "Halfway" through the game, give or take, but it's one of the most important parts. Getting to know your character. Speaking of character... Let's go into your tools, shall we?
First: You're a Druid. You can do anything. Rogue moves? You have cat. Warrior or Pally tank? You've got bear. Priestage needing a call? Hit up the Healing Touch, Regrowth, and Rejuv. But wait, you need to pick off mobs like a Mage or Warlock? Starfire / Moonfire are saviors. Oh... But you need to debuff a little? Farie fire. Boom. Range? Pfft. F*ck range. You still have Starfire and Moonfire (The latter is an instant cast, DoT with damage move). Nice, isn't it? You can duplicate nearly every single class in the game... Although you can't do them *all* just as good... You can claim bullsh*t and do a lot of them pretty dang well!
My build, however, relies on the skill "Cat form," but until then, let me explain what you've got to do (In my eyes) to get ready.
First: Learn to heal. And when to heal. Healing is a main priorty at lower levels, because you want to test your limits, finding tough mobs for quests, and finding your spot. Healing is essential to you and party members. Learn to find your heal timing. Regrowth / Rejuv before charging into battle is a savior, and the HoT moves have helped me against elites twice my level, letting me actually KILL them. Even that pesky reef shark thing as I did my water quest. Yes, I killed him. And he's level 19. And I was level 16. And I killed him. Boo f*cking ja. Talent? No. Careful planning with heals. Sure, it took a while and some sheer luck, but I got it.
Second: Know your mana, how fast it comes back, and timing of spells. Don't spam Moonfire. Let the DoT sink in while you take a few melee swings and such. Chip off at their damage and give them a target. The damage is done over 12 seconds. That means that you have 4 pulses of damage before it's gone. Wait until that last pulse about hits, and jam the button. It takes a second to follow through. Once you get the timing, that last chunk comes off and the next DoT sets in. Beautiful when executed properly. Trust me. But remember: Mana takes time to come back to you. Learn your limit.
Third: Don't "Stick" to just one form. Cat, Bear, or Caster. I have, on occasion, switched to Bear form when we needed a tank. Caster when we needed a healer, Cat when we needed reconnosence or DPS. All three forms are versitile for things. Trust me. I have been told I heal like a priest in parties, even with no points in Resto. What does that tell you? That I'm skilled? No. It tells you that I know what to expect, and how to play. If you have to, ask lowbies if you want to help them with Deadmines. Sure, it takes a while, and you might have one or two die on accident. But they have a higher level, and healer. This means that you can learn your limits there. Trust me, although sounding mean by saying "If one dies, don't worry," really. Don't worry. It's not a long instance, and they can run back. If you do that in Gadgetzan, though, feel the smite. That 5 minute corpse run, followed by a possible respawn *reeeealy* sucks to some.
Fourth: Find a pattern and go. My common pattern? Cast my buffs. Get into cat form. Stealth. Cast order: Ravage, Swipe, Rake, Swipe, Rake, Rip / Ferocious bite (Depending on how much life remains. 90% of the time, Ferocious, but if they have more than 40% life, go with Rip. Then tack on Rake / Swipe / Ferocious bite to finish them after the DoT sets in a bit ). This means that I prowl up, do tons of damage. Then begin combat with a heavy hit, following up with a DoT while my energy recharges. Once it's up, swipe 'em, then throw the DoT back on them, since the first is almost done (9 seconds isn't long). That leaves me 5 combo points to use my finisher at full potential. Rip is for bleedables and DoT. Early on, your only form of blowing Combo points, but it helps. Use it! Even if it doesn't work long, it does damage nonetheless. But Ferocious comes in later, which is a godsend for massive damage. It does insane damage based on combo points (About equal to rip's DoT) then burns the rest of your energy doing 1.0 damage of it (At lower levels) into damage as well. Handy, isn't it? Massive damage to any target. It hurts on energy... But it's worth it.
