Looking for Druid Advice

[Wolken3156]

 

For talents, grab the electricity and frost damage enhancers. They will serve you well.

 

I think burn is the best. The only worthwhile Frost spell is Blizzard. Dancing Bolts at level 1 is outdone by Sunbeam, and the storm-based spells don't do enough damage per hit to benefit greatly from another 20%.

Relentless Storm and Returning Storm can be stacked together. With both spells going off at once, you're looking at a ton of damage being thrown out per second. They're the best Druid spells by far, so no, you do want Heart of the Storm. Just maybe not in early game since, yeah, Dancing Bolts is pretty garbage.

 

Winter Wind does more damage than Sunbeam, but its a nightmare to aim unless you're a gimmicky melee Druid. Hail Storm though, is a much better 4th level spell than Boiling Spray. Though usually summoning Blights is the best use of 4th level spells anyway =/

 

Enchanted clothing, any good ranged weapon(guns ftw). +1 spell talents(20% more spells is too good to pass). Bear form if melee. This is how i do it.

I don't like the +1 spell talents. There's items that can do the same thing, plus once you hit a certain level, 1st and 2nd level spells become per encounter instead of per rest.

 

His spells are all AOE, which makes them pretty useless. Spellcasting is so slow that by the time the spell goes off, the monsters I was aiming at have moved clear across to the other side of the screen. If I wait for the monsters to stop moving, they are clumped around my tank and I can't use any AOEs without killing my fighter.

90% of the battles in the game are against large groups, 99% on higher difficulties. So AoE damage is actually very useful to have. If you increase your Druid's Intelligence you can increase the "safe zone" in your spells as well.

 

As for casting time, don't wear anything beyond clothes or even going naked. The recovery penalties from armor have some serious impacts on casting speed. Also, increasing your Dexterity will boost your casting times as well. I have no idea why the in-game star things don't have that as a recommended stat for Druid... it really is very important for them.

[Lasci]

Hail Storm does crush damage, not freeze. The frost talent is practically useless; it only helps Blizzard.

 

The shock talent is good only for the storm-based spells. Which you're right, they can be stacked -- but they don't do much damage per hit because they stun enemies. Compared to burn spells, which all do high damage and target multiple enemies, the shock talent isn't worth it compared to the burn one, especially considering the burn talent can be used immediately with Sunbeam. The storm spells are good on their own; they aren't there to do insane damage, they're there to chip out the enemy gradually while stunning them. You'll get a lot more bang for your +20% buck with the high damage fire spells.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Lasci

[Shadenuat]

You can just take everything and use everything, there aren't many talents for spellcasters anyway. Cold is good for spamming level 1 cold spell which is like fan of flames but better because it is more narrow but longer so it's very easy to aim by just flanking enemies, lightning is good for lightning, and fire is nice for sun based spells and to **** up petrified targets with Sun Lance.

Corrosion is probably the only that is eeh, since Venombloom and Plague of Insects do raw damage, and low level corrosion spells ain't worth it.

[Wolken3156]

The shock talent is good only for the storm-based spells. Which you're right, they can be stacked -- but they don't do much damage per hit because they stun enemies.

Relentless Storm, sure. But Returning Storm is definitely damage based. With each bolt doing at around 30 base shock damage. Each separate bolt fired gets the +20% as well, so it gets benefits from the talent much more than most spells do.

 

As for Fire vs. Ice, well eh, I suppose its a matter of taste. Pretty sure Hail Storm does both Crush and Freeze though, the description says that much anyway. Firebug though, is a damn fine spell, so I'll give you that. If you don't grab Marksman or any Weapon Focus talents, you probably can grab all three.

 

 

Corrosion is probably the only that is eeh, since Venombloom and Plague of Insects do raw damage, and low level corrosion spells ain't worth it.

The explosion from Rot Skulls is Corrode damage... though I don't think its worth burning a talent slot for that.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Wolken3156

[Shadenuat]

Ooh right the awesome celtic spell. P. fun although I haven't tried it against targets with high Deflection.

[Bubbles]

 

The shock talent is good only for the storm-based spells. Which you're right, they can be stacked -- but they don't do much damage per hit because they stun enemies.

Relentless Storm, sure. But Returning Storm is definitely damage based. With each bolt doing at around 30 base shock damage. Each separate bolt fired gets the +20% as well, so it gets benefits from the talent much more than most spells do.

 

As for Fire vs. Ice, well eh, I suppose its a matter of taste. Pretty sure Hail Storm does both Crush and Freeze though, the description says that much anyway. Firebug though, is a damn fine spell, so I'll give you that. If you don't grab Marksman or any Weapon Focus talents, you probably can grab all three.

 

You can build a good Druid with nothing but +elemental damage and extra spell slot talents. Weapon damage barely matters once you hit level 9 and can spam per-encounters. The only problem is the heavy need for micromanaging, so you're always casting a spell.

[Wolken3156]

Went and used Hail Storm on a bunch of puny assassins. It does indeed do Crush and Freeze damage, though only a fraction of the damage is Freeze based.

 

 

Oh yes, it was overkill. But they had it coming to them.

[Layne66]

A lot of good info in this thread. It's too bad the spiritshift is so bad in the later levels, I really like the idea of druids wrecking face in bear form. I will keep my guy in hide armor though, fits the look of a druid better than robes or birthday suits to me.

[Koth]

So... Talents for a caster Druid?

 

Thinking:

 

Secrets of Rime (+20% Cold Dmg)

Scion of Flame (+20% Fire Cmg)

Heart of the Storm (+20% Shock Dmg)

Bloody Slaughter (+20% Hit to Crit + 0.5x Crit Mult)

Weapon Focus Soldier (+6 Accuracy for Arbalest / Arquebus)

Gunner (x1.2 Reload Speed)

[Lasci]

So... Talents for a caster Druid?

