Druid Guide
September 21, 2008 by Zuggy · 5 Comments
In this druid guide you will find all current strategy guides related to the druid class on Zug Gaming. This druid guide will be continually updated to reflect patch changes, new content, updated strategies, etc. If there’s is an area you think this guide need improvement on please drop us a note on the Zug Gaming forums.
Druid Arena Strategy
Druid Talent Builds
Druid Macros
Other Helpful Strategy Guides
- Hotkeys Guide - Building for Speed
- Kiting, Line of Sight, and Position Strategy Guide
- Focus Macro Guide - and How to Use them!
Dalaran Sewers Arena Video
September 21, 2008 by Zuggy · Leave a Comment
Another job well done from Blizzard here for the new Dalaran Arena map. This map is located within the sewers of Dalaran and Northrend. Much like the new Orgrimmar arena map, dalaran includes a much more dynamic and intuitively designed map.
- Multiple levels of elevation
- Line of sight positions located both in the inner and outer rings of the arena
- Dynamic water jet that periodically fires in the middle of the map. This can be used as an LoS position.
- Generally speaking it’s a very small map, should make for more aggressive and high intensity game play.
I know the video is kind of short / bad…I’ll try to get a more complete video up tomorrow.
Nagrand Arena Position and Line of Sight Breakdown
September 5, 2008 by Zuggy · Leave a Comment
When I think about Nagrand arena position strategies one word comes to mind…pillars. If you’ve played arena for any stretch of time then you are probably more than familiar with this mechanic.
That said, learning to effectively use line sight in combination with proper positioning is no easy task. It requires a lot of practice and a bit of know how, which we’re going to discuss below.
Mastering The Pillar Kite
The first and most important factor in Nagrand Arena is going to be mastering the pillar kite. As you can see on the map to the right there are 4 pillars in Nagrand arena. Which we’re going to use both as LoS positions and kiting locations (aka “pillar humping”).
If you’re a healer this is where you live in arena. Sticking near the pillar allows you to quickly move in and out of line of sight and run circles around the pillar to avoid damage. The green squares represent your prime locations for maintaining healing LoS on the arena floor.
You will need to continually change your position around these pillars so that you can…
- Adjust your position so you can maintain healing / dispel LoS on your partners
- Kite opposing DPS in a circular manner around the pillar. If things are really bad you could have your team mates help you by snaring / crowd controlling the DPS that’s chasing you. Giving you additional time to catch up heals.
DPS Positioning
Most of the time people associate kiting and line of sight purely with healing, but even DPS, both ranged and melee can do their part to take advantage of line of sight positions. First off we need to consider the effect that these positions are going to have on our healer’s position.
- Your healer will always want to be LoS’ing around / behind a pillar.
- Knowing this we want to position so we can still do damage, but also allow the healer to avoid taking damage / being crowd controlled.
Secondly, let’s talk about the defensive role of using the pillars as a DPS. Just like your healer uses the pillars to dodge cc and damage you should be doing the same. Granted, you aren’t going to be pillar humping as excessively as your healer may be it is still important to take advantage of this strategy. This will save your 
healer mana and buy you one very important thing…time. Time to drink, time cast, and time to catch up on heals. Sometimes even just a few short seconds is enough for your team to gain a mana edge and ultimately come away with the win.
General Nagrand Position Strategy
Of all the arena maps Nagrand is certainly the most simplistic. What ever way you look at it you’re going to be using pillars in your position strategy. As a healer most of your role with LoS is centered around using them to avoid damage and CC, while also turreting up to well positioned heals in the locations I’ve listed above.
As a DPS class you need to focus on always understanding where your healer is, thus allowing them an easier time to heal you. Additionally, using the pillars to LoS behind to prevent damage and / or kite melee classes will allow your healer additional time they may need during high burst damage periods.
For more position strategies check out the full guide on Line of Sight Strategy and Positioning!
Blade’s Edge Arena Strategy and Positioning
Often I hear of team’s and player’s who struggle on Blade’s Edge arena. This is in part because its’ the most complicated of any arena map and doesn’t offer the clear cut protections of a pillar or coffin to LoS around. That said, learning to LoS and positioning properly is still an attainable goal.
