Block or not for windy ?

[Swrd]

Block or not for windy ?

I'm thinking of rebuilding my windy because I have a bunch of better items now and can get by with far less strength but my question is: Is it worth it to have max block with Stormshield or go full vita and use only spirit ?

I use my windy mainly for pvp and block can be crucial against barbarians and other melee characters but does it make up for the loss of life ? My idea was that with a block build I would obviously be using storm against melee characters and spirit versus casters.

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Use Spirit vs. Casters' and Stormshield vs. Melee or when you're DvD'ing since using either one will require 156 Strength so you can eventrually just use both to your advantage. Don't worry about max block, vs. Melee just resummon your Wolves/Bear whenever they die and they won't be able to catch you.

 

[aznbboi16]

If you want to beat good bvc barbs, you need max block. You can't just resummon all the time, you're wasting mana and wasting time that you could be using to attack. Don't think you can out-tele a barb, cuz you can't. Druids have bad cast rates whereas the barb has the best in the game (along with the sorceress).

A bvc/bvall barb will not let you resummon, the moment you tele away to summon, he'll tele right after you and keep the pressure on. Cast a wolf and he'll be on top of you ww'ing away. Relying on summons to take hits for you isn't the greatest idea.

Druids don't get that much life per vita anyways...so it's not like a gargantuan sacrifice to get max block. If you're so worried about saving those points in dex, stick an eld in the stormshield...Saves 19 pts at lv90.

 

[Gotcha]

If you want to beat good bvc barbs, you need max block. You can't just resummon all the time, you're wasting mana and wasting time that you could be using to attack. Don't think you can out-tele a barb, cuz you can't. Druids have bad cast rates whereas the barb has the best in the game (along with the sorceress).

A bvc/bvall barb will not let you resummon, the moment you tele away to summon, he'll tele right after you and keep the pressure on. Cast a wolf and he'll be on top of you ww'ing away. Relying on summons to take hits for you isn't the greatest idea.

Druids don't get that much life per vita anyways...so it's not like a gargantuan sacrifice to get max block. If you're so worried about saving those points in dex, stick an eld in the stormshield...Saves 19 pts at lv90.

I have seen some great BVC's go down do non block windy's with 6.5 - 7k life and 6k+ nado with minion stack. Barbs may be able to cast fast to chase but with like 500 mana and a little chasing they will be out of mana after a short chase and a ww through wolf stack and in most cases the stacking allows the druid to go unharmed. Then the barb is out of mana hmmmmmmm unless they are potting mana pots which IMO is bm. A good Druid will have 800-900 mana with good rings and can tele and cast nado's and recast pretty fast if they play their chr like a caster.

It is true that many BVC will take down normal windy's but there are some real good duelers out there. Block will help if a druid gets ww'd but if the ww gets through the wolf minion stack block or no block usually means a quick death. Also those 6K + nado's can really hurt a BVC, especially if they do not have max DR.

 

[aznbboi16]

Any good bvc who duels wind druids will have 50% dr. Also it isn't hard for a barb to get 800-900 mana either. A couple nice rings with a wizspike on the 2nd hand will give him a good amount of mana.

If the barb gets through your stack, having block will help you survive. If you have no block and he manages to get through your stack and gets you into hit recovery, you're done for. With block that's not necessarily true. Not every wind druid is a godly player either. And it's not like there aren't good barb players either.
Heck vs a no block windy I could even namelock conc or zerk and probably do quite a bit of damage.

Also things with multi hit attacks like zealots and fury druids can be dangerous without block.

 

[Swrd]

Thanks for replies, I think I'll go the block route (although I'm not exactly certain yet). The question of block was not only against barbs but other melee characters too.

Another question: Is there any idea to socket my storm with a shael rune for one frame faster blocking or would an eld rune or a nice jewel (resistances + dex perhaps) be better ?

 

[Gotcha]

Any good bvc who duels wind druids will have 50% dr. Also it isn't hard for a barb to get 800-900 mana either. A couple nice rings with a wizspike on the 2nd hand will give him a good amount of mana.

