WotLK Druid Changes - Feral Tanking and Bugs

I think it’s fair to say there is a lot of work to be done before the druid class is ready to go live. Clearly the issue with feral tanking druids is still up the air. The nerf to predatory instincts is not surprising, and certainly justifiable. Allowing a tank a percentage based mitigation ability of that magnitude was bound to be imbalanced.

The message I got from these blue posts was one more of uncertainty than anything else. They clearly have some underlying tanking issues that will need to be resolved in order for the class to fit into the current model for tanks in WotLK.

Most of these changes and bug fixed will be included in the build 9038 druid changes.

Feral Tanking
With regard to abilities, we have been torn between giving bears (and cats) more unique abilities versus giving them tanking abilities that many players considered “core.” We could have certainly come up with something more original than Last Stand for bears, but at the time, a lot of bears were comparing laundry lists of buttons and said bears wouln’t be invited to raids because they didn’t have an oh snap button like Last Stand. We put that functionality in Berserk, then later backed off of that so that we could make Berserk a more fun button to push as bear. (Source)

Typhoon
I’m not aware of any changes to Typhoon’s damage. If you’re just talking about Rank 5, we had to just temporarily yank it to make sure it was becoming untrained — despite the last hotfix, druids were still ending up with it when we added the rank back in. We should be able to add it back next patch.

Also understand that if it hadn’t been abused so much that we wouldn’t have had to yank it. It’s not terribly fair or helpful to complain about not having access to the ability when it was being used to overpower bosses and other players to such extremes. While the bug was ours (mine in all likelihood), we’re not going to be able to get back all of those busted battles, yanno?

Predatory Instincts
Reducing AoE Damage by 30% instead of 15%
Predatory Instincts is a huge nerf. You just haven’t seen it yet. It only works in cat form.

I hinted that this might happen before, but as it was, a druid was going to be the only tank people took for dragons like Malygos. That would have been particularly true for any encounter that was supposed to be a resist fight, because the druid could skip a lot of the resist gear. Your health pool should still make sure you handle those fights sufficiently.

Treants
The Treant health appears to be too low. They aren’t updating correctly from your Stamina or level or something. We’ll get it fixed.

Druid Macro Guide

When it comes to macros, the druid class has seen both extremes. From the classes initial conception, which literally required dozens of macros to effectively operate in both PvP and PvE environments, to the more simplistic druid we see today. After years of tweaking and adjustment this type of mass macro creation is no longer environment (thank God!), as many shifting abilities are now automatic.

Also, if you’re interested in druid focus macros, make sure you check out my other guide here.

Restoration Druid Macros

Nature’s Swiftness Heal
/cast Nature’s Swiftness
/stopcasting
/cast Healing Touch

Mouseover Healing Macros
/cast [target=mouseover] Healing Touch

/cast [target=mouseover] Rejuvenation

/cast [target=mouseover] Lifebloom

Simply adjust the spell and you’re good to go. These macros are simply amazing and I’ve used them on my shaman as a raid healer to incredible effectiveness. This allows you to simply hover over frames and pop heals off as fast as your mouse can move to the next raid frame (as opposed to having to click the frame).

This method of raid healing really gets awesome when you take advantage of another user interface mod for raids called grid. Grid is pretty simplistic, but that’s even better for us. It’s simple, it’s easy…simply hover and start dropping heals and HoTs across the raid. Checkout the full Grid user interface guide.

In addition, you could also handle other spells, buffs, etc. in this same manner.

Innervate Protection Macro

/castsequence reset=30 [target=player] Innervate, Thorns(Rank 1), Mark of the Wild(Rank 1), Rejuvenation(Rank 1)

Feral Druid Macros

Taunt + Auto Attack Macro
/startattack
/cast Growl

Mangle + Auto Attack Macro
/startattack
/cast Mangle

This type of macro helps druid’s to overcome one of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen while raiding…failure to quickly engage auto attack. Simply putting a one line /startattack line before each of your primary attack abilities will do a world of good…not only for feral DPS, but for feral tanking. Many player’s view these as “unnecessary”, and believe me, those are the players who aren’t topping the DPS charts and are letting other player’s in the raid die due to their tanking failures.

