Druid

From Duels Content

Paths > Path of the Staff > High Path of the Druid

Contents 1 OPENERS I 1.1 Ironwood Thorns 1.2 Slow 1.3 Feline Ferocity 1.4 Gaze of the Basilisk 2 OPENERS II 2.1 Insect Swarm 2.2 Roar 2.3 Shakes 3 OPENERS III 3.1 Nature's Embrace 3.2 Ice Storm

[edit] OPENERS I

[edit] Ironwood Thorns

1. When hit for damage greater than (Your Level * 4.5), your armor hardens by the amount of damage you took for the next attack, and thorns strike your opponent for 22% Int damage.
2. When hit for damage greater than (Your Level * 4.5), your armor hardens by the amount of damage you took for the next 2 attacks, and thorns strike your opponent for 44% Int damage.
3. When hit for damage greater than (Your Level * 4.5), your armor hardens by the amount of damage you took for the next 3 attacks, and thorns strike your opponent for 66% Int damage.
4. When hit for damage greater than (Your Level * 4.5), your armor hardens by the amount of damage you took for the next 4 attacks, and thorns strike your opponent for 88% Int damage.
5. When hit for damage greater than (Your Level * 4.5), your armor hardens by the amount of damage you took for the next 5 attacks, and thorns strike your opponent for 110% Int damage.

Strategy

Ironwood Thorns is a tricky skill. At level 45, you need to be hit for 203 damage for it to take effect, and you need high int to actually do damage with it. The generally strategy with this is having high int and stam, but with low absorb. It's usually used with legendary or artifact armor, as they provide a lot of stats and low armor. Like most Druid Openers, Thorns is very gear dependent, and is not recommended for new players.

[edit] Slow

Type: Opener (Tier I)

1. Subtracts 10% from your opponent's Dodge, Hit and Critical strike chances for your (Intelligence + Perception) divided by 50 Turns.
2. Subtracts 20% from your opponent's Dodge, Hit and Critical strike chances for your (Intelligence + Perception) divided by 50 Turns.
3. Subtracts 30% from your opponent's Dodge, Hit and Critical strike chances for your (Intelligence + Perception) divided by 50 Turns.
4. Subtracts 40% from your opponent's Dodge, Hit and Critical strike chances for your (Intelligence + Perception) divided by 50 Turns.
5. Subtracts 50% from your opponent's Dodge, Hit and Critical strike chances for your (Intelligence + Perception) divided by 50 Turns.

Instruction

Slow's description is misleading, when you use Slow, there is a very good chance that your opponent will not be able to hit you at all for those turns. This is because of the single roll system that Duels employs, hit, crit, miss, and dodge are separate entities in this system. For example, if your opponent had 39% crit and you had 30% dodge, the roll (for your opponent) would be 39% crit, ~5% miss, 30% dodged, and 26% hit. Slow changes the 39% crit and 26% hit to miss, therefore leaving your opponent with 30% dodged and 70% miss, effectively reducing their hit to 0.

Strategy

There are 3 drawbacks to slow: it's resistible turn by turn, it requires a high amount of int and per, and it does not do damage against your opponent. As a slow druid, it is recommended that you take the skill Clarity to reduce your opponent's resist by 15% and during the duel, play the action Tornado, which reduces their resist by a further 20%. However, there is a general action called Talisman of Spellshrouding, which almost guarantees resisting slow the next turn. Usually what people will do is play Talisman of Spellshrouding, and then play an extra attacks action the turn after that so that they get 5-7 attacks on the turn that they resist slow. It is very wise to either void or stun them this turn (or just void the spellshroud). The second and third drawbacks kinda work for each other, because you need int and per to do damage, and slow just happens to depend on those two skills.

[edit] Feline Ferocity

Type: Opener (Tier I), Entry, Direct Damage, Nature

Duration: Instant

The Druid assumes the ferocity of a cat and dealing direct damage to opponents.

