Fawngate's Druid

[Silverleafeon]

New final build (updating for U38)
Pure Wisdom Caster Druid with focus on SLAs & DCs


Aasimar Scourge ~ requires +1 heart to get rid of ranger 1
or Aasimar as desired

Str 08 (0)
Dex 08 (0)
Con 16 (10)
Int 16 (10)
Wis 20 (16)
Cha 08 (0) {Given the reduced casting time of reincarnation, cha focus is less necessary}



Skills in order of importance:

Concentration max
Spellcraft max
Heal max
Tumble 1 rank
Balance 10 ranks
Jump 10 ranks
UMD max
Perform max if planning Shirdai ED
Search max if planning on finding hidden doors via scrolled Find Traps spell




Feats

1) Maximize
3) Completionist
6) Empower
9) Enlarge
12) Quicken
15) Spell Focus (Evocation)
18) Heighten
21) Recommend Extend : other choices ? Past Life: Arcane Initiate / Augment Summoning (more desirable given removal of Pet Death Penalty) / Wellspring of Power (if sloting Otto's Irrevocable Power)
24) Master of the Wild {Given the decrease in SLA cooldowns this becomes more desirable}
26ED) ? Epic Skill Focus (Spellcraft) / Epic Spellpower (Fire/Cold/Electric) {unsure if overall +5 universal <=> +20 one element?}
27) Intensify {Given the decrease in SLA cooldowns this becomes more desirable} / Ruin {if seeking Greater Ruin at level 30}
28ED) Mass Frog {try it, you might grow to like it}
29ED) Recommend Arcane Pulse {likely best overall} : other choices / Spirit Blades {if in Shirdai ED} / Dire Charge {unlikely due to poor attack bonuses}
30) Recommend Burst of Glacial Wrath ther choices / Ruin / Improved Augment Summoning / Arcane Insight (if sloting Otto's Irrevocable Power) / Embolden Spell / Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
30LG) Recommend Scion of Air



Epic Destinies:

Recommend trying Primal (for raids?)
If having trouble with cc switch to Shirdai (for R1~6 quests) {Druid falls apart in Reaper 8+, like most other builds}

Twists:
1) Tier Four: Draconic Energy Burst (fire/cold) given the new immunity breaker, and the lack of AoE spells

5) Empty due to upgrading slot four

Alternative Twists for Primal
1) Tier Three: Magistar [Evocation Spell School] Augmentation
2) Tier Two: Magistar [Evocation Spell School] Specialist
3) Tier Two: Draconic Precise Casting: Evocation
4) Tier One: Stay Frosty
5) Tier One: Endless Faith

Spells ~ see the list of useful spells on DDO wiki:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Spell_usefulness#Druid


Went thru several feat/tree swaps for the optional feats for the current build:


Ruin & Greater Ruin ~ with the changes to elemental immunity breaking, an full scale elemental approach via leg slave master's staff & Ravenloft belts yields amble results without resorting to the force damage of Ruin Duo (bear in mind my elemental spell power is considerably higher)

Augment Summoning, Improved Augment Summoning, Leg Pet Scion ~ rather nice but not really outstandingly needed; reaper is still terribly hard on pets, feats could be spend elsewhere better

Extend spell ~ being able to have Body of Sun last a full minute (same amount of time that Call Lightning storm lasts) is very convenient and more efficient by far, even if one alternates seasons. For a Fire or Fire/Cold build its highly recommended (take at level 21). For those only using Cold seasons, you can skip this feat. The loss of 1 DC by not taking Greater Spell Focus is more than made up for by the increased ability in playing options.

Intensify ~ worth taking at level 27

Master of the Wilds ~ worth taking at level 24

Burst of Glacial Wrath ~ this spell is not affected by off season penalties and grants a druid a rare AoE spell; worth taking for Fire or Cold builds; the CC is a bonus that works rather well with high wisdom

Mass Frog ~ definitely worth taking at level 28

Scion of the Plane of Air ~ recently did some very rough math and this feat is pretty much equal in overall damage compared to Scion of the Plane of Fire when used by a Druid (within 1%ish which would hardly be noticed); with damage being almost equal, it would seem the increase in DCs makes this the superior feat for druids to take.

With the definite decision to go Scion of Air, Fawn adjusted her focus more on DCs:
Earthquake in Elite = 90 DC +6 in reaper +1 Primal Spirit Boon mental
along with possible -10 magistar twist debuff & possible -4 mantle of icy soul debuff


Current Epic Destiny: Primal
all Wis
full Cocoon
full natural shielding
full Tsunami
Summon Dryad Elder (who helped the party against red named boss last night)
Spirit Boon Mental

Twists:
Evocation Augmentation
Evocation Specialist
Precise Evocation
Stay Frosty
Endless Faith


Enhancement trees:

Aasimar ~ 19 points
all cores
all healing amp
all spell pen

Season's Herald ~ 73 points
everything but Beguile

Equipment
5 piece slavers set
5 piece Leg Greensteel set ~ Mat & Dom = spell point bonus = 6k spell points
Ravenloft belt and armor
Cannith Crafted insight wisdom (will be finding the armor from House J someday)


Spells

All the lastest update improved spells are now worth considering using which is nice.


