Strategies

Druid/Hunter (Therst/Darkalpha)

Authors

Therst
Gorgonnash
US-Rampage
Darkalpha
Gorgonnash
US-Rampage

Druid/Hunter

VS.

Druid/Warrior

This combo isn't necessarily hard, it just varies in how long it lasts depending on how they play - defensively or offensively, and on their skill level; it can be a huge pain. Starting off, rush up and drop a freezing trap; they will most likely rush soon. Bait the Warrior into the freezing trap for the chance that he will trinket out of it, essentially wasting his trinket. He will then charge you, and your Druid needs to cyclone him, usually followed by a root. If the Druid isn't out yet, which it probably will not be, start damaging the Warrior to force the Druid out.

Once the Druid pops, you'll get an idea of whether they are good or not. Throw a Viper on the Druid, followed by a Silencing Shot so he can't cast Abolish, if he doesn't go into Bear Form instantly, odds are, he is terrible. Before I introduce the different ways in which to react to differing things the Druid/Warrior team can do, I'll go over some basic CC. You need to communicate with your partner on who is doing what, and when. Against Druid/Warrior teams, the Druid is typically the main CC'er of the Warrior, while you save your Scatter Shot + Freezing Trap cooldown for any time where your Druids' Cyclones and Roots are finished from diminishing returns and your Druid needs any help getting away from the Warrior, or when your Druid gets relatively low on mana. Keep in mind that Viper Sting does not effect Druids that are in bear form.

If the Warrior goes on you, the Hunter, prepare for a long game. You'll be spamming CC on the Warrior while going after the Druid. If the Warrior goes onto your Druid, and your Druid is good on mana, have your druid tank him in bear, while you unload everything you have on him to drain the opposing Druid's mana by making him heal. Aimed Shot is your friend on this comp; it makes their Druid heal twice as much, using twice as much mana. Once the Druid comes out to heal the Warrior, Viper him, and Silence, hopefully getting some of his mana.

Most good teams have the Druid play aggressively, but play styles differ. Whenever the druid is up on your partner or yourself, use Scare Beast, every single time it's off CD. It can get annoying if you let the Druid eat Freezing Traps that were intended for the Warrior. If he comes out of bear to avoid the fear, pop a Viper and he will most likely go back into bear instantly, but know that it costs 600 mana each shift into bear, so you're achieving something either way.

If they play aggressively, the game will end quickly in your favor, if they play defensively, there is no chance they can possibly win because you can reset the fight at any time and you'll be CC'ing the Warrior to death anyway. To speed up this fight, and to defeat great Druid/Warrior teams, you need to watch the Druid very carefully, pressure the Warrior to make the Druid come out to heal, and when he does, have your Druid bash him while casting Viper Sting at the same time. That's actually the only surefire way I know of to make a druid eat viper stings; it is extremely effective.

Your pet should be on the Druid. If he has Bestial Swiftness, he should have no problem keeping up with the Druid on Ruins and Nagrand, you'll still need to keep an eye out for him on Blade's Edge so he doesn't get free bridge-jump drink ticks. If the Warrior goes on the pet, spam CC's on him, and keep the pet alive, especially if you don't have Improved Revive Pet (which you should). Occasionally, Warriors get tunnel vision on your pet and they start to drain your Druids mana dangerously fast by damaging the pet. If this happens, wait for your scatter CD and trap CD to come up, freeze the Warrior, and have your Druid drink, sacrificing the pet if necessary (only if you have Improved Rev Pet). Dismissing your pet temporarily is another option, and so is taking off Scorpid Poison and putting it on the Warrior so you can DPS him. If you do choose to do that, you'll need to have your Druid on their Druid so he can't drink.

If there is any time where your Druid gets low on mana for whatever reason, and their Druid and Warrior go extremely aggressive on him, you need to spam freezing traps, scatter shots, fear beast, and wing clips on both of them, so he can get away to drink a bit. If this happens, it means the game will end soon, if you don't mess up, it will be in your favor. Spamming Moonfire, and shifting forms as often as the Druid will be doing will drain his mana to 0, in conjunction with making him susceptible to Viper Stings.

As soon as the Druid is OOM, you cannot let him drink, and you need to keep putting viper sting on him. If the pet is dismissed, pull it out and put it on the Druid. If the Warrior is on your Druid, DPS him, but if the Warrior starts pillar humping to avoid damage, just get on their druid, slap on your two hander, and spam Wing Clip + Raptor Strike. Don't let him get away, but try to get in ranged damage.

It is really helpful against Druid teams to have a spell alert mod; I use Rupture unit frames. Try to Arcane shot the Druid's buffs down, so when you see the Innervate(s), you can dispel them. Also, be aware that Warriors can taunt your pet, so make sure you're watching for that.

Druid's Perspective:
You need to keep note of your CCs. I do a double Cyclone->Root->Root->Root->Cyclone again, skipping the 3rd cyclone, as it's 200 mana for a 1~ second CC, and overall not worth it.

If you're full on mana, you can do a Feral Charge->Bash, which can lead straight into the Cyclone/Root cycle again. Once you get low on mana (60-70%), tell your Hunter it's going to be his turn soon. Do your Cyclones, and when the first root lands, tell him to do his Scatter/Trap once the Roots breaks (make sure that he fears the druid so he can't eat the trap.) This way you get the full 10 second Root followed by a 10 second trap during which you can drink.

