Druids in WoW

[EverquestCritic]

"Currently the Druid has the ability to Shapeshift into two forms: Bear and Cat.

As a Bear, the Druid becomes a Warrior. While not having anywhere near the abilities of a pure Warrior, the Druid in Bearform is granted a Rage bar and some of the key abilities available to the pure Warrior. It has to be noted that while in this form, the Druid cannot cast spells. Do not be fooled, however, into thinking a Shapeshifted Druid in Bear form will not make a formidable tank. With the loss of their spellcasting power, they make tangible gains in the ability to take and dish out some damage.

As a Cat, the Druid takes on the abilities of the Rogue. Key to these abilities is the ability to Stealth and Scout. Some of the damage dealing capabilities of the Rogue may also be granted to the Druid in Cat form."

I can see groups of druids, no need for other classes ;P

[Furor Planedefiler]

Originally posted by EverquestCritic
"Currently the Druid has the ability to Shapeshift into two forms: Bear and Cat.

As a Bear, the Druid becomes a Warrior. While not having anywhere near the abilities of a pure Warrior, the Druid in Bearform is granted a Rage bar and some of the key abilities available to the pure Warrior. It has to be noted that while in this form, the Druid cannot cast spells. Do not be fooled, however, into thinking a Shapeshifted Druid in Bear form will not make a formidable tank. With the loss of their spellcasting power, they make tangible gains in the ability to take and dish out some damage.

As a Cat, the Druid takes on the abilities of the Rogue. Key to these abilities is the ability to Stealth and Scout. Some of the damage dealing capabilities of the Rogue may also be granted to the Druid in Cat form."

I can see groups of druids, no need for other classes ;P

I discussed this at some length with some of the guys on the team. I too had the same concerns about a class that is a Jack-of-all-Trades such as the Druid. There are going to be some limitations that would definitely make groups like this not 'optimal' by any means. That is, you aren't going to WANT a group of 6 druids. I'd much rather Tigole or Rob answer questions like this, though I doubt very much they would be willing to divulge much information at the moment. Just rest assured that things like this won't happen as often as you would think, if ever.

[Cryptin]

Interesting druids actually sounds interesting in this game. I can't wait until the shaman update.

[xregg]

Furor where are the pics man?



Xregg

[Cryptin]

Originally posted by Furor Planedefiler
I discussed this at some length with some of the guys on the team. I too had the same concerns about a class that is a Jack-of-all-Trades such as the Druid. There are going to be some limitations that would definitely make groups like this not 'optimal' by any means. That is, you aren't going to WANT a group of 6 druids. I'd much rather Tigole or Rob answer questions like this, though I doubt very much they would be willing to divulge much information at the moment. Just rest assured that things like this won't happen as often as you would think, if ever.

I'm guessing one of the drawbacks that they won't be able to draw and keep aggro like a warrior through the various stances.

[Furor Planedefiler]

Originally posted by xregg
Furor where are the pics man?



Xregg

Still waiting on them...

[Ritkhan]

There is always a downside to the jack of all trades character. Sure, he and his 5 other druid friends might be able to form a powerful group. So what? How many other high level players are going to have 5 other high level druid friends to do this with? It's like the AOE groups. They were powerful but not that common. In the end, if a group is lacking a tank slot they will always prefer a warrior over druid. They might prefer a warrior and a druid to 2 warriors, but in the end it balances out.

Remember in EQ when 99% of the population were druids for the same reason. They thought the druid could do everything. Then they hit level 40.

I'm sure the same thing will play out in WoW. There will be a huge number of druids at the start. Chances are that a good percentage of those players will switch to something else down the road after they learn the game mechanics better.

Also it's good to take this into account if you're just picking a class based on how uber you can be. The most powerful classes are always the first to get hit by the nerf bat.

Reading the info on WoW has left me with the idea that all classes will be good and balanced. Even if they are not at the start i am sure they will always work on it and make sure not one class is dominating or one class is piss poor. My advice is to go with the class you like best and not worry about what class is going to be most uber at level 100 because you might end up being disappointed and stuck with a character you never really wanted to play in the first place.

[Iannis]

Which means they'll probably recieve either the gimpiest, or most general, Warrior rage skills/Rogue backstabby goodness for sacrificing their divine powers while shapeshifted. Jack of Trades, blah. no healing for joo, 6 man group of bears and kitties.

[Lleauaric~EW]

Whats funny is if someone switched WoW with EQ2 in the post and left every other word the same there would be a cacaphony of posts saying how lame it was.

[DoctorSpooge]

Originally posted by Lleauaric~EW
Whats funny is if someone switched WoW with EQ2 in the post and left every other word the same there would be a cacaphony of posts saying how lame it was.

You know what? You're right, though said aprehension would be entirely warranted. If there's one thing I can count on Sony to do, it's to take a good, or bad, idea and either completely let us down, or, pertaining to the latter case, actually douse us in absolute filfth that manages to actually exceed our wildest, most morbid imaginations.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have Blizzard. People may call me optimistic, but their previous work bolsters the merit of my opinion--they make good shit. They WILL follow through on a good concept, and they WILL make a subpar concept work to our liking. This is a MMORPG--it's not going to be fucking perfect at launch, though I'd wager it will be closer to it than any other game in the genre has come.

[EverquestCritic]

Furor, have they talked to you on what the spell system is like?

Will there be limited slots for spells?

As you level up your spell become stronger or do you get stronger ones every x level?

etc..

[Tolanin]

Originally posted by Iannis
Which means they'll probably recieve either the gimpiest, or most general, Warrior rage skills/Rogue backstabby goodness for sacrificing their divine powers while shapeshifted. Jack of Trades, blah. no healing for joo, 6 man group of bears and kitties.

mostly cause sony sucks at making games and blizzard doesnt.

[Israi]

No spell slots specifically

Youll have like pages of spell gems where you flip a page to access other spells to cast.

Basically there are 10 spells or actions you have to cast from. you hit an arrow on the GUI and there are another 10 spells /actions to use.

[Jinheim]

I hope druid bear form in WoW sucks as bad as rabid bear does.

[Raytes]

I hate to bring it up, and to be honest I don't care what happens in the release version of the game, but you mentioned the next "party member" would be a Tauren Ranger. Horde grouping with Alliance a reality, or just something you used to incorporate all classes and races into the over-arcing story?