Друид

[Miafan]

Что-то посмотрел, никто не говорит про друидов. Но может, кто имел большой опыт игры с ним подскажет, как его правильно прокачать, чтобы он смог получить шанс вынести сорцеску или асасина (другие герои тоже не отбрасываются). Сейчас Мой друид уже 37-ого уровня, все линейки прокачены по единице, а ураган (предпоследний спел), медведь рёв и бешенство по 2-3-4 каждая. Герой имеет основные характеристики около 85-65-80-75.

Заранее благодарю за все советы.

[Тайгер]

Что-то посмотрел, никто не говорит про друидов. Но может, кто имел большой опыт игры с ним подскажет, как его правильно прокачать, чтобы он смог получить шанс вынести сорцеску или асасина (другие герои тоже не отбрасываются). Сейчас Мой друид уже 37-ого уровня, все линейки прокачены по единице, а ураган (предпоследний спел), медведь рёв и бешенство по 2-3-4 каждая. Герой имеет основные характеристики около 85-65-80-75.

Заранее благодарю за все советы.

Мой совет - СМЕЛО СТИРАЙ ЭТОГО ЧАРА!

Судя по тому описанию которое ты дал,ты его уже запорол ...хотябы защёт тойже энергии.

[Miafan]

Мой совет - СМЕЛО СТИРАЙ ЭТОГО ЧАРА!


Судя по тому описанию которое ты дал,ты его уже запорол ...хотябы защёт тойже энергии.

Ну не так же радикально. Я его долго качал.
Вот, всё же уточнил характеристики, если они так важны: 86-62-87-70, как видно, почти не ошибся. Медведь догрейден до 5-ого уровня.

[Тайгер]

Мой совет - СМЕЛО СТИРАЙ ЭТОГО ЧАРА!


Судя по тому описанию которое ты дал,ты его уже запорол ...хотябы защёт тойже энергии.

Ну не так же радикально. Я его долго качал.
Вот, всё же уточнил характеристики, если они так важны: 86-62-87-70, как видно, почти не ошибся. Медведь догрейден до 5-ого уровня.

Долго???Чара до 70 лэвэла можно за 4-5 часов прокачать!Так что СМЕЛО СТИРАТЬ МОНА!Ты с характеристиками реально лажанулся,да и скилы я уверен открыл которые ненадо было открывать...и для начала определись какого чара ты себе хочешь: ПвП или ПвМ .

[Miafan]

Долго???Чара до 70 лэвэла можно за 4-5 часов прокачать!Так что СМЕЛО СТИРАТЬ МОНА!Ты с характеристиками реально лажанулся,да и скилы я уверен открыл которые ненадо было открывать...и для начала определись какого чара ты себе хочешь: ПвП или ПвМ .

Честно говоря, Я не знаю, что означает ПвП и ПвМ. Как за 5 часов прокачать хотя бы 30-ть уровней - тоже слабо представляю, разве что в сети, а Я пока по кампании иду. Можешь хотя бы указать прблизительные характеристики правильного друида?

[Strannik]

INTRODUCTION

The Druid

The new Druid character is incredibly popular, but I'm surprised to see
that almost everyone who has something to say about the class focuses on
the shape shifting abilities. I do not claim to be the world's greatest
expert on Diablo 2, but I like reading other people's ideas about skills
and abilities, and play strategies, and since there hasn't been much
posted yet other than Werewolf-oriented strategies, I decided to do this
general commentary on all of the Druid's abilities.

Some statistical information is summarized here, and it is from
Blizzard's official strategy website, Arreat Summit
(http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/druid.shtml)


Difficulty

It's important to keep in mind that the game changes quite a bit as you
play in the three different difficulties. Monster hit points increase
immensely in Nightmare and Hell difficulties. A lot of strategies seem to
focus on maximizing your character for Hell difficulty, and I can
understand why this is done. I think that sometimes, though, people forget
that there are 25-30 levels to play through in Normal difficulty first.
It's easy to say, "only put 1 point in this skill, the higher level version
is much better so it's wasting precious points" but sometimes you need to
put a second or third point into some lower level ability to get through
the game. My recommendations about skill spending are mostly oriented
toward long-term play, but don't feel bad if you need to buff up a mid-
level attack spell to get through. If you NEED to spend a point, it's
never wasted.

