Shield for wind druid

[krischan]

I made a PvM wind druid and I decided to go for max blocking. Now it seems I need a lot of dex to have max blocking with Spirit. He will have 165%fcr as soon as he can wear Arach (163% is max).

Stormshield: DR, better def, better blocking -> less dex, no 163% fcr, more versatile with rings and gloves, additional socket.

Spirit: Better res, max fcr, +2 skills, further dex investitions or settling with less blocking, 20% fcr from rings/amu and 20% from magefists needed to maintain 163% fcr

What would you advise ?

[gorash]

if pvm go spirit with NO dex. i did this one time and it needed ~300dex to max block at a 80'ish lvl which kills the life.

if pvp go ss with max block.

[emar]

I've done PVM with Max Block SS. It works pretty well, especially if you are teleing into large groups. Drop the 1 FCR frame, and go 75% block with SS. Max block with Spirit is a huge investment =S.

If you have your heart set on Spirit, go with Gorash and 0 dex.

[Gotcha]

If you are max block with SS and switch to spirit your block will be around 43%, with some dex on your FCR rings hehe you can get close to 50%. I have been dwelling on this issue on my PVP windy while going the 163% FCR route. I am ever so trying to hit the 163%/152% FCR/FHR with whizzy yet I am on ladder and have yet to craft a godly +2/18% ammy yet ( I am sure it will never happen) yet man would it be interesting to get to the 163/152 breakpoints and still do 5600 or so nado with resists stacked and around 5k life with oak. I am still dreaming. Hurry someone give me that ammy so I can test out. I mean 50% block if it can be done would not be all that bad for most all around dueling I would think:starry:

[krischan]

Hmm, OK. I already invested into dex, so I guess I have no choice, but to switch to Stormshield. Hitting with tornados from a distance is even worse than aiming hammers, so I often lose patience and run into the enemy. It seems a Stormshield will better suit to my playing style, having an additional 35% FR and more life because of saved dex.

Thanks for your input.

[junglejunkie]

I had a similar question:

i built a max block ss windy, which works extremely well against melee builds ("dude, why can't i hit you.. H4XX!?111"), but would it make sense, in pvp, to switch to spirit while fighting casters -- there's no need to blocking (i think), and the +2 to skills would be nice for cyclone armor and damage.

any thoughts?

[Gotcha]

Yes, switching to spirit for casters is what you should do unless:

1. You need the PDR from SS along with block. (fire druids come to mind here along with max block I.E. Geddon will take CA out in one hit to a synergized geddon & volcano could become a problem).
2. you are 1 vs 2 or more where one is a melee chr, especially a ww barb or sin.
3. I am sure I may be missing a melee chr in the second one so use your judgement.

The spirit will also give you 55% FHR which means you can sub a few of your FHR charms for more life mod charms:thumbsup: always good in caster duels.

I think what is sorta impressive on the 163% FCR to me is the speed difference in recasting your minions. There is a noticable difference that I can tell which may be a life saver in some duels.