The Druid is the master of nature, capable of calling upon the powers of nature to defeat their enemies and provide powerful buffs for his or herself and their allies. The Druid class is a jack of all trades and can fill four separate roles: caster DPS, melee DPS, healer, and tank. This allows players to experience a variety of play styles and game mechanics. Becoming bored is not a problem with this class.

Druids fulfill all these rolls by taking on different forms. By tapping into nature, Druids can take on the form of a cat, bear, storm crow, sea loin, moonkin, and a tree. Swapping into these forms allows them to preform all the roles above to perfection. This means Druids can easily tear their enemies apart in one minute and heal their allies in the next.

Current Expansion: Warlords of Dreanor

Choosing the Druid

Choosing a Druid is perfect for players looking for a class that can do a little bit of everything. Unlike any other class in the game, Druids rely on their ability to shapeshift to do damage and heal effectively. Versatility is the name of the game when playing a Druid. If you like to shift in and out of animal forms and be able to choose from any of the various roles available to players in game, the Druid class may be the one for you.

As mentioned, Druids are hybrids. A jack of all trades but really a master of none. This means that you may never be able to tank, dps,or even heal as well as a “pure” class. However, Druids make up for this by having an arsenal of useful abilities, like their Mark of the Wild buff, that make having them in a group worthwhile.

It should also be noted that players wanting to play the Druid class will find themselves limited when it comes to race choices. Druids can only pick from a select few races including; Night Elves, Tauren, Trolls, and Worgen. This is significantly less race choices than many other classes have.

Druid Core Abilities

Druids typically wear leather armor. However, they can also wear cloth if needed. While leather is preferred, some Druids will supplement their armor with some awesome pieces of cloth gear. As for weapons, Druids can make use of Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Maces, Polearms, Staves, and Two-Handed Maces.

All Druids come with unique skills that stand out for their class. Some examples are: Entangling Roots, Aquatic Form, Bear Form, Cat Form, Mark of the Wild, and more! More specialized talents come when the player chooses one of the four specializations available for the Druid: Balance, Feral, Guardian, or Restoration.

Your standard Druid uses mana as the source to use these abilities. However, when shapeshifted, the Druid may use other sources. For instance in Bear Form, the Druid will use Rage, similar to a Warrior. While in Cat Form, Druids will use Energy, like a Rogue.

ShapeShifting

As you probably already know, Druids can shapeshift into various forms. These forms allow the Druid to take on special powers that boost their abilities in certain areas. Making use of each of these forms is essential to being a Druid.

Cat Form

Cat Form is where Druid's do their melee damage from. When in this form, Agility increases to increase attack power giving the Druid an extra punch. Auto attack damage is increased by 100% and movement speed by 25%. The Druid can also stealth in this form and is immune to Polymorph effects. Energy is the primary resourced used in Cat Form.

Bear Form

Bear form is the Druid's go to form for tanking. Once in Bear Form, the Druid's armor contribution from both cloth and leather items is increased by 120%. Stamina is also increased by a hefty 40%. Other tanking benefits include an increase in threat generation, Agility increases attack power, haste and critical strike from items is increased by 50%, and the caster is protected from Polymorph. Transforming into Bear Form also gives the Druid access to various bear-only abilities and transforms the Druid's standard mana bar into a rage.

Tree of Life Form

Tree of Life form was once the standard form taken by Restoration Druids. Resembling a Treant, this form went through many changes along the way. Currently, Druids heal primarily in their natural form. However, Tree of Life still makes an appearance in the form of Incarnation.

This talent, available at level 60, shapeshifts the Druid into the Tree of Life form for 30 seconds. While in this enhanced form, the Druid's healing is increased by 15% and armor by 120%. The Druid is also immune to Polymoph effects. Some spells are also enhanced while in this form. This talent has a 3 minute cooldown.

Moonkin Form

Moonkin Form is the Druid's DPS caster form. In this form the Druid's Arcane and Nature damage are increased, as well as their armor. This form is beneficial to parties as well as it increases the spell haste of all patty members within 100 yards by 5%. This form is only available to Druids who choose the Balance specialization.

Flight Form

Flight Form is a special form that Druids use to instantly transform themselves into a bird and take to the skies. Movement speed is increased substantially and you can soar above the clouds. This form can be upgraded to Swift Flight Form. Neither form can be used while in combat.

Aquatic Form

Shapeshifts the Druid into a manatee. This form cannot be used in combat, however, it makes the druid swim 50% faster. The Druid in the form can also breathe underwater and cannot be Polymorphed. Form is dispelled once the Druid leaves the water.

Travel Form

This form allows the Druid to shapeshift into a fleet form that will allow them to travel 40% faster. This form also protects the Druid from Polymorph effects. While this form may seem perfect, it does have one limitation; it cannot be used indoors.

Druid Specializations

As briefly mentioned above, Druids can specialize into one of four specializations: Balance (caster DPS), Feral (melee DPS), Guardian (tank), or Restoration (healing). Each specialization will open up a host of talents related to it and will provide a different play experience. However, despite their differences, core skills are still available to every Druid. This means all Druids can heal themselves or do a little damage when needed.

While it has not always been the case, all Druid Specializations are viable in game. Pick the one that best suits your preferred play style or play them all to mix things up! With their variety of skills, Druids are always welcome in any PvP match, raid, or party.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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Get in the bush with David "Xerin" Piner as he leverages his spectacular insanity to ask the serious questions such as is Master Yi and Illidan the same person? What's for dinner? What are ways to elevate your gaming experience? David's column, Respawn, is updated near daily with some of the coolest things you'll read online, while David tackles ways to improve the game experience across the board with various hype guides to cool games.

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