Keep in mind that skills can actually go up to level 30, it's just that
you can only BUY up to level 20. The remaining potential points are only
achievable through items and shrines and such. Consequently, all my
evaluations look at the skill's effect at levels 1 and 20. Some skills
"jump" in damage or effect at certain points (roughly every 6 levels).
I provide a rough damage formula for skills, mostly focused on the mid-
levels, and they will probably not be as accurate for ratings above 20.


Hoarding Skill Points

Let me emphasize that the Druid is one of the strongest classes in the
game, especially on Normal difficulty. A handful of skills and a few
pieces of good equipment will carry you far if you use them correctly.
For this reason, I recommend saving skill points whenever you can. Try
putting just 1 point in each skill you want and no more until you find
you need it. This way you will have the most points available for higher
level skills, and you will also have points in reserve for lower level
skills if you find you need them. For instance, if three skills become
available when you level, and you are planning to buy all of them, you
should have enough points saved to do so, and it shouldn't be a problem
to hoard like this until late in Act III at the very earliest. Also, if
you have made a plan to focus on higher level skills, don't hesitate to
buy the lower-level prerequisites as soon as they're available. I know of
people who planned to use Solar Creeper, so they never bought Poison
Creeper and Carrion Vine until 30th level. If you're going to buy that
skill eventually, buy it when you can and get some use out of it! At low
levels, those "weaker" skills WILL be useful for a while. It's more of a
waste of points to buy them later to fill prerequisites than to buy them
earlier and get even a few levels of use out of them.




DRUID SKILLS

~Elemental~

Most of the Druid elemental skills have casting delays, in fact, most of
the earth/fire spells share a linked casting delay. The fire spells
usually have a larger area of effect and higher base damage than the wind
and ice spells. However, most of the wind/ice spells are not delayed. So
it is a basic strategy to unleash a powerful earth/fire spell and then
switch to a wind/ice spell for a few seconds and snipe at the targets.
Additionally, most earth/fire spells require a solid floor to cast on,
and are useless on water areas or open space (such as in the Arcane
Sanctuary), though bridges are perfectly fine. Elemental can be played on
its own or mixed with Summoning, but is completely incompatible with
Shape Shifting as you cannot cast Elemental spells when in Werebear or
Werewolf forms. I believe Druids are unique in having a skill in this
group which requires every other skill on the entire tab as
prerequisites. Druids have no ability to use lightning, and only two of
the Air spells are actually ice damage, the others being physical.
Further, their only poison capability is via a summoned minion. This
limitation in diversity is one of the Druid's two major limitations,
however, I don't believe it's an unbalanced limitation.

Some druids who wish to truly maximize their characters do make the
decision to follow only one branch of the elemental tab or the other.
Personally, I couldn't stand the lack of diversity. However, if you
are going to go Ice only, you can in fact skip every fire skill on
the tab. If you're going to specialize in fire, you'll still need to
take at least 1 point of every wind/ice skill so buy them as available.

Elemental skills can be mixed with summoning to great effect, or focused on
solely. If you wish to play a pure Elementalist, it is essential you hoard
points and spend more than one only in the most puissant abilities: Tornado,
Cyclone Armor, Hurricane, Armageddon.


*Firestorm*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 4
Damage: approximately 3.5xlevel+(1-4). Per second. Fire.
At Level One: 3-7. At Level Twenty: 89-92.
Area of Effect: 3 trails of fire spray outward in a narrow cone.
Comment: This is the druid's cheapest spell but I don't think that its
ultimate damage amount makes it worth pursuing. The accuracy is pretty
weak but it does spray out nicely at all the things rushing at you. I
only put 1 in and quickly moved on to Molten Boulder and other skills.
If anyone ever invested a lot of points and discovered the skill ramped
up in usefulness, please let me know.

*Molten Boulder*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starting at 10 at Level One, increasing approx
.5/level to 20 at Level Nineteen
Damage: approximately 10xlevel+(1-6). Per second. Fire.
At Level One: 11-16. At Level Twenty: 205-209.
Area of Effect: Wide straight line, slowly moving outward.
Comment: Pushes target back (not the same as crude knockback; the boulder
slowly and constantly pushes the target until it cannot). The boulder
explodes at the end for a small radius which is helpful for inflicting
extra/final fire damage on the target. Incredibly useful for holding
dangerous foes at bay, and devastating in small confined tunnels. In
insect tunnels, for instance, you can simply unleash a boulder and slowly
walk after it. Everything in your path will likely be completely smashed
before it gets to you; the fire trail is damaging too. Unfortunately, the
boulder moves too slowly to be used on the really tough bosses, (Diablo
moves FAST) and since the damage from a single point is high enough to
be useful through at least Acts I to III in normal, again only put 1
point in and move on. Remember you have the skill though, it's great for
pushing nasties away from you if you have to flee.

