[CLASS BUILD] The Thundercat (or 'crit me maybe on more time!')

[nem0]

I have one more question, do the summons scale in POTD to the same as their enemy counterparts or do they remain in their normal stats?

Edited April 23, 2016 by nem0

[L4wlight]

They remain in their "normal" stats. In fact, they seem to have exactly the same stats as their enemy counterparts on non POTD difficulty.

Edited April 23, 2016 by L4wlight

[nem0]

They remain in their "normal" stats. In fact, they seem to have exactly the same stats as their enemy counterparts on non POTD difficulty.

Thanks again, that seems a little unfair but I guess that is the point of POTD.

[L4wlight]

I guess that, if you factor in all possible group buffs and debuffs/ disables, it seems to be more unfair for the enemies than for the player.

[nem0]

Does the steadfast proc apply aoe heal or just to the holder?

 

Edit: nm I found it

Edited May 11, 2016 by nem0

[Jabbott]

Extremely fun build! Thank you for the wonderfully detailed build, and spell guide!

[Elric Galad]

Finally confirmed avenging storm works with stag carnage. Thunderstag, thunderstag !

[rheingold]

Nice build some useful info as well.... But Thundercats.... perhaps you are showing your age

Edited June 24, 2016 by rheingold

[L4wlight]

Really?  

Well... If anything, Thundercats is a childhood nostalgia memory of mine.

[rheingold]

Yup of mine too, had plenty good memories of them (and gummi Bears) just pointing out that it was from the 80's.

[L4wlight]

True. It was the golden decade of cartoon animation.

[AndreaColombo]

Finally confirmed avenging storm works with stag carnage. Thunderstag, thunderstag !

 

 

You've been ... THUNDERSTAG! *catchy guitar riff*

[Boeroer]

ROFL - Andrea, wielder of Buttercut, where have you been?

[AndreaColombo]

ROFL - Andrea, wielder of Buttercut, where have you been?

 

Modding Baldur's Gate and playing The Witcher 3, mostly ... Killing time while waiting for 3.03 to drop. I've kept the build list updated, though Will add your Monksterlash build soon, btw.

[Boeroer]

I had no doubt about that. Thanks!

[DreamWayfarer]

 

 

ROFL - Andrea, wielder of Buttercut, where have you been?

Modding Baldur's Gate and playing The Witcher 3, mostly ... Killing time while waiting for 3.03 to drop. I've kept the build list updated, though Will add your Monksterlash build soon, btw.

If you have been keeping it updated... WHERE IS THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE? THE WORLD MUST KNOW THE GLORY OF TWISTED SCROLL-USING ROGUES BEFORE POE2 IS OUT!

 

/Spiritcapslock

[Boeroer]

Oh, you didn't put that in? Ks ks ks...

[AndreaColombo]

OH NOES! My cunning plan of subtle sabotage was thwarted!

[Kingsman]

 

Really nice - and really a different kid of shapeshifter build. I love that synergy between Form of the Delemgan and Elemental Endurance. I totally overlooked that.

Two questions:

 

• Did you consider to put on Sanguine Plate to proc "the real" Frenzy and then switch to cat form? Should spare you a talent (Outlander's Frenzy) and give you a bit better stat and speed boosts. With the fitting helm you will also have that anti-prone and anti-stun thing like with Blaidh Golan. Would slow you down in kith form of course... What do you think?
• What about Gyrd Háewanes Sténes? I can restore one Spiritshift use per encounter. You have to attack with it though.

Really nice!

 

As for the Sanguine Plate, yes I think it is worth to consider (and I'm glad you brought it up and I'd like to hear your opinion about it too) and I have to admit that I totally forgot about the new Sanguine Plate's Helm, but there are two things about it, that I don't like: 1) the look on a druid (okay this is rather subjective) 2) the casting speed in plate armor. The latter is not even that bad, because (I only tested it shortly once) most of the time you get hit by a critical hit very fast, so you profit from the frenzy proc for the obligatory pre-cast phase too. But then there are times when you cast some more preparational stuff, leaving you with very little frenzy uptime for the spiritshift phase. With Outlander's Frenzy you have more control over the whole thing and you can use it right before spiritshifting and jump into the frey right after. In the end, it could be a matter of play style, taste and party composition.

