Bill Kelly

WoW Druid PvP



Posted: Friday, February 06, 2009

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In the not too distant past Druids were not considered a real threat in most forms of Player vs Player in the World of Warcraft. Many a time on entering a battleground Id hear the groans and mumbling. My, how times have changed.

Its well known that its difficult to learn to play a Druid well. Its also well known that a well played Druid is the one of the most dangerous things in modern (post Wrath of the Lich King) PVP. Your personal style of PVP Druid battle will depend greatly on your Druid build, your gear and your style of play. Here are just three tips Ive learned playing a few years of PVP with a Balance Druid.

1) The Druid is one of the few classes that has the ability to conceal their true colors, and even themselves, from the enemy before the real battle begins. Dont give away your druid build before you need to. If youre on offense dont flip into Moonkin or Tree of Life form until necessary. If they see you approaching in Moonkin or Tree Form they know what to expect, know your weaknesses and how to exploit them. Get up on the action in humanoid form (Night Elf or Tauren), assess the situation and then flip into form. No reason to give the enemy any more information than necessary, right? The use of the Cat Form Prowl ability is handy on both offense and defense. I see many Druids forget to use this ability to their advantage. The benefits of surprise are just as important in PVP as in real battle. Take advantage of it!

2) The Druid is not necessarily the best class to be the on point in a PVP battle situation unless you are specifically built out in the Feral Talent Tree and geared for tanking. To take full advantage of everything the class has to offer put yourself in a situation where you will be able to fill in the gaps as they appear. By gaps I mean the holes in your group caused by death, location or skill level. On offense, for example, if you see your group healer is out of position, overwhelmed or dead on the ground, you can quickly assume the roll of healer where needed. As the battle progresses you may see the need to slow the enemy with roots or cyclone spells. If the need for speed presents itself, for example in a flag running style battle ground, flip into Travel form and tear up the field. Nobody can chase down a target on the fly like a Druid!

3) Many PVP battles in World of Warcraft are sudden, intense and violent encounters. Very often, however, if a player can sustain the initial onslaught of damage they have a good chance of obtaining the goal of that battle. One thing Ive learned to do is this: be liberal with HOT spells. By HOT, of course, I mean heal over time and these are some of the handiest PVP spells around. Your group members will thank you, your main healer will thank you and it will drive your enemys nuts (which is always good!). When you, or your group members, are approaching battle either on offense or defense pop a HOT or two on yourself and those around you. Dont wait until youre in the battle, go ahead and cast these spells ahead of time by a few seconds on the fly.

The topic of Druids and PVP is a big one, far larger than I can cover here. The one thing I will leave you with is this. Dont give it up. It will be frustrating and irritating. You may want to quit after getting stomped for the tenth time in a row but keep at it. With practice and some guidance your PVP skills will increase very quickly and your Druid will thank you!

Bill spends way too much time running Druids, Hunters and Priests around the Battlegrounds and Arenas of World of Warcraft. Chances are you'll find him running amok in game or adding to his websites at WoWDruid.com and HunterPvP.com.
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