new player to Druid... warning new player questions inside

[snowlord]

Hey all, Have to explain a few things first off.

- returning player, but still am new to game, have only played for 5 months last year and got to lvl 11 with a ranger.
- older person, just looking to enjoy the game and not power game or get high tech into the mechanics of the game because we are just part time players, 3-4 times a week for couple hours.
- don't know all the terms and abbreviations people use on the forums.
- bought the Druid last year, but never played one yet. then took 10 months off gaming.

What I'm looking for help with; Basic fun Druid build.

1) good melee build druid not to complicated, but fun.

2) Heal/caster/CC druid build.

- would like to go dwarf
- no past life's, have not played that long
- no great gear

Thanks for any tips or advice.

[Munkenmo]

For a melee build i'd look into 9druid/9monk/2fighter - fight in winter wolf form.

Base stats (32point, you'll need a +2 dex tome by level 19)

17 str (+ all levels)
15 dex
14 con
8 int
15 wis
8 cha

leveling order
9druid > 9 monk > 2 fighter.
1 druid Empower Heal, (H) Power attack
2 druid
3 druid cleave
4 druid
5 druid
6 druid great cleave
7 druid
8 druid
9 druid Natural fighting
10 monk (M) Stunning fist
11 monk (M) TWF
12 monk improved crit bludgeoning
13 monk
14 monk
15 monk Master of forms, (M) Dodge
16 monk
17 monk
18 monk Natural Fighting
19 fighter (F) ITWF
20 fighter (F) GTWf
21 Epic Overwhelming Critical
22 Epic
23 Epic
24 Epic Natural Fighting
25 Epic
26 Epic Perfect Twf
27 Epic Blinding Speed
28 Epic Holy Strike

This build is based around the wolf and winter wolf forms which don't improve much at all after 9 druid levels, thus the heavy monk and fighter splash.

Pros :
good self healing
improved evasion
good amount of doublestrike.
stunning fist (though your DC won't be worthwhile in epic elite)
shadowfade
Master earth stance, improving your critical multiplier on 19 & 20 by 1 (eg. your bites with improved crit bludgeon are 18-20*3, with earth stance you've got *3 on a roll of 18, *4 on 19or20)

cons:
small spell point pool
loss of higher level druid spells
required to be centered to get all the monk benefits (worth it imo)


It's also worth noting that whilst the two weapon fighting feats are currently working in wolf form, this is considered a bug and may oneday get fixed. Fortunately all new characters get a free lesser reincarnation, so if this ever happens you won't be disadvantaged.

[Munkenmo]

This isn't quite so much a casting build, so much as a casting focused Hybrid build.

17druid/2monk/1wizard. (again assuming you'll get a +2 dex tome)

Starting Stats, 32points

15 str
15 dex
13 con
8 int
17 wis (+ All level ups)
8 cha

1 druid Maximise, (H) Power Attack
2 druid
3 monk Mental Toughness, (M) TWF
4 druid
5 druid
6 druid Quicken
7 druid
8 druid
9 wizard Empower Healing (W) Spell focus : Evocation
10 druid
11 druid
12 druid I Twf
13 druid
14 druid
15 druid Improved Crit Bludgeoning
16 druid
17 druid
18 druid G TWF
19 druid
20 monk (M) Stunning fist
21 epic Great spell Focus Evocation
24 epic Epic Spell focus Evocation
26 Perfect TWF
27 Improved Mental Toughness
28 ED

[Munkenmo]

just noticed you mentioned Dwarf, it's a sub optimal choice imo, if you're dead set on it though I'll revise the builds.

