Druid Update Preview

[Raederle]

I understand and agree with not duplicating the cleric spell list, but it seems ridiculous that every other resist elements casting class has this spell and druids, the masters of elemental energy, do not. If only one can have it, druids should and clerics should not.

And as regards Spring's resurgence, for pity's sake bump it up to 10 minutes, the cost up to 10 mana, and let us not spend ALL our time chasing down party members to refresh this necessary P.I.T.A. I understand why you don't want it to last based on levels, but with a party of 6 and me the primary healer, I spend more time chasing strays to refresh this than I do enjoying the game.

Raedaerle

[Silverleafeon]

One minute ago, party voice chat:

"How does it (cyclonic blast) blow away earthquakes (lore wise)?"

[SirValentine]

NATURE'S PROTECTOR - new bear tree!
CORES:

6. The Great Bear: Your attack speed in bear form is increased by 10% combat style bonus.
+4 str, +4 con.
While in animal form, the cooldown penalty for non-animal form spells is reduced from 2.5 times the usual length to 1.5. Does not stack with Nature’s Warrior Cores (new – mirror spell casting benefit from wolf tree and updated stats.

SEASONS HERALD
CORES:

6. Hierophant: You are wise and skilled in the art of wielding divine magic to summon aid and change the world around you. +4 Wisdom +4 Con +10 Universal spell power. Your Conjuration and Evocation spells gain +1 DC, +2 caster level and +2 max caster level. (new – increased wis/con bonus)

When you started the enhancement pass with Bard, several years back, you started updating capstones to either be +4 to a single primary stat, or +2 to two different stats.

Why have you abandoned that and are now going to ever-greater numbers? Are you going to go back and fix Bard and everything else get bigger capstones, too?

There is no need for this pointless & inconsistent stat inflation. Just go with the standard you set yourselves, either one +4, or two +2s.

[Kza]

When you started the enhancement pass with Bard, several years back, you started updating capstones to either be +4 to a single primary stat, or +2 to two different stats.

Why have you abandoned that and are now going to ever-greater numbers? Are you going to go back and fix Bard and everything else get bigger capstones, too?

There is no need for this pointless & inconsistent stat inflation. Just go with the standard you set yourselves, either one +4, or two +2s.

Agree 100%

The biggest problem from my Point of view of those more and more extremely strong capstones is that they are for most builds a "must have".

For me personally all strange multiclass options this game has is one of the funniest things. Think up strange builds and try out is for me as fun now as it was 11+ years ago.

Plz plz devs, be careful so it isnt only pure builds that is viable.

(If druids need to be stronger (and i agree they need. a warlock is way stronger than a druid) - give them other strengths than an inflated capstone. (strongest elemental Power apply to all- a % of the elemental blast become untyped- master of the wild feat apply to more spells and let even higher max lvl- new fun strong spells- or any other fun things but not just an extreme capstone)

(and my Dream- reduce cooldown on mass frogs :-) Funniest spell ever!)

[fmalfeas]

When you started the enhancement pass with Bard, several years back, you started updating capstones to either be +4 to a single primary stat, or +2 to two different stats.

Why have you abandoned that and are now going to ever-greater numbers? Are you going to go back and fix Bard and everything else get bigger capstones, too?

There is no need for this pointless & inconsistent stat inflation. Just go with the standard you set yourselves, either one +4, or two +2s.

I believe that's because the capstone basically 'needs to be as good as splashing 2 levels of monk or rogue'. AKA - it needs to be competitive with one of the light splashes to get evasion for people to think it's worth it.

[Hilltrot]

I haven't played druid. Is there a heavy armor option for druids? Can they wear metal?

[SirValentine]

I believe that's because the capstone basically 'needs to be as good as splashing 2 levels of monk or rogue'. AKA - it needs to be competitive with one of the light splashes to get evasion for people to think it's worth it.

So how much is that? Why should Druid get double the capstone of Bard? They need to apply consistent values, regardless, not just eternally spiral numbers upward.

