Anything Goes D2 Lounge!
- Thread starter art_vandelay
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- Mar 14, 2020
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If only we could account for stupidity, like, never picking up a pair of Sigon's boots or something. If I finished my grail on Sigon's boots, I would totally pretend I hadn't completed my grail rather than admit it 
- Mar 14, 2020
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Keep them, because one day, in the distant or not distant future, you might, perhaps, possibly, need one of them for a thing, which may or may not actually be required, which you will use once, or possibly not at all, but why take the chance, you may need them all one day. Keep them all.
And this my friends, is why we pick up El runes.
And this my friends, is why we pick up El runes.
- Oct 8, 2019
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I pick them up, because "omg orange"
also, notice the "Ith" in JahIthBer
also, notice the "Ith" in JahIthBer
- Mar 14, 2020
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To be fair, I did seriously try to make Enigma once and realise I was missing an Ith. I actually had to farm an Ith for an Enigma *facepalm*.I pick them up, because "omg orange"
also, notice the "Ith" in JahIthBer
The summoner druids are almost invariably described as a weak build and sometimes not even judged to be able to beat hell untwinked. I have started a couple of no vitality summoner druids who are still in their beginnings (level 27) but so far the personification of relaxed play, mostly due to the fact that they don't have any mercenary. Few others have been drinking so little potions during their early career.
Could someone a bit more experienced elaborate on the problems with summoner druids? When will they run into what kind of wall?
Could someone a bit more experienced elaborate on the problems with summoner druids? When will they run into what kind of wall?
I recently patted an untwinked fire/summoner druid, and here are some things I've noticed.
Fire wise...
Fire wise...
- Fissure is great even in hell against non-fire immunes.
- Volcano was said to be great for single-targets; it wasn't.
- Merc delivered most of the damage against FIs.
- Bear is an amazing tank.
- Bear does decent damage.
But against anything more than a couple enemies, the damage is offset by the regen after a knockback and the subsequent target switch. - Strategic re-summoning of the bear at target locations and angles seemed to work nicely.
- The molten boulder was used a lot - or, had to be used - to push around the monters;
so that the bear could focus on one or two enemies at a time. - Unlike a necro, you don't have much to do after summoning your minion(s).
I assume this is why the hunter druid became a thing.
- the bear's knockback + target switch has to be managed one way or another
- spirits are suicidal, and has to be resummoned often
- no inherent PI solution (fissure + woestave was my solution)
- lacking utilities (vs necro curses - though it seems an unfair comparison)
- Druid summon synergies work with + skills
- Dire wolves are decent against smaller critters; but soon die out to any hard hitting ones
- Some utilities include : blind from ravens, corpse disposal from vines/wolves, chain-knockback from molten boulders, stun from bear-form (amazing for untwinked btw), chill from frost blast/hurricane.
- Bear + Harmony on druid + Barb merc with Lawbringer is a great combo to target for when untwinked.
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- Mar 13, 2019
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This. It makes them completely unreliable and you don't want to lose half your life in one hit.
The real problem with Fissure/Summon though is that summons bind enemies to one spot, but fissure does the most damage when monsters run over it. They basically have an anti-synergy.
Of course the solution to this as well as the ghost problem is - as always - constant teleport with Enigma
- Mar 14, 2020
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Summoner druids are perfectly viable for hell. My personal preference is the hunter version, usually with a bow. I tend to use a mix of wolves and bear depending on circumstance. The lack of corpse requirement makes it really easy and repositioning them is a great, especially as you can do so individually, so you can split packs up very well. Also, I think for a summoner the spirits are perfectly usable as you can recast them so quickly. I generally cast them in a preventative manner rather than waiting for them to die. Plan for survivability without an oak sage, but it is still great to use.
- Oct 8, 2019
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oak is IMO only usable on Nadodruid because he doesn't need all the skillpoints and there's no downside
why would you cast oak if theres HoW for more damage and AR?
Also, in Nightmare HoW is Physimmune, so at least when playing through he is arguably better.
why would you cast oak if theres HoW for more damage and AR?
Also, in Nightmare HoW is Physimmune, so at least when playing through he is arguably better.
- Mar 14, 2020
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There's never a downside to having oak. Any time you're using a spirit you are using it with the caveat that you may suddenly lose that benefit, so you either make sure that your build isn't reliant on that bonus being up permanently, or you get very good at recasting appropriately.
In SC, sure, go maximum damage, but in HC the life bonus of oak sage is often worth it. Although, I actually use both depending on what I'm up against.
Thanks for the advice @Gynli and @Kitteh .
I generally prefer oak sage because it and its aura looks nice and its theme is endearing - a helpful spirit that makes its friends healthier. I think spirit wolves would need the help of it to not be swept away before they can do anything, or perhaps spirit of barbs if they function as short-lasting traps. Bears and possibly dire wolves could probably benefit more from the heart of wolverine.
I play the game unmodded so Harmony and Lawbringer and some other often used rune words aren't available. With a little luck though (= finding a Lem or Um rune) the druid should be able to deal a second damage type easily and a reserve weapon or mercenary could supply a third. Pesky physical immunes are business as usual as far as I'm concerned so if there's nothing worse I think it's encouraging.
