Class Build advice needed - Druid "Elemental Master"

[Belegc]

Hi All,

I've played both games extensively when they first came out and now that Avowed is coming, I've decided to dust off my limited knowledge and do a complete walkthrough again. Its nice to see the forums are still active after so long.

 

Being heavily inspired from Boeroer's excellent builds "The Vigorous Warthog" and "Chillfog" I wanted to play a versatile druid, focused on AOE and not necessarily Spirit Shifting (as I dislike the fact that gear doesn't count in Shape Shifting). I want it to be tanky, but not the "Sword and Shield" traditional tank with a strong elemental theme. in Deadfire I would like to combine it with Helwalker Monk for the immense passive Boni it gives and the AOE through Rooting Pain.

I would appreciate any advice regarding this build. currently I am on POE1.

 

Class: Druid (Boar Spiritshifting)

Race: Pale Elf (for the Elemental DR). I suppose Nature Godlike (if being without headgear is ok with you) is also very good for it.

Background: Aedyr - Slave

Attributes:

Might - 16

Con - 8 - you can increase or decrease it according to your playstyle and difficulty. its only a matter of how much you want to rest.

Dex - 8 - fighting fast is good, but I needed the points elsewhere

Per - 10

Int - 18

Resolve - 17 + 1 (Aedyr) - in truth you can lower it and put it in Per or Dex. however until now I found that two-weapon fighting is making you quick enough.

I also like the amount of options it gives me when dealing with quests.

 

Skills:

Survival for the 60% +Healing

either Athletics or Lore (Athletics gives you an extra self heal per encounter, but the amount is not great. Lore gives you more flexibility)

 

Talents:

Veteran's Recovery

Wound Binding - restoring health when your Con is low is greatly increasing your rest's intervals

Two-Weapon Fighting

Secrets of Rime

Scion of Flame

Heart of the Storm

Superior deflection

Either Weapon Focus Peasant or Cautious Attack (depends on your playstyle)

 

Gear:

Head: Tempered Helm

Armor: Aloth's Leather Armor (for the overseeing and its a leather armor so nice RP for a druid)

Gloves: Mourning Gloves

Boots: Shod-in-Faith

Cloak: Rymrgand's Mantle

Belt: Nature's Embrace

Rings: Gwyn's Band of Union/Ring of Thorns

Weapons: hatchet/spears/unarmed

 

Together with some nice buffs from your party you should get enough Deflection and ACC. Basically what you want to do is to start the combat with some AOE spells (returning storm is great) and start attacking. if you need a bit more punch, Spiritshift (which is good even if you didn't take Wildstrike related talents). you will do great damage, support your party, healing and be tanky enough (maybe not main tank but good enough for a frontliner).

 

Thank you for reading, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

Belegc

 

 

[Chaospread]

But what your druid is supposed to be, a healer, tanker, AoE debuffer, AoE damage dealer or a deck of many things?
If we catch your intents we can think better about the character... because with those stats I see him like a tank/healer, but we need maybe to work about some talents/abilities.
And in that case you should go with weapon and shield... if you wanna be an off tank with two weapons I think it is hard for a druid, and if you really want, stand at Boeroer's build and take Novice Suffering and unarmed combat.

[Belegc]

On 12/29/2024 at 7:43 PM, Chaospread said:

But what your druid is supposed to be, a healer, tanker, AoE debuffer, AoE damage dealer or a deck of many things?
If we catch your intents we can think better about the character... because with those stats I see him like a tank/healer, but we need maybe to work about some talents/abilities.
And in that case you should go with weapon and shield... if you wanna be an off tank with two weapons I think it is hard for a druid, and if you really want, stand at Boeroer's build and take Novice Suffering and unarmed combat.

Thank you for your response. this build can be a sort of a versatile off-tank. regarding weapon and shield - since the shield to use is Little Saviour its 14 deflection together with Weapon and Shield Style.

however, Moonwell gives you 10 deflection so the difference is not that great. hatchets gives you 5 deflection so it might be better to use at least one. as you can see the differences are not that great.

[Chaospread]

Indeed, anytime I've played a druid I have always used hatchet and shield because I dealt damage with spiritshift, spells and scroll.
Moonwell is good but you don't have it up all the time.
I've tried 2 hatchets and 2 spears as setups but no one was very effective for a druid, but you can give them a chance if you want.
Or maybe a ranged Druid with hunting bow (but better put them in others arms) or perhaps a semi-ranged one with some useful staff, i.e. Greenstone Staff or Guildmaster's Staff.
I'd always take peasant weapon focus. Another intriguing idea could be Firebrand since you pick Scion of Flame, but it would need a specific build...
By the way with mid PER and high MIG and INT this character is better as an off-tank healer/buffer (and maybe damage-absorbent) than off-tank damage dealer.
And all those equip versus frost-damage is justified only for RPG questions.