Since my Blog post got deleted, I figured that it would be a viable time to simply post some articles in order to garner greater readership. All of this comes directly from my blog, which you can read at:

www.gameriot.com/blogs/The-Ooglar

I'm a Druid that comes from BG9 (Bloodlust), which has, arguably, the largest talent pool / the most skilled players in Northern America. I am one of the top 20-30 Druids within this Battlegroup as well.

I'm also handsome, but that's beside the point:


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The 13/11/37 Restoration Druid in BG9 in 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5 Arena Druid's Handbook, wherein we assume that you are level 70, speak english, engage in arena and play a Druid class within the World of Warcraft.

This is essentially a compilation of my brain, in which I dictate to you the things that will turn you into me. Ultimately the presumption is that everyone wants to be me, and therefore I will endeavor to fulfill your deepest fantasies. Do note that handsome cannot be taught, but confidence and sheer audacity may be passed on.

Seeing as this is the ‘advancedish’ handbook, per say, we assume that there was, or is, a prior handbook in which the basics are detailed. I may potentially create such a basic handbook, but for this 201 course, allow us to assume the following:

1.) You know what stopcast baiting is. (Casting and utilizing the /stopcast macro, or stopping your cast by moving / pressing escape in order to ‘bait’ out a counterspell or spell lock)

2.) You know what LoS is. (Being within the enemy’s castable line of sight)

3.) You fully understand Druid talents and abilities.

4.) You don’t run an incredibly awkward matrix, like Holy Priest + Resto Druid, or something akin to that.

5.) You’re not stupid. Or, at least, overly stupid.

Now then, I’m just going to amalgamate my tips and advice into a large clump of stuff, and then separate it by lines wherever I deem it cool to place them.

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Like here.

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Please also note that almost all of the contained tips, tricks and paraphernalia are, in reality, common sense. It's not to say that I'm unable to teach you more, but understand that this is a video game with a lot of inhibitions. If this was Ice Hockey, I could tell you to angle your wrist just so in order to get a harder shot, not so with WoW. The World of Warcraft is too simple for individuals to have their 'secrets,' it's more in knowing your few abilities, making the right choices, and perfecting it.

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Always stay out of LoS unless you’re doing something important. If you are doing something important, always place yourself in a position that allows you to find cover quickly and easily. Methods of doing so include the following:

1.) Standing by a pillar or wall, constantly peeking out and casting, and then dodging back in.

2.) Standing right on the 40 yard line distance while healing. This thereby enables you to backtrack quickly and maintain distance range, working almost as well as a wall would.

Ideally, a Druid should always have at least one to two methods of escape available to them at any time. This means that if you decide to Cyclone, you are fully capable of stopping your cast at any point and taking cover. In reality this is the equivalent of taking a kick to the nuts; if you can avoid taking such a hit, why the hell would you still take it.

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Be absolutely sure to tell your teammates what’s happening to you. This is especially important for a Druid because we’re so susceptible to bursts that are not preemptively mitigated by control from our teammates. A good habit to get into is to simply count down any control spells being cast on you, as well as noting precisely who is on you and doing what. What is commonly heard from me is the following:

“#!#! FEARED, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, GOD THIS THING IS SO ####ING LONG, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE, #!#! DEATHCOILED, WOW, GOD WOW FEARED, FOUR, THREE, TWO, WARRIOR ON ME, OH #!#!, INTERCEPT, ONE, ZE- MACE ####ING STUN ARE YOU KIDDING ME, TWO, O- MACE STUN HOLY #!#!, TWO, ON-, MACE STUN JESUS CHRIST I’M GOING TO DIE, TW- MACE STUN WOW I’M DEAD, MACE STUN WHAT THE #### I’M ALREADY DEA- WOW ####ING MACE STUN AGAIN WHEN I’M OUT OF THE ARENA”

And so on and so forth.

Ultimately calling out this kind of thing lets your team know that precisely what’s happening to you, and this usually prevents you from getting exploded too badly.

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Likewise, be absolutely certain to call out your cyclones ahead of time. Cyclone is the one CC that not only gobbles up timely bursts, but if you don’t call out the target that you’re cycloning, you may inevitably devour your Warlock’s Deathcoil and your Shaman’s NS EM CL. Cyclone has the unique attribute in this regard, and can significantly affect your team’s capabilities. My personal best has been to eat an AP POM Pyro and NS EM CL at the same time, potentially making me the best DPS eater ever.