1. Increases the damage from all but Wand attacks by 22 * (1 - (Current Health / Max Health))%
2. Increases the damage from all but Wand attacks by 44 * (1 - (Current Health / Max Health))%
3. Increases the damage from all but Wand attacks by 66 * (1 - (Current Health / Max Health))%
4. Increases the damage from all but Wand attacks by 88 * (1 - (Current Health / Max Health))%
5. Increases the damage from all but Wand attacks by 110 * (1 - (Current Health / Max Health))%

Strategy

Feline Ferocity is yet another tricky skill. The damage you do with FF increases as your hp decreases, but it is also tied to your mainhand damage, so you cannot just stack stam and last for as long as possible. The most popular way to use FF is to use gear that stack up on int and stam, and use healing actions in the first few turns, and extra attack actions in the later turns.

You want a weapon with as high damage range as possible (a Vallo is recommended). Good armor to use is stuff that gives int and stam, but don't underestimate what spd/per can do for your crits.

[edit] Gaze of the Basilisk

Type: Opener (Tier I), Entry

Duration: Instant

1. Reduces highest attribute of each player by their Absorb * 2 to a minimum of 1. Starting in Turn 6, caster regains lost attributes equal to their Absorb. Can't be resisted and treats negative Absorb as 0. Reducing stam results in lost health which is then regained.
2. Reduces highest attribute of each player by their Absorb * 3 to a minimum of 1. Starting in Turn 6, caster regains lost attributes equal to their Absorb. Can't be resisted and treats negative Absorb as 0. Reducing stam results in lost health which is then regained.
3. Reduces highest attribute of each player by their Absorb * 4 to a minimum of 1. Starting in Turn 6, caster regains lost attributes equal to their Absorb. Can't be resisted and treats negative Absorb as 0. Reducing stam results in lost health which is then regained.
4. Reduces highest attribute of each player by their Absorb * 5 to a minimum of 1. Starting in Turn 6, caster regains lost attributes equal to their Absorb. Can't be resisted and treats negative Absorb as 0. Reducing stam results in lost health which is then regained.
5. Reduces highest attribute of each player by their Absorb * 7 to a minimum of 1. Starting in Turn 6, caster regains lost attributes equal to their Absorb. Can't be resisted and treats negative Absorb as 0. Reducing stam results in lost health which is then regained.

Attribute points are: Strength, Speed, Intelligence, Perception, Stamina or Resist.

Strategy

Gaze is great against opponents who stack one stat very high in order to take advantage of their opener/action (for example, Arms, which needs a high amount of strength to do damage). Staff focus is typical, as the higher your absorb is, the faster the stats are returned to you. It is wise to have an action set which consists of healing actions (healing potion, mend)in the first few turns as you gain your intelligence back, and damage actions (swipe, guardian strike) in the latter few turns, to do high damage.

[edit] OPENERS II

[edit] Insect Swarm

Type: Opener (Tier II), Beast, Debuff

Duration: Instant

Unleash a swarm of insects at your opponent causing damage and limiting their ability to hit.

"No locusts I've ever seen could match THOSE bugs!" -- Farmer Dillert

1. Does Absorbable damage equal to 40% of your Perception. Does Resistible damage equal to 25% of your Intelligence. lasts 5 turns.
2. Does Absorbable damage equal to 70% of your Perception. Does Resistible damage equal to 35% of your Intelligence. lasts 5 turns.
3. Does Absorbable damage equal to 100% of your Perception. Does Resistible damage equal to 45% of your Intelligence. lasts 5 turns.
4. Does Absorbable damage equal to 130% of your Perception. Does Resistible damage equal to 55% of your Intelligence. lasts 5 turns.
5. Does Absorbable damage equal to 160% of your Perception. Does Resistible damage equal to 65% of your Intelligence. lasts 5 turns.

This opener can both be absorbed and resisted. It is wise to use a loadout with high intelligence against opponents with high absorb, and a loadout with high perception against opponents with high resistance.