For the purpose of this guide I’ll be referring to all position references from a healer’s point of view, and the ideal locations team’s should attempt to position both DPS and healer positions in order to maintain LoS for heals, but avoid being relentlessly attacked.
To the right I’ve detailed a small map of Blade’s Edge arena with various positioning options you have available.
- Red lines - these are short range positions that take advantage of the pole extensions on the 4 corners of the bridge. Ideally the DPS would be centered in the bridge while you heal from the top ramp positions.
- Purple lines - these are long range heal positions where you’re simply trying to take advantage of healing range over the range of other casters. Same thing as above, heal from the ramp, fight in the middle.
- Position swaps - the green dots represent a few of the possible positions you could choose to stand at. None of these are set in stone. A healer or a DPS could stand in either one of them since the line of sight continues regardless.
- Ground level pillars - I’ve indicated them with red circles, you can use these just as you would use a pillar in Nagrand arena. In addition, while I have not indicated it on the map you can also use the pillar posts that hold up the bridge in the same manner. This can be a disadvantage though (discussed in next point).
- Plane of Interaction - there are 2 planes of interaction in blade’s edge, one on the ground level and another on bridge level. Generally speaking the bridge level plane is superior in every way. You have both position and distance LoS easily at your disposal, and you can quickly reposition to heal teammates on the bottom. For this reason choosing to fight on the ground level may not be an option. If your opposition sticks their healer or a ranged character up top you could be in a lot of trouble. At this point the advantage is 100% into their favor, especially if you are unable to completely avoid being attacked by the players on the ground you’re attempting to kite.
- Bridge Overhangs - there is one other location that can be particularly devastating from a LoS perspective if used correctly (and with the right classes). It’s positioned directly underneath the bridge right as the ramp part begins the bridge. There are small obstructions that jut out here, allowing a healer or DPS class (typically hunters) the ability to stick themselves in there and avoid most LoS. This is because it’s so difficult to find continued LoS to attack them, since you can move to either the left or right side of these small obstructions in these locations.
The overall strategy we’re going for with these positions is the development of a fluid and constantly moving line of sight technique. As a healer not moving is just not an option. You need to continue the constant position change in order to effectively heal, regain mana, and avoid damage. If you can successfully accomplish this then you’re well on your way to becoming a top tier arena team.
For more position strategies check out the full guide on Line of Sight Strategy and Positioning!
Priest Guide
This priest guide offers all current priest strategy guides Zug Gaming has to offer. The priest guide will be continually updated as new strategy offerings become available. Additionally, if you would like to suggest a new priest guide to be added to this list please make a comment below or drop me a note on the Zug Gaming forums.
Priest Talent Guide
The following priest talent guide details various talent specs. In addition to providing varying talent specs this priest talent guide will include specs for differing game styles; PvE, PvP, raiding, arena, world pvp, leveling and more.
Priest PvP Guide
Playing a priest in PvP is no easy task, it requires advanced knowledge of game mechanics and the ability to make quality decisions very quickly. This priest pvp guide aims to provide it’s users with this know how. Offering advanced strategies and techniques to allow you to take your game to the next level.
In addition to understanding the importance of individual priest pvp strategies, it’s important to also understand the underlying mechanics within these strategies. The section immediate below details other priest guides you may find helpful to your WoW endeavors, both PvP and PvE wise.
- Priest Macros
- Shadow Priest Macros
- Hotkeys Guide - Building for Speed
- Kiting, Line of Sight, and Position Strategy Guide
- Focus Macro Guide - and How to Use them!
Priest / Rogue vs. Shadow Priest / Warlock 2v2 Arena Strategy
June 23, 2008 by Zuggy · Leave a Comment
Yet again, not the most popular combo these days, but it still pops up every once and a while. The strategy here isn’t too complicated, open on the priest and just punish him. The only really important thing to remember here is to save your cloak for when your priest is really controlled.