You need to be very careful on the target swapping - watch the Warrior's target. The second he switches to the pet, you need to pre-HoT the pet. A Warrior can 3-4 shot a pet quickly, so it's important to put the Rejuv on preemptively to prepare for a Swiftmend when he does Mortal Strikes.

If you're trying to go for a kill, you can bait the Warrior into attacking you while you tank him and your Hunter nukes him. If I was at perhaps 80-90% mana while their druid has <10% (It happens a lot), I would run right next to the Warrior after I Root him (informing your partner of the plan FIRST). I would then throw the HoT's on myself, because he will almost always turn to me. Don't go to bear form, this will discourage him from attacking you. Throw full HoT's on, pop Barkskin, and pump fake a Regrowth cast so you can get a real Regrowth up. If you can manage to get a Regrowth/Rejuv/Lifebloom stack rolling, it will keep you alive against the Warrior. This will force the Druid out to heal his Warrior, and since you're far away, your Hunter can turn and do a Viper while he's running to heal his Warrior. If you're lucky, this can sometimes kill the Warrior, but if not, you lose about 30% mana, but now the druid is at 0%, and a victory should come soon.

Comments:

ImpmanFeb 20, 2008 - 6:43 AM (HideShow)
great post. i have been having alot of troubles with war healer teams lately. gota get my druid to read this now. thanks!!!
MirkoMar 27, 2008 - 9:15 PM (HideShow)
good info here and alot of great ideas, but lately it seems to me that alot of good warr/druid teams have perfected the tactics for druid/hunter. when warrior's druid does a good job of taking the pet to the warrior and sitting on your hunter, sweeping strikes, whirlvind and cleave can take your pet out fast. also warrior's druid is looking for every chance to charge your druids cc cast to break the roots/cyclone rotation, and it can be done eficiently. and sometimes 1 mistake and the pet dies. we are really having trouble beating good geared and skilled warrior/druid teams using this tactic at 1900+ ratings.
DarkwareMay 18, 2008 - 5:42 PM (HideShow)
Yes i agree with Impman, its really hard. We dropped from 1960 to 1870 because of them. I was just not able to do anything. Its like a harder version of Shaman and Warrior, because I cant root the druid. If we play aggressiv, i will see myself soon oom and my hp really bad. I would recommand a cyclone, aimed shot+starfire combo. it really drops the warrior 30% lower or more, and its really good way to drain the druid.
DontskinmeJun 2, 2008 - 4:02 PM (HideShow)
Druid/war is indeed one of the hardest team for us (exept good double dps teams) since killing any of them is extremely hard. All warriors at our current 2.1k+ rate goes on hunter when their druid is starting to get low, the druid then runs around a pillar & recieves about 0 damage. We have tried nuking warrior, but it really is hard, and costs loads of mana for me to heal -> and very little for their druid, who just root hunter, so he'l be in melee with the warrior.
SinglemomlfgJun 13, 2008 - 2:07 AM (HideShow)
You gotta be mentally retarded if you're losing to Druid/War as Druid/Hunter, you can cc both of them so easy it's not even funny
DontskinmeJun 19, 2008 - 1:33 PM (HideShow)
aehm no, its not my fault you aparently doesnt understand this setup...It really IS one of the hardest setups after they learned how to fight, against hunter/druid.
We just dropped from 2210 to 2170 facing 3 different warrior teams, and loosing all. The problem is, that blizzard have given us (druids) mana reg in bear, even though the interface says N/A. This means, that the druid generaly goes around in bearform loosing 0 dmg, and mana. Even when he loose mana, he still regenerates it again when he's back in bear form.

Dont comment something you clearly dont understand in the future, thanks.
LesueJun 22, 2008 - 1:14 PM (HideShow)
Just played one of the best War/D teams I've played. They'd obviously had a lot of H/D experience and had it down to an art. They both sat on me, druid in Bear form. Scare beast couldn't happen, and therefore the druid ate 60% of the traps. With both of them meleeing, bashing, mace stunning me- my DPS output was low. The druid would come out of bear only if he was on top of me, and I was stunned and hamstrung. This made even feral charging- bashing for a viper sting useless. By the time I could get to range, he was ready to go bear and regen the mana he spent already. Most D/War teams are easy and safe, but once they learn how you work, they are a nightmare.
DragasJul 12, 2008 - 9:43 PM (HideShow)
How i like to fight a Druid/warr combo is start by sending my pet on their druid and dps'ing the warrior and CC'ing him to make the druid come out and take viperstings while hes also using a lot of mana to heal his warrior. Then when the druid is low on mana, we CC him and finish the warrior off
CuddelzAug 14, 2008 - 2:24 AM (HideShow)
can someone plz reply to lesue post on like a start on what to do cause i had the same thing happen and i tried cc one and the other just kept my hunter for getting away and dpsing and i couldn't cc them both so any one have any idea on what to do
BapsiSep 3, 2008 - 2:08 AM (HideShow)
I play myself a Hunter with a Druid together and at my RP all good D/W teams play, how Lesue told. I but for me it's litte more fun with 7/21/33 spec, just playing as long as they want ^^ For sure they will leave totally frustrated after 1h or so. Even with "double" dps-ing me, i do more damage than the warri.
In generall, my spec is optimsed to help my Druid to survive, because at our RP it's something like a hobby to kill Druids

but for standart hunter specs, i'd like to suppose WC Warri,scatter him, FD, scare beast, ice trapp, and than as mentioned before: cyclone, aimend, starefire and so on

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