Druid:
Druids have the most new skills(10) of any class which may make things quite difficult for them to correctly choose what they wish to specialize in. The large amount of new skills/spells allows for very different type of Druids going forward.
Wards:
Wards are a whole new type of Druid Spell, it in essence is the direct opposite of a Lure. A Ward raises your ENTIRE group's resistances per resistance type. So whereas Mage's now have the ability to Lure SINGLE targets and bosses to a number of different resistances.. Example a Mage can now team with a group of Rogues/Rangers and Cast a high power'd Lure of Assassins(Piercing) on a boss thus raising the DPS of all his/her Grp's rogue/rangers...
But a Druid uses Wards and 6 of them to raise their entire group's resistances for either PvP or PvE and the addition of a few points makes them even more powerful.
This includes:
Ward of Fire- Raises Group's resist to Fire
Ward of Ice- Raises Group's resist to Ice
Ward of Magic- Raises Group's resist to Magic (Druid mobs, Druid PvP etc)
Ward of Soldiers- Raises Group's resist to Slash
Ward of Assassins- Raises Group's resist to Pierce
Ward of Giants- Raises Group's resist to Crush
Wards and their strength matter quite specifically on your Druid's Focus. But like all issues with skills & focus for Druids in Update 3, there are huge diminishing returns for added focus after a certain point.
Right now:
A lvl 1 Ward gives only 16 resist with 10 Focus (for each group member)
But..
A lvl 1 Ward gives 21 resist with 100 Focus (for each group member)
A lvl 1 Ward gives 23 resist with 200 Focus (for each group member)
And at my personal 270 focus benchmark it gives 25 resist. Per lvl 1
I make the 270 benchmark as relative to my guide, not because I aim to only use 270, but past 270 there is a marked diminishing return for all additions of Focus in terms of what a spell does added DMG/heals/effects for. I personally plan to use more than 270, but that's the fall-off in focus utility as I have studied it.
So going back to the benchmark...(it important to read this knowing that this is with 270 focus)
Lvl 2 Ward = 35 Resist (per group member)
Lvl 3 Ward = 45 Resist. (per group member)
Lvl 4 Ward = 55 Resist (per group member)
Lvl 5 Ward = 65 Resist (per group member)
After lvl 5 you go up by either 10 or 11 points per lvl. It is highly unlikely that someone will drop more than 5 points into a ward. But let's say you are a 130+ Druid and are fighting routinely vs Wyverns and Magma Golems on Lava where you take Fire DMG like no ones business.
A 25/25 Fire Ward, at 270 Focus, does 269 fire resist for the entire group. Completely negating lava DMG and making dragon fire pretty weak as well. Not saying that many Druids will pony up 25 fire ward points, but talk about a Mage Killer. (that said, Mage's have Lure's to counter but you know what I mean, especially since you can deflect their lures (depending on your Willpower) and they can't deflect your Wards since they are buffs cast by you.
The timing on the Ward has once again been nerfed to 60s, but it's a quick 2-3 sec cast and will probably stay this way in the first patch that goes server side when you update the 3rd Update.
Spring of Life- A Druid Ressurecting Spell that operates similar to a Roots or Hide spell does in increasing points raises the lvl of the target you can Rez. Currently to Rez a lvl 95, you need 18 points. It's a ton, but in the otherworld where only 1 leystone exists, it may be a crucial skill in the coming months.
Storm's Touch- a close range lightning spell punch that does more power than lightning bolt but has more than double the cooldown. Offering Druids who want more DPS another spell to weigh their points into
Abundance Aura- Group Abundance, raises the HP of the Grp
Nature's Breeze- A group Heal, heals everyone in the group, the HP's Healed are far less than a Touch, but it's a good spell to cast in a Touch's Cooldown especially vs AoE bosses. (Quite possibly not a spell you need till you fight them however)
I need to add a few points of wisdom in regard to all those spells.
1st One Thumb Mobile let us test all the skills, but did not let us test the quests or the bosses that may drop those skills. So it very well may be that some of these spells everyone will have access to and some only the people who get them in boss fights will access. I am ignorant about this, so I can't help you.
What I can help you with is understanding how to use your Book of Rebirth that One Thumb will give you.