[unbongwah]

Since OP didn't mention having monk, 32-pt builds, or anything else, I'll KISS.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.19.03
DDO Character Planner Home Page


Level 28 True Neutral Dwarf Female
(2 Fighter \ 18 Druid \ 8 Epic) 
Hit Points: 378
Spell Points: 1530 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 17
Reflex: 5
Will: 20


                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 28)
Strength             14                    14
Dexterity             8                     8
Constitution         16                    16
Intelligence          8                     8
Wisdom               18                    28
Charisma              6                     6


Level 1 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack




Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Cleave




Level 3 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Wolf




Level 4 (Druid)
Ability Raise: WIS




Level 5 (Druid)




Level 6 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Bear




Level 7 (Druid)




Level 8 (Druid)
Ability Raise: WIS




Level 9 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Winter Wolf




Level 10 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons




Level 11 (Druid)




Level 12 (Druid)
Ability Raise: WIS
Feat: (Selected) Heighten Spell




Level 13 (Druid)
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Dire Bear




Level 14 (Druid)




Level 15 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Water Elemental




Level 16 (Druid)
Ability Raise: WIS




Level 17 (Druid)




Level 18 (Druid)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell




Level 19 (Druid)
Feat: (Druid Wild Shape) Wild Shape: Fire Elemental




Level 20 (Druid)
Ability Raise: WIS
Enhancement: Dwarf - Dwarven Toughness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Dwarf - Axe Training (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Nature's Warrior (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Instinctive Fighting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Instinctive Fighting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Extra Wild Empathy (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Extra Wild Empathy (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Extra Wild Empathy (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Aggravate (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Vengeful Hunter (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Vengeful Hunter (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Vengeful Hunter (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Action Boost: Double Strike (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Action Boost: Double Strike (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Action Boost: Double Strike (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Fatal Harrier (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Fatal Harrier (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Fatal Harrier (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Nature's Warrior (Drd) - Nature's Warrior Wisdom (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Seasoned (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Time (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Tide (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Sunburst (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Storm of Vengeance (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wand and Scroll Mastery (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Season's Greetings: Winter (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Season's Greetings: Winter (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Season's Greetings: Winter (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Beguile (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Beguile (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Beguile (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wax and Wane (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Produce Flame (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Produce Flame (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Produce Flame (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wax and Wane (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Action Boost: Spellpower (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Action Boost: Spellpower (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Action Boost: Spellpower (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Creeping Cold (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Creeping Cold (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Creeping Cold (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wax and Wane (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wisdom (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Call Lightning (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Call Lightning (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Call Lightning (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wax and Wane (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Wisdom (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Crown of Summer (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Word of Balance (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Word of Balance (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Word of Balance (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Time and Tide (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Season's Herald (Drd) - Strength of the Solstice (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Kensei Focus: Axes (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Extra Action Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Extra Action Boost (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Extra Action Boost (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Kensei Weapon Specialization: Axes (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Kensei (Ftr) - Haste Boost (Rank 3)




Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Evocation




Level 22 (Epic)




Level 23 (Epic)




Level 24 (Epic)
Ability Raise: WIS
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Focus: Evocation




Level 25 (Epic)




Level 26 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting




Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Ruin




Level 28 (Epic)
Ability Raise: WIS
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting

Typical WIS-based caster who also swings a mean greataxe. Ftr splash adds 2 feats, Haste Boost, and extra Action Boost. At low lvls I would focus APs on melee DPS + heals (i.e., Kensei + Nature's Warrior); at higher lvls your caster DPS will improve, so I would respect into Season's Herald around lvl 10 or so.

Skills: max Spellcraft, Concentration, Heal (in that order of importance)

Drawbacks: abysmal Reflex saves; caster DCs are a bit behind a pure druid w/out Season's Herald capstone.

[snowlord]

Hi guys, thanks so much for your replys.

Sorry never mentioned; 32 point build and have monk and drow.

I'm currently level 5 druid now (dwarf). I took rogue for one lvl at level one, for dodge and disarming traps. My brother who I play with made a pure wizard, so we wanted a rogue splash for traps.

Is it to late to add fighter? I've been playing in bear form with the "Roar" spell (attracts monsters to me) and use one handed weapon with shield.

Question on the monk idea you suggested; When I take stunning fist, do I have to use the monk fist wraps? and do monks put wraps in each hand for TWF? or are they considered already to be on both hands? (noob question)

I'm liking the large shield and weapon and took a bunch of shield and armour dwarven enhancements to up my AC. I guess I'm trying to be a tank for the mage I adventure with, but have pets to help and heals and some buff spells.