So that's my idea for my quick strikes. Omen usually proc's once or twice during a fight, speeding that process up, which is nice. And my dodge / critical chances don't let me down :D
So what did I do at lower levels? Bear form? Caster? Mix? YES! Mix! Caster early on to put on DoT's, as well as throw rejuv on before I hit bear. Then I mauled them (Literally), dropping their life down slowly. The rage kind of hurts since I suggest getting omen first for when you get cat form immidiately, but whatever you pick works. But that 15 rage is sometimes hard to earn. No worries, though, since bear is a tank in it's own right, and allows you to do damage, as well as do things like stun (Bash) and pull aggro (Growl).
So what've I covered... Cat form, and my spec... Druids and what to do... Tools of the trade... What you can do... Levels and grinding... Hmm... I might have missed something... What have I missed...?
How about parties? Lots of parties ask for healers. You may be a feral spec, such as me. But many parties enjoy having a Druid as a healer for a few reasons. One, you can heal over time. This means you can throw on a warrior at half life a healing. It heals them slowly, keeping them there, allowing you to throw bigger heals on your squishies, such as the Leeroy mage, or the stupid rogue that just aggro'd too many mobs. Yes, a Druid healer can be a godsend. Even some people concider it better than a Priest for healing in some places. Just depends on who's spec'ed what... ;)
Try everything. Try bear tanking. Try cat DPS'ing. Try healing. Try casting. I seriously reccomend you doing everything until you find your *favorite* thing to do. Mine? Beating the snot out of enemies for 50+ damage every 1 second, then doing massive 85+ shots every other second, while DoT'ing them for 15+ points every 3 seconds, dealing a massive 500+ critical every twenty seconds, and still having life leftover to take aggro off the priest with fast swings and heavy damage, as well as a high thread back shot (Shred, FTW!).
Yes... Druids thus far into the game definately have plusses... But... Disadvantages...?! YES! We have those. So far, let me throw out my low level complaints:
Quests can be either really hard or really easy. Druids can do a lot... But lower level ones aren't perfect. They won't be 'up to par' with things. Such as the lack of cat form until 20, as well as lack of travel form until 30.
Speed isn't a priority, nor is heavy damage. Melee is reduced to slow staves that I've seen, or training something else... But why train a 1H weapon? You won't get a decent off hand placeholder until somewhere in the 15-20 range... And by then, you'll probably want a 2H staff for stat buffs or mace for damage. Go with staff or mace and stick with it. Make *sure* to train mace if you go feral, though, since you'll rely on that for a lot of things! But always keep a Staff in your bank.
I'd suggest to train both after you get a level. Mostly because if you want to switch builds in later game, you'll be able to immidiately hit your switch and be good to go! Trust me, I trained my mace at the same time as my staff. I finally got a good 2H mace, and only had to hit Gnomer to swing at some elites for maybe 2 minutes, getting another 2 minutes, getting the last few points I needed to be good. If you miss a level or two, no worries. But five or six? Train to be safe.
Also, healing isn't close to a priests until you get Regrowth around level... Twelve? Fourteen? I think it's twelve, but I could be wrong. Whatever the case, regrowth is a quick heal with HoT tacked on, stackable with Rejuv. It is about equal to healing as Healing touch most of the time until you hit your 20's, and the cost is equal, if not, a little lower. However, once you hit your 20's, Healing Touch outdoes it by a few hundred points. But I *still* recommend for a mid-battle heal with Regrowth, if only for a faster cast, and HoT to back you up, expecially if cast with Rejuv, an instant cast with no delay. Always go with your faster moves when being hit. That'll save you from being screwed by cast delays.
I've used a mod to watch my cast times. It displays any and all slowdowns I've gotten. While in Gnomer, being hit by 2 mobs at once, I cast Rejuv. No delay. Bam. Instant. I cast Regrowth. 2 seconds + 1.8 seconds. It almost doubled the time. I cast Healing touch. 3.5 + 4.4 seconds. I *more* than doubled the cast time for about the same price and only a little more healing. Tell me... Which would you go with? Think about it, then answer. You'll understand.
