Considering that we have ourselves a bit of time before the next exciting thing comes out -- Cataclysm and the new Battle for Gilneas Battleground -- I thought it'd be a good time to write up a quick guide to fighting the different classes. Since we ended last year with a basic primer to the battlegrounds, we'll use the start of the year and the lull before the next expansion to compile a guide to fighting the different classes. That should probably hold true for a bit until Cataclysm turns our World of Warcraft upside down.

Let's start with the druid. My excuse was that we're supposed to do this alphabetically, but I realized that death knights actually come before druids now. While Blizzard has always tried to maintain a balance among classes in a rock-paper-scissors kind of way, I don't think anyone -- regardless of what class they play -- who has ever encountered a druid has snickered to himself about how easy the fight is going to be. Druids, by and large, have a very high survivability as a class. Pair this with their supreme mobility and you've got one hell of a fight on your hands.

Shapeshifting
The one distinguishing characteristic of a druid is the ability to shapeshift. This is their greatest strength and ironically one of their notable weaknesses. When the class was designed, the folks at Blizzard envisioned a protean opponent that constantly changed forms during an encounter. While the design didn't completely end up that way, with druids mostly keeping to one form suited for a particular task (e.g., bears when tanking), players get to see druids change safe more often during PvP. It's essential. Some of the best druids switch forms appropriately and often, although this can sometimes take a toll on their mana.

Druids are a hybrid class and thus enjoy the benefit of having three distinct roles and fighting styles which can confuse enemies at the beginning of a fight. Their shapeshifting, noted as their strength, is also their weakness here as it usually reveals their hand earlier than other hybrid classes because their forms are usually distinctive of their specs. A moonkin, for example, is obviously a ranged caster and likely to be an unsavory opponent in Eye of the Storm (stay away from the edge just to make sure).

By the same token, a druid is weakest in their normal (whatever passes for normal for a shapeshifting class, anyway), humanoid state. There is almost never a better time to beat down a druid as when they are in their Night Elf or Tauren -- and soon Worgen and Troll -- forms trying to cast a life-saving spell. Their various forms confer numerous protective benefits, and improvements to the moonkin and Tree of Life forms in the past have made for surprisingly resilient opponents. Fortunately for would-be druid killers, forms have some restrictions, too.

Moonkin, for example, are unable to cast any healing spells. This means that a Balance druid getting low on life should be expected to change form at some point in order to cast Rejuvenation or worse, Rejuvenation and Swiftmend. Other times, some druids will retreat into their Dire Bear Form while allowing a HoT to take effect -- an unusually mana-intensive, but sometimes necessary, recourse. Expecting these changes between forms is key to fighting druids: as a general rule, druids are strongest in their primary forms (e.g., Cat Form for DPS feral, Tree of Life for Restoration) and weakest when they are out of them. Catching them in humanoid form with a silence or stun is PvP gold.

Movement
The defining aspect of druid PvP is mobility. More than almost any other class, druids move around in combat not just because they must but because they can. One of the most powerful features of a druid's shapeshifting ability is the way it removes polymorph and movement-impairing effects, effectively making the druid the most elusive class in the game. With Travel Form, druids are able to free themselves from tight situations and easily create some distance between themselves and their opponents. In the rare instances where there's water involved, such as in world PvP scenarios (e.g., Wintergrasp), druids are unparalleled in their mobility with Aquatic Form and sometimes when glyphed for it, are -- pardon the term -- a class all their own. Needless to say, it is extremely imprudent to engage a druid in water.

In world PvP, in fact, druids even have the enviable option of instantaneous flight. Night Elf druids, in particular, can use the retooled Shadowmeld to drop out of combat and instantly shapeshift into flight form to escape the fray. Because Shadowmeld doesn't activate the global cooldown, it can be written into the same macro as a shapeshift. Obviously, because of their various transport forms, outdoor scenarios favor druids immensely and open areas are terrible places to engage a druid.

Although feral druids thrive in close quarters, having the option to flee is always best even for them... and no class is more capable of fleeing than a druid. It's virtually impossible to pin them down because of their ability to shake off movement-impairing effects, and then there's Dash, an ability that sees frequent use in Battlegrounds such as Warsong Gulch as druids make their way out of the enemy base.

All druids regardless of spec are capable of disappearing with the Prowl ability. Sometimes throughout a fight, druids will create some distance and exit combat, enter stealth, and reappear when it's most beneficial to strike. This isn't limited to the rogue-like feral druids, either. It takes tremendous effort to pin down and catch a druid off-guard, and is often only pulled off with coordination and precision as demonstrated in Arenas. The ability to flee, disappear, and reposition is essential to druid PvP which makes them terrible candidates for a first target in a group.

It's always important to remember their natural ability to shrug off polymorph and movement-impairing effects, so it's just a waste of resources to target them with these things. It won't even slow them down. We've only barely touched the surface as we now have an idea of what druids are like. We haven't even gotten to the part of all the hurt they can bring to a fight.

General abilities
All druids regardless of spec have access to the most powerful crowd control spell in the game, Cyclone. Unlike other forms of crowd control, it can be cast on any target regardless of type. It's so powerful that not even a paladin's vaunted bubble or a priest's Mass Dispel can break it. The only way to remove it is through the PvP trinket, making it one of the select spells worth using the item for. Cyclone also has no cooldown, making it spammable on a target. This means that a druid can effectively take an opponent out of play for a long time, even with diminishing returns. Sometimes, druids chain cyclone different targets to sidestep this limitation. When an opponent is Cycloned, druids can cast heals on themselves, assault another target, or flee.