Enhancements

Racial

Aasimar/Scourage (pretty much the same tree for a caster)

Take all Cores = 5 points spent ~ you want all of these regardless

Tier One Aasimar Improved Recovery = 2 points spent

Tier Two Arcanum = 6 points spent ~ somewhere along here become optional

Tier Three Aasimar Improved Recovery = 2 points spent

Tier Four Aasimar Improved Recovery = 2 points spent (definately optional)

{Why the push for Healing Amp? Because Druid Casters rarely get more than an occasional Cocoon from other party members.}



NATURE'S PROTECTOR {Optional goal to get +2 Wis at a cost of 24ish action points} {Also Hybrids might consider this path}

Cores 1 thru 5 = 5 points spent

Tier One:
Improved Nature's Defense: Competence bonus PRR MRR 4/8/12 = 3 points spent (total = 8)

Tier Two:
Improved Nature's Defense: Competence bonus Saving Throws = 3 points spent (total = 11)
Thick Hide: Nature Armor Bonus 2/4 = 2 points spent (total = 13)

Tier Three:
+1 Wisdom = 2 points spent (total = 15)
Spirit Refreshed = 2 points spent (total = 17)
Ursa Protector: While in bear form nature's defense now does +15/20/25 % to max hp = 3 points spent (total = 20)

Tier Four:
+1 Wisdom = 2 points spent (total = 22)
Spirit Refreshed = 2 points spent (total = 24)



SEASONS HERALD most important tree for casters

Cores: Take all six = 6 points spent (total = 6)

Tier One:
Wax and Wane = 2 points spent (total = 8)
Produce Flame = 3 points spent (total = 11)
Druidic Wisdom = 3 points spent (total = 14) ~ double universal spellpower optional
Shared Spirit = 3 points spent (total = 17) ~ double universal spellpower optional

Tier Two:
Wax and Wane = 2 points spent (total = 19)
Creeping Cold = 3 points spent (total = 22)

Tier Three:
Autumn Leaves = 1 point spent (total = 23)
Wax and Wane = 2 points spent (total = 25)
Call Lighting = 3 points spent (total = 28)
Wisdom = 2 points spent (total =30)

Tier Four
Spring Resurgence = 3 points spent (total = 33)
Strength of the Solstice = 2 points spent (total = 35)
Wax and Wane = 2 points spent (total = 37)
Salt Ray = 3 points spent (total = 40)
Wisdom = 2 points spent (total = 42)

Tier Five
Crown of Summer = 1 point spent (total = 43)
Master of the Elements = 3 points spent (total = 46)
Time and Time again = 2 points spent (total = 48)
Word of Balance = 3 points spent (total = 51)
Armor of Winter = 2 points spent (total = 53)

One could remove the six optional points from tier one to drop down to 47 points for a hybrid build.

One could add Tier two Action Boost for an additional three points, increasing to 56 points spent in the tree.

Also of interest are the Metamagic Cost Reducers which could increase the tree cost by 18 points for a total of 74 points.




Epic Destiny: Shirdai
Points
Tier One Wild Shots 3 / Wisdom 2
Tier Two Prism 2 / Wisdom 2
Tier Three Rainbow 2 / Wisdom 2
Tier Four Double Rainbow 2 / Wisdom 2
Tier Five Nerve Venom 3 / Wisdom 2
Tier Six Rain of Arrows 2


Twists
Tier Four: Red Dragon Spell Knowledge from Draconic
Tier Three: Magistar Evocation Augmentation
Tier Two: Magistar Evocation Specialist
Tier One: Avenging Light

At Legendary gain an additional Tier One: various?




Active Toggles:
Sun Elf
Energy Criticals (which I turn off and on every time I log in)
Power Over Life and Death (Block Energy if in the new raid)
Skill Mastery
Color of the Queen (reaper) or Fast Healing (non reaper)
Rainbow (have to turn this one on when I log in)
Fire/Water/Winter Wolf form stance (have to turn in when ever you die)

Important Spells Memorized:
{Add various healing spells as you level up then replace with better ones}
{Prefer not to Meta these spells unless you know you have shrine soon}
{Have tried Meta on some spells and seems to work fairly well, spell point management is important task for Druids.}
{All SLAs should be fully Meta at all times because its free to do so.}
{Always Quicken Heals, Earthquakes, Sleet Storm, Call Lighting Storm}

Level One:
Produce Flame ~ non meta cooldown 1 second
Jump
Other: {Farie Fire/Entangle/Pass without Trace/Merfolk's Blessing}

Level Two:
Resist Energy
Pact Pressence
Creeping Cold
Splinterbolt
Gust of Wind (can use scrolls for this even Cyclonic Blast Scrolls)

