#12
by Perl
Actually a good discussion here...
Been absent from the forums because there is rarely any value.
Here is my two cents.
Druids are the most confusing and difficult class to play.
(AND OTM rarely listens because they have put druids in a box and anything outside THIER limits is unacceptable.)
Let's start with Vitality and get that out of the way.
You need enough to stay alive. This is obviously level related, but if you find that your dying too much then increase Vit.
Focus is everything to a druid.
All your skill damage is DIRECTLY associated with how much focus you have. Yes, it is diminished beyond 300 points, but it always has value even at 2k. So, more points in focus ALWAYS means more damage from Lightning, Storm, Vines, and Swarm.
Also, and very important, points in focus builds your energy pool to be able to cast skills, more focus gives you more energy to work with and a druid without energy is worthless.
Every point in focus also helps every heal and buff skill you have. So pulling any points from focus will directly effect you healing power, period...
So there is a 3x value for every point you put into FOCUS.
Strength is absolutely necessary if you plan to melee, zYz is 100% correct on this, but there are several problems with thinking melee is a route druids should consider.
First and foremost is Dexterity!!!!
Sure, pump up strength to 300, 600, 900, but pay attention to your hitting and notice that with 10 points in Dexterity hitting something is far from a sure thing. So I am kind of surprised zYz would not bring up the Dex issue, so for every 3 points you put in strength you will need to consider at least 1 point in Dex.
Second, OTM will not let druids play with pointy objects. And yet we are a melee class ?.!&@?!, WTF? In OTM infinite wisdom they only allow us to play with sticks and because of this the damage you get from a stick is the lowest in the game. Sure, grab that fiery offhand axe and try to increase your melee DPS, what you will find is a lot of wasted points will little DPS gain.
Then to make matters EVEN WORST, our sticks (totems) all travel at a turtle speed. 3300 is SLOW. This cripples your ability even more because you will swing twice as slow. I didn't actually do the numbers but I felt I was able to kill faster with a book (2950) and an axe then a totem and an axe.
Third, you cannot swing a stick and chew gum at the same time or cast a spell. Because our spell skills actual do the MOST damage you find yourself casting most of the time and swinging a stick just doesn't happen that much. It is surprising how little melee damage you can do if you are always casting spells. This is a conversation I have never seen in the druid forum, but is often talked about between rogues. The loss of auto damage resulting from the pause of casting a spell is significant.
Fourth, INTERRUPTION. When in melee getting your spells interrupted is a forgone conclusion. It is hard to concentrate when someone is pounding on you! This often delays spell casting, causing recasting and extending the pause before an auto melee can actually finish a cycle.
THIS IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD
Damage and DPS and not the same (DPS stands for Damage Per Second)
Time is crucial in understand and producing more DPS which results in leveling faster.
So...
After playing a Druid for almost four years now.
After trying every possible way to level faster.
After desperately exploring multiply ways to add to my DPS.
After begging, pleading, praying, crying, YELLING, quietly suggesting to OTM to fix our DPS
My conclusion is the best way to add DPS is to level a rogue.
It is my opinion and experience that putting any points in Strength or Dexterity is a TOTAL WASTE.
BTW...
Anyone who qualifies themselves as an authority on a subject because of their stats on the boards should be suspect immediately.