A powerful opener that enables druids that have stacked intelligence to do large amounts of damage over the first 5 turns. Considered to be an important addition to slow druid skill trees due to its high damage ability against mages and other druids. Due to the recent changes, only part of insect swarm can be resisted, making it a viable opener against even some high resistance avatars.

[edit] Roar

Type: Opener (Tier II), Beast, Debuff

Duration: Instant

Shouting a fierce challenge can startle your opponent and cow them into submission.

"A meow just doesn't have the same effect." --Pierre Latrobe, hunter

1. Adds 2% to your Constitution, reduce opponent's weapon damage by 5%, and reduce opponent's Critical chance by 10%.
2. Adds 4% to your Constitution, reduce opponent's weapon damage by 10%, and reduce opponent's Critical chance by 20%
3. Adds 6% to your Constitution, reduce opponent's weapon damage by 15%, and reduce opponent's Critical chance by 30%
4. Adds 8% to your Constitution, reduce opponent's weapon damage by 20%, and reduce opponent's Critical chance by 40%
5. Adds 10% to your Constitution, reduce opponent's weapon damage by 25%, and reduce opponent's Critical chance by 50%

Instruction

This skill reduces the damage you take from an opponents weapons attacks. It does not reduce the damage from physical actions or magical actions. It does not reduce the damage from openers.

Strategy

Roar is not a very popular skill, mainly due to the fact that it both increases your constitution by 10% and reduces your opponent's critical chance by 50%. So, basically, you take 32.5% less damage from critical hits, but your opponent probably won't land one anyways because their crit chance is so low. Compared to Infernal Protection, you get 900 less armor, 5% less damage reduction, and 15% less resistance, all for a 50% reduction to their crit chance. Even when compared to the other druid defensive skill, Natural Embrace, it loses out on about 1k armor and 25% resist. Most people only take this because they have taken Ice Storm, and non of the other tier 2 skills are compatible with IS.

[edit] Shakes

Type: Opener (Tier II), Debuff, Decay

Duration: Constant

The Druid forces a target into fits of trembling and twitching.

"It 'minded me of the dancing disease, without the rhythm like that." --ramblings of an old spectator

1. Your opponent substracts 2% + (Intelligence/180)% from their Absorb percentage for (Perception/50) turns rounded up.
2. Your opponent substracts 4% + (Intelligence/90)% from their Absorb percentage for (Perception/50) turns rounded up.
3. Your opponent substracts 6% + (Intelligence/60)% from their Absorb percentage for (Perception/50) turns rounded up.
4. Your opponent substracts 8% + (Intelligence/45)% from their Absorb percentage for (Perception/50) turns rounded up.
5. Your opponent substracts 10% + (Intelligence/35)% from their Absorb percentage for (Perception/50) turns rounded up.

Due to changes of the skill, the following valuation may not be right anymore.

Shakes is potentially one of the highest damaging skills in Duels. When coupled with a good staff (NSVI and NSV orange and artifact staffs, or life binder), one can do 2k+ crits in a few turns. Shakes is very very very very very (very) stat dependent. You need a good combination of int, per, and stam. Int and per are self explanatory, and stam is needed to survive the turns to actually do damage. The fact that you need a good staff makes it even harder, because item amp does not affect weapons as much as it does armor. Most level 45 druids have a 5-6 turn shakes (so 250-300 per), and a slightly higher int (around 400-600). The amount of stam is personal preference. Be warned, Shakes requires your staff to hit to do damage, so be prepared to lose if you use this opener against an opener designed to make you miss (ex. ambush, slow). Shakes need to have a high-end staff and armor.

[edit] OPENERS III

[edit] Nature's Embrace

Type: Opener (Tier III), Nature, Buff

Duration: Instant

The Druid calls upon nature's power and insight to help them in battle, becoming a hardy and quick-witted fighter.

