I am a lv 18 Druid and this is my first WoW character. I am currenlty using bear form and looking forward to cat form. How should I be spending my talent points over the next many levels?

Also, should I be concentrating all my talents points in feral or should I spread some of them around? Thanks!


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Velen Server, Alliance:
Night Elf, Alexanderz - lv 18 Druid
Draenei, Tylerz - Lv 6 Mage

Hallo new druid :D welcome to our druid grove :>

I would start by putting lots of points into Feral. Go for talents that will let you kill faster, as this will increase the speed at which you can level up.

Eventually I would recommend looking at the other trees, particularly a talent in the Restoration tree called Omen of Clarity as this is extremely nice for feral druids. I would stick to only putting points in feral until at least level 40, though.



-Annikk

I am currently leveling a Druid (now lvl 56) and this is what I've done, in this order...

5/5 Ferocity
2/2 Brutal Impact -- not really needed until you get pounce, so you can take 2/3 thick hide and respec later if you want.
3/3 Feral Instinct -- not really needed until you get cat form
2/2 Feral Swiftness -- speeds outdoor movement while in cat form.
3/3 Sharpened Claws -- extra crit is nice, but really you get this for Primal Fury
2/2 Primal Fury -- Free combo points on crits! Let's you Rip sooner.
3/3 Predatory Strike -- not all that great. pre-req for Heart of the Wild.
1/1 Faerie Fire (Feral) -- debuff is nice, but now you have a ranged attack in Feral form, so you can (if needed) pull single mobs from packs. Great for those times when you have to take out mobs in "camps". Or pull a patrol mobs before it reaches another mob, etc.
2/2 Savage Fury -- more DPS is always nice
2/2 Shredding Attacks -- not needed until you get pounce at lvl 36, but pick it up now
5/5 Heart of the Wild -- more DPS
1/1 Leader of the Pack -- more Crit
2/2 Improved Leader of the Pack -- heal yourself on a crit. reduces leveling downtime.
3/3 Survival of the Fittest -- more DPS
4/5 Predatory Instincts -- mostly a tanking talent, pick-up the 5th point later, or drop a point from SotF.
1/1 Mangle -- From lvl 50 thru 56-58 (gear dependent) this will actually do more damage than Shred.
5/5 Furor -- free rage/energy
5/5 Naturalist -- more DPS, helps a bit when feral healing
1/1 Omen of Clarity -- energy/mana/rage free DPS
At this point back fill the Feral tree to pickup 1/1 Feral Charge, 5/5 PI and 3/3 TH.

There have been maybe 4-6 times I wished I had Nature's Grasp. Frankly, correct use of Dash and/or barkskin accomplish the same thing (improve survivability against multiple mobs).

There a few talents I took in a weird order because, I don't PvP and I don't plan on tanking until I'm lvl 62.

I found leveling a Druid a bit annoying until I got pounce. Once you get pounce you begin every encounter with (at least) 3 combo points and a mob who's health is 60% or less.

With the leveling changes in 2.3, I suspect you may not even notice the few dead levels like I did. Good luck! And ask more questions.

One more thing, once you get mangle you can remove claw from your bar. As Mangle cost the same energy and does more damage.

I think it really depends on how soon you want mangle. I'm only 47 now but I basically sacrificed mangle at 50 for furor/natural shapeshifter in the resto trees. Natural shapeshifter is sort of optional, but I think furor is a lifesaver especially with bear form.

However, I won't be getting mangle until 58 which sort of sucks because I'm really looking forward to it.

but I think furor is a lifesaver especially with bear form. Furor is nice. Thru lvl 57 I have used bear form maybe 3 times since I got cat form. And in almost every case it was a complete waste of time. I have found bear form to be near useless while leveling because...

Near 0 DPS. Who cares if you can live for 5 minutes, if the mob is still at 50% health and I'm OOM. For solo questing DPS is king. Nothing else maters. Always take gear that gives more DPS than any other piece.
Against spell casting mobs, bear form is useless. Period. The extra 25% health doesn't help at all.
According to the 2.3 patch notes, "many pre-BC group quests have been made easier to solo."

Hard solo questing scenarios and their solutions using cat form:

2 non-elite mobs: Stealth, Pounce, Shred, Shred, Mangle (or claw), rip. Switch targets. You'll live.
single target quests with guards: Cast both HoTs, Steath (wait for max energy), Pounce, etc. primary target, Dash. Don't worry about the guards.
Single elite mobs: As above, except be prepared to use a pot (now instant as of 2.3 patch). Once you get barkskin, cast it (will take you out of cat form), heal, cat form, continue.
Multiple "running" mobs in camp: Pull with FFF well away from camp (use LoS if caster/hunter mobs). Rooting is also possible, but it will reduce your DPS in multi-mob scenarios.

