Who the what... fire druids... lets get it goin

[whiskers]

So, am i the only one noticing the lack of discussion on fire druids around these forums? theres TONS of topics about wolf discussion, windy discussion (borrring windy)...

But of my two favorite druid alternatives (bear druid, and fire druid of course) theres almost no discussion of the latter of the two... whats with that? no credit for the fire druids around here,.

Would love it if anyone has an opinions on fire druids, gear, builds, stats, who cares just lets get some kind of discussion process going about them, since you know, they are infact a part of the mighty druid arsinel (i know i spelt it wrong but really... how many times a day do you have to spell arsinel-arsenal or how ever)

Are fire druids viable in pvp etc etc, i would love to hear what people have to say on the topic.

[Gluttony]

So, am i the only one noticing the lack of discussion on fire druids around these forums? theres TONS of topics about wolf discussion, windy discussion (borrring windy)...

But of my two favorite druid alternatives (bear druid, and fire druid of course) theres almost no discussion of the latter of the two... whats with that? no credit for the fire druids around here,.

Would love it if anyone has an opinions on fire druids, gear, builds, stats, who cares just lets get some kind of discussion process going about them, since you know, they are infact a part of the mighty druid arsinel (i know i spelt it wrong but really... how many times a day do you have to spell arsinel-arsenal or how ever)

Are fire druids viable in pvp etc etc, i would love to hear what people have to say on the topic.

I believe that fire druids are viable in pvp and are indeed quite effective but take some time to master. I believe that shapeshifting simply has more appeal and tornadoes cannot be fully resisted by sorb gear like fire can. I know this isn't the same thing but my character is a firebear druid and I'm very viable in pvp. I've defeated all different kinds of builds now and there's no specific type that's "impossible" to beat. I also don't have my two hander or all the items I want (like life gcs) or resist gear (whisps, carrions, dwarfstars etc). The only class that consistantly beats me is smiters with both exile and dracs.

You like bears and you like fire druids. You were like me when I decided to play a druid. I was thinking of either being a bear or pure fire. In the end I went with fire claw and I'm glad I did. :smiley: Fire Druids can be powerful too from what I've read and seen (saw one fire druid doing pretty good in a dueling game, unfortunately it was team duels and he was on my side so I didn't get to fight him to test him out myself :grin:).

If I was to make a fire druid I'd use..

Ravenlore
Hoto
Spirit
Arachnids
Maras
Magefists
x2 Sojs
Enigma
As for boots? Maybe something like sandstorm or anything else of your choice.
Followed by elemental gcs, annihilus, torch, and small charms with anything else you're lacking. Oh, and CTA with 6 bo to prebuff with.

If you decide to go max block you can use stormshield. However, because most casters have low FHR and don't have the kind of resists many melee have. I'd focus on being a caster hunter with the character. The fast cast from spirit can help you reach your BP and keep up with the other characters. Dropping volcanos and teleing away will make people think twice about namelock teleing on you as well. For a fire druid I'd go max life. I know many will disagree with this but it's just my preference.

By the way. You can fire facet your ravenlore or if you go max block fire facet your ss as well. Get a 6 socket sword and fire facet that for resist junkies will help also.

[Valvolux]

Kiba only lets us talk about wolves. :sad2:

[superjayson]

fc druid = very viable, being able to beat their wolfie buddies easily.
fire druids = viable, but expensive and alot harder to use and build.

[Gluttony]

fc druid = very viable, being able to beat their wolfie buddies easily.
fire druids = viable, but expensive and alot harder to use and build.

If you go the fire claw route make sure you look at jayson's guide. It helped me alot.

[WRcheza]

i normally have no problems with any elementalists...namely windies. until earlier today. i had the pleasure of dueling with a fire druid whose fissure+geddon just destroyed my wolf. i mean, we ended up tying overall, but a tie hardly ever happens.

i must say, an underclassed pvp build, but played effectively = dead wolves.

[GreatZeal]

Because Wolfs are da $H!T and every one knows it.Well do you mean Fire Claw druid or the gross Fissure Bm/Tg Druid?

[superjayson]

or the gross Fissure Bm/Tg Druid?

Public b.net isn't a good represenation of your "fissure druid".

[WRcheza]

he wasn't a tging fire druid. i'm talking about a legit minion stacking, smart teleporting, fur burning fire druid.

[safetypro]

I built a Hunter Fire Mentalist and quite frankly, it has been my favorite build so far. I've built 4 paladins, 1 necro, 2 sorcs, 3 barbs, 2 zons and 4 druids. The druids have been Kodiak Bear, the Hunter, a Windy and my latest venture a Fury/Rabies wolf. I play solo, so it's important that the build be able to stand on it's own merits. Fire druids are not only powerful, they are fun to play too.
BTW most boring = Windy.