If the barb gets through your stack, having block will help you survive. If you have no block and he manages to get through your stack and gets you into hit recovery, you're done for. With block that's not necessarily true. Not every wind druid is a godly player either. And it's not like there aren't good barb players either.
Heck vs a no block windy I could even namelock conc or zerk and probably do quite a bit of damage.

Also things with multi hit attacks like zealots and fury druids can be dangerous without block.

That is true going all vita has both advantages (great for all casters) and disadvantages (some melee but not all). My druids so far have gone block yet I am tempted to try the all vita route. With a 6-7K nado most players even with PDR are going to get hurt. Barbs although, can take a lot due to the high life. Especially BVC. Yet hey a BVC chose the all vita route and has a weakness to other non BVC barbs. If the Windy is going to duel BVC and also a couple of other melee chr's then I agree max block would be better. Yet there are also big advantages for the druid going all Vita, especially against pure light and fireball sorcy's to name a few.

The OW from the Barb if he lands a hit is what really is the main bane. Yet for a good tele, recaster of minions a vita route is a great build. I have always gone block yet I am thinking of trying an all vita route due to the huge life. The vita route is only good IMO if you are good at teleing away and recasting summons fast since if not your oak and wolves will be going down real fast.

The real bane for the windy or necro is a BVC or WW barb who uses lvl 20 or so leap to just take the minions out of the equation and then well block or no block IMO the windy is going down to a good BVC or WW barb.

Block has its advantages, so does vita. It just depends on what type of chr's you are going to be dueling more. If I made a windy to duel more melee chr's especially WW barbs I would be going the block way just due to the lvl 20 leap issue on my minions which ends the block debate in its tracks. Yet if the windy is planning on dueling more casters and some melee (except for the few you listed) then Max vita IMO is a better way to go and just practice the tele/recast minion drill until you become godly at doing it. I hear all the time where the barb says just smother them when they tele away yet a good tele/recasting windy will be making that barb eat nado's as he tries to chase the windy down.

Block/max vita will always be a huge debate on the windy issue. I think more players who have actually made a pure vita build for PVP could offer their exp. on weather it was worth it to go all vita or if they would stay max block.

As for me I have not gone all vita yet to test so I am just stating what I see in ladder dueling games. I am still a block fan yet I am in the process of building a pure vita just to test, yet against WW barbs that use high lvl leap I expect to loose more then win if I am playing a windy.

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Thanks for replies, I think I'll go the block route (although I'm not exactly certain yet). The question of block was not only against barbs but other melee characters too.

Another question: Is there any idea to socket my storm with a shael rune for one frame faster blocking or would an eld rune or a nice jewel (resistances + dex perhaps) be better ?

Ber it to get 50% DR (Enigma (8), Stormshield (35+8)= ) if price is not a factor, otherwise an Um, P'Diamond or 15% Resist Jewel with attributes would be your best choice.

 

[aznbboi16]

snip

Well bvc barbs go all vita because they only duel casters, and also because barbs get a very high life:vit ratio, something the druid lacks. Yes with oak he will have a high life:vit ratio, but oak is not like BO and can be killed very easily and should not be completely relied on.

Druids don't get a lot of life per vit and I like versatility, that's why I prefer a blocking route. If you plan on mostly dueling casters, or your average pub melee then yeah go all vit, pub melees probably won't touch you. But if you want to be able to beat the occasional godly barb you come across, get block.

 

[Gotcha]

Well bvc barbs go all vita because they only duel casters, and also because barbs get a very high life:vit ratio, something the druid lacks. Yes with oak he will have a high life:vit ratio, but oak is not like BO and can be killed very easily and should not be completely relied on.

Druids don't get a lot of life per vit and I like versatility, that's why I prefer a blocking route. If you plan on mostly dueling casters, or your average pub melee then yeah go all vit, pub melees probably won't touch you. But if you want to be able to beat the occasional godly barb you come across, get block.

Hehe, If a windy druid wants to beat the average godly barb, vita or no vita, if they are loaded with OW and use leap to seperate the minion stack I would place my bet on the WW barb. God I hate to say that since I love the windy build but that darn leap and OW "Block or no block" will eat a windy up fast if they can get through the minion stack