This is not my Guide, i got it from - GameFAQs: World of Warcraft (PC) Druid Class Guide by SaboCactuar. I felt this guide should be shared here.
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[TALNT1] Druid Talents - Balance |
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Starlight Wrath - 5 Ranks - Reduces the cast time of Wrath and Starfire by 0.1
seconds per rank. A staple ability for increasing spellcasting DPS, this
talent allows you to cast both of your main offensive spells more quickly,
which means you cast them more often, which means you do more damage over time.
Nature's Grasp - 1 Rank - This is a talented spell that allows the Druid to
cast the Nature's Grasp buff on himself. While under this effect, enemies who
damage the Druid in melee have a chance of gaining the Entangling Roots effect
and devouring the Nature's Grasp buff. Lasts 45 seconds with a 1 minute
cooldown. Excellent for PvP and for escape measures, but it can only be cast
outdoors. Unimproved, it has a 35% chance of activating on melee damage.
Improved Nature's Grasp - 4 Ranks - This talent adds 15/30/45/65% to the chance
of Nature's Grasp activating, so with 4 ranks Nature's Grasp has a 100% chance
of activating on melee damage. It may or may not be worth 4 talent points to
you to guarantee that Nature's Grasp will activate on the first hit you take,
so this one is a judgment call.
Control of Nature - 3 Ranks - Gives a 40/70/100% chance of avoiding casting
interruption due to damage while casting Entangling Roots and Cyclone. This is
useful if you HAVE to get a Cyclone or Roots off quickly, so it's a good
survival talent, but it's situational and can easily be skipped. Very nice in
PvP however.
Focused Starlight - 2 Ranks - Increases the critical chance of your Wrath and
Starfire spells by 2% per rank. Another staple ability for Balance Druids, who
rely heavily on spell criticals.
Improved Moonfire - 2 Ranks - Increases the damage and critical chance of your
Moonfire spell by 5% per rank. Two talent points to increase the effect of
your Moonfire by 10% is very worthwhile, if you're going Balance.
Brambles - 3 Ranks - Increases the damage of your Thorns and Entangling Roots
spells by 25% per rank. Only useful if you're building a "Root and DoT" Duild,
otherwise skip this one.
Insect Swarm - 1 Rank - This is a talented spell that allows the Druid to cast
Insect Swarm on enemies. Insect Swarm is a damage over time spell that also
decreases the target's chance to hit by 2%, and it's very mana-efficient. As
with any talented spell, once you have the talent you can buy new ranks of the
spell periodically at different levels.
Nature's Reach - 2 Ranks - Increases the maximum range of all your Balance
spells and Faerie Fire (Feral) spell by 10% per rank. More range means more
margin for error, so this is a helpful talent. However, it doesn't increase
your DPS or directly increase your survivability or efficiency, so it can
safely be skipped if you need the points elsewhere.
Vengeance - 5 Ranks - Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your
Starfire, Wrath and Moonfire spells by 20% per rank. What this means is that
when one of those spells criticals, the "critical" part of the damage will
be increased, up to double damage. A normal spell critical deals 150% of the
spell's base damage, so with full ranks in this talent your spell criticals
will deal double damage over the base spell damage. A must-have talent for
Balance Druids.
Celestial Focus - 3 Ranks - Grants your Starfire spell a 5% chance per rank
of stunning the target for 3 seconds, and decreases the chance for your Wrath
spell to be interrupted by damage by 25% per rank. A great talent for the
Balance Druid, this allows you to spam Wrath even while being attacked, and
the stun effect of your Starfire will be useful in parties and raids.
Lunar Guidance - 3 Ranks - Increases your spell damage and healing by 8/16/25%
of your total Intellect. Great for both Balance and Restoration Druids, with
lots of Intellect this talent can add a LOT of extra healing or damage. A
must-have talent if you're in this tree.
Nature's Grace - 1 Rank - Your spell criticals give you a buff that causes
the cast time of your next spell to be reduced by half a second. This talent
is great, since as a Balance druid you'll be casting critical spells a lot.
The cast reduction can be used to speed up your nuking, to get off an extra-
fast Entangling Roots or Cyclone, or to quickly heal yourself or an ally.
Moonglow - 3 Ranks - Reduces the mana cost of your Moonfire, Wrath, Starfire,
Healing Touch, Regrowth and Rejuvenation spells by 3% per rank. This talent
is fantastic, it reduces the cost of ALL your big spells by nearly 10% with
full ranks. That gives you just that much more efficiency and staying power
to continue casting in long fights.
Moonfury - 5 Ranks - Increases the damage of your Moonfire, Starfire and Wrath
spells by 2% per rank. Another staple talent for the Balance Druid who wants
to maximize his damage and DPS.
Balance of Power - 2 Ranks - Increases your chance to hit with spells by 2% per
rank, and decreases the chance you'll be hit by spells by 2% per rank. This
talent cannot be understated, it makes it easier to land spells and makes you
more resistant to enemy spells. Even though 4% doesn't sound like much, this
talent coupled with "spell hit" gear makes it easier to land spells even on
elite enemies of much higher level. A must for Balance raiders and PvPers.
