World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Druids are a hybrid class in World of Warcraft that is capable of healing, tanking, and dealing massive amounts of damage by switching between various talent builds. Not only that, but they’re capable of being both magical (ranged) and physical (melee) damage dealers, making them capable of doing everything possible and being highly versatile.

We’re going to go over the basics of the Druid class, why you should play one, what professions are good for Druids, and Druid statistics. If you’re looking for more advanced info, head on over to the Druid Combat / Shapeshifting page, but be sure to bookmark this page for a quick reference on various Druid statistics.

Getting Started

Why should you play a Druid?

Druids are the jack of all trades; master of all of them as well. They can fill multiple roles which makes them a very versatile class. Everything is within their grasp and by using talents they can specialize into one very specific role. So if you’re unsure of what you want to play in the game then a Druid gives you the option to choose pretty much anything.

• Druids can be both melee and ranged DPS. Moonkins (Balance) act as casters while Cat Form (Feral) gives them abilities akin to Rogues. Bear Form (Feral) allows a Druid to soak in massive amounts of damage. Finally, the Restoration tree allows Druids to heal. The majority of abilities can be used by any type of Druid, so a Feral Druid can heal, but nowhere near as well as a Restoration Druid.
• Druids are full of utility spells. Their various forms increase their survivability (taking too much damage, switch to beat form). They can also Root, Cyclone, and cast various buffs that help their teammates out.
• While being a hybrid, Druids are capable of doing as well as any other class in the game, although without the depth or choice that other classes enjoy.
• Leveling a Druid is relatively easy, Feral Druids operate much like Rogues but are capable of healing themselves and providing a lot of self buffs.

Race Selection

What’s the best Race for a Druid?

There are a limited number of races that can play as Druids. Right now, Druids can be Night Elves, Worgen, Tauren, and Trolls. However, that doesn’t decrease the difficulty in picking the right race since you’re stuck with it unless you want to pay for a race change. Don’t worry though, you can’t make much of a mistake and the various differences aren’t strong enough that you shouldn’t focus on what you find more aesthetically pleasing.

There is a slight difference in racials though, so if you’re a power gamer be sure to browse what the differences between each race is. If you want to know the best race for a Druid in World of Warcraft then look below at the primary racials:

• Worgen (Alliance): You get 1% critical strike and the ability to sprint (on top of feral sprint). This is a pretty significant upgrade for any class, so Worgens always stand out.
• Night Elves (Alliance): You get an improved form of stealth, and “Quickness” is a 2% to miss that works from any angle (front/back/side) which is excellent for tanking.
• Tauren (Horde): Warstomp remains a staple of Tauren gameplay (it’s an brief AoE stun that’s great for interrupting) and the additional health isn’t nothing to sneeze at.
• Troll (Horde): The highlight of Trolls is their racial that gives them increased haste on a cooldown. This is huge at higher levels and a great ability if you’re willing to active it frequently enough.

Picking a Profession

What’s the best Profession for a Druid?

Choosing a profession used to be difficult, but it isn’t any more thanks to normalization of the various tradeskills. You get the same bonus with any non-gathering profession; they just come in different varieties and tiers. So the first major stat reward comes at level 70 and at each expansion thereafter. So don’t fret when picking professions, go with the one you know you’ll like. It’s a great idea to check out our professions portal to browse over what each profession does and what benefit each one has to you.

Druid Specializations and Forms

What spec should I pick for a Druid?

Good question and one easily answered. There are four major specializations a Druid can go. They are Restoration (Healing), Feral (Melee DPS), Feral (Tanking), and Balance (Magical DPS). Each form / specialization has its own benefits, which you can read about in our Combat (Shapeshifting) section.

• Restoration (Caster / Tree Form): Restoration Druids use standard Priest-like abilities to heal their party and raid and temporarily transform into a Tree for increased healing ability.
• Feral (Cat Form): In Cat Form you lose your Mana bar in exchange for an Energy bar and can only use certain feral abilities that pertain to Cat Form. While in this form you gain the properties of an animal and most of your skills act like a Rogue.
• Feral (Bear Form): In Bear Form you lose your Mana bar in exchange for a Rage bar and can only use certain feral abilities that pertain to Bear Form. While in this form you gain the properties of an animal and most of your skills act like a Warrior. In addition, you gain more health and can take a lot more damage.
• Balance (Caster / Moonkin Form): While in Moonkin form you can only cast Balance spells and you gain the eclipse bar (once you begin specializing in Balance) that buffs of Arcane / Nature spells depending on the order of spells you cast.

Equipping a Druid

What’s the best equipment for a Druid?

Choosing equipment is rather easy and we can go over what statistics you’ll likely want to see the most of. The first is that Stamina is universal for all specializations, so any gear with Stamina is “good gear.” For Restoration you’ll want gear with Intellect and Spirit. For Feral (Cat) you’ll want Agility and Strength (Agility more than Strength at every step of the way) and Feral (Bear) you’ll want Stamina and Strength. Moonkins will want Intellect. Anything that increases haste, mana regeneration (for Restoration / Balance), critical strike rating, and the such is good for all specializations.

Character Statistics

What are the best stats for Druids?

Reading the above section, you can get a general idea of which stats are good. The better question is what do they do and why do you need them? Well, let’s take a look.

• Strength: Gives you two attack power in feral forms.
• Agility: Gives you two attack power in feral forms and critical strike / dodge rating.
• Stamina: Gives you 10 health for each point, except for the first 20 which only give 1 health per point.
• Intellect: Gives you 1 Spell Power for point of Intellect, increases spell critical strike, and increases the size of your mana pool.
• Spirit: Increases mana regeneration and gives spell hit for Balance Druids.