Druid Leveling Guide

[positiv2 952]

This thread is for comments about our Druid Leveling Guide.

[Sharkky 0]

I'm not sure how I feel about the [Druid guide 1-60 in Shadowlands]. For all intensive purposes not only do I think it is a little early for that (as its pre-patch and Beta VS xPac numbers are not really a real comparison), but also I would like a little more in-depth explanation on why the Tank build was put on the level it was. Don't get me wrong, in no way am I criticizing or saying it is wrong, but I do not feel it makes the difference known enough. For example - I think Balance is probably the best for leveling in the regular world personally. Why? Simply because Balance has some GOOD damage definitely early on ( 10-30) when the druid fully understands the GOOD rotations to maximize the Eclipses and other relative theories in the early Balance Druid, not to factor in the GOOD passive and active talents. Balance has a good amount of dmg, push back, and solid damage. This is also not to mention the baseline skills you can use from various forms for all specs such as cat form, and also not to mention your Balance specific kin form. Leveling from quests and mobs do not really bring a big issue of your defense into play for quite some time so the Tank defense is not really a factor in MOST levels of the game while leveling. You may find the benefit or going Tank or Healing  if your going to use dungeon(s) as an aid to leveling in specific phases, but not from regular leveling. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, a Balance druid can pull a decent number of mobs and pop of some fairly good combos, heal, then do it again and clear a small to mid size group of mobs for a quest. I would ultimately be interested in why you chose to advise Tank spec instead of something like Balance in terms of leveling.

[Bora 8]

I also love leveling as balance, however, there is a bit more reliance on player skill when it comes to leveling as balance druid as well as benefitting heavily from better gear.

Leveling as Guardian is very straight-forward. You pull 2-3 mobs, you cleave them down safely with your built in sustain and tankability. You do not really need gear, levels, or knowledge to do this. It is also more desirable in dungeon leveling as it can move, pull, and get fast queues.

As Balance, you really only excel in open world. You still can DoT everything up and kite it around but your main cleave abilities and talents are locked behind later levels (SoTF 40, Starfall 34, Stellar Drift 45, Fury of Elune 50). You also need not only to rely on levels to kite (Typhoon 24, Mobility  row 25, CC row 35, Stellar Drift 45) which are all necessary when trying to optimize leveling, but kiting large groups of mobs to capitalize on your range and lack of quick single target damage, can be a  bit more difficult than just walking into a group and cleaving it down.

Overall, I think someone who is familiar with the game will find  the two options very comparable at the higher levels but early on and in newer players, Guardian is about as easy as it gets as well as also allowing you to get fast queues for dungeon quests if you want to do those.

 

[Roo 1]

I am back after a few years of being on a WOW break and decided to try a druid for the first time.  So naturally I came here. I noticed the Druid guide was updated on 21 Aug 2024 however there is this -

At Level 30, you unlock Flight Form, a passive spell granting you the ability to turn your Travel Form into a bird and fly around, this is exceptionally good while levelling (leveling) as an intstant (instant) cast mount saves a lot of time. You are also capable of looting many quest items while in Flight Form which is a huge advantage over other classes while levelling (leveling).

Actually this is incorrect.  Flight Form is available at level 20 and I figure that if this guide was updated recently, this should have been caught.

Forgot to add, as I was in a hurry to get out for my walk about before it rains - Thank you for the hard work and the guides.  It is making it easy for me to understand what a druid is about and how to play.  Somethings don't make sense though and maybe I will be asking questions on those.  Thanks again.

Edited August 30 by Roo