[Krelar]

I haven't played druid. Is there a heavy armor option for druids? Can they wear metal?

They can wear various heavy dragon scale armors.

[Silverleafeon]

I haven't played druid. Is there a heavy armor option for druids? Can they wear metal?

Yes, there is dragonscale armor which is made of draconic material.
It is considered non metal, as Druid cannot wear metalic armor, metalic orbs or metalic shields.
Adamantine, Mirthal, Steel, & Iron are all considered metal.
{They can use metal weapons.}


Dragonscale armor is craftable in heroic and epic versions via Gianthold in three different colors:
Black = melee dps
White = tank
Blue = caster

http://ddowiki.com/page/Dragonscale_Armor


Dragonscale armor is also craftable for end game via Thunder-Forged crafting.

It comes in min level 26 and has one upgrade to min level 28.

This is typically the End Game Armor for Wolf Companions and often the past choice of Druids.
It is still highly competitive with other endgame armors, so it will be the preferred choice for new Bear builds.

As the base armor requires a mere 50 shadow dragon scales (an unbound crafting material) along with 240 commendations of valor (offered as a daily end reward on any epic quest), the access difficulty of obtaining this item is very low. {Suggest you ask guildies if you need the 50 shadow dragon scales as this is a very common items for those who have played several years.}

Upgrading the item is only another 50 shadow dragon scales & 240 commendations of valor, so you might as well just ask guildies for 100. Shadow Dragon Scales are also commonly found on the shard exchange/auction house of more popular servers. If you happen to have a few Thunderforged Ingots, be aware that these become rarer than the Shadow Dragon Scales and trading 1:1 is actually a sweet deal for the other player.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Thunder-Forged

[Silverleafeon]

One has to look at the entire tree and entire class as a whole in order to analaze a capstone.

Druid casters are the Rainbow Casters of DDO, they have to spread themselves over many different schools and elements to function.

What a +1 DC might do for a normal class can only be accomplished by a +2 Wis for a Druid, because of the vast spread over so many schools.

This is why I am not avocating support for Transmutation DCs for Druids, it is already covered thru the +Wis.

In the past there has been very little incentive for Druids to have more than 17 levels of Druid even as a Caster. It has been considered that Druid 17/Wizard X/Socerer Y and other builds are possibly superior. Even Druid 18/Rogue 1/Wizard 1, has been possible better than pure. It is these considerations that make Capstone considerations.


As far as the Bear tree capstone, I have heard the early player debates over Bears, and some thought on the matter are that Warlock Temp Hp > Bear Defenses.

Bears have been traditionally unpopular as have pure Druid melee builds in the past, so a larger incentive capstone would seem practical.

Comparing Bear capstones to Bard capstones seems unfair as Bards already have superior Single Weapon Fighting combined with Swashbuckling which was designed to take advantage of SWF style. Add the 1.5 ability modifier to SWF, and compare that to a Bears possible off hand stone/leather large shield, and the comparisions get even more tangled.



Also, until Warlocks are no longer considered more powerful than other spellcasters, the Devs should consider better capstones for Classes such as Clerics, Favored Souls, Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards.....

[edrein]

Agree 100%

The biggest problem from my Point of view of those more and more extremely strong capstones is that they are for most builds a "must have".

For me personally all strange multiclass options this game has is one of the funniest things. Think up strange builds and try out is for me as fun now as it was 11+ years ago.

Plz plz devs, be careful so it isnt only pure builds that is viable.

(If druids need to be stronger (and i agree they need. a warlock is way stronger than a druid) - give them other strengths than an inflated capstone. (strongest elemental Power apply to all- a % of the elemental blast become untyped- master of the wild feat apply to more spells and let even higher max lvl- new fun strong spells- or any other fun things but not just an extreme capstone)

(and my Dream- reduce cooldown on mass frogs :-) Funniest spell ever!)

