WSG:Are Druids the best flag runners?

[ThreePieceSuit]

I see how they could be.

1. Stealth into the enemy base in Cat Form.
2. Grab the flag and Dash outside.
3. Switch to travel and book it to your base.
4. If the opponent has your flag, you can hold on to theirs in your Bear Form.

What are your opinions on druids as flag holders?

[odinsnephew]

Certainly are in the 29 and 39 brackets, before other players can use their mounts and also taking into account the druid doesnt get major tunnel vision (no pun intended) and runs off like Forrest Gump. Still ok in later levels aswell but by then other classes have pretty good abilities too ;)

[jschild]

Overall yes, they can heal themselves in bear form, quick change for a normal instant HoT, easily fast in cat form if specc'd for it. Others are good, but no other single class has the speed of the druid plus durability and healing all in one combo.

I personally hate them above all others, though as a paladin, nothing makes me happier than slapping JoJ on one though. I've ruined many a druids day doing that.

[moopy]

Certainly are in the 29 and 39 brackets, before other players can use their mounts and also taking into account the druid doesnt get major tunnel vision (no pun intended) and runs off like Forrest Gump. Still ok in later levels aswell but by then other classes have pretty good abilities too ;)

At 70 too, when they have that fancy PvP gear all over- they are just fantastic for the job. Fast, adapatable, hard to kill. Gives me a use for the mortal strike and improved hamstring spec that my warrior uses for PvP.. :)

[Vandir]

Some of these replies scare me... I'm a very good carrier, being a druid myself. I stealth into the base, grab the flag/Dash, then HoT and Travel Form. But...

1. Warriors' Hamstring is a pain, and you have to shift out of it

2. Hunters' pets, and hunters themselves. Freezing traps by the base are a pain.

3. Warlocks. Need I say more?

Also...
Another good thing is rogues can't Sap us and we can't be Seduced. But hunters can Scare Beast and other druids can Hibernate us.

[Wintrow]

yes yes, rock paper scissors

but to the even slightly unprepared, a druid is out the door w your flag before you can blink :grin:

[Eileithyia]

My druid is the only toon I have that easily makes it home with the flag.
My mage is a little on the squishy side, but good for assisting the flag runner and my Hunter I find it hard to even get out of the entrance, especially if you are using 'Aspect of the Dazed'

[Mallstrop]

My druid's not got amazing gear, the only classes that can stop me effectivly are Hunters, other druids, some shamans and a paladin smart enough to use JoJ (Not many know about it)


1. Warriors' Hamstring is a pain, and you have to shift out of it

Using a macro for shifting you can do it instantly with the touch of a button

[jschild]

Lol, very true. In WSG I usually announce that I am on JoJ duty and have had a sad amount of Paladins ask me what I was talking about.

[soniran]

yea im a hunter and everybody is scared of me becuase of my bestial wrath. and
magi has frost nova. warriors have charge. rouges have stealth and sap. priests have power word: shield. locks i dont know i barely play them. pallys are cuase they everlasting mana to heal.

[Shellar]

The primary attributes of a flag runner are Mobility and Survivability.

In 20-29 and 30-39 WSGs, Mobility is the key. If a hunter, a shaman, a druid, a sprinting rogue, or even a player with the "boot" speed buff makes it out of the enemy base, then any base defenders who do not belong to the above classes won't be able to close the distance no matter how diligently they run.

In 40+ WSGs, the situation changes. Suddenly, the defenders are able to mount up, catch up with you, dismount and unleash a world of pain on your flag-carrying self. At this point, Survivability takes the spotlight. Thus, in upper WSGs, the best flag carriers are the tanking classes: druids, warriors and paladins. All of them combine a massive HP pool with a variety of utility effects that help them to shake off pursuit. A druid can shapeshift to remove snares or HoT himself up. A paladin can buff himself with Blessing of Freedom or cleanse off nasty debuffs like JoJ. A warrior has Hamstring, Spell Reflect, Piercing Howl and Intimidating Shout, as well as the Blink-trio of Charge/Intercept/Intervene.

As you can see, Druids are the only class that, due to their superior combination of mobility and survivability, can excel both in the lower and the higher brackets. Thus, they are often perceived as the best flag runners.

(The 10-19 WSG is not mentioned above, because it has almost nothing to do with flag running, and everything to do with 2.5K HP, 60% crit rate twinks)

[Pongle]

Sunwell geared tanks are the best flag runners.

[elsegundo]

i find it to be very good at flag running, but its situational at level 39.
stealth in to get flag, bear my way out, then travel form when im free, or if i get bombarded, i stay bear form and keep recasting bear if i get snared.
getting out of form to heal sucks because i'll be wasting a lot of mana, plus be open to harder hits. but if i do it right and heal away from mobs, im usually ok.
i find pallys have just as good a time carrying the flag with enough support, and do rogues. actually rogues' sprint can get them outta the building fast, which druids do not have indoors. even warriors can get in, cap, and then charge someone to give them that sudden boost of speed. but overall, i think the top three would be druids, rogues, and pallys.

