I've been thinking a lot about running nature druid. What spec/RAs would be best here? Does it need higher rr to be viable? And any viability for duo/Smallman?
Been thinking about trying a druid for solo as well. Been running around a bit solo on a low rr split spec cave shaman (38 Aug for yellow buffs, 37 sub for yellow dots/dds) and the dot and kite strat is viable, although suboptimal. I will say yellow buffs with no mastery of the arcane aren't giving that much stats over the buff pot.
Looking at the dps options on charplan for the druid, you gotta ask "how do I kill stuff" if you're going that route... only having 1 dot, which is decent damage but you have to spec up to 48 to get what a shaman would get as a baseline. Damage shield is a spell you wouldn't use because it can break your roots. Instant roots are definitely nice although cool down looks long.
So without a second dot or DD to kill with, it kinda comes down to how good the pet is... I have zero druid experience but it seems like asking a lot of dps from the pet. Charplan says it has a stun, not sure how good that is but pets seem generally easy to neutralize and no quick cast to resummon it fast.
Nature druid just looks like a hard life. Not impossible but just tough. Tough classes can be rewarding. As far as group goes, I imagine people expect buffs and heals from druids so playing with friends would probably be ideal for trying nature.
It's very hard and not as good here on phoenix but I say challenge accepted. You have to be committed and with the temp gloves you can change your spec a few times to see what you like. I would roam with the zergs to get a few RR first. Since hib is dominating 24/7 you should be able to get RR5 in no time. Just ignore the constant asks for groups because they will just bitch and moan about your spec choice and wont invite you anyways. Those that do will at least appreciate the buffs and some heals when you can. Only thing you must know how to do is KITE!!! Kiting is life and when you fail even once you die. But the reward imo is worth it. Knowing how hard it is and still winning a fight and they know they lost to you is satisfying. As your skills improve on kiting and KNOW your targets you will get better and your survivability will go up. DoT everything imo especially if you are near bridges and lots of stealthers. When they pop you DoT the crap out of them. If its 2 enemies fighting DoT them both. RP's will be hard to come by for a bit so get them when you can. No mercy!!! Good hunting.
EDIT: You cant use the gloves i forgot. Have to be a class that has styles for combat lol.
Nature Druid is trash and that changing isn't on the horizon.
If you search "Nature Druid" I'm sure you can find at least a dozen threads discussing what bad shape they are in.
You'll have to leech and likely will barely be able to secure RPs even then as most soloers will just pull off each other. I'm sure once in a blue moon you'll be able to secure a solo kill on an afk or inattentive player.
The state of the Nature Druid is one of the things I try not to think too hard about when I see comparatively frivolous things like Enchanter pets being coded to cast disease/root roll through the planned changes section of the forum.