The real key is don't assume you have to brute force the quest (which is what I always did while leveling my Hunter), run away. Last night I had to complete that quest in Felwood near the Timbermalls where you have to "discover the plans, etc.". Basically, you have to talk to this black kettle to complete, and then, get a quest. However, it is surrounded by 3 mobs much higher level. So, I LoS pulled nearby mobs (to clear a Dash escape route). Then just stealthed into the camp. completed the quest and Dash'd out. With my hunter I must have died 4-5 times trying brute force the quest.

Now, if you plan to run instances while leveling thru lvl 55, Furor and/or Feral Charge may be good choices. Again, with the reduced leveling requirements added in 2.3, running pre-BC instances is even more of a waste of time than it was before. Unless, of course, you are leveling an enchanter. If so, wait until you are lvl 70 and run the instances solo.

Also the whole "For solo questing DPS > Bear Form" is not really true. The point of Druids I think is to be versatile. We adapt. I use whatever form works and while yes, for most solo questing it's generally kitty form there are lots of times when I think bear form is a viable option. I can kill elite mobs a couple of levels of higher than me with a mixture of bear/cat form. An example would be in the Hinterlands when I was level 44 or 45 and there was a quest to kill some level 48 elite turtle. With a mixture of innervate, bashing and basically taking a hell of a lot damage in bear form and having a hell of a lot more hp, I managed to kill the thing.

Basically I pounced and shredded then when it broke stun basically switched to bear and ground a way, using entangling roots/nature's grasp when I needed to heal. When I tried to stay in cat form and kill it, I died really fast. I didn't have enough mana to keep healing myself when I was taking something like 200-300 white hits. I'm far from an expert on being a druid, but I still think that bear form has its uses even with solo'ing. Basically my theory is "whatever way works."

Also, for tanking, furor helps immensely. Having that extra rage means using abilities faster. Also, I'm on a PvP server as well and spend a fair amount of time in battlegrounds or random fights with people while questing so it's also really useful to kill people. I think it really depends on what you want to be good at though.

I can kill elite mobs a couple of levels of higher than me with a mixture of bear/cat form.This is very true. But, while leveling, how often do you even take on non-elite mobs at or above your level, let alone Elite mobs? Not very often. If so, you are just slowing the leveling process and in some cases learning skills that will be obsolete in a few levels. Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

Furthermore, with the new leveling increases, it makes almost no sense to ever bother with group or elite mobs (pre-BC). There is an over abundance of non-grinding XP in the game. If the quest requires too many resources, skip it. You don't need the XP. The folks that make leveling guides are now saying they will be able to skip 2-3 zones due to the changes (Ex. skipping STV would be great on PvP servers).

Since the release of BC, I believe (and apparently Blizzard agrees) that spending any more time in old world content than necessary is a waste of time. As all of the players, quests that actually give good gear rewards, arena, etc. are all in the Outlands. The 2.3 changes just put the final nail in the coffin for the old world.

So, the primary goal for new players should be to quest as quickly as possible to get the outlands. High DPS == fast questing.

Questing is the fastest way to go now, even with rested exp grinding is not as fun or as effective (unless you fail @ questing or weeding out the good ones).

Spec wise, just work up the feral tree until you get Mangle and then dump 5 points into Furor and rest is up to you. Btw get Feline Swiftness (Increases outdoor catspeed by 15/30%). Such a great talent =)

So, the primary goal for new players should be to quest as quickly as possible to get the outlands. High DPS == fast questing.

I sort of disagree with that. Maybe because I don't find it necessary to level as fast as possible. If I felt that way I'd probably be 70 by now. I screw around a lot. I like to experiement with my character, figure out how things work and what I'm capable of. I think it's makes for a better, solid play when you get to the higher levels. After all, I mean is it really solid advice to tell new players "Yeah, ignore group quests and instances" so that when they are 70 and there's a much lower margin for mistake in such dungeons that they'll have absolutely no idea how to approach instances or PvP?

I basically ignored instances in the beginning, and would run them when I was ten levels higher or so and clear them by myself or sometimes with a friend or two and when someone asked me to run SM with them I agreed and felt like a total idiot. They asked me to tank and I had a basic idea but it was obvious after a few minutes that I was clueless. I felt completely useless and like a total idiot. So since then I've run more PuGs, played around and bit and I have more fun doing things that are a bit harder than mindless doing as many quests as possible to level fast.

But yes, I guess if someone's goal is make it to 70 as fast as possible, sure stay kitty, grind quests and have fun. I'm not saying everyone should do things the way I'm doing them but I really think if you solo completely to 70 you'll be gimping yourself for a while.

Then again, maybe I'm just completely crazy. :whistle: It has been said.

I do not think you should quest as fast as possible to 70, just 'till 58-60 and then head to the Outlands. Part of the problem with spending so much time at low levels is that you are learning skills and game mechanics that no longer apply at end-game.

For Annikk: I just finished two quests in Silithus. According to wowhead they each use to give 5650XP, I got 8150 XP each. That's a 44+% increase!! The first 5-6 HFP quest only give 6200XP.