In the case of multiclassing the Bear capstone is only 1 stat point stronger than splashing 1 level of barbarian and taking all of the rage stat bonuses, not to mention the other goodies you'd get from that. The bear capstone has a nice and competitive bonus for bear druids. The same could be said of the caster capstone, you can go pure and gain a strong bonus or you can splash whatever and get an equal tradeoff in power.

Not sure why people want to hurt pure class builds simply because they believe splashes should be king.

[edrein]

So how much is that? Why should Druid get double the capstone of Bard? They need to apply consistent values, regardless, not just eternally spiral numbers upward.

While I agree that perhaps Warchanter and Spellsinger's capstones aren't on par; I'll definitely say the utility of Swashbuckler's capstone is the epitome of pure build power. +4 to two stats isn't nearly as powerful as +2 to stats, evasion, +1 doublestrike, damage, and enhancement bonus to your weapon. There is a definite parity in power as far as the decisions go, although I don't think any of these 'inconsistent capstones' downright trump the power and utility built into the Swashbuckler capstone.

[Xyfiel]

So with the above thinking then EK should get +20 to two stats for a capstone since it is so bad? There has to be a standard with few exceptions instead we are just getting creep. Herald does not need anything more than +4 wisdom. Not only does Elemental form provide some defenses it is easy to spend in Protector for more. All this on class who not only can nuke but can heal in multiple ways naturally.

There is only one caster tree in the game that gets con and that comes at +2 to two stats.

[fmalfeas]

Also, until Warlocks are no longer considered more powerful than other spellcasters, the Devs should consider better capstones for Classes such as Clerics, Favored Souls, Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards.....

One thing I've thought about is having Archmage have different passives on each multiselector. Like Illusion would give +1 stacking concealment per Illusion SLA you get. Evocation would get spell crit multiplier. Abjuration would get PRR and MRR. Transmutation would get...um...something like HP or Fort Save...something to do with being physically improved via your magic. Etc. It would be very much fitting to it, and would also allow evocation archmages to not be a sad joke.

Something along those lines could be done to bolster druid as well. Like a multiselector capstone. Like for a bear, do you choose hitting like a truck, or taking hits like they were nothing? For a wolf, do you take being hard to hit, or hitting fast. For a Herald, do you take powerful spells, or a balanced approach where your spells are quite good, but not overwhelming...but in return your ability to wade into the fray in elemental form with your scimitar and cut down your foes is improved?

That way, you could avoid 'this capstone is so op it's not funny', and have awesome capstones but they're specialized, focusing in on what your build does (or shoring up a weakness, I suppose).

[Godzuki420]

Could you add bronzewood, densewood, and darkleaf armors and shields back to the list of loot? I still have a copy of darkleaf breastplate on my main from years ago.

[edrein]

So with the above thinking then EK should get +20 to two stats for a capstone since it is so bad? There has to be a standard with few exceptions instead we are just getting creep. Herald does not need anything more than +4 wisdom. Not only does Elemental form provide some defenses it is easy to spend in Protector for more. All this on class who not only can nuke but can heal in multiple ways naturally.

There is only one caster tree in the game that gets con and that comes at +2 to two stats.

Assuming that was directed at me; that's some quality hyperbole. EK will most likely get either a +4 con and damage/defensive bonus that fits the revamped tree. That's the easiest way to give a stat bonus without having to split it for the two classes that have access.

Honestly; you could drop the Season's Herald capstone to say +2 wisdom and +2 con, if you gave an appropriate power boost to actual facilitate the reasoning for being pure. Say a Lantern Ring style effect, or a chance to proc a spell effect similar to Shiradi. But; without putting that much work into an unique capstone bonus that fits the design of the tree? +4's is just fine. That's 2 DC and 40HP in the long haul, I think people are overreacting a bit over nothing.

