New druid growing up

[Perthes]

I got tired from reading the Druid forum with the recent patch that brought some nerf cry screaming attitude that a lot is having.

So I ask my fellow friends and family.

What is a good leveling spec for a druid..?

Im wanting to make a druid, but are not sure what direction to go with as a leveling spec.. I have been reading up on some of the guides on the druid forum but wanted to ask the Crushers who have leveled a druid on what direction should I take?

Why a druid you say?

I love DPS classes.

I have a Warrior in Plate that I dps with (Rakin).

I have a Mail toon (Perthes)..

I have a Mage in Cloth that is pretty fun but on hold(Dragev).

So the next place to try out is a toon that can dps( or tank if need be) in leather.. Druid was the logical choice for me.. Rogue's is leather too but.. nah.. I want something different then all my toons all together..

This also comes out as 2 range dps toons Perthes and Dragev.. I will then end up with 2 Melee toons Rakin and my Druid.

Yes yes.. im weird..

I might end up using the druid as a tank if I get it up there.. but not gonna worry about that now.. as I just want to figure out a good leveling spec.

Please help a confused Druid wannabe find his true calling.

[Waldonnis]

At early levels, feral is probably the easiest since finding "rogue-ish" quest rewards is easier than finding spell caster-friendly leather. Once you hit Outlands, though, you'll start seeing more and more casting leather out there, so you can respec to balance and do fairly well (balance was really buffed overall in Wrath). It really comes down to personal choice at that point. I'm a "feral for life" druid, but I've seen all of the specs do well in my travels.

[Perthes]

I was thinking of starting out as Feral for sure..

The talent tree I was thinking of going with was something along the lines this:

Possible Druid Spec

Any ideas if I should change anything and why?

The talent in question is based on a tanking druid.. but can be used as a dps also.. let me know what ya all think.

[Waldonnis]

Pretty nice build. Personally, I wouldn't choose to put any points into Intensity, but I can see the attraction there (I'd probably use those into Primal Tenacity or Shredding Attacks, depending on how much time you spend in cat or tanking fearing/stunning mobs). Either way, though, those points end up being more about personal preference. The core of the build is very solid and I don't see anything that you missed that could be important.

[Perthes]

Thanks V.. I see your point in Attraction.. I modified it to add the points in to Primal Tenacity as I want to tank as a druid.

I hope that this tank druid build is better suited overall.

Time to get my hairy butt in gear

[Martok]

Feral is lots of fun!

For tanky builds, check out Kimpek's on the armory (level 80) or Hoofstomper (level 70)

Orcala and Eigun are set up more for kitty dps spec if you want to go that route.

[Eigun]

Feral is lots of fun!

For tanky builds, check out Kimpek's on the armory (level 80) or Hoofstomper (level 70)

Orcala and Eigun are set up more for kitty dps spec if you want to go that route.

I think all these suggestions are great, for varied aspects of end-game play. However, I think the original question had to do with levelling a druid.

I would consider the following things:

1) You're going to be soloing A LOT at the lower levels.

2) What will most efficiently get you to Northrend? What are the obstacles?

3) Do you want to play while levelling the way you intend to play at 80?

Having said that, yes, feral can be a decent way to level a druid. Combine melee dps (no mana downtime) with the ability to heal yourself (no food/bandage downtime) and it can be fairly efficient. But there are certain talents that you can probably skip on your way up. Consider that some talents are great for raiding, but not that useful for solo questing. And there are some that are great for solo questing, but are wasted points in an end-game build.

For example, I found Brutal Impact to be very useful while levelling - as kitty, it gave me enough time to pounce->mangle->FFF->shred, whereas without it, I wouldn't have the time to get the shred off (plus I wouldn't have gotten enough energy anyway). In bear, it gave me enough time to pop out and throw an oh-crap heal. Not extremely useful any more at end game, but I couldn't live without it while levelling.

Intensity - since I haven't spent a lot of time chain casting, I can't comment as to how effective this talent is. However, once you get Improved Leader of the Pack, I have almost never had mana issues between fighting and healing myself. You simply regenerate mana faster while fighting. Carefully read the talent, too - mana regen WHILE CASTING, for a talent that you couldn't access until you had kitty form... hrm... In addition, especially since the bonus movement speed of cats now works indoors as well, I suspect you'll be spending more time in kitty form then anything else.

Now, the tough part - the giant asspain that is levelling until you get kitty form. Roots and wrath are your friends! If you don't mind a respec once you hit level 20, I'd actually throw some points into Starlight Wrath. It's helpful in those early levels until you get used to kitty and/or bear form.

But above all else, the key to playing a druid is to remember that you have a million tools at your disposal. Some things won't work well with charging in and bear swiping. Other things are too tough to bring down quickly enough in kitty form. It doesn't make sense to root a caster and get into a spell war. So... BE SITUATIONAL. Change your tactics depending on the fight! Learn to enjoy the idea that you can do things several different ways, depending on your current talents, gear, etc. If you're a feral spec early on, but a nice blue caster staff drops for you... use it! Be a wrath cannon for a little while!

And finally, if you're considering professions - although it doesn't REALLY shine until epic flight form, consider gathering professions as an option. Druids can farm herbs without shifting out of flight form, giving us a clear advantage over everyone else that has to get off a mount, and then re-summon it. I don't know if we are automatically shifted out of flight form when trying to mine or skin, but even still, insta-cast flight form makes farming ez-pwn mode.

I hope this helped - there's only about ten million druids in the clan, so feel free to ask questions...

Edited January 23, 2009 by Eigun