Level Three
Sleet Storm (be sure and FoM party)
Call Lighting (when you get this heroics becomes so much easier)
Salt Ray
Quench
Spider Skin
Spike Growth

Level Four
Freedom of Movement (FoM)
Flame Strike
Ice Storm
Enveloping Swarm

Level Five
Call Lighting Storm
Wall of Fire
Death Ward
Pack Aptitude
Reincarnate

Level Six
Fire Seeds
Fire Shield
Greater Creeping Cold
Word of Balance
Tenacious Pack

Level Seven
Greater Vigor Mass (Stacks with Mass Regeneration so cast both when needed)
Body of the Sun (why you are taking Extend which you can drop if you only want to focus on cold)
Firestorm
Freezing Spray
Sunbeam
Creeping Doom

Level Eight
Heal
Earthquake
Fires of Purity (but most melee will not even stay still long enough to cast DW & FoM on them)
Sunburst
Finger of Death
Ice Flowers (I like to leave options open to go ice or fire form when desired)

Level Nine
All of them

[Silverleafeon]

Questions & Answers



Q: Why don't I focus more on healing?

A: The main toons I have trouble healing at level cap are those that go from full health to incapacitated.
By the time I target them and cast a quickened Mass Regenerate, they are usually dead.
I no longer bother with renewal, preferring Mass Regeneration/Vigor as these spells target multiple party members,
and provide healing over time granting more protection to the whole party.
The enhancement Spring Resurgence is very nice to use.
Honestly, my hot bars are quite full with many things already.
Regeneration does cure negative levels over time.
Honestly, I find enlarge > empower healing as out of range is more of an issue.
Also quicken > empower healing as failed concentration checks are far more likely than lack of healing spellpower.


Q: Why don't I focus more on tanking?

A: I have in the past, but frankly prone monsters don't care about my AC.
I do try to keep AC in mind, but Heavy Armor reduces Dodge Cap, and my Dodge is usually subpar anyway.
Honestly if I was playing a Human with a bonus feat Past Life: Arcane Initiate > Heavy Armor.
In the past I have worn a shield and been tanky, but there are more and more Pally builds out there nowadays.
I find if the need to tank arises, I should probably fade back and focus more on getting heals to everyone.
A good example of this is the end fight of Slavers Part III, where zero or a few deaths is more acceptable than being a tank.


Q: Why the new interest in Enlarge Meta?

A: Reaper brings a whole new level to the game.
Being able to engage mobs from twice the distance can be very helpful.
There is nothing quite like a properly placed cloud to mess up the monsters AI.


Q: Why no attention to pets?

A: Actually I pay quite a bit of attention to my Wolf and Summons.
Fortification is very important along with good armor.
My wolf has a mortal fear collar at level 28 which serves Snoopy well.
But paying out three feats for a wolf when Reaper can be so dangerous, is costly.
There are times for a pet and times you don't want a pet and times your pet is simply expendable.
Also, Druids tend to be more prone to lag, and pets expound that problem.
Honestly, melee player > pet, so I focus on Metas to help the melee.


Q: Why full 20 Druid? Isn't 17 Druid enough?

A: This build focuses on having as many Caster Levels as possible to enable Master of Wild,
and power up spells like Firestorm that has no maximum caster levels.
Hence the rational of pure Druid and using a Primal Destiny.


Q: Why not Exalted Angel? Would you not get higher Quake DCs from it?

A: While the Quake is important, Nerve Venom does its part in this build.
I know that with salt and nerve venom, even if the quake does not take effect immediately the monsters are still slowed way down.
The Magistar Twists are very important, granting +3 to my DCs and -10 to their refs given a bit of time.
If I feel my CC is lacking, I will swap to Cold and use Mantle of the Icy Soul for 25% more slow along with another -4 debuff.
Also at that point, I start using my Solid Fog clickies (of which Fawn has 3).
Just ask a Old School Wizard what Solid Fog + Ice Storm looks like on the battlefield.
Also at this point, FoM for the entire party and Sleet Storm does wonders.
Yes Exalted Angel is a wonderful destiny and its my close second choice for caster Druids.


Q: Why don't you twist in Stormrage?

A: Experimenting with Stormrage, it seems to only trigger on spells cast not lingering spells.
Perhaps I am wrong and perhaps this is a bug that I should report?
Have to investigate this twist more.
Sadly its tier Four thus competing with Energy Burst which is still very good on a Wisdom based caster.
If Primal were more attractive to spellcasters then I might consider that destiny, but it is more for Summons builds and Tree builds.


Q: Why don't you twist in Tsunmi?

A: Tsunmi is a epic version of Gust of Wind & Cyonic Blast.
All three of these spells clear clouds away.
This build focuses on building cloud cover for the melee to thrive inside.
No build is more annoying to a Druid than a Sorcerer that focuses Cyonic Blast.
Its like a Fire Savant that blows up all your Web spells.


Q: Why did you go back to playing Druid?

