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Of the many different
character classes in WOW, each having a different accepted
role, there is one lauded as superior by those who play them, and
scoffed at by those around them. There are a few responsibilities that
must be filled for a group of adventurers to succeed in a dungeon. There
must be a “tank,” someone who gets the attention of the monsters they
are attempting to kill. A healer is important to keep the group alive.
There are damage dealers who are primarily responsible for slaying the
monsters in melee or from a distance. Characters in charge of
crowd control stall certain targets to make taking down others easier.
Each class generally fills one role with ease and can switch to another
if it is needed. The Warrior, for example, is first and foremost a tank.
Warriors are given the most abilities to generate and maintain the focus
of the foe. But in a group with two warriors, or if another class wants
to try their hand at tanking, the warrior can be used as a damage
dealer. The WOW Paladin, normally used in instances as a healer
and support character, can generate cause enough threat to hold the
targets attention.
The Druids of Azeroth, made up of the Night Elf and Tauren
populations, have an interesting mix of abilities. To WOW, they
are the shape shifting Jack of all Trades. They can heal the party, with
efficiency topped only by the Priest. In Cat Form they can deal melee
damage and sneak around their enemies with the guile of a Rogue. If
shifted into Bear Form, they are capable of performing tanking roll of a
Warrior. While in Moonkin Form, they can dole out massive damage by
raining down arcane and nature spells on the target. This wide range of
abilities makes the druid the ideal member of any party, if one person
fails, the druid can switch over to the vacated role and pick up the
slack.
This is not often how the party views the situation, however. In small
instance groups of five people, the druid is often taken only if
they are willing to be a healer, despite their versatility. A druid
desiring to fill another role, especially the popular role of damage
dealing, is shunned. The WOW developers gave druids certain
abilities, such as moon fire or faerie fire, which are very visible
spells. These spells have beneficial effects for the group, but a druid
casting them on a target will often be ridiculed from the party for
‘wasting mana’ that should be reserved for healing.
The issue stems from two major problems in WOW. The first is the
lack of healer classes. There is only one class out of eight on each
faction that is a dedicated healer, the Priest. There are two other
classes on each side that are capable of healing, the Paladin for
Alliance and Shaman for Horde, then the Druid. The low amount of
available healers leads to less players playing them, which feeds right
into the next dilemma. The second problem being that most players are
too shortsighted to see beyond the Druids healing ability. There
are many people with the immutable mindset that if a druid can
heal, he should heal. While they are an effective healer, they are quite
effective at every other role they can fill as well.
No one would ever accuse Blizzard entertainment of being hasty with
their decisions. WOW and their other games have had their release
dates pushed back many times. In the past hardcore fans of Blizzard’s
work know that this delay is for the best, the company labors to produce
the finest quality product. The Druid went through months of
internal testing and balancing before the concept became a reality. By
giving the druid all the basic abilities of a rogue, a warrior, a mage
and a priest, it is quite clear they had a greater intention for the
class than staple healer.
About the Author
Hunter Crowell is a
researcher, marketer, and an avid online gamer, including World of
Warcraft and also the creator of
WOW Gold Price List, a web site setup to help players
find the cheapest place to buy their WOW gold. Visit his site at
http://www.wow-gold-price-list.com
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