*Arctic Blast*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starts at 4, increases 1 point every few levels to
cost19 at Level Twenty.
Damage: approximately 7xlevel+(1-8). Per second. Ice. Continuous.
At Level One: 8-15. At Level Twenty: 133-140.
Area of Effect: Thick jet, starting at 5.6 yards and increasing slowly to
12 yards at Level Twenty. Movable; can be used to "hose down" enemies.
Comment: slows down foes, deals fairly big damage... an excellent skill.
The combination of freezing and a continuous skill allows it to be used
on enemies with higher hit points, such as Normal bosses. It isn't as
mana efficient as Hurricane, but I found it worth taking a few points
in this to finish up Normal Difficulty. From late Act II until I hit 30th
level, this was probably my primary attack. And once I got Hurricane, I
never used it again.

*Fissure*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 15 for 3.2 second sequence.
Damage: approximately 8xlevel+(1-10). Per second. Fire.
At Level One: 15-25. At Level Twenty: 217-227.
Area of Effect: large open area, approximately a quarter of the screen.
Damage spots appear randomly, but the area is fairly well saturated by
the end of the sequence.
Comment: Casting this on the ground your foes are about to rush into is
perfect; I often cast it on the ground right by me when
I'm about to be swarmed. It's also effective in confined spaces like
bridges. It takes a bit of practice to place it effectively, but in
earlier dungeons it should use useful. Once used in open spaces the
effect is really appreciated. I found a single point to be quite
effective all the way up to the Flayer Jungle, when I switched to
Volcano. Fissure appears to do more damage than Volcano, but I believe
that the Fissure damage is per second and the Volcano damage is per
hit.

*Cyclone Armor*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Increasing: 4+1/level, including Level One.
Damage Absorbed: 40 at Level One, +12/level
Area of Effect: Caster
Comment: It might seem at first glance that this skill is inferior to the
Necromancer's bone armor, which is similar, as it "only" absorbs fire,
cold, or lightning damage. However, the armor will last until it has
encountered such damage, and can be incredibly useful if surprised while
not wearing good resistance equipment. Actual usefulness will of course
vary based on your equipment and play style. This skill would be really
useful to shape shifters, but I don't think I'd waste a point buying
Arctic Blast (the only prerequisite) just to have it. At least it
persists until used, so if you do go that route you can cast it in town
and then assume were form. If you find an item that bestows this skill,
it would definitely be worth using it. Of all the low-level Elemental
skills, this is probably the first one that high level characters use.

*Twister*
Level: Eighteen
Mana Cost: Fixed: 7
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air"). Stunning: 0.4
seconds.
At Level One: 6-8; steps up by 2 points per level (8-10, 10-12,
etc.). At Level Twenty: 66-68.
Area of Effect: Random. 1-5 Small tornados blast outward for each use.
Comment: Not a highly damaging spell, and poor in confined spaces as the
small whirlwinds will just go into the walls and be lost, Twister is
great for quickly stunning large numbers of foes. Especially when those
foes have just walked into the area of effect of a Fissure spell. With no
casting delay, it's easy to literally barrage an oncoming horde of
monsters, and then Fissure them while they're stunned. The damage it does
is truly trivial; don't invest points in it for that. The main benefit
is the stunning, and that doesn't last too long either. Basically, Twister
will help Fissure remain effective a few more levels, and it's a fall-back
attack spell in case of a magic resistant creature, and that's all.

*Volcano*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 25
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Fire.
At Level One: 15-20; steps up by 4 points per level (19-24, 23-28,
etc.). At Level Twenty: 155-160.
Area of Effect: Random but large. Similar to Fissure but with a definite
center point from which the fire erupts. Damage can thus spray into non-
land areas if cast adjacent, which is great for the river-lurking demons
in Act III.
Comment: I like this as a replacement for Fissure. The use is very
similar but it seems to me that where you place the eruption point is
more likely to get hit by the lava, so you can target it a little more.
Fissure might still be better when used defensively. If you can cast the
Volcano right under something, then it'll really cook it.