 

I really have to test it some more. Maybe I'll add an alternative equipment entry, if I'm pleased with the results.

 

As for the soulbound sceptre: I tend to use this on my support priest or on my wizard, but yes it can of course be a thing, especially if you have a party that is not that strong in the AoE damage department, which extends the combat duration a bit. In my last playthrough the fights were rarely ever long enough and the duration of Spiritshift with 22 INT is most of the time sufficient. Also getting the sceptre to proc is not exactly a reliable thing.

 

Edit: Have you read about the whole Taste of the Hunt matter? It is really strong now. :D

With 9 perception and 3 res you would get owned on POTD what difficulty did you test this build on?

 

Perception is the most important stat (after intelligence) to raise on POTD because enemies have higher defences. Dumping res on POTD is doable but you would find the game far easier if you left it at 10 beacuse you would die a lot less.

[L4wlight]

I described the reasoning behind the particular attribute ratings - in detail! - in the note-section. And I tested it on PotD and never got owned once. In fact, this build plays like a demi god. Sure the start can be bumpy, but that's not unusual for a lot of builds...

 

If you really think that you need an above average accuracy to hit anything on PotD, then maybe you should learn to make proper use of buffs (you can buff your accuracy sky high) and debuffs (this build keeps all enemies on screen stunned for eternity after a simple reflex debuff...).

 

Also, both RES and PER are the most easy attributes to buff.

[Boeroer]

With 9 perception and 3 res you would get owned on POTD what difficulty did you test this build on?

 

Perception is the most important stat (after intelligence) to raise on POTD because enemies have higher defences. Dumping res on POTD is doable but you would find the game far easier if you left it at 10 beacuse you would die a lot less.

That's definitely not my experience. It totally depends on the type of build and party composition (if any).

[Kingsman]

 

With 9 perception and 3 res you would get owned on POTD what difficulty did you test this build on?

Perception is the most important stat (after intelligence) to raise on POTD because enemies have higher defences. Dumping res on POTD is doable but you would find the game far easier if you left it at 10 beacuse you would die a lot less.

That's definitely not my experience. It totally depends on the type of build and party composition (if any).

You must notice it when on spell casters especially. Try it, roll a caster with 9 perception and take note of how many of your spells miss or graze and then try a caster with 20 perception. There is a noticeable difference here and I just don't believe that you haven't noticed . Perception is especially important for a wizard on POTD as his crowd control spells are depended heavily on accuracy.

 

Of coarse I no how to buff and debufff. Buffing a caster who already has high perc is better then low perc obvisouly

[L4wlight]

Obviously, many spells of the druid class are different in the way that they reapply and spread damage/ afflictions/ hard crowd control effects etc. over and over again, resulting in accuracy not beeing that important as compared to spells that hit the target only once, so please stop comparing apples with pears.

 

This is especially true for all the storm spells. Set them up with a reflex debuff (like Tanglefoot) and after they stun the enemy once, it makes targets easier to hit on subsequent attacks.

 

I also found my critical hit chance with claws pretty high, thanks to hitting mostly cc'd targets. 10 PER is more than enough imo. For this build at least.

 

Edit: And don't mistake this build as a pure caster build. It's a melee build that uses mostly storm spells and other preperational stuff to set things up. It's more of an obligatory chore you have to get done before you can jump into action. Sure you can switch the values of DEX and PER if you like, but you'll need much longer to fulfill your caster dutys. Even on PotD difficulty the fights are pretty short. Keep this in mind.

Edited June 29, 2016 by L4wlight

[Boeroer]

At the start of the game the impact of high PER is much bigger than at higher levels. Of course you see a big difference when you roll a fresh caster. Because his crappy ACC gets nearly doubled. But at lvl 8 you can't see a huge difference anymore just by observing a few hit rolls. It's because PER gives you a flat bonus to ACC, but MIG or CON or INT give you bonuses which are percentage based.

[dgray62]

Thank you for this excellent build. I have never played a druid before, but this makes me want to try one out. I was wondering, however, since this build focuses on a one-handed weapon and shield, what is the point in taking the two-weapon style talent? Wouldn't it make more sense to take the weapon and shield style talent instead?