Between all the fears, death coil, silence, and spell lock your priest is going to be hurting for casting time. You’ll want to try and save it to clear as many DoTs as you can and also keep yourself alive until your priest can cast again.
As the priest your best bet is going to be spamming instants every time you aren’t controlled. Prayer of mending, shield, renew are all important, all the while attempting to stay out of line of sight as much as possible to avoid other controlling spells.
Can’t get enough arena strategy? Check out the complete priest / rogue 2v2 arena guide!
Locking Down Warrior as Rogue
This post is in response to a question I received from a fellow rogue. It’s been posted here in the hope that it’s contents may be of assistance to other players who have similar questions.
Arena Strategy Questions…
Hey Zug, I’ve asked you questions here and there in the past, and there’s a few more that I’d like you to answer. My priest and I hit our highest rating of 2091 about two weeks ago, and since then have struggled a bit.The warrior/healer teams that we seemed to have no trouble with have been really giving us a hard time. I find that in nearly all cases the warrior is sticking onto my priest, and I have a hard time keeping him locked down. They can break out of gouge, and I’m wondering if I should use my blind on the warr. (I feel like I should)
Another team, although rare, which we seemed to have no hope of beating, was the hunter/priest teams. Getting on the priest is out of the question, as doing that caused my priest to go OOM within a minute. We try to kill the pet, but when we can’t keep pressure on the hunter, my priest gets drained hard.
Is 41/20 the best priest spec?
Arena Strategy Answer…
As far as your first question is concerned, I find that it really is more of a 2 part solution. Generally speaking
you are going to be sticking to the warrior the entire time, making it as difficult as possible to get both position and line of sight on your priest.
However, your priest needs to be very aware of both your position and the warrior’s position. He needs to constantly reposition himself in order to allow you to do your job easier.
If the warrior is just relentless to get to the priest then this really opens you up to drop bombs on the warrior. Position yourself on his back and just lay into. Beyond that, just use everything within your power…including blind if necessary to prevent that warrior from getting on your priest.
Then again, even if he does get on your priest you’ve got reflective shield going for you, further increasing the damage output.
As far as hunter / priest goes…well, it’s just a rough match man. It’s so far one sided in their favor that even winning 1 out of every 10 of these matches is a good ratio. Our typical strategy just revolves around a gig strategy on the hunter with a lot of very early CC on the druid.
It’s very fast paced and risky, but it’s still the best strategy we’ve come up with at this point.
Arena Strategy - Kiting, Position, and LoS
June 21, 2008 by Zuggy · 6 Comments
A lot of time when we talk about arena and how to improve yourself and your team it’s about the talent specs, the composition, macros and a dozen other things. Granted, all of these items are very important, one which is often overlooked is the importance of your positioning.
So let’s just start with the basics, what exactly do I mean by positioning and LoS (line of sight)? Well, it’s basically the continual movement of your character to locate in such an area that you can avoid damage, deal damage, cast spells freely, disengage your opponent, drink, etc. (respective to your class and talent spec).
Now, a lot of players think positioning and LoS doesn’t really apply to their class, and while it may not directly affect you it’s important to understand it from your healer and casters perspective. Realizing where they need to be can dramatically increase their chances of successfully line of sighting.
Nagrand Arena provides a good template to better understand what all this means. As a healer on this map it’s important to take advantage of the obstructions which create line of sight (the pillars in this case). While your DPS class(es) may be forced into the center of the map this is not where you want to be.
Above you’ll see a diagram of Nagrand Arena. The green boxes are examples of possible line of sight positions on this map, while the red lines represent the actual line of sight you would have.
So really, what’s the point in positioning yourself here? Well, there are several reasons.
- Prevents damage dealers from easily attacking or crowd controlling you
- Allows you to quickly move to another LoS position should your current position become the new combat area, in essence, kiting
- Allows you to drink without easily being interrupted
- Allows you to get off heals and other casts uninterrupted
One of the biggest reasons I think line of sight healing and positioning is so important is the mana longevity factor. Now, this may be considered a bug, but it’s one which you should be actively taking advantage of. Using these line of sight positions you can cast a spell, say a greater healer. As soon as you start casting spam your drink button. If you are out of combat and spamming the drink button you will start drinking before that spell goes off and puts you in combat.
