Celtic Heroes

This skill guide is to educate druids in efficent skill usage during solo or group combat. In this guide I will cover many aspects of solo leveling as well as the efficient use of skills during group leveling and boss fights.

The Druid skills are as follow:

DPS(Damage Per Second)

• Storm Touch
  Lightning Strike

DOT(Damage Over Time)

• Strangling Vines
  Stinging Swarm

Buff(Ally enhancing Spells)

• Natures Touch
  Shield of Bark
  Abundance
  Natures Embrace
  Spring of Life
  Natures Breath
  Abundant Aura
  Wards
  Sanctuary
  Bless
  Rescue
  Calm

Debuff(Enemy weakening Spells)

• Grasping Vines
  Howling Wind
  Energy Harvest

The Basics:

First and foremost the primary role of a druid is support. I'm not saying that you can't structure a full offensive or DPS (Damage Per Second) setup, I am just pointing out that druids are geared more towards support with their skill set and should be focused more towards this area.

The main STATS that a druid should allocate their skills to is FOCUS and VITALITY. A standard distribution for every level would be 3/2 which is 3 points to FOCUS and 2 points to VITALITY. You should never worry about STRENGTH or DEXTERITY until higher levels, even when soloing.

The main SKILL a druid should focus on, first and foremost, is NATURES TOUCH. This is the single most valuable skill a druid has. It is the best healing spell, hands down, out of all classes and is the reason why druids are valued during boss fights or raids. ALWAYS KEEP THIS SKILL MAXED.

Solo Druids:

Soloing is the act of playing without the help of other players. You will find yourself soloing at some point during your play for the purpose of leveling your character or because no other clan members or friends are on or able to help at that time.

There are 2 major Classifications of Solo druids. The first is an offensive, or DPS, druid which means they have maxed, or close to maxed, damage skills. The second is a HYBRID druid which means that the skill points are distributed among both offensive spells and support spells. HYBRID druids are the most common type of druid found amongst the game because of the versatility of the set up.

First we will talk about DPS druids. A DPS druid's main goal is to finish the enemy as quickly as possible. this is done by maxing out the offensive skills. The four offensive skills of a druid are LIGHTNING STRIKE, STORM TOUCH, STRANGLING VINES, and STINGING SWARM. LIGHTNING STRIKE and STORM TOUCH are what is known as DPS skills and do immidiate damage to a target. STRANGLING VINES and STINGING SWARM are what is known as DOT, or Damage Over Time, skills and do damage every 5 seconds(also known as TICKS). An efficient fight using this setup would be to cast the skills in the following order: STRANGLING VINES, STINGING SWARM, LIGHTNING STRIKE, and STORM TOUCH. Where STRANGLING VINES initiates combat with the enemy, STINGING SWARM immediately follows, LIGHTNING STRIKE deals fast damage, and STORM TOUCH finishes the job. If this method is applied right, it is possible to bring down an enemy several levels higher than your own within seconds.

Next, we talk about HYBRID druids. This type of druid uses both, offensive and defensive, skills to defeat the target. Many have their own preferences as to what makes a good HYBRID druid however the most efficient setup i have found that allows for the quickest leveling without having to stop and wait for your energy to recharge or your character dying is as follows:

NATURES TOUCH- MAX LEVEL
LIGHTNING STRIKE- MAX LEVEL
STRANGLING VINES- HIGH LEVEL
GRASPING ROOTS- MEDIUM TO HIGH LEVEL (Based off of level of enemies you are fighting)
SHIELD OF BARK- MEDIUM TO LOW LEVEL

There are of course other setups that will work perfectly fine. I am just providing the set of skill that I found work best for myself. Another setup would be to substitute ABUNDANCE for SHIELD OF BARK or even SANCTUARY. I recommend playing around with the skill point allocation to find what works best for the way you play.

Group Druids:

Druids are always strongest when grouped with other players. Preferably a tank such as a Warriors or Rogues. Rangers are also good companions as long as you work together with them. A very powerful connection I have found between Rangers and druids is the druid ability to root targets in place while the ranger stands back and deals damage from afar. this results in minimal damage being received while dealing maximum damage in the shortest time. This method also works well when grouping with a mage and helps balance the fight in your favor due to the lack of armor that one of the tank classes would generally have.