Dreamstate - 3 Ranks - Regenerates mana equal to 4/7/10% of your intellect
every 5 seconds, even while casting. This is a mana/5 talent, and it works
just like mana/5 gear. With this talent you're always regaining mana, even
when spirit would normally not apply (you do not regain mana through spirit
within 5 seconds of casting a spell). This is a great talent for mana
efficiency, and is a must-have for Balance Druids.
Moonkin Form - 1 Rank - The Balance form "Moonkin Form" is gained through
purchasing this talent. While in Moonkin form, your armor value from items is
increased by 360%, making you much more resistant to melee. Additionally, you
gain an aura that grants an extra 5% chance to critical with spells to yourself
and nearby party members. Lastly, your melee attacks in this form have a small
chance of restoring a minor amount of mana to you. However, while in Moonkin
form you can only cast Balance spells and cannot heal yourself. Moonkin form
is useful when you know you won't have to be healing (such as in a raid), or
when you are facing a pure melee class in PvP, and for one point it's worth
picking up if you're already this deep in Balance.
Improved Faerie Fire - 3 Ranks - With this talent, your Faerie Fire spell will
also increase the chance the target will be hit by melee or ranged attacks by
1% per rank. This is a pretty decent talent for raiders, but otherwise it's
easily skipped.
Wrath of Cenarius - 5 Ranks - Your Starfire spell gains an additional 4% per
rank and your Wrath spell gains an additional 2% per rank of bonus damage
effects. What this means is that your +spell damage equipment and enchantments
gain an extra bonus on top of their value from this talent. This is another
core DPS-increasing talent for Balance Druids, who rely heavily on +spell
damage equipment.
Force of Nature - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows the Druid to summon 3
Treant allies for 30 seconds, with a 3 minute cooldown. While active, the
Treants will attack nearby enemies at will. The Treants do very respectable
damage and are useful for dealing with unexpected adds in PvE or for creating
confusion and chaos in PvP, and they are very mana-efficient. However, you
have no direct control over their actions, so sometimes they attack a target
other than the one you want them to attack. Still, for one single talent
point you gain a potent 30 second panic button that adds greatly to your DPS
while it's active. My trees have saved me countless times, and they've allowed
me to take down enemies I otherwise would've been unable to solo.
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[TALNT2] Druid Talents - Feral Combat |
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Ferocity - 5 Ranks - Reduces the cost of your Maul, Swipe, Mangle, Claw and
Rake abilities by 1 Rage or Energy point per rank. This makes your abilities
cheaper to use, which allows you to use them more often, which increases your
DPS. If you're going to spend much time in either Cat or Bear form, this is a
good starter talent.
Feral Aggression - 5 Ranks - Increases the attack power reduction of the
Demoralizing Roar ability by 8% per rank, and increases the damage of the
Ferocious Bite ability by 3% per rank. Honestly the increases this talent
offers aren't really worth the points unless you're creating a specialty build.
I'd avoid this one in favor of Ferocity.
Feral Instinct - 3 Ranks - Increases threat caused by all abilities in Bear and
Dire Bear form by 5% per rank, and lowers the chance enemies will detect you
while Prowling by a small amount with each rank. This is a decent ability for
your Cat form, but it's a must-have for your bear form since it helps you tank
by holding aggro better.
Brutal Impact - 2 Ranks - Increases the stun duration of Bash and Pounce by
half a second per rank. This makes your stuns last longer, giving you more
time to do other things while your opponent is stunned, and that's always a
good thing. Definitely worth the two points, especially if you're going for a
pseudo-stunlock build with your Cat form.
Thick Hide - 3 Ranks - Increases the armor contribution from items by 4/7/10%.
This is especially beneficial to Bear/Dire Bear form, but it benefits all your
forms by making you more resistant to physical damage. Try to pick this one
up if you have the spare points.
Feral Swiftness - 2 Ranks - Increases your movement speed outdoors in Cat form
by 15% per rank, and incrases your chance to dodge in Feral forms by 2% per
rank. This allows you to have an outdoors movement ability by level 20, which
is extraordinarily helpful. It also increases your movement speed while
Prowling outdoors, which is very helpful if you'll be spending much time in
Cat form.
Feral Charge - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows you to consume 5 Rage to
instantly charge at a distant foe, immobilizing them and silencing them for a
short time. This is a great tool for Bear tanks to use, and for one talent
point it should definitely be purchased. Also fantastic in PvP.
Sharpened Claws - 3 Ranks - Increases your critical strike chance in Feral
forms by 2% per rank. Since Bears and especially Cats rely on criticals to
increase their damage output, this is a great talent to pick up. Plus it's
the prerequisite for another great talent, so definitely grab this one.
Savage Fury - 2 Ranks - Increases the damage of Claw, Rake, Maul, Swipe and
Mangle by 10% per rank. A 20% damage increase to all your most-used Feral
attacks for only 2 talent points is an absolute must-have if you're going
deep into this tree.
Faerie Fire (Feral) - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows you to cast the
Faerie Fire spell with no mana, Energy or Rage cost while in Feral forms.
