INTRODUCTION
I have played ele druid alot and want to share my knowledge with the ppl on jsp. I dont play it anymore cause i change chars like normal ppl change underwear, but thats another story
My druid (Munin) was a life based druid with no block as i think thats most effective. But its a matter of taste, a forever-going discussion.
I play Europe Softcore Non Ladder, which u will find out later in items section.
Well, why make an ele druid?
1) It can be kept quite cheap and still own game after game, even 7 vs 1.
2) Its a very versatile char, and the only char that can rly take the fight up vs some of the main "cookie cutter rape em all" chars like hammerdins and foh (other chars can take out foh's easy but need lots res and abs, ele druid dont cause of cyclone armor)
3) Its great fun
SHORT INFO ABOUT THE ELEMENTAL DRUID
Ppl often asked me "how much hurricane dmg?" but this dont matter much since its the tornadoes that kills. Tornadoes are physical damage, and can therefore be "abs'ed" by dmg reduce items. Druid human form has very low fcr and fhr breakpoints, so u should aim for at least 99 fcr and 99 fhr. I used 163 fcr, 99 fhr on mine, as i think that was the best combination and still maintain a high amount of dmg reduce. More of this later.
Link to breakpoints on druid:
http://ep-pvp.net/info/Druid.htmITEMS
I dont want to write all stats on the items, u can find them here:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/My druid was public based, it used items to, as i said, clean ffa games quick and easy. If u want a pure DvD (Druid vs Druid) build, ask some other guy, as DvD is gay imo, and best chicken usually wins, but more of this later.
Armor: Enigma (for tele, nothing to discuss here)
Helm: 3 ele, 20 fcr 2 socketed circlet (some ppl might say 2 druid 20 fcr 2 socks circlet, so u get more into oak, but oak die anyway, dont count on it 100%) with ber ber for dmg reduce vs phys dmg chars.
Rings: Rare 10 fcr, str, life, res rings.
Weapon: Wizzardspike or Suicide Branch. U need 50 fcr on weapon to get the 163 fcr breakpoint. Imo suicide branch is best cause of the +40 life and +1 to all skills. Socket with 15 res jewel or something.
Shield: 35 fcr spirit monarch.
Boots: Sandstorm trek 15/15
Belt: Bugged Belt for euscnl, other realms can use verdungos. U need the dmg reduce on the belt, and +1 skills, 20 fcr 15 str and other nice mods speak for itself on bugged belt, else 10 fhr lots points in vita and again dmg reduce on verdungos is nice.
Gloves: Trang ouls or magefists. I prefer trang ouls cause of 30 cold res.
Amulet: At least 18% fcr amulet. 18-20 fcr, 2 druid skills, str, res, life etc would be preferable. But an amulet with ONLY 18% fcr is still a better choice than all other amulets like maras or whatever. U need the fcr.
Charms: torch, anni, 10 x 20-5 scs, 2 x 12 fhr ele skillers, 7 x ele skillers with life (as much as possible ofc)
Switch: Cta and spirit ofc, its pretty obvious, no comments on that.
Items in stash:
Wizzardspike socketed with 15 all res jewel for good blizz sorcs.
Druid nn abs items rly cause of cyclone armor, but its always nice to have ofc. I never used abs, only vs farcast amas and trapsins, but more of that later.
So therefore u will need 2 wisp rings 20%, tgv, and a circlet with 2 Lo runes instead of 2 ber runes.
SKILLS
20 tornado
20 hurricane
20 cyclone armor
20 twister
20 oak
1 bear
Target lvl: 94
Stats: ALL VITA. If u dont have enough str to wear ur items, use a bit in str ofc.
Here comes the funny part, DUELLING STRATEGIES
As i mentioned before, my druid was life based with no block. This has a major effect in the way u handle some enemies vs a max block based druid.
Bowama: Use wolves and oak for meatshield. Be 100% offensive, tele on her and spam tornadoes.
Java ama: U dont need any summons here, not even oak, as they will die instantly. Tele in circles around her spamming tornadoes. If she use farcast script put on 2 wisp rings, tgv and the 2 Lo circlet and kill the fuckin noob. With no abs u are dead vs good farcast amas before u can scream "FUCKING FARCAST NAP". Once u killed a farcast ama, instant nk and massive flaming.
Hybrid ama: Same tactic as vs bow in start, she switch to java when u are close, same tactic as vs java and so on. No more comments.
Trapsins: Use wolves. Very very hard for ele druids! use massive abs and kill this no-play-skill opponent. Nk him afterwards for being so stupid.
Wwsins / hybsins: Again rly hard for an ele druid. Use the 2 Lo circlet, u nn dmg reduce vs them as its their psn dmg that kills. Same tactic as vs ww barbs, read below.
