How to beat a Resto Druid

[Gritz]

A rare gem from the official forums: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...12402045&sid=1

(Check the thread for replies, here's the OP though)

IMPORTANT: On my armory, I do not have my offhand equipped. I normally have 1607+healing and a PvP resto spec.

Quick Note: I have retired from arena. I do not play anymore games.

Another Quick Note: I'm feral on the armory. Lol.


Hello warlocks... since I'm basically quitting WoW (long story... tell me if you want to hear it, it's quite entertaining) I'm just basically sumbitting a "How to Destroy Resto Druids in Arena" for each class. I know a lot of you know these tips/strategies/whatever, but for those who are in a pickle over it, I decided perhaps you could use an actual resto druid with a lot of arena experience's help. (I have left all the arena teams I actually have played in, sadly.)

Anywho, let's get down to business!

- - -
** The Mana Burn/Drain **

The number one thing that resto druids are weak against is getting mana drained. Trust me on this. If you drain our mana right of the bat, we will end up freaking out and not being able to heal as well for two reasons: One, we will be forced to go into bear (because bear has no mana bar) and not be able to heal or cyclone, or two, we will burn innervate uselessly and simply be oom and a free kill. Ever find yourself screaming: "HOLY FCKING GOD, THIS RESTO DRUID JUST DOSEN'T DIE!" Well... we don't, unless focus fired in a well-planned out way. If you don't pull that off, queue the mana drain. It is foolish to keep trying to kill a resto druid over and over if you are having difficulty killing it. Mana drain= GG for druids. If you have a priest partner, encourage him/her to pitch in with the mana burning whenever possible.

- - -

The "Bye Bye Druid" Strategy

Note: This really only works with two DPS.

So. There's a resto druid and their DPS partner. Chances are, if the druid is smart, they will be stealthed and have their DPS partner attack first to draw attention and ultimately not get focused fired right off the bat, then pop out and heal when their partner needs it. If you want to give the "Bye Bye Druid" strategy a whirl, Train yourself to do this: When you or your partner sees/tracks that meddling little cow or elf pop out and cast their pesky cyclones or powerful heals, COMPLETELY stop attacking the DPS. Give the druid a nasty fear and you and your partner go ALL out, and silence whenever possible. Just stack the damage down hard on the druid, and cripple them however you can. Try and chase it down, and watch out for line of sight tricks. The druid will freak out and probobally pop into bear. If he/she pops into bear, KEEP attacking. The druid WANTS you to switch targets so it can get off a regrowth and an innervate without silences/dispels. Just stay strong and go ALL out on the druid. Chances are, the druid will not be able to withstand two dps on it without switching targets for very long. Keep in mind this really only works with two DPS.

The "CC the Druid" Strategy

Whether you are with a healer or another dps, chances are you will both have some form of CC. When you see the resto druid pop out of stealth, fear right off the bat. Wait for the trinket. Fear again, and once more. While the druid is feared, try and get the DPS partner's health as low as possible. When the druid gets free of CC, use a deathcoil/felhunter silence to your advantage. After the druid is immune to fear, it's time for the switcheroo with the CC. Have your partner use rogue stuns, intercept, any form of silence, traps, blind, wyvern sting, their fear (IE priest or warrior fear), cyclone, etc, etc. Just keep the druid unable to do anything at all costs. A 2 minute trinket only helps so much!

Special Section: For Affliction Locks

Your main weapon against resto druids is to dot them up and drain mana. Affliction locks aren't too bad in most druid's eyes because not many drain mana right away. But let me tell you this: the ones who do drain mana? Annoying as hell. Remember to time felhunter silence/fear/deathcoil in the middle of heals. Innervate is mostly useless if you have felpuppy on auto-dispel. Just keep mana draining and chasing down the druid and he/she will become useless soon. Drain mana is an invaluable tool. Use it to your advantage!

Special Section: For Destruction Locks


Mainly, your goal is to try and interrupt ANY heals and burst the fcker down. Time your attacks right and save your cooldowns for the appropriate times (I.E. Low health, heals.) If your partner is DPS, try and synchronize when to use attacks so the druid will die without a chance to heal. If worst comes to worse and you can't kill the druid, drain mana. It will pay off eventually, even though it isn't as valuable as a destruction lock.