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On the other hand, don’t be afraid to cyclone a DPS target to lock his HP at a certain percentage. What separates a good Druid from a timid Druid is the ability to fearlessly Cyclone your focus target (called ahead of time, of course). This denies heals and enables your team to take the time to fully set up their burst and control for another offensive.

Cyclone is not simply your control tool, it’s also your DPS tool; it often ‘deals’ more damage, per say, then any other player, because you can outright deny upwards of 7k of heals. In addition to this, you waste the enemy’s mana and if timed properly, can even steal a significant cooldown or two (Pain Suppression / Nature’s Swiftness).

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Cover your Innervates, your teammate’s DoTs and your own Entangling Roots! This simply means casting cheap rank 1 buffs / HoTs / DoTs (where applicable) in order to server as ‘dispel fodder.’ Much like the Black man that gets killed in order to demonstrate the jaw power of the opposing aliens, your buffs / debuffs, combined with Subtlety, can often force enemies to spend more than one GCD cleaning off your debuffs or your own buffs.

Ultimately this means that Roots is more likely to stay up longer (or if the healer is careless, for its full duration) than if you had just cast it by itself. Likewise, a Warlock will be able to do more DPS because his DoTs stay up longer, or you’ll gain at least an extra 2-3 extra ticks off your Innervate, because the opposing Priest / Shaman couldn’t strip it off fast enough.

My common R1 Buff layers: MOTW / Thorns / Lifebloom x1, x2, x3 / Rejuv / Omen of Clarity (when I have it) / Nature’s Perfection (if a pet is on you, spam /sit) / occasionally Regrowth / very occasionally Barkskin.

My common R1 DoT layers: Faerie Fire / Moonfire / Insect Swarm (when I have it)

Every single one of these things has a 30% chance to resist dispels; and remember that Nature’s Perfection is now a magical buff, thereby creating yet another tasty piece of fodder. Spam that /sit!

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The proper order in which you should lay heals onto someone is:

Lifebloom > Lifebloom > Rejuv > Lifebloom / Regrowth (sometimes) > Lifebloom > Swiftmend (if needed) > Rejuv > Lifebloom > NS + Healing Touch > Regrowth / Cyclone.

The cyclone, in this case, is to cyclone the opposing team’s DPS. Quite honestly, if you manage to have full HoTs (Rejuv + 3x Lifebloom + Regrowth) up on your teammate, while having burnt out NS/Healing Touch, you should have the time to afforded to cyclone a DPS. If you still don’t, your teammate needs more survivability, your team needs more control, or you need to stop healing while naked.

The reason why you cast Lifebloom twice first is for dispel protection. Almost every team will deny you that first Rejuv > Swiftmend if you intend to chain it right away. While it seems a bit counter-intuitive to start with a low heal, ultimately it may be the one thing that saves your teammate.

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Don’t be afraid to use Nature’s Swiftness offensively.

Too often, Druids will spend an entire fight without using Nature’s Swiftness, because they constantly utilize it as a ‘panic button’ of sorts. A Nature’s Swiftness + Cyclone on a target that’s about to get bomb healed is like using Nature’s Swiftness Chain Lightning; you’re ‘dealing’ 5k damage in one go. Not only this, but it enables you to set up a control immediately after, potentially helping you a lot more than a simple heal block.

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Always take the opportunity to drink.

This is vastly subjective, but for the most part try to take advantage of lulls in the battle to get some mana back. Unless you’re absolutely certain you won’t need it, or the gains from not drinking are greater, drink that water!

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Rank 1 Roots is more efficient than max rank roots, and does the exact same thing.

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/cast [target=focus] Cyclone

Make a Focus, target something else, cast Cyclone. This enables you to cast without ever targeting your focus. Teams tend to prepare in advance who is getting Cycloned, and in the rarest of cases, you can actually make less-evolved individuals trinket for no reason. They’ll feel so pro when they see that cast bar targeting them and casting Cyclone, only to realize that it was cast on someone else.