A: Enjoying Fighter was a lot of fun, but with the advent of Reaper there was a decided lack of healing.
Even the best tank in the game can be whittled down, and Cocoon is not very helpful.
Pally with Light the Dark is more substaining, but one needs to focus on intimidate and tactical feats.
Honestly, melee have a difficult time and this build fills the role that supports them greatly.


Q: Why the sub focus on DPS instead of more Crowd Control?

A: There are times and places (yes this build can solo when desired) when you go one on one with a monsters.
One needs to be able to successfully take on another monster and win.
I play this game to be sociable so Soloing is not a priority.
Regardless Druids have so many options they tend to run low on spell points.
Having a herd of melee beating everything down while one dominates the enemy with nature is quite fun.
Once you get Call Lighting, you can one shot reapers with this spell most of the time or at least use all your cheap SLAs at once to do so.


Q: Where do you put your Reaper points?

A: I spend Fawn's Reaper points entirely in the middle caster tree, on Wisdom + DC + Spell Pen.
Adding in Spell Power to advance the tree when needed.
She has less Reaper Points than some players.
It has been proven that one can earn over 80 reaper points, so I guess the limit is earning every point in the tree.
Which is a nice thing, it grants Fawn an eternal XP bar to work on when she chooses to.
Having a very long term goal is nice.


Q: What are your Earthquake DC?

A: This varies as I level up, upgrade equipment, adjust to the battlefield.
These DCs are usually below the maximum possible.
Usually the quake will work on most foes.
When it doesn't then I have neglected to upgrade my equipment and I am running with players that are higher level than I am.


Q: Do you use a weapon for physical damage?

A: I rarely swing a weapon except to break boxes.
If I have time to swing a weapon then I have time to cast Produce Flame which will do more damage over all.
Hence my desire to create a Leg Greensteel Fire caster stick when I return to upper Epics.
In the past I have occasionally used a dart (only ranged weapon Druids are proficient with) to attack distant targets.
Having the enlarge met reduces this necessity.
Faced with the end fight in Tempest Spine, Fawn heads for the 2nd pillar from the right side
(as you enter the end fight) and tucks inside the left edge (right edge as you face the boss).
One can be hit by the Boss's Call Lighting spells, but cannot be hit by his sword (which tends to one shot foes).
Using her Leg Greensteel Ozze Weapon along with electric absorption items, she sits there plucking away.
This maintains the boss fight as he will reset if everyone is dead on the platform and provides summon assistance.
I will admit to using Tensers at times in situations like this (grants higher dps plus proficiencies).
Realize that you get one equipment source of absorption along with a heroic greensteel weapon aborption,
and any ehancements, feats or epic destinies you can pile on.


Q: What is your opinion on Flame Blade spell?

A: Its a nice spell, but again Produce Flame > Melee Attacks if you have good enough Fire Spellpower.


Q: Is your DPS top tier one?

A: Druids spells are slow to take effect, even their blasting spells Flame Strike and Firestorm have slight delays.
Creeping Cold and Greater Creeping Cold can do a lot of damage over time.
Hence if you check the kill count, there may be other melees that exceed you.
However, its quite common to have half or more of the kill count of the lead player in the group.
Having played a Kensei Vanguard Fighter, single target DPS will definitely be lower than this,
as these type of builds can easily exceed Warlocks.
However, the Druid strength is facing the many ~ incapacitating them and doing damage everywhere as once.
In fire form a Druid can feel something Warlockish running extended Body of the Sun along with Call Lightning Storm.
Both of these have a duration of one minute.
Add some Earthquakes + Ice Storm to the mix and use your SLAs to clean up the leftovers.
Adding Leg Greensteel Spellpower stacking with Slavers gear is definitely boosting dps.
If the Tempest Ranger does not die, the overall Party DPS is greatly increased.
Hence the Clouds and Healing role is big party DPS.
There is enough DPS to be able to start groups and take whoever joins.


Q: I have a 3rd life toon, what should I change to use this build?

A: Remove Completionist and replace with Spell Focus Evocation.
Take Greater Spell Focus Evocation at level 15 in place of the already taken Spell Focus Evocation.
Remove Enlarge and replace with Epic Spell Focus Evocation.
Remove Hellball and replace with Epic Spellpower Lightning/Cold/orFire.
Remove Scion of Fire and replace with Scion of Air.
Try to build a Salt Weapon, but be sure make three Tier One Legendary Greensteel casting sticks:
Spellpower Air, Cold & Fire.




Q: Why the change from Hellball to Mass Frog?

A: Druid have very few instant kill spells which can be useful in Reaper difficulty.
This double the amount available.



Q: Why did you pick Dragonborn race for a Ravenloft Build?

Aasimar Scourge is a very good race for druid, but since I just did thus thrice,
I felt Dragonborn was very closely suitable for druids. I hope to experiment with
the synergy between Dragonborn and Draconic eventually.

Human was another good choice for the extra feat, but this build does ok on feats.