 

Thinking:

 

Secrets of Rime (+20% Cold Dmg)

Scion of Flame (+20% Fire Cmg)

Heart of the Storm (+20% Shock Dmg)

Bloody Slaughter (+20% Hit to Crit + 0.5x Crit Mult)

Weapon Focus Soldier (+6 Accuracy for Arbalest / Arquebus)

Gunner (x1.2 Reload Speed)

 

Don't get the cold damage. Take piercing shots instead if you're going gunner. I'd probably replace Heart of the Storm for Marksman, too.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Lasci

[Koth]

TBH I wasn't really thinking that weapon / gun dmg would be the focus here, but I guess it would be worth it if it weren't for the fact that I'm now level 6 and have just picked up all three of the elemental dmg talents. My kingdom for a respec potion.

[sims796]

This is...really irritating. I actually did want to create a melee based Druid, simply because it sounded fun. It's disheartening to hear that it's not really viable.

[Koth]

I hear you Sims, I felt the same way about melee rogue... or an AoE dmg Mage... before restarting as a spell casting druid.

 

Seems to me like the only viable melee specs in the game are Barbarian or Paladin (possibly monk or chanter to a lesser extent), correct me if I'm wrong.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Koth

[RevBlue]

I've played for about 7 hours with a druid as my main character and I'm probably going to start over.

 

His spells are all AOE, which makes them pretty useless. Spellcasting is so slow that by the time the spell goes off, the monsters I was aiming at have moved clear across to the other side of the screen. If I wait for the monsters to stop moving, they are clumped around my tank and I can't use any AOEs without killing my fighter.

 

I'm going to try and find a more useful spellcaster class.

 

You do realize most(if not all?) of the druid AoE are foe only?....

plus you probably need to work on your positioning and targeting in battle if you can't land his AoEs, learn to plan in advance.

[Urthor]

Melee mage is actually very good, the Mage melee spells actually do pretty well if you use them correctly.  

 

Melee DPS wise, none of the melee builds really match up to the Cipher/other casters if we're going to be brutally honest, but Barb/Paladin/Rogue/Monk all have top tier melee DPS builds, and I think ranger as well.

 

 

I've played for about 7 hours with a druid as my main character and I'm probably going to start over.

 

His spells are all AOE, which makes them pretty useless. Spellcasting is so slow that by the time the spell goes off, the monsters I was aiming at have moved clear across to the other side of the screen. If I wait for the monsters to stop moving, they are clumped around my tank and I can't use any AOEs without killing my fighter.

 

I'm going to try and find a more useful spellcaster class.

 

You do realize most(if not all?) of the druid AoE are foe only?....

plus you probably need to work on your positioning and targeting in battle if you can't land his AoEs, learn to plan in advance.

 

 

Sunbeam/Blizzard/Overwhelming wave are by far the best AOEs for their levels and aren't Foe AOE, Blizzard/Sunbeam are your best per encounter spells and overwhelming wave is probably the best spell in the book after the two storms and insects because great damage+amazing base 10 stun.

 

Regardless you're right, the difference between Foe AOE spells and non-Foe AOE is pretty negligible, with max'd intellect most fights you can easily position your spells so they don't catch your casters, and only very occasionally you'll be casting onto your tanks, which is fine because Vigorous Defence is probably the best (non-Cipher) per encounter ability in the game.

 

 

Non-Cipher Casters are just not that great in Act 1 that's it. Cipher is the best caster class in the game by a country mile, and it gets its best abilities EARLY, 1 Cipher+figurines using Antipathetic Field/Ectopsychic at lvl 1 and lvl 5 does almost as much DPS as two Druids.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Urthor

[sims796]

Question. I found this little mod whilst surfing

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/36/?

 

It grants

 

- Boar Regen Boost : boosted the boar form regeneration from 1 to 2
- Claw ACC Boost : boosted spiritform claws with +6 accuracy bonus
- Abilities Per Encounter : changed all spiritform active abilities from per rest to per encounter
- Stag Defence Boost : boosted stag defence passive from +7 to +21 resistances
- Armor Boost/No Stamina Boost : Boosted regular spiritform armor from 8 to 14 and bear armor from 10 to 16
- Armor Boosts/Stamina Boosted : Boosted regular spiritform armor from 8 to 14 and bear armor from 10 to 16, and add to the armor stamina boosts of 20 for regular forms and 30 for bear form. ATTENTION ! - in case of installing armor boost chose only 1 version of the files [either no stamina or boosted stamina]

 

Now, I didn't wanna mod up on my first playthrough, especially with the new unknown patch on the way, but is this worth the load? Will this aid in the Spritshift's viability? Mind you, I've chosen Cat.

[delra]

- Shifting is useless beyond first few levels, not worth talents.

- You want your druid to be a good gunner, but you don't really need to pile up talents for that, my druid was the best damager with a simple +1 crossbow and no talents for it.

- Spells are AOE, but they don't target your team. Most practical are lightnings, even if a little lower damage, they are going to cover the entire battlefield, hit all enemies regardless of how far they are. That makes them more damaging than limited area fire spells. If any spell damage talents, I'd take storm.

- Starting a fight, pop a relentless storm and one of regen spells (they are really powerful), then chain-spam Dancing Bolts to weaken every single enemy and possibly kill off their casters. Then you can focus on debuffs and buffs, like Nature's Mark or Beetle's Shell, or maybe summon a Blight to finish things off.

 

Come level 9, you can outdamage your Rogue if you use all your Bolts in short succession while fighting against a large crowd.