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1.0 - The Druid
2.0 - Druid Abilities
3.0 - Leveling
4.0 - PvP
5.0 - Raiding
This guide is simply intended to provide a general overview of the class. For a more in-depth and highly detailed resource on this class, check out this guide here.
1.0 - The Druid
The druid class is intended to be protector of the wilds, defender of the great balance, preserver of life, but unless you’re rolling on an RP server, I somewhat doubt that you truly plan on doing anything aside from laying some major smack down on everything from mobs when leveling to other players in the arena.
Let not the (relatively) low population of druid’s sway you from your interest, Druid’s are one of the most fun, inventive, and overall powerful (overpowered?) classes in the game, and for good reason considering how the class is designed.
Rolling a druid is akin to saying you want to have your cake and eat it too, only with icing on top, and perhaps a couple bowls of ice-cream on the side, and will you have fries with that? Of course you will. But all joking aside, druids represent the ability to tank, DPS either from a range or in melee, and play the role of main or backup healer, all packaged into one little (or not so much if you happen to be Tauren) druid.
Unfortunately some sacrifices must be made to gain such endgame viability, such as being forced to role either Night elf for alliance or Tauren for horde, each race possessing numerous downsides as a choice, especially the Tauren what with the amazingly ugly cat form looks.
Another downside would be relative boredom and slaving away mashing the wrath key (a fairly weak ranged nuke at low levels) from 1-10 before proceeding to then mash the maul key (your main bear form attack) for another 10 or 20 more.
Druids possess many advantages and almost nonexistent disadvantages once you’ve reached the vaunted level 70, but before that, things can get really hairy at times, excuse the pun. Starting from level one your heals are already up to par, but damage and more importantly damage efficiency is rather lacking, expect to rest every 2-3 fights until you get at least bear if not cat form.
However not all things are difficult, if you can manage to get a leveling buddy things will come much easier, given that you could play the role of healer at least for a short period of time while they bring the damage. Additionally, almost immediately upon gaining cat form (level 20) you’ll notice a marked increase in both damage and overall mana efficiency. Kill a few mobs, drop out of cat form to put up some heals on yourself, return to killing, etc.
As far as which side to choose, as in Tauren of Night Elf, this difference is largely visual as opposed to bringing any actual advantage to either, although I will say that Tauren do push ahead of night elves with 5% more health as opposed to night elves useless stealth (we get this with cat form already.)
Tradeskills
Tradeskills, as far as druids go one of the most popular happens to be Herbalism, generally to be combined with Alchemy for viable cash making on the auction house or simply to provide guildies with the pots required to run dungeons/raid.
Perhaps this is due to a lot of Druids being Tauren, therefore gaining the innate racial Herbalist bonus, either way potions can augment your many abilities with constant health regeneration, greater tanking capabilities, and become quite the life saver at times.
However if you’re looking to purely make some money as opposed to crafting items in the long-run, Herbalism still works, but combine this with another gathering skill such as Mining or more often Skinning, it makes for a mean money maker combo and you’ll likely never be left wanting for more gold except for perhaps at level 70 (Epic flying form/mount.)
And as with all other classes, first aid can come in handy if you find yourself needing healing faster than your mana pool regenerates, although this is obviously less important than on say… a warrior. Never underestimate the benefits of a free heal.
Either way, check out our Herbalism and Alchemy guides.
2.0 - Druid Abilities
Druid Abilities
Druidic abilities covers a lot of ground, this is exactly where the druid class differentiates itself from all others, multiple tree’s of abilities designed to be utilized by the various forms and sometimes outside of all shape shifting possibilities.
Much like a warrior, Druid’s will find their capabilities both enhanced and hindered based upon which form they’re currently using, making preparation key to effectively combating various opponent types, player and monster.
Overall the experienced druid gains the instinctive insight of when, where, and how to use his vast arsenal of abilities, making them nigh invulnerable to any combination of attackers and deadly
despite any apparent disadvantages.
