fire ele druid/ hybrid ele druid

[DeathsHand]

fire ele druid/ hybrid ele druid

hey guys im starting this thread to put some ideas accross and get some back about fire druids/hybrid druids.

Ive been using a wind druid for some time now and have become good with it but i can see obvious weaknesses in the build now so i would like to try a "new" ele build.

im thinking of 2 different specific builds, 1 is a pure fire druid and 1 is a mic between wind and fire.

first off id like to give you an idea the 2 builds that i would like opinions back on.

Fire Druid:
20 firestorm
1-20 moulten boulder
20 fissure
20 volcano
20 armageddon
1-20 oak sage

im not sure, more life or more dmg?

basic dmg from fire skills:
(lvl 10 MB) firestorm : 4300 average fire dmg
(") fissure : 3700 average fire dmg
(") Volcano : 1600 fire dmg / 570 physical
(") Armageddon : 9000 average dmg (50 sec duration)

with max oak instead of MB only armageddon dmg and firestorm dmg goes down (roughly 1-1.5k dmg each)

gear:
shako (or the unique +3 ele and %fire skill dmg)
Perfect enigma mageplate
2 sojs
maras
hoto (wiz spike)
magefist
perf sandstorms
lidless [more life and faster tele cast] (or storm with max block and more DR)

Before i list my plans for a potential wind/fire hybrid druid id like to get some feedback on this fire druid plan, any gear suggestions/ stat suggestions and play style suggestions as to how well/bad each of the fire skills work.

 

[Jova1]

I think u are definately on the right track here.

What about a belt, arachnid mesh probably as main belt.

The skills you picked to max are good choices, especially not maxing molten boulder, 10 points to increase firestorm damage is a great idea.

Firestorm is underated it does alot of damage, sure it snakes out but it is not that dufficult to aim.

Fissue is good because it covers a good area, you can cast it from a distance, under your opponent or at an area where you expect your oponent to run.

Valcano is only good if you catch your opponent while not moving, or you cast it in front of your opponent and they run right through it

Tactics I think would be very similar to a wind druid.

Always have armageddon going, just like a wind druid continously has hurricane going.

Run tactics
Run and hope your opponent is hit by armageddon, when you get an oppotunity cast fissue or volcano from a distance in there path or under them, if they get very close you can use firestorm or volcano/fissue.

Chase tactics
Teleport onto your opponent while armageddon is going and because you are very close cast firestorm, or volcano/fissue.

This is similar to the cookie cutter tactics of wind druids with teleport, teleport on opponent cast tornado while hurricane is going.

So armageddon = hurricane and tornado = firestorm.

I think this would be a great, fun build. Here is the reason why.

I was dueling an another fireclaws bear in a public dueling game and we decided just for fun to stay unshifted and use skills from the fire tree to duel.

We only had firestorm, molten boulder, volcano and fissue. No armageddon or teleport.

It was the most fun dueling. They were long duels, had to chase or run, think about the attack to use given the situation, what to do against opponents attack, try and preddict where the opponent will be, sit back or run in for the kill.

Most duels are like this i guess but the main thing that made it fun ...

No one hit kills.

Alot of people in the game that were watching indicated how they miss this type of dueling.

All the best with the guide.

 

[Kirsty]

Teleport is not that impressive on a fire druid, but I suppose that it will let you do something while you wait for the timers to wear off. I generally use level 1 twisters or something it mildly stun an opponent so I can reposition myself properly enough and attack 1 second later from a better position.
The main reason I don't recommend teleport is because Armagedddon meteors won't immediately strike the opponent but take a few frames to fully fall down. Hurricane on a wind druid on the other side is immediate, but overall does less damage. If you are going for a pure fire build you may want to choose molten boulder after all since it will increase the physical damage of volcano. If you run into an absorbing opponent you'll have the means to hurt him with volcano and even some situational usage of molten boulder itself. The damage increase will not be incredibly high though, but it will make a difference.