Ww barb: Only oak. He just life leech on ur wolves and bear. Its a hard opponent imo if he knows what hes doing. Especially with no block. Be defensive here and see how the barb duels. Use his mistakes to ur advantage. Well, tele around and spam some tornadoes against him. He will with 100% certainty leap u and get u into fhr animation. Once he does that, tele away from him, else u are quickly reduced to 50% life or even dead if the barb knows how to master triangular whirlwinds. When away from him spam some more tornadoes to hit him. Try change to a bit offensive tactic once in a while to confuse him, but do that with extreme caution! Its possible to kill the barb, but it will mostly become a long duel if hes skilled, so have patience.
Ele druid: Use bear. Mostly best chicken and most defensive player wins, but thats fuckin boring imo. I always chased them around and namelocked them. Works on most druids as 95% are crap, but vs good ones and DvD based druids, this tactic means certain death to u. Else play their game, spam a few nadoes and tele away from them. YAAWN.
Melee druid: Its a joke. Laugh at them and kill them.
Bonenecro: Use wolves for meatshield. Joke char again. Hunt him down and kill him with namelocks. If he use prison vs u, nk him for being so stupid to use prison vs tele chars. (yes some necs actually do that)
Summon necro: WOLVES!! 100% lamer, but easy. Only a few dont lose their minions with 2-3 seconds exposure to hurricane dmg. Kill him then and nk him for being a moron.
Psn necro: A bit hard if he is skilled. Avoid his psn nova, else make a swift namelock attack and kill him.
Pure charger: Use bear. Stand still and spam tornadoes in his direction. He will charge into you and take advantage of his desynch. But u have the upper hand here. You cant see him when he is desynching, but as your bear is an AI, it sees right through the desynch and starts to move toward the paladin when he is coming. Then tele away IN THE SAME DIRECTION HE CAME FROM!! Spam tornadoes again etc. If he plays defensive and dont charge brainlessly, namelock him and kill him.
Pure smiters: Same tactis as vs chargers. But beware of their smite and life tap, tele away from them after u spammed a few nadoes, if u get life tap, be careful, or tele to jail lvl 1, then laugh at him while he says u run, he lames with life tap, u lame with tele, u win 5-0.
Foh: LOOOOOOOOOOOL
Foh / smite: Same tactic as vs normal smiters, just remember to recast ur cyclone once in a while
Hammerdin: Use wolves for meatshield. Very important! If he stand still and spam hammers like 75% of all hammerplayers, hes a joke, namelock him and kill him, then nk and flame cause he sucks at a 6 year old game. If he is a skilled hammerdin who use a combination of tele and charge desynch, be a bit defensive, tele around spamming nados and wait for the perfect moment to namelock him and kill him. If u lose more than 1-2 wolves, TELE AWAY AND RECAST!!!
Fire sorc: Use bear, it has nice knockback, and fire ball do splash dmg, so it kills all ur wolves in one fireball anyway. Dont let ur cyclone armor lure u into suicide attacks. A fire sorc can get a 99 fhr druid into complete fhr lock if u are not cautious. Always tele away and recast cyclone armor and bear and oak if they are lost. Play a mix between offensive and defensive. Use namelock attacks alot. If she spams 24332 meteors and stands in the middle, let her do that and own her with ur superior patience
Ofc nk after u killed her.
Lightning sorc: Wolves for meatshield. Else same tactic as vs fire sorc.
Orb sorc: A joke. They need countless hits on u to remove ur cyclone. Dont rly matter what minions, use none, not even oak, just to piss her a bit more off ^^
Blizz sorc: The most nasty element for ele druids imo. Use wizzy here as her dmg will remove ur cyclone in one hit and then if shes fast reduce your life alot in the next. Play defensive, she will most likely stand in a blizzard most of the times and wait for u to be stupid and namelock her. DONT DO THAT!! Her blizz will remove ur armor, then her ice blast will kill u. Force her to move, then make a swift namelock attack.
NAKED CHARS ^^ : Hurricane is an amazing nk skill. Just tele to them and let the hurricane do the job, easy. Remember to flame alot and call them nerds, noobs, virgins w-e.
Well that was my guide. I hope u enjoyed it and wanna make an ele druid, cause its a fun char
I dont claim that my build is superior vs other builds, but this is the way i made mine and it owned. If u have comments to it then feel free to post.
If u wonder why i havent posted stats on my druid like life, dmg, etc etc, thats simply because its irrelevant. This is not a high dmg or high life build, but its very very versatile and owned all but the best players in europe. And because life and dmg varies ofc, on how much life on ur skillers, if u use wizzy or branch, 2 druid or 3 ele circlet etc etc. But u will get about 6,3k dmg, 6,7k life, 163 fcr and 99 fhr as mentioned before. Ofc life and dmg may vary alot depending on what u can afford of items.
CHEERS!