*Tornado*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air").
At Level One: 25-35; steps up by 8 points per level (33-43, 41-51,
etc.). At Level Twenty: 273-283.
Area of Effect: Single Target/pulse in straight line. 1 large tornado
streaks out to hit foe, grazing all in path
Comment: Unlike Twister, Tornado doesn't stun (pity, really). However the
damage is pretty solid and you can really crank out the Tornados. For
some reason, it seems better to aim behind your foe and let the Tornado
do more collateral damage. Tornado's damage makes it worth considering
for a main attack spell, especially in higher difficulty games. Since
it has a nice range, you can use this from a "safe" distance on Lightning
heros, for instance.

*Hurricane*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Fixed: 30
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Ice.
At Level One: 25-50; steps up by 7 points per level (initially) (32-57,
39-64, etc.) At Level Twenty: 202-207
Area of Effect: 5.3 yard radius around caster. Mobile with caster.
Comment: Hurricane is an amazing skill. Once cast, for the next 10 seconds,
all enemies which enter the area of effect are struck for ice damage. An easy
use is to run around the edge of a group of foes so that they're all affected
by the powerful freeze, and thus easy (well, easier...) pickings for your
minions. One notable disadvantage Hurricane has is that it has a 6 second
casting delay linked to several of the better earth/fire spells, so don't
expect to freeze your foes and immediately follow up with a Volcano. On the
other hand, it is possible to cast Armageddon just before Hurricane ends and
for about 2 seconds, both skills could be active at once.

*Armageddon*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: 35
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Fire
At Level One: 25-75; steps up by 15 or 20 points per level (40-90, 55-
105, etc.) At Level Twenty: 390-440
Area of Effect: Random meteors fall roughly in the Druid's wake
Comment: A very unusual spell, it takes the random aspect of the Druid's
Elemental skills to the extreme. Like Hurricane, the best use of the skill is
by running around (or perhaps in amidst) your foes. I'm not sure I like
getting that close to foes, it's too easy to get hung up meleeing some tough
creatures. Unlike Hurricane, you can't be guaranteed to get any of those
foes. It strikes me the most useful way to use this is while fleeing from a
boss Basically, Armageddon drops meteors about every half-second. So if
you get next to a monster, pause for a split second and jog away, it should
be hit. The meteors have a small "splash" effect so near-hits do cause damage
even if it doesn't look like it. Of these two final Elemental skills I
definitely prefer Hurricane because any meleeing I do get into with it is
going to be with chilled or frozen creatures. Still, you will encounter
creatures with Ice resistance or even immunity. And this is the most powerful
fire skill a Druid can have, and the skill with the most potential damage.




~Summoning~

Druids have a variety of minions which they can call upon, but they can
be categorized in 4 groups: Ravens, Nature Spirits, Vines, and Spirit
Animals. Only one variety of each can be called upon at once, but in some
cases multiples of that type can be used. For instance, a Druid may have
up to 5 Spirit Wolves following him, but as soon as a single Dire Wolf is
summoned, all the Spirit Wolves are dispelled as both are Spirit Animal
types. The Druid minions, in general, are much tougher than those seen
before. For instance, I had several Dire Wolves romping around in Act IV
and not only were they living for quite a while, they were ripping into
some fairly buff demons.

Summoning mixes well with either Elemental or Shapeshifting. I have serious
doubts about being able to play a pure summoner for one reason alone: act
bosses. Bosses do extra damage to minions (I believe it was seven times
normal in the previous patch, I think it might be down to five times now),
and minions do reduced (about a quarter I think) damage to bosses. Now, it's
true that my 500+ hp Grizzly bear one-shotted Blood Raven in Nightmare, and
took out the Countess in two or three hits, but in normal difficulty, Diablo
killed all my minions in a single wave of fire. If all your points are in
minions, you'd better be in a multiplayer game when you hit the act bosses,
or have truly potent equipment and a desire to melee with them.


