Druids do not have the same spirit formula as other classes. In fact they're special: they're the only class their specific formula (at least in caster form). Here's the WowWiki page about it.
Living Spirit vs Natural Perfection in PvE is no contest: Living Spirit. If you're being hit in PvE you're probably going to die. Now in PvP Natural Perfection's much more useful because you won't really have time to regen for crap in Arenas (and if you use innervate a priest, shammy, and/or a lock will get that off you so fast your head will spin).
Herbalism is good for druids too, as a pure moneymaking exercise.
With all the travel forms and stealth, druids are better at it than anyone. You wouldn't think a few seconds to mount up is that big a deal, but it adds up pretty fast.
QWEASD for movement
shift-1, shift-2, 1-4 for buffs and rarely used skills (caster)
CTRL-Space for mount
and then using the number pad keys for all my abilities.
However, the glaring problem with this setup is that I don't have a hand on the mouse while fighting, which means its a tad awkward to select mobs and to look around in PvP. The reason for this though is that I have small hands... to give you an idea I have to really stretch to reach the #6 when I have my hand on the movement keys.
One person I saw was using the mouse for movement (I believe you hold down the right mouse button) thereby totally removing movement from the keyboard... my only issue with that is you lose the ability to backup and strafe.
My left hand just goes back and forth a lot between wasd(don't need Q and E since A and D strafe me) and the skills on my number bar above. I'm also not usually roguing and pvping it up so I don't need to use masterfully masterful movement skills.
I've switched to using the mouse for movement. Except I still have A, S and D as strafe and backup. Mainly need to use them when positioning a mob for tanking.
1-6 and Q-Y are my spell buttons. I too have small hands so 1-4 and q-r are my main abilities while 5,6,T & Y are lesser used ones.
By default on the mouse hold right + left button makes you move forward. Although I changed the mouse wheel click to toggle auto run which I use more often.
Shifting is all done with the mousewheel.
Shift + forward = cat
Shift + back = bear
Shift + click = travel macro (flight form if flyable, aquatic if swimming, travel form if in combat/outdoors, mount if outdoors, not flyable and no combat)
All forms are macrod so any of them will shift you back to caster if hit.
I rolled a druid on the weekend and i am loving it so far.
interesting story- I was level 22 in ashenvale running to the barrens to get to ratchet, along the road this 26 druid comes in from the side of the road. I knew i didn't have a chance of out DPSing him so I immediately stealth and make a beeline off of the path.
He must have known where I was going because he was waiting me on the road to the south, I immediately sleep him as he is in cat form, he gets out, sprints, shifts to caster, keeps throwing faerie fire on me while i run away, i entangle him and when he shifts to get out I sleep him again. It was awesome when I finally got far enough away to stealth when faerie fire wore off.
My question to you druids is, do you ever feel embarrassed getting put to sleep while in bear/cat form?
The problem with Nurturing Instinct is that most if not all druids will have multiple sets depending on what role they wish to fulfill. Rarely will a druid be healing in feral +str gear; he or she will switch to a healing set which will have little, if any +str to speak of.
I suppose the talent would be useful during leveling when you need to heal yourself and you're wearing dps gear. Or perhaps you're wearing a hybrid set like Moonglade. Still, by end-game, the bonus is so small you might as well spend the two points elsewhere.
Sometimes, but for me it's almost always in PvP, where this choice is something like shift to caster and die instantly, or stay in forms, maybe get slept and have it broken immediately by the zerg/dots, or maybe FC/Maim and then eat them.
I don't think the point of that talent ever was to help you to heal during 100% of a fight. You're right, you put on healing gear for that. The point of the talent is to boost healing when you're dpsing in cat form, and you shift out briefly to heal yourself and others(every druid should be doing this). The problem is, the talent's just not enough. Make it 100% and put the timer back on it, but maybe 12 seconds this time.
My question to you druids is, do you ever feel embarrassed getting put to sleep while in bear/cat form?
I see people try for it a lot, and about half the time they land it because of lag. Their spell casts before my button mashing catches up. Hibernate does cast pretty fast, and unless you react to the green as soon as it starts you're probably gonna get caught.
My question to you druids is, do you ever feel embarrassed getting put to sleep while in bear/cat form?