[deathzsoul]

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=355469 ?
easily the funnest build out there, as well as tied with a mage as hardest to beat...it is posted by a controversial user, but is quite a good guide

[Jary]

Wow, that clearly was a good build. It's too bad that it looks like no one took the time to appreciate it for what it was.
It was two amazing concepts thrown together... I wonder :rolleyes:

[whiskers]

gotta say i'm absolutely astounded by the responces, was gone for a day from the origional post and 2 pages already, lovin it..

Equipment wise, need an opinion

Is it a good idea to run around with a 6socket crystal sword with 6X fire facets to get some mega fire damage bonus, or is hoto the better more viable choice in most situations? (other that sorbers of course)

Also right now i'm still building my fire druid, going slowly playing solo so i can be the best i can, and right now i'm thinking of maxing firestorm / fissure / volcanoe / armagedon for sure, than after putting points in my spirit wolves / oak sage, using the rest of my points to get molten boulder as close to max as possible..

Anyone agree this is a good route to take in building my druid, or should i be thinking of an alternitave route?

So far my gear selection includes:
Hoto
Spirit (somewhere i have one i think lol, just gotta find it)
Enigma
Ravenlore
magefists
Maras amulet (better to go with a rare amulet +3 elemental or maras is good?)
Not decided on the soj vs Bk rings yet
No belt yet
No definitive boots yet
still need my ele gc's
still need my anni
Got my torch

So do i have any takers in a year from now when i finally perfect this guy for a few duels to test him out? who knows maybe i can one day sway people to not just talk about wolves on the druid forums :rolleyes:

[Rynefire]

I'm in the process of building one of these myself. I been deciding whether to pursue 99 fhr for my caster vs caster setup or not. Does anyone have any advice?

[TheMayor]

a faceted 6 socket pb's damage output is gonna be greater than hoto, but your sacrificing all of the other mods you get with a hoto. the other goodies with a hoto allow you a lot of gear changing flexability when dueling and allowing you to have some freedom in your standard setup as well.

i love the fire branch of elemental skills, probably one of my favorite types of skills in the game (besides rabies). i always thought a fire elementalist/rabies wolf shifter would be pretty sweet.....but alas, will have to wait for 1.12 if it ever comes.

[Ottie]

I have a fire druid / summoner level 77 (Luc_fer)

Firestorm 25
MoltenBoulder 14
Fissure 25
Volcano 27
Armageddon 9
Grizly 1
Oak Sage 1

Merc : roque

And I love playing it, but it is pretty difficult to play on Hell, because of the many fire immune creatures. And I had to invest more points in armageddon because of the combined damage fire/physical (great defense) so I am building a new pure fire druid (Z_ppo) with no summoning and a tank merc.

But till Nightmare it is really fun and easy to play.

[CloudConnected]

Already built one, the damage is awesome, I would one hit barbs all the time, but you just don't get the satisfaction you get from furying/rabiesing (lol) them to death :tongue:

[HalcyonLister]

he wasn't a tging fire druid. i'm talking about a legit minion stacking, smart teleporting, fur burning fire druid.

:lol: That's probably the best description I've ever heard!!! :thumbsup:

[WRcheza]

<-english major

[HalcyonLister]

<-english major

<- born and raised in America, failed English as a Second Language.....

[CloudConnected]

<- Is furry

[TheMayor]

<- born and raised in America, failed English as a Second Language.....



gotta love california public inner city schools right?
i didnt learn a thing about english/grammer till i hit college.

[WRcheza]

i have to admit, i didn't like english at all throughout school, but i was strangely adept at it. my fourth year ap english teacher turned me around and showed me all the pleasures of the written word.

now all i do is spend my time reading and writing



anyway, returning to the topic, i'm thinking about making one of these. i'm stripping my trapsin to make this druid. i guess the 1handed fury is going to be put on hold for a little while

[TheMayor]

the biggest obsticle for a fire druid is gonna be opponents with stacked res. in that case, i would suggest going with the 6soc faceted pb in combo with the ravenlore. absorb is a whole different story.... shaman still seems to be the most viable in my mind. either way you cant win em all i guess.

[whiskers]

so, little update on my druid, since i had to take friday off of work cause i was sick, i got a bit of time to play with my beloved fire druid, hes now in act3 normal mode, solo the whole way there (act 2 is a long damn act lol) still knowing this is one of the most enjoyable toons i've ever played.

Question about dueling for when i get there though, whats the breakpoint (fcr / fhr) i should be aiming for with a fire druid, since fire skills are on a timer, fcr isnt as important as say with a windy correct? so i was thinking of hitting the higher fhr breakpoint, with a mid fcr break point... anyone have any opinions on this? am i making a mistake, and fcr break point is more important than i though since it effects my teleport speed as well, or do i have the right idea with teleport kind of defeating the purpose of a fire druid..