Another big problem I had was with mana issues. Without +Int, you're toast, even as a shifter. Why? YOu still need to buff and heal occasionally. Even if you have high spirit while shifted, you'll still fall short with overall mana. I keep on a pair of rings. One is Agi, one is Int. I have given up a slot that I could have +3 or more Agi on for more Int that saves me moreso than the minor damage and crit / dodge, but gives me tons more mana leniency when healing or buffing, allowing me to buff all 5 people with MotW, Thorns, wait my 5 seconds for the regen, regen about 5 more, and shift. Total time? About 30 seconds to buff and Catify. Not too bad if you ask me. Without that int? It's around a minute to minute and a half. Trust me, Int is helpful, even for shifters.
So I think that covers all the major points. I feel that if I hit level 60, I'd go into this long detail about how the class is *so* worth it to build up, yadayadayada... So why explain it then when I've long since forgotten my beginning, when I can talk now!
Here's to 34 and 2/3 levels, and here's to another successful 35 and 1/3! :D
~Larry "Geno" Meyers
Guess what. This isn't a guide like that. Not even close. I'm speaking from the perspective of a level 34 and 2/3 Druid, currently being played on the Cenarius server. I'll write this as of now, and tack on more as I go. Please, if you have comments about your "OMFG LVL 60 PWNAG3 DRUID LOL," I'd rather them go elsewhere. This is a guide geared towards those wanting to hear about good and bad points about being midlevel, which will be more than half your game on the alliance side (Seeing as how levels 28ish to about 36-38ish has no good instances, along with few quests to do if you've had party members help you with hard quests fast).
Druids can be one of two races, one on either side. The Night Elf, or the Tauren. Both have the same type of things available, and have no spell differences. However, the Tauren possess "War Stomp," a 2 second stun, as well as a 5% health bonus, while Night Elves possess "Shadowmeld," which does two things. One is to... Well... Shadowmeld. The other is a passive "Better Sneak" addon. If you read the tooltip, you find out that in Cat form or as a Rogue (The first part applies, obviously), you have better stealth. This is *handy* from the perspective I play. As well as that, they gain Wisp form. Quite handy.
Either race you go can do anything well. If you had to pick the 'better' of things to do, a Taruen would make a better Feral Bear, while the Night Elf would do better in the Feral Cat. You can do either, but those are what the two would be 'geared towards' more.
My build so far? Omen of Clarity Feral. What does this mean? I'm based around two different things, expecially as a cat. First: Agility whoring. Agility not only raises your attack power a little bit, it also increases your dodge and critical chances. As it stands now with my gear and Mark of the Wild buff going (+6 stats), I gain upwards of 16% Critical chance with around a 15.5%, almost 16% dodge chance. For a mid-level range and no "twinked" gear, I'd say this is pretty decent. I'm able to critical every few swings, as well as dodge a lot of blows. Plus, with Stealth, I can get right into combat as a Cat, not worrying about the range dodges that you have to pull sometimes against ranged mobs.
Omen of Clarity was mentioned already. What is this move? I'll tell you. For a smaller cost of 120 mana (At my level >.>), I gain this nifty buff called... Guess? Omen of Clarity! It allows me a chance one every single melee swing (Including Swipe, Maul, Claw, Rake, etc) to give me a possible Druid Clearcast state. Now wait a minute! A DRUID clearcast state? What do I mean?! Well let me explain. Mages and Priests and Warlocks... And maybe a few other classes can gain "Clearcasting." That means that their next mana cost is reduced to ZERO. Nothing. Zilch. That means they get a free shot. Well guess what? The Druid clearcast is better. You not only get just Mana reductions... But in Bear form? Rage is free. As a cat? Energy is free. Yes, that means the clearcast benefits ANY form whatsoever, and can work with just about ANY move! When 1.9 is released, this will even include finisher moves for the cat, and a couple bear moves that *haven't* been added to that clearcast list... But will!