"He only looked like a feeble old hermit, but he was as tough as a rhino and as sharp as a raven. He took out a score of my men before one of our mages was able to bring him down." -- Petras Towerstone, Felshian Captain.

Contributed by Shetani:

1. Increase health by 5%, resist by 4%, and armor by intelligence.
2. Increase health by 10%, resist by 8%, and armor by intelligence multiplied by 2.
3. Increase health by 15%, resist by 12%, and armor by intelligence multiplied by 2.
4. Increase health by 20%, resist by 16%, and armor by intelligence multiplied by 2.5.
5. Increase health by 25%, resist by 20%, and armor by intelligence multiplied by 2.5.

Instruction

This skill reduces the damage you take both from magical attacks as well as physical attacks. Be warned that the boost to your hit points will make magus blood not work until you have dropped back below maximum hit points.

Strategy

Nature's Embrace is a fairly subtle skill that actually can work best when used in a way that may seem counterintuitive at first. I find that it works best with a loadout that focuses on intelligence first followed by stamina. This works well paired with intelligence based actions that do damage over time since the longevity boost buys time for them to do their work at a higher damage than they normally could.

Actions like outbreak, tornado, and talisman of death (early in the fight) are great damage dealing actions to compliment nature's embrace. Mend and Healing potion also pack quite a punch since they heal you based on your current hp.

Good Items to use

A Trident of Tides is pretty much ideal for your main hand, and any high damage wand can work well in your off hand. You can either aim for high resist and stamina on a wand or just go for plain intelligence. The Yumeria item set, sea knight windbringer's serpentskin line does quite well with this build as well.

In the end, remember that this skill works far better as a way of adding longevity to a bruiser than it works as a way of outlasting a foe in a long battle. If you are a heavily defensive build with more stamina than int, you probably would be better suited with Roar.

[edit] Ice Storm

Effect: Direct Damage / Negate

Duration: Instant

Rime and frost coalesce out of thin air, accompanied by biting winds and the chill of the Karthan Sea. The frostbite penetrates nonmagical armor and the resulting stiffness in the target's limbs makes it difficult to generate the speed and force necessary to launch an effective attack.

"My nose is blue!!!" --Viktor Schenko, knife fighter

1. Damages you and opponent by (Stamina/5) + (Intelligence/10)
2. Damages you and opponent by (Stamina/4) + (Intelligence/8)
3. Damages you and opponent by (Stamina/3) + (Intelligence/6)
4. Damages you and opponent by (Stamina/2.5) + (Intelligence/5)
5. Damages you and opponent by (Stamina/2) + (Intelligence/4)

Ice Storm, while strong, has a strict set of gears without which you will likely not succeed. The opener itself deals resistible damage to both you and your opponent based on your stamina and int, therefore, this opener needs resist, and stamina or int. Most Ice Storm Druids stack up on both resist and stamina and ignore int completely. This is because you want as much stamina as possible to to last long and have a high IS damage, and you want as much resist as possible to not get hit by your own ice storm. The bonus to damage you get from staff hits is negligible when compared to the storm damage you sacrifice. By the way, please take the skill staff focus, this skill gives you the much needed resist and absorb boost. For weapons, you'd want to aim for Trident, Vallo, Crook, or Staff of Mekahine. These are the preferred staffs for ice storm, but some others can fulfill the role, just not as well (Circling Raptor comes to mind). For armor, you'd definitely want a full set of the ordalis spellbreaker gear from NSII. Also, if you don't mind the cost, pick yourself up a Battered Sode. That thing is a godsend for ice storm.

In addition, a suggested item is the staff of mekalek, from the Noble set V. As for stats and attributes, Resist and Stamina are the best choices. Stamina raises health, allowing you to take more damage, and increases the damage of Ice Storm more than Intellegence. Resist allows you to resist the Ice Storm damage. Don't forget the Staff of Mekalek, it has a decent resist and stamina distribution.