Special Section: For Demonology Locks


This spec is pretty annoying to face resto druids with. Just keep your Felguard or Felhound on the druid at ALL times. Dot up, do some damage, and drain mana. Fear at the right times, obviously. If you have a healing partner, just tell him to buck up and get ready for the bumpy ride. You will ultimately win if you use drain mana to your advantage. If you have a dps partner, both focus fire the druid and try to prevent any form of healing or running away. Drain mana is still FTW.

- - -

Two Most DEADLY COMBOS with Warlocks in the Eyes of a Resto Druid:

Destruction Lock + Pompyro Mage if they completely focus fire the druid the whole match (Burst burst burst. If heals are prevented with counterspell, fear, felhunter silence, and deathcoil, bye bye druid!)

Affliction Lock + Holy Pally/Resto Druid/Holy Priest/Resto Shaman (Pretty much takes FOREVER to kill these two. The druid can last pretty long. But wait: Mana drain can fix that completely!)



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That's just my two cents. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll reply very quickly, as I'll be watching this board. If you already know these tips, remember this: This is a guide for those who struggle with resto druids. Just give these strategies a chance.

Remember, mana drain is your best friend against resto druids. If you don't already do it, just give it a try and giggle about how quickly these druids go down.

Thanks for Reading,

Ingrid

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[doogless]

I play with a Resto Druid partner in 2v2, and this is pretty accurate. Teams with Warlocks who don't use Drain Mana on us are guaranteed to lose.

[Atrophy]

I feel like such a noob, never conidered using my mana burn, it is one of the spells i hardly ever use. That obviously needs to change.

Nice tips Gritz, thanks and i hope you are only going to have a short break from the game as i have learnt a lot about my lock from some of your posts on this forum.

Happy hunting!

[Swoop]

That bit about retiring from the arena is part of the post as copied from the official forums. I don't Gritz is retiring

[Debuff]

Not trying to derail your thread, but at the beginning of the season, I was in an arena team with me and 2 other locks (who had soul siphon). Right of the bat we would aoe fear and focus mana drains on their healer(s). We could completely drain a pally's mana bar in 6-8 seconds easy. It made a big difference in the fight.


It's a shame we had crap healers so we got wrecked by their dps in that time :/

[Phorn]

Faced several Resto druids last night and it never crossed my mind to use Mana Drain... we did end up winning one the of 4 matches we faced a resto druid in only because he got feared out cat form the silenced until my rogue buddy could jump on him... then it was over. Im really curious to why you are quitting WOW. I've had several friends quit and all but 1 has returned..lol

[Gritz]

Hehe, that was copied & pasted from the original post, I'm not quitting

[Zurbious]

There is also another way:

It's almsot impossible to catch a druid sometimes because they jsut go into travel form and run. This, however is a good thing. Let them waste their mana this way. When they run put up a few DoTs on them if you can (not a curse because they can remove it) then go back to their partner, put dots on him... the druid will come back... go back to the druid - he'll run.. and so on.. they burn through their mana like mad that way.
It's much more effecient to make them come to you rather than you chasing them.

[Gritz]

Since there are alot of questions about how to beat resto druids on the first page, I'm gonna bump this instead of copying and pasting ;)

[Demonbane-Warso]

Originally Posted by Zurbious

There is also another way:

It's almsot impossible to catch a druid sometimes because they jsut go into travel form and run. This, however is a good thing. Let them waste their mana this way. When they run put up a few DoTs on them if you can (not a curse because they can remove it) then go back to their partner, put dots on him... the druid will come back... go back to the druid - he'll run.. and so on.. they burn through their mana like mad that way.
It's much more effecient to make them come to you rather than you chasing them.

This is very accurate. Druids are easy to kill but they will LoS and run to protect themselves...ALWAYS keep dots on the druids partner and the druid and if you want to burn the druid put Corrupt and Siphon on him then CoEX...he will change forms to clear the slow and you can fear him (not always) out of LoS...if he shifts to clear it put a Curse of Agony on him and he will use his mana to remove that curse...its hard to get a druid out of mana but definatly possible.