So guess what. That means you can instantly hit another move, be it a free heal, free rake, free maul... Whatever you please! Right then. Bam. Of course, as some moves have cast, that isn't ignored. But the cost sure as heck is! Omen of Clarity at lower levels is a godsend, expecially as a cat with your 1.0 attack speed all the time. Bears don't really benefit from going 11 points into the Balance tree to get it, nor do casters. It only proc's on melee swings. But a cat? That's like free shot heaven. I've calculated with my Druid about how many free shots I get. While in battle with enemies constantly, I get around 15 to twenty free shots off before my buff wears. Now let me see. Let's go low end. 15 free shots. Using a low cost move, such as Rake which is 35 rage to me. That means I end up saving time for 525 energy, or in seconds, give or take, 20-25 seconds! That's nuts, isn't it?! Or even better. One of my favorite moves. If I'm at mid-level health in battle, and feel I need a recharge? Shift, Rejuv, shift. I only pay for the shifting, which sadly, can't work with clearcasting. However, the rejuv is free, and recharges me for a few seconds, giving me a quick boost for free. And I go right back into fighting! That saves me mana for after the fight. Or if I see an ally drop in health, I can shift, go to a Regrowth or even a (Hefty timer on 3.5 cast time) Healing Touch spell and heal them a lot, then go right back into cat, without worrying "Do I have enough mana to do both?"
Your mana normally rejuvinates at it's normal pace while in battle as a cat. You're not casting "Spells" as a cat, but rather, energy moves. This means that once you cast a spell, shift to cat, the 5 second timer goes, then your mana rejuves. This often times can leave you in a predicament if you can't figure out what your mana would be at. But clearcasting can save you! Let's say you aggro a mob, and find out you have an add. Oh hell! You can't take both, and you know it. Well, you fight a while as a cat. You just shifted, knowing you could die. But what's this?! You hit clearcast! Holy crap! Shift back, Regrowth, try and shift. Uh oh! Out of mana! But guess what? You're not screwed! Swing melee a while. If you hit another clearcast, throw another rejuv on top of that regrowth. That way, you have double the heal, and you can still gain back mana at a normal rate, since Omen DOESN'T INTERFERE WITH MANA GAIN! Yes, that's right, you still gain mana, even after casting your clearcast! Nice, isn't it? Once you shift back, kick their butts and be glad! ^.^
So yes. That's what my build is focused on. Fast attacks, lots of dodge and critical, as well as free shots here and there. Now for what it plays like.
In the early game (Levels 1-13 for me), I leveled up in the NE newbie area and part of Auberdine. Why only part way, though? Guess what. NE quests suck. Horribly. They have some of the worst and longest, and drawn out quests. I only returned once to that area, which was to do both my poison and water quests at once. I could hold off on "Cure Poison," only because I went to the human lands to get quests for Deadmines. Once I hit 16, though, I ran back, finished both quests, then ran back, leveling up as I went. I reccommend hitting at least "Honored" reputation with Darnassus before you leave, if only for the reason that it'll be what you need for your mount. No way in hell you'll pull of "Exalted" anywhere before 40, nor will you do it even with Darnassus. Therefore, just move on to human lands afterwards.
From 13-20, I pulled off all the quests I could in Westfall, followed by some Deadmine runs to get equipment. I ended up finding a blue staff in there (The name eludes me) that I used from that level up until about 32ish. Why? It had tons of +Int, along with spirit and another stat. That was rather handy to have, and the damage was decent. It was my friend until I got my maul of +Stam / +Agi later... But that's in due time. The Deadmines are good levels and drops, as well as wool for 8 slot bags if you haven't gotten them already. If you get lucky, you can get a few high priced drops in there, such as Cookie's tenderiser, and if you have no "Awesome" gear, try and get the Defias leather set. I wore 3 pieces of it for a time until I got better gear overall. Don't stick with Defias just because it's a set. Sure, it's cool to get... But if you can find better, by all means, TAKE IT! Duh!