There are four major types of group druids. First, there are DPS druids. Though some groups value a DPS druid, it is not recommended that you choose this skill set due to the high energy cost of offensive druid spells and the fact that other classes such as mages and warriors will be dealing damage during the fight. Second, is the HYBRID druid. it is always a safe choice to be a hybrid druid in groups because of the versatility of the setup. Third, and most common, is the FULL SUPPORT druid. This means that the druids skill points are distributed among the BUFF DEBUFF and HEALING skills without any points allocated to offense. Last, is the PURE SUPPORT druid. This skill set is only recommended for expert players due to the fact that it requires the player to allocate all STAT points in to FOCUS with none in to any other stat. This results in Very low health and the need to depend on your group for protection. It also requires the player to allocate all SKILLpoints in to BUFFS, DEBUFFS, and HEALING skills. This requires complete trust of your companions and a high level of patience.

I have already explained DPS and HYBRID druids so i will not cover them in this section. I will instead cover FULL SUPPORT setups. These are the most valued among clans and groups and are highly recommended.

First, we will talk about FULL SUPPORT druids. This type of druid is the most common among clans and are the most efficient during boss fights. It is always recommended during boss fights to group with another druid who is full support to get the most out of HEALSand BUFFS, especially one who has the skills that you did not choose. It is important to remember that your tank is more important than any other member of the group, INCLUDING YOURSELF. If there is no one to take the bulk of the damage, then everyone with fall in to disarray and the fight will be lost. Always make sure to watch the tank and renew the buffs you have placed upon him/her before they run out. To maximize energy usage and get the most out of your buffs and heals, watch for when the icon displaying your buff starts to blink. This means there is twenty seconds left before the buff ends. It is important to establish a system if you are buffing multiple players so that you do not forget to renew and let it run out. A simple buff, such as ABUNDANCE, could mean the difference between your tank being healed or killed. If grouped with another druid, it is important to establish communication so as not to double heal when it is not needed or cast a weaker version of a spell when the other has the stronger one.

In the event that your tank dies, there should be another player ready to step up and take the damage to minimize the death of players among the group. In the event that the boss targets a player that is ill equipped for the task of a tank, one skill that you should never forget about is CALM. This spell lowers the AGGRO or aggravation percent of the targeted player. In short, it makes the player less desirable to the enemy so they are not attacked. The best use for this spell is if the enemy targets a weaker player or less armored player such as a mage or ranger and you wish to turn his focus back to the tank. This spell is essential during boss fights and is a must have that could turn the tide of battle. It could mean the difference between losing only one player or several. Another spell to not forget or underrate is SPRING OF LIFE and RESCUE. If you have these skills, they are two of the three most important skill you can have during boss or group fights.

SPRING OF LIFE is the druids resurrection spell that, even though it only revives the player for 1 HP initially, after 5 seconds it regenerates 50 times the skill level of the spell in health to the player. This spell is a major difference maker in any group fight and should be learned as soon as possible. It is extremely useful for players that have run out of resurrection idols or in the event that the tank has died and they do not have time to make the run back from the nearest stone.

RESCUE is a spell that teleports the targeted group member to the druid that cast it. With this spell it is possible to pull a member that is on the brink of death, such as your primary tank so that the secondary can step in, to safety so that they may regroup and heal. It is also useful for swapping tanks when the current tank has run out of mp.

SHIELD OF BARK is exactly what it says. It raises the ARMOR rating of a player. translation, they take less damage. always an amazing buff and a must have. Always.

BLESS is a skill that raises the skill evasions of a player. This means that the skills cast by enemies, such as a fire bolt, are more likely to miss. this is a great skill and you would be hard pressed to find a druid without this skill among his/her list.

SANCTUARY is an area spell that is similar to the mage's energy shield spell. It negates up to a certain amount before it shatters or the time runs out. Although it is significantly weaker than the mage's energy shield, it can shield the entire group just long enough for skills to reset or to cast a healing spell on a player before they die. Another lovely spell to have on the list.

NATURES EMBRACE is a spell worthy of leveling up but not a must among druids. This skill regenerates a certain amount of health to an ally, based off the level of the spell, per tick over 45 seconds. It is useful to have if your tank is loosing more health than you can heal in the amount of time it takes for your cooldown to finish. Casting this on a tank could mean the difference between death and having just enough time after the last hit for the druid to heal him/her.

ABUNDANCE is a spell that raises the targets Health for 2 minutes. Is there any more that needs to be said? Get it and level it. Worth every point.

There are several WARD spells that can be obtained and you should make it your goal to find every single one. each has its own positives and provided that you have the right one, or all of them, level enough, they will raise the targets resistances to the specified form of damage. Your goal from the beginning of the game should be to obtain all of these so you will always have the right one for the right circumstance.

I hope this guide has helped with your understanding of the life of a druid and aids you in your build.
Most of all, remember to have fun.
Its just a game.

This guide was brought to you by Clan Savages of the FINGAL server. All information was gather in part by Nykerian Valdir with the aid of ZYZ and KreweSade(also known as JKrewe)