Druid advice

[illwizard]

G'day there,

I am starting a new character and am thinking along the lines of a Goliath Druid. I pretty much like the flavour of most powers and abilities that the druid has, but I was wondering how the Druid tends to play in game with the whole melee and ranged combo that they seem to have? I suppose mostly, I'd like to know if they are fun to play, and atleast competent in play. I've read that the PHB2 classes are pretty balanced, but if anyone has played one yet, some advice would be great!
Cheers

[fba827]

I haven't played one, but one of the other players in my group does.
He prefers the "ranged" powers, they are more controller-esque and blast/burst.

Those ranged powers do NOT do a lot of damage at all. It can be a little anticlimatic when you spend 3 minutes to resolve who you hit and miss out of the 4 targets only to end it all with a cumulative "okay, i hit them all for 2 damage"

Once in a while he will do some of the melee attacks and those do more typical type damage.

It does offer that versatility to be in whichever position is needed for the particular battle (based on terrain, the encounter setup, and your fellow party composition), etc. And versatility is always a plus.

I think you'll find yourself gravitating to one side or the other (i.e. more melee/beast powers or more ranged powers) based on where you end up in most combats and what you like more.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

[illwizard]

Yeah right,

I was thinking of focusing more on the ranged powers as well. Have you found the powers have enough other effects to counter the low damage output of the druid? Is the mentioned player still contributing strongly in other words?

[fba827]

Originally Posted by illwizard

Yeah right,

I was thinking of focusing more on the ranged powers as well. Have you found the powers have enough other effects to counter the low damage output of the druid? Is the mentioned player still contributing strongly in other words?

As with any controller-effects, the effectiveness is HIGHLY subjective to the encounter setup.

There are some encounters where the controller effects are very helpful at keeping the enemies under control (no pun intended).

But there are other encounters where the scenario has things already in some control (i.e. doorway passages, etc) and so the controller effects are really not needed and don't add much.

Also, does your group have a good way to keep track of effects on the board (such as zones, or imposed conditions)? It can be a handful otherwise to keep trying to remember who is under what effects and could turn in to an annoyance to track rather than benefit to the encounter.

So it is situational (this is an effect from controllers in general, not from druids in particular).


Edit:
I guess a good way to put it is, the ranged/controller-type powers are great ways to start off a battle. But, after a round or two, they seem less effective and you may be better off switching up in to the thick of things and trying to do more damage output.

If you planned to stay with ranged powers the entire time, you'll notice that as encounters wear on, the other effects from the powers really don't matter as much. So have some powers handy to mix it up for when damage output is needed.

[Primitive Screwhead]

I very much enjoy the Druid, and starting playing a fairly balanced mix of range versus beast form. Due to my prefered play style and the way the rest of the group works, I slid more towards beast/melee and do less of the controllery things now.

The first encounter we had was perfect for a full ranged Druid. Between Entangle and wall of thorns, I was able to imprison a melee monster whose movement rate just wasn't enough. Trapped by the Wall and pinned by a Fighter, we spent the remainder of the short fight plinking him from range and hitting him with ongoing damage effects.


Now I have 'Grasping Tide' as my primary 'controllery' power, an at will burst 1 that deals some damage and then gives me the opportunity to knock the targets prone if they try to move. This has shut down melee tank monsters when I hit them at the start of combat and kept them stuck at the far end of the encounter.


The Druid controller function boils down to 'Stay There', which can be highly usefull or mostly moot.. depending on the encounter set up.

But, I am having lots of fun with my charge-based build. He is mostly a Striker, trading a bit of the massive damage for the flexibility of a broader ranged arsonal. The general tactics are to Grasping Tide for the first couple rounds, then shift into Wolf-shape and charge in with reckless, blood frenzied abandon!

Personally I think the Druid is one of the most flexible classes. It can do a wide range of things with relatively decent power. Not the stand-up best in anything, but a definately strong showing. {At will basic melee doing 1D8 + 9 at 16th level, + 2D6 on a charge, +1D6 if target prone, +2 with combat advantage, +2 if target is bloodied... it adds up pretty nicely!}

[illwizard]

Hey thanks to fba and screwhead for your advice. I got scared that I wasn't going to be doing enough damage so I ended up making a barbarian which I am having fun with! But after reading primitive screwhead's post and the fun that he has, I'll be giving a druid a fair go next time, which probably won't be that long If I can't stop those damned orc air-pirates!
Peace!