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Full rank Lifebloom stacks are one of the best damage mitigation techniques ever. A full stack not only prevents dispels (or severely limits them), but it continually ticks for incredible amounts. The final point about doing so is that when you are CCed; the 3stacked lifebloom will ‘bloom’ and allow you to heal even when being CCed. While I sometimes avoid 3stacking lifeblooms (when I’m being mana efficient, I cast 1 lifebloom every 10 seconds, instead of refreshing it), you can’t deny that it’s the most effective and efficient healing spell we have.

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Just realized the post limit cut off a significant portion of my posts. The rest is contained below.

time to bind a /sit macro

Hey, what's going on in h

Q u o t e:
SUM DURIDS IS MOON KIN
1) Them 1s is look all funny liek maybe form MOON! LOL!
2) mostly uh moonkin is 4 a spam moonfare
3) them haf sum good armors & fite storng.

Thanks Pwyff

I've never done arena so there was some interesting stuff in here. I really need to learn to love my cyclone..

Can you explain "make a focus" please? :)

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Q u o t e:
Can you explain "make a focus" please? :)

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Target the player you want to make your focus. Type "/focus Player'sName. Then just make a macro like,

#Showtooltip Cylone
/cast [target=focus] Cyclone

That will allow you to Cyclone that player without having to target them everytime.

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Q u o t e:
...allow us to assume the following:

1.) You know what stopcast baiting is. (Casting and utilizing the /stopcast macro, or stopping your cast by moving / pressing escape in order to ‘bait’ out a counterspell or spell lock)

2.) You know what LoS is. (Being within the enemy’s castable line of sight)

3.) You fully understand Druid talents and abilities.

4.) You don’t run an incredibly awkward matrix, like Holy Priest + Resto Druid, or something akin to that.

5.) You’re not stupid. Or, at least, overly stupid.

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I'm not sure if your post is a joke or serious, but assuming it is serious, I'd like to make the following comment about the quoted part, here.

The things you list, and the way you phrase them, are incredibly subjective, yet you are trying to present these as facts. If you're going to create some sort of guide or handbook, I'd prefer to read facts, rather than someone's skewed rhetoric.



Is your post supposed to be about the arenas? You may want to change the title of your post to something like, "The Druid Arena Handbook," seeing as how druids are not born to do arenas. Indeed, if you are going to make a "Druid Handbook," and not say a word about leveling, questing, or raiding, it might lower your credibility. (Believe it or not, there are actually other things to do in WoW besides arenas).

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Q u o t e:



I'm not sure if your post is a joke or serious, but assuming it is serious, I'd like to make the following comment about the quoted part, here.

The things you list, and the way you phrase them, are incredibly subjective, yet you are trying to present these as facts. If you're going to create some sort of guide or handbook, I'd prefer to read facts, rather than someone's skewed rhetoric.



Is your post supposed to be about the arenas? You may want to change the title of your post to something like, "The Druid Arena Handbook," seeing as how druids are not born to do arenas. Indeed, if you are going to make a "Druid Handbook," and not say a word about leveling, questing, or raiding, it might lower your credibility. (Believe it or not, there are actually other things to do in WoW besides arenas).

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I'd say it's pretty obvious that Pwyff's talking about arena, but then again, I've been reading his blog... maybe he should clarify the title, but there are plenty of other guides to the other aspects of the class. You're correct insofar as saying that he throws out his opinions freely without backing them up here; really, though, he never said he was doing otherwise. Regardless of whether or not they're properly theorycrafted, though, I've found a lot of good stuff in his advice, and a lot of the rest makes sense, even though I'm not resto specced. It's worth a read.

Thanks for the posts, Pwyff. I love your blog. You're probably the wisest one can possibly be while still rolling female night elf as a male college student.

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Q u o t e:

Thanks for the posts, Pwyff. I love your blog. You're probably the wisest one can possibly be while still rolling female night elf as a male college student.

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But... but... the bewbs );

By the way...

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Q u o t e:
This is essentially a compilation of my brain, in which I dictate to you the things that will turn you into me. Ultimately the presumption is that everyone wants to be me, and therefore I will endeavor to fulfill your deepest fantasies. Do note that handsome cannot be taught, but confidence and sheer audacity may be passed on.