*Raven*
Level: 1
Mana Cost: Fixed: 6 per bird
Damage: Variable, Level+(1-3); Uses: Level+11
Type: Raven (unique type)
Comment: Ravens are the most unique of all summoned minions. In a sense,
they don't exist. They cannot be attacked, they cannot be killed. They
are almost like floating damage. Unlike, for instance, skeletons, this
means that no matter what Act of the game you are in, a raven will
persist to deliver its payload, a few points of damage at a time. At
first level, a single raven can attack 12 times for 2-4 points of damage,
totaling 24-48 points of damage, for 6 mana. At 20th level, five ravens
can attack 31 times for 21-23 damage, totaling 3255-3565, for 30 mana. On
the downside, since ravens cannot be killed by melee attacks, monsters
won't attack them, in other words, they won't draw fire from your
character. Also, since they deliver damage via a melee attack-like action
their attacks can sometimes be blocked (they usually do hit though); the
upside is that they at least can get in the face of some monsters and slow
them down. Since the number of ravens maxes at 5th level with 5, a typical
user could deal 480-640 damage for 30 mana. A single point more leaps the
damage range to 595-765. Ravens, particularly coupled with the defensive
powers of shapeshifting, could be a strategy in and of themselves. They
are probably worth spending 5 points in even if you are not going to max
out your skills in them.
To test the possibility for this FAQ, I made a character who only
put points into Ravens. With 15 levels of this skill, I must say that the
ravens last a good long time and they have no problems killing anything
in Act I. That includes Andariel, though I did have to run around the
room for a bit and use potions while they were taking her on. Still, it
left me free to throw Antidote and Rejuvenation potions onto my Rogue
minion, keeping her alive. The downside is that the ravens' damage is
delivered
in small doses. In Hell difficulty, for instance, monsters regenerate
enough to offset the ravens, so ultimately it's not viable (but it is fun .
Final Recommendation: Try getting by with only 1 point in this skill. Five
points won't seem like a waste anywhere in Normal, but it will in Nightmare.

*Poison Creeper*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed: 8
Damage: Approximately 3*level+(1-3) Contagious Poison over 4 seconds
Type: Vine
Comment: The creeper is a very weak minion, with distressingly low life
totals even with several skill points in it. The poison damage it
delivers is not very high, however, poison currently prevents monster
heal. The creeper is actually inflicting "disease" but just as "air" is a
euphemism for "normal physical damage," "disease" simply is poison that
can be passed on to adjacent monsters. I have not found it to be
particularly impressive with a single point, but at least it draws fire
and inflicts a little extra damage. In the later acts, poison might be
more useful, but since my character has a poisoned weapon, I just haven't
had any inclination to return to using it. Again, it's a matter of
playing style, but I do think the Creeper's hit point totals are way too
low. The Creeper is useful for the first half of Act I in normal difficulty,
so go ahead and use it then if you're planning to use the vines. (In fact,
it's not a bad choice for your first skill point; mine pretty much emptied
the Den of Evil by itself.) Its disease seems more contagious since patch
1.09. Note that if you don't want to bother with the vines, and they are
somewhat weak, you can pass on all of them.


*Oak Sage*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Variable: 14+level, including first
Effect: HP increasing aura: 25%+5%/level, including first
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Useful for free bonus HP as well as another target to draw
heroes from your character. Like most minions, fairly easily killed but
is much sturdier than the Poison Creeper. Compared to a Paladin's aura,
the radius of the Oak Sage is quite high. Oak Sage combined with Werebear
form can create a truly formidable "tank."


*Summon Spirit Wolf*
Level: Six
Mana cost: Fixed: 15 per wolf, max of 5 wolves
Damage: variable. 2-6 plus 1/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: These are probably the basic workhorses of summoned creatures
for the druids. Each wolf starts with 35 life, and the first five skill
levels each adds another summonable creature. Summon Spirit Wolf is a
double-value skill. Each level of it adds a passive bonus to all Spirit
Animals (including spirit wolves) which increases attack and defense %s.
The bonus starts at +50% and increases 10% for each level thereafter.
Consequently, if you place five points into this skill, whichever Spirit
Animal you have active will have a 90% bonus to attack and defense!
Therefore, I do recommend you put five points into this skill as soon as you
can, unless you need to save points for other skills.