[Silverleafeon]

Highly recommend:

The Hayden Unisex Tinted Professional Computer Reading Glasses Anti Blue Light Anti Glare Anti Fatigue Anti Reflective Rectangular Readers
{or some variation therein}
as Druid's Body of the Sun along with Sunburst & Firestorm can be hard on the eyes.


also

TheraTears Dry Eye Therapy- Lubricant Eye Drops
&
TheraTears Sterilid Eyelid Cleanser



also if you do any sort of dusty yard / construction work

Some sort of dust free goggles such as those used by motor bike riders.



also after 45 minutes of playing one should get up and walk around even if it means piking for a few

[Silverleafeon]

Playing and Tactical Tips



Anticipate, all your clouds take a second to cast and take effect.
Don't be afraid to over cast clouds and spells in anticipation.

Consider using scrolls and wands at times such as Grease, Heals, Fog Cloud, Hypnotic Pattern.
{Note that spells cast off items don't count as you casting them, hence spellpower, Shirdai trigger, ect do not apply.}

Understand your party's strengths and weakness, then alter your role to further the quest.

When in doubt, bounce around and trust your clouds to take care of you.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Archers tend to back away from foes adjacent to them,
so cast your cloud them jump right beside an archer or caster that is outside of the cloud.
Position yourself so that its back it towards your cloud and jump up and down (or sit there).
The archer will relocate, moving backwards into your cloud.

Spellcasters can be dealt with the same way, but its often good to just use your SLA DPS directly.

its easier to target yourself and/or look downward at the floor rather than targeting foes.
Particularly when they are close up and could circle around you.

Set a special hot key to target your wolf, knowing that mass heals on your wolf are likely to heal the party too.

Firestorm+Flame Strike+Sunburst can be continuously cast as AoE without targeting any particular monster.
They have a very wide area of effect and compliment your clouds.

Sometimes its hard for melee to see earthquakes, hence the extra clouds atop them to identify places for them to
bring excessive monsters too.
Regardless its mostly up to you to choose choke points and other likely places where monsters will pile up.


When you can, have you wolf active while on your airship, then click the universal airship buff.
Your wolf will get your airship buffs automatically with a timer that does not count down.
Once you dismiss your wolf, it loses these airship buffs.

Even if you don't have it turned on all the time, Enlarge can save your party at times.

[Silverleafeon]

Alternative Build (or what is essential of this build and what can I modify without messing it up?)

STR ~ 08+ ~~ unlikely to melee after level 7
Dex ~ 08 ~~ its a druid use Fire/Cold Shield and know your REF is terrible
CON ~ 14+ ~~ affects health so keep high
INT ~ 14+ ~~ this affects spellcraft which affects spellpower and having too many skill points is nice
WIS ~ MAX + all level ups go here ~~ its a caster Druid so its obviously Wisdom based
CHA ~ 08+ ~~ the main reason for more points here is umd for Rez scross because quicken Reincarnate is 7.5 seconds to cast


Feats

1) Maximize (for your SLA spellpower)
3) Completionist/Past Life Wizard/Spell Focus Evocation ~ whichever one you can take
6) Empower (for your SLA spellpower)
7) ~~ at this level you should be starting to feel like a caster druid, before then consider wolf form/melee attacks to supplement your dps
9) Quicken ~~ essential for all Reaper/Epic Elite/most Legendary (moving this downward and considering Extend a luxury)
12) Spell Focus Evocation (or Greater Spell Focus Evocation if you already took Spell Focus at level 3)
15) Free Feat slot ~~ if following build theme of CC+DPS then take Enlarge
18) Heighten Spell ~~ supported SLA while adding +1 DC to Quakes
21) Free Feat slot ~~ if following build theme of CC+DPS and if you don't mind click boosts then take Wellspring of Power as a Boss Fight Booster
24) Master of Wild
26ED) Free Feat slot ~~ if following build theme of CC+DPS then take Epic Spellpower Cold or Fire or Lightning (or Epic Skill Focus Spellcraft)
27) Intensify Spell ~~ for your SLAs (put Max, Empower & Intensify on a hot bar you can see and turn on some/all when approaching a boss fight near an unused shrine.
27 optional Ruin path ~~ take Ruin here
28ED) Free Feat slot ~~ if following build theme of CC+DPS then take Epic Spellpower Cold or Fire or Lightning
29ED) Spiritblades or Arcane Pulse (either one is correct if you are in Shirdai ED)
30) Burst of Glacial Wrath
30) optional Ruin path ~~ take Greater Ruin here or Ruin if you choose Intensify Spell at level 27
30) if following the path of CC+DPS your choice is Scion of Air for stronger CC or Scion of Fire for stronger DPS either choice is good



Skill Points in order of importance:

Concentration Max ~ in order to conserve sp, some of your spells will not be meta such as standard spell Produce Flame that has a cooldown of 1 second
Spellcraft Max ~ this directly affects most offensive spellpower which directly affects dps
Heal Max ~ this directly affects positive spellpower which directly affects healing spells (helping mitigate reaper healing amp penalties)
Tumble 1 rank Cross Classed ~ this makes Tumble a trained skill which is handy and reduces falling damage
Balance 1~4 Cross Classed ranks this grants Balance as being fairly useful
Preform Max Cross Classed ~ this directly affects sonic spellpower which is a Shirdai bonus damage type
Jump 1~9 ranks ~ since you have Jump as a class spell one does not need to push this class skill to far.
Use Magic Device Max Cross Classed ~ the main reason you want this is to use teleport scrolls outside of dungeons and to cast Resurrection Scrolls (hopefully your friend do this for you) also handy for invisibility/master's touch/ect...
Intimidate ~ usually you gain the hate quick enough, especially if you run at the front of the pack, so not really needed with this build.
(Hint if you want more hate on you, summon a critter and cast Pack Presence (Intimidate version)) when the critter dies, you gain the Hate)

[Silverleafeon]

Please note, Fawn has played all sort of Druid builds as well as other classes, she was quite happy with many variations of DDO along her path.
I mean no disrespect to other builds other players enjoy as this is a game hence the main goal is to have fun.
In fact, if you are not having fun, ask yourself "Why?" and do something about it!

[Silverleafeon]

Major Warning ~ Bug on Live ~ beware of Empyrean Magic lag issues
Empyrean Magic: Passive Bonus: Whenever you cast a fire, light, or healing spell you gain a stack of Empyrean Fervor. Each stack of Empyrean Fervor gives you +2 Sacred bonus to Universal Spell power, +1% Sacred Bonus to Critical Chance with all spells. Duration: 10 seconds. Stacks 10 times.

EDP Cost: 1
Ranks: 1
Progression: 8
No requirements



Fawn has suffered greatly from lag at times.
Obviously there are a variety of sources.

Lately after the recent Night Revels bug fix, she has been enjoying a near lag free Druid life.

Until last night, when she swapped in Empyrean Magic on a Druid Shirdai caster build.
Lag became horrible and affected other party members.

In the past, she has played Druid, Favored Souls & Clerics experiencing crippling lag at times on all of theses builds.

Empyrean magic is an obviously good twist if you are using much fire/light/healing spells,
which most divines do at times.

I have bug reported thus.

Its quite possible some of the Warlock related lag is because of this issue.

The lag did not go away after reclogging or restarting, although it temporary became less for a few minutes.


The lag went away when I swapped to Exalted Angel to remove the twist.
I stayed lag free in Exalted Angel.
Later I swapped back to Shridai with the Empyrean Magic Twist.


Cold/Fire Form
Double Rainbow
Colors of the Queen
+7 tomes
+2 fate tomes
all past lives but Scourge Iconic
Leg Greensteel 5 or 6 piece set Mat Opp
Pure Druid on Scourge Iconic life near level cap
All metas save Eschew
Master of the Wild
Avoiding pet/summons
Leg salt & Leg fire greensteel caster sticks

[Silverleafeon]

Since Fawngate is level 30 atm, we decided to see just how good the Scarecrow can be if you commit build resources to summons.

So Tossing out 3 feats, she picked up Augment Summons, Improved Augment Summons, and Scion of Elysium.

Towards that end, we looked over the Epic Destines and switch Magistar.
Adding GrandSummoner to the buffs.

Twists:
Summon Dryad Elder
Divine Energy Resistance
Natural Shielding
Primal Scream
a unrelated tier one (could have been fast healing)

Spells:
Mass Bears, Bulls, and Cats
Pack Aptitude (constitution)
Pack Pressence (hate)
Tenacious Pack
Longstrider Mass
Harrowing Pack (requires wolf form)



So, then we pondered:

"What quest in the game could be done with this build in such a way as to make it worthwhile to pay extra $ for the Scarecrow?"

And it hit me!

Tabbing over to the DDO store, I looked up how much Heroic True Hearts of Wood costs: 1495 ddo points.

Now with Crafting being upgraded whereupon I spent half my tokens of the twelve on crafting materials.
Then racial past lives came out, completely draining Fawngate of tokens.


So, I trotted over to the Market Barracks.
Tabbing out to DDO Wiki, we find that EN is the classic run for the most possible tokens.

So in the Magistar ED, Fawn and I step inside and look thru our hireling folders.
We contract:
Scarecrow level 30
Panther Eb level 20
Panther Al level 20
Owlbear level 25
Cleric level 27
Wolf level 30


We buff up, and first I had normal Bull & Cat (swapped out to mass after 2nd boss).
I give a single Primal Scream along with all the long term listed above while in Wolf form.
Then I watch...

...very impressive...
...very fast movement...
...panther take some damage...
...cleric mass heals everyone..

...1st boss arrives and dies...

