I play a Feral Druid. More accurately, I play a Feral/Feral Druid. I got my dual-spec at the ripe age of level 50, funded almost entirely by Auction House racketeering, and decided just recently that any hope of playing a caster on spec #2 was a lost hope. My caster gear was an unmitigated mess and I existed in a perpetual state of OOM. I’m just too used to casting with my Shaman. Water Shield > You. Now flirting into the lower 60′s of the leveling game (no I haven’t an 80 yet, thus I realize my worth as a human being is nill), money is becoming available, and so I wiped my slate of cat-bear-feral-hybrid-mess / “I’m not spamming moonfare and I’m still OOM”-Boomkin and went double Feral Cat-focus/Bear-focus.
I’d always ignored Bear. He’s a nice guy, but he was really just a means to level 20 where Critty Kitty took over, and only ever came out in groups when we bit off more than we could chew and situation demanded I take over aggro for a while. Bear moved like a snail, did little to no damage, and wasn’t near durable enough to make up for points A and B. Now that Bear is no longer sharing talents with Kitty, he’s a burly force to be feared. The heavens split in fear of Bear. What was a slow trod is a confident, loping gait. What was lackluster damage is now wide, crushing blows that would cleft mountains. Sub-par damage mitigation has become the dense, iron-sided fury of an infantry crushing M1 Abrams battle tank! Bear is an Olympian demigod striding patiently across the plains of the Outlands, backhanding the insignificant mortals who dare cross his wide path.
I really like Bear.
Critty Kitty, who probably saw the better side of the talent tree beforehand, has only seen a mild improvement. She traveled deeper into the Resto tree to get Master Shapeshifter with her Omen of Clarity. The +4% crit seemed worth while, and with the frequent instant-cast heals she gets from Predatory Strikes, the prerequisite, Natural Shapeshifter, actually sees use too when I quickly pop in and out of form to heal. I’ve also been introduced to Shredding Attacks, which I’d ignored before in favor of pointless damage mitigation. Now Shred is actually useful and fun. I’m really looking forward to King of the Jungle, as I’m expecting that +60 energy burst to be pure devastation. Once I’m far enough along to round off the game with the various bleed and Shred enhancing talents, I may consider tweaking her towards PvP. I always played her like a Combat Rogue, and I think it’d be fun to get some back gank action going.
Still, I long for the idea of a Bear/Cat hybrid. I pop between specs now depending on the encounters I expect, but I’d ultimately like to be able to find a build in which I can swap between Bear and Kitty as the situation demands. Cat seems to manage with damage without a lot of focus, while Bear requires some investment for his durability to meet my expectations, so I expect it’ll be a Bear-heavy build with some Cat concessions that meet my style. I really don’t know yet.
Current Builds as of 64:
Critty Kitty: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#0ZxGMsfr0bxR0uZ0Eczb:yVZ0
Bear: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#0ZxGGscrdcIRcZbA0z:zMZM
There are already things I’d like to change, but I’ll feel that out as I go.
Hello, Word of Warcraft masses. This here is one of them thar “I mades me a blog” posts. I’ve made more than a few in my time and the formality of it is somewhat lost on me by now, so I do apologize.
I play on Moonrunner, a PvE server that is approximately 80% Alliance / 20% Blood Elf. My main, and first character ever (a coincidence not at all helped by my altaholic condition) is a Night Elf Druid named Calhi. I came into the game thinking “i be a healz ja” and quickly found leveling your first character as a healer is a practice in pain. At level 20, the game gave me a kitty and that was the end of that. I’ve been Feral ever since, and though I’ve gone back to dabble in trees and Mr. Hoot-Hoot the Oomkin with my second spec, it’s just too hard to give up all those extra bars. You have two bars. I have four. The math is inescapable.
I don’t have fancy strats or leet skills to put on display for you. I tend to spend more time fishing and catching mini-pets. For true insight, I believe I shall point you towards my inspiration and favorite Bossy Pally for that. /pimp Love you, Rykga!
Er, um, sorry, distracted. Blog! What do I have to offer? Be nice to me, and maybe I’ll tank your pug when I’m famous. Until then, I’ll try to be semi-productive.
