I just dinged 60 and spec'd balance while picking up some gear from outlands. While leveling as feral i noticed i had no downtime between mobs, being able to heal then jump back into cat form. As balance, every 2-3 mobs i kill, i have to drink. I can kill the mobs slightly faster as balance, but take less on at a time whereas in feral i could take on 3-4 at a time.
I was just wonderin what everyone elses thoughts were on leveling, whether go as feral for no downtime or balance and drinking every few mobs (i am dreamstate build...)
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I think you will find that most people agree that for the fastest leveling, feral is the way to go, for exactly the point you made. No downtime.
As you get better gear, higher INT, more STA, more DMG, more MP/5 etc you will find it easier to level, but it will still be slightly slower.
I leveled from 67 to 70 as Moonkin, after getting to 67 as pure feral all the way. By that time I did have ok-ish balance gear, but it was still slower. Having to drink after every 7-10 mobs or so.
If it is speed you're concerned with, then go back to feral and you should zip to 70 in no time.
If its play style, then try out moonkin for a bit and see which you prefer. Get used to meleeing occasionally to earn some mana back, look out for gear with lots of MP/5 and Int (to help dreamstate). Get Intensity as well as Dreamstate.
All this should help you with mana endurance.
Good luck with moonkin and have fun.
As you get better gear, higher INT, more STA, more DMG, more MP/5 etc you will find it easier to level, but it will still be slightly slower.
I leveled from 67 to 70 as Moonkin, after getting to 67 as pure feral all the way. By that time I did have ok-ish balance gear, but it was still slower. Having to drink after every 7-10 mobs or so.
If it is speed you're concerned with, then go back to feral and you should zip to 70 in no time.
If its play style, then try out moonkin for a bit and see which you prefer. Get used to meleeing occasionally to earn some mana back, look out for gear with lots of MP/5 and Int (to help dreamstate). Get Intensity as well as Dreamstate.
All this should help you with mana endurance.
Good luck with moonkin and have fun.
Part of what might not be helping you right now, is gear. You say you were Feral up til now and only have a few pieces of Outland gear. It might have been better to have stayed feral for a bit longer til you collected some more Balance gear before switching.
I specced Moonkin as soon as I could, and am really enjoying it. It may be because my background is caster, but I do enjoy it. Sometimes you do have to rest as a Moonkin, but I've found a simple solution to never needing downtime.
Pick something 2-3 levels below you, Root it, cast Moonfire and Insect swarm, and move in to melee it - your MP will recover and 3 DPS ticks on it whittles it down really quickly. You could also root it, DPS is, and then Moonfire/Insect Swarm a second mob and beat away at it until your roots dies, then cast away again.
I've found this way means no downtime. Bit slower, but if you're a lazy player, there's about 4 buttons to hit when you start a fight, and then that's it. Finish off with a wrath or Moonfire if they're a runner, and you're back up to almost full MP.
Then, when you're quite low, pop an Innervate and then keep going - no real downtime then.
Pick something 2-3 levels below you, Root it, cast Moonfire and Insect swarm, and move in to melee it - your MP will recover and 3 DPS ticks on it whittles it down really quickly. You could also root it, DPS is, and then Moonfire/Insect Swarm a second mob and beat away at it until your roots dies, then cast away again.
I've found this way means no downtime. Bit slower, but if you're a lazy player, there's about 4 buttons to hit when you start a fight, and then that's it. Finish off with a wrath or Moonfire if they're a runner, and you're back up to almost full MP.
Then, when you're quite low, pop an Innervate and then keep going - no real downtime then.
Feral is, I´m afraid, still the most effective lvling builds for a druid, seeing your pretty much a rogue with a few incredible self heals (And more AP, Crit and Dodge a rogue will ever see... /end rant), so I'll have to agree with Kanadis on that; if speed is your thing (for example, he's your first 70 or you just hate the lvling), respec feral and Dash Rank 7 to 70.
However...
Balance is... unique. Waith waith WAITH, let me finish. Feral is also unique, but face it, in the long run your pretty much a combo of a wartard and a sneak-sneak-stab-stab AKA rogue. A Balance druid however, can, IMO, not be compared to any other class;
- We cast spells
- We got LOTS of armor
- We got several direct damage spells
- We got a very good snare
- We got several DoT's
- We can remove those annoying debuffs
- We got several other forms in which we can stealth, flee or regen health as we are hit (Hero Bear!)