Though you could easily switch to caster form to cast Faerie Fire, this talent
allows you to do so at no cost, and it's a great ranged "pulling" tool for
Feral Druids.
Nurturing Instinct - 2 Ranks - Increases your healing spells by 25% of your
Strength per rank. If you plan on being a Feral/healing hybrid Druid, this is
a good talent to pick up. Otherwise, skip it. If you're going full Feral,
you won't be healing often enough for this talent to really be that useful.
Heart of the Wild - 5 Ranks - Increases your Intellect by 4% per rank. Also
increases your Strength while in Cat form by 4% per rank, and increases your
Stamina while in Bear form by 4% per rank. This is an awesome talent that
gives you a boost to all your important stats in each form. In Cat form,
you'll hit harder. In Bear form, you'll tank longer. In caster form, you'll
have more mana. A must-have talent for the Feral Fruid.
Survival of the Fittest - 3 Ranks - Increases all attributes by 1% per rank and
decreases the chance you'll be critically hit by melee attacks by 1% per rank.
The stat boost is relatively minor, but the chance to avoid critical attacks
will increase your ability to tank significantly, making this a great talent if
you plan on spending time in Bear form.
Primal Tenacity - 3 Ranks - Increases your chance to resist Fear and Stun by 5%
per rank. This is a PvP talent through and through. It helps you avoid Fears
and stunlocks, the banes of a Druid in PvP. This talent will give you a much
better chance of surviving attacks by Rogues and Warlocks, but can be skipped
if you don't plan on PvPing much.
Leader of the Pack - 1 Rank - While in Feral form, this talent gives you an
aura that increases the melee and ranged critical chance of yourself and
nearby party members. Since Druids rely heavily on criticals and since this
is such a party-friendly ability, it's definitely worth a talent point.
Improved Leader of the Pack - 2 Ranks - Anyone under the effect of your Leader
of the Pack aura (including yourself) will be healed for 2% per rank of their
total health whenever they land a critical hit. The limitation is that it can
only activate once every 6 seconds. This is a great survival tool that helps
both you and your party, and while soloing it helps eliminate downtime. It's
a fantastic talent.
Predatory Instincts - 5 Ranks - While in Feral form, your critical hit damage
is increased by 3% per rank and your chance to avoid area effects is increased
by 3% per rank. Not only does this give you extra damage on critical hits, it
also allows you to dodge area effect abilities, which helps Bears tank and
helps Cats survive being in melee range. If you have the points, this is a
nice talent to spend them on if you want to increase your survivability.
Mangle - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows you to use a Mangle attack in
either Bear or Cat form. Mangle deals a substantial amount of damage and
causes bleed effects to deal more damage. It costs a fair bit of Rage or
Energy but it's more than worth it. This single talent is what makes Bear and
Cat damage viable, and if you're going Feral you can't afford to skip this.
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[TALNT3] Druid Talents - Restoration |
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Improved Mark of the Wild - 5 Ranks - Increases the effects of your Mark of the
Wild and Gift of the Wild spells by 7% per rank. Early on you won't see much
benefit from this talent, but as your buffs grow in strength, so does the
effect of this talent. This is a good spot for your first 5 points in the tree
if you're planning on going deep into Restoration, but other Druids may wish
to take the other first-tier talent instead.
Furor - 5 Ranks - Gives a 20% chance per rank to gain 10 Rage when you shift
into Bear forms or 40 Energy when you shift into cat form. This is a great
talent for hybrid Druids or for Druids who like to PvP, since Rage/Energy on
demand is always helpful. This allows Bears to quickly get enough energy
for a Feral Charge or Bash, or for Cats to get a quick burst of damage.
Combined with items that grant free Rage/Energy on shifting, you can even
use this talent to quickly shift out and back into your Feral form to rapidly
refill your Rage/Energy bar. A great talent all around.
Naturalist - 5 Ranks - Reduces the cast time of Healing Touch by 0.1 seconds
per rank and increases the melee damage of all forms by 2% per rank. Faster
heals and more damage will benefit ANY Druid, so this is a great talent if you
have the points.
Nature's Focus - 5 Ranks - Grants a 14% chance per rank of resisting casting
interruption caused by damage when casting Healing Touch, Regrowth or
Tranquility. This is a nice talent for a dedicated healer or a PvP Druid,
since it makes it much easier to get heals off even while being attacked. If
you don't plan on healing much, there are probably better talents, however.
Natural Shapeshifter - 3 Ranks - Reduces the mana cost of shapeshifting by 10%
per rank. This is great for a Feral Druid who plans on shifting often, or for
a Balance Druid who likes hopping in and out of Moonkin form, or for a hybrid
Druid, but dedicated healers can find better places to spend their points.
Intensity - 3 Ranks - Allows 5% per rank of your mana regeneration to continue
while casting, and causes your Enrage ability to instantly generate 4/7/10 Rage
on use. Feral Druids probably won't need this talent, especially if they
picked up Furor, but Balance and Restoration Druids will love the extra mana
regeneration.
Subtlety - 5 Ranks - Reduces the threat caused by your healing spells by 4% per
rank and reduces the chance your healing spells will be dispelled by 6% per
rank. The threat reduction will be of great help to partying/raiding healers,
while the dispel resistance will aid PvP healers. Non-Restoration Druids
can safely skip this one.