Druids are also able to keep opponents in place with Entangling Roots, made even more powerful in Wrath by removing the original "only usable while outdoors" restriction. It is also spammable but likewise subject to diminishing returns. This spell is used to establish distance and is sometimes triggered by Nature's Grasp, often activated by druids who need to escape from a melee opponent. In combination with their fast-moving forms, druids can establish a lot of space between themselves and an immobilized enemy. They can even use Hibernate against Hunter pets or opposing druids.

When fighting a druid, be prepared to be ensnared and crowd controlled. After using Cyclone, many druids will cast a long cast spell such as several heals or a massive Starfire, timing it such that the spell hits just as Cyclone breaks. This means players should be wary and be on the defensive after such spells. While druids have a plethora of offensive abilities, their means of using them varies according to form. Moonkin will kite and keep as much distance as possible (moonkin form doesn't confer too much protection) while firing laser beams and feral druids will keep enemies in place with a bevy of snares and stuns while tearing them to shreds. Restoration druids, of course, work primarily as support, keeping their more offensive-minded friends up... which probably makes them the most dangerous druids of all.

Speaking of restoration, as much as druids have different approaches, it should be noted that all druids are capable of healing themselves, albeit sometimes needing to change forms to do so. This makes them extremely difficult to take down, with even the rogue-like cats healing themselves reasonably well. One important distinction with this is that for obvious reasons, druids not specced into Restoration will have weaker and more expensive heals. Another thing is to remember is that druid healing consists of powerful heal-over-time components. This makes abilities such as Purge or Dispel Magic invaluable when fighting them. Keep those HoTs off! Most druids will have a HoT or two ticking on themselves to mitigate damage. Classes able to remove or neutralize these have a powerful weapon against druids.

Balance druids
Although a DPS tree, balance or moonkin druids suffer some disadvantages when engaged in melee and the Moonkin Form is mostly used for its offensive punch. This is why many Balance druids will open stealthily, casting a long, high-crit Starfire from a distance. It isn't uncommon for Night Elves to start Shadowmelded while casting a high powered nuke. Starfire and Moonfire are a moonkin druid's bread and butter along with Wrath, spammed from a distance and causing tremendous damage when left uninterrupted.

A balance druid is all about dealing damage. A whole lot of it. They will throw spells like Insect Swarm and Moonfire to apply damage-over-time effects and to boost their subsequent attacks, so classes able to remove debuffs should always make sure these stay off. The best way to deal with balance druids is to close the distance while they are in moonkin form. They will use Entangling Roots and Cyclone liberally, being the spec that is most reliant on them to establish proper distance and positioning. Catching them as moonkins means they will be unable to heal themselves and will be forced to change to humanoid form when low on life. This usually means they're in the worst shape, so take advantage.

Balance druids also have access to Force of Nature, which summons three treants to fight for them. These can dish out a lot of damage and push back spellcasting, which can be difficult for spellcasters. Smart Druids will also debuff opponents with Faerie Fire, allowing the treants to hit for a little more. While these minions probably won't kill a player by themselves, it buys the balance druid precious casting time, allowing them to fire off a big nuke to finish off opponents softened up by a mob of furious trees. AoE fears work well here, such as Howl of Terror or Psychic Scream. The idea is to get rid of the treants quickly and prevent the moonkin from doing more serious damage.

Feral druids
A melee druid is a fearsome opponent. Think of them as taking the best parts of warriors and rogues with the unparalleled ability to move around. In PvP, it will be more common to find cat druids than bears, whose abilities are generally geared towards PvE tanking. It isn't uncommon, however, to see druids shift into bear form in order to use Bash to stun an opponent or interrupt a spell. Out of three specs, feral druids benefit the most from stealthed openers, usually engaging their opponents with a Ravage or Pounce.

Cat druids can unload a whole lot of damage in a short amount of time, all while their opponents are stunned. They are effectively rogues -- with several abilities that mirror the class -- and can prove to be a handful for many casters. Most of their abilities and debuffs are also physical, making them almost impossible to remove. As mentioned, druids can heal themselves, giving them a slight edge against actual rogues in this regard. Well-timed Maims and Bashes not only interrupt spellcasting but are also used as a precursor to self-heals, so watch out for them. Be prepared to break stuns at strategic moments and not just at the first opportunity.

One key here is that cat form confers very little by way of protection. Cat druids can dish out a lot of damage but also take it in equal measure. Veteran druids will more often face melee opponents in bear form for the mitigation, switching to cat form only during stuns or when attacking from behind and the opponent is busy elsewhere. On the other hand, feral druids will often stay in cat form against casters because physical mitigation is useless, anyway. The idea is to deal as much damage to them when they lapse into cat form and prevent them from casting self-heals, which they'll preempt with a stun, Cyclone, or even Barkskin.

A good tip to remember is that while druids can break most movement-impairing effects, it costs a lot of mana. Because feral druids have low mana pools, they will avoid doing this too often. If you can spam crowd control or snares to force them to use up their mana shapeshifting. It's better than allowing them to spend their mana on heals, which is what they are saving it for. Feral Druids depend on Innervate to replenish their small mana pool, so don't allow it if your class can manage to remove buffs.