Of all the classes in World of Warcraft: Classic, Druids must be considered the most versatile in what roles they can fulfill in the game. They embody the soul of nature and are master shapeshifters. They can heal, DPS, and tank effectively, and will always be in demand for endgame content.
What Role Does A Druid Fulfill?
A Druid can do anything and everything. Not only that, but they have two types of DPS specialties in Balance and Feral. Through Balance, they are ranged spell casters, and through Feral, they are savage melee fighters in Cat form with abilities and playstyle similar in theme to that of Rogues. Also within Feral is the ability to become a powerful tank while in the form of a bear.
Finally, their Restoration talents make them powerful healers, though they specialize more in Healing Over Time (HoT) than direct healing or shields offered by a priest. They also have access to highly effective support abilities at higher levels: Tranquility, which heals an entire raiding party, Innervate, which provides mana to a spell caster, and Rebirth, which allows for Resurrection in the middle of combat.
Is Druid Leveling Easy Or Hard?
Druids can be easy to level thanks to their versatility, but one usually needs to choose a path and stick with it, since gear requirements will be drastically different. Wearing all intellect cloth gear but attempting to play a Feral Cat is inefficient, to say the least. However, Druids will also be in demand in dungeons as a tank or healer and having gear for this can make it easy to level up through the grinding of this PvE content.
In addition, Druids can mix up their playstyle as well to manage resources. Spell casting consumes mana, but Cat and Bear form use resources like Rogues and Warriors, respectively. This means that one can transform to finish a fight while preserving mana. Druids also receive a Travel Form at level 30 that allows them to move at mounted speed, ten levels before other classes, making questing an overall faster process.
PvE Potential For Endgame
In the endgame, Druids have the potential to do it all. More than anything, however, they are sought for their healing. While they can DPS through Balance, and through Feral, these are often overshadowed by Mage and Warlock DPS. The same can be said of Bear tanks, not because they are ineffective at their roles, but because Warriors are often the preferred choice.
To be clear, Druids can do it all in the endgame if one is persistent and works at understanding the class, but their healing is usually more valued than their other potential roles. There is one big catch however, and that is that counter-intuitively, Druids cannot resurrect fallen allies outside of battle in the same way the Paladins, Priests, and Shamans can. They only have their Battle Resurrection ability, which has a long cooldown and is effectively wasted outside of combat.
In any case, Druid talent specialization is straightforward. Healers go into Restoration, and DPS or Tanking into Balance or Feral.
PvP Potential
Druids in PvP are mostly limited by their talent choices. Restoration often means throwing HoTs on allies and snaring opponents. Going deep into Feral allows for melee combat, but also for effective carrying of the flag in Warsong Gulch while in bear form. Balance is also an option for combat, but quickly burning through mana means that you need to close out a fight quickly, or find yourself easy pickings.
Racial Choices To Optimize
Unlike other classes, Druids have no say in the matter. If one plays Alliance, they must use a Night Elf, and if one plays Horde, they only have Tauren as an option. Both offer racial passives that are marginally useful, but nothing tremendously special, thankfully. Otherwise it would be one-sided towards a faction if the racial abilities were of much use.
Best Professions For The Druid Class
Druids are similar to Hunters in regard to the range of professions they can select, depending on their needs. First time players in WoW: Classic may want to take dual-gathering professions while they level to sell materials at the Auction House. Skinning and Herbalism for example while questing will always fill your bags with much needed crafting materials, which are always in demand.
Skinning and Leatherworking can allow for one to make their own gear, though this is not always practical if one levels faster than they can keep the profession up. With that in mind, sometimes a Restoration Druid will find better stated items in Cloth gear early on. Tailoring and Enchanting is another option, less so to wear the crafted Cloth gear in the long term, but to use while leveling and to disenchant to progress in Enchanting.
Finally, Herbalism and Alchemy offers long-term gold making potential. In the endgame, everyone needs consumables for PvE and for PvP, and there will always be demand for them at the Auction house. With the gold one makes from selling potions they can easily purchase gear they might need at level 60.
As Druids are relatively easy to level and can fill all roles, they can be a popular choice in Classic. At the very least, they offer players a broad range of roles should they become bored of one or another. Unfortunately, players should keep in mind that towards the endgame, Druids are primarily sought after for healing, and far less for either Tanking or DPS.
Sources: Wowhead.com, Brady Games World Of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide