01-11-2016, 05:41 AM (This post was last modified: 05-28-2019, 09:06 AM by Lavz.)

Ok guys, seriously.
After enough requests, here it is; my guide on how to defeat Friezasucceed as druid in pvp.
While this is not nearly as extensive as Gnawbone's guide for hunters, or Opra's guide for Shaman (which I highly recommend reading both); I've tried to include what I thought were key points and concepts.
DISCLAIMER; I DO NOT CLAIM THIS TO BE THE ONLY/BEST WAY TO PLAY DRUID. IT IS MY WAY ONLY. HOWEVER, IT WORKS FOR ME.
Upon zoning in, do yourself a favor and keybind your bear, cat, and travel form to your scroll wheel. I use up for cat, press for bear, and down for travel.
Next, go and get all the blue leather with the highest stamina you can get. You're going to be feeding from your team's hks in stealth for the next 400 or so kills, so get some decent crit/melee bonus gear.
From there, you're going to want to grind enough gold to get Mace of Unending Life, Rune of Metamorphosis, and a lot of Swiftness potions. Level engineering and grab yourself Skull of Impending Doom, and Nifty Stopwatch from quests. (These items CARRY me)
Horray, you've probably gotten your 4 set pvp gear by now! Now you can start FCing like a true saiyan warrior. From here the set you want to grind is 3 piece epic pvp gear.
The rest of your gear is really up to you, and depends on what kind of druid you want to play. I try to maximize all my stats, while focusing on stamina.
You can spec however you like. The key to playing druid properly, to me, is mobility. Feral charge helps a LOT but is not necessary when you're healing spec/geared.
Here is my spec. http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#0zL0..f0zZVtfoco
I'm including my second spec, for ultimate spirit bombage.http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#0tcxhMxoxZVecoco and alternatively, this one forstarfire stun procs - http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#0t0xbMvoxZVecoco
After you've achieved full best in slot items, I play this spec generally always now http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#0p0xhMLZVMhoZVtfoco
Here is my opener rotation for dps. Pounce > Rake > Rip > Moonfire > Insect Swarm > [Kite]
Here is a link to my gear. http://retro-wow.com/character/1/52458
I'm excluding information on macros/addons. You can google this stuff easily.
I cannot go into full detail with how you should play druid as a class(and spec), because it is such a hybrid that any playstyle can suit it. If you're interested in a more detailed tutorial, check out Sapphire's guide on balance.
http://retro-wow.com/forum/showthread.ph..83#pid5383
This is my abridged guide on FCing, so to speak.
6k health in bear form and 7k armor (minimum) is what you should have before you call yourself main FC. Check the AH for a decent price on Freezing Band (ring) and try to get two if you intend to run flags full-time as these will give you a super nice peel that happens about once every 50 or so hits that you receive.
Like I've said, mobility is key. Learning how to swap forms mid-air and avoid slows only happens when you take the time to practice doing so. On the other hand, there are often times when I am paused behind a LoS with flag, waiting for enemy team to shift their attention elsewhere before I move along the side of the map.
Here are some tips;
1.) Always keep all 3 noggens up. They help for when you're getting spam dispelled, and a variety of other useful things for druid, such as becoming a smaller target, and the fun one; debuffing skele noggen while you're in cat and now you're a rogue! Neat!
2.) When FCing, call your intended location so that your team knows where to support you, or draw attention away from.
3.) When EFCing, call where your target is, or if they're at you.
4.) When supporting FC, keep poison cleanse up on yourself, and your FC if there are more than 1 rogues in match, or a rogue nearby at all.
5.) Be efficient with your mana. If you have a moment to drink, do it; even if that means lagging behind your team a small bit up tunnel. You'll oom very quickly if you play anything but resto. This includes having multiple ranks of healing spells. NEVER BURN INNERVATE UNLESS YOU KNOW YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DRINK SOON.
6.) If you haven't already, download a cast-bar addon. I use Antagonist. (Download here; http://www.vanilla-addons.com/dls/antagonist/ )
7.) The best way to combat rogues is to keep Faerie Fire up on them and poison cleanse up on you. You can kite around them for days if they don't have imp sprint. If they do, hug bear and stay near your team because that's one rogue you're not going to beat.
8.) Moonfire, technically speaking, is probably going to be your best source of dps. Don't be afraid to spam it, but don't spam it if you're not going to be making a play vs team by killing target. Obviously doing this will OOM you fast as f*ck, but sometimes it's a price you have to pay.
9.) Feral charge into travel form all in the same global has saved me more times than I can count. The further away your charge target is from enemy team, the better.
10.) Objectively speaking, if you have 0 kills and 3 flag caps, you've played the game perfectly. Keep that in mind.
11.) My typical fight involves a lot of restealthing, and often times I don't bother re-opening because while I'm still alive going for flag or team; they're often times searching for me in the wrong area.
12.) Don't be afraid to be a martyr; by this I mean, don't be afraid to die for your team if that means your death has changed the outcome of your overall team's position. It is better to die trying, than to give up and wonder what good you might have done. One may call this attitude 'Try Hard' but I prefer the term 'capable.'
13.) Swiftness potion right before grabbing flag is such an mvp move that people call me hacker after BG.
14.) Restealth is more important than anything. This is coming from a rogue main of 10 years though, so I'm quite biased. My reasoning comes from how much dmg Ravage can do when it crits, and how reliable restealth can happen when you're able to be mobile.
15.) Try to keep fights outdoors as much as possible. You're at a severe disadvantage when indoors, and people know this.
16.) Distance from enemy team is more important than topping yourself off. (This is situational, but I'd rather include this tip than not.)
17.) At times, it is better to sit in mid with your team than to run away and camp alone w/flag.
18.) If the situation calls for it, Nature's Swiftness > Roots can turn the tide chasing EFC, and is a better peel than NS > Heal in some cases. Use your discretion.
19.) Mounted warrior behind you? Faerie Fire his ass into combat so he can't charge you, then drop into bear form to eat his wasted intercept, then travel form away while his charge is on CD. Don't let him drop combat while he's within 30 yards of you or he'll charge.
20.) You can also charge a warrior's charge, which is quite fun; essentially this requires a lot of timing/luck to do, but with practice you can swap places with almost any warrior.
21.) Learn the map. Practice running in places that are not only difficult to follow through, but also is a Line of Sight (LoS) from enemies. (Around tree stumps)
Otherwise, do whatever you like. Druid is my favorite class because it can do anything. If you want toKAMEHAMEHApeople to death all BG, do it. If you wanna be a rogue and tiger's fury > ferocious bite for 2k, do it. If you wanna be ultimate support and heal, do it. If you wanna sit in bear with 9k armor and tank w/flag, do it.
Credits/thanks to,
Trolldruid
Gnawbone
Toppkek
<Mali> you guys are great.
Warm Regards,

Lavz
PS: Adding this section to focus on specs individually and what I use each one for.
19/11/21 'The Trolldruid' for being tanky and optimal utility without sacrificing damage from spells.
8/22/21 'The Attritionist' for being tanky and most efficient dmg output overall (least mana spent.)
29/11/11 'The Final Flash' for being a glass cannon and having an interrupt as well as devastating spell dmg.
30/0/21 'The Orbital Lazor' for being a glass cannon but not sacrificing NS.
24/0/27 'The Kaioken' for playing a more healer support role but still having mo

Retro Wow Addons Reck Count