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Shifting Perspectives: Downranking changes some key Druid abilities
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, Michael Gray's going to take a look at the recent downranking changes, and how they affect our furry, furry class. So, one of the big news pieces to hit the streets about the Wrath of the Lich King beta is that "downranking" has been nerfed. There's a little bit of history that you need to know to get why that matters.Downranking isn't actually that complicated, in and of itself. When you learn a new rank of a spell, you keep the lower version of the spell available in your spellbook. Not all classes function that way, but all spell casting classes do. When you "downrank," then, you're casting a lower level version of a spell than the highest one you have available to you.
Shifting Perspectives: How to group with a druid part 1
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran.No one likes to be told how to play their class. We've each learned through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Yes, there is room for improvement, but, I swear, if one more person screams "HEAL PLZ" then I'm gonna make a macro that spams "TAUNT PLZ", "DPS PLZ" and "CONTROL YOUR AGGRO PLZ". And I shall refrain from uttering "Does your daddy know you're on his account?" No, really. I will. Ok, after tonight. I promise.My point is, when you group with a warrior, you know what to expect. Same with a rogue, mage or priest. They all have clearly defined roles. But druids, oh my, you never know what you're going to get. Will you get the guy who refuses to shift out of cat form to spot heal when the priest is OOM and the tank is going down for the count? Will you get the overcaffeinated shifter who can't decide if he is dps'ing, off-tanking, patch healing or nuking? Or what about the b00mk!n that insists he can tank Illidan because he has high armor rating even though he lacks significant dodge, resilience or snap aggro?I'm not saying these play styles are wrong or bad. There are many situations where these tactics are valid. I'm saying that groups need to know what kind of druid they are grouping with so they can all have an enjoyable and profitable pick up group. And to help you do that, I'm going to cover the major play styles of different kinds of druids and what you should and should not expect them to do for you. I'm going to start with the feral spec.
