PvM wind druid: oak sage or twister for final?

[skyfiredraco]

PvM wind druid: oak sage or twister for final?

hi everyone, i just fired up a wind druid I made back near the beginning of 1.10 and had a question on skill placement.

I had built him (only up to level 46) as max oak sage, hurricane, tornado, cyclone armor and remaining in twister (in that order).

While this does work quite well in act 2 nightmare so far I get the feeling that I dont NEED that extra life of a maxed oak sage this early with decent equipment and the points would have been better spent maxing tornado as i maxed hurricane (tornado is about level 6 before skills now and hurricane is one from max).

So, for a PvM wind druid would it be better to only put 5-ish points into oak sage right off and save the rest for tornado/hurricane/cyc armor and then max twister before oak sage?

Just wondering because if I am going to rebuild him I would rather do it before I sink to much more time into him.

thanks.

 

[LemurSpirit]

mine is lvl83 and I left oak to the end.

I'll max all skills at lvl84 (need just one more point in twister), then I'll have 17 points (including 2 remaining points from izual) to pump oak.

btw, I put 5~8 points in oak early (can't remember the right number now)

with oak and shako I have around 18xx life

 

[skyfiredraco]

thx lemur, thats about what i thought.

I'm still not sure whether i want to re-build him or not considering i'm having little trouble in act 2 nm with mediocre equipment and the sage is a nice boost to myself and my merc.... but i'll take what you said into consideration.

I have a few points spread on cyc armor and tornado so i think i'll calculate up what level i'll have to be to max the main 4 damage skills when i get home and decide from there whether it is worth it or not to go back through norm again :yawn:

The biggest thing holding me back right now is the fact you have to practically melee with a non-shifter druid up until level 24 to get your skills.... not a major problem but that part of my wind druid was so damned boring and my skills are so fun that I may keep him as he is just so i dont have to do it again lol.

 

[Æ’enris]

Max your wind skills first. (twister last)
Then finish oak, it should be done at lvl 94 if you didn't waste points, but a level 20 oak with +skills is fine.

 

[Burnt_toasty]

Just to lend weight to what others have said.

Maxing OS isnt neccessary just nice. Having a few points can help enough with plusses. You prolly have 7+ to druid skills so..... In fact, I like a few pts in OS with a tough meatshield bear

 

[jazepi]

Wind Druid

Heya guys,

Just gonna tell ya about my wind druid build, maybe offer ya some insight.
I am currently level 92, on USWest Ladder.

I made one mistake building my wind druid, and that was putting too many points into arctic blast, I did not realize it wasn't a synergy til I had about 15 points into it, DOH!

Oh well, I went on.

here's what ive got

Cyclone Armor:20 pts
Twister: 20 pts
Tornado: 20 pts
Hurricane: 20 pts

Oak Sage: 6pts
Grizzly: 1pt

Pre-req's for grizz, 1 each. Let me explain my thinking here. Early on I found a +2 to elemental skills helm with +1 to grizz, so I used it. You wouldnt believe how nice it was having a merc and a grizz to tank for ya, even if he isnt that strong. In any case, I got ravenlore later on and wanted to continue using grizz, so I put some points into it.

Now for equipment, pretty basic really

Um'ed Ravenlore
+3 Elemental Ammy
Leviathan Armor
Stormshield (have yet to socket it)
Earthshaker
Glooms Trap (waiting for arachnid mesh, of course)
Sandstorms Trek
Dracul's with 10LL(no idea why, just found them, need to get something else)
Rare ring with 10FCR, and nice resists
Ravenfrost

For MF I use the following

Shako
Skullders
Alibaba
Rhyme Luna
Chancies
28 and 29 Nagel's
23Mf rare boots with 30FRW
Goldwrap
Gheed's

In my inventory I carry 4 +skills GC's and lots of small charms with various mods.

I can solo pretty much anything on my own, meph runs, etc, just gotta watch those stygian's dont go to crazy.

The best advice I can offer you is take your time building and dont make a stupid mistake like I did. I've made about 6 druids since 1.1, all over level 80, but only play on, although my firebear is pretty sweet.



I couldnt even tell you my base for stats, all I know is that I have enough dex to max my block, but not enough base STR for my SS. LOL, oh well, got some spare points to spend anyways.

In any case, if you play USwest and need a hand dont hesitate to send a message to jroffey

Kper

 

[LemurSpirit]

what about your fcr?