*Carrion Vine*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore HP to the Druid.
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (4% at Level One,
reaching a max of 10% at Level Fifteen). Most of the benefit for putting
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. I suspect the
greatest use for this skill would be in fighting a Necromancer, as the
devouring of corpses would hinder his ability to raise minions or use
Corpse Explosion on you. I'm still evaluating the usefulness for a
single-player game but I'm not impressed so far and neither are my
friends who've commented on this FAQ. Sources seem to indicate that the
health restored is based on your hit points, not the hit points of the
creature consumed. Whatever the case, I think it's better to regard the vine
as a source of post-combat healing, not something that will regenerate you
mid-fight. Since the amount healed increases so little, I really think it's
best to just put one point in this. The skill doesn't seem that efficient to
me.

*Heart of the Wolverine*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 19+level, including first
Effect: Damage and Attack increasing aura: 13%+7%/level, including first,
in increased damage; 18%+7%/level, including first, in increased attack
rating.
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Wow! First, Heart of the Wolverine has many more hit points to
start with than Oak Sage or the vines. It's much more durable. Its power
is incredibly useful for yourself, your minions, and your party members.
The extra hit points from Oak Sage were useful at lower levels, but now I
think it's better to enhance the attack and kill your enemies quicker.
Further, the bonus is a %, so the stronger your attack is, the more it
will be enhanced. Werebears, Elementalists, and Summoners could probably
benefit from the attack and damage boost and thus Heart of the Wolverine will
likely be the spirit of choice for them. (Especially Elementalists and
Summoners, as I would expect that Druids going those routes would have fewer
points in their attack stats, and of course the only melee skills Druids can
use *are* in Shape Shifting.)

*Summon Dire Wolf*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 20 per wolf, max of three wolves.
Damage: variable. 8-14 plus 2/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: Dire Wolves are definitely a good replacement for Spirit Wolves.
Their innate attack damage is about double. Their base hit points alone
are more than double that of Spirit Wolves. And like Summon Spirit Wolf,
this skill also gives a passive benefit to all Spirit Animals. In this
case, it's a hit point bonus, starting at 50% and increasing 10% per
level after that. Thus with a single skill point in Summon Dire Wolf,
your 35 hp Spirit Wolves will become 52 hp Spirit Wolves. With three
points, 59 hp. You may wish to keep using Spirit Wolves until you have at
least three skill points in Dire Wolves so that you go from five wolves to
three and not five to one; losing 4 minions at once may be a little difficult
to handle. Though you can only get three wolves, I would go ahead and put
more points than that into Dire Wolf. Whichever of the three spirit animals
you use, they can all benefit from extra hit points. (Though I use a bear, I
actually have ten points in this skill, and five in bear.) Dire Wolves power
up by eating corpses, which gives them a damage bonus for several seconds and
clears the field up for you.

*Solar Creeper*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 13+ 1/level including first
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore MP to the Druid.
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (2% at Level One,
reaching a max of 6% at Level Twelve). Most of the benefit for putting
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. The druid has
several skills to enhance his hit points and defenses, and no other way
to increase mana recovery so the vine is potentially the most useful of
the three, in that it can serve the double purpose of cleaning the field
of corpses and restoring the caster's mana. Since the amount of mana
regenerated increases so little, I really think it's best to just put one
point in this. Like Carrion Vine, the skill is useful but inefficient.


*Spirit of Barbs*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Variable: 24+level, including first
Effect: Return Damage aura: 50% at First Level, increasing 10% per level.
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Spirit of Barbs duplicates the effect of Thorns, however it's much
weaker than the Paladin skill. Of course, the "aura" effect has about a 20
yard radius at Level One and there's something to be said for that, at least
in multiplayer games! In single player, especially for a Werewolf, it might
be the most useful spirit. However, Werewolves could really benefit from
extra hit points since they're getting into the thick of things, so Oak Sage
might be preferable. The Spirit of Barbs (Hey Blizzard, have you never heard
of "briars"?) does have higher HPs than Heart of the Wolverine, but I
wouldn't base my decision on that. You might expect Spirit of Barbs to be
useful to a Summoner with a lot of minions, but at 30th level my suspicion is
that most Summoners will be accompanied by a Hireling, a Grizzly Bear, a
Vine, and the spirit (admittedly, when things try to kill the vine and spirit
they'll take a bit of damage so that's useful at least). However, I think it
would be better to amp up the damage dealt by the real fighters, or give
everything extra hit points. I would just completely pass on Spirit of Barbs.


