Smilyfun

Id just like to state that i was bored, and did a search for my name, and this thread came up and i took an interest in it. First off, watching the PoV of someone else other than the druid in any video isnt giving you what to do when 100% of the time, just a rogu outline of what can be done, nothing more.

The knowledge ive gained about every aspect of the class and specs are from playing Smily, my only main, since release, and stressing the point that the druid as a whole can be something more deadlier than anyone ever has let on, even know, with all the ZZOMGFERALDR00DZ out there, 90% of them are terrible. Deep at best is normal, nothing special. Gear can make that happen, but that alone cannot take you to that next level.

What you do outside of your forms is generally 100% more usefull than what you do in them. In cat, you hit them yes, but they get healed, timed cyclones with CS' (WHICH IS INCREDIBLY HARD WHEN YOUR MAGE DOESNT HAVE A MIC) can make or break a game in some cases. Realizing that maim can be used as more than just a solo skill, and often times proves more usefull when used correctly on a certain healer of sorts.

The team i have played with i have been playing with since the day arenas were introduced into the game, and well before that. Doing 10v10s in WSG aranged games against the top guilds and top pvp groups in the battlegroup, having 5v5 nights on the server itself which truly brings out your respect for the other people of the server. And finally, when they came out, we were ready, experiance beyond that of any normal group, and holding a secret weapon which almost no groups have ever faced before. A well played feral with gear to match made a devastating combination, giving us that edge in the majority of our matches early in the season.

The INSTANT they started getting on me, and im forced bear, the feral druid becomes that which he despises most, a non-DPSer, and puts you in that position of worthless quite readily. Before the bear nurf, it didnt matter, but after, bear hits like a sissy girl, and im one druid who pays special attention to bear AP and such because the majority of the time solo, your in bear, unless your a dumb retard who just likes to pewpew big numbers. In that respect, it is very hard to find a feral druid who knows what to do when and with what to build his character around. If the words "cat druid" or "bear druid" are ever uttered or typed by someone you assume is a good druid, he is marked as terrible, and i regret to inform you, a failure at the class which he loves so much.

I love feral, but the flaws it has in arenas are ones that cannot be unnoticed, and can in fact kill your group if used correctly against you. In 5v5, the good ferals are few and far between, but we are out there, and in the lesser ones, its about class balance, rock paper scissors if you will, and generally, we get shafted. Thats not to say that good ferals dont make good 2v2 or 3v3 partners, if you play well together, anything can happen. But 5v5 are where we can really shine.

Now, for 5v5s, as Malazaar has stated, "preserveing" a BoPed target is only helpful if you have no priest or shaman to pruge/dispell it, if so, you should kick yourself in the face for doing so in the first place. Cyclone is handy yes, but usually against a priest or pally, warriors on occasion when you need to take the heat away from your healers. And to what Leleth says about healers and bearform, if they cant keep you up, its generally because they get CCed someway, or your taking an incredible amount of magic damage. To what Kink is saying, if you EVER have to switch out and heal, your group is destined for failure. A feral should NEVER have to heal, EVER, unless in the most dire of situations, and yes, cycloneing a DPS on them is generally the best idea, like, if they have 2 magic DPS, one being a mage, and your priest gets BoPed, cyclone the mage or ele shaman, or lock for that matter, because thats what will be killing him.

To Xantcha, feral is prime because resto druids cannot dispell or BoP, which makes them damn near useless, and they cant PW:S. Resto is better off in the 2v2/3v3 areas, where cyclone is most effective, and your HoTs alone can keep people alive.

As for video help, ill be starting one shortly, probably in the next week or 2, if not, then sometime when i finish getting the new arena gears. I take pride in myself as being one of the few ferals who has made it where many many have tried, and failed. But there is always improvment, and figuring out little things here and there that make you that much more usefull.

This may seem like alot of info, but if you have any more questions on this, id be happy to answer.

-The Smily One