It’s very effective to cast long heals topping off your teammate, thus allowing you to drink several thousand mana back. This can have a couple of different effects, 1) a player from the opposing team will get off your teammates and come after you to stop you drinking, 2) you’ll drink to full and be in a great position to win. Either way, it’s a good thing.
Learning to effectively use the line of sight mechanic in the game can dramatically increase your performance in arena and help you get over that hump. It’s important to remember that line of sight and positioning is a constantly changing factor in the game. As a healer you’re basically forced to change positions as your DPS does so, but even getting a few drinks or full heals off in the duration of a match can be enough to secure a win.
For more position strategies check out the full guide on Line of Sight Strategy and Positioning!
Druid / Warrior vs. Mage / Rogue 2v2 Arena Spec
Another double DPS fight. This is one of the hardest fights. A well played team will CC the warrior, which is very easy and kill the druid. The warrior should be entirely focused on killing the rogue in this situation. If you begin to DPS him, he will try to either CC you or get away from you. If he attempts to vanish then immediately cast piercing howl or demoralizing shout to get him out of stealth. Allowing a reopen on the druid can make or break a match. Also it is imperative to keep both targets hamstringed, it will help win your matches and the druid will thank you because LoSing will be very easy.
Before the rogue is out of stealth you and the mage will be 1v1ing try to get off a charge, it will allow you to do more damage and take less damage. Either your druid will pop out to heal you or the rogue will find him, this is the worst case scenario. You should be out of LoS of the mage during the start of the fight. If the rogue pops you while you are out of line of sight, it’s not as bad, you can get some HoTs off before the mage starts hammering you (after sheeping the warrior of course). Now a good rogue will call out the he sees you but will not initiate the fight. Now the mage sheeps the warrior and comes over to where you are, then the rogue pops you, and the mage is right there ready to nuke you.
If you see the mage sheeping the warrior and running your way, it’s usually a sure sign that the rogue sees you, so hot yourself up as best you can while trying to LoS the mage before that rogue pops you. Stick to the pillar to avoid mage damage and go back into running while the warrior does his best to be on the rogue. When the rogue finds you first without HoTs is the reason many of you are saying that the druid can’t handle the damage burn, which is why it is very important that you stay out of los of the mage and hope the rogue does not see you or pops the warrior first.
Like any double DPS team, the longer you survive the better your odds or, so don’t get angry or discouraged if during the first 30 seconds of the fight it looks hopeless, survive as best as you can the fight will turn to your side after a minute or so.
Looking for more strategies? Check out the complete druid / warrior 2v2 arena guide!
Strategy courtesy of Neurotik
Priest / Rogue vs. Druid / Warlock 2v2 Arena Strategy
June 19, 2008 by Zuggy · 2 Comments
The druid / warlock combo can be difficult, the amount of control the combo has is simply stupid. While you really aren’t going to eliminate the druid’s control the rogue can dramatically shut down the warlock if he plays it right.
That means really focusing on holding back energy so you never miss a kick, never miss a kidney shot, and do everything he can to not gear feared off the lock. The rogue is going to do a lot more damage than the warlock is if he can stay on his target.
The priest’s role here isn’t too difficult. Basically, do what you can to avoid getting controlled, IE line of sight kite as much as possible. Use prayer of mending to really punish the warlock for his DoTs.
The biggest bane for the priest is the fel hunter, as the fight drags on the priest will probably have to drink, so make sure the rogue is prepared to AR / BF down the pet on command. Killing pets can be an absolute must vs. particular teams. The best way to pull this off is typically to pull the pet out of LoS then have the rogue chase it down and drop the bomb.
Above all just remember that the rogue needs to constantly be doing damage to something, be that the warlock, the warlock’s pet, or the druid.
Can’t get enough arena strategy? Check out the complete priest / rogue 2v2 arena guide!
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