Being a Druid is not for everyone. There is more to being a Druid than simple button mashing. You can choose from three different specializations. Yet, if you want to be a healing Druid, I suggest that you wait until you have reached maximum level, or have the money for dual specialization. The other two specializations are Feral and Moonkin. This guide is to help you level your character and will not go into detail on each specialization. Instead, we will touch on each specialization basics, and their functions for leveling. Remember, how fast you level is always going to be based upon how much time and effort that you put into it.
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The Druid Feral specialization is actually two in one. You have your Cat form and your Bear form. The Cat form is a blast if you like to sneak up on your enemy and deal quick, mass damage. When you are looking for leather gear, make sure to get plenty of attack power and agility. Feral spec Druids will need to carry two sets of gear, one for cat form, one for bear. The Bear form comes into play for when you are looking to group for instance runs and they need a tank. For this gear set, look for armor, agility, and attack power. When a Druid checks their armor, they have to be in the appropriate form to compare stats. Bear form is also great for when you are out questing and pull too many mobs at once. Simply, use your heal over time spell (HoT), switch to bear form and finish the battle. Druids get Cat and Bear forms no matter what specialization they choose. They just are not going to be as powerful as if it were their main choice. Therefore, no matter the horrid situation you may find yourself in, pop a HoT, switch your form, and finish the job. Also, when leveling, always use your HoT’s before pulling anything. This will minimize your personal deaths, and repair bills. Learn to do this early on and you will find that leveling your Druid can be so much more fun and survivable.
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The Druid Moonkin form is for those of us that enjoy casting spells, doing massive damage, and just looking cool. Just remember, Moonkins are considered a DPS class and in WoW, DPS is a dime a dozen. Therefore, unless you have made a name for yourself, you will spend a lot more time in the LFG than say your Bear form or Tree form. When you are leveling as a Moonkin, always start out with entangle roots followed by moon fire and star fire spells. Until you get higher level, the root spell will pop upon anything other than moon fire. Be ready to re-root and often. If you have time and patience, you can easily root, moon fire, rinse, and repeat until they are dead. It can be quite funny, but it is also very time consuming. Another important spell that every specialization gets is fairie fire. It is more powerful in feral spec but useable by all. This spell will allow you to pull a single mob out of a group. One of my favorite spells is hurricane. This area of effect (AoE) spell does a lot of damage. You should use this spell in conjunction with barkskin; it will help against spell interrupts. The gear you want here is for intellect, spirit, and spell critical percentage. Druid gear can be quite deceptive. Remember; always test your gear while in the appropriate Druid form. In example, both Tree form and Moonkins use spell power type gear; yet, the difference in the in forms can cause the same exact gear to have different results. You will also notice that most gear and weapons that drop for Druids rarely have plusses for Tree form.
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As an Alliance Druid, you could actually go from level 1-60 solely in Night Elf territories. Everyone will have his or her own advice about how to level. Some will even try to power level a toon. I have many level 70-80 characters, and this is what I have noticed and found to be your best result for quick leveling. Questing is still your best bet for high experience and fast leveling. I personally can get a new character from level 1-40 in just 2 days played time. Do every quest you come upon and kill everything within reach all the way to the quest objective and all the way back to its turn in point. For a Druid, you will easily reach level 15 before reaching Darnassus. This is your main city hub where you can train and learn professions. Since Druids get a special spell to travel to the Druid training city of Moonglade, I suggest making this city your hearthstone home.
The next port you come to will be Ashenvale. I suggest at this point downloading a mod called, quest helper. This will give you a large arrow to follow and the shortest point to questing logistics. Next, grab every single quest available to you. Do not fret…the mod will sort things out and make a smooth route for you to follow. If at any point you find yourself having difficulty with a kill, ask for help in the general channel. Since WotLK, many high level toons will be in the area working on reputations or exploration for achievements. On the other hand, you may find other people leveling their characters and need assistance as well. Who knows, you may just make a new friend or two along the way. You will find that by the time you reach Astranaar, your character will easily be level 20-22.
Astranaar has many chain quests that will have you running back and forth, and between new areas. Do not stress about this. You can now train your Druid travel form and/or get a mount at level 20. You will find that this allows for faster questing than ever before. Astranaar is also home to the Night Elves first instance, Black Fathom Deeps. There are several quests for this instance in Darnassus, Ashenvale, and Astranaar. Make sure to pick as many up as possible before going to the instance. For maximum experience points, I suggest going to the instance with a level appropriate group. Go to Darnassus and start asking in trade channel for more. Open your LFG and start seeking others out. You should never have to pay for a run anywhere. Higher-level characters need this instance as well for their achievements. Some of the local quests will send you off to new zones. I recommend only going to turn in the initial quest and gathering the flight points, and returning to Astranaar. By the time you finish here, you should be level 30-35.
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At this point, either you can continue following the logical Night Elf path for questing, or you may start to branch out into new world zones. Stonetalon, Desolace, Wetlands, and South Shore are all possibilities for you to explore and quest. Moreover, there are several low level instances for you to try out. To see what instances are available, open your LFG interface, choose dungeon and see what appears in the dropdown menu. These instances can have a lot of useful gear. Do not be afraid to try them. Grouping for instances now can help you learn your character better and learn a little instance etiquette. Make sure to turn off auto loot. If you are unsure about looting rules, ask the group leader. Just remember that instance runs are best beneficially when ran with level appropriate characters and if you have more than two quests for that instance.
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As a Druid, once you hit level 56 it is safe to go on to the Burning Crusade zones for leveling. Pick up your flight form as soon as possible. In addition, the epic flight form no longer requires a long chain quest to get. The Outlands has thousands of quests for you to do and WoW has always had chain quests that send you to the next logical questing area. Do not worry about trying to epic gear your character, the blues and greens from quest rewards and drops do well for leveling your Druid. Questing here is no different from questing in the old kingdom. Gather all the quests available in one zone and work them until completed. If you have trouble, ask for help. Once you reach level 68, and as long as you have the WotLK, it is safe for you to start questing there. You can start in one of two sides, Stormwind or Wetlands. I suggest Stormwind side. The logic of the quest flow from one area to the next is much smoother than the Fjord side. You will be level 80 in no time!