Take Potions in Bear Form Macro
#show Super Healing Potion
/use Master Healthstone
/use Super Healing Potion
/cast !Dire Bear Form

I really like this macro simply because it’s so damn fast. Even if you are tanking this is a nice macro to have for those panic situations. Simply take a step away from the boss, spam this macro and you’ll be healed to full in a snap.

Replace the master health stone / super healing potion with what ever potions you’d like to consume, or add additional consumables in there. Since the first /use macro will pull you out of bear and take the pot, you consolidate several steps together, making this macro nearly instantaneous.

Mangle Trinket Macro
/startattack
/use Moroes’ Lucky Pocket Watch
/cast Mangle

Just replace Moroes’ Lucky Pocket Watch for your current tanking trinket(s). Also, for cat druids check out the macro below.

Feral DPS Trinket Macro
/startattack
/use Bloodlust Brooch
/cast Claw

Same as the above macro, change the trinket name / attack name to those of your choosing. The same will apply to any spec. These are great macros to help put several button combinations together.

General Druid Macros

Totem Sniping Macro
/targetexact Wrath of Air Totem
/targetexact Mana Spring Totem
/targetexact Poison Cleansing Totem
/targetexact Windfury Totem V
/targetexact Mana Tide Totem
/targetexact Grounding Totem
/cast Moonfire(Rank 1)

Hilarious macro to really piss off shamans. Spam this while you’re kiting in PvP situations to really punish a shaman’s totem forest.

Self Druid Buffing Macros
/castsequence [target=player] reset=10 Thorns, Omen of Clarity, Mark of the Wild

Simple Druid Buffs
/castsequence reset=target Mark of the Wild, Thorns

Balance Druid Macros

Trinket + Starfire Bomb
/use Hex Shrunken Head
/cast Starfire

Just change the name of the trinket to your own spell damage trinket.

Druid Arena Talent Specs

The phrase, “jack of all traits, master of none” comes to mind when I think of druids. Though blizzard has tried to stick the ‘hybrid’ tag on some other classes I believe druids are the only true hybrid class currently in the game. If spec’d properly a druid has the potential to a dominant force in physical damage, spell damage, tanking, or healing power. That said, all specs certainly are not created equally. As much as blizzard has done to give the druid class a more ‘hybrid’ feel, it’s still a far cry from full implemented from a PvP standpoint.

Restoration Talent Specs
8/11/42 Restoration Spec

The restoration druid has certainly come into its own since expansion. Cyclone, a skill which may druids considered useless at the launch of expansion, has become a staple that many teams in all arena brackets rely on to execute their strategies. And for good reason to, a ranged, non-dispellable, non-breakable crowd control, from a healer!? It’s crazy, yes, but no point in arguing that here. Cyclone is the reason restoration druids have become the healing powerhouses they are.

Unlike other healers who function on a much linear platform the restoration druid is in constant motion during the battle. Between HoT rotation, roots, feral charges, bash, cyclones, shift kiting, and tanking the opposing DPS, well the druid has more than enough to occupy every single global cool down. The restoration spec fits this style of, well let’s call it “crowd control + healer” extremely well. Though a druid isn’t going to be the most effective stand up healer like a paladin or a priest can be, he offers a much great utility in his ability to aid his teammates in crowd controls, snares, etc.

To be successful as a restoration druid it is absolutely essential that you are always taking advantage of every global cool down, and either healing, kiting, or crowd controlling. This amazing level of utility is why druids are probably the best PvP healers in 2v2 and 3v3, finding your own personal style to take advantage of this will be crucial to your success.

Resto-Kin (dreamstate / moonkin + healing) Talent Spec
34/0/27 Resto-kin Spec

The semi-DPS and semi-healing resto-kin spec is one that has recently become very popular on many 2v2 teams including, druid / hunter, druid / warrior, and especially druid / rogue. It’s a strong talent spec that allows the druid to adjust their role in a 2v2 match from very offensive to very defensive, much like a disc priest is able to do in a priest / rogue matrix.

While there are possible team combinations outside of 2s that could take advantage of the resto-kin spec I think 2v2 teams gain the most out of it. Simply due to the spec’s flexibility.

Feral Talent Spec
The feral druid is in essence a rogue with less survivability, and as rogues already don’t have the great level of survivability, well you can do the math. Sure the damage a feral druid can produce is excellent, though a druid in cat form offers little utility to the team and will be weaker than a rogue in that same position. That said, feral druids are certainly an option if your itemization and team matrix is right on.