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Druids and EngineeringFollow

#1 Nov 04 2007 at 12:35 AM Rating: Excellent
The purpose of this post is to acquaint the druid community with the amazing potential that the Engineering trade offers us. Since Engineering is at the height of its popularity right now (thanks to epic headgear and the rofflecopter), I thought this would be a good time to share my meager knowledge with my fellow druids.

The first and single most important statement I must make is that Engineering is NOT a money-making profession. There are a very scant handful of items you can make and sell that non-Engineers will want, and those few items will sell relatively slowly at that. If you're going to be an Engineer, be prepared to make the financial commitment that this decision requires. You will literally be pouring money and materials into your trade, and the final stretch of Engineering is one of the most expensive profession grinds in the game.

If I haven't scared you off yet, then you must also consider this: Engineering is not an I-Win button in ANY scenario. Most of the devices we make have a chance of backfiring and (at best) failing to work, or (at worst) working on US instead of our target. Engineering can be used as an ace in the hole, but it can also cause you many deaths when things go awry. So being an Engineer requires you to not only know what items to use but also when best to use them. And you have to accept that sometimes, things just go badly for Engineers. And that's not to mention the fact that many of the devices you can make become virtually useless the moment you hit level 60. Plus there's the fact that your bags will be in a perpetual state of overflowing, with all the parts and pieces and schematics and trinkets and explosives you'll be carrying. Imagine a class that has to deal with soul shards, ammo pouches, mining bags and dozens of reagents, and you'll start to come close to the logistical nightmare Engineers face.

Still with me? Good. You might just have what it takes to be an Engineer afterall. Now that I've outlined some of the negatives of Engineering, let me tell you this: Engineering is by far the most fun profession in the game. It allows you to do things that simply shouldn't be possible. There's so many fun toys and quirky gadgets in Engineering that you can never get bored. And the first time you manage to pull off something so amazing that your jaw drops, you'll know why we Engineers are addicted to our trade.

So how does Engineering suit a druid? Perhaps better than it does with any other class in the game. One of the main weaknesses of the Druid class is our lack of utility abilities. The WoW gods have decreed that we Druids shouldn't be allowed to have nice things, what with the fact that we can opt to heal, DPS or tank with just our one class. By the devs' thinking, since we can be good at several different roles, we should sacrifice tons of utility to pay for it. Engineering helps get around that by giving us HEAPS of utility to play with. Below is a list of some of the gadgets Engineers can make, and how they benefit our class directly.

Explosives - Druids lack spellcasting interrupts in caster/moonkin form, but explosives can sometimes serve that purpose. Their built-in stuns also suppliment the stuns we already have available from our Feral forms, and they can allow us to get a headstart on a hasty retreat, or buy time to get a crucial heal off.

Seaforium Charges - Although we can stealth and DPS like rogues, one of the things we lack is the ability to open chests, doors and lockboxes. C4 allows us to take the not-so-subtle approach to that problem.

Goggles - At low levels, these give us access to headgear to place into a slot that would normally go empty. And later on, there's even some crafted leather versions that can outdo instance drops. And the ultimate goggles rival anything Tier 5 has to offer.

Jumper Cables - Although our battle rez is mighty, it's also on a long cooldown. Jumper Cables give us access to a second rez for when our Rebirth is on cooldown. Instead of being able to rez once every 30 minutes (or 20 after the patch), we have a chance of being able to rez twice in that time. And with the XL version, the chance is really pretty good.

Pets - The various crafted pets make great ghetto tanks on NPCs to allow us to make a retreat, or they're great at distracting enemies so we can loot a quest item or resource node.

Net-O-Matic Projector - This works like Entangling Roots without having the restriction of being usable only outdoors, and if it backfires we can just shapeshift out of the net, making this an excellent tool. Unlike other classes, we don't have to worry about this one backfiring.

Parachute Cloak - Until we get Flight Form, this is a great way to not worry about long drops. You can safely leap down the Great Lift or into Un'Goro Crater, or jump off the Aldor Rise, and live to land gently on the ground. And nothing is funnier than a flying bear drifting gently in the breeze. Nothing.

