The Rookie Druid: Part 3 - Class Versus Player - A Guest Blog Post by Viktory

This is Part 3 in the series by my guild mate, Viktory.  Today, he looks at the hybrid conundrum, flexibility and why some people lack it.

   

I raid on a Priest.

I know that this is a Druid blog, so I’ll pause for a few minutes to allow you to list off the ways that Priests drool and Druids rule.

About done?
Okay, so here’s my take.

Three specs covering all four roles you’ll find in a raid offer great opportunity to be flexible and a solid role player for your guild, but also opens the door to great amounts of FAIL.

Just as with every class, I’ve raided with some really good druids, and some fairly crappy ones. I think that druids (and to a less extent the other hybrid classes) are plagued by both the opportunity to play multiple roles, and players who just don’t quite get it.

These days, I raid on both my healing and DPS specs on the same character, switching based on the fight and raid composition. (Meaning I get abused to fill whichever spot we have the least of) I applied to the guild as a disc priest understanding it would be a part-time spot, and when an opening came up for a shadow priest, I figured raiding was better than sitting on the bench.

In doing so, however, I accepted that I was responsible for putting up solid numbers in both specs.

What I sadly see happen more often with druids, though, is when I come across an applicant, pug or social who thinks their druid can play all three specs equally well with a minimal amount of adjustment. And they FAIL at it.

Yes, the great advantage of the class is that a druid CAN play any role. Unfortunately, not every player can play every role, and those ones who don’t hold up their end make a lot of hybrids look bad.

Clearly, though, I shouldn’t form my opinion of the class just based on the quality of player I have grouped with. I have faith that as I learn to play my rookie druid, I can figure out how to contribute in each spec, and while I may not like playing feral DPS, I’m sure that I’d put in the same level of research before trying to raid as one.

...and that research is exactly what spawned this post. Why don’t more people try to play multiple specs very well?

Do people really like playing resto/balance/feral to the exclusion of the other specs, and to the point that they are willing to be benched for someone who’s more flexible?