The following is a spreedsheet I made for my lvl 92 Beta Druid. This lvl 92 had 920/920 Nature Magic, this is important to note, because both focus and nature magic effect the DMG of your spells, or the HEALS
Check out this spreedsheet fast
A lvl 92 Druid with 25/25 skill in Nature's Touch heals for only 445 with only 10 focus. What I didn't add is that the Energy COST for such a 25/25 spell is too large to cast with only 10 focus. Well naked I mean, quite possibly you could cast it in your warden/meteoric armor, but not twice.
The energy cost of any spell over about 17/25 is appalling. And I won't tell you how exactly to use your points, but I will say that at lvl 92 I found I could bring about 5 spells to 17 and a few wards up a few points rather than bring 3 spells up to 25 and get murdered in energy trying to cast them with godlike results.
As you can see the relative gain in spell power each point of focus you will notice a few trends...
1st). There is a HUGE fall off in what points of energy do for your spells past like...270 energy. At that point for every 10 focus or 50 energy, your heal is only doing 5 more points. I used heal as an example but this works the same in almost all Druid spells since all are governed by Focus.
Now why would you go past 270 energy????
Well to be honest...
It's pretty freaking awesome healing, vining, lightning-ing, Storm's touching for as many points as you can. Especially as a Druid, we just aren't used to packing a freaking wallop. But if you muster your Focus into the 300's you will be punishing.
The cost however is your health, and especially in PvP but also against enemies that can stun, freeze and incinerate you, health and HP are still SUPER important.
Is it more important to have 1k health and sick casting ability or is it important to take some hits and use a less potent casting ability, but not MUCH less potent if you look at the numbers.
Tricks I learned in Beta.
Abundance: a 25/25 Abundance, not the Aura but the individual spell on a 300+ focus Druid gives more than 600 HP. And as you gain in lvls and thus focus and this Nature Magic, it will go higher. So a high focus Druid, COULD let their HP become less important if they rock a riddiculous Abundance spell. And yes, it's only a 3min spell, it's not a perfect solution, but for Druids interested in being support oriented, and heal oriented, you can put emphasis on your Abundance and neither yourself or your tank with argue with 600+ more HP. This isn't a perfect fix, but something to consider if you plan to go focus heavy.
Group Spells, Buffs and Heals are MUCH weaker than single target spells.
I will definately pony up platinum to rock 3 bars of Druid spells. Simply because as your Nature Magic rises into the 1000's/1000's and your focus climbs all your spells become super charged. And being able to shower your group with 6 Wards, a group Abundance and even a group Heal not even better than their bandages at a low lvl is still appreciated.
But I would strongly suggest to NOT skill your points in group oriented Heals or Buffs until you are a MUCH higher lvl Druid who can afford to do so.
As always, to each their own, build yer Druid however your wish to. And in the arena a GRP HEAL will be huge, but an Arena is a Druid killing ground lol. And unless you have 4+ warriors shield bashing everyone who is trying to destroy you...um you might find yer gonna be the top target in the arena and end up healing yerself more than the group. But again, as you so wish..
Decide what you are
Don't try to be a DPS Druid and a Healer and Rez
You can easily choose to Invest in Storm's Touch, Vines, Lightning, Touch and something else. Some Druids may instinctually say BARK, ROOTS, ABUNDANCE, WARDS and whatever you wanna do...do it..
But know and own what yer gonna be doing. I made a PvP Druid and could beat any class with it save for Teef on his <insert insult that won't offend delicate people> DPS rogue. But the fact is Druids CAN rock in duels, but if they do, they are gonna suck at grouping.
The end focus of your class should be clear to you. If PvPing is all you want to do don't try to heal Rockbelly, because you will suck. And that not to say that a Druid can't find a hybrid build...you can find some things that work for you and what you like to Do... But you need to be clear on what matters to you.
