The Angry Healers!- Letting You Die of Your Stupid Since 2009

Happy Thursday, folks!

I’m taking a page from Ambrosine’s book here.  As the ‘fount of druidic knowledge’ in my group of local WoW playing friends, I often get bombarded with questions about playing a Druid:

- What gems should I be using? 

- Show should I enchant my gear?

- Should I use a Staff of a MH/OH combination?

- What stats should I be stacking?

- How do you heal, Aanthe/ Koko?

Most of these questions are pretty easy to answer.  But recently, one of my close friends was contemplating an alt, and asked me:

‘Pyo, how did you level Aanthe/ Koko?’

And I looked at him and said, ‘That’s a good damn question.’  This post is for that person, and everyone else contemplating walking the Druidic Path, whatever you choose to be- Bear!Tank, Panzerkin, or Tree!Druid.

Levelling a Druid: A Guide

So, you want to level a Druid?  Good for you!  There’s a few things you need to know about levelling a Druid:

1.  If you have an 80 with the Emblems to spare, get the Heirloom Gear.  Color me spoiled, but the Heirloom Items are the BEST THING you can give an alt.  It makes levelling so much easier with the 20% XP boost, and its 2 pieces of gear that don’t need repaired and won’t need to be replaced until you’re 80.  Get the shoulders and chestpiece for sure, the weapon is nice, as well.  The trinkets are ok, but you can do without them.

2.  Your Forms are going to SUCK ASS when you first get them.  I am not kidding.  You’re going to hit level 10, do your Bear Form quest, go ‘Oooooo!  *poof*  RAWR!’ and promptly get your ass kicked by a mob because you have 2 Bear Form abilities.  Hit level 20, and its the same thing with Cat Form.  Levelling a Druid in the early stages is not easy.  You will die a lot if you use your Forms before you hit level 25-26, because they just aren’t that good at this point in time.  You would have better luck just staying in Caster Form and Wrathing things to death and tossing the occasional Rejuv on yourself to stay alive.  Zones that ‘meh’ for most people will be TERRIBLE for you- I’m looking at you, Hillsbrad Foothills and Redridge Mountains.  Mob respawn rate and pack pulling will be responsible for your death at least a dozen times.  This discourages a lot of people early on.  If you’re thinking of levelling a Druid, you need the mental fortitude to push on through the aggravation of getting your butt kicked all over the zone.

3.  Despite all of this, if you’re going to level a Druid, level as Feral.  Low level leather gear is itemized more for Feral than it is for anything else- and while levelling Balance may seem like a good idea at the time, levelling Feral will make it a hell of a lot easier.  With the introduction of Heirloom Items, going the Balance route is a little more viable, but those pieces that aren’t Heirloom are still not going to be itemized well.  And only a real glutton for punishment levels as Resto.  Get your ‘of the Wolf’ greens and go go Kitty Form (once it gets some worthwhile abilities.)

4.  Upgrade your gear every couple of levels or so.  The difference is noticeable.  Obviously, this is limited by the amount of money you have and what’s on the AH/ what randomly drops for you.  But there’s no reason you shouldn’t be trying to upgrade once every 2- 3 levels or so.

5.  Level two gathering professions.  Yep.  Now, I know what you’re thinking- ‘But what about all of those neat Leatherworking patterns for useful stuff I can actually use?’  Honestly, its better just to get 2 gathering professions.  Do it for the money.  Set yourself up early for success- the more money you have when you hit 80, the less you’ll have to farm.  My suggestions?  Herbalism and Skinning, as you can do these in your Animal/ Travel Forms.  Alternately, if you’re really good at spotting mines, go Herbalism and Mining, since both of those gathering professions are associated with at least 2 crafting professions (Mining is 3!)  Also, consider downloading Auctioneer, and remember to do an AH scan at least once a day the first week you have it, then twice a week after that.  It’ll allow you to follow market demands for specific items and lets you maximize your profits.  When you hit 80, you can choose to dump a gathering profession for a crafting professi0n and powerlevel it.

6.  Don’t be afraid of the LFG tool.  Instances, especially with the Heirloom Items, are a quick way to get your levels and better gear.  Also, don’t be afraid to click the Tank and Healer options- even as Feral you should be fine in the lower level instances.  I wouldn’t recommend this in Outlands and Northrend, however.

7.  Don’t be afraid of taking advice from others.  Especially other people who play druids- for the most part, we do know what we’re talking about.  Alternatively, doing some research- like looking at levelling guides that are more in depth than this one, blogs such as Big Bear Butt, and Armorying your Druid friends- will prove to be quite useful.

8. Don’t worry about Dual- Speccing until you’re at least level 60.  Yes, I know the option is available at 40.  If you’re doing the ’2 gathering professions’ thing I recommended, you will probably have the 1000g to fork over.  SAVE IT.  You’ll thank me when you’re higher level and can afford to buy Epic Flight Form and Cold Weather Flight as soon as you get to Northrend (YaY Heirloom Flight Book!)

9.  Level First Aid.  Bandages can be made- and applied- in your Forms.  Honestly, there is no reason that any character you choose to level should not have First Aid.  Level it, and make sure you maintain it as you go.  When you go to buy the First Aid books, buy them all (if you have the money for it) and stick them in your bank.  Whenever the bandage you’re currently working on goes green, go back to a major city and get the next bandage.  Don’t forget about the First Aid quest guy in Hammerfall/ Theramore Isle!

10.  Have fun!  Don’t worry about endgame content until you’re level 80 and rocking your way through Heroics for Emblems of Triumph and Tier 9 armor pieces!  After you’ve done that, then you can decide if endgame raiding as one of the most OP classes in WoW to date is what you want. 

Well, that’s all for now, folks!  This isn’t an all- inclusive guide to levelling, but I hope these points helped someone.  Have a great weekend, and stay angry, healers!

~Pyo