Caster Form – Human
The standard caster or humanoid form for druids, within this form you’ll be capable of doing everything from ranged caster style damage and nuking to playing the healer and supporting everyone else in your party.
Caster form is obviously the only one available to you from 1-10, often coming into a general lack of use until first instancing/doing either battlegrounds or raiding at 70, either way I’d consider it underpowered unless heavily augmented by gear for healing or damage.
Still useful at all times due to not being classified as a beast like all other forms, this makes them vulnerable to scare beast and various other attacks humanoid form is not, also allows you to look pretty as opposed to like a wild animal.
Bear Form – Level 10
Bear form represents a large increase in our survivability, massively boosting armor and health levels to matching that of warrior and paladins early on, although eventually you’ll even pass them when geared properly.
Gaining this form becomes possible at level 10 and requires the completion of a specific druid class quest line gained from your respective trainer at either Thunder bluff or Darnassus. This also opens up travel to the moonglade via teleportation, making it a viable stop for training
whenever you level.
All in all bear form is the first showing of druid viability at a low level, however this is obviously superseded in usefulness by Dire Bear Form at 40, the upgrade overriding the older version.
Aquatic Form – Level 16
Aquatic form is the gained ability from a somewhat easily completed druid quest line made available starting at level 16, however many druids choose to put this off and complete it at a later time due to the forms relative uselessness at most times.
Improves swim speed by 50% and allows for underwater breathing, pick this up before hitting up areas such as Stranglethorn vale where underwater quest chains begin to appear.
Cat Form – Level 20
Cat form is the Druid’s first and final step on the road to melee DPS capabilities, giving us a massive increase in burst damage, damage over time, and kill speed efficiency as we finally gain the ability to grind for lengthy periods of time without stop.
Additionally this form grants you the ability to stealth much like a rogue as well as possessing a sprint like ability and various stealth-opener attacks that allow you to nigh one-shot weaker mobs at early levels.
Cat form is immensely useful in making the druid a good leveler compared to previous slow speeds granted by bear form’s protection warrior DPS abilities.
Travel Form – Level 30
Travel form is an ever useful speed increase that, despite what you might think, is never fully replaced by neither the level 40 mount nor the 60 epic speed mount, this form being key to any
PvP strategy due to its massive increase in maneuverability over normal players.
Very prevalent usage in Warsong Gulch due to the capability to carry the flag while in travel form, much like shamans, however this remains undispellable unlike ghost wolf.
Dire Bear Form – Level 40
Dire Bear form is much like gaining plate armor, only imagine if plate armor also suddenly gained a massive boost in the amount of stamina it granted along with increased group threat capabilities. This represents our ability to tank just as well if not better than warriors in various situations.
Additionally dire bear form enhances all the survivability gained by the initial bear form, making it a great tool for when you’re getting beat on by groups of mobs and have to run or in PvP versus stealth classes who try and take you out when in caster form.
Moonkin Form – 31 Points in Balance
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Moonkin form is gained by placing your 31st point into the balance tree, gaining the ability to shift into moonkin much like you would any other form such as bear or cat form. However moonkin also has greatly differing abilities, rather than add whole new spells, it instead greatly augments armor and damage casting capabilities.
Essentially moonkin could be considered the mage or warlock form, granting us enough improved spell crit (5% to both us and the entire party) and damage to become a reasonable threat from a distance, whether it be grinding, raiding, or PvP.
Although the uses of moonkin form for leveling are debatable, it’s become a staple class to have at least one or two per raid.
Tree of Life Form – 41 Points in Restoration
Tree of life form is gained by putting 41 points into the restoration tree, granting you an admittedly silly looking yet extremely effective healing form. This decreases your movement speed by 20%, not a problem for raiders but a massive decrease in survivability for PvP, however it also offsets
this decrease by increasing the effectiveness of all healing spells by 20%.
Obviously useful to anyone looking to heal in dungeons, raids, etc. but a sometimes dangerous choice when trying to heal through arena battles and more so chaotic battlegrounds.