Omen of Clarity - 1 Rank - Your melee attacks in all forms have a chance of
giving you a Clearcasting buff, which causes your next spell or ability to
cost no Rage/Energy/mana. This talent is fantastic for Balance, Feral and
hybrid Druids, because it raises your DPS and efficiency dramatically. You
should definitely pick up this talent unless you're going deep Restoration,
in which case it's optional.
Tranquil Spirit - 5 Ranks - Reduces the mana cost of Tranquility and Healing
Touch by 2% per rank. Oddly, this talent sounds better than it is. You won't
be casting Tranquility that often because of its long cooldown, and if you're
going deep Restoration you probably will be relying on your heal over time
spells more than your Healing Touch. If you're only going partway down the
Restoration tree, then this might be a talent to consider.
Improved Rejuvenation - 3 Ranks - Increases the effect of Rejuvenation by 5%
per rank. Not only is this the prerequisite for another good talent, but it's
also a great way to increase the efficiency of your already-cheap Rejuvenation
spell. Grab this if you have the points and plan on going further into the
tree.
Nature's Swiftness - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows you to activate
Nature's Swiftness, which makes your next Nature spell with a cast time become
instant-cast. This talent is fantastic for emergency healing, it allows you
to instant-cast a Healing Touch to refill someone's health to full, or to cast
Entangling Roots when you need a fast getaway, or to get off a quick Wrath.
This is a great talent for PvP healers especially.
Gift of Nature - 5 Ranks - Increases the effect of healing spells by 2% per
rank. It's a big boost to your healing efficiency and allows you to keep
casting that much longer, so it's definitely a good one for dedicated healers.
Improved Tranquility - 2 Ranks - Reduces threat caused by Tranquility by 50%
per rank. With full ranks, you can cast Tranquility without fear of being
attacked, and Tranquility heals a LOT of damage. Really though, the spell
is only useful if everyone in your group has taken a lot of damage, so it's
up to you to decide if you use Tranquility enough to justify taking the
talent.
Empowered Touch - 2 Ranks - Grants your healing spells an extra 10% per rank
from your bonus healing effects. In other words, with full ranks all your
+healing equipment and enchantments will count for 20% more. A great talent
for efficiency and potency of heals, and the better equipped you get the
stronger the talent gets.
Improved Regrowth - 5 Ranks - Each rank increases the critical chance of
Regrowth by 10%. With full ranks, your Regrowth will be a critical more often
than not. If you're going all the way down restoration, Regrowth will be
your main source of burst healing, so this is a great talent. However, only
the burst-healing component of Regrowth is subject to a critical chance, so
unless you're casting Regrowth a lot you can skip this.
Living Spirit - 3 Ranks - Increases your Spirit by 5% per rank. Spirit is the
stat that determines your passive mana regeneration, so this stacks nicely with
Intensity. Also, Tree of Life form at the bottom of this tree relies heavily
on Spirit, so if you're going all the way then you'll want to take this talent.
Swiftmend - 1 Rank - This talented spell allows you to activate Swiftmend,
which consumes the heal-over-time effect of a Regrowth or Rejuvenation effect
on the target to grant a burst-healing equal to the full duration of the heal-
over-time portion of the consumed effect. In other words, if you cast a
Rejuvenation or Regrowth on someone, you can let the heal run most of its
course and then Swiftmend it. The Rejuvenation or Regrowth will be removed,
but the target will instantly be healed for an amount of health equal to
letting a brand new Rejuvenation or Regrowth heal-over-time to take effect.
This is a great way to burst-heal at the end of a heal-over-time spell, or in
an emergency you can instant-cast Rejuvenation, then quickly Swiftmend for a
rapid burst of healing. This is a MUST-HAVE talent if you're this deep in
Restoration. I'm uncertain whether Lifebloom can be consumed in this way, but
even if it can I wouldn't recommend it. Lifebloom has a short enough duration
that you'll probably want to let it run its course and burst on its own. If
I have an opportunity to experiment with this, I'll test whether or not it
works with Lifebloom and update this later.
Natural Perfection - 3 Ranks - Your spell critical chance is increased by 1%
per rank, and ranged and melee criticals you receive do 4/7/10% less damage
to you. This is a nice little survival talent, and it helps you critical
Regrowth more often, but it's easily skipped if you have better places to
spend your points.
Empowered Rejuvenation - 5 Ranks - The bonus healing effects of your heal-
over-time spells is increased by 4% per rank. In other words, your +healing
equipment and enchantments will count for 20% more to your heal-over-time
effects with max ranks in this talent. This stacks wonderfully with
Empowered Touch and makes your Regrowth, Rejuvenation and Lifebloom spells
that much more powerful and mana efficient. Plus it's the prerequesite for
the final talent in the tree, so it's worth getting.