...2nd boss arrives and dies...
...Scarecrow is slow to return to me, and I see he was chained (meaning Devil considered Scarecrow main threat)

Buffs are about to run out, so Fawn shrines and swaps to Mass spells.
We get all the buffs done, and the new waves come more intensely.

...final boss arrives and dies...


Having not cast a single offensive spell or cloud spell, Fawn goes to loot the chests.
Humorously, her army is very intent to see what she pulls including 2 tokens of the twelve.


{Reminder ~ DDO rules say if you are using programing to auto bot your toon, you must be behind the keyboard (or near it)}.

The interesting part was that I did not need auras of any sort to support my summons.


So, yes its still going to take many runs to get 20 tokens to trade in to the twelve trader for a heart of blood or true heart,
but at 1495 apiece this is significant.

The Scarecrow has twice the hit points of the owlbear which is impressive.
Without a few extra buffs such as harper tree, the Scarecrow reached slightly over 3,500 hp with Primal Scream.


Part of the point is that I can do art or talk to mom while watching Fawn's army earn up a true heart of wood.
That my friend is worth every penny of the Collector's edition to me.

And it is a Collector's Edition, a plush extra so to speak.
There should be variety in what the gaming community buys.
If everyone bought one type then the marketing was flawed.

[Silverleafeon]

Testing out Stormrage.

This seems to be a buff applied to a spell itself if cast while Stormrage is active.

Its effect continues with the spell even after the Stormrage buff upon you expires.

Its effect is not applied to spell that you have already cast before casting Stormrage.

Call Lightning Storm is a lackluster spell, yet if you cast it during Stormrage the storm is more impressive if there is a nearby target.
So perhaps there is more than meets the description here.


Also Tsunami is a SLA that all metas can be applied for free.
This makes it significantly better.
There is still the disadvantage of clear cloud affects, but having enlarge met does help its targeting issues.

The more I play End Game reaper the more I value Enlarge as a metamagic feat.

[Silverleafeon]

You're missing the control experiment, see how your summoning army does without the scarecrow. If they can still do it then the scarecrow hasn't really gained you anything, except maybe shaving off a couple minutes.
Still interesting though.

+1 Well said.


More Testing:


Lord of Dust
Epic Elite

Completion time 22 minutes
Only stopped to help kill two champion casters and did some casting on the end fight.
Otherwise, pets & hires solo played that dungeon for 1 token.



Returned to
Devil Assault
EN
Same Army as above w/o using the Scarecrow.
Not as elegant, but successful completion with zero deaths.



Repeated
Devil Assault
EN
Same Army as above w/o using the Scarecrow but adding level 17 Owlbear.
Completion Time 27 minutes
Zero deaths.


Beginning to be very impressed with the AI of the Level 27 Cleric Miss Sundawn.
She never even came close to running out of spell points.
She keep my toon quite healed up.


Decided to move Fawn's camp spot near the far portal where the bosses come thru
as my Wolf tended to feel that I was not threatened otherwise.
The Panthers also sometimes held back if the boss was surrounded and far away.




So, then I ask myself, "Perhaps we should turn this inside out and ponder thus?"

After all, if one already has the previous Collector's Editions then its less likely to be a debate.

What if I just use the plat Cleric, the Scarecrow, and my wolf.
And since my wolf has a Thunderforged crafted collar, what if I replace that with a more common collar?
Leaving on my wolf's armor since it comes from Legendary Tempest Spine which is fairly often run.


So I replace my wolf's collar with this one from Temple of Elemental Evil:



which is unbound and was fairly easy to pull in the past.



So I did two runs of

Devil's Assault
EN
Cleric plat hire
Wolf with more common equipment
Scarecrow
A few points in the Harper tree for +4 to all hire ability scores.
A few points in the Nature's Warrior tree for Blood Moon Frenzy.

No deaths. Completion time 29 minutes on the first run.
Same result second run. I did equip Legendary Bracers of the Sun and Moon (guard item).
Guard did not make a whole lot of difference.
Twisting in Fury of the Wild's Fast Healing would have saved Clerical resources (which never went below 3/4 sp anyway).



I guess the point is that except for my toon having 3x Druid PL and not casting haste & rage scrolls,
there is very little difference between my toon and a average 3rd life toon.

So, if someone did not have any Collector's Edition pack, this could be a nice time to pick up a very solid hire.

[Silverleafeon]

Saw some level cap friends playing Legendary Reaper last night, so refitted Fawn's Spell. and took the Wolf and Dryad with me.
Overall things went very well.
Wolf survived, which means likely the Scarecrow would have too.

It was only R2&R3, but frankly Legendary Reaper is a whole different ballgame.
(Which is why the Devs increased Legendary Reaper xp.)

Probably this build could support the Cleric Hire and/or Scarecrow in Reaper.

We did have a aura Warlock taking a lot of the agro.