*Summon Grizzly*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Fixed: 40 per bear, max of one.
Damage: variable. 37-75 and increases in an irregular progression (+12, +15,
+17, +17, +19, etc). Damage at Level Twenty: 660-726
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: The Grizzly is the Druid's ultimate companion. Regardless of whether
you can tolerate having "only" one animal minion or not, you'll want at least
a few points in this skill because the Grizzly grants a passive bonus to
enhance the damage of whichever Spirit Animal you have active. (This is
probably why the Grizzly's damage increases so oddly, it increases on its own
plus its self-enhancing bonus increases.) Note that additional skill in
Grizzly does not increase its life - only the passive bonus from Dire Wolves
does that. Consequently, a Grizzly will have life of approximately 90% of all
3 dire wolves added together. However, since it's all in one place, the
Grizzly will be noticeably tougher than the wolves. The Grizzly also has
special attacks - like a stunning shockwave. If you prefer more targets, and
especially if you are using Oak Sage, Dire Wolves may remain the choice for
you. An Elementalist will probably prefer having the Grizzly "tank" for him.
A summoner or a Shape Shifter could go either way.


~Shape Shifting~

One of the most unusual skill sets of all Diablo characters, Shape
Shifting allows a druid to take the form of a Were Wolf or Were Bear and
deliver devastating hand to hand damage. The one major drawback to this
entire tab is that no Elemental spell can be cast in were form. You can,
however, summon. Consequently, some people may choose to play a pure
Shape Shifter, or a Shape Shifter/Summoner, but mixing all three tabs is
definitely wasteful. This absolute inability to combine Shape Shifting
and Elemental is one of the druid's two greatest limitations.

Personally, this is the tab least interesting for me, and the most
interesting for so many other people. Finishing this section up is a much
lower priority, but I can give you one general piece of advice: Pick Wolf or
Bear and stick with it. You will need to put at least 1 point into Werewolf
to unlock Lycanthropy, which benefits either.


*Werewolf*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +35% Life bonus, 25% Stamina bonus, variable attack and attack
speed bonus
Comment: The essential first skill of this tree. It is possible to start
with Werebear at Sixth level, but a big mistake. Werewolf is the pre-
requisite to Lycanthropy, which is the passive/mastery skill for this
entire tree. Werewolf form makes the caster faster, and increases attack
some.

*Lycanthropy*
Level: One
Mana Cost: None; passive skill
Effect: Life bonus +25%, +5%/level; Duration of Werewolf and Werebear are
increased by 40 seconds, plus 20/level.
Comment: The essential passive skill. You will want at least a few points
in Lycanthropy so that your transformations persist a few minutes at
least. Further, it adds hit points to you in both Werewolf and Werebear
form.

*Werebear*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +100% Life bonus, variable damage and defense bonus
Comment: Werebear form will make you tough, hard to kill, and able to
dish out a lot of damage. It may seem a bit slow and lumbering, but once
you hit your foes, they'll feel it. Basically focus on Werewolf if you
want to make quicker attacks, and focus on Werebear if you want stronger
attacks.

*Feral Rage*
(Werewolf form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Life Steal. Also increases
walk/run.
Comment: The life steal % increases in three stages, with each
sequential hit (4%, 8%, 12% at first level). This is shown with a power-
up marker. Personally I found Maul to be more my taste; I didn't see much
benefit from a single level of this ability.

*Maul*
(Werebear form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Stun.
Comment: Similar to the way that Feral Rage's life steal powers up, the
damage bonus of this skill increases with each hit. At first level, for
instance, it does +25%, then +50%, then +75% damage. (This has supposedly
been adjusted in the latest patch to 20/40/60 but I've seen conflicting
listings.) Add in the ability to stun for 1.7 seconds or more and it becomes
deadly. I found Maul an incredibly easy way to kill Andariel.

*Fire Claws* (Werewolf or Werebear form only) (adds Fire damage)
*Rabies* (Werewolf form only) (adds Poison damage)
*Shockwave* (Werebear form only) (area of effect Stun)
*Hunger* (Life and Mana drain but reduced damage)
*Fury* (Werewolf form only) (multiple attack technique)
Forthcoming

[Cheba]

2 Strannik
А перевести облом был?

[Miafan]

2 Strannik
А перевести облом был?

Да не, всё понятно. Только нужен критический совет: если продвигать мощного друида, то на какую ветку стоит забить: на элементальную или превращения? Имеется ввиду для достижения наилучшего результата к 60-ому уровню.

