The Markeyx Build (Caster healer, dps, survivability)

[Mark2422]

Thanks again for this thread. Mine is level 18 now and I am worried. It basically has to act like a sorc with half the SP a sorc has. The healing so far has been an asterisk (as in Kind of Like A Sorc* [*=some healing]).

I was wondering how you deal with the SP problem. Sorcs themselves milk the SP pool with heavy use of SLAs, which a druid doesn't have. Also missing is even one nuke (a sorc never kills with ice storm when ottoluke's will do), and even one ray (sorely miss frost lance/niacs/polar ray for single target blasting). Have tried to use Call Lightning as a single target blast but it has limitations, not least of which is that it is neither fire nor cold.

I'm also afraid that the SP problem alone will force me toward one of the Wild desinties instead of the Magical desinties, which seems like at least a missed opportunity. I had also been leaning toward the idea that Draconic would be main.

But you're right that the DoTs are bad-*ssed. So I've found on more difficult content I'm using DoTs on trash. I dunno how that's going to hold up over time....

So, I guess I'm fishing for words of encouragement.

Edit: It looks like you cover the SP problem with Exalted Angel. I guess I never thought that destiny was sexy enough so my eyes always glazed over on that paragraph. Will give it a closer look.

Thanks for your reply. I cover the sp with the three mental toughness feats, all the sp bonuses from gear and the endless faith ability from tier 1 of exalted. Im back upto level 24 and have 3200 sp in exalted and a little less in draconic.

SLA's druids dont get. This is probs its biggest downfall but I have covered that with avenging light from exalted angel and energy burst from draconic. I am also using rejuvinating cacoon which is affectivly a healing SLA so I am now in a position where I can go though quests without spending hardly any SP if I do not want to.

The druid is never going to be a sorc or even play like one. The druid has a good core of Great AoE spells, a Great CC spell and a Great DoT. I have basicly taken this core, specced heavily on positive healing so that my HoT's are as powerful as possible and then covered the shortfall of SLA's with epic destinies and twists.

What you are experiancing is completly normal at level 18. I was level 18 just last week and I felt the same. Burning sp to quick with no SLA's and only having 2200 sp... But it all changed once I got my ED's back.

P.S. I still use the DoT on trash lol. Most of the time I know if I cast it they are dead. And because there is vitually no cooldown or need for stacking, it works well.

[Kilawpilath]

I've been loving my Druid who is currently level 17. And I've been wondering, have you ever tried being more of a Mix of Bear with Caster? And what are your thoughts on that?

Also, how come you don't use Fires of Purity? It seems like a great spell to give you some extra melee buff.

And lastly, I was looking at your recommended spell list, but I saw that your Level 6 spells are level 7 spells. So wondering what your level 6 spell recommendations are?

[susiedupfer]

Just a bump. I refer people to this all the time when they want to know about a good caster druid build.

[Kilawpilath]

Also, I was wondering what gear do you give to your Dog?

And do you even use your dog at level 25?

[Mark2422]

I've been loving my Druid who is currently level 17. And I've been wondering, have you ever tried being more of a Mix of Bear with Caster? And what are your thoughts on that?

Also, how come you don't use Fires of Purity? It seems like a great spell to give you some extra melee buff.

And lastly, I was looking at your recommended spell list, but I saw that your Level 6 spells are level 7 spells. So wondering what your level 6 spell recommendations are?

I have no reason to use bear form. I am a caster so have no business getting involved in melee as I am not buit for it and in higher level content cannot handle it. All I am doing is putting my life at risk for a limited amount of damage. You might think that by doing melee damage you are saving sp, but how much sp will you have to spend rebuffing yourself every time you die because you couldn't take the hits like a purposely built melee? That added to the fact you get +2.5% to casting times. Big no no for me.

I have corrected my post for the spell level typo. My level 7 spells were there, just listed as level 6.

I dont tend to use fires of purity because I am not often in fire ele form and melee never ask for it. They prefer deadly from an arti. I can see how it could be a useful spell however, and if melee asked for it I would load and give.

[Kilawpilath]

Thanks, appricate the responses Good to know and I can understand the reasoning.

[~Susie1262]

Bump

[Sircowdog]

I've been looking pretty heavily into playing a druid on my next life(currently lvl 14, shouldn't take much longer). I'm primarily a solo player, and I have a real hard time with any build that doesn't have evasion to deal with the kinds of trap damage that can occur on elite runs(sometimes even on hard it can be bad with a little lag and poor rolls!).

I'm curious to know what taking a couple levels of monk or rogue would do to this build. I know the DCs would suffer a bit from losing capstone, but some of that could be mitigated through the first tier monk water stance. And if the intent was to play through, with a TR right at 20, would this still work?

[Mark2422]

I've been looking pretty heavily into playing a druid on my next life(currently lvl 14, shouldn't take much longer). I'm primarily a solo player, and I have a real hard time with any build that doesn't have evasion to deal with the kinds of trap damage that can occur on elite runs(sometimes even on hard it can be bad with a little lag and poor rolls!).

I'm curious to know what taking a couple levels of monk or rogue would do to this build. I know the DCs would suffer a bit from losing capstone, but some of that could be mitigated through the first tier monk water stance. And if the intent was to play through, with a TR right at 20, would this still work?

I cannot give you a complete answer myself because I don't multi class. And as for traps, that is something I have learned to live with having spent all these years playing non evasion toons. At lvl 20 my wings from exalted enables me to bypass most traps.

Off the top of my head you would lose the following:
1) capstone (+2 wisdom and +1 dc, caster level and max caster level of conj and trans spells) (not a big loss)
2) one level 7 + 8 spell and two level 9 spells (not a big loss as you should still have the good spells covered)
3) 200 sp (this is base not wisdom mod related.