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There you go.

OH SHEET; I just realized that I didn't post the full article... here's the second half. Plus additions given by Serennia:

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If you’re full duration counter-spelled or spell locked, don’t just stand there! Often times going Bear to Feral Charge + Bash the opposing team can give you enough control while you are unable to heal. Sometimes when my teammates are full, I’ll start casting Healing Touch in order to bait out the CS (putting the mage on a predictable cooldown timer), and then go Bear to interrupt his next spell + Bash to force a Blink, and then Cyclone (usually it’s off CD).

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If you can get out of range, and you’re trying to kite, it’s sometimes better to go cat and stealth than to travel form away. A good stealth can get you drinking water across the arena, whereas travel forms can always be caught.

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Doing figure 8s on Ruins of Lordaeron is a cheap and entertaining form of amusement.

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/cancelform
/cast Nature's Swiftness
/cast Healing Touch(Rank 13)

Or even just the last two lines of that macro will instantly cast NS + Healing Touch on your target. I don’t use this just because I can just as easily press my hotkeys, but there it is.

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Finding a safe spot to use tranquility can sometimes wreck an enemy UA spam. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times when my whole team was at 40-60%, only to utilize a Mystic Skyfire proc on a Tranquility, and refresh the whole fight. Just be sure to tell your team to stay near you, or it will turn into a gong show.

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[Additions] (Thanks to Serennia for reminding me, I didn’t think I could catch them all in one go)

You can solo a Warlock pet in Bear form, spamming Lacerates before anybody really notices. Should the Warlock pull the pet back in to healing LoS, your partner can usually finish it off. Be sure to click off all your buffs if it’s a Felhunter with buff devour on auto cast, otherwise you’ll end up healing it.

Potentially another key thing, with the addition of spell damage, is to simply Roots / Moonfire / Wrath it down. Felhunter pets would be more difficult in this situation, but in reality, a Warrior can take down a Felhunter in the timespan of two Cyclones. Always make an effort to kill pets if you’re playing outlast vs outlast against a Warlock team. The added pressure you can then sustain on the Warlock is key to winning.

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Cat maim / Pounce is also a neat and effective method of locking someone down when everything (and I mean everything) is on cooldown. Expect to see a lot of dodges and parries, though. Cat form is like playing with a whole row of Bashes! Truly your own personal WoW soundboard. (Push to hear the dodge / miss / parry sound.)

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Remember that Feral Charge isn’t just an interrupt. Since it Roots an individual for about 4 seconds, you can easily utilize it as an extra offensive root on individuals who are trying to run. Not only this, but if you can simply get a little bit of range on a melee who’s chasing you down, you can utilize Feral Charge > Cyclone/Roots in order to cast a CC without them all up on you.

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Sometimes you don’t have to reserve NS for just Healing Touch, if you’re using it defensively. If you are absolutely certain that the opponent has used his trinket, then a full duration NS + Cyclone can often get you away with more ease. Not only this but you can sometimes become more mana efficient, because you can wait for healing debuffs to wear off (Mortal Strike comes to mind). Potentially the best scenario I can think of, where utilizing NS Cyclone would be:

War/Druid mirror match, the opposing Warrior intercepts you, your Warrior is across the arena. You use Nature’s Grasp, the Warrior trinkets it. You use Bash, the Warrior parries it (obviously). You get range and Feral Charge, the Warrior resists it. One mace stun later and you’re at about 30% HP. At this point you do not want to let him get into execute levels (sub 20%), and if you should stay and cast Cyclone, chances are, it’ll get pummeled. Utilizing an NS + HT here will only slightly prolong the inevitable. An NS Cyclone, however, will give you a full 5 second escape; potentially allowing you to even get away to stealth, if you’re good enough.

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If you’re point blank casting Cyclone on a melee, always bait the first cast. Almost all trigger happy melee will pummel / kick it. What I do with a Warrior on me (Rogues I can just stay caster while baiting kicks) is to cast and then go Bear. Often times if you’re casting with a Warrior on you, you might not live to relish that faked out pummel. One mace stun is all it takes to deal significant damage.

