Moonkin Marmite

The Druid forms seem to have the same effect on people as marmite, you either love them or hate them.

Mentzelia had only just hit level 25 and purchased her first glyph when she was /spat on for choosing to glyph out of Moonkin form. Now I don’t deny this was a deliberate choice made for a couple of reasons. Firstly Moonkin form is too big and ungainly for me. I hate getting stuck in doorways and in pvp in particular, being a massive feathery chicken means you’ve got a 10 foot target painted over your head which I’m sure works for some people but personally I prefer the sneaky sneaky approach. I also dislike the fact that Moonkin form at say level 15 and Moonkin form at level 90 are exactly the same, there is no ability to customise or change your look. Every Worgen Moonkin regardless of level, of whether they are playing a male Worgen or a female one looks exactly the same and in a game which has given us transmogrification not to mention so many choices of gear to play with, that’s just annoying.

I’m fine with cat* and bear form but have never bonded with either Moonkin or Treeform. I suspect that’s because when I first rolled a Druid neither existed and I was used to seeing myself as caster whenever I popped up to heal or to root.

I also really dislike the new stag form as a travel form, mostly because due to it’s size, it feels like I’m running in slow motion. It’s just a shame that the cheetah can’t give rides because having people leap on your back whilst escaping conflict in PvP can be both useful and amusing.

Anyway, I’m curious. What do the rest of you Druids think? Is glyphing glittery stars to hide your chicken a crime? Should I be embracing my inner glyph of the Treant?

* I was actually really sorry to see the original Tauren cat form bite the dust. There was something about it’s awkwardness which just made it cute.

And the Wolf wore Red

I’ve been faffing around attempting to find a reason to level my baby Worgen Druid who despite having a back story I’m happy with is hindered by the small issue of her Worgenness.

Jstmel is holding a colour themed transmogrification contest and February comes in as the red month, all rosy cheeks and warm scarlet mittens.  Now red and wolves go hand in hand, everyone who has read Little Red Riding Hood can attest to that so I thought that perhaps I could combine the two and that item farming would give me a reason to inch her towards 90. Playing around until I found an outfit worth leveling for didn’t actually take long at all but I’m pretty sure this won’t be my entry as it’s not particularly red.

• Helm  Nightsong Headpiece
• Staff Rain Poppy Staff
• Shoulders Contenders leather shoulders
• Chest Robe of Summer Flame
• Gloves Feral Gloves
• Belt Wrathful Gladiator’s  

I hadn’t noticed blossoming rain poppies on the staff until they bloomed under my nose in MogIt. From that point forward I was sold, this staff was a massive definite.

Mentzelia my little Moonflower will be 90 before we all go sauntering back into the past and that’s a promise.

The Druid inside Me

Hi my name is Erinys and I’m addicted to playing Druids. I didn’t realise quite how bad my problem was until I started taking screenshots for this post but it seems that Druids are one of my go to alt classes. Therefore in chronological order, I’d like to introduce you to my furry, feathered and often squawking friends.

Briarrose senior was my third character to end game and she was born out of guild drama and general stress. I wanted to spend time away from guild chat and what better way to do that than to level a character who wasn’t guilded. Mr Harpy already had two Druids at level 60 by this point (his first two characters) so I had a good understanding of the class and I loved being able to mix it up in pvp. In fact my greatest moment in a battleground was probably the game in which when facing a same server Horde Premade, my little Druid held the Blacksmith against around seven decently geared and decently played Horde through abuse of feral charge, bear healing and sprinting off to heal up out of line of sight and bouncing back moonfiring.

Briarrose the younger was my first ever Tauren and again dates back to “vanilla”. I have to admit I actually miss the original Tauren cat form (because I’m weird like that) and spent ages when they brought in the new colours trying to find a catform I found acceptable for her. Briarrose has been Feral for ever and will probably stay that way even though I’m not hugely taken with any of their catform alternatives.

Tabby only reached level 10 and has spent the rest of her existence on a pretty much dead server. I don’t however have the heart to delete her.

Tansy is a Moonkin and a ganker. Her hayday was in Wrath when she could bring squawk and awe justice from the skies to evil Horde. I think Cataclysm and then MoP pretty much broke her heart because it’s become impossible to slaughter someone as you fall past them with your parachute cloak up. She was also rather fond of Wintergrasp even though the imbalanced population on her server made it “interesting”.

My Troll Druid was made because everyone needs a Troll in their lives. She’s another Boomkin because moonfiring stuff, especially Gnomes and Goblins never gets old.

Teasel is Resto through and through. That’s the way she leveled and whilst she does have dual spec, the second one is also Resto. I have to admit though, had Treeform still existed as a permanent form, she might well have been another Moonkin. I leveled her towards the end of Cataclysm and primarily through PvP and it’s definitely been fun comparing her to my original Druid Briarrose. I miss feral charge as Resto for sure and also I don’t think the damage in cat/bear form scaled at all from where it was back then. Originally you could use cat/bear to kill in PvP saving your mana for healing, even against DPS classes if you did it right. I’d be very surprised if that was possible now.

Finally my baby Worgen Druid, my Harvest Witch, Mentzelia. My plan for her (once she escapes Gilneas which she needs to do before Hallows End) is to level as Feral just because I haven’t done that for so long.

My goals for this week then are to make that final push to free Mentzelia and are to find a proper transmogrification for my little Tauren Briarrose.

Transmogrification Tuesday – Worgen in Red

Given that Valentine’s Day is upon us, it seems totally inappropriate that today’s outfit is brought to you by “Miss” Havisham the Worgen Shadowpriest. However, here she is, in her “heartbreaker” set. As Estella didn’t make it out of Gilneas, Havisham has to do all the heart breaking herself (just can’t get the staff these days!).

Red to complement her frozen heart with just a bit of fur on display, after all you can’t expect to snare victims in an ancient wedding dress.  The staff litters her path with rose petals, perfect for romantic picnics and to the wise, the skull might give an indication of her intent.

Of course any blood that might arise from the heart breaking process doesn’t show so it’s both practical and pretty.

• Head: Crimson Felt Hat (Drops in Stratholme)
• Shoulders: Consortium Mantle (BoE from Outlands)
• Chest: Robes of Evocation (Drops in Ragefire Chasm from Jergosh the Invoker)
• Wrists: Earthmender’s Bracers of Shattering (Quest reward from Shadowmoon Valley).
• Hands: Gloves of the High Magus (Quest reward from Shadowmoon Valley).
• Weapon: Staff of Earned Tranquillity (Worgen only), other options would be Twisted Visage (Ulduar), Damnation (Naxxamas) or the Bloodfire Greatstaff (the Black Morass). If you prefer off-hand/main combinations, the Dungeoneering guide (made by inscriptions) or the Orb of the Forgotten Seer (Scarlet Monastery) would also work, especially when teamed with a plain dagger.