Flight From, Swift(Epic) Flight Form – Level 68, 70
Druid’s are quite lucky to gain a flight form equal to the flying mount two levels before any other player, additionally it comes at a fairly cheap trainer price and not requiring you train the flying skill itself to use this.
However, to obtain the upgrade form, Swift Flight Form, you’ll need to train your riding skill up to 300 and complete a quest chain, requiring you to spend practically the same as any other player for your epic mount.
The upside is that flight forms can be activated while falling and any other time instantly as long as you’re not in combat, making it somewhat more viable than mounting up.
3.0 - Leveling
Note: For a more in-depth look at leveling a Druid, check out our Druid Leveling Guide
Leveling a druid varies for every player, unlike many classes, how well you find the experience coming is almost entirely based upon personal capabilities at controlling the numerous and sometimes tricky abilities and combos that make up a druid.
However when looking for speed Feral will most definitely come out on top, balance in second although gaining slightly post-40 and moonkin, and finally restoration a distant third given that it only benefits healing aside from the first talent (furor.)
Feral Druids
1/46/14 Feral Leveling Build
Feral druids are focused on becoming rogue and fury warrior like, they burst through mobs in a whirlwind of flashing claws, stopping only to throw on a few HoT’s(Heal over time) before shifting back into cat form and moving onto the next group.
Downtime is almost nonexistent the more you progress past 20, firmly becoming a relic of the past 40+ as you gain some of the massively damaging attacks that define feral druid and cat form DPS. Bear form will remain largely unused for leveling aside from making getaways or possibly tanking an instance or two.
Alternatively should you have a few leveling partners tanking can be quite an enjoyable experience as well, bear and dire bear easily giving you the capabilities to hold threat while whoever you’re teaming with beats the offending mobs down.
The great thing about feral is that in a single build you gain tanking and solo DPS viability, allowing you to easily make the transition from solo-killer to a group player.
Balance Druids
48/0/13 Balance Leveling Build
Leveling as balance is the second option when setting yourself along the path to 70 (or whatever your goal happens to be.) I personally selected balance as my build of choice when leveling my first druid to 70, I found it more fun to play a unique hybrid caster as opposed to another rogue clone with heals.
Balance has some immediate problems when compared to feral, notably damage to mana efficiency and by connection the ability to kill effectively for any great period of time. However, balance makes up for this by being quite capable of root and spell kiting bosses otherwise un-defeatable.
Stacking up as much damage gear and good gear in general is key to being viable as Balance, without this you’ll be immeasurably weakened when compared to all other build types, even restoration, so I wouldn’t suggest this as your first character.
Balance is also good support for a group of players leveling together, giving you the ability to deal out the damage and remain in reserve for heals when needed.
Restoration Druids
0/24/37 Restoration Leveling/Grinding Build
Restoration leveling is an exercise in patience and exasperation, you gain virtually no improved solo capabilities while improving your already powerful healing capabilities to pointless levels as far as soloing is concerned, only consider this build if you plan on dedicated teaming.
The upside would be that you provide massive aid to any team you happen to join, and if instancing regularly is your thing it actually comes quite in handy and set’s you apart from any other druids you might encounter.
Just remember, this is the hard road and if you have the cash you could always stay feral of balance and respec for instance runs as needed.
What Gear and When
Gearing woes will plague you throughout your career as a druid, remaining a constant requirement of possessing nigh three complete suits of armor if you wish to truly utilize all your possible roles, sometimes even four.
As far as feral is concerned, Strength, stamina, agility, and lastly intellect will be your defacto order of priority, generally balancing your mana to be a certain percentage of your life at any time as more mana = more heals = more life on demand.
Balance will be seeking off massive amounts of Int as multiple talents in the balance tree run entirely off this stat, additionally this somewhat solves your mana woes you’ll definitely be encounter from 1-40 and somewhat less after that.
Restoration will want as much mana regeneration per second and intellect gear as possible, also stacking up +healing as it becomes more prevalent level 40+
All in all almost every single stat has a use as far as a druid is concerned, it’s all about making a delicate balance between them to maximize your abilities at any given level.