[jschild]

Rogues are annoying also - I agree. 90% of the time, I can R1 consecration and break stealth, but if they sprint and grab before i get a chance to Judge Justice, they are gone and I have to mount to even close on them.

If I get it Justice on them, its over. Druids can still heal and mitigate tons of armor making them pains. Paladins aren't a problem for me, but if you don't have heavy damage, we can indeed go for a long time, enspecially with BoF. I've circled my base running all over it, with PoJ and BoF making guys chase me all over - its fun :)

Druids are easily king though when played well, but they are indeed far from the only good option. 2 Druids working together though.......freaking nightmare.

[Shellar]

Can't they CloS out of JoJ, though?

[MixiMan]

I think S2 or above geared druids are really up there. Take the flag, bear form and hope for some poor schmuck standing a short bit out of the tunnel, charge/bash and travelform happiness with a nice speed boost from the gear.

If all goes wrong cat form/dash. even at 65 though i am quite the flag carrier with my cow.

When on defense i have to say that rogues and prot pallies give me the most trouble. Mages when they know when to blink are also a pain in the rear.

[jschild]

Can't they CloS out of JoJ, though?


I don't think so, at least they never try it with me. Again, I could be wrong.

[SSH83]

what jschild said. Judgement of Justice kills druid runners.

[Thortok2000]

Before the change with the whole dropped flag thing, I could run the flag with pretty much any class and do it well, in lower brackets. I was especially good with my hunter in lower levels. Aspect of Cheetah had me outrunning everyone (pre-mounts). I could send my pets at hunters with their own cheetah on to daze them, at warriors to put them in combat before they could charge, and tracking just to avoid everyone and take whichever way works best. Scatter shot to interrupt fear, frost trap, freezing trap, etc. I loved the 'stop targeting me' that feign death did. I could be in a pile of everyone from both teams, all the horde targeting me, feign death, regrab, aspect of cheetah, and by the time they react and re-target me, I'm too far away to hit with an instant cast, and anything with a casting time won't hit me before I'm gone.

But that was before the re-grab nerf (which I approve of, but still). It's a little harder now, as the biggest trick in my arsenal can only be used if there's nobody to pick the flag up for 3 seconds, which is kind of tough.

Another flag runner I did awesome with was a gnome mage. Blink to dispel root/stun, escape artist to dispel root/snare. I'd love to jump to the flag, frost nova to trap the rogues I know are there, and blink out...even if they did land a stun on me, I'm still gone. With my AB boots, I owned both the 29 and 39 brackets. And any one person just gets polymorphed. I spend most of the game 'poly and run'. Groups get the frost nova+blink. I rarely even do any damage spells unless I'm killing the enemy carrier. Back when I played on that toon, people on the battleground forums were calling for "nerf gnome mages"! And accused me of speedhacking because boots+blinking simply can't be caught up with by anyone else, even hunters with cheetah.

As the gnome mage, I buff up, run down the right side, grab the flag, frost nova/blink/poly my way back to my base, cap, by which time I'm out of mana, drop down from the GY, hit the powerup to restore mana, and repeat. Blinking all the way unless someone's close and I want to save it for the stun dispel.

If you 'spec for flag running', pretty much any class can do flag running pretty well, although if you add in consumables, then pretty much anyone can. Just be twinked pretty well for your bracket and play well. (When I 'twink', I get the best gear I can get for myself, typically pvp reward vendors, and anything I can make myself crafting. I use everything available to me without going out of my way to get 'beyond my level' stuff, like enchants from other players, DM stuff, outland consumables, etc.)

Now that's all about lower brackets; I just dinged 70, and healers are probably the most overpowered carriers, pallies and druids particularly. The only way to even stand a chance to kill one of those is to use abilities that drain their mana AND interrupts AND anything that reduces the power of healing effects...and hope you have help and he doesn't. 70 is kind of a completely different game. Even 59/60-69 wasn't as bad.

That's my two cents. =P

[Kanax]

Druid runners are only superior assuming your team can fend off the opposition from making it into a stalemate, and assuming no Flag Carrier Debuff is in effect. Otherwise you might as well bear it up and walk back to base with 9 healers Hot/Direct Healing you.

Frost Mages can keep you quite slow even if you fastshift, Paladins if they get within range can JoJ you and effectively end your speed run, Warlocks can dot you up and fear you into a bad direction, though that is ineffective against end game resto druids and then there are hunters who can do so much to you and keep up with you.

Druids are however versatile enough to be successful runners. At 70 a geared Resto druid can still outrun and keep healed up against several players so long as the debuff is not in place, and feral bear druids have some of the highest health along with massive amounts of armor and potential resilience, rendering melee practically pathetic for big hits, and casters relatively unsatisfied by the lack of % damage they remove per bolt of whatever the throw at you.

