AmariCross wrote:
Anyone have tips soloing as a 1st time druid? Thanks.
Sure. Pull up a cookie.
First thing to do: read the sticky here, labeled
Druid 101.
Spec: As others have mentioned, Feral is a fun and efficient way to level. Personally, I like the Feral tree to Feral Swiftness (5 Ferocity, 3 Feral Instinct, 2 Brutal Impact, 2 Feral Swiftness), then over to the Resto tree for Omen of Clarity, then back to Feral. You may choose another method, but whatever you do, if you're leveling Feral and haven't gone straight down to it, respec at 50 for Mangle.
There are lots of great builds in the sticky.
This is mine for solo PVE. It's great for that, but not necessarily the optimum build for other stuff. (And I'll probably switch out Thick Hide for Nurturing Instinct since the change, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.)
All my other advice assumes you're leveling Feral.
Gear: Look for agility, stamina, and strength, in that order, but without neglecting any of them. A little intellect for self-healing won't hurt either. Balancing your gear for soloing can be tough, especially at lower levels. Just work with what you can get, and don't go crazy spending money.
Hanging in there: It gets better when you get bear form, but it really doesn't start to shine until you get cat. Most druids will tell you that you have to give this class 35 levels to see what it's really like. But the payoff is worth it.
Very Basic Playstyle: Take single mobs in cat form. Same with doubles of "yellow" level. More than that and you go bear.
Prowl, Pounce, Feral Faerie Fire, Mangle, Shred, Rip will get you through 90% of situations. Some of those abilities take a while to get; meanwhile you fill in with what you have.
Save your mana for healing. Getting Regrowth/Rejuvenation ticking before the fight is preferable to healing during the fight, if possible. As a general rule, I usually change forms to heal at about 30% health, if it gets that far.
As you get used to the playstyle, you may want to look into some macros and add-ons to make things easier. The
Druid Resources sticky here is a great, well, resource.
(edited again for links)
Edited, Jun 1st 2008 10:51pm by teacake