 

[jazepi]

fcr

yeah, I do have some FCR stuff too, was thinking about that last night, like perhaps I should craft some gloves, or at least use Magefists or Trangs....havent decided yet. I do have fcr stuff too, like lidless, not sure which I should use. Of course some Druid's like suicide branch, or wizspike, I really like the extra damage from the +3 hammer though. I also was using Qua Heagan's armor or whatever its called up until a couple days ago....heh.
Im still kinda messing with my equipment, so I could end up using anything really....heh.

 

[GIR]

hi everyone, i just fired up a wind druid I made back near the beginning of 1.10 and had a question on skill placement.

I had built him (only up to level 46) as max oak sage, hurricane, tornado, cyclone armor and remaining in twister (in that order).

While this does work quite well in act 2 nightmare so far I get the feeling that I dont NEED that extra life of a maxed oak sage this early with decent equipment and the points would have been better spent maxing tornado as i maxed hurricane (tornado is about level 6 before skills now and hurricane is one from max).

So, for a PvM wind druid would it be better to only put 5-ish points into oak sage right off and save the rest for tornado/hurricane/cyc armor and then max twister before oak sage?

Just wondering because if I am going to rebuild him I would rather do it before I sink to much more time into him.

thanks.

Definetly get your Wind synergies down first. Right now I'm going through act 1 NM, soloing in 8 player, and I've had no trouble, and I have 105 stat points I haven't even distributed yet. I made the "mistake" (I use that term relatively loosely in this instance) of putting 3 points into twister early on, but I soon discovered that the damage didn't go up anything noticeable to help any. While it's not an actual bad thing since I'm going to end up maxing it eventually anyways, it still would have been nice to have those extra 2 points into Hurricane at the moment. I just go to level 50 and completed the Cain quest a few minutes ago. I've got Cyclone Armor and Tornado maxed, 10 points into Hurricane, and 3 points into Twister.

I've started this character from scratch, using only equipment that I've found.

So far I have the following:

Death Cowl Circlet: +18 to Life, All Resistances +18, and Magical Damage Reduced by 2.
Blood Coat Breast Plate: +139% Enhanced Defense, +41 Life, Lightning Resist +21%, Fire Resist +29%, Damage Reduced by 1, Attacker takes Damage of 9.
Death Clasp Plated Belt: +53 to Life, +5 to Mana, Lightning Resist +26%
Soul Harvest Scythe: +57% Enhanced Damage, +45 to Attack Rating, 10% Mana Stolen Per Hit, 30% Chance of Open Wounds, +5 to Energy, All Resistances +20.
Chance Guards Chain Gloves: +25 to Attack Rating, 25% Enhanced Defense, +15 Defense, 200% Extra Gold From Monsters, 33% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items, +2 to Light Radius.
Fiend Trample Light Plated Boots: +20% Faster Run/Walk, Heal Stamina +50%, Lightning Resist +30%, Poison Length Reduced by 25%.
Nagelring Ring: +69 to Attack Rating, Magic Damage Reduced by 3, Attacker Takes Damage of 3, 29% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items. (I've found 3 of these so far.)
Grim Spiral Ring: +3 to Minimum Damage, +90 to Attack Rating, 3% Mana Stolen Per Hit, Poison Resist +5%, Magic Damage Reduced by 1.

Very happy so far.

 

[fuseslot]

Twister
oak is too weak in 1.10

 

[Zabin]

I've started this character from scratch, using only equipment that I've found.

So far I have the following:

Death Cowl Circlet: +18 to Life, All Resistances +18, and Magical Damage Reduced by 2.
Blood Coat Breast Plate: +139% Enhanced Defense, +41 Life, Lightning Resist +21%, Fire Resist +29%, Damage Reduced by 1, Attacker takes Damage of 9.
Death Clasp Plated Belt: +53 to Life, +5 to Mana, Lightning Resist +26%
Soul Harvest Scythe: +57% Enhanced Damage, +45 to Attack Rating, 10% Mana Stolen Per Hit, 30% Chance of Open Wounds, +5 to Energy, All Resistances +20.
Chance Guards Chain Gloves: +25 to Attack Rating, 25% Enhanced Defense, +15 Defense, 200% Extra Gold From Monsters, 33% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items, +2 to Light Radius.
Fiend Trample Light Plated Boots: +20% Faster Run/Walk, Heal Stamina +50%, Lightning Resist +30%, Poison Length Reduced by 25%.
Nagelring Ring: +69 to Attack Rating, Magic Damage Reduced by 3, Attacker Takes Damage of 3, 29% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items. (I've found 3 of these so far.)
Grim Spiral Ring: +3 to Minimum Damage, +90 to Attack Rating, 3% Mana Stolen Per Hit, Poison Resist +5%, Magic Damage Reduced by 1.