Bear druids however dont work without healers, so when it comes to a standstill its moot without appropriate heals.

Speed runs, a rogue can potentially run a flag from one side of the field to the other at a max speed of +100% and slow as +70% assuming nobody slows them down in any form of shape, be it daze or whatever.

Stealth in Take the flag, run to the boots, running at 100% until down the bottom of the tunnel, sprint to the other tunnel, prep + sprint again and then take the home side boots to finish off the move. the only slow point is from the flag to the boots. and then i suppose you could always pop a swift potion for 50% bonus.

Even with a person on an epic ground mount that is hard to keep up with. for level 39, it is simply devastating being able to drop a swift pot, speed boots, sprint, prep sprint, speed boots combo. If nobody is in range in the midfield it is a disaster for the opposition. Thankfully, and much to my 39 rogue's dismay, Hunters just love being in the middle of WSG and have such a fricken huge shoot range

[hypeman]

my opinion? druid own for carying flags, just like rogues, the only problem is:...ye..i dunno..guess there isnt one!

[Clavina]

I occasionally like to get a couple of guild healers and go do some flag carrying as pve prot spec. Against a stupid opposing team that ignore healers I can just stand on the flag spot and /lol /dance and /pity.

[Findariel]

Well it depends ..

In the 49 bracket I found being a Subt rogue (with double sprint with Preparation lvl30+) was pretty strong as fr too. At lvl34+ it's 60% speed increase so even mounted opponents won't catch up and you can almost run across the whole field. Downside is the long CD on Preparation (10 minutes).

My frost mage was also amazing. Shield, jump in, Frost Nova, Blink .. even when stunned you can Blink out. Cold Snap (lvl30+, 8 mins CD) is really handy for re-casting Frost Nova when chased by sprinting rogues, pets and the like.
I did like 30 wsgs and I capped like 60 flags with her, by far the best experience in BGs thus far. :)

Of course druids can stealth in but you still can be stunned or trapped. In bear form you're pretty strong but not very fast. Self-heal is a big pro, though.

[drewid]

Some people have mentioned rogues, but i dont think they are getting enough credit especially in the 29 bracket.

My rogue will take out ANY druid/mage running the flag. Frost nova your heart out, im not in front of the flag - Block the exit is the key. i can stealth to either exit when defending no matter the speed of the FC. I always use up the speed buff when it respawns so no ally can use it to grab the flag.
Cant Sap a druid cat? dont need to, can use cheap shot - ambush - drink energy - back stab - back stab - dead druid :grin:
If they do get free they cant get away if my cooldowns are up. Rocket boots:shocked: sprint and swiftness potion one after the other nothing can get away add crippling poison to dagger and you have no hope.
As for running the flag same deal. Try and wait if possible for speed buff spawn, grab flag make to speed buff - insignia of the horde(removes the annoying attempts to slow me - rocket boots - evade - sprint and if needed swiftness potion, if they dont have our flag its a cap.
My rogue will sit at nearly 2.7K HP buffed in the 29s too so that helps alot.

[jschild]

Enjoy it at 29. Later on, that strategy, which works fantastic until a Paladin JoJ's you.

Played some WSG, usually defend the flag and JoJ runners and try to kill them (even if they have healers, if I am alone, my job is to tell my fellow players where the flag runner is coming out and slow them as much as humanly possible.)

Had a rogue and healer that I apparently frustrated as I kept them from getting far with the flag and we had two captures. Finally they just started attacking me (in the flag room) to the exclusion of everyone else and made sure I was dead before getting the flag.

Revenge was sweet though when I got the flag and capped the third for the win. Was sweet. If only had such sweet moments in EotS.

[Gorny]

Well it depends ..

In the 49 bracket I found being a Subt rogue (with double sprint with Preparation lvl30+) was pretty strong as fr too. At lvl34+ it's 60% speed increase so even mounted opponents won't catch up and you can almost run across the whole field. Downside is the long CD on Preparation (10 minutes).

My frost mage was also amazing. Shield, jump in, Frost Nova, Blink .. even when stunned you can Blink out. Cold Snap (lvl30+, 8 mins CD) is really handy for re-casting Frost Nova when chased by sprinting rogues, pets and the like.
I did like 30 wsgs and I capped like 60 flags with her, by far the best experience in BGs thus far. :)

Of course druids can stealth in but you still can be stunned or trapped. In bear form you're pretty strong but not very fast. Self-heal is a big pro, though.


For Frost Mages, don't forget the Water Elemental id the Mage has it ..can be quite a surprise with the extra Frost Nova.

[drewid]

i logged into wow last night (shutdown), went into wsg just as the gates opened we got the 15 min shutdown message, I did a video of it to see if i could three cap in 15 min, ill post the video to you-tube when i finish it to let you see how a rogue in 29s can flag run and link it here.