With the druids faster attack speed with pole arms, have anyone tried supporting summons with a halberd or so to strike from behind the lines like a melee necromancer that strikes from behind bone walls or skeletons? Dire wolves supported by a cold mage and ravens seem like they could from a decent wall against many packs. You would basically trade a more hard-hitting mercenary for one allowing yourself to be hard-hitting.
I generally prefer oak sage because it and its aura looks nice and its theme is endearing - a helpful spirit that makes its friends healthier. I think spirit wolves would need the help of it to not be swept away before they can do anything, or perhaps spirit of barbs if they function as short-lasting traps. Bears and possibly dire wolves could probably benefit more from the heart of wolverine.
I play the game unmodded so Harmony and Lawbringer and some other often used rune words aren't available. With a little luck though (= finding a Lem or Um rune) the druid should be able to deal a second damage type easily and a reserve weapon or mercenary could supply a third. Pesky physical immunes are business as usual as far as I'm concerned so if there's nothing worse I think it's encouraging.
With the druids faster attack speed with pole arms, have anyone tried supporting summons with a halberd or so to strike from behind the lines like a melee necromancer that strikes from behind bone walls or skeletons? Dire wolves supported by a cold mage and ravens seem like they could from a decent wall against many packs. You would basically trade a more hard-hitting mercenary for one allowing yourself to be hard-hitting.
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Aesthetic is important. I'm currently playing a HF zealot which is definitely not optimised, but I do have frozen orbs flying all over the place
Do you have a Reaper's for your merc? If not, maybe you could use a CtC amplify damage weapon?
Do you have a Reaper's for your merc? If not, maybe you could use a CtC amplify damage weapon?
I haven't gotten so far with any planned summoner so we'll see if a Reapers Toll drop, but it's so rare that I wouldn't count on it. Cursing rare weapons will be something to gamble for though. I started a hunter druid with spirit wolves and a rogue some time ago that is supposed to be able to support them with cursing blade bows or something like that, unless some funny unique bow drops. Named Gaston to taunt my wife who likes the beauty and the beast, teamed up with the rogue Elly (closest available name to Belle I think). His creeping sycophant can be represented by the poison creeper.
I'm not exactly a fan of the town guards in general but they are interesting for certain builds. Thorns with spirit of barbs sounds interesting to try, they could have some spirit wolves and a poison creeper along to act as cheap traps for enemies and distractions to keep the heat off the town guard. The base vitality druids that sort of was the reason I asked will be going without mercenaries completely, they will have to manuoevre very carefully and having a hireling to watch out for wil get in the way of operating effectively.
I'm not exactly a fan of the town guards in general but they are interesting for certain builds. Thorns with spirit of barbs sounds interesting to try, they could have some spirit wolves and a poison creeper along to act as cheap traps for enemies and distractions to keep the heat off the town guard. The base vitality druids that sort of was the reason I asked will be going without mercenaries completely, they will have to manuoevre very carefully and having a hireling to watch out for wil get in the way of operating effectively.
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- Feb 24, 2006
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I'm currently working on a hunter druid of my own, following somewhat closely a guide that I wrote twelve years ago, back when I played B.net instead of SP. I guess I kind of want to prove to myself that I can still "pat" such a build.
@Maltatai, I look forward to reading more about your "glass cannon" druid hunters! The Thorns/Spirit of Barbs combo sounds interesting. It would be funny to dress up the mercenary in a Corpsemourn armor that proc's an Iron Maiden curse - that would stack a trifecta of damage-returned skills. If only we could also add attacker-takes-lighting damage, and a Shiver or Chilling Armor proc to return cold damage too. Then we could have a three-types-of-damage pincushion/masochist build that would be just so frustratingly annoying to play...
I was told that an Oak Sage benefits from its own aura, and therefore at a high enough skill level I think it can even surpass the hitpoints of an equivalently leveled Spirit of Barbs. If this fact still fails to persuade you @d2lover to love and cherish Oak Sages like some of the rest of us, that's understandable, because druid spirits habitually choose to wander next to monsters and get themselves whacked.
@Maltatai, I look forward to reading more about your "glass cannon" druid hunters! The Thorns/Spirit of Barbs combo sounds interesting. It would be funny to dress up the mercenary in a Corpsemourn armor that proc's an Iron Maiden curse - that would stack a trifecta of damage-returned skills. If only we could also add attacker-takes-lighting damage, and a Shiver or Chilling Armor proc to return cold damage too. Then we could have a three-types-of-damage pincushion/masochist build that would be just so frustratingly annoying to play...
I was told that an Oak Sage benefits from its own aura, and therefore at a high enough skill level I think it can even surpass the hitpoints of an equivalently leveled Spirit of Barbs. If this fact still fails to persuade you @d2lover to love and cherish Oak Sages like some of the rest of us, that's understandable, because druid spirits habitually choose to wander next to monsters and get themselves whacked.
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