Druid 18 / Monk 2 need help with build please...

[RudedawCDN]

So I have read through a ton of threads (I am a new player btw) and I think Druid is what I want to play to high lvl.

I'm not interested in being a main healer; and I feel if I do go all out melee, well you lose on a lot of the spells. (DC checks for Earthquake etc...)

Having said that, I have found at early lvls it sucks to be a caster Druid. I basically have no way to regen sp's - unless someone can give me some solid tips - I'm thinking for the first 10-12 levels I should just melee. (not too crazy about wolf form - I think it's animations are annoying )

Now what I'm thinking may or may not work and that's where I am hoping others can help me.

Druid Level 1 Human (extra feat)
Power Attack
Cleave

Toughness
Mental Toughness
Improved Mental Toughness
Empower Spell
Empower Healing
Maximize Spell
Enlarge Spell
Quicken Spell
Spell Focus Evocation

While focusing on building a Water Elemental Caster through enhancements.

1) Can I change melee feats out later? (I have read in many places that changing feats is bugged).

2) Will having 2 monk (for evasion) help me with survivalbility and will having a splash of Monk allow me to use a 2 hander for the early lvls?

3) Or don't worry about early lvls and just go straight Druid for higher DC at higher levels to land Earthquake/Ice Storm and Storm of Vengeance. (but will he have problems with survivabilty being a caster).

Like I've said I've tried to read forums as much as I can - and most builds focus on end content or EE content - which is I'm assuming is a very long way off for me or builds with past lives (which obviously I don't have access to).

Thanks all!

[RudedawCDN]

I've been doing some testing in game and I've found that Power Attack with Flame Blade seems to really help with killing mobs and saving my sp's.

One thing I find really annoying is getting knocked down.

The monk splash of 2 doesn't seem to get knocked down as much (makes sense because of evasion) - but that doesn't allow me to go pure Druid all the way to 20.

Are there any races that are better than others, gear I should aim for or abilities/spells I can use to help reduce the amount of times I get knocked down?

Still trying to decide whether to Monk splash or go pure Druid as I really don't want to regret it at lvl 20 when my spells don't land.

[Zafaron]

I have a similar build with 17 druid, 2 monk, 1 rogue. Lower level content is annoying in that you basically have to melee 90% of the time. You do have one free lesser reincarnation per character. So you could gear your feats directly towards melee until you reach higher level, or you could learn to conserve as many spellpoints as possible. Low SP cost spells for the tougher monsters and melee for the weaker ones. And when you start getting area effect spells you can cluster enemies and take them out in groups rather than fighting them one at a time. Body feeder weapons are also your friend at low level, they save a lot of spell points that you might otherwise spend on healing. There's also a couple enhancements for wolf form that gives the druid a chance to gain temporary spell points for a few seconds. If you pick that up and use your spells carefully then you can cast a lot of your spells for free, the timing is a pain though.

The monk levels will let you add your wisdom to your AC so you can have a pretty respectable armor class and you will get to use a lot of mage robes while leveling to boost spell power. You also get two feats from the monk levels and you can stay in water stance for +2 wisdom if you use staffs (again, good for boosting spell power).

I know mental toughness and improved mental toughness are sort of tempting, especially at low level, but they aren't worth the feat spots. If you take them I would plan to ditch them whenever you use your free lesser reincarnation. Also, if you don't plan to be a primary healer then you probably won't need empower healing.

Power attack and cleave would be okay for the lower levels but unless you want to do a strength build then they're probably not going to be that useful once you get to the higher levels.

If you are a casting druid then you're almost certainly going to want extend spell. It lets you extend the duration of body of the sun, which is essentially a portable wall of fire. Once you get body of the sun you can sleep your way through most regular quests. Pop body of the sun then run around and gather a group of monsters then hit earthquake and watch everything die.

Augment summoning is also good if you plan to make much use of pets, hirelings or summoned monsters. I think I also have improved spell focus and greater spell focus, both for the earthquake DC. I've not found anything that saves against my earthquake yet unless it rolls a 20 or is immune, even in epic elite quests, and that's only at level 17 druid.

As for the knockdown, balance items help you get back up but I think you just need higher saving throws to avoid the initial knockdown. Look for items with bonuses to saves.

[RudedawCDN]

Awesome!

Exactly what I was looking for. Many thanks!