Wind druid weapon choice.

[LorveN]

I have started to think about making a wind druid, and got stuck on the question about what weapon to use.
If i want to max out the skills, Earth Shifter would be the choice, though, 232 str. (?) feels too much for me.
I am a bit keen on using Mang Songs Lesson (+5 skills), because of the skills and low reqs on strength, but can i really sacrifice the ability to use shield for skills only?
Else, you could always use that unique war hammer (or something) with +3 to elemental, combined with lidless for +4 skills, or HotO if you feel expensive.
Ondals staff with +4 is no option since it gives less skills than Mang Songs, so the battle really is between +3weapon/lidless or Mang Songs.

Now, have i missed anything here? can anyone enlighten me with some ideas and thoughts about this?
Just to clarify, its for PvM. damage is priority, but i do NOT want Earth Shifter :)

thnx in advance
:cheesy:

[proudfoot]

If you can afford it Heart of the Oak really is the best. Tornado and Hurricane are almost close range attacks, so a tiny bit of blocking is nice, and you get huge bonuses.

[LorveN]

the thing is, i have played around with a single player editor a bit. The MangSong-version did really well actually. With only a few points in Oak Sage i managed to reach 5k life (skillers + full equip included that is), and i really never had any problems with dying.
Not even resists were needed, since the cyclone armor absorbed 2.9k damage.
But lets put it this way then. I do not have a HotO (its true!), so which would be best of Mang Songs and +3/lidless-combo?
(of course, i also plan using a merc as tank with beefy lifesteal to keep monsters in place. Merc will also get an incredible amount of life due to Oak Sage, so you can count on him blocking 80-90% of the evildoers...)

Also, Tornados, what type of damage are they? phys or some wierd "magic" like hammers?

[proudfoot]

Tornadoes are physical damage.

I'm an old 1.09 player. I know nothing of this Mang's Song of which you speak. SOrry I can't help more.

[Rauth]

You will be up close with the monsters you intend to kill so a stormshield is really really really nice. Max block is also a good idea. Yes, it takes a ton of dex, but that extra life would not make up for the 75% chance to block.

Really, for pvm, just about any gear/stats works on a windy. It is only pvp where you need certain things to be successful. Play with whatever you want. As long as you have lots of plus skills and decent res pvm is easy.

One thing you should keep in mind. 2.9k elemental absorb is NOTHING to souls. They will burn it off you before you can blink. Even the balrogs inferno attack will break it quickly if they are bosses. Do not forget to have max res.

Get a reapers toll on that merc and you are good to go. Nothing in the game will be able to stop you since it breaks those physical immunes. It also increases your own killing speed by a lot.

Whatever you choose, DO NOT USE EARTHSHIFTER. It is just too much str and not enough fast cast. My personal choice is wiz(hoto)/ss, but like I said, anything works for pvm.

Of your two options, I would have to go with mang songs. Lidless is not a shield you want to max block with and the bonus is only about 12-20 % block at higher lvls.

Have fun.