Tree of Life - 1 Rank - The Restoration form "Tree of Life" form is accessed
through this talent. Tree of Life form you have an aura that causes all
affected party members to gain a bonus to all healing effects cast on them
equal to 25% of your total spirit. You're limited to Swiftmend, Regrowth,
Rejuvenation, and Lifebloom and cannot cast any other spells, but those spells
cost 20% less mana to use in Tree of Life form. Also, your movement speed is
reduced to 80% of normal, and you count as an elemental while in this form so
you can be affected by the Warlock spell Banish. Tree of Life is certainly a
situational form, as with any of our forms, but it makes our heal-over-time
spells incredibly potent and efficient. And your aura causes ALL incoming
healing to be increased on affected party members, not just your own, making
your aura incredibly raid-friendly.
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[EQUIP1] Equipping Your Druid |
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Each talent build for the Druid class requires differing equipment, and
sometimes equipping your Druid can become overwhelming. Rather than list off
recommended gear (which would change as items are changed and new items are
added), I'll give an explaination of what each build should be looking for.
Allakhazam.com has a wonderful equipment database where you can search for
equipment based on all kinds of criteria, so you can use this wonderful tool
to decide what equipment you want to use and how to get it.
Balance Druids are the Mage-like Druids, and as such they typically want
Mage-like stats. High Intellect increases their mana pool and chance for
spells to critical, while Spirit increases their mana regeneration. Spell
damage is vitally important to a Balance Druid, so hopefully you'll be able
to find +spell damage for all your slots. Mana regeneration per 5 seconds
(Mana/5) is helpful, but less so than other stats. And your spell critical
chance is another massively important modifier to look out for, though you
won't see much of that until higher levels. Items that decrease your targets'
resistances are helpful to raiders and PvPers, as well. And you can't neglect
your Stamina, because a dead Druid isn't helpful to anyone. Modifiers to look
out for are "...of the Eagle", "...of the Owl", and "...of Intellect". Items
"...of the Invoker" and "...of the Sorceror" are even better mods found only
on gear from the Outland, at around level 58+.
Feral Druids will want a variety of stats, depending on their playstyle. If
you plan on spending a fair amount of time in both Bear and Cat forms, you'll
want to focus primarily on Strength but with a healthy amount of Agility and
Stamina. Strength increases your melee damage in both forms, while Agility
increases damage in Cat form and adds to your dodge and critical chance.
Stamina is a must if you ever plan on tanking. A small amount of Intellect
wouldn't hurt either, since you need mana to shift forms. Spirit is pretty
useless to a Feral Druid. Druids who focus on their Cat form and don't care
much about Bear form will want most of the same stats, although you'll probably
want to balance your Agility and Strength a little more closely instead of
favoring Strength. Bear Druids who don't care about Cat form and prefer to
tank will definitely want to stack on the Strength in favor of Agility, but
don't completely neglect Agility either. Attack Power is useful, but only if
you can't find a piece of equipment that offers an equivalent amount of
Strength, since for Druids one point of Strength or two points of Agility offer
one point of Attack Power. Modifiers to look out for are "...of the Bear",
"...of the Monkey", "...of the Tiger", "...of Strength", and "...of Agility".
Items "...of the Bandit", "...of the Beast", and "...of the Soldier" are great
modifiers found on Outland gear.
Restoration Druids will want the same basic stats as Balance druids, although
Spirit will take a much greater role here, especially if you're going for
Tree of Life form. Items with just +healing will probably be preferable to
items with both +healing/spell damage since you'll get a lot more +healing
that way, and don't neglect Mana/5 to help with longevity and efficiency.
Modifiers to watch for are "...of the Eagle", "...of the Owl", "...of
Intellect", and "...of Healing". Items "...of the Heirophant" and "...of the
Physician" are even better modifiers found only on Outland equipment.
Hybrid Druids will want all kinds of crazy things depending on which trees
and forms they choose to emphasize, so try to draw from the above lists and
tailor them to fit your needs. Luckily, as a hybrid Druid you can actually
get away with buying odd modifiers that nobody else would want, like "...of the
Boar" or "...of the Gorilla", since you're going to be wanting both caster and
melee stats.
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[LEVEL1] Levels 1-9 |
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These low levels can be difficult for the Druid class, since we really don't
have any of the awesome utility we'll gain at later levels. You'll start out
knowing the first ranks of Wrath and Healing Touch, but unfortunately your
starting mana pool will be rather low and your melee abilities won't be that
great yet. The typical fight will start with you rapid-fire throwing Wraths
from as far away as possible until the enemy gets to you, then meleeing until
they die. Be sure to pick up all the grey items you can. Equip anything
leather and sell the rest. You're going to want to upgrade to a vendor-bought
weapon as soon as you have the money, since that will help your faltering
melee DPS.
Do all the quests for your race's newbie area, since these offer great EXP and
helpful equipment as rewards. At level 5 or 6 you'll be ready to leave the
newbie area and head to the second village for your race to pick up more
quests. Be sure to train at your class trainer at every even-numbered level
to expand your available tools. You might wish to pick up a profession or
two at this point as well. For more information on Druids and professions,
jump to the section tagged TRADE1.
At around level 9-10 you should be ready to head to your race's capitol city,
and quests should start pointing you in that direction anyway. Once you get
there, don't forget to attune your hearthstone to the local inn.