It depends on the situation. If I'm in bear form with lots of rage, I may not shift. Most of the time it lands it's definitely an 'oh shit' moment. Now that the trinket will most likely let you break out of it, not such a big deal.
Nurturing instinct - I liked the leaked druid talents, in which this was something along the lines of the current tier 5 set bonus: After shifting out of cat/bear form, your next heal takes 2 seconds less to cast. (t5 gives you a instant regrowth only, no -2.0 off HT)
How much of our +heal do spells like regrowth, rejuv and lifebloom actually get? I don't really understand why it was nerfed down to 50%; is it too much to ask to actually get some benefit out of feral heals?
Since I'm 63 now I'll do 33 in Balance and 21 in Resto. At 64 I'll grab the last point of Dreamstate, and then the 22 to 27 points of resto.
I think it'll be a fun build for throwing spells around and for healing. Thoughts?
orpheus on
But, if you are after mere parlor tricks, you will be sorely disappointed. For if I reach behind your ear, it will not be a nickel I pull out, but your very soul!
Personally, I'd say getting Scare Beast'd is more embarrassing, though I guess it's just the flavor of the ability that bothers me, as opposed to the actual skill involved in playing.
I don't know if this has already been posted, but it's a macro that lets you drink in forms. I have yet to try it myself, but word on the street is that you can hit the macro it's virtually instant, many times not even seeing your toon shift out.
#show Lesser Healing Potion
/castSequence [stance:1] reset=3 Dire Bear Form, Lifebloom
/stopcasting
/use Lesser Healing Potion
/stopcasting
/use Master Healthstone
/stopcasting
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form
Well yes, virtually any macro that does more than one action requires more than one press. Even still, it's been reported that the shift is incredibly fast.
Well yes, virtually any macro that does more than one action requires more than one press. Even still, it's been reported that the shift is incredibly fast.
ooooh, I'll have to try this.
Of course, it's mostly a pvp macro. Druids still won't be able to drink pots as main tanks for raids.
I'll see if I can find the thread again, but druid main tanks are reporting using it in Kara, SSC and what not with out issue... the shift is that fast.
The problem with Nurturing Instinct is that most if not all druids will have multiple sets depending on what role they wish to fulfill. Rarely will a druid be healing in feral +str gear; he or she will switch to a healing set which will have little, if any +str to speak of.
I suppose the talent would be useful during leveling when you need to heal yourself and you're wearing dps gear. Or perhaps you're wearing a hybrid set like Moonglade. Still, by end-game, the bonus is so small you might as well spend the two points elsewhere.
I heartily disagree. It's a hybrid talent, and since most people play druids as a specialized class it doesn't fit into their talent spread. IMO it used to be much better as a 100% boost for 6 or 8 seconds out of shifting because then you REALLY saw what the talent was supposed to do. Now it's less potent but always there, which isn't really the best thing but it's still better than nothing for those who are trying to accomplish a hybrid role.
Let's say you're in an instance DPSing as a cat on mostly feral gear with a few hybrid pieces. In good feral gear you'll be pushing 400 strength (using this character for reference), which grants you almost 200 healing. If you use a weapon swap to a healing staff as you shift out to heal and have a few pieces of hybrid gear on you that provide healing, your off-heals now have the potential of being backed by around 500 healing, which is a conservative number. I don't understand how people can see that as bad since it doesn't even impact your feral damage at all.
The talent is limited in scope in many other situations, but for those striving to play the druid as a hybrid it's a fantastic talent for small scale instancing and PVP. This talent is not going to help you if you PVE and don't embrace the versatilty of a druid - you're not going to like it if all you do is bear/cat or all you do is stand around in the back and heal. I feel that a lot of people knock it because it doesn't help them do what they want to do - that doesn't make it a bad talent. Do I feel like it's weaker and more limited in scope than its original concept? Absolutely.
I'll see if I can find the thread again, but druid main tanks are reporting using it in Kara, SSC and what not with out issue... the shift is that fast.
Hrm. I think the chance of shifting out at the moment that the boss hits you for a crushing blow on leather armor seems very risky.
I guess if it really is nearly instant, you could just learn the pacing of the boss' attacks and do it between them.
