#0 - April 20, 2007, 5:52 a.m.
This is a thread designed to help all the would-be ferals - those just starting out, or even those considering rolling a druid themselves for the first time. I hope to run down the basics of the class, especially things like formulas, strategies, and What Gear Means To You.
This is not intended to be hugely in-depth insofar as maths and such goes - there are plenty of discussions of those topics at a higher level. This is more of a 'foundation' guide - the stuff that makes the druid tick, roar, and moonfire.
Contents.
-Level One – What's this 'wrath' thing?
-But first... don't wear that, wear this!
-The Bear – Small brain, stumpy tail, cool dance.
-Catform – Welcome to kitty country.
-A question of itemization...
-A short lesson in etiquette.
-Condescension and ignorance.
-Growing up.
-The numbers game.
Let's start at the start.
Level One - What's this 'wrath' thing?
Starting in the grassy plains of Mulgore or under the darkened boughs in Teldrassil, you'll notice one rather striking thing - you seem to suck. Whilst newbie rogues or hunters around you will be happily tearing hapless critters to pieces, you have this hadoken-wannabe spell that isn't really good for much at all. Unfortunately, life as a shiny new druid isn't really that interesting until level 20. I mean, when bearform feels like you're doing high damage...
Whilst, on the bright side, this tends to dissuade less dedicated players, it's also easy to see how a newbie's enthusiasm could be quickly dulled. Now, far be it from me to tell you what class to play, but if you decide you want to give the druid a good try, then do yourself a favour and 'unlock' catform before you draw your conclusions.
Catform is where the game starts to develop for your little guy. You now have the basics of the feral playstyle: bear for taking damage, cat for dishing it out, and 'caster' form to be avoided... and, admittedly, also to heal yourself from time to time. Before continuing on to how you want to start gearing your character, though, let's break these separate forms down and give them some sort of detail.
But first... don't wear that, wear this!
The druid class in general, and feral spec in particular, is constantly shifting around between forms, and most druids come to the conclusion that they need sets of gear for each form to be able to tank, damage deal, or even heal to their maximum capacity. I am a staunch supporter of the addon Itemrack, though there are others out there. You can find this simple yet powerful addon at any number of sites, including these two:
http://ui.worldofwar.net/
http://wow-en.curse-gaming.com/downloads/addons/
The Bear – Small brain, stumpy tail, cool dance.
Meatsack with four legs, your bearform relies on three stats to start with: stamina, strength and armour. Stamina is the most important stat at this early level if you want to be able to take much damage (ie: 'tanking' – protecting friends and party members from enemy damage by taking the hits yourself); armour you'll find comes fairly naturally with the gear – just make sure it's leather. I once saw a low level druid tanking in cloth...
In bearform, the only stat that will give you attack power – increasing your melee damage against enemies – is strength, but each point of strength will give you two attack power (unlike most other classes). You can see your attack power by going to your character profile in the game (the window where you view your gear) and selecting 'melee' from one of the drop-down tabs.
Attack power in bearform generates threat, which is basically an invisible measure of how much the current enemy wants to, y'know, hurt you. If you plan on tanking, you'll need a smidgen of attack power in order to help keep this threat on you rather than your enthusiastic but slightly combustible mage friend, so make sure you make room for some strength on your gear.
In bearform, agility benefits you by adding an incremental (really rather small) amount of armour, and also some dodge, which we will touch upon later. Agility will also raise your crit chance a bit. These stats are all useful, but at low level they shouldn't have too high a priority over stamina and strength.
The bear plays somewhat like a warrior. You have fairly good survivability, but don't expect to be doing a huge amount of damage in the form. Best used when you're going to be taking a beating. Like warriors, you also use rage to perform special moves.
Catform – Welcome to kitty country.
Most druids' form of choice, catform can knock out some nice damage when handled correctly. It also learns dash, which, combined with bash and entangling roots, will be one of your main forms of emergency escape until you really learn how to run at level 30. Catform uses the rogue combo points system, which rewards special attacks with points that stack to a maximum of five, that can then be used on powerful finishing moves such as ferocious bite.
So, how does gear affect your catform?
-Strength remains your attack power booster, still giving you 2ap per point.
-Agility comes into play too, giving the druid 1ap per point.
-Agility also increases in importance once you learn Primal Fury, a vital talent 15 points into the feral tree that rewards critical hits with two combo points rather than one.
-Later up the tree, Improved Leader of the Pack also benefits from a high crit chance, healing you for 4% of your total health when you land a critical strike.
Catform benefits from high attack power and high crit chance. The balance can be hard to achieve, because although agility gives you crit chance, it gives less attack power than strength. It's up to your personal preference as to whether you learn more towards crit or consistent damage.
A question of itemization...
Before level 60, there is very little gear that is aimed especially at feral druids. This was a sore point for quite some time, but has happily been addressed very comprehensively in The Burning Crusade and Outland. However, until that point, expect to be picking up gear from all manner of places. A level 46 ring, Band of the Great Tortoise, remained a common sight on many level 60 tanking druids for a long time because its armour, when modified by the bearform multiplier (previously 360%), was a very good investment. Good gear doesn't necessarily always make itself obvious. You might well decide to go for some gear that is a bit more ambiguous in its designated class.
However, don't expect it to go all your way.
A short lesson in etiquette.
Rogues. Rogues and warriors, and until level 40, hunters and shamans too. Unfortunately, you may start regarding these classes in something approaching dismay if you find out there's one in your group to instance X. However, a conscientious player will remember that behind those loot rivals is another player more or less like themselves, so it's as important to know when to not roll on items as it is when to roll.
Some things are easy:
-Anything with a 'proc' (that's chance on hit). As of yet, procs do not work in feral forms.
-Anything with +weapon skill. As a druid, you use something called 'feral combat skill' – anything with +dagger skill or similar gives you no advantage, and should be ceded to the better recipient.
-One handed maces and daggers are generally not a smart move either – because then you need an off-hand item, and frankly, you're a better druid than I if you can find a good one for ferals.
-Remember that druids do not use the weapon DPS at all unless they find themselves swinging it in caster form. That little number doesn't apply to you. However, it might mean a lot to the poor warrior/paladin/shaman who's using a two-hander with 20 less DPS.
The important thing is to always bear other people in mind. By all means, upgrade your gear, but do as you would be done by. Also, rolling on healing gear over another healer in the party, unless it's leather and they're a priest, is a big no-no. You're doing damage or tanking. Let others reap the reward for their part in the success.
Sadly, not everyone has such a Utopian attitude.
Condescension and ignorance.
Druids are much better than they used to be. Before the patch 1.12, druids were pretty much the weakest class in the game. Now, thanks to multiple buffs, changes, reworked talent trees and a changed attitude to itemization, us quadrupeds can stand up there with the other classes in our own right.
However, not everyone quite realizes this yet.
You will, invariably, run into idiots. Idiots are both universal and unavoidable. You will find players absolutely adamant that you cannot tank over a fury warrior, despite your hours of experience and top-notch gear for your level. Other people might take one look at you and see 'healer'. The best way to prove these people your worth is to do your job and do it well, but there are still many who regard the druid class as an untermensch of sorts. There's nothing really further I can do apart from warn you that you will meet these people. Good luck in dealing with them.