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[LEVEL2] Levels 10-19 |
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At level 10 you'll get your first talent point. Now comes decision time.
While it is certainly possible to level as a Balance or Restoration Druid, it's
also significantly harder to do so because of downtime and the lack of mana
that young Druids experience. I would strongly recommend you put your points
in the Feral Combat tree from here on out. You always have the option of a
respec, and at level 40 you can begin considering the Balance tree as a viable
leveling option. For now though, Feral is going to be your safest and best
bet. The choice, of course, is yours regardless.
Also at level 10, you'll receive the Teleport: Moonglade spell and a class
quest from the Druid trainer in either Thunder Bluff or Darnassus that sends
you to... wait for it... the Moonglade. Start on this quest the moment you hit
level 10, because the ultimate reward for the chain is Bear form, which will
make leveling MUCH easier through this bracket.
Once you have Bear form, you may wish to start looking for +Strength leather.
Bear form's primary damage stat is Strength, and you can safely ignore Agility
for now. Also, try to train the ability to use two-handed maces if you can.
For the Alliance, you'll need to go to Ironforge. The Horde Druids have it
easier, the weaponmaster in Thunder Bluff can teach you. Two-handed maces
tend to have better melee stats than staves, and they have bigger stat boosts
than one-handed weapons. And, in the event that you have to stay in caster
form for some reason, they usually do the most damage for your caster form.
You'll receive two other class quests in this bracket. Cure Poison, at level
14, has you running around either Darkshore or the Barrens curing radioactive
deer of a toxic plague. At level 16, you can quest for Aquatic form, a quest
that takes you across both continents. For both Night Elves and Tauren,
doing the Moonglade and Darkshore parts of the quest will be relatively easy.
However, the other part of the quest sends you to Westfall in the Eastern
Kingdoms. The best way is to go to the Barrens (Night Elves go south from
Darkshore, then southeast through Ashenvale) to Ratchet, then take the goblin
boat from Ratchet to Booty Bay, then jump in the water and swim north all
the way to Westfall. This method is slow, but you'll bypass the level 30-40
dangers of Stranglethorn Vale and should arrive in one piece. Consult quest
information at a site like Allakhazam or Thottbot for more in-depth details.
Your typical fight will begin with you either in Bear form or caster form. If
you start the fight in caster, use Moonfire to pull the enemy to you and then
switch to Bear. Begin attacking the enemy to build up rage, and use Maul to
get big bursts of damage. Don't forget to Bash to interrupt spellcasting,
especially if the enemy is trying to heal themselves. After battle, if you
have lots of Rage and didn't take much damage, feel free to jump into a new
battle immediately. If you're hurting, shift out of Bear (forfeiting any Rage
you gained) and heal yourself as necessary. This method will limit your
downtime and help make the most out of your grinding.
For Night Elves, your best leveling will be in Darkshore and Ashenvale through
this bracket; for Tauren, you'll want to work your way through the multitude
of Barrens quests. I suggest putting 5 talent points into Ferocity, then 2
into Brutal Impact, and lastly 3 into Thick Hide. This will give you some
armor, a bit better DPS with your Bear form attacks, and will put you in a
good position for level 20.
Don't forget to check the Auction House regularly after every level you gain.
By level 20, your goal is to be out of greys and whites entirely and have
green items in all your slots. If possible, try running Deadmines a few times
in this bracket, since there are some very nice leather pieces available.
Alliance especially should look at completing the Deadmines and the associated
quests, since the Tunic of Westfall is a great item for Feral Druids and it
gets even better once you have Cat form. Horde should begin running the
Wailing Caverns at around level 15, for the same reasons. The Wailing Caverns
armor set, the items with the "...of the Fang" names, are great for young
Druids. The set bonuses benefit your casting while the armor gives great stat
boosts.
----------------------
[LEVEL3] Levels 20-29 |
----------------------
At level 20, you can purchase the Cat form ability from your class trainer.
From now on, this will likely be your solo form, and it gets progressively
better as you learn new Cat abilities. At level 20 and again at level 21,
it's highly recommended that you put your talent points into Feral Swiftness,
which will allow you to move with a 30% bonus to your speed while outdoors in
Cat form. You can use this as a very reliable movement power until you get
Travel form at level 30, and in the meantime this will speed up the 20s for
you quite a bit.
During the 20s, the Alliance will probably want to be questing in the Wetlands.
Duskwood is a fun and creepy alternative in this bracket, as well. The Horde
will be moving on to Thousand Needles. Either faction also has the option of
going to Hillsbrad Foothills or Ashenvale, but these are contested zones
on PvP servers, so if you are on a PvP server, I'd recommend sticking to
Duskwood and Thousand Needles, since Hillsbrad especially is a PvP hotspot
and it might get in the way of your leveling. Either way, you should begin
to feel much more powerful in this bracket. Blackfathom Deeps will open up
as an instance for both factions in this bracket, and it's worth running for
some of the nice leather items it holds. In addition, both factions can run
the very fun Shadowfang Keep, and the Alliance can run the Stockade. Though
the Stockade doesn't hold any great gear, it's a good place to group for
leveling and questing, and some of the quest rewards can be rather nice.