Rocket Boots - The various forms of Rocket Boots are a great suppliment to our ability to Dash and our Travel Form, making flag running in Warsong Gulch that much easier. What's more to say?

Deepdive Helmet - Sure, we can already shift into Aquatic Form to breathe underwater, but this allows us to breathe underwater while in other forms as well, making it easy to fight underwater without having to shift in and out of Aquatic to catch our breath.

Recombobulators - Sure, it's extremely situational, but being able to dispel a Polymorph can come in really handy in PvP.

Elemental Reflectors - These may only be useful against enemy players under level 60, but they're useful against NPCs all the time. I can't count the number of times a Reflector has saved my life. We lack spell mitigation, so these can be remarkably useful.

Nigh-Invulnerability Belt - Damage soaking may not be a problem for Feral druids, but Balance and Restoration druids will prize the ability to soak damage until their tank regains aggro. This item can easily save a group wipe!

Transporters - We can already get back to northern Kalimdor easily, so with a pair of transporters you can bounce around Azeroth and Outland at will, saving lots of travel time in some cases.

Gnomish Cloaking Device - Although it has a very long one-hour cooldown and is useless if we have a damage-over-time effect on us or are currently in combat, we druids can use it like a rogue uses Vanish, which gives us time to get away and restealth. Unlike stealth, which can be seen through if our enemies are much higher level than us, this item makes us invisible even to level 70s standing right on top of us, making this a great item for PvP servers.

Gnomish Poultryizer - Oh god I love this trinket. Not only does it give a fantastic boost to Stamina, it also allows you to instantly shut down enemy casters in both PvE and PvP, and even melees will see a massive drop in the damage they can deal while in chicken form. And if it backfires and you get turned into a chicken, you can simply shift out of it since it counts as a Polymorph effect. All the positives and none of the negatives make this trinket fantastic for any Druid.

Goblin Rocket Launcher - If you opt to take Goblin Engineering instead of Gnomish, you'll have this instead of the Poultryizer. A free, easy burst of massive damage helps your DPS and tanking, and it gives the same tremendous Stamina boost.

And of course, that list doesn't even take into account all the fun stuff in Engineering, like the crafted non-combatant pets, or the flares and fireworks, or the Mote Extractor for farming primals, or the Voice Amplification Modulator that helps you get out of Silences and Interrupts faster, or the Targetting Dummies, or the Explosive Sheep (which is so singularly funny the profession is worth it just for this)... Engineering isn't for everyone, but it offers so much added utility to Druids that it should almost be mandatory. It makes up for so many of our weaknesses and boosts so many of our strengths that I don't think I could ever play a Druid without Engineering. It's a slow, painful, expensive grind, but believe me when I say that it's worth it in the end. So if you're considering taking up the path of the Schematic and you're willing to accept the drawbacks of Engineering, I hope you stick with it all the way! You'll have fun! If this is the path for you, I wish you the best of luck. And if you have any Engineering-related questions, feel free to ask and I'll help if I can.

Edited, Nov 4th 2007 6:10am by Saboruto
#2 Nov 04 2007 at 2:28 AM Rating: Good
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8,779 posts
good post.

it should be noted that if the current ptr shifting changes go in, then engineering for druids will be much more powerful. theres a macro that effectively allows us to pot while shapeshifted, and one that essentially makes you start feral charge in bear and end it as a cat. the possibilities with eng are pretty endless.

*if* those changes go in. im of the mind that theyre....borderline OP to put it nicely, at least in some of the implementations ive seen.
#3 Nov 04 2007 at 12:24 PM Rating: Good
Bump.
#4 Nov 05 2007 at 6:01 AM Rating: Decent
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133 posts
Thanks for the informative post on the engineering toys you can make!

I am a 375 skinner/LW and I was thinking about dropping Skinning now that I hit max level on my leatherworker. I just purchased my epic mount also, so I was thinking about using my excess gold from dailies and remaining quests to fund engineering skill ups.

