Episode 9: Druidcast
Episode 9 is here! Druids, druids, and more druids!
Check out the forum post for links to the feral and balance druid talent specs I recommend for people going all out balance, or feral, and an explanation on the 44 talent points (minimum) for a full restoration druid. Remember, the feral and balance druid talent examples are not spending the full 51 talent points, especially the feral one-- which emphasizes only the talents that really help both cat and bear forms, without specializing in either form.
I just heard a mistake in the cast, though! I say to swim East after getting the bauble in Lake Elune'ara... I mixed up the directions! Swim West young druid, swim West!
Listen Now
Run Time: 59:30
File Size: 28.6 MB
Check out the forum post for links to the feral and balance druid talent specs I recommend for people going all out balance, or feral, and an explanation on the 44 talent points (minimum) for a full restoration druid. Remember, the feral and balance druid talent examples are not spending the full 51 talent points, especially the feral one-- which emphasizes only the talents that really help both cat and bear forms, without specializing in either form.
I just heard a mistake in the cast, though! I say to swim East after getting the bauble in Lake Elune'ara... I mixed up the directions! Swim West young druid, swim West!
Listen Now
Run Time: 59:30
File Size: 28.6 MB
posted by Unknown at 6:22 AM
2 Comments:
Hi there. Just wanted to say I liked your podcast, and I'd also like to share my story to offer some hope for all you non-resto specced druids in endgame instances.
I've been in a nice raiding guild on EU-Doomhammer since january. They used to be very traditional and druids were 'supposed' to heal. I decided to take the fight on behalf of feral druids in my guild. I made long, informative posts describing the feral's capabilities, and I responded politely to any objections (that was mainly poorly founded). Anyways, I respecced full feral (11/40/0) to prove my point, and guess what? I did. There is absolutely nothing you cannot do as a druid. I'm not gonna explain everything I have been through, but I took over as guildmaster and raidleader in this guild a month ago. We have a completely open spec policy and have never been more successful. Out of 11 druids in the guild, we have:
3 full ferals (as me)
3 feral/resto (0/30/21)
1 moonkin druid
4 resto specced druids
Guess what? All of these druids heal just fine for everything we have done so far.
Ok, have a look at what I have done as a feral druid:
* I have successfully tanked all of MC including Ragnaros (272 unbuffed FR ftw, as a druid you can do it nicely with 200 & feral charge)
* I can successfully tank all of BWL, and have tanked Broodlord Lashlayer and other druids have tanked other bosses including Vaelestraesz, the drakes, Nefarian. You name it.
* We use druids for tanking in all fights we've had so far in AQ40, which is up to and including Fankriss.
Do I have über gear to be able to do this? Yes, I have fantastic fire res gear. Apart from fire res i run around with sever blue pieces still including 2 shadowcraft, blue AQ20 gloves, 2 blue trinkets and so on in my tanking gear. Show me a warrior that get to tank Neffy and other bosses in T0 gear :)
There are noone in my guild that doubt the capabilities of the ferals when it comes to tanking and dps. They default to these roles and heal when necessary. We regularily have two or three out of five or six druids in our raids as full ferals, then a moonking and a couple of combo-specs. It works fantastically well. It adds so much flexibility. If you bring three 11/40/0 specced druids you bring the following in only raidslots:
3 fullblown healers
3 fullblown tanks
3 damagedealers that can make top 10 on damage.
The flexibility of this setup is unbelievable. We've progressed through AQ40 very fast with this. We did Skeram the first 2 days we tried out in AQ40. Then the next week we killed Skeram, Battlerguard Sartura, Fankriss the Unyielding and the Bug Family. There is no way we'd done this without feral druids.
The important thing is to know the important differences between prot warriors and feral druids. It is this:
A well geared warrior like our MT in near-full wrath will have around 70% chance to negate damage. This comes from dodge, parry and block combined. A druid will rarely have more than 20% dodge.
However, because a druid will have 50% more armor than the warrior, and easily 20% more health, you take less damage from the hits that do land. You require more healing than a warrior, yes, but in many cases you are easier to heal than a warrior. More HP = more time for healers. More AC = predictable damage. I am convinced our progress as a raiding guild has been severly slowed down in the past from not using the resources that was there all along.
A final note to you on your criticism of shadowcraft as starter gear for ferals: I agree agility isn't ideal, but shadowcraft is a very nice set still. It is easily available, and the 2-, 4- and 6-set bonuses are very nice for any feral. Remember also that agility is a key stat for tanking when you are a druid. It gives you dodge AND crits (threat). I have tanked bosses in BWL and AQ40 with shadowcraft boots and pants.
Let me finish off with where druids really has usefulness as tanks: they produce MUCH more threat than a protection warrior. They take abit longer to establish threat, but once they've had the attention of a boss for 5 seconds, there isn't much that will take aggro from a druid. It gives dps very nice room to dps.
There are also a number of boss fights where druids in my opinion are better suited for tanking than warriors:
* Ragnaros (as the druid don't need to resist the knockback with fire resistance but can charge back each time, i.e. cut the FR down abit and go for stats (200-250 unbuffed should do it for a druid, while a warrior should have 300+)
* Any fight where the MT can be mind controlled (E.g. Hakkar in ZG)
* A tank specced feral is a better tank than a dps warrior in whatever gear, as the dps warrior just don't create enough threat in defensive stance.
* If your warriors have poor gear, I think you are better off with a druid, as they will get their stamina and AC up high very fast. It is much cheaper and faster for a guild to get a druid capable of tanking all of MC than a warrior. The warrior needs his setpieces badly, while a druid will do fine with some random blues and some nice staminagear (and ofc fire resistance is key after Garr). You can as a guild easily prioritize druids for 3 easily craftable FR pieces, being Corehound Boots (24 FR), Molten Helm (29 FR), Lava Belt (26 FR), and (yes, I know it is resto gear) Salamander Scale Pants (10 FR). Then you slap 20 FR enchants on the legs and the helm. Gives you a perfect tank with a 129 extra fire resistance. Then add a few rings and random items and you're beyond 200 unbuffed before long.
Anyways, just wanted to say a druid can do absolutely anything, so don't listen to the nay-sayers :)
Best regards,
JohnGalt of Ancestral Legacy, Doomhammer-EU
I rolled a Tauren Druid and it's been great. Your podcast swayed me from the shammy. Thanks for the good show.
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