Warcraft Druids

by Jitwix

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Jitwix2006-11-09 12:56:43
WoW recently started its encyclopedia. This is from the entry on the Cenarion Circle:

QUOTE
There are two specialized subgroups within the Cenarion Circle: the Druids of the Claw and the Druids of the Talon. Recently a third subgroup has been reported in the Wailing Caverns: these Druids of the Fang are, however, corrupt and insane. The existence of a fourth subgroup, rumored to be called the Druids of the Antler, has never been confirmed.


From the entry on Malorne:

QUOTE
Rumor has it that a group known as the Druids of the Antler once existed: a collection of people who sought to emulate Malorne and recreate his powers on Azeroth. If druids as a whole are wary of detection, though, this small subgroup, if it exists, has proven even more elusive. No solid evidence of these particular druids has ever been found.


Bear, Crow, Stag. Interesting coincidence.

Most people know the first two subgroups from Warcraft 3, but the other two were never encountered in that game (though there were the half-stag/half-elf Keepers of the Grove). Of course the Druids of the Talon aren't corrupted, and they work closely with the Druids of the Claw, and it hasn't been proven that the Druids of the Antlers ever actually existed.



Side note: In WoW the two main morphs are actually Bear form and Cat form, Crow form seemingly falling away.
Saran2006-11-09 13:21:24
QUOTE(Jitwix @ Nov 9 2006, 11:56 PM) 352394

Side note: In WoW the two main morphs are actually Bear form and Cat form, Crow form seemingly falling away.


Probably because there aren't any player flight abilities in the first release. There is also Sea-lion and Moonkin of course.
Unknown2006-11-09 13:23:03
In WC3 you've got the 'Keeper of the Grove' Nightelf hero who is essentially a Charune look-alike and then two normal druid units which are Crow and Bear look-alikes. WoW is just copying it's own material from earlier games Blizzard does that a lot. tongue.gif

Of course all games are drawing on various mythologies for influences, so it's no surprise that you've found a parallel between lusternia and W.o.W.
Unknown2006-11-09 17:04:29
Crow will be a new form in Burning Crusade, which will introduce flying mounts.

I'm ready to bet my money that these supposed-to-be Druids of the Antler are balance-specced Moonkins. Because Moonkin have antlers and they kick ass.
Sylphas2006-11-10 03:48:29
And they're about as mana efficient as focus spirit. They do look totally awesome though, and I specced Balance for a bit just to have a big fluffy Moonkin.
Asarnil2006-11-10 06:06:59
Oomkin spam is meh. Resto spec Tree of Life looks interesting though if they fix some of the problems with it. Other than that, Feral for the win.
Murphy2006-11-10 06:25:52
Feral druids have it real tough getting raid spots. Resto druids make EXCELLENT healers, i would rather have a decent resto druid than a priest in my group
Asarnil2006-11-10 08:16:54
QUOTE(Murphy @ Nov 10 2006, 04:55 PM) 352576

Feral druids have it real tough getting raid spots. Resto druids make EXCELLENT healers, i would rather have a decent resto druid than a priest in my group


If the guild is any decent, they shouldn't if they are feral tank druids. DPS sure there should be problems, but druids have tanked every instance in the game successfully.

And decent resto druids are hot because regrowth spammage is sexier than a room full of naked dancing female night elves.
Murphy2006-11-10 08:26:53
In most raiding guilds there is room for 1 feral druid, 2 max. Druids just can't hold or generate aggro like a warrior, they like to think they do but they can't keep it together.

Sure its POSSIBLE to have a druid maintank (our feral guy does it in emergency sometimes if all the tanks die) but that's like saying its POSSIBLE to steer a car with your feet, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to do it.

Even our feral druid heals. In a raid group the best druid is the guy who can tank where he needs to in emergencies, switch to caster form to throw some heals and back to cat for dps or bear.

Sometimes druids can tank where you need 6 or more tanks in a fight (it happens in MC).

the sexiest thing about feral druids is having them in a dps group (fury warr 2 rogues, hunter with tsa and the druid with leader of the pack - 3% crit from that bad boy)

A feral druid will never dps even close to a rogue, nor will they tank nearly as well as a warrior. Druids can't block which is a big factor. Thing is a druid can do all different things makeing them useful, and resto druids will keep up healing with a priest.
Unknown2006-11-10 09:21:02
QUOTE(Murphy @ Nov 9 2006, 10:26 PM) 352586

In most raiding guilds there is room for 1 feral druid, 2 max. Druids just can't hold or generate aggro like a warrior, they like to think they do but they can't keep it together.

Sure its POSSIBLE to have a druid maintank (our feral guy does it in emergency sometimes if all the tanks die) but that's like saying its POSSIBLE to steer a car with your feet, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to do it.

Even our feral druid heals. In a raid group the best druid is the guy who can tank where he needs to in emergencies, switch to caster form to throw some heals and back to cat for dps or bear.

Sometimes druids can tank where you need 6 or more tanks in a fight (it happens in MC).

the sexiest thing about feral druids is having them in a dps group (fury warr 2 rogues, hunter with tsa and the druid with leader of the pack - 3% crit from that bad boy)

A feral druid will never dps even close to a rogue, nor will they tank nearly as well as a warrior. Druids can't block which is a big factor. Thing is a druid can do all different things makeing them useful, and resto druids will keep up healing with a priest.


