Monday, December 21, 2009

I'm a Druid, and I Cheat

I have an admission to make.

I cheat at WoW.

I can't help myself.  Every time I log in to the game, I just have to take the plunge and give myself an advantage.

Some might tell you that because WoW is an MMO, and Blizzard controls the servers and data, that it's impossible to cheat.  They're wrong.

It's quite simple, really, and even allowed by the rules of the game.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, roll a Druid.  It's the only legal way to cheat.

You can do it all as a Druid - tank, melee dps, ranged dps, and healing - and no matter which one you do, you can fake at least one other long enough to get through most rough spots.

I'm a bear main spec... but if I'm OT'ing in a one-tank fight, I can go cat form and do reasonable DPS, a little better with a slight gear shift.  If there's a fight where only one tank is needed part of the time and a second is needed the rest of the time (I'm looking at you, Onyxia) I can shift to cat for awhile to increase DPS, keep my bear gear and tank it up when the phase shifts.  I know several kitty DPS folks that have beared up in emergencies to finish off fights if the main tank goes down.

My tree offspec uses a lot of spellpower gear...  So in times in fights where there's not a big healing requirement I can shift out of form and throw a Moonfire and a Starfire or Wrath (or the occasional Hurricane) to help out with DPS a bit.  The fact that trees use a lot of HoTs makes this a lot easier to do as well, as you can keep the healing going even when out of form.  The inverse is true as well - I've seen several Boomkins shift out of form to help healers out of a tough spot.

And although it's even worse, you CAN even fake bridging these gaps - every once in awhile I've been in spots rough enough that Boomkins bear up, or kitties shift out and try to heal.  Those are usually desperate situations and often fail... but the fact that you even have a shot to do so is amazing.

The cheating doesn't stop there, though.  You also get swift flight form as a druid - and all those quests that require you to pick something up off the ground, you never have to land and jump off your mount - often this can mean the difference between having to fight something for a pickup and being able to just grab it and fly away.

If we get into a spot we can't deal with... well we can't vanish like a rogue or feign death like a hunter... but we can run away with the best of them.  Cyclone or Entangling Roots and cat form/dash or travel form...

And YOUR Entangling Roots or Frost Nova?  Shapeshift and they are gone.  Polymorph?  Fuggedaboutit.

Jack of all trades master of none?  Try more like master of all trades.

You know you want to cheat to get ahead.  Everybody does.  So just do it and roll a Druid.

Just in case anybody's wondering, I'm being a little facetious.  Druids don't really cheat, it just feels like it.

4 comments:

  1. I fully feel you. I was a Hunter in Vanilla, Ele Shaman in BC, now a dual Feral Druid. There is nothing this class can't do.

    Last night, I showed another (rather timid and casual) Druid how to get in and snag a Winter Veil hat in Nexus. 4 pulls, one boss, stealthing past some mobs, tossing on a hot while running. She was amazed at the ease of it all.

    This is just such an amazing class. The only thing missing for me (and screw lore here) is Dwarven Druids.

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  2. I too love druids. I'm always perplexed when people ask "what other alts do you have at 80?" - I don't need an alt. I have a druid. Granted I don't have the l33t skillz necessary to max my DPS in feral form but who cares? Fumbly kitty DPS is adequate to nearly anything, and that in a toon that heal others, heal self in combat, combat rez, and fly.
    BRILLIANT!

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  3. You said:
    If we get into a spot we can't deal with... well we can't vanish like a rogue or feign death like a hunter... but we can run away with the best of them. Cyclone or Entangling Roots and cat form/dash or travel form...
    I say:
    Shadowmeld, -your out of combat, Flightform, fly, fly away!

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  4. True, I only recently realized that Shadowmeld drops you out of combat.

    I'm such a fail druid.

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