Are you most focused on:
Lvling??: Choose a Focus just above 280 and dump the rest Into Vitality. The fact is STR and DEX are Druid no-no's and save if you have a Winterking Totem you especially NEED the focus for the ENERGY because you will find yourself running out of energy like no Tomorrow
Grouping: Decide what kind of Grp Druid you are, Rez? breeze? Touch? Vines? A small lightning? A lil bark? A smattering of abundance, or maybe just in aura? If you count on others to keep you alive then let your focus ride over 350 BUT REMEMBER YOUR HEALING AGGRO WILL BE EPIC expect to get hit rocking heals 730+. And make sure your crew is good enough to Warcry (aoe taunt) or protect you, bc you can't Rez yerself
This is a hard build. Simply because you will have a hell of a time lvling it up, but that said you will be a god among healers and groups will want you, perhaps even for leveling if you have a tight clan...
I would recommend talking to your friend's if you decide to go this route, because it will be hard to solo lvl this type of Druid, but if your friends can help you kill some Kelpies and Ents and maybe kill them fast, then maybe your clan will have among the greatest grouping Druids on server.
ROOTS
This is very important. This spell doesn't work the same in PvP and PvE. It will only work against another player in the arena or in a duel for like 5 sec. Enough to root and vine and maybe touch heal yerself before they can get ya again. In PvE or vs mobs it works fine. Normal. But don't go into a PvP fight thinking that you root the rogue and wait, because you will be sleeping in a pool of yer own blood.
Meditate
If you have a few, like 4 or 5 extra points to throw into wards or whatever...think about throwing them into Meditiate. At Update 3 release Otherworld isn't gonna have a ton of bosses. But they are coming, I would guess by June we will see a number of great boss fights there As I said before your energy will TANK, it will drop so fast healing you will be shocked. Druids even with 30/tick ammy and offhand set ups will need to meditate during long fights. I'm not saying every Druid will need this right out of the gate, but as you start to see your energy drop, don't forget about your meditiate spell. It's among the only spells in the game that doesn't ramp up in energy cost as you skill it up.
Some final thoughts
Let me end this by talking about abilities.
Hopefully Marshill will publish his Patch Notes soon on General Discussions. I helped him write a bit of it, but really it's his baby. He deserves the credit.
In it you will see the following:
There are 5 new abilities in the game that BLOCK player, boss and mobs SKILLS/SPELLS. And all mobs and bosses and players use these same abilities to BLOCK US.
This change in gameplay is ENORMOUS.
It means that you can come so close to killing a mob or a player and cast the lightning bolt to kill them and they can deflect it and attack and kill you. And YES IT HAPPENS.
The three abilities druids need to spend sleepless nights over are:
Warding: the ability to deflect direct DMG spells like Storm's Touch, Lightning Bolt, and Mage spells like Ice Shards, FireBolt, Firestorm etc..
Vigour: the ability to shrug off DoT or Damage Over Time Spells like Vines, the Ranger Barbed Shot, or Mage's Incinerate
And Evasion the ability to sidestep bolas,roots and a Mage's freeze. There are two other abilities, Willpower and Fortitude but they will be mentioned in Marshill's great guide. Since I wrote the abilities segment, I feel fine stealing from it a bit.
Now the reason I personally think all Druids need fear these ability's is because of Warding. Warding is BY FAR the easiest ability to level up. Because of the Stonevale Druids. So when you PvP people, just by fighting in Stonevale killing Druids they will be training to fight us Druids in PvP by raising their ability scores to deflect our spells.
Now I don't personally have a huge problem with this, nature of the beast. The otherworld mobs use a bunch of Ranger and Rogue Abilities. Warrior. Abilities are all over the place...etc..
But the fact is, you may find that for a long while, until you can properly level your abilities against other classes attacks...that as a Druid you will be less skilled in blocking other classes skills as they are in blocking yours.
What does this mean???
It simply means that if you like to PvP, yer gonna hafta suck it up and PvP a bunch or PvE a bunch vs Unicorns to train Rogue resistances, or Golems/Ents to train Warrior resistances, or Eyes to train Ranger.. (Mage's are similar to Druids in Warding issues)
It just means it's how it goes, and if you play a bunch you won't really notice it that much, but if you don't, you will get yer ASS KICKED when you fight a duel and realize they blocked like 60% of yer abilities and yer dead and they are barely bleeding. This isn't because the game is broken or unbalanced. It's because they have been killing Druids for exp and thereby studying (in ability training) how to kill you.
I will be around for further questions.. Enjoy.