The combo of the direct spells, DoT's, snares and amazing armor makes us the true caster Hybrid; not the survivability of a Holy Paly, but instead the ability to snare. Not the burst damage of a Mage, or even the DoT power of a lock, but instead an insane amount of damage and a self heal.
Granted, my Boomking druid only just hit 40, but I've lvled a moonkin 60-70 in Beta, and it was good fun.
Ok, now for the short version;
Feral; fast, dangerous, easy, but not very original
Balance; not so fast, but dangerous never the less, requires more skill and you will never, EVER play anything like it again (unless you roll another druid that is)
This message was brought to you by people who really, REALLY like balance druids.
However...
Balance is... unique. Waith waith WAITH, let me finish. Feral is also unique, but face it, in the long run your pretty much a combo of a wartard and a sneak-sneak-stab-stab AKA rogue. A Balance druid however, can, IMO, not be compared to any other class;
- We cast spells
- We got LOTS of armor
- We got several direct damage spells
- We got a very good snare
- We got several DoT's
- We can remove those annoying debuffs
- We got several other forms in which we can stealth, flee or regen health as we are hit (Hero Bear!)
The combo of the direct spells, DoT's, snares and amazing armor makes us the true caster Hybrid; not the survivability of a Holy Paly, but instead the ability to snare. Not the burst damage of a Mage, or even the DoT power of a lock, but instead an insane amount of damage and a self heal.
Granted, my Boomking druid only just hit 40, but I've lvled a moonkin 60-70 in Beta, and it was good fun.
Ok, now for the short version;
Feral; fast, dangerous, easy, but not very original
Balance; not so fast, but dangerous never the less, requires more skill and you will never, EVER play anything like it again (unless you roll another druid that is)
This message was brought to you by people who really, REALLY like balance druids.
I'm a 55 balance druid right now, ever since level 42, and lemme tell ya... I LOVE IT! Me and the treants... so much fun. With feral, yea you can take on a lot of mobs in bear, but you can do the same for Balance as well. Gather up some mobs with moonfire / insect swarm, about 4-5, Force of Nature + Barkskin + Hurricane = teh sex. With the armor contribution AND the 20% from barkskin, the mobs will hardly hit for anything. Then if the mobs are down to about 50% or lower, you can war stomp, regrowth + rejuv, (eventually lifebloom once I hit Outland =D) back to boomkin, and take out the rest by reapplying moonfire and insect swarm, wrath, and maybe meleeing a bit to get back your mana. With Lunar Guidance, and Dreamstate, you can really do some serious, fast leveling. And the beautiful thing is, is that if I were in bear doing that, I'd still be spamming swipe, frenzied regen and mangle and still be attacking them whilst I'm in boomkin looting / drinking. Celestial focus is very nice too, and I've 2 shot mobs my level with starfire. TWO SHOT! I love balance because it offers the armor of Bear, and (roughly) the dmg of cat form. those 2 things combined is what I love. I personally <3 spellcasting as well, so other people might still not like boomkin.
Also, the dance is totally worth it =P
Walking up to some random dude and reading their response to the... strange... dance moves of the boomkin is awesome. <3!
And maybe you dont have all the gear for BOOMKIN just yet, so that's probably your problem... and it took me a while to figure out some good ways to use my spells wisely in different situations. Also, in feral you'll be able to rip up the casters, and in boomkin you'll rip up the melee. So keep that in mind. What I usually do is Starfire, starfire, moonfire, insect swarm, and depending on their health, melee or wrath or nature's grasp + starfire. There's a lot of different spells to your disposal, so use 'em wisely. GL!
Also, the dance is totally worth it =P
Walking up to some random dude and reading their response to the... strange... dance moves of the boomkin is awesome. <3!
And maybe you dont have all the gear for BOOMKIN just yet, so that's probably your problem... and it took me a while to figure out some good ways to use my spells wisely in different situations. Also, in feral you'll be able to rip up the casters, and in boomkin you'll rip up the melee. So keep that in mind. What I usually do is Starfire, starfire, moonfire, insect swarm, and depending on their health, melee or wrath or nature's grasp + starfire. There's a lot of different spells to your disposal, so use 'em wisely. GL!
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