So to give you a point of reference, other classes that got +4 stats usually got a singular stat and a large tree based bonus:

• Frenzied Beserker has +4 con, +10 melee power, and a 5% chance to deal 400 damage that scales with melee power.
• Occult Slayer got +4 con, spell resistance equal to their con score, +40 heal amp, and +150HP.
• Ravager got +4 con, +40 heal amp, +150HP, and Terrorize which is an awful ability but that's neither here nor there.
• Arcanotechnician got +4 int, +5 spellcraft, and their using casting items with their character level.
• Battle Engineer got +4 int, +1 enchant bonus to weapons, +1 crit multiplier with the appropriate weapons, and spell casting implement on their weapons.
• Stalwart Defender got +2 strength, +6 con, +2 tactical DCs, and +10 PRR/MRR. Shield Action Boost: Your gain +100% Maximum hit points, +50 Physical and Magical Resistance Rating, and On Attacked: You are healed for 1d10 positive energy healing. This Action Boost does not share a cooldown with other Action Boost abilities, and can be used while helpless. (Cooldown: 3 minutes.)
• Henshin Mystic got +4 Wisdom, +10 Concentration, +1 Passive Ki Generation, +25 Melee Power, +2 Fire Resistance, Enemies have an additional -2 Fire Resistance against your spells. While wielding a quarterstaff inside your Cauldron of Flame, you gain +5 to hit and damage, and a +1 Critical Multiplier. +15% attack speed with quarterstaves.
• Shintao got +4 Wisdom, +25 Melee Power, +2[w] with handwraps or while unarmed. You gain an additional +1 bonus to Armor Class and a +1 bonus to saving throws. You no longer suffer penalties from Meditation of War.
• Knight of Chalice got +4 Charisma and 10 Melee Power. The bonuses granted by Courage of Heaven are increased by an additional +2. Your attacks now deal 7d6 additional Light damage. Any weapon you wield is considered Good aligned for purposes of bypassing damage reduction.
• Arcane Archer got +4 Dexterity and +20% Doubleshot.
• Deepwood Stalker got +4 Dexterity, +20 melee/ranged power, +20 positive spell power, and +3 Sneak Attack Dice. You are always considered to be in Point Blank Shot and Ranged Sneak Attack range.
• Tempest got +4 Dexterity. +25% chance to doublestrike with your off-hand while dual wielding. While wearing light or no armor: +10 Melee Power, Physical Resistance Rating, and Magical Resistance Rating.
• Souleater got +4 charisma and Devour the Soul.
• Tainted Scholar got +4 cha, +30% spell critical damage, +1 spell pen, +10 maximum Depravity, and energy Drain added as a level 6 warlock spell. Additionally their eldritch blast does 1d6 extra damage.
• Spellsinger got +4 cha, +25 positive spell power, and Heal and Wail of the Bashee as level 6 spells.

This list doesn't even include accumulative core bonuses. So what I'm trying to say is simple. Curb your enthusiasm about trying to prematurely gimp druids just because they've got one or two features going for them currently and these changes will benefit those abilities further. The game isn't competitive, there's literally no reason for this sudden "all casters must die" mentality to pop up again.

[skorpeon]

I am about o do my last life for completionist, and yeah it is druid. Now I guess i could do something else, even an epic past life, but I am thinking maybe I should try to do a wolf build before the changes come?

[Silverleafeon]

Druid casters are also only getting a single caster tree, that eliminates the typical splash into a second tree to pick up goodies such as +1 stat at tier three and four...

[Xyfiel]

Druid casters are also only getting a single caster tree, that eliminates the typical splash into a second tree to pick up goodies such as +1 stat at tier three and four...

Both nature trees have wisdom options and defensive buffs to spend aps into if you don't want wolf or bear stuff.

Cleric, Druid, Fvs, Arty, and Bard all have one caster tree. The obvious counter point to this is healer trees. Which is fair but Druids get their bonuses to healing in their caster tree so that isn't a good point for other classes who have to spend aps in the heal tree to increase their healing where a Druid can spend it elsewhere to get the +2 wisdom.

[Silverleafeon]

Favored Souls are missing their third tree.

Bards are not a full caster class, in DDO they are defined as a specialist.
Likewise with Arty, as both have six levels of spells instead of the normal nine.

Cleric have Radiant Servant Aura to work towards which is quite worthwhile.