Hi all, first off, nice forums, its good to find some sanity in the community, I was getting overwhelmed by the weirdness on the official forums!

Secondly i was wondering if I may get some input as to wheteher the druid class in WoW is for me?

I've played a hunter to 54 now and just can't bring myself to take her any further, the combat has become mechanically repetitive. I am looking for a class that offers challenge/reward to play.
I have my Druid to the dizzy heights of 16 and am thoroughly enjoying it so far, does it get better? or is it a downward spiral after 30?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

call me biased, but i think this class has something to offer to every WoW player. the pure versatility allows you to mix up your playing style whenever and however you like, so you are seldom if ever bored.

The druid class is a jack of all trades but 1 trade at time class. We get a lot of habilities but we can't use them at the same time. We are almost unkillable in PvE, but we take a long time time to kill a mob.

We can tank and doing a good job doing it, not as good that a warrior can do.
We can heal as good that a no specialised in healing cleric (but it ask for more skill).
We can nuke, but we get laugthed by any other class that can nuke too.
We are the ultimate class when it came time to run away (travel and water form, losing all snare, root and polomorph effect when changing form).
We can do some crowd controle (out-door or only on beast and dragon).
Etc...

If you want to play well a druid you almost need to learn to play 3 class at the same time (cleric, warrior and rogue) and understand that at hight level we are asked primary as healer when we get in a group/raid.

Eridalafar

Erid pretty much said it all, I enjoy the class the most. Forms are very gear specific, you can tell/see a difference in the performance of your gear. End game, your nothing but a leather wearing priest, to some. Your strength,characters, comes from the ability to use the forms when needed. Plus you can do stealth runs, which to me are the biggest blast for druid gaming. It's really something to get a team to take down a high level boss 5 man :)

As always it depends on your playstyle. We have 3 forms, and a bigger variety of abilities than any class I have played. But there isn't alot of variety within each form. Bear-form has 5 abilities compared to a warriors 15+. Same thing for cat vs rogue. So, if you go into one form and stay there it does get boring & start to spiral.

But if you learn how/when to change forms for different situations it gets very interesting indeed. I do find that soloing gets to be a bit routine since you find a combo you like & stick with it. You can mix it up alot against easy stuff, but I basically have one set routine for casters and one for melee types when the mobs are 2-3 levels higher than me. Where it gets very interesting is in groups, based on who is in the group will dictate what you should be doing. The challenge is to always be open minded and adapt...if there are 2 priests in the group, you'll spend alot of time as a bear....if there are 2-3 warriors you'll spend alot of time healing, if the group is balanced you'll go mainly for cat to add dps...the key is to adapt & have fun.

Hey there Flame, welcome to the boards.

I think the previous posts pretty much give you a good idea of the state of the druid class. I personally think our "breakpoint" comes at level 40 - we don't get any new forms after 40 and all of our spells are pretty much "generic_spell01 + 100" upgrades. It was post-40 that the druid got a bit tedious for me because there wasn't much to look forward too. I'm sure this is probably true with the other classes as well, but with the spell progression the way it is, it just really felt like there should have been a new druid shapeshift form at 50 and 60.

One of the biggest differences from a hunter is the fact that at the end game you'll get a lot of random requests for raiding. But, as stated above, you'll be asked to come as a healer (no one really cares about your bearform or your nukes). However, as my hunter and rogue friends point out, at least we get asked :) Plus, there seems to be a lack of high end druids so there seems to be an abundance of class specific gear hitting the AH's, and the prices are dropping all the time.

I think you will enjoy the class if you like versatility.. Sure, you will never be as good at ambushing as a rogue, you will never hit as hard as a warrior, you will never nuke as hard as a mage.. BUT.. you can do it all!.. Wich makes you a very "hard to read" opponent.

Try it! I'm liking my druid more and more just because the versatility of play and the fact that other classes dont really know what to make of you in PvP and duels. :)

Ps. And the fact that healers are wanted as hell in instances doesnt make it hard to get groups when you hit 60. ;)

Ps2. The gift of stealth is _really_ good in pvp. Go find 4 rogue pals and go raid orgrimmar. :D

Druids - an incredibly fun class. However, if being the main healer in an instance isn't your cup of tea, I would suggest you move on. It's not that we can't do other things, but healing is the thing we do best. That, and we have the best buff in the game. In addition, we are the least played class according to a lot of the census numbers out there.

I find instance healing in this game to be very fun and challenging. And - if everyone in the group is doing their job perfectly, I get to toss a nuke or two in and melee a little. Most of the time you have someone who can't follow instructions (/assist) so it gets more challenging. Nothing like healing in the game I came from (EQ).

Far as our forms go, here's how I typically use them:

Bear:
1. Soloing elites or mobs above my level (usu pull with nuke and shapeshift)
2. Offtanking role in instance (usually I am main healer, but if group has a priest and no shaman, I am the offtank)
3. PvP 1v1 defensive against a war or rogue (situational - usually only go bear once the other is low on health)

Cat:
1. Instance dps support at lower levels (up through Scarlet Monastery)
2. Stealthing around (obviously)
3. Soloing non-elite mobs below my level
4. PvP situational

If you're a good healer, as you advance in level you will get bombarded with tells to main heal instances. This is a nice change of pace from my 60 Rogue (lfg BRS, Strat, Scholo, DM since January).

PvP downsides: were healers and lack dps
PvP upsides: I can kill almost any rogue near my level (unless surprised at low health). If I cant kill them, I can escape.

Best. Class. EVAR.

Best. Class. EVAR.

Totally true right there.... I came from DAOC playing a pally. but the druid is just tooo fun.. I am normally soloing everything and while yes you will find a way that you do the best in. You can always utilize the versatility. I've had a blast, and while i'm only 38 and never lost interest once. Druids can do everything and that's what makes them great....