04-20-2004, 03:08 PM
Just a snippet here - I have a Tauren Druid who just turned level 10.
Stage One - Earliest Druid
Fire two "wraths" from afar, creature reaches me and starts beating on me. If it's not much
damage I fire 1-2 more wraths and kill it. For a tough creature I use my mana for heals instead,
and beat it down with my staff. I almost never have to eat or drink. Moonfire I'm seeing as totally
useless. Although I sometimes wonder if Mark of the Wild is helping me, I sure do notice the extra
whooping I get when I forget to cast it. However, if I get 3 creatures on me, I'm dead, period. With two, odds are not very good.
Stage Two - Middle Druid
Just when I was starting to thing my mana would never be sufficient, I realize how important it is to put a few points in Intellect and Spirit, and no longer have major problems with mana.
Just when I was starting to see single creatures that had a moderate chance to kill me, I get entangling roots. This spell *rocks*. It's a great saver of casting heal, let's you run across the plains better, and is a great party saver as well. The duration is too short to let it save me from a 3-on-1, but I can now survive 2-on-1's a little better.
State Three - Da Bear. Lvl 10
Just when I'm getting VERY bored with the formulaic wrath-wrath-strike-rejuv-wrath-heal-rinse-repeat nature of a lvl 9 druid, I get bear form. It CAN, if you allow it to, totally change how you play your druid. Bear for is not *better* than regular form, it's just different. For example, vs a Flatland Cougar, one on one was a tough battle. I would go wrath-entangle-wrath-wrath-wrath-strike-rejuv-strike-strike-heal-repeat and hope he ran out of life before I did mana. If I went for extra entangles I could do it safer but would likely need to drink after each battle. Enter bear form. Twap! 1/3 of hp gone (wow). Rend!!! WHACK! It's got a sliver of life left (omg!!!??? Did *I* do that?!) Third attack, it's dead! I think my die rolls were lucky as it wasn't always that easy, but this guy chewed up the cougar and good! Now, in the folly of my thinking, I though the bear was invulnerable, and charged two goblins from the Venture company. Well, a third joined, and I was going down FAST. My fingers automatically hit the entangle button, then heal. Er... *no* spell casting in bear form. I'm toast - there's simply no way out of this situation, and 3-on-1 that situation didn't last long - I was soon in ghost form.
Even better perhaps, you can *really* adjust your style to who you party with. I hooked up with a pair of Tauren warriors, and I was da party guy. Cleric like, but better. I could heal and rejuv them, and although I had no insta-heal, I did use entangling roots to keep a 2-on-2 from becoming a 4-on-2 warriors.
Add in a thorns and mark of wild buff on them, and our party was performing a few lvls higher than any one member. With a priest, shaman, or another druid I just as easily go into bear mode and be a decent attacker and tank. Even then I can unshift once in a while, recast the buffs or a heal, and return to bear form.
As the other poster above mentioned, things only get better with Cat form, adding a third option -- I think the druid is a great choice if you like flexibility and variety in your playing style. The flip side is that the first 9 levels are sluggish, and that you won't be as good in any one form as a dedicated priest, warrior or rogue. It seems an outstanding "serial party" person - someone who doesn't stick with one party but hooks up and heads out as needed.
That's my view as a little lvl 10 anyway :P
Charis (Charismokey)
Stage One - Earliest Druid
Fire two "wraths" from afar, creature reaches me and starts beating on me. If it's not much
damage I fire 1-2 more wraths and kill it. For a tough creature I use my mana for heals instead,
and beat it down with my staff. I almost never have to eat or drink. Moonfire I'm seeing as totally
useless. Although I sometimes wonder if Mark of the Wild is helping me, I sure do notice the extra
whooping I get when I forget to cast it. However, if I get 3 creatures on me, I'm dead, period. With two, odds are not very good.
Stage Two - Middle Druid
Just when I was starting to thing my mana would never be sufficient, I realize how important it is to put a few points in Intellect and Spirit, and no longer have major problems with mana.
Just when I was starting to see single creatures that had a moderate chance to kill me, I get entangling roots. This spell *rocks*. It's a great saver of casting heal, let's you run across the plains better, and is a great party saver as well. The duration is too short to let it save me from a 3-on-1, but I can now survive 2-on-1's a little better.
State Three - Da Bear. Lvl 10
Just when I'm getting VERY bored with the formulaic wrath-wrath-strike-rejuv-wrath-heal-rinse-repeat nature of a lvl 9 druid, I get bear form. It CAN, if you allow it to, totally change how you play your druid. Bear for is not *better* than regular form, it's just different. For example, vs a Flatland Cougar, one on one was a tough battle. I would go wrath-entangle-wrath-wrath-wrath-strike-rejuv-strike-strike-heal-repeat and hope he ran out of life before I did mana. If I went for extra entangles I could do it safer but would likely need to drink after each battle. Enter bear form. Twap! 1/3 of hp gone (wow). Rend!!! WHACK! It's got a sliver of life left (omg!!!??? Did *I* do that?!) Third attack, it's dead! I think my die rolls were lucky as it wasn't always that easy, but this guy chewed up the cougar and good! Now, in the folly of my thinking, I though the bear was invulnerable, and charged two goblins from the Venture company. Well, a third joined, and I was going down FAST. My fingers automatically hit the entangle button, then heal. Er... *no* spell casting in bear form. I'm toast - there's simply no way out of this situation, and 3-on-1 that situation didn't last long - I was soon in ghost form.
Even better perhaps, you can *really* adjust your style to who you party with. I hooked up with a pair of Tauren warriors, and I was da party guy. Cleric like, but better. I could heal and rejuv them, and although I had no insta-heal, I did use entangling roots to keep a 2-on-2 from becoming a 4-on-2 warriors.
Add in a thorns and mark of wild buff on them, and our party was performing a few lvls higher than any one member. With a priest, shaman, or another druid I just as easily go into bear mode and be a decent attacker and tank. Even then I can unshift once in a while, recast the buffs or a heal, and return to bear form.
As the other poster above mentioned, things only get better with Cat form, adding a third option -- I think the druid is a great choice if you like flexibility and variety in your playing style. The flip side is that the first 9 levels are sluggish, and that you won't be as good in any one form as a dedicated priest, warrior or rogue. It seems an outstanding "serial party" person - someone who doesn't stick with one party but hooks up and heads out as needed.
That's my view as a little lvl 10 anyway :P
Charis (Charismokey)