Best Druid spells?

[MalkovichMalkovich]

Getting a new level of spells can be overwhelming. It's hard to get a sense of what great because there's of grazes and misses and everything is situation. But what are the standouts for each level? Also, do any synergize well with certain talents?

 

I love those handy rating FAQs and posts where people assign number ratings to everything. Especially nice when you can't respec.

[Bugged Wolf Companion]

i found that fire beetle (i think lvl 5) is the most damaging spell in the game given the time/damage ratio

 

then there are 2 true damage spells one is a flower on lvl 6 and the other is an insect swarm at lvl 4 or 5 im sorry that i cant remember the details anymore.

 

Those are extremely good against highly resistant enemies. And of course there is the lightning storm which damages and stuns enemies.

[Kaigen42]

I only have experience with the first two levels of Druid spells, but my favorites are:

 

1st

 

Dancing Bolts is a nice, party friendly AoE, which is handy on Hard/PotD for those fights with large numbers of melee enemies which quickly devolve into chaos.

 

Nature's Vigor is a great healing spell, but it has a tiny AoE radiating from the Druid, so even with a maxed Intellect, your Druid needs to be right up next to whoever you want it to help.

 

Sunbeam is not party friendly and has a smaller AoE, but it does great damage and blinds. If you've got a well-defined front line, you can often hit two or three enemies with it safely.

 

Winter Wind is hard to use, since it's a party-unfriendly cone, but it does a lot of damage and the push effect is great for buying your ranged DPS more time to soften up enemies before they can engage. Try positioning your Druid between and just behind your tanks, and have a Wizard ready to mess with the enemies that are now bunched up and away from your party.

 

2nd

 

Blizzard does good damage with a DoT effect and an attack rate penalty. Party unfriendly, so try to position it so your tanks are on the edge and holding the enemy in the AoE.

 

Insect Swarm doesn't do great damage for a 2nd level spell, but the concentration penalty is great for enabling interrupts, and it's party friendly.

 

Woodskin is a good party buff against the right enemies. Pay attention to what kind of damage you're taking, as it only applies to certain types.

 

As far as synergies and strategies go, one thing to note is that even in the first two spell levels Druids can inflict any type of damage, so if you identify a weakness in a monster, you have a means of exploiting it. Since you have a couple of good freezing spells early which become encounter spells at high levels, Secrets of the Rime isn't a bad option for an early talent pick. As an added bonus, it increases your Freeze DR as well, which is handy against Shadows and Shades. On the other hand, there are hardly any freeze damage spells above level 2 for the Druid to use, so it's not a talent that will help you leverage your most powerful spells later on. If you want something that will boost your high level spells, Scion of Flame (to boost Sunbeam) or Heart of the Storm (for Dancing Bolts) might be better options.

[Odd Hermit]

Sunbeam

Winter Wind, Blizzard

Returning/Relentless Storm

Insect Swarm / Plague

Wicked Brars / Wall of Thorns

Firebug

Stag's Horn

Venombloom

 

Depends on what you're up against really. Vs. big boss battles I like stacking their longer duration AoEs that have multiple chances to hit, spells that have debuffs, and/or raw damage from the insect spells and venombloom. For weaker groups blasting away with direct elemental damage seems better, depending on their DRs. Depends on difficulty as well, PotD favors debuffs and high damage over time a bit more.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Odd Hermit

[Evange]

Firebug is really powerful to massacre groups of enemies.