Hi,

My wife and myself just restarted playing WoW after being off for a few months to join a friend who is starting. She decided to play a druid for versatility. Now it happends that we are missing a tank in our play circle and she wanted to fill that hole with her bear form so she asked me how to spec her talents to fulfill that role at best...

Our base team is : her Druid (bear tank) + my Warlock (going for affliction spec) + our friend Priest (going for holy spec) + some addition : often a mage and/or sometime a shaman (yeah we are on the horde side of Azeroth :) ).

After reading a lot of talent guides, starting guides, strategy guides and other guides ... I've come to the conclusion that she was going to need a feral (bear side) build up to at least level 50-55 then maybe will need to respec to a more common end-game Druid Build (Restoration/Balance or something like that)

Now I really need help on how to plan her spec for a good tanking.


NeoPatch

Ok I tested a bit what I could reach with a talent builder and the following result seemd kinda logic :
_ Ferocity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
_ Improved Bash 1, 2
_ Sharpened Claws 1, 2, 3
_ Feral Charge (at 20)
_ Sharpened Claws 4, 5
_ Nature's Grasp
_ Improved Nature's Grasp 1, 2, 3, 4
_ Swiftshifting 1, 2, 3 (at 30)
_ Furor 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
_ Primal Fury 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (at 40)
_ Improved Enrage 1, 2
_ Improved Mark of the Wild 1, 2, 3
_ Gift of Nature (at 46)
_ Improved Mark of the Wild 4, 5
_ Nature's Focus 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
_ Improved Rejuvenation 1, 2
_ Nature's Swiftness (at 56)
_ Improved Rejuvenation 3, 4, 5

Keep in mind a respec will come between 50 and 60 to something more classic at that time (there is some loving coming for Druid in upcoming patchs so maybe ... :) )

Any comment on talent choice or order would be welcome !

NeoPatch

Improved Enrage 1, 2

One of the most worthless talents in all trees. Better off putting them in Nature's Reach or another Rest Talent - Imp HT, Imp Rejuv, whatever.

Ok going to put them in Nature's reach so she can pull from further, get one more DD in before shapeshifting and thus easilier keep aggro

I do not seem to come across as being rude, but if your wife will be always playing with a Priest in the group, then I would suggest she re-roll a warrior. Although druids are quite good at tanking, the warrior is still the right class for the job. And although AC, sta, and agro control are the main focus of a tank and can be done by both, the added defense, dodge, parry, etc. abilities available to the warrior brings that class ahead in this role. If, however, she will have a quite a bit of solo time and or duo time with your warlock, then yes, picking a druid is a good choice due to the versitility, as you stated.

If she decides to stick with the druid and all she will do is tank (ie remain in bear form), then I would focus on the Feral tree and maybe go with a 0/30/21 build. Nothing in the Balance tree will really improve all that much how you pull (whether using SF, MF, or Wrath) or tank, and nothing in the Resto tree (minus Furor iirc) will improve how you pull or tank. She will not be shifting in and out of forms in the group and she will rarely if ever need to chase runners down w/ Feral charge. NG will rarely if ever save a group from a wipe and Bash will only be used for the interupt so no extended time is needed for that ability. Nature's Swiftness is however still helpful to have as a main tank even with the most ideal group makeup, hence the 21 points in Resto.

If she decides to stick with the druid and she mixes up her roles a bit, then the 8/22/21 build should work really well in her favor. 8 in Balance up to Swiftshaping 3/3, 21 in Restoration up to Nature's Swiftness 1/1, and the rest (22) in Feral. This build should cover most situations whether she is solo, duo, healer, or tank.

The more she plays the more she will be able to tweak her talents to match the play style of herself and the group. No matter what, I would definitely suggest Furor 5/5 and Ferocity 5/5 as the first 10 talents regardless. The rest of the talents can be acquired when she sees fit.


Just my couple of coppers.

Nothing in the Balance tree will really improve all that much how you pull (whether using SF, MF, or Wrath) or tank

The extra range from nature's reach is handy for pulling.

Normal spell range is still well outside of proximity agro range (comparitive level) and thus has no benefit from being extended. Once one is already engaged in combat however, the extra range is good to help get that one last nuke in on a fleeing mob/player or for staying out of reach NPC spell/volley/ae range or non-extended player range for example.

I'm only 54 atm, but I personally have yet to come across an encounter where I really wish I had the extra range...yet. YMMV. My final build may include it though, but I'm still debating that one.

For tanking in bear form, it's all about AC and sta/hp, timing your taunts (wow 10s can seem like a long time), and having rage for maul, swipe, demo roar, and bear ff (if you have the talent), or whatever combo works best for you. Get the appropriate talents and items that enhance any of those areas, and apply the rest as you see fit.