I don't think you would lose anything else but do not quote me on that. I think you will be effectivly paying 200sp for evasion which is not a huge cost so I don't see why it wouldnt work and work well.

[Purkilius]

I cannot give you a complete answer myself because I don't multi class. And as for traps, that is something I have learned to live with having spent all these years playing non evasion toons. At lvl 20 my wings from exalted enables me to bypass most traps.

Off the top of my head you would lose the following:
1) capstone (+2 wisdom and +1 dc, caster level and max caster level of conj and trans spells) (not a big loss)
2) one level 7 + 8 spell and two level 9 spells (not a big loss as you should still have the good spells covered)
3) 200 sp (this is base not wisdom mod related.

I don't think you would lose anything else but do not quote me on that. I think you will be effectivly paying 200sp for evasion which is not a huge cost so I don't see why it wouldnt work and work well.

The Druid gets bad reflex saves but the infused chaosrobe with reflex +10 might help.

[susiedupfer]

More people asking for good build. BUMP.

[Winter_storm]

Would taking Spell Focus Evocation and Greater Spell Focus Evocation instead of Epic Mental Toughness reduce SP also by making the Evocation spells stronger to hit by casting less? And Heighten was nice back when I was playing but being out for while was wondering about Empower VS Heightening advantaged and disadvantages for current game.... Also what would be a suggested 32pt build for stats?

[Mark2422]

Would taking Spell Focus Evocation and Greater Spell Focus Evocation instead of Epic Mental Toughness reduce SP also by making the Evocation spells stronger to hit by casting less? And Heighten was nice back when I was playing but being out for while was wondering about Empower VS Heightening advantaged and disadvantages for current game.... Also what would be a suggested 32pt build for stats?

Epic mental toughness will give you +200sp compared to greater evo giving you +1 dc. For me 200sp is more useful.

Highten is good, but not for a druid. Most of our top DC based spells are lvl 8/9 already so you only gain +1 DC.

Your starting stats will totally depend on what you want to do with your druid. If you want to use this build as a 32, I would probs just drop the Charisma and keep the others the same.

[Winter_storm]

Epic mental toughness will give you +200sp compared to greater evo giving you +1 dc. For me 200sp is more useful.

Highten is good, but not for a druid. Most of our top DC based spells are lvl 8/9 already so you only gain +1 DC.

Your starting stats will totally depend on what you want to do with your druid. If you want to use this build as a 32, I would probs just drop the Charisma and keep the others the same.

Thanks for the info, Have been enjoying the build so far. I'm low level still so using animal form with Flame Blade (which is nice, no repair or permanent damage because of oozes :-), and the animal form keeps me from killing the SP too fast.

[The10man]

I like this and am seriously considering rolling my PL wizzy into this. The question I have is what was stated on page 3. To monk or not to monk, that is the question. I would think monk splash would make way more sense with the stats being favorable over rogue. But is it worth it at end game?

[susiedupfer]

My very strong suggestion is to play pure druid the first time. You want the full experience of when you get what spells and abilities and how they hit at level. Then try the splash the next time. Then choose.

[Mark2422]

I like this and am seriously considering rolling my PL wizzy into this. The question I have is what was stated on page 3. To monk or not to monk, that is the question. I would think monk splash would make way more sense with the stats being favorable over rogue. But is it worth it at end game?

I don't feel as though I can give you an unbias opinion as I never multiclass and probs never will. As I said before, there are pro's and con's, and everyone should tweak this build to suit themselves. Only you can be the judge of that :-)

[painkiller3]

i'm (finally) giving this a try. TRed my multi-TR cleric into this and i'm having fun. even just with my pet it's taking a lot of getting used to proactive healing over time, as opposed to reactive healing. the animal switching back to human to get doors, buffs on ships, etc. is slightly annoying but i'll get used to it

thanks markeyx!

[Potta]

I don't think you're being fair to Primal Avatar at all. You say Exalted Angel is your main destiny, but for healing purposes at least, Primal Avatar is superior for Druids. Look at how you've spent half your points in Exalted Angel. They're in Wisdom stat increases, right? You can do the exact same thing in Primal Avatar. The Primal Avatar epic moment sucks for a caster? Yeah, but the Exalted Angel is equally bad. Most of the rest of your points in Exalted Angel seem to be focused on the first tier, but that has you wasting 3 points on Light spell power just to access Endless Faith. What you're really getting out of Exalted Angel is +10% sp, +30 positive spell power and Renewal. Blood and Radiance seems like it would have a very minimal impact, and not really worth the SP to build up or the time to micro manage.

What does Primal Avatar give you? Rejuv Cocoon, +2 more wis, 30 SP from spirit toggle, a low sp dot for bosses and various buffs for your party, including 3% dodge, fire procs, healing procs or melee slow+dot procs. Stand nearby to the tank in a raid and the boss that's hitting them now hits 25% slower. For a healer especially, this sort of thing is incredibly valuable.

You will get more positive spell power on paper in EA than PA. But Primal also increases your Druid caster levels, which does work. So you get another +5 base healing per tick on Regenerate. After SP and metas, that's about 20hp per tick, non crit. You can twist in Endless Faith and end up with the same amount of spell points. Renewal can also be twisted in if you need it, but often, it's superfluous when you have Cocoon. The only raid I twist it on atm is EE FoT.

[susiedupfer]

I find myself swapping between PA, EA, and Draconic pretty much all the time. I do it situationally depending on what I am doing. Raid healing? EA. Being CC/DPS? Draconic. Normal day-to-day? PA. I reset twists depending on what is going on also.