New to Druid - Looking for fuggestions for a druid build

[Panzermeyer]

Hey All,

We got a couple new friends who are going to be joining the wonderful world of DDO.

So I am going to start a first life toon as a druid as I have been very curious about the class for some time.

Our new players will be a cleric and a rogue. The wifey unit is thinking about going a melee Bard for some melee and CC.

I am on the fence about what type of druid to make and am looking for some build suggestions. I think for party balance I am more interested in a melee wolf form druid but I am not married to it. Though knowing how difficult it is for first life casters, I am wondering how effective I can be as a caster at the higher end as a first lifer. But I do suspect after we reach 20 and they are either in the game or not, I might TR after I have more experience with Druid (though I am not thrilled about that with my current 2 TR projects going on).

I was looking at this one https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...-wolf-druid%29. But it would seem that there are significant differences now with the new enhancement pass. But I still get an understand the viability with shield and sceptre for the double strike bonuses. Though I would assume I could swap out Toughness for Quicken =)

While I am not a fan of of monk in everything splashing 2 monk for evasion in particular seems like an interesting idea. Though I know there are some great synergies with deeper splashed there is part of me that is hesitant as I would like some experience with the higher level druid spells.

Having said that I will admit that a this post was an interesting build idea. https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5184170 Though with this I assume I would be going centered with hand wraps for maximum benefit. Main down side I see with this build is that I would miss out on the experience the full goodness of being a druid.

But a 17 Druid/2 Monk/1 Fvs or Rgr seems like a good way to go for a melee type.

As a monk splash melee build which is the better stat to dump in str or wis? The above deep splash seems to think str.

So any and all suggestions I am open to.

[Munkenmo]

Having said that I will admit that a this post was an interesting build idea. https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5184170 Though with this I assume I would be going centered with hand wraps for maximum benefit. Main down side I see with this build is that I would miss out on the experience the full goodness of being a druid.

But a 17 Druid/2 Monk/1 Fvs or Rgr seems like a good way to go for a melee type.

As a monk splash melee build which is the better stat to dump in str or wis? The above deep splash seems to think str.

So any and all suggestions I am open to.

Scroll down one more post in that thread.

Fwiw, I dont think ranger or fvs are that good of an option on a 17/2/1 druid, picking up wiz or fighter for a bonus feat seems like a better idea.

The reason why I push strength in the 9/9/2 build with only a moderate investment in wisdom is, the only abilty I use often that relies on wisdom is stunning fist. This ability will be effective even in epic elite with the stat breakdown I provided. With only 9 druid levels I find its better to be melee and consider my sp to be for healing and buffing.

Given the composition of your group, I think either a 9/9/2 or a 17/2/1 build would slot in easily. If you dont like monks though its worth noting a 17/2/1 plays more like an unarmed monk than a 9/9/2.

In heroic though, its a hell of a lot of fun to be a fire elemental on fire, in a firewall, with fire imbued weapons punching something in the face.

[unbongwah]

Having said that I will admit that a this post was an interesting build idea. https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5184170 Though with this I assume I would be going centered with hand wraps for maximum benefit. Main down side I see with this build is that I would miss out on the experience the full goodness of being a druid.

One caveat about this build (and others) is that it's based on exploiting the TWF bug in wolf form. Latest word from Lama is it hasn't been fixed (yet), but I'm always wary of recommending builds based on a known issue which are a patch away from getting nerfed.

[Panzermeyer]

Scroll down one more post in that thread.

Fwiw, I dont think ranger or fvs are that good of an option on a 17/2/1 druid, picking up wiz or fighter for a bonus feat seems like a better idea.

The reason why I push strength in the 9/9/2 build with only a moderate investment in wisdom is, the only abilty I use often that relies on wisdom is stunning fist. This ability will be effective even in epic elite with the stat breakdown I provided. With only 9 druid levels I find its better to be melee and consider my sp to be for healing and buffing.

Yes I see that. A Hybrid option sounds like it might be good, as it will give me a taste of both to see which I like better and might want to build more for later.

Are you going human for the extra feat?

Are there any other good options for this build?

[Panzermeyer]

One caveat about this build (and others) is that it's based on exploiting the TWF bug in wolf form. Latest word from Lama is it hasn't been fixed (yet), but I'm always wary of recommending builds based on a known issue which are a patch away from getting nerfed.

Yes I have read that quite a bit. I have no problem doing a LR or like I said I might end up just TRing him after I have things figured out and would end up dropping the TWF line.

[Munkenmo]

Yes I see that. A Hybrid option sounds like it might be good, as it will give me a taste of both to see which I like better and might want to build more for later.

Are you going human for the extra feat?

Are there any other good options for this build?

Yes its human.

I always end up getting my second monk level earlier than I showed in that build, I like evasion and stunning fist.
It comes at a cost though, delaying earthquake is noticeable

You could change your feats, the list I have on my 17/2/1 is slightly different, but i picked up completionist and the wiz pastlife.

[inspiredunease]

Yes I have read that quite a bit. I have no problem doing a LR or like I said I might end up just TRing him after I have things figured out and would end up dropping the TWF line.

TBH, if they fix the TWF line, you can go back to taking natural fighting x 3 and shuffle the feat order around a little. It loses a little single target DPS, but if you're playing in a group that's not a huge issue. You're there to run in, intimidate groups and cleave/great cleave/alpha strike it up baby