Druid Vs Sorc

[Darkstar1996]

Ok I know one is Arcane based and Another is Divine. But, for a first life 32pt build which is more viable at endgame, both spell casters. Just with Druid I will have Flame Blades Active. Who will do more damage and survive more. I have a 8 WF Sorc and 7 Human Druid. I like both, but I feel druid at endgame will lose dps, wont be good with Flame Blades and are too slow to keep up with Sorc damage. Does anyone have any input or experience at endgame. AGAIN both will be PURE!

[HatsuharuZ]

I was very satisfied with my druid in epics. Unlike most sorcerers of my aquaintence, a caster druid does not kill things quickly. My ice elemental form druid could kill mobs very well. It just took a bit longer than it would for a sorcerer, since the most powerful druid spells are persistant AoEs and DoTs. Earthquake is your friend. So is Mantle of the Icy Soul. Just stack up multiple AoEs over your earthquake, and the mobs will fall down very quickly, if your DC is high enough. Most of my experience is in epic hard, however. I'm not sure how I would have done in EEs.

I can't speak for sorcerers in epic content. Never played one above lvl 20.

[Munkenmo]

It will be much easier to make a viable first life EE earthquake druid than it would an EE DC sorc.

If you're after DPS I think you'll be disappointed by flameblades, and you'll be disappointed with druid spell selections, Druids are much better at CC and healing than they are at nuking. As for melee dps you'll likely want to stop at 9 druid levels (to qualify for natural fighting feats) then get a deep melee splash (eg. 9druid/9monk/2fighter).

For a first life sorc, your best bet is most likely going to be some form of shiradi: It's not quite my area of expertise, from what I can gather, shiradi's get a lot of use from 2fvs levels now, as the temporary sp proc from AOV provides a huge boost to your total sp pool.

Here's an example shiradi sorc build.
As an alternate option here's a wizard varient of a shiradi caster.

[Darkstar1996]

It will be much easier to make a viable first life EE earthquake druid than it would an EE DC sorc.

If you're after DPS I think you'll be disappointed by flameblades, and you'll be disappointed with druid spell selections, Druids are much better at CC and healing than they are at nuking. As for melee dps you'll likely want to stop at 9 druid levels (to qualify for natural fighting feats) then get a deep melee splash (eg. 9druid/9monk/2fighter).

For a first life sorc, your best bet is most likely going to be some form of shiradi: It's not quite my area of expertise, from what I can gather, shiradi's get a lot of use from 2fvs levels now, as the temporary sp proc from AOV provides a huge boost to your total sp pool.

Here's an example shiradi sorc build.
As an alternate option here's a wizard varient of a shiradi caster.

So it's easier to make a first life Epic druid than an first life Epic sorc. I've seen the build scorched, 18sorc/2fvs. Sorc will hit harder and instakill if they land. While druid will hit alot more often in a bigger space correct?

[Munkenmo]

A first life EE sorc is very very unlikely to land insta kills, but yes most of it's spells will hit harder than a druids. The exception being the cold dot, a druids cold dot does more damage than a sorcs.

Druids in water elemental form get to easily apply debuffs when casting cold spells. Druids main AOE spells in EE will be ice storm, earth quake, and mass regenerate. None are major damage dealers, they're primarily crowd control and healing. Caster druids lend themselves to being a party build. The lack of decent AOE spell damage is the primary reason why I've built my own druid as a 17d/2m/1wiz build, I've picked up the 2wf chain and can help beat down mobs in my cc.

Shiradi sorcs can fare well in a party and will also solo content faster than a caster druid.

[unbongwah]

Sorcs have better burst DPS, more SPs, and access to the Missile spells which are a natural fit for Shiradi. [You'll also have access to various Necro & Enchantment spells, but you probably won't have the Spell Pen necessary to keep them useful against SR-resistant targets.] A pally splash will give you a BIG boost to your saves; a FvS splash on a Fire+Force specced sorc turns you into a perpetual mana battery. The main drawback is if you're not playing a BF/WF sorc, you don't have any self-healing unless you invest in UMD and/or pick up Rejuv Cocoon.

