Druid

The  Druid is one of the nine classes in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, represented by Malfurion Stormrage

Heroes

Background

Main article: Druid

Druids harness the vast powers of nature to preserve balance and protect life. With experience, druids can unleash nature’s raw energy against their enemies, raining celestial fury on them from a great distance, binding them with enchanted vines, or ensnaring them in unrelenting cyclones. Druids can also direct this power to heal wounds and restore life to fallen allies. They are deeply in tune with the animal spirits of Azeroth. As master shapeshifters, druids can take on the forms of a variety of beasts, morphing into a bear, cat, storm crow, or sea lion with ease. This flexibility allows them to fill different roles during their adventures, tearing enemies to shreds one minute and surveying the battlefield from the sky the next. These keepers of the natural order are among the most versatile heroes in Azeroth, and they must be prepared to adjust to new challenges on a moment’s notice.

Hero Power

Shapeshift is the druid's Hero Power. It grants the druid a +1 Attack for that turn, and +1 Armor, allowing them to tackle enemy minions head-on, or even attack the enemy hero directly. It is useful for removing smaller or weakened minions, and can be combined with effects like Claw or Savage Roar to increase damage output. When no other options present themselves, Shapeshift is a decent fallback option, combining the accumulation of a small amount of Armor with the opportunity to deal small amounts of damage to the opponent's hero or minions.

NB: while the Armor gained by Shapeshift stacks with other Armor effects and is not lost at the end of your turn, the Attack bonus is only available for the turn the Hero Power is used.

Unique mechanics

The Choose One ability allows the player to choose one of two options upon playing a card. Choose One effects are only available to the druid class, and provide powerful versatility, allowing the player to choose between effects depending on their chosen strategy and immediate needs. For example Ancient of War can become either a 10/5, or a 5/10 Taunt - representing powerful aggressive and defensive approaches respectively.

Through cards like Nourish, Wild Growth, Grove Tender, and Innervate, the druid also has unique access to accelerated mana gain. In an extreme example: the player can use two Wild Growths to achieve 10 mana crystals two turns earlier than usual, or even gain up to four more mana crystals (for a single turn only) by using two Innervates; this would allow a possible 14 available mana crystals upon a Druid's eighth turn.

Strategy and gameplay

The druid class offers an immensely versatile style of play; capitalizing on the Choose One mechanic given to the druid is essential to make the most of the druid's potential.

A druid is unafraid of taking the offensive himself; the Hero Power Shapeshift allows him to deal minimal damage, while also gaining Armor to make up for health loss. Claw, Bite and Savagery can take this aspect further.

Druids have powerful damage spells that excel at removal and burn tactics; Wrath, Swipe, Starfall and Starfire. The combination of these cards means continuous board control. Spell Damage can make these even more potent, with Swipe being the premier example as both single-target and board-wide damages are increased.

Another thing druids are very good at is fast mana growth through Innervate and Wild Growth. Two Innervates in your initial draw allows you to play a 5 mana (if playing first) or 6 mana (if playing second) creature on your first turn. If your opponent doesn't have any cards to nullify heavy-hitters (such as Polymorph or Execute) or lots of low-cost Taunts, this can potentially allow you to shave off half or more of their health in the first few turns.

The druid's unique minions are primarily geared towards the mid and late game, and embody the class's theme of flexibility. Druid of the Claw and Ancient of War are both bulky Taunt defenders for their cost, and can be also used in an offensive manner. Ancient of Lore is a potent source of card draw, but can also be used to heal in dire situations. Finally, Cenarius can summon Treants to rally a comeback, or empower the druid's army with a devastating buff to finish the game.

Druids are often considered to be the class least affected by RNG, due to the versatility of their Choose One effects, helping the druid to change strategy mid-game.

Druid spells

See Spell.

Uncollectible Spells

The following spells are generated by other druid spells or effects, and are uncollectible.

NB: individual Choose One effect cards are not listed here; see Choose One for a full list.

Druid minions

All classes can also use other neutral minions in their decks. See Minion.

Uncollectible Minions

The following minions are generated through other Druid spells or effects, and are uncollectible.

Leveling rewards

As a hero reaches various levels, they are awarded new cards, with each class having its own rewards. All cards awarded by gaining levels are soulbound, and cannot be crafted or disenchanted.

Levels up to 10 award new basic class-specific cards (one card every two levels), while levels after this award only golden versions of existing cards.

Starting cards

The Druid starts with the following class cards:

Levels 2-10

Up to level 10, reaching each even-numbered level will award the player two copies of a new basic class card. These cards are not obtainable through any other means, and can not be disenchanted.

Level 2	Level 4	Level 6
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Level 8	Level 10
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Levels 11-60

Above level 10, reaching certain levels will award golden versions of existing basic cards. As they are soulbound, it is not possible to disenchant these cards, making the reward purely cosmetic. Reaching each required level will award a single golden card. Levels after 10 award golden versions of the basic class-specific cards, whereas levels after 50 award golden basic neutral minion cards.

Level 15/20	Level 23/26	Level 28/30
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Level 32/34	Level 36/38	Level 40/42
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Level 43/44	Level 45/46	Level 47/48
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Level 49/50	Level 51/52	Level 53/54
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Level 55/56	Level 57/58	Level 59/60
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