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Utilizing your Roots on casters can sometimes be just as effective as using it on melee. Examples here would be to Root a Mage after he blinks. Often times if you have a Warrior or Rogue going after the Mage, it will force him to Ice Block, or he’ll take significant amounts of damage. Furthermore, a caster who is rooted in place can be much more easily LoSed (just move 40 yards away), or you can even potentially root them and leave them behind a pillar.

My Hotkeys:

Q – Barkskin
V – Nameplates
X – Cyclone / Maim / Lacerate (in their particular forms)
G – Cyclone my Focus
H – Target Focus
J – Focus
~ - Tranquility
Z – Bear form to Bear form shifting

ALT Q – Bear Form
CTRL Q – Travel Form
Shift Q – Cat Form
Shift R – Flight Form
Shift T – Aquatic Form

ALT F – Hibernate
Shift F – Wrath
Shift T – Starfire
Shift E –Moonfire (Rank 1) (When Resto) / Feral Faerie Fire (When Feral)
Shift V – Travel form to Travel form shifting (When Resto) / Cat form to Cat form shifting (When Feral)
ALT G – Cyclone (in all forms)
ALT E – Nature’s Swiftness (When Resto) / Ferocious Bite (When Feral)
CTRL F – Nature’s Grasp

1 – Lifebloom
2 – Moonfire (Max Rank)
3 – Faerie Fire
4 – Entangling Roots
5 – Healing Touch (Max Rank)
6 – Rejuvenation
7 – Regrowth
8 – Rejuvenation (Rank 1)

ALT 1 – Swiftmend (When Resto) / Moonfire (Rank 1) (When Feral)
ALT 2 – Non-insignia Trinket (ie; Essence of the Martyr, Spyglass of the Hidden Fleet, Bloodlust Brooch)
ALT 3 – Insect Swarm (Max Rank) (When Resto) / Dash (When Feral)
ALT 4 – Healthstone (when I have one) / Fearie Fire (Rank 1) (When Resto) / Lifebloom (When Feral)
ALT 5 – Insignia of the Alliance
ALT 6 – Drink
ALT 7 – Eat

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Here’s a screenshot of my UI:

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee102/Xpers/WoWScrnShot_112107_021237.jpg

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Mods I use:

Proximo
XPerl Unit Frames
Bongos
WitchHunt
Natur Enemy Cast Bar
CooldownTimers2
ItemRack
Prat
SCT
OmniCC

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This is my spec:

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zjMzbZVMhoZVMIxcq0Lsb

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This will be a handbook that can, and probably will, evolve / change over the course of the weeks. It’s also really friggin’ long.

Furthermore, I’ll probably be MIA for a few extra days, pending my projects and my weekend. Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Nice post. Learned a thing or two, most of them were just common sense though lol.

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Q u o t e:
the opposing Warrior intercepts you, ...... You use Nature’s Grasp, the Warrior trinkets it. You use Bash, the Warrior parries it (obviously). You get range and Feral Charge, the Warrior resists it. One mace stun later and you’re at about 30% HP. At this point you do not want to let him get into execute levels (sub 20%), and if you should stay and cast Cyclone, chances are, it’ll get pummeled. Utilizing an NS + HT here will only slightly prolong the inevitable. An NS Cyclone, however, will give you a full 5 second escape; potentially allowing you to even get away to stealth, if you’re good enough.

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Lol thanks for a perfect description of 90% of fights that warriors put me in. I'm going to bind a macro for NS + Cylone, thanks for the tip. (also useful for NS + hibernate if facing a druid).

Hmm now it looks ugly with those huge seperations...

Ah well.

Thank you for the information. My druid is in horrific gear and awaiting season 3 start to spend points on honor gear.

I have a question. Maybe it was covered in 101 class.

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Q u o t e:
if a pet is on you, spam /sit

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Would someone please explain /sit spamming, why to do it and what it accomplishes?

Thanks again

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Q u o t e:
Would someone please explain /sit spamming, why to do it and what it accomplishes?

Thanks again

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When you are sitting and/or drinking, every time you are hit by a melee attack, it will automatically crit and make you stand. Nature's Perfection automatically stacks a buff for every time you are crit, therefore if you should type /sit while the pet is on you, it will crit you and stack one buff (magical at that!) on you.

Flagged. Thank you for the info!