Druids have more versatility in their spells; they tend to be jacks-of-all-trades, rather than specialists. Rather than burst DPS, they focus more on DoTs (Firewall, Ice Storm, Storm of Vengeance, etc.). Earthquake is one of the best AoE CC spells in DDO; Freezing Spray+Gtr Creeping Cold+Creeping Cold is one of the best single-target DoT options. A pure druid can get up to 6 SLAs, all of which can be meta'ed for free, so be sure to make good use of all of them. Flame Blades is okay while leveling, but since it doesn't scale past CL:20, it becomes much less effective in epics.

[Enoach]

Both are viable, both have different playstyles, which can be changed or even enhanced based on the ED of choice and twists available.

In my opinion is that they are both viable first life, but it is dependent on the player and not the Class/Build. But that could be said of just about any Class/Build.

[Lonnbeimnech]

druid at end game runs ahead of the group and throws down earthquakes, if things are making their saves he might also throw ice storm or sleet storm. weak soloer, but very very strong in a group.

A sorc at end game casts magic missile. good soloer, good in a group, really boring after a while tho.

[Lonnbeimnech]

So it's easier to make a first life Epic druid than an first life Epic sorc. I've seen the build scorched, 18sorc/2fvs. Sorc will hit harder and instakill if they land. While druid will hit alot more often in a bigger space correct?

Shiradi casters kill one mob at a time, magic missile after magic missile. If there are 2 mobs you alternate between magic missile and chain missile, hit one mob then the other. It's slow going, but effective. If you plan on running eh, draconic is more fun, fireballs and energy burst actually land on eh, and you can kill groups of mobs faster than a shiradi can kill one mob.

Caster druid is crowd control and heals, with weak dps, the party will love you tho.

[Darkstar1996]

So it seems like, sorc is a one kind of deal atEE. Just single dps heavy hitters whole druid can do AoE Single, and Heal. As you can be a fleshy while sorc better to be WF. As for EE should I plan ahead for ED cause the draconic for AoE spells seems pretty cool.

What's the benifits of multiclassing a druid? Since it is my first life I'm nervous to multi task. If I do I want all damage. So sorc I would go FvS for boost to damage.

Druid: AoE DoTs and Heals poor single dps
Sorc: Self Heals, big dmg, armor spells (EK, Stone Skin)

Anything I missed?

[Vellrad]

My druid is lvl12, so I can observe only insane ST DPS (thanks to call lightning).

However, after observing puggers and guildies, I'd say well played evo DC druids are one of most, if not the most, powerful characters in game, assuming they got good gear and skills.

[Portalcat]

On a first life 32-point build, it's really hard to beat a shiradi sorc. It makes no DC or spell pen checks. You can run EE Storm Horns and contribute without anything more than shiradi farmed out. High-end gearing doesn't radically change what you can do with it versus spending a few hundred thousand plat on the auction house.


An evocation druid is partially a DC caster. Getting your 3x sorc and 1x wizard lives makes a noticeable difference in endgame EEs. Now, the threshold for earthquake DCs isn't so dire relative to saves that you need to throw the kitchen sink at maxing them to be effect as you would a PM DC caster, but the lives and gearing do matter to the build.

[Talonaise]

Both are end game viable. I have capped multi-life versions of both classes.

sorc....the best sorces I know, are not shiradi, rather they run in draconic. Most have put in more lives though and have enough dc for a mass hold in EE. Shiradi is an easy button but not really challenging.

druid.. I think you may want to try pure to get a feel for the class. I ran pure for a while before I switched to the split in my sig to increase my dps. On a first life Druid, your cc will be great for groups but you will not have the Dps of a sorc.

Of the two, Druid is easier to play at end game with a first lifer IMHO.