Very happy so far.

Congradulations, nice thing you play from scratch, not too many plays that way, myself included! Good Job


Zabin

 

[LemurSpirit]

yep, almost everybody I know use to play twinked or rushed. I think they miss the best part of the game.

 

[GIR]

Thanks. I'm actually having a lot of fun with it. It's rather exciting wondering when that next good item is going to come.

 

[GIR]

Just noticed I forgot to post one thing up there


Viper Necklace Amulet: +1 to Druid Skills, +14 to Attack Rating, +9 Maximum Stamina, Level 2 Holy Bolt. (25 Charges)

I'm thinking of using the Holy Bolt as a way to heal the Merc as an alternate to using potions. Haven't tried it out yet, though.

 

[corby000]

For my HC wind-druid i maxed the wind skills first (tornado and hurricane), then cyclone armour, now i'm working on oak sage, and lastly twister. Early on i did put a few pts in both oak sage and cyclone, so that i wouldn't die as easily. When i was leveling into the 70's fcr worked great. I was at 100% with spectral shard, que-hag's armour, and few other items. The tornado's fly out in a constant stream, doing 1.5k+ damage. Now that i'm doing some mf runs, i've dropped my fcr gear, and it takes a bit longer to kill baal, meph, etc (on nm for now), but still quite successful. These fcr items are quite easy to find, and work well for nm. As i start into hell, i'll definitely have to upgrade to more res, and dmg. For HC 1 pt in grizzly is a must. The extra 'shield' keeps you from being swarmed. Except for nm baal, the grizzly stays alive without any problem (and i've only got about +3 to skills). He's easily re-cast, so i'm not planning on putting any extra pts there. All in all a very enjoyable build.
I wouldn't bother re-starting your druid, as in the end you'll end up with the same skills maxed. For now you're just a bit slower on the damage side, and higher on the life side. I agree that from lvl 1-25, melee is painfully boring. Hope this helps, as i have learned tons from everyone's posts !!

 

[YomoKimyata]

Congradulations, nice thing you play from scratch, not too many plays that way, myself included! Good Job


Zabin

Indeed, kudos for untwinked! I decided to go the same route in 1.10 -- I take longer perhaps, but I get the job done:

Currently 82nd level

Jalal's
Magic ammy +1 druid skills 29% MF
Wizspike or suicide branch (ethereal dark clan crusher broke!)
4-socket superior dusk shroud (4x perf topaz)
Rhyme troll's nest
Goldwrap
crappy rare MF ring and a +mana ring
rare gloves with multiple resists and 24% MF
rare boots with mulitple resists and 24% MF
not much to speak of charm-wise other than a few 7%smfc

Max Twister
Max CA
Max Tornado
Max Hurricane
I think about 10 in OS

I have zero problem killing in Hell with what I think I can charitably call sh$t equipment. (although I am holding off on ancients until i can find some better equipment for my merc). I went the same route as many -- get OS up to about 3-5, then max the synergies (ending in twister, although I may have pumped CA too early).

I love playing untwinked, doing Diablo runs just because it is so alien to me to NOT be afraid of Oblivion Knights. I found a SS the other day and it was the greatest feeling in the world until I realized that I may not ever use it!

 

[skyfiredraco]

thx for all the replies guys

Due to the seeming general concensus i restarted my druid and am almost done with act 2 norm. Cant wait till i get back up to 24+ and get some abilities goin




p.s. definate kudos to the one playing un-twinked. I twink out most of my characters but sometimes when I want a bit of an added challenge i'll start one that can only mule one way (a.k.a. out). Its chars like that that make you truly appriciate gambling

 

[GIR]

p.s. definate kudos to the one playing un-twinked. I twink out most of my characters but sometimes when I want a bit of an added challenge i'll start one that can only mule one way (a.k.a. out). Its chars like that that make you truly appriciate gambling

Well, thanks to everyone. I don't know, it seems nowadays that everyone's looking to make that perfect character. (as seen by all these "What character should I play?" threads.) Pick a character that appeals to you. Maybe read some guides and see if any particular character jumps out at you as fun to play. Isn't that what it's all about?

And about the gambling, yeah, it's always great finding that next better item.

 

[I_Like_Chicken]

k i barely started a druid not knowing that much about them. Without thinking i put some points into artic blast like 6 so is that too much of a mess up to start over since he's only lvl 17 or could he be good in the end?

 

[Æ’enris]

He should be alright.
Just be careful with your points.
He certainly won't lack any noticeable killing power.