Tips to create and play an effective druid?

[babinro]

From the 30 levels (first 15 as guardian-last 15 as swarm), I must say that Druids certainly have the feeling of being underpowered. That being said, the trade off is that they are extremely versatile in combat <particularly the swarm>.

If you want to be able to tank, attack at range, target multiple foes at once and have excellent daily selection, a swarm druid is your way to go. Unfortunately, you will not excel at the norms of combat through your at-wills/encounter powers at lease compared to more focused classes. Truly a jack of all trades class in my opinion (much like what you'd expect a bard to be).

 

[fba827]

As a couple others have said, druids are more about versatility. They can act as secondary/backup in a couple roles (leader, striker, controller) depending on your build choices but they do not necessarily excel in any of those areas above other classes unless you really try and focus.

In my group, over various campaigns and one-shots, i've seen
-- a guardian druid who was trying to take just as many beast form abilities. In the end, really, his control, striker, and leader abilities were all fairly forgetable.
-- a predator druid who was as focused on beast form powers as he could be. when he hit, it was for decent damage and often had a rider effect (like daze or prone at later heroic levels). I am biased because this is a druid i was playing, but i feel satisfied with the build (the group would sometimes not have the striker or controller PCs due to player unavailability, so this druid PC was often able to at least dabble in those roles to keep them minimally covered in a pinch)
-- a hybrid swarm druid-cleric. i haven't seen it in action enough to make an informed decision/opinion on this yet, though so far i've seen more of his 'cleric' side than i have of his druid side.

But it has a lot to do with party size and composition. Druids make good "secondary" characters if you already have the roles covered by other party members and just want a little extra backup. And the wildshape capability just had a lot of potential in terms of roleplay and noncombat situations.

 

[AllNamesRTaken]

Wow, you can Push or prone enemies and are good at charging!

Wait, that's falls more into the barbarian's area of expertise than a controller's.

Well, first I would like to thank you for the disrespect.

I think my simple build is both fun to play and brings usefulness to the table. The reason for the latter is the high perception, close to dps class dammage, at-will 3 sqr slides which I absolutely believe is controller type power and great for setting up rogues or removing threats from casters. Add to that several enc and dailies that rearrange the battle field and even stun save ends. The high movement lets me rearrange the monsters I like and get away aferwards and high init, with high charge dammage lets me front load dammage to take out some one fast in the beginning of a fight.

Do I outperform a barbarian? Dps wise, maybe, movement wise, probably, controlwise absolutely, durabilitywise, no way in hell.

I think the druids strngth lies in their ability to play multiple roles and that thier limited mass control abilities is lifted by plain awesome basic attacks, strong secondary roles, and great utility feats.

 

[Aulirophile]

Do I outperform a barbarian? Dps wise, no, movement wise, not far behind, controlwise, depends on the barbarian, durabilitywise, no way in hell.

Fixed that for you. Greatspear Barbarians are a serious lockdown build that have even more push/slide+proning then a Druid build, and are one of the most highly mobile strikers. Not to mention that, comparing optimized vs optimized, the Barbarian's average DPR is more then double that of the Druid.

And the "versatility" argument is a little weak. Even if your group needs that versatility, a hybrid does it better without sacrificing half their powers (something Druids, oddly, can't pull off). Swordmage|Wizard is a force to be reckoned with at melee or range.

 

[AllNamesRTaken]

Fixed that for you. Greatspear Barbarians are a serious lockdown build that have even more push/slide+proning then a Druid build, and are one of the most highly mobile strikers. Not to mention that, comparing optimized vs optimized, the Barbarian's average DPR is more then double that of the Druid.

And the "versatility" argument is a little weak. Even if your group needs that versatility, a hybrid does it better without sacrificing half their powers (something Druids, oddly, can't pull off). Swordmage|Wizard is a force to be reckoned with at melee or range.

Interesting since I really want to try a barb out but cant get a spec that holds its own. Please share your knowledge in barb opting, since I really want to play one.
I at least have an at will that can hit for 26 to 77 and avg on 51,5 or something on a charge.