If you've picked up any gathering professions, this would be a good time to
really start training them in earnest. If you've taken mining, be on the
constant lookout for mining nodes, and make sure to smelt often to keep your
bags as empty as possible. For Herbalists and Skinners, the Wetlands is a
fantastic place to train your professions while you level. You can gain a lot
of skill and make plenty of money while you grind, and you'll want to start
saving money because your items and level training are beginning to get more
expensive. And you're coming up on the point where you'll want to start
saving for your mount, so it's never a bad idea to get a head start.
In this bracket, the typical fight will involve you opening the fight either
by casting Moonfire in caster, or by attacking from Prowl in cat. Either way,
once you're in Cat, put Rake on the enemy first thing to let it run its full
bleed course, and begin building up Combo Points with claw. Use Rip early
enough to make a difference, and use Tiger's Fury whenever you are using a
burst attack (especially before an opening attack like Shred). Don't forget,
if you get an add it's a good idea to cast Rejuvenation and/or Regrowth on
yourself, then switch to Bear form for survivability. Cat form is a potent
form in one-versus-one fights, but it doesn't have the durability to stand
up to multiple enemies attacking at once.
----------------------
[LEVEL4] Levels 30-59 |
----------------------
Now you're playing the game in earnest. It's during these levels that the
Alliance and Horde will start to share zones, so if you're on a PvP server,
make sure your equipment is high-grade and that you have plenty of Stamina and
armor. At level 30, you'll gain Travel form, which will make your life so
much easier. You can move at a very good pace (+40% movement speed) with this
new form, and it's much less mana-hungry to switch into than your combat forms.
Don't forget, shapeshifting breaks movement impairing effects and Polymorph, so
you can quickly switch into Travel form and back into your Bear or Cat form in
outdoors battles.
During these levels, you can quest in Desolace, Ferelas, Tanaris, Un'Goro
Crater, Hinterlands, both Eastern and Western Plaguelands, Stranglethorn Vale,
Silithus, the Badlands, Searing Gorge, the Blasted Lands, and Burning Steppes.
All of Azeroth is yours throughout this stage in the game. There are many
leveling guides across the internet that you can refer to if you run out of
quests in a given area or if you want a change of scenery. Also, don't forget
the instances, many of which (like Scarlet Monastery, Dire Maul, and Maraudon)
offer several different sections or wings for exploration. The gear will get
a lot better in these levels, as well.
At level 40, you will learn the Dire Bear form from your Druid trainer. This
is a substantial upgrade over regular Bear form, and it's especially attractive
at 40 when you also have the option of learning the almighty Mangle through
the Feral Combat tree. However, if you should choose to do so, it's at around
level 40 that you can safely respec to the Balance tree and change your battle
strategies around. If you choose to respec, make sure you have access to gear
with lots of Intellect, Spirit, and +spell damage on it before you do, else
you're going to have a difficult time fighting until your gear catches up with
your talents.
Also at level 40, you have the ability to purchase and ride a mount for the
first time. Some of you may think that a mount is unnecessary with Travel form
at your disposal, but I would still recommend saving up for and purchasing a
mount. A standard mount still moves faster than Travel form (160% movement
speed as opposed to 140% with Travel form), and there will be times when you'll
really appreciate the extra boost. Others of you may be thinking that after
you get your mount you'll never use Travel form again. While it's true that a
mount is a fair bit faster, Travel form still has its uses. It's great for
quick getaways in combat (since you can't mount in combat), and you herbalists
can run around in Travel form to pick herbs quickly, without having to mount
and dismount. And you can't carry flags in Warsong Gulch while mounted, but
you CAN carry them while in Travel Form.
Instances you'll definitely want to hit in this range include the Scarlet
Monastery in Tirisfal Glades, Maraudon in Desolace, Uldaman in the Badlands,
Blackrock Depths in the Searing Gorge, and Zul'Farrak in Tanaris. All of
these instances offer great rewards and can be very fun, plus there are plenty
of quests attached to these instances that can be worthwhile to complete.
As you get closer to 60, be sure to start saving your money so that you can
purchase an Epic mount. You'll need to have an Epic mount no later than level
68 so that you can train Flight form, and with the 200% movement speed that an
Epic mount offers you'll be able to move around much more easily and quickly.
You can run instances for drops to sell or rely on your tradeskills, and money
seems very easy to come by in the Outland, so don't stress if you don't have
a big bankroll during these levels. It's just something to be mindful of.
----------------------
[LEVEL5] Levels 60-70 |
----------------------
Now you're truly a high-level Druid. From 58 on you can cross the Dark Portal
in the Blasted Lands to enter the Outland, but I'd recommend waiting until 60,
since the enemies in the Outland are more difficult than their Azerothian
counterparts. When you cross the Dark Portal, you'll end up in the middle of
a huge battle, so don't run straight ahead into the fray. Instead, Alliance
Druids will turn left or Horde druids will turn right, to the Flight Master of
their faction. Alliance Druids can immediately fly to Honor Hold, while Horde
Druids can travel to Thrallmar. These two faction outposts will be your main
point of contact and quest hub for a while, so it's best to familiarize
yourself with them. Pick up every quest you can find, because all of these
early Outland quests offer reward equipment to rival the most powerful items
in Azeroth. Do quests with equipment rewards before any others, so that you
will be adequately re-equipped to deal with the demonic forces of Hellfire
Peninsula. And be especially careful if the ground begins to shake, that's a
sure sign that the massive and monstrous level 70 elite Felreaver is nearby.