Do you need 375 skill to make all those things in the original post?

How expensive do you think it would be to buy all my bars for skillup?
#5 Nov 05 2007 at 12:28 PM Rating: Good
KansasKyle wrote:
Do you need 375 skill to make all those things in the original post?

How expensive do you think it would be to buy all my bars for skillup?


Oh no, most of those items are less than 300 skill. The Poultryizer/Rocket Launcher, the second set of teleporters (to Blade's Edge or Netherstorm), the epic headgear, and the gyrocopter flying mount are about the only things you really need more than 300 skill to make. Obviously there are bomb upgrades and better seaforium charges at high levels, but of the NEW stuff you get in Outland that's pretty much it.

As for buying the metal to skill engineering, I'd strongly recommend against it. It's doable if you have a healthy gold supply, but I really wouldn't recommend it since you use SO much metal and so many gems skilling your engineering.
#6 Nov 05 2007 at 2:45 PM Rating: Decent
The guide on www.lootables.com (really nice site) reckons that after you buy all the mats you need to level and sell all the items you make in the grind, it'll cost you about 1500g to get to 375. If you can farm a lot of the mats yourself (especially primal earth & metals from mining) it will be a LOT cheaper.

Either be rich or be a miner :)

#7 Nov 05 2007 at 3:01 PM Rating: Decent
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207 posts
Or have your main mine all the materials and mail them to your druid. Makes it basically free.
#8 Nov 05 2007 at 3:29 PM Rating: Decent
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94 posts
My main is a lvl 40 NE Druid (newb to WOW but long time RPGer and always a druid when I can be) and engineering has been a big help. I kept my engineering skills pretty high for my level (I have an alt that I only use for mining) and there are a few items that helped me immensely. I am a PVP'er on a low frequency pvp server and I always get the jokers that see me, are a few levels higher and they switch in to PVP and sneak attack me. Most of the time I am invisible when they are even near me, but after I reveal myself and then run away they think they can take me. At lvl 30 the Compact Harvest Reaper kit (lvl 36) was a big suprise to lots of people that think they had the upper hand and now that I have the dragonling (lvl 44) it is the perfect last resort for a one minute time span. It has a one hour C.D. but I think it was the best 6 gold I have ever spent on the AH. the next best defence I will get with Gnomish engineering is a compact attack chicken that fights for 1.5 minutes. I wonder what level that will be...... I am currently making my first trek to Gadgetzan to get my mastery in engineering and it sounds like I have along way to go. Engineering has been expensive for sure as I am scrounging at about half way to get my mount and riding experience but it was worth it all the way. Especially the one time that a warlock lvl 34 to my 31 turned heels and started running. Must not have been very good though seeing as the person had no idea that they could not outrun a druid! Either way it was my first epic defeat against the all told Public enemy #1 for Druids. Only things that made me money were the guns and the advanced target dummy as it is required for a quest in desolace (I think it is for a magram clan quest there) You can make good guns along with ammo and the master gun sells for around $300 G +. Now if only I can get my enchanting skill up to fund my engineering.....
Thanks for the post, Love engineering!!
#9 Nov 06 2007 at 5:37 AM Rating: Decent
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133 posts
modusTollens wrote:
Or have your main mine all the materials and mail them to your druid. Makes it basically free.


My druid is main main, and my highest level alt is only level 37. So that option is kind of out for me.

1500g doesn't sound that bad to buy mats, and swapping to engineering would give me something to do when my friends aren't online yet.

Can you use any of these items in Arena PvP? I'm assuming they would all work for Battlegrounds.
#10 Nov 06 2007 at 10:03 AM Rating: Good
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1,859 posts
Quote:
Can you use any of these items in Arena PvP? I'm assuming they would all work for Battlegrounds.

I know for sure you can't use the Poultryizer, as I have it for the 45 Stamina. Not sure about the rest but I wouldn't consider replacing my PvP trinket for something that *could* be useful. (I always end up using the PvP trinket so I know I can't go wrong with it)
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