[Munkenmo]

I'm currently level 5 druid now (dwarf). I took rogue for one lvl at level one, for dodge and disarming traps. My brother who I play with made a pure wizard, so we wanted a rogue splash for traps.

Is it to late to add fighter? I've been playing in bear form with the "Roar" spell (attracts monsters to me) and use one handed weapon with shield.

Question on the monk idea you suggested; When I take stunning fist, do I have to use the monk fist wraps? and do monks put wraps in each hand for TWF? or are they considered already to be on both hands? (noob question)

1. Two rogue levels synergises really well with wizard, he could have taken the feat insightful reflexes and used his int modifer for reflex saves, an 18/2 wiz rogue definately has better trapping tendancies than a druid/rogue.

2. It's not too late to add fighter. 1 fighter level would work really well, it'll net you haste boost & a feat. Bear form is not that good for meleeing though, you'll notice you have to stop and stand on your hind legs before you get to begin attacking. Wolf form is very very superior in terms of damage dealt, with little difference between them with damage taken.

3a. So long as you're in animal form (wolf/bear) your attacks count as unarmed no matter what weapons you're using. So in order to use stunning fist you just have to use weapons you're centred with whilst in animal forms. Wraps, kama, staffs will work by default, shortswords will work too if you spend 1 ap in the ninja spy tree.

3b. Handwraps, plural. You put them on and they're counted for both hands. This can be either good or bad depending on your view point.


Try not to splash more than 3levels before level 12. You'll possibly want to pick up the natural fighting feats at levels 12/15/18, There's a pre requisite of 9 druid levels before you can take any natural fighting feats though. You're a 1rogue / 4druid atm? either way, I'd carry on like this 1rogue > 6druid > 1fighter > 1rogue > 3druid. Re assess your future leveling plan once you reach 12. Figure out if you want mostly fighter levels for hp / tanking options, 9druid/9rogue for evasion / sneak attack, or mostly druid for solid casting options.

Be sure to pick up the ability reaving roar within the natures warrior tree. You have to toggle it on when you log in and after death, but it is a very very good ability, especially in the low levels.

[Rawrargh]

Hey buddy, your partner is probably better off taking the rogue splash since wizards go for a high int wich results in lots of skillpoints.

Druids get a fair amount of skill points too, but on a 32 pt build (especially one that isn't human) I think you're gonna be loosing out on some of the important class skills.

For a new player duo I can see the bear form seeming cool, however the attack animation is just terribly slow. However don't despair, you will eventually get wolf form wich is the way to go if you wanna mellee.

Druids make a decent mellee DPS, a decent caster DPS very strong SLA's, and some decent single target nukes along with firewall wich can practically carry you all the way through heroic levels. But the druids strongest suite is their crowd control once they get earthquake. A properly built CC druid will absolutely trivialize even the hardest epic elite content, it's also fairly easy for a first life druid to reach a workable DC for endgame crowd control. This is something you might want to look into.

As for builds: I'm not a big fan of the rogue splash, it simply won't be doing enough for you. Your stats are gonna be spread so thin assuming enough int to get the rogue skills, a semi high str for the mellee damage, wis for the animal special attakcs, con for HP and dex for reflex so you can get something out of the evasion... It really is gonna be rough on a first life toon, especially without some awesome gear.

I'd stick to either the caster route, or the mellee route.

As for the handwraps thing:
You equip a pair of wraps and it acts like a twohanded weapon in the sense that you can't equip a shield or a secondary weapon, however you get offhand procs as if you were dual wielding.
When wearing a no armor and wielding a ki-weapon you get access to the monk special abilities such as your wis bonus to AC (wich is actually decent on a druid) along with stunning fist if you have the feat.
the first two monk levels will also give you 2 free martial arts feats, wich you can look up on the wiki, along with evasion and some other goodies.

[snowlord]

Thanks guys,

1) Yes I'm 1 rogue/ 4 druid ATM. I'm leaning towards more melee with no sneak attack, so not the 9druid/9rogue. So maybe go more fighter levels? or monk?

2) Or... i could re-roll this druid and skip the rogue and get my brother to do mage/1rogue, but can he still add rogue when he is level 5 wizard?