It wanders the map and likes to sneak up on unsuspecting delicious little
Druids, so be mindful of your surroundings at all times.
While here in Hellfire Peninsula, you may wish to speak to your profession
trainers to raise your skill caps to 375. Primary profession trainers (such as
herbalism and enchanting) are located in Honor Hold and Thrallmar, while the
secondary skills (fishing, cooking and first aid) are located in your faction's
secondary outpost in the zone (the Temple of Telhamat for the Alliance, Falcon
Watch for the Horde). Those with gathering professions will definitely want
to do this as soon as possible, since Hellfire Peninsula is littered with new
herbs, ores and skins unavailable in Azeroth. Also, while you're here you
might want to join an instance group for either the Hellfire Ramparts (levels
60-62) or the Blood Furnace (levels 61-63), since many good item drops can
be found here and the boss fights are fun and fresh. Later you can return for
the Shattered Halls section of Hellfire Citadel at level 70, and a raid
dungeon, Magtheridon's Lair, can be found here.
After you've completed all the quests in Hellfire Peninsula, or even if you're
just looking for a change of scenery, you can head west into the Zangarmarsh.
The first stop here is the Cenarion Refuge, which offers plenty of quests for
exploration. From the Cenarion Refuge, both factions have outposts to the
north (Telredor for the Alliance, Swamprat Post for the Horde) which offer
vendors to sell and repair items, inns, quests galore, and a flight path. Be
sure to spend plenty of time in the Zangarmarsh, it's an amazing and beautiful
zone with tons and tons of fun and rewarding quests. The Zangarmarsh is home
to the Coilfang Reservoir, which has three different instances and a raid
dungeon for you to enjoy. The instances are the Slave Pens (62-64), the
Underbog (63-65), and the Steamvault (70), as well as the raid dungeon, the
Serpentshrine Cavern.
South of the Zangarmarsh is Terokkar Forest, home of the single bastion of
civilization in the Outland, Shattrath City. This will be your fulltime home
for the rest of the game, and you'll definitely want to set your hearthstone
here, since Shattrath City offers instant one-way teleportation to any Alliance
or Horde city. Shattrath has mailboxes, banks, vendors, and quests, as well as
two new opposing groups to gain repuation with (an order of Draenei called the
Aldor, and a group of blood elves called the Scryers). Early on in your first
visit to Shattrath, you'll be asked to swear allegience to one of these two
factions, and each offers different rewards for loyalty, so I'd suggest you
read up before deciding which faction to join. Every time you gain reputation
with one of the factions, you lose reputation with the other, so the choice is
difficult to reverse.
Also nearby are Allerian Stronghold (Alliance) and Stonebreaker Hold (Horde),
located near the middle of the map. Head here as soon as you can since these
towns serve as great quest hubs, and they offer flight paths that will connect
Hellfire Peninsula with the rest of the Outland once you gain them. Take care
in Terokkar though, the Warp Stalkers there can fade in and out and move about
invisibly, so it's easy to be attacked when you least expect it. And if you
wander farther south, you'll find a wrecked caravan that serves as a second
quest hub, and you'll find the lost holy burial grounds of the Draenei,
Auchindoun, in the middle of the desolate Bone Wastes. Auchindoun is home to
four instances: the Mana Tombs (64-66), Auchenai Crypts (65-67), Sethekk
Halls (67-69) and the Shadow Labyrinth (70)
To the west of Terokkar Forest and south of Zangarmarsh is beautiful Nagrand,
a lush, open area with tons of quests to explore. The Horde and Alliance
flight paths are toward the bottom of the map, as well as a "neutral" town,
Halaa, at the center of the map. In the middle of Halaa is a flag, and
whichever faction controls that flag controls Halaa. The dominant faction
has access to trainers, quest-givers, and various other benefits, while the
non-dominant faction gets attacked by town guards until the city changes
hands. So, take care to look at who owns Halaa before you enter it, and try
to avoid it if you don't like PvP, since it's constantly under fire. In the
northeastern corner of Nagrand is the Throne of the Elements, a quest hub
where you can meet and work for some *very* powerful elementals. The Ring of
Trials, one of the PvP arenas, is located here as well. And as an unexpected
surprise, Hemet Nesingwary of the Nesingwary Expidition of Stranglethorn Vale
has followed you through the Dark Portal and set up camp here in Nagrand. He
and his fellow hunters will offer you many "hunt and kill" quests just like
they did back in Azeroth.
As I write this, I'm still working my way through the Outland with my Druid,
so this section will be fleshed out later, once I get more experience with
the new zones and instances. I have not yet visited the Netherstorm, the
Blade's Edge Mountains or Shadowmoon Valley, so there's plenty of Outland yet
to be explored.