[Silverleafeon]

Looking thru all the quest & raid loot from Ravenloft and seeing if any Druid pattern might emerge:

The belt slot looks very promising with two or three important belts:

[img]


And since the belt slot grants Beacon of Magic set bonuses, the armor might become:



but to get the third part of the Beacon of Magic set, you have to wear these gloves:



Of course next, a druid is going to wondering about a Wisdom item of which there are two.
However, the necklace is mostly for turn undead benefits which leaves the choice of this cloak:
(Unless one wants to go after the raid wisdom necklace and have Constitution on the cloak slot:





This introduces the Adherent of the Mist set, and makes one consider using this wrist item with a Druid buff:



There are three boots in the Adherent of the Mist set, but none of them are of interest for a Druid caster.
So unless one wants to slot a defensive item such as Dexterity or Natural Armor to get the set bonus, a druid will probably skip these two:



For the Goggles slot, there is a choice of Spell Pen + Mystic Diversion or Magnetism + Devotion:



For the necklace slot, we have an alternative Wisdom item from The Curse of Strahd or a necklace with spell pen on it:

[color=red]Fleetfoot Necklace

Superior Reinforced Fists
Feat: Wind Through the Trees
Natural Armor +20
Wisdom +20
Yellow Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot
Adherent of the Mists Set (Legendary)
Mythic Neck Boost +1 or +3 [/quote]



For the ring slot, we have a ring to help support the Finger of Death spell and/or ring with spell pen and/or a defensive ring:



Legendary Ring of Nightfall

Insightful Intelligence +9
Insightful Deadly +9
Reflex Save +16
Physical Sheltering +50
Green Augment Slot
Adherent of the Mists Set (Legendary)
Mythic Ring Boost +1 or +3

Examining the trinket slot gives us these two raid items:
The first of which is from Old Baba's Hut and covers Constitution.
The second of which is from The Curse of Strahd and covers more healing power.



For your off hand, one can consider:



For your main hand, this item from The Curse of Strahd which does not provide any set bonuses:



Another alternative for a weapon set would be these two weapons:

Morninglord's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Potency 145, Insightful Potency 72, Spellsight 22, Insightful Spellsight 11, Red Augment Slot

Nightmother's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Spell Focus Mastery 7, Insightful Spell Focus Mastery 4, Spell Penetration 8, Insightful Spell Penetration 4, Orange Augment Slot

[Silverleafeon]

For the Beacon of Magic set bonuses, these seem most likely: two belts, cloak, and gloves:

[img]

[Silverleafeon]

For the Legendary Adherent of the Mists set bonus, one might end up with these five:

Fleetfoot Necklace

Superior Reinforced Fists
Feat: Wind Through the Trees
Natural Armor +20
Wisdom +20
Yellow Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot
Adherent of the Mists Set (Legendary)
Mythic Neck Boost +1 or +3

This only requires one item from each raid.

[Silverleafeon]

A non raiding alternative that could be passed around to alts might look like this:


Beacon of Magic Three Piece Set:
(Belt, Gloves, and Armor)


& &









Legendary Adherent of the Mists Five Piece Set
(Cloak, Bracers, secondary Ring, Necklace, and Boots)


or





or




Along with these two weapons, one of which one get at for free right after doing the Into the Mist Quest:

Morninglord's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Potency 145, Insightful Potency 72, Spellsight 22, Insightful Spellsight 11, Red Augment Slot

Nightmother's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Spell Focus Mastery 7, Insightful Spell Focus Mastery 4, Spell Penetration 8, Insightful Spell Penetration 4, Orange Augment Slot



The following slots are completely free:

Goggles, primary Ring & Trinket

[Silverleafeon]

Regardless, your wolf will enjoy these two new items very much:

[Silverleafeon]

Supposing your Druid decided to focus on Cold and Electric spellpowers.
Your shopping list might start to look like this:














http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Fleetfoot_Necklace




Along with these two weapons, one of which one get at for free right after doing the Into the Mist Quest:

Morninglord's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Potency 145, Insightful Potency 72, Spellsight 22, Insightful Spellsight 11, Red Augment Slot

Nightmother's Sceptre: 5[1d6+2], +15 Enhancement bonus, Spell Focus Mastery 7, Insightful Spell Focus Mastery 4, Spell Penetration 8, Insightful Spell Penetration 4, Orange Augment Slot



Goggles & Cloak = 2 piece Legendary Greensteel Set such as:

Focus of Water + Legendary Ethereal Essence + Legendary Gem of Dominion
Focus of Air + Legendary Ethereal Essence + Legendary Gem of Dominion


Legendary Spinneret Ring

[Silverleafeon]

Also of note, Mass Frog seems to be working better now than in the past, so consider retrying this feat.

It's possible the failure of Spell Pen checks has been fixed.

[Silverleafeon]

I have done some R1 Legendary Soloing with 5 hires, but having five real players is much faster.

Most players enjoy having a good druid caster in their midst.

[Pilgrim1]

Also of note, Mass Frog seems to be working better now than in the past, so consider retrying this feat.

It's possible the failure of Spell Pen checks has been fixed.

It sill fails 100% on mobs with spell pen.