3) if i do the centered monk thing with monk weapons and stunning fist, then i'd miss out on shield AC and all my great dwarven armour/shield enhancments ? Right now with shield/weapon and all the dwarven enhancments, i'm not getting hurt much and have great Ac. But i know its only low levels and we are doing "Hard" difficultly. Just wondering if this dwarven route with the nice enhancments is still worth doing? with nice splash of fighter instead of monk maybe? 9druid/2rogue/9fighter (melee druid) ??? ...or 16druid/2rogue/2fighter (have more CC druid) ??? I'm not worried about the abilities scores to much, i can eat a int book and have a +3 tomb for all skills increase waiting for me when i hit lvl 11.

Thank you both for the handwraps explanation.

[dunklezhan]

I don't know if you know it Snowlord but do a google search for DDO Ron's Character Planner. Really useful utility for keeping a tweakable record of your build, let's you add tomes etc if you have them. Not fully up to date (just as far as I know).

At the moment, full stat tomes don't seem to be dropping, just upgrade tomes. I haven't seen a stat tome for ages and what few there are cost hundreds of thousands on the AH even for a +1. Do not assume you'll get one at this point. Other than that, I know precisely nothing about druid, so I'll leave it to more knowledgeable folk.

[unbongwah]

Did you start out Lawful Neutral? If not and you don't want to pay for an alignment change, you can't take monk.

[Munkenmo]

Thanks guys,

1) Yes I'm 1 rogue/ 4 druid ATM. I'm leaning towards more melee with no sneak attack, so not the 9druid/9rogue. So maybe go more fighter levels? or monk?

2) Or... i could re-roll this druid and skip the rogue and get my brother to do mage/1rogue, but can he still add rogue when he is level 5 wizard?

3) if i do the centered monk thing with monk weapons and stunning fist, then i'd miss out on shield AC and all my great dwarven armour/shield enhancments ? Right now with shield/weapon and all the dwarven enhancments, i'm not getting hurt much and have great Ac. But i know its only low levels and we are doing "Hard" difficultly. Just wondering if this dwarven route with the nice enhancments is still worth doing? with nice splash of fighter instead of monk maybe? 9druid/2rogue/9fighter (melee druid) ??? ...or 16druid/2rogue/2fighter (have more CC druid) ??? I'm not worried about the abilities scores to much, i can eat a int book and have a +3 tomb for all skills increase waiting for me when i hit lvl 11.

Thank you both for the handwraps explanation.

1. if you don't want lots of sneak attack, then given your current path yes i'd go 9druid/9fighter/2rogue (this would work get you a fighter past life [+1 to hit and +1 tactics in your next life] which would be quite useful if you're planning on TR'ing again)

2a. He can add rogue whenever he feels like it, Most optimally would be level 1 for a lot of extra skill points, however he could pick it up now too, it's definitely not worth spending an LR on. I'd recommend prioritizing points like this : Search max ranks > disable > spell craft > umd > [heal or repair] > concentration.

2b. You can focus on spot, it'll just be a bit of team work "you: i spot something, search here" then he'll do his thing.

3a. A Cenred monk gets more dodge bonuses and also their wisdom modifier to AC. As you level up through content ac will get less useful and dodge will get more useful. With a wizard to cast blur on you and 9druid levels you should be able to self heal through the majority of content regardless.

3b. Given that you're both first lives, I think you'll eventually appreciate focusing on dps more than focusing on CC. your wizard friend should be able to take care of that, but eventually you'll want melee dps for guys who aren't efficient to kill with spells.

[snowlord]

Thanks so much for your replies...

I'll stick with this for now; 1rogue > 6druid > 1fighter > 1rogue > 3druid .. then go fighter for 8 levels. I'll try and keep the shield/weapon dwarven theme going, the high hit poits is going to help with the lack of Dogde I hope. At level 20 i'll decide what to TR into and possibly be back here to ask for advice

Happy holidays all...

[HuneyMunster]

Does Whirlwind Attack function properly in druid forms like it does for monk unarmed attacks? I know that its buggy when using weapons.