Firestorm has some uses, but the damage is per second. Most opponents don't stay in the firesnakes long enough and there is the problem that like tornado the firesnakes have strange tracking. When your opponent is in melee range however, the firesnakes in one cast will often stack on top of eachother and do some effective damage. Overall when you use run-cast-run tactics in the hopes of your opponent running through it, you will be better off using fissure instead (maybe volcano if you can aim extraordinary well).

Volcano is a good skill to cast when a ranged opponent is about to attack or stands still (also namelock-cast it when they're about to land with teleport). If a melee opponent comes in range you can also cast it on the place where he will be when he strikes you.

 

[Pent]

why must everyone assume if you pvp you must teleport?

 

[Kirsty]

I never use teleport but use run/repositioning tactics instead. They work much better on a fire druid if you ask me, but not so much for a wind druid.

A minor sidenote: Just because people list enigma you shouldn't estimate them immediately as a person who uses teleportation. Overall enigma is still one of the armors of choice for a caster even if you don't use the teleportation it gives as a bonus. Here are the reasons why I use enigma on my generic elementalist, without ever using the +teleport that is on it.

+2 skills fuels generic skills
The faster run is definately a bonus since it allows for less restriction in charm choice (since you're a caster you'd better get a good amount of faster run).
The 8% damage reduction allows maximum DR coupled with stormshield and harlequin's crest.
+strength can allow low base strength or little +strength gear (my build is 1.09 though and has high base strength and strength gear, but this can be a determinating motivation for pvp builds).
Damage to mana, defense and life gain always help.


Of course it is sort of gear dependant on what you really need and if it really gives better bonuses than other armors, but there is enough motivation to use enigma on non teleportation builds nonetheless.

 

[DeathsHand]

right thx for the replies guys, especially you kirsty, now i will give my plans on a hybrid wind/fire ele druid and would like your opinions.

(skill planner is currently offline but these are rough values for the skills at lvl 40)

20 fissure (about 3k average)
20 volcano (about 1k average)
20 cyclone armour (about 1300 absorb)
20 tornado (about 2.5-3k dmg)
1 hurricane (about 600average)
1 armageddon (about 3-4k average)

i need a suggestion for a last skill to max, either oak sage armageddon or hurricane.

with this build ill have 3 sources of dmg, albeit hurricanes cold dmg will be low its still usefull for causing hit recovery/dodge/claw block.

ill have 2 ranged skills (volc/fiss) 1 medium - close range (torna) and 2 very close range skills (arma/hurri).

in my experience a 2.5 -3k dmg tornado can kill effectivly and having 1.3k absorb from cyclone armour definatly helps.
the main weakness with wind druids is range, therefore i have volcano and fissure which are both good for individual tasks.

gear will be pretty much the same, thx again for reading this other build and id like more feedback/suggestions pls.

 

[Kirsty]

If you think yo ucan get to level 40 then go for it. I myself changed a lot of gear around and manage with only level 33 skills which does just fine. Strangely tornado is around 1200 damage for me and it performs just fine. 2500 looks very good so don't worry about the wind skills. You can even save a few points from cyclone armor for your fire skills.

Overall hurricane doesn't do that much damage and it may be more interesting to increase the damage of your volcano and/or fissure and/or armageddon instead. It depends a bit which skill you think you will use the most. To increase the damage of all three the skills invest a few points into firestorm (5 points or so to aid fissure and armageddon) and a few points into armageddon (about 10 to 15 to aid armageddon and volcano).

A level 1 oak sage should in theory be enough when you have a bunch of +skills. I myself use a generic elementalist that already invested a lot in oak sage. Suggestion on this skill is too much personal preference if you ask me. It does fast, but can be resurrected just as quickly and the life gain is immediate (no oak healing as in 1.09 though). If you yourself are already durable then a low level oak sage will be enough, otherwise you may want to increase it to a decent level.
I suggest pretesting a level 1 oak sage in dueling first before you distribute your final points. If you think it is good enough then just put the last points into the elemental skills.