After pulling level 20ish, I went to Redridge and did that deal. Boy, were those fun quest lines. I play a Skinner / Leatherworker, and found PLENTY of nice things to skin there, including dragon whelps to make some good cloaks, armor and such that I could sell for decent profit, as well as level my skill. Beyond that, the place has good level mobs and a few places you can camp the spawn quite literally forever... Or until the server goes down :P (I'll share if you ask). Getting up to around 25, I realized many of the quests were getting to be higher level fast (There's about 6 or 7 quests you can solo, followed by about 5 or 6 you *must* party with unless you level a while), so I decided against the party. I only have a few friends to contact, so I moved on...
...To Duskwood! Duskwood was my b*tch. Skinable money dropping werewolf creatures. Those things are gods to most Druids that skin. Fast, free kills, as well as cash and leather. Light leather? Make it Medium! Medium leather? Score! Heavy Leather? W00t for a good drop! A lot of the quest lines there are killing quests, as well as FedEx at the same time, and can be completed two or three at a time, although the run from the town all the way to Raven kind of sucked... But if you spec Feral to get your speed / dodge skill first, it's not so bad. However, I went for Omen first, which slowed me a little bit. But once you do get Speed... Oh boy, is that fun! :D
After tottally smiting 90% of Darkshire, I went back to Redridge, finding 90% of those quests easy. Why? Cat form. Prowl. Improved Prowl talent. You can sneak around just about anything there when you match the level or even are a level or two down. I pulled that off many times, solo'ing nearly everything out there, minus the stupid "Kill this level ** elite" thing that's off in the forest... God, he gave me hell... But a group of me, another druid, and a pair of rogues (Stealth FTW!) dropped him in no time flat, all of us completing the quest, and still keep in contact now for quests similar to it (Whee! Friendship among stealthers ^.^). That was fun and all, and from there, I moved into Gadgetzan at about level 30 to 32, completing everything so far, except for the final boss killing (Which our group has died 10 feet from him every time due to someone stupid luring half the level to kill us. Where's "Vanish" when we need it? >.<).
From Gadgetzan to now, I did a couple quests in Altari, then moved from there to my current place, Desolace. Why? There's noone there. Noone levels there. The quests are "Stupid" and "Overrated" among many members of my guild. I don't complain though. Centaurs are easy to drop, give me about 200+ exp a kill, and I get about 3000+ exp per quest, and still claiming as I go.
Now... That's a long winded way of leveling, methinks. Sure, it's only "Halfway" through the game, give or take, but it's one of the most important parts. Getting to know your character. Speaking of character... Let's go into your tools, shall we?
First: You're a Druid. You can do anything. Rogue moves? You have cat. Warrior or Pally tank? You've got bear. Priestage needing a call? Hit up the Healing Touch, Regrowth, and Rejuv. But wait, you need to pick off mobs like a Mage or Warlock? Starfire / Moonfire are saviors. Oh... But you need to debuff a little? Farie fire. Boom. Range? Pfft. F*ck range. You still have Starfire and Moonfire (The latter is an instant cast, DoT with damage move). Nice, isn't it? You can duplicate nearly every single class in the game... Although you can't do them *all* just as good... You can claim bullsh*t and do a lot of them pretty dang well!
My build, however, relies on the skill "Cat form," but until then, let me explain what you've got to do (In my eyes) to get ready.
First: Learn to heal. And when to heal. Healing is a main priorty at lower levels, because you want to test your limits, finding tough mobs for quests, and finding your spot. Healing is essential to you and party members. Learn to find your heal timing. Regrowth / Rejuv before charging into battle is a savior, and the HoT moves have helped me against elites twice my level, letting me actually KILL them. Even that pesky reef shark thing as I did my water quest. Yes, I killed him. And he's level 19. And I was level 16. And I killed him. Boo f*cking ja. Talent? No. Careful planning with heals. Sure, it took a while and some sheer luck, but I got it.