I'll see if I can find the thread again, but druid main tanks are reporting using it in Kara, SSC and what not with out issue... the shift is that fast.
Hrm. I think the chance of shifting out at the moment that the boss hits you for a crushing blow on leather armor seems very risky.
I guess if it really is nearly instant, you could just learn the pacing of the boss' attacks and do it between them.
There's been plenty of situations where I knew I was dead anyways that I would have gladly taken the risk of a split second in caster to drink/healthstone. I think the point of the macro is for those times when it's worth taking a chance.
I don't see the High Warlord's on gurgleblaster, and stats seems similar. My own thought is that the Shoulderpads of Assassination are better, I just don't know if they're worth farming for?
I thought emmerald assumes uncrittable already so resilience and defense are worth zero on the scale?
Edit: Oh, I weas right but it's the "high gear mitigation" instead of the normal mitigation list that does the above.
Yeah, I see lots of gear with defense that they value highly and the only conclusion I could come to, is that you'd have to replace def elsewhere and make full use of it on the item in question.
Brief question. Where's the best place to get level 70 druid gear? I'm starting to get my moonglade set and I have clefthoof stuff but....meh. Is it all kara?
Posts
Living Spirit vs Natural Perfection in PvE is no contest: Living Spirit. If you're being hit in PvE you're probably going to die. Now in PvP Natural Perfection's much more useful because you won't really have time to regen for crap in Arenas (and if you use innervate a priest, shammy, and/or a lock will get that off you so fast your head will spin).
I would certainly take skinning, as you can feed the skins to your LW main for free gear as you level.
With all the travel forms and stealth, druids are better at it than anyone. You wouldn't think a few seconds to mount up is that big a deal, but it adds up pretty fast.
Also something I forgot to mention: there's really not that much use (in my experience) to put any points into Imp Nature's Grasp.
You're probably right, but I have this issue with talent OCD. I have an absurdly hard time only putting 1 point into any multi-point talent.
Hah, and that's almost always the best way to go with a talent. But don't think of it that way, they're two different talents.
Currently I have a wacky setup of using -->
QWEASD for movement
shift-1, shift-2, 1-4 for buffs and rarely used skills (caster)
CTRL-Space for mount
and then using the number pad keys for all my abilities.
However, the glaring problem with this setup is that I don't have a hand on the mouse while fighting, which means its a tad awkward to select mobs and to look around in PvP. The reason for this though is that I have small hands... to give you an idea I have to really stretch to reach the #6 when I have my hand on the movement keys.
One person I saw was using the mouse for movement (I believe you hold down the right mouse button) thereby totally removing movement from the keyboard... my only issue with that is you lose the ability to backup and strafe.
1-6 and Q-Y are my spell buttons. I too have small hands so 1-4 and q-r are my main abilities while 5,6,T & Y are lesser used ones.
By default on the mouse hold right + left button makes you move forward. Although I changed the mouse wheel click to toggle auto run which I use more often.
Shifting is all done with the mousewheel.
Shift + forward = cat
Shift + back = bear
Shift + click = travel macro (flight form if flyable, aquatic if swimming, travel form if in combat/outdoors, mount if outdoors, not flyable and no combat)
All forms are macrod so any of them will shift you back to caster if hit.
interesting story- I was level 22 in ashenvale running to the barrens to get to ratchet, along the road this 26 druid comes in from the side of the road. I knew i didn't have a chance of out DPSing him so I immediately stealth and make a beeline off of the path.
He must have known where I was going because he was waiting me on the road to the south, I immediately sleep him as he is in cat form, he gets out, sprints, shifts to caster, keeps throwing faerie fire on me while i run away, i entangle him and when he shifts to get out I sleep him again. It was awesome when I finally got far enough away to stealth when faerie fire wore off.
My question to you druids is, do you ever feel embarrassed getting put to sleep while in bear/cat form?
I suppose the talent would be useful during leveling when you need to heal yourself and you're wearing dps gear. Or perhaps you're wearing a hybrid set like Moonglade. Still, by end-game, the bonus is so small you might as well spend the two points elsewhere.
I see people try for it a lot, and about half the time they land it because of lag. Their spell casts before my button mashing catches up. Hibernate does cast pretty fast, and unless you react to the green as soon as it starts you're probably gonna get caught.