Great Advice!! Thanks to everyone. So what intsances should I be looking to take on after I get cat form at 20? Aslo, when should I start going to PvP battlegrounds and arenas to start learning that skill set?

With my Druid -

Auberdine and Ashenvale were my primary homes, so I started Instancing in Blackfathom Depths at around 24 - 25. It was definately an experience. I DpS'd (knowing nothing about tanking at the time) and healed a lot.

BFD isn't too bad except people are constantly missing their jumps (rock to rock) and falling into the water, drawing aggro and dying, because of "line of sight" issues for healers - ugh.
But, if and when you make it through, there are some great drops at the end.

After BFD, I moved on to Gnomeregan. Which is probably one of the most despised Dungeons, but I ran it constantly. It's not as cramped as BFD, much more room to move. I gained a lot of XP from Gnomer and there's a boat load of quests available from the Gnomes in Tinkertown in IF. Once you get the gist (when to stick to walls, get the alarms first, etc.) it gets pretty straight forward.

After that, I ran Scarlet Monastary until it no longer gave me XP. I truly don't know anyone who doesn't like SM.

With my Priest -

Deadmines first. Bloody hell, I hate the Deadmines. Ran it (4) times and vowed never, never to return. Too cramped. Too many line of sight healing issues. Too many Level 70 "know it all's" playing their Level 19 alts thinking their Level 23 Healer is going to chase them around after they've broken the group and drawn aggro 3 rooms over. (Sorry, rant over)

Stockades. Love the Stockades. It's in SW. It's straight-forward. Never hard to find a group. Great place to practice whatever spec you wish to be.

PvP -

Started at Level 29. Great learning experience. Practice, practice, practice. Initially, Rogues terrified me, and I mean that. Sneaky little buggers. (I am SO over them now!) :wink:

You will discover that WsG will be much more enjoyable once you get your travel form, and can capture the flag pretty consistently.

With my Priest -

Deadmines first. Bloody hell, I hate the Deadmines. Ran it (4) times and vowed never, never to return. Too cramped. Too many line of sight healing issues. Too many Level 70 "know it all's" playing their Level 19 alts thinking their Level 23 Healer is going to chase them around after they've broken the group and drawn aggro 3 rooms over. (Sorry, rant over)

Stockades. Love the Stockades. It's in SW. It's straight-forward. Never hard to find a group. Great place to practice whatever spec you wish to be.
lol

It's the exact opposite for me with DM. Love it to death. It's fast, it's simple, and there's always lower leveled people wanting to do it.
Though the LoS problems can be annoying when healing.



As for Stockades, I like that too, but I can NEVER find a group for it. Once people have done all the quests in it, no one wants to do it again on my server. :'(




And SM is awesome.:beerchug:

I literally have my Priest simply logging out at the summoning stone so I can do it every day. I just have to make occasional trips to Southshore to repair (Horde seem to love dueling at the stone =/ ), sell loot, and whatnot.

I literally have my Priest simply logging out at the summoning stone so I can do it every day.

Good plan except, personally, I hate not being rested. I can't ever seem to be able to log myself outside an Inn. Now that Blizz has FINALLY given us that wonderful new FP in STV, I really, really, really wish they would make the jaunt to SM from Southshore easier for the Alliance.

I just have to make occasional trips to Southshore to repair (Horde seem to love dueling at the stone =/ ), sell loot, and whatnot.

Ya. Can't tell you how many times I've inadvertantly flagged myself (throwing in a heal?) around that stone and been whomped by Horde.

I really, really, really wish they would make the jaunt to SM from Southshore easier for the Alliance.Isn't there a FP in the Ghostlands or nearby for the Alliance?

there is a new FP at zul'amen

I guess Chillwind Point is technically the closest.

http://wow.incgamers.com/cartography/flightpaths/easterncontpdf.php

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/flashmap/

How easy it is to get to SM from there, I'm not sure. As a lower level I always avoided Undercity by taking the Southshore "scenic route".

From an RP sense, I am sort of confused by the alliance doing SM. I thought Scarlet Monastary was all anti-Forsaken/Undead zealots. But they attack alliance people too? I know that they can do the instance but I was wondering just out of curiosity the whole reasoning behind that. Or is there none?

(Personally my goal is to one day see the Stockades. However being on a PvP server, it seems pretty much impossible.)

(Personally my goal is to one day see the Stockades. However being on a PvP server, it seems pretty much impossible.)

Uhm, ya.

Unless, of course, you have insanely efficient Stealth. Or, perhaps re-roll a Human Pally? :biggrin:

Isn't there a FP in the Ghostlands or nearby for the Alliance?

I think so. I know some people go from somewhere (probably Ghostlands) and run through Western Plaugelands to get there.

Before I respecd resto my talentswere placed like this

Maxed out feral tree with the exception of:
Feral agression and nurturing instinct.

11 points in resto:
Imp mark of the wild
Naturalist
Omen of clarity
1 point in balance:
Natures Grasp.

It worked out fine for me for lvling,you just gotta Find the way that best suits you