Few Questions Concerning Fire Druids

[Narcotic]

Few Questions Concerning Fire Druids

1. Is max block better than full vit for PvP?

2. What is a good merc for this build?

3. Should synergies be maxed first, or is it better to put 1 in ravens and 1 in spirit wolves, then max synergies? Or even should I go dire wolves or bear?

4. What's a good fcr to have? I have the 99% bp and the 86% fhr bp but I still end up locked up, would more fcr fix this? Or should I just cut back and replace fhr and fcr gear with more defensive or damaging gear?

 

[Ed from Russia]

I'm assuming you're talking about Fire elemental druid and not Fireclaws.

1. IMO yes. In PvP max block is pretty vital.

2. You need a tank, even if you intend to have a Grizzly, so an Act II merc would be best. You don't need Might or Prayer, because you're not dealing physical damage and shouldn't get hit a lot. Defiance and Holy Freeze are both viable; Defiance will improve your merc and Grizzly as tanks, Holy Freeze will slow all monsters around you and gives your Merc some cold damage, both of which are pretty useful.

3. Unless you want to be completely summon-less, put 1 pt in the summoning skills when they become available (raven - spirit wolves - oak sage - dire wolves - grizzly). Even with 1 pt they can be useful throughout Normal. For PvP the most common setup is to max Grizzly, Fissure and Volcano, and put the rest of your points in Molten Boulder and/or Firestorm. My suggestion is that for leveling you max Fissure first (to get you through Normal without effort, followed Volcano (makes your Fissure damage higher and gives you method to deal with bosses). Next, Grizzly to deal with Fire immunes and give you a better tank. Finally max the synergies, Molten Boulder first.

You play with your Grizzly in this setup, not the Dire Wolves (which would be too weak with only 1 pt in this skill). If you want to play with Dire Wolves you should max this skill as well. This is really a PvM setup; read my guide for the Fire Hunter in the stickies. You also use your Ravens in PvP.

4. FCR is not so important for a Fire Druid, because all your skills are timered. You are right that more FCR will enable you to move away quicker, but I would only increase FCR if it doesn't reduce your defense too much.