4.0 - PvP
12/11/38 Restoration Arena Build
48/0/13 Balance Arena Build
5.0 - Raiding
The gear list below represents what is likely going to be the maximum amount of +healing and mana regeneration gear possible to prepare you for raiding as a restoration druid. Not all of it is required, just recommended to make it as easy as possible on both you and the raid.
Helm:
Hood of Primal Life - Crafted
Crown of the Forest Lord - Drop(Heroic Underbog)
Moonglade Cowl - Drop(Botanica)
Neck:
Karja's Medallion - Quest Reward
Natasha's Guardian Cord - Quest Reward
Back:
Light-Touched Stole of Altruism - Drop(Heroic Auchenai Crypts)
Lifegiving Cloak - World Drop BoE
White Remedy Cape - Crafted
Cloak of Scintillating Auras - Drop(Arcatraz)
Shoulders:
Moonglade Shoulders - Drop(Steamvault)
Mantle of Autumn - Drop(Botanica)
Spaulders of the Torn-heart - Quest Reward
Chest:
Windhawk Hauberk - Crafted
Raiments of Nature's Breath - Drop(Heroic Hellfire Ramparts)
Moonglade Robe - Drop(Mechanar)
Lifewarden's Breastplate - Quest Reward
Wrist:
Windhawk Bracers - Crafted
Forestheart Bracers - Drop(Heroic Shattered Halls)
Lucid Dream Bracers - Drop(Heroic Mana-Tombs)
Hands:
Natural Mender's Wraps - Drop(Heroic Auchenai Crypts)
Moonglade Handwraps - Drop(Shadow Laybrinth)
Gloves of Preservation - Quest Reward(Alliance Only)
Cryo-mitts - Quest Reward
Belt:
Windhawk Belt - Crafted
Tree-Mender's Belt - Drop(Heroic Hellfire Ramparts)
The Sleeper's Cord - Drop(Arcatraz)
Legs:
Pants of Living Growth - World Drop BoE
Forestwalker Kilt - Drop(Heroic Mana-Tombs)
Earthsoul Britches - Drop(Heroic Slave Pens)
Moonglade Pants - Drop(Black Morass)
Boots:
Barkchip Boots - Drop(Underbog)
Boots of the Glade-Keeper - Drop(Mechanar)
Leader of the Darkcrest - Quest Rewards
Rings:
Spiritualist's Mark of the Sha'tar - Quest Reward
Ring of Fabled Hope - Drop(Heroic Underbog)
Ancestral Band/Ring of Convalescence - Reputation Reward(Thrallmar/Honor Hold Revered)
Celestial Jewel Ring - Quest Reward
Cosmic Lifeband - Drop(Mechanar)
Trinkets:
Scarab of the Infinite Cycle - Drop(Black Morass)
Bangle of Endless Blessings - Drop(Botanica)
Warp-Scarab Broach - Drop(Heroic Mana-Tombs)
Scryer's Bloodgem - Reputation Reward(Scryer's Revered)
Lower City Prayerbook - Reputation Reward(Lower City Revered)
Weapons:
Gavel of Pure Light - Reputation Reward(Sha'tar Exalted)
Shockwave Truncheon - Drop(Heroic Shadow Laybrinth)
The Ancient Scepter of Sue-Min - World Drop BoE
Lightsworn Hammer - Drop(Shattered Halls)
Off-hand:
Tears of Heaven - 25 Heroic Badges
Windcaller's Orb - Reputation Reward(Cenarion Expedition Exalted)
Faol's Signet of Cleansing - Drop(Shattered Halls)
Lordaeron Medical Guide - Drop(Heroic Old Hillsbrad)
Two-Handed:
Seer's Cane - Reputation Reward(Scryers Revered)
Epoc-Mender - Drop(Black Morass)
Serpentcrest Life-Staff - Drop(Steamvault)
Staff of the Ashtongue Deathsworn - Quest Reward
Idol:
Idol of the Emerald Queen - Drop(Shadow Laybrinth)
Harold's Rejuvenating Broach - Quest Reward
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