[Cheba]

2 Strannik
А перевести облом был?

Да не, всё понятно. Только нужен критический совет: если продвигать мощного друида, то на какую ветку стоит забить: на элементальную или превращения? Имеется ввиду для достижения наилучшего результата к 60-ому уровню.

конешно на элементальную
до 1.10 элементы рулить не будут

[Miafan]

2 Strannik
А перевести облом был?

Да не, всё понятно. Только нужен критический совет: если продвигать мощного друида, то на какую ветку стоит забить: на элементальную или превращения? Имеется ввиду для достижения наилучшего результата к 60-ому уровню.

конешно на элементальную
до 1.10 элементы рулить не будут

А после? И в кого лучше превращаться: в волка или медведя? И какие удары у них юзать/гредить?

[Psycho]

Ну наконец-то... дождался хоть одного такого же пришыбленного как и я что друидом занялся...
Сразу скажу что друид елементалист это смешно даже для меня... и дело не только в небольшой дамаге, а и в отсутствии возможности воздействия на противника так сказать персоеально... ты попробовал бы армагедоном попасть скажем в баала или диабло (не говоря уже о пвп (плеер вёрсис плеер player vs. player)). НЕРЕАЛЬНО... разве что случайно.... В 1.10 надо будет посмотреть на конечные бонусы к дамаге, но подозреваю что огненная ветка так и останецца невостребованной. Хотя в 1.10 реальным плюсом будет возможность кастовать арма в форме волка или мишки... хоть какой-то меджик дамаж против имун ту физ. Касательно медведя брать или волка - сам решай... мне волк больше нравиться... а на пвп наверно медведь со своим станом лучче... если берёш волка - 20 вервулф, 20фьюри, 8-10 ферал рейдж, немного в ликантрофию... Теперь с зоопарком... на пвп нужен будет только спирит. какой - тебе решать... если выбереш дамаговый то ликантрофию на мах. 3 спирит который на дамаж ретюрн я не пробовал раскачивать - можеш попробовать, авось получицца что-то... если на пвм (плэер вс монстр) то лучше взять ещё и волков или медведя... но не больше чам по поинту в каждый скил... можно так же по поинту в каждого вайна... но это повторюсь только на пвм...
Я так думаю... хотя на ПвП я бы не совался... тут мой топик лежит... почитай как там меня все загнобили, в общем я с ними почти согласен... друид пвм-овский чар... но я из духа сопротивления всё равно попробую раскачать ПвПшного друида... Панки хой нам всё по х7ю!!!

[Cheba]

на пвп наверно медведь со своим станом лучче...

на пвп стан не работает, так что видно лучше волчик

[Miafan]

А как же торнадо? Всегда приятно, когда вокруг аура обмараживания, ещё и ущерб приносящая.
А волчёк Мне действительно больше нравится - шустрый и бъёт несколько раз.
Ещё вопрос, что делает Дух Шипов? Я так понял, что возвращает ударившему дэмедж, который тот сделал, но как-то уж очень привлекательно.

[Червеносый]

В 1.10 элементальный друид рулить всё так же не будет.

2 Miafan:
Spirit of Barbs возвращает атакующему с определённым коэффициентом ближний физический дамаг. В ПвМ бесполезно. В ПвП можно юзать против барбов, но нужно иметь хороший коннект и уметь играть. Скилл этот по слухам багнутый. Слухи при желании проверю.

[Miafan]

В 1.10 элементальный друид рулить всё так же не будет.

2 Miafan:
Spirit of Barbs возвращает атакующему с определённым коэффициентом ближний физический дамаг. В ПвМ бесполезно. В ПвП можно юзать против барбов, но нужно иметь хороший коннект и уметь играть. Скилл этот по слухам багнутый. Слухи при желании проверю.

Это же просто круто, у Меня есть кепка, увеличивающая уровень умения на 3, так на 4-ом уровне шипы возвращают 90% ущерба, таким образом тот же барб, решив перебить стадо миньёнов сам себя и убьёт! Правда не понятно, почему Я этого в ПвМ не замечаю???

Ну а коннект у Меня прекрасный - выделенка 100Мб.