Second: Know your mana, how fast it comes back, and timing of spells. Don't spam Moonfire. Let the DoT sink in while you take a few melee swings and such. Chip off at their damage and give them a target. The damage is done over 12 seconds. That means that you have 4 pulses of damage before it's gone. Wait until that last pulse about hits, and jam the button. It takes a second to follow through. Once you get the timing, that last chunk comes off and the next DoT sets in. Beautiful when executed properly. Trust me. But remember: Mana takes time to come back to you. Learn your limit.
Third: Don't "Stick" to just one form. Cat, Bear, or Caster. I have, on occasion, switched to Bear form when we needed a tank. Caster when we needed a healer, Cat when we needed reconnosence or DPS. All three forms are versitile for things. Trust me. I have been told I heal like a priest in parties, even with no points in Resto. What does that tell you? That I'm skilled? No. It tells you that I know what to expect, and how to play. If you have to, ask lowbies if you want to help them with Deadmines. Sure, it takes a while, and you might have one or two die on accident. But they have a higher level, and healer. This means that you can learn your limits there. Trust me, although sounding mean by saying "If one dies, don't worry," really. Don't worry. It's not a long instance, and they can run back. If you do that in Gadgetzan, though, feel the smite. That 5 minute corpse run, followed by a possible respawn *reeeealy* sucks to some.
Fourth: Find a pattern and go. My common pattern? Cast my buffs. Get into cat form. Stealth. Cast order: Ravage, Swipe, Rake, Swipe, Rake, Rip / Ferocious bite (Depending on how much life remains. 90% of the time, Ferocious, but if they have more than 40% life, go with Rip. Then tack on Rake / Swipe / Ferocious bite to finish them after the DoT sets in a bit ). This means that I prowl up, do tons of damage. Then begin combat with a heavy hit, following up with a DoT while my energy recharges. Once it's up, swipe 'em, then throw the DoT back on them, since the first is almost done (9 seconds isn't long). That leaves me 5 combo points to use my finisher at full potential. Rip is for bleedables and DoT. Early on, your only form of blowing Combo points, but it helps. Use it! Even if it doesn't work long, it does damage nonetheless. But Ferocious comes in later, which is a godsend for massive damage. It does insane damage based on combo points (About equal to rip's DoT) then burns the rest of your energy doing 1.0 damage of it (At lower levels) into damage as well. Handy, isn't it? Massive damage to any target. It hurts on energy... But it's worth it.
So that's my idea for my quick strikes. Omen usually proc's once or twice during a fight, speeding that process up, which is nice. And my dodge / critical chances don't let me down :D
So what did I do at lower levels? Bear form? Caster? Mix? YES! Mix! Caster early on to put on DoT's, as well as throw rejuv on before I hit bear. Then I mauled them (Literally), dropping their life down slowly. The rage kind of hurts since I suggest getting omen first for when you get cat form immidiately, but whatever you pick works. But that 15 rage is sometimes hard to earn. No worries, though, since bear is a tank in it's own right, and allows you to do damage, as well as do things like stun (Bash) and pull aggro (Growl).
So what've I covered... Cat form, and my spec... Druids and what to do... Tools of the trade... What you can do... Levels and grinding... Hmm... I might have missed something... What have I missed...?