[WRcheza]

yeah, i have the same question. i know i can easily achieve the 99fcr bp, but what am i going to do about fhr?

[sexyfool]

Hoto + spirit + mages + fcr ring = 105 fcr. Spirit = 55fhr. Add a few charms? Wear Jalals? Fhr is easy enough and most tele pvp chars consider fcr a very high priority.

[sexyfool]

the biggest obsticle for a fire druid is gonna be opponents with stacked res. in that case, i would suggest going with the 6soc faceted pb in combo with the ravenlore. absorb is a whole different story.... shaman still seems to be the most viable in my mind. either way you cant win em all i guess.

Infinity on switch made a huge difference to my geddon bear. Dunno if it is usable without shockwave to stun. Unless volcano/molten boulder stunning is actually viable....

[whiskers]

as far as i would think, the stun lock from volcanoe would be pretty viable in stunning opponents... dont they go into a block lock type of thing... molten boulder i think would be good to use of charging paladins and the likes to knock them back on their asses a little but i'm really not too sure, right now i'm focusing mostly on fhr due to the fact that if i get hit but have a nice high fhr break point than i can still react quite fast and get out of the situation, but with a little fcr i can still teleport if needed quite well.. or atleast this is my thoughts :cool:

[superjayson]

blocklock.. i dont know. fhr yeah.
Volcano = best used on an amazon.

[TheMayor]

i dont think volcano can be blocked. but if they go into hit recovery, they will be locked on the account that each ball spouts out of the volcano every 2 frames—faster than any possibe fhr. a volcano shoots out 75 balls over 6 seconds, but if you do stunlock someone they will not be hit be all of them. it is most likely that they will be hit by 10 balls or so, but in the process they will be stun locked as well.

remember that a fire druids advantage is gonna be in FWR because of cool down, teleing is a secondary way of possitioning, and therefore fcr should not be a primary concern. i believe that hitting 99 fcr or the next bp under would be managable and enough for your teleing/shifting needs

[whiskers]

so if frw is priority, than does the enigma + a good pair of 40% fwr boots cover that ? i dont actually have a pair of boots picked out yet for my guy, i was thinking treks, but anyone have any other suggestions for me ?

[TheMayor]

treks are ideal because of the fhr. aldurs can never hurt though. too bad mermans sprockets arnt around. i would druel if i had those on a fire druid. pretty bm though.

[Verashiden]

I think 63/99 should be enough. However, be ready to hit 99/99 for certain duels.

I'd use Jalal's as the helm. Since you'll be focusing on damage this helm will cover most of the gaps nicely. Also, it's highly customizable for what you're lacking.

Personally, my LLD has over 100 FRW and it's still a chore at time to dodge people. I'd say get Ele FRW GCs over the lifers. Chances are you're dead if they catch you anyways.

[whiskers]

i was thinking jalas for a little for the help because of all the yummy goodie stats that are on it, but than i self found an almost perfect ravenlore (-18% fire) and figured i would just use that... anyone else have anything to suggest on the helm? jalas actually sounds like a great idea to me now that i think about it since you get all the nice strength bonuses, res, fhr, etc etc...

I know its a stupid idea, and i wouldnt use it but its a topic of conversation :laugh: anyone using a fire druid ever think of using that +7 elemental skills maul ever? you loose the stats and fcr/fhr etc from spirit/hoto but you get +7 skills (dont worry, i'm not using but i want to hear what people have to say)

[mystified]

never use da maul for pvp or pvm. takes too much str and only use I can think of it is having it as eth and hel or req jewel in it..and still too much str :S
anyway, dmg output is better with facets > skills.
I am trying one myself..failed so much times..:p
using ravenlore. The best helm imo. Jalal is good but its all that - fire res that counts. Its either this or 3/20 with 2 sox but I never get sockets...1 sox make difference.
anyway, why pb when you can use cs? less req you know :)
I'd love to try some jmod for shield but that's impossible to get (not that I have fund for it). anyone used it so far?
my dream set up would be ravenlore, hoto, fire faceted jmod, eni, arach, magefist, 2/19+ amu, raven, soj/bk. This will allow 99 FCR. I have no chance of getting it. But sorta similar set up of 4 sox monarch with 4 facets seems to be working well. At least dmg outputs far greater factoring in 5% dmg increase and -5 fire res and all..

BTW, is there any unique or runewords that will allow greater - fire res than 6 facets? hoto is good most of times but dmg is lowered. only thing I can think of is that sword allow you to do +3 fire skills but that only gets 1 sox. Hoto is far superior...
I need something better....but there does seem to be anything.