It depends on the situation. If I'm in bear form with lots of rage, I may not shift. Most of the time it lands it's definitely an 'oh shit' moment. Now that the trinket will most likely let you break out of it, not such a big deal.
Nurturing instinct - I liked the leaked druid talents, in which this was something along the lines of the current tier 5 set bonus: After shifting out of cat/bear form, your next heal takes 2 seconds less to cast. (t5 gives you a instant regrowth only, no -2.0 off HT)
How much of our +heal do spells like regrowth, rejuv and lifebloom actually get? I don't really understand why it was nerfed down to 50%; is it too much to ask to actually get some benefit out of feral heals?
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=MzprzZZxxcxcqrxot
But I never use Tree of Life because its so situational and I don't have enough spirit gear. Plus I didn't take living spirit.
I'm thinking of switching to this:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=MxcrufIoMuZZxxctcor
Since I'm 63 now I'll do 33 in Balance and 21 in Resto. At 64 I'll grab the last point of Dreamstate, and then the 22 to 27 points of resto.
I think it'll be a fun build for throwing spells around and for healing. Thoughts?
Banishing a druid in tree form is far more gratifying
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I was embarrassed on an Alcatraz run when I (as the healer) got Mind Controlled and slept the bear tank.
It was a hilarious kind of embarrassed
Wow, that's some clever AI.
#show Lesser Healing Potion
/castSequence [stance:1] reset=3 Dire Bear Form, Lifebloom
/stopcasting
/use Lesser Healing Potion
/stopcasting
/use Master Healthstone
/stopcasting
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form
ooooh, I'll have to try this.
Of course, it's mostly a pvp macro. Druids still won't be able to drink pots as main tanks for raids.
I heartily disagree. It's a hybrid talent, and since most people play druids as a specialized class it doesn't fit into their talent spread. IMO it used to be much better as a 100% boost for 6 or 8 seconds out of shifting because then you REALLY saw what the talent was supposed to do. Now it's less potent but always there, which isn't really the best thing but it's still better than nothing for those who are trying to accomplish a hybrid role.
Let's say you're in an instance DPSing as a cat on mostly feral gear with a few hybrid pieces. In good feral gear you'll be pushing 400 strength (using this character for reference), which grants you almost 200 healing. If you use a weapon swap to a healing staff as you shift out to heal and have a few pieces of hybrid gear on you that provide healing, your off-heals now have the potential of being backed by around 500 healing, which is a conservative number. I don't understand how people can see that as bad since it doesn't even impact your feral damage at all.
The talent is limited in scope in many other situations, but for those striving to play the druid as a hybrid it's a fantastic talent for small scale instancing and PVP. This talent is not going to help you if you PVE and don't embrace the versatilty of a druid - you're not going to like it if all you do is bear/cat or all you do is stand around in the back and heal. I feel that a lot of people knock it because it doesn't help them do what they want to do - that doesn't make it a bad talent. Do I feel like it's weaker and more limited in scope than its original concept? Absolutely.
Ghalan - Tauren Druid
Also 14k unbuffed in bear, 25k armor /flex
I beat an arena s2'd out MS warrior in a duel earlier :P
Hrm. I think the chance of shifting out at the moment that the boss hits you for a crushing blow on leather armor seems very risky.
I guess if it really is nearly instant, you could just learn the pacing of the boss' attacks and do it between them.
That's why I thought it was funny.
BTW, that sleep lasts a LONG time. He was the last to die. lol
Linky
There's been plenty of situations where I knew I was dead anyways that I would have gladly taken the risk of a split second in caster to drink/healthstone. I think the point of the macro is for those times when it's worth taking a chance.
Shoulderpads of Assassination compare with the High Warlord's Leather Spaulders?
I don't see the High Warlord's on gurgleblaster, and stats seems similar. My own thought is that the Shoulderpads of Assassination are better, I just don't know if they're worth farming for?
Edit: Oh, I weas right but it's the "high gear mitigation" instead of the normal mitigation list that does the above.
Yeah, I see lots of gear with defense that they value highly and the only conclusion I could come to, is that you'd have to replace def elsewhere and make full use of it on the item in question.