Silly misinformed Rogue.

Weren't you only level 53 a short while ago?
Asarnil2006-11-10 12:22:33
Very misinformed. Murphy - feral druids have main and off tanked every single instance in the game. A good feral druid is nearly as good a tank as your warrior is, and they have their own taunts to help them hold aggro. And your feral druid when he switches out for heals, can only manage a couple before he doesn't have enough mana left to switch back into bear form, and even then he usually dies unless he runs far away from the combat because out of bear form they have the survivability of the last donut in a room full of fat kids.
Sylphas2006-11-10 13:23:37
They really can't do everything at once. Shifting eats up mana you could be using to heal, and you'd have to carry around three or four sets of gear and be specced hybrid to do everything even half-decently. BC looks like it might change that, a bit, but we're still very gear dependent. Tanking gear sure as hell isn't close to healing gear, and your mana pool is going to take a huge hit when you put it on, let alone your heal efficiency.
Murphy2006-11-10 15:15:54
QUOTE(Asarnil @ Nov 10 2006, 10:22 PM) 352593

Very misinformed. Murphy - feral druids have main and off tanked every single instance in the game. A good feral druid is nearly as good a tank as your warrior is, and they have their own taunts to help them hold aggro. And your feral druid when he switches out for heals, can only manage a couple before he doesn't have enough mana left to switch back into bear form, and even then he usually dies unless he runs far away from the combat because out of bear form they have the survivability of the last donut in a room full of fat kids.


Trust me man, i've dpsed behind warriors ane feral druids, warriors hold aggro MUCH better. As a rogue you get to know your tanks and you know when you're gonna pull aggro. First off they can sunder, secondly they can shieldslam. Thirdly they have cooldowns like laststand and shieldwall. They also can't block like a warrior can with a shield. They don't have revenge. Warriors have a shitload of moves to geenrate aggro but a druid really lacks what it takes. Sure they can take damage well with 11k armour, but they can't generate and hold the aggro sufficiently that the dps can really open up. Hybrid 30/21 druids heal well in healing gear, but not as good as full resto. In dps gear a druid can switch to throw a vital heal on the main dps before switching back to his own dps, and a good feral druid knows which fights to wear some +healing gear to supplement their heals. Feral druids are an excellent jack of all trades class, but they do -not- come close to prot spec warriors in regards to tanking.

There is a reason why druids are a HYBRID class, they aren't designed to dps like a rogue and tank like a warrior. They are designed to do both at a medium level (including healing but full resto is awesome) but not be as good as the classes who have a single function.

If you're talking about the 5man trash instances sure i don't mind having a tanking druid in there, but in raids warriors have them beat hands down. This is from personal experience as a raid leader and main dps. Behind a good prot spec warrior i can go nuts on dps and only rarely pull aggro, but on the odd occaision where our feral druid offtanks a mobs i'm dpsing, when with feignting i still pull aggro.

And I can say with certainty a feral druids hasn't maintanked raids like Naxx and Aq40.
Nico2006-11-10 15:31:49
How many people play WoW now, and what servers? tongue.gif

I just picked it up, enjoying it so far. 32 undead rogue on Darrowmere (picked the newest server since I didn't feel like being the noob on a server of 60s)
Sylphas2006-11-10 16:58:06
Lightninghoof:
----------------
39 NE Druid (Feral)
26 Gnome Mage (Frost)
23 Human Priest (Holy)
17 NE Hunter (Marks)
13 Dwarf Warrior (Prot)
7 Human Paladin

Maelstrom:
-------------
11 Undead Warlock (Demo)
8 Tauren Shaman
7 Troll Rogue

Focusing on my Mage right now, really like the class. Fun to PvP with my druid, and I'll probably roll a Draenai pally come BC, but I'm trying to actually stick to one thing and level her up.
Tzekelkan2006-11-10 18:09:11
Ravenholdt (European server) - 41 Undead Mage.

Lusty's preventing me from leveling up there. tongue.gif
Nico2006-11-10 18:43:42
Oh yeah, full list:

Darrowmere:
32 undead rogue (final build will be 8/31/12) dagger spec
10 orc shaman

Arthas:
10 NE hunter

Azshara:
20 gnome warlock

A question for you more knowledgeable types out there, from all the research I've done, I've figured that rogues, fury warriors, locks, and fire mages tend to win in most PvP situations (at least at end game - right now, hunters still own me), depending of course, on opponent. I'd like some input from what you think. Also, WotF seems to be very useful in PvP, hence the undead rogue I'm making my main.
Tzekelkan2006-11-10 18:48:34
http://www.wowwiki.com/Rogue:_How_to_Kill_a...

Wowwiki has tons and tons and uber tons of nice info.
Sylphas2006-11-10 19:05:00
I much prefer Frost Mages. Fire doesn't have nearly the defense. It's pretty hard to actually lose to a rogue or a warrior right now, though that might change as I level up. Fire strike me a lot more as "Boom, boom! Oh censor.gif, he didn't die! OH NOES!"
Nico2006-11-10 19:34:16
A friend I spoke with told me how his 60 mage will crit for 3500 fireblast, and then it ticks 45% of that damage after that...

That's just evil.