39 BG guide (WSG & AB)Follow

I decided to write this after reading some of the questions on druid PVP and some of the comments on BG's specifically.

First of all this guide ONLY applies to the 30-39 BG as this is my highest level toon I have no experience in the other level ranges. I have more playing time logged in WSG and so I may focus more heavily on that. I make no claims to know everything or be the best druid but I am having success without being a twink

Overview:
This guide will cover general strategy (non class-specific) as well as druid specific information. In my experience druid is very effective in this level range and really fun to play. I am never #1 in damage done. I am often #1 in healing done. I usually have at least 1 capture in WSG and often 2 or all 3, as well as multiple flag defends. In AB I will have several flags assaulted, and I defend a lot of flags (not recorded as I don't let them pull it down fully).

My spec:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=MzZxhrsbZVbhz

Most of these talents I would say are required. A few things you could change would be to take brutal impact instead of thick hide, or drop Naturalist 2/5 and OOC for predatory strikes / primal fury.

Some things I think you absolutely must have:
Furor
Natural Shapeshifter
Feral Instinct
Feral Charge
Shredding Attacks
Nature's Grasp.

My Equipment:
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Anvilmar&n=Krissi
Is decent but not great. One thing I overlooked initially is the need for +Int. I recommend at least 1900 mana but more is better. Stam is obviously very important too I would shoot for over 2200hp in bear form and again more is better.

General Strategy (WSG):

Many people fight in the middle of the map, personally I never fight the enemy in front of their base, and I don't assist teammates fighting in front of the enemy base unless I think the fight can be decided in (our favor) in under 10 seconds. Why? It usually takes 10-15 seconds to rest, and when the opponent respawns in 5-30 seconds you fight the same people over and over without accomplishing anything.

You should either be
1) Defending the flag
2) Assaulting the enemy flag
3) Defending the FC (flag carrier)
4) Assaulting their FC

Most other killing is pointless and hurts your team, unless it furthers your ability to do one of the prior mentioned 4 things within the next 30 seconds. There are exceptions, when your team picks up the flag or the opponent picks up yours, having control of mid-field can decide these captures. The main point though, is that often it is strategically advantageous to avoid a fight or to run, drawing the enemy away from a strategically important area.

General Strategy (AB):

Similar to WSG, when you fight people too far away from a node there usually no benefit to your team, even if you win the fight. The enemy simply re-spawns again. Never chase someone away from your flag! The goal is to hold the resources not to kill people. I use the opposite of this tip all the time. Say there are 5 people defending the mine. One person from my team wanders down the hill. All 5 people chase, I stealth up to the flag and pull it down. Often nobody notices. You've stopped their income until they can re-cap it. The other huge advantage of this is they can't res at that node anymore.

That brings me to an important point. When assaulting a flag, you NEED to get that flag down. A lot of times a huge invasion force goes in, kills say 6 people (but 2 die), 4 enemies respawn, another 2 allies die, another respawn and they repel the invasion and the flag was never taken down. You need to engage the enemy and someone (or 2) need to be constantly trying to pull down that flag. Once you've done that you are almost certain to control the point if you win that skirmish b/c you've instantly taken that graveyard away.

Psychologically people feel like they have to kill me. Combine that with many survival skills and you can hold a resource for a while against seemingly unsurmountable odds.
Example: me alone stealthed near a node. 3 people come to cap. I put moonfire on anyone attempting to cap (can't cap while in combat). They all run after me -> natures grasp, rejuv, cheetah, run. If they keep chasing you, great! you've stopped them from capping for a while. If they turn around to cap again, hit them with moonfire again. If they are smart they send 2 people to chase me while 1 person caps. This usually takes them a while to figure out though, and hopefully some people on your team re-spawn during that time.

Druid specific fighting tips:

A sequence I like to use (to kill) is

Pounce, shred, shred, shift>bear, gain some distance, charge, maul, bash, shift>cat, shred, rip. Some variations based on class

To stop a flag carrier (generally FC's don't try to fight, only run):

same as above until bash, shift>caster, root, mooonfire, charge again, root, repeat (this technique is to try to maximum slow their running.

Running the flag:

Save dash until you really need it. For me this is usually mid-field somewhere when I see 3 warlocks coming for me. Other times the enemy has the flag heavily guarded. In this situation I like to partner with 1-2 rogues or other druids. Say there are 4 people on defense. I ask the rogue to sap 1, and then attack another and run by the flag. Hopefully he trips any traps in the area. I wait about 3 seconds until I see all enemies trying to kill him, then I grab the flag, hit dash, and often times I'm out the door before they know what is going on. There are many ways to distract the enemy away from your true objective in all the BG's, it's one of the most effective tactics I have discovered.

I almost never run out the tunnel it's too long and narrow, plus its indoors.

under attack: If I can charge someone in front of me I always do. Double bonus of speed and stun. Meelee class attacks me I bash and cheetah away. If bash is down I throw up Nature's grasp. Casters I generally just try to outrun, unless they are in front of me then I charge/bash if i can or run around them. Hunters give me the most problems, to get away generally requires quick dancing between human/cheetah to remove concussive shot while throwing a rejuv on whenever possible.

sneaky tricks: Someone sees me, I double back the other direction and run behind a building. About 50% of the time they try to cut me off on the other side, but instead of coming out that side, i waited 1-2 seconds behind the building, and then doubled back again, coming out the original side.


That's about it for now, I hope this is helpful to you druids in this level range. Please add your suggestions

-Krissi


Edited, Jul 30th 2007 5:36pm by KrissiK

Edited, Jul 30th 2007 5:38pm by KrissiK

im working on the 29 pvp bracket and was wondering what sort of build i should be looking at, heres what i have atm

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGMsbb although this is my current build

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=zZxGMsM

just wonderd what the norm pvp build was for this lvl thanks in advance

i would link my armory but im on works pc and its crap lol

-==waister---lightbringer---the filth element==-

I'm currently in the process of twinking for the 39 bracket. I really appreciate your guide.

I had one question though. Is there a reason you didn't go 1 point in Feral Instinct and two in Brutal Impact? I remember another seasoned druid saying that Nelves already get a bonus to FI equivalent to 1 point and that 2 total is plenty.

I'm such a sucker for 21 points in resto for OOC and NS but I'm convinced that just won't work for 39 so appreciate the information here.

Kindgreen,

Your suggestion to take brutal impact and go 1/3 Feral Instinct might work pretty well. If you try it out please let me know how it goes. I did think that if I did it again I might take Brutal Impact instead of Thick Hide, because the extra second would be quite useful on the stun.

It is nice having 3/3 feral instinct b/c you can literally be right next to people without them seeing you. I was almost never jumped by a rogue either. I haven't tried lowering it though