Druid -|- Metalbunny.net

The druid is a powerful hybrid class with a very wide range of abilities - it's the perfect class for those who want a bit of everything in one character. Capable of healing, spellcasting, and shape shifting, they're able to take on just about every role in a group. In normal - humanoid - form, the druid is a very powerful caster with limited crowd controlling abilities. When they turn into a bear, the druid becomes a warrior, able to play tank. In cat form, the druid takes on the role of a rogue, with the ability to hide in the shadows. The druid also posess the ability to turn into a fast travelling cat, a sea lion, and at level 68 the druid will obtain the ability to turn into a bird.

While the druid's shapeshifting abilities make them a very versatile class, they're at the same time also making it a very complex class to play. Learning how to play each form is a challenge, but when mastered, the druid is one of the best soloing classes in the game, and capable of quickly switching between each role in a group as needed. Although the druid do not posess all the abilities that the warrior, rogue, mage, and priest classes have to offer, it has a competent mix of them, which makes the druid a force to be reckoned with in the battlefield.

The druid is misunderstood by many as only being a healer class, because in groups, that's typically what they do. However, if other healer classes are in the group, the druid often gets to fight alongside the other group members. With the bear form, a feral druid makes a perfect secondary tank. In cat form, the druid can cause very high amounts of damage (dps). And in normal form a balance druid can perform havoc and crowd control. All druids can heal, but the restoration spec'ed druid get massive bonuses to the healing spells, which may be the choice for some. Thanks to the animal forms, a restoration spec druid is still a very competent fighter, albeit not comparable to a feral spec druid.

Available races:
Night Elf, Tauren

Armour: Cloth, Leather
Weaponry: One- and Two-handed Maces, Daggers, Staves, Fist Weapons
Magic types: Nature and Arcane

Main strengths:

Shapeshifting allows the druid to take on multiple roles.
Early access to fast travel form.
Posses powerful buffs that are beneficial to all classes.
Ability to heal and resurrect fellow players druing battles.

Main weaknesses:

Restricted to leather armour = medium armour class.
Animal forms are not as powerful as their counterpart classes (warrior/rogue).
Can't use weapons or most spells while in animal form.
Challenging to master each shapeshift form

Typical role: Healer, Fighter (dps), Crowd Control, Secondary Tank

Starting stats (level 1):


Race	Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health	Mana

Night Elf	18	25	19	22	22	55	53	100
Tauren	26	15	22	17	24	35	78	67

Druid milestones:
Level 10: Bear form (quest)
Level 16: Water form (quest)
Level 20: Cat form
Level 30: Travel form (+40% movement speed)
Level 40: Dire Bear form (improved bear form)
Level 68: Flight form (+60% flight speed in Outland only)
Level 70: Dire Flight Form (+280% flight speed in Outland only) (quest)

After level 50, depending on how the talent points are spent, balance spec druids will have access to Moonkin form, and restoration spec druids will have access to Tree of Life form as well as those above.

Note that the two Flight Forms require that you have the Burning Crusade expansion, and they can only be used in Outland. Future expansions may add more areas where you can fly, or make it possible to fly in Azeroth as well. Unlike the other animal forms, Flight Form requires the druid to learn riding 225 which must be paid for by the druid herself. The Dire Flight Form can be obtained at the end of a long quest chain comparable to the epic mount quests for the paladin and warlock, and requires that the druid obtains riding 300 to complete the quest chain.