How about parties? Lots of parties ask for healers. You may be a feral spec, such as me. But many parties enjoy having a Druid as a healer for a few reasons. One, you can heal over time. This means you can throw on a warrior at half life a healing. It heals them slowly, keeping them there, allowing you to throw bigger heals on your squishies, such as the Leeroy mage, or the stupid rogue that just aggro'd too many mobs. Yes, a Druid healer can be a godsend. Even some people concider it better than a Priest for healing in some places. Just depends on who's spec'ed what... ;)
Try everything. Try bear tanking. Try cat DPS'ing. Try healing. Try casting. I seriously reccomend you doing everything until you find your *favorite* thing to do. Mine? Beating the snot out of enemies for 50+ damage every 1 second, then doing massive 85+ shots every other second, while DoT'ing them for 15+ points every 3 seconds, dealing a massive 500+ critical every twenty seconds, and still having life leftover to take aggro off the priest with fast swings and heavy damage, as well as a high thread back shot (Shred, FTW!).
Yes... Druids thus far into the game definately have plusses... But... Disadvantages...?! YES! We have those. So far, let me throw out my low level complaints:
Quests can be either really hard or really easy. Druids can do a lot... But lower level ones aren't perfect. They won't be 'up to par' with things. Such as the lack of cat form until 20, as well as lack of travel form until 30.
Speed isn't a priority, nor is heavy damage. Melee is reduced to slow staves that I've seen, or training something else... But why train a 1H weapon? You won't get a decent off hand placeholder until somewhere in the 15-20 range... And by then, you'll probably want a 2H staff for stat buffs or mace for damage. Go with staff or mace and stick with it. Make *sure* to train mace if you go feral, though, since you'll rely on that for a lot of things! But always keep a Staff in your bank.
I'd suggest to train both after you get a level. Mostly because if you want to switch builds in later game, you'll be able to immidiately hit your switch and be good to go! Trust me, I trained my mace at the same time as my staff. I finally got a good 2H mace, and only had to hit Gnomer to swing at some elites for maybe 2 minutes, getting another 2 minutes, getting the last few points I needed to be good. If you miss a level or two, no worries. But five or six? Train to be safe.
Also, healing isn't close to a priests until you get Regrowth around level... Twelve? Fourteen? I think it's twelve, but I could be wrong. Whatever the case, regrowth is a quick heal with HoT tacked on, stackable with Rejuv. It is about equal to healing as Healing touch most of the time until you hit your 20's, and the cost is equal, if not, a little lower. However, once you hit your 20's, Healing Touch outdoes it by a few hundred points. But I *still* recommend for a mid-battle heal with Regrowth, if only for a faster cast, and HoT to back you up, expecially if cast with Rejuv, an instant cast with no delay. Always go with your faster moves when being hit. That'll save you from being screwed by cast delays.
I've used a mod to watch my cast times. It displays any and all slowdowns I've gotten. While in Gnomer, being hit by 2 mobs at once, I cast Rejuv. No delay. Bam. Instant. I cast Regrowth. 2 seconds + 1.8 seconds. It almost doubled the time. I cast Healing touch. 3.5 + 4.4 seconds. I *more* than doubled the cast time for about the same price and only a little more healing. Tell me... Which would you go with? Think about it, then answer. You'll understand.
Another big problem I had was with mana issues. Without +Int, you're toast, even as a shifter. Why? YOu still need to buff and heal occasionally. Even if you have high spirit while shifted, you'll still fall short with overall mana. I keep on a pair of rings. One is Agi, one is Int. I have given up a slot that I could have +3 or more Agi on for more Int that saves me moreso than the minor damage and crit / dodge, but gives me tons more mana leniency when healing or buffing, allowing me to buff all 5 people with MotW, Thorns, wait my 5 seconds for the regen, regen about 5 more, and shift. Total time? About 30 seconds to buff and Catify. Not too bad if you ask me. Without that int? It's around a minute to minute and a half. Trust me, Int is helpful, even for shifters.
So I think that covers all the major points. I feel that if I hit level 60, I'd go into this long detail about how the class is *so* worth it to build up, yadayadayada... So why explain it then when I've long since forgotten my beginning, when I can talk now!
Here's to 34 and 2/3 levels, and here's to another successful 35 and 1/3! :D
~Larry "Geno" Meyers