Call them what you will: Elementalists, "Arty" (Artillery) Druids, or the "Poor Man's Sorc." By any name, Elemental Druids suffer from a slew of misconceptions. The majority of Battle.net seems to hold that this is a weak character, which is not viable in Hell difficulty. The fact of the matter is that an Elemental Druid will never be as "über" as a Sorceress, nor will he be as high in raw power as a Shapeshifting Druid. But with the proper understanding of the nature of the skills, effects of timers upon them, and the strategies involved with integrating the two, an Elemental Druid can be quite successful. Add in the use of a Vine and Spirit, the employment of a suitable Mercenary, and the understanding of which equipment will suit the character best; you have all the makings of a formidable hero.
That said, there are certain things you should not expect to see in this guide. Do not expect any descriptions of Animal Summons. They belong in a build different from that of an Artillery Druid, which is exactly what I'll be describing. Finally, look elsewhere if you're planning on a Shapeshifter. The two trees do not mix well, and I'd not suggest you use the two together on the same character.
This variation of Druid is not for someone looking for a "power-gaming" session. Nor is it suitable for those that do not enjoy taking the road less traveled - those who prefer to stay with the herd. However, If you like to march to your own beat, do something different, or simply find out if the grass truly is greener on the other side, this is one way to go.
First off, we'll discuss the natures of the skills themselves, along with their uses. Next we'll examine the strategy involved in this form of Druid, spanning everything from the methods you'll use to attack to the equipment you'll be searching in your quests.
Sure, the Druid's Fire branch of his Elemental tree doesn't have the power of the Sorc's Meteor or Firewall, but it does contain the highest damage-per-hit skills that he has at his disposal.
Firestorm is analogous to a level 1 Charged Bolt in that it fires 3 projectiles, which wind about in the general direction of your casting. In this case, they leave a trail of fire behind them. Unfortunately, this skill does not even seem viable for variants. The low damage is a concern, but the presence of a timer is crucial in the breaking of this skill. Its best use would have been while the timer of another skill is running, but we'll get to that later.
Molten Boulder is a step up, and makes a wonderful left-click skill on an Elemental Druid. Why is that? Its knockback is a lifesaver when you're mobbed. This skill has the ability to drive an enemy back for yards (although it will explode on impact with more powerful enemies) and has a general knockback in a radius upon its explosion. Unfortunately it too suffers from low damage, and the trail of fire does not lengthen with additional points. I would suggest one point into this skill, both for the knockback usage and as a prereq for Armageddon. Even in Act 5 Hell, that quality alone makes this skill shine. Additionally, it can work as an indicator of the progress of spell timers, as we'll discuss later.
Fissure has potential to be useful, but needs many castings. Its duration is the same at all levels: 3.2 seconds. Gladly, its mana cost does not go up with additional levels, and remains at 15 per casting. The radius of the Area of Effect is not listed, but I'd approximate it at 4.5 yards. The virtue of this skill is that it is one of the few long-range attacks that will be a guaranteed hit. It can be cast anywhere on the screen, striking all enemies within the Area of Effect for the full duration of the skill. The drawback is, once again, low damage.
Volcano is fun, and used properly can serve as a valuable addition to your arsenal. The skill itself is perhaps the most reliable of the Fire skills, as far as its ability to hit stationary enemies. The Volcano erupts, spewing chunks of molten lava all over (I'd estimate the radius to be 7 yards), doing 155-160 damage at level 20. The damage is spread over a wide area, however whatever enemy is standing on the Volcano itself gets damaged more often. Each of the projectiles that the eruption spews forth will hit any enemy standing on the Volcano on the way up. They still retain their ability to damage again upon hitting the ground. Again, this can be cast anywhere onscreen, so it makes for a good attack vs. enemies that are across rivers, etc. It's also useful in multiplayer when your melee allies are mobbing a boss. Its duration is just slightly over its casting delay; so don't think of having more than one on the screen at once. A Mercenary or melee player holding a boss against a wall makes for an excellent opportunity to cast Volcano.
Armageddon is obviously the most powerful Fire skill the Druid has (and with a name like that, it had better be). The casting cost for this skill does not go up with additional skill points, and is capped at 35 mana per casting. Its duration is 10 seconds, during which it calls down fireballs from the sky, striking seemingly at random in a 5.3 yard radius around the Druid. Its damage is high: 390-440 per hit at level 20. In the late game, its damage is phenomenal. At level 36 it does 790-840 damage per hit.
The drawback is that it's somewhat unreliable. It's hard to get the hang for where the spell actually hits enemies, due to its random nature. It CAN hit enemies more than once, but don't expect more than four or five hits tops in one casting. Also, it calls down hits from the sky at your current position, but there's a delay in their impact, meaning it functions as a modified Blaze while running, leaving a trail of destruction BEHIND you rather than in front of you.
It also requires you to be at certain proximity in order to hit your enemies, meaning you are going to be venturing forth into the fray. This is not a bad aspect, since such a move is integral to the Elemental Druid play style. For raw firepower, this is the best skill an Elemental Druid has at his disposal.
With any Area of Effect skill, it helps to gather enemies in a group to hit as many as possible with a single casting. This is where a Tank, in the form of a summoned minion, Mercenary, or allied player come in handy. With Armageddon, this is not as much of a concern. They'll already be gathering around in hopes of attacking your character, meaning they'll run in with reckless abandon as fire rains down on their heads. In effect, with this skill as well as Hurricane, you are your own tank in many situations.
Arctic Blast is my baby. I loved playing an Inferno Sorc and have enjoyed using this skill as well. Obviously I've exposed my bias towards this skill, but objectively it still makes for a VERY useful weapon.
Arctic's damage is low compared to its sister skill, Inferno, doing only 133-140 per second at level 20, with a cold duration of 11.6 seconds. This high duration of chill is what makes the skill shine, since you can strafe across a group of enemies and move onto other skills. At level 31 its duration is 16 seconds, which means 4 seconds on Hell difficulty. 4 seconds of chill can be the difference between life and death in many situations. This skill is all or nothing. You will not obtain a high chill rate without many points in it, and if you plan on using it at all I'd suggest a hefty investment of skill points. It should also be noted that all the same strategies used with Inferno can be employed with Arctic Blast, from lining up enemies to maximize damage output to knowing which angles will result in higher damage done. See the link in the Suggested Reading section for The Inferno Sorceress Guide by Faragon. Much of what he's written applies to Arctic Blast.
Cyclone Armor is helpful, and akin to the Necromancer's Bone Armor. You either love it or you hate it. It will absorb Fire, Lightning, and Cold damage, calculated after resistances and magic damage reduction are considered. This means that you can keep it going and enjoy near invulnerability to the elements, for the cost of the skill points you've invested. One point should definitely be invested for its utility and as a prereq for Hurricane and Armageddon, since even with that one skill point you'll get a lot out of +skills items. At later levels you may find that additional skill points are useful. Allocate your points to suit your own taste.
Twister is...not as useful as I had hoped. Its stun duration does not go up with additional skill points, staying at 0.4 seconds (which means almost nothing, IMHO). Its damage is also low, only 66-68 at level 20. Its only virtues are the ability to cast continuously, the fact that each casting spews 3 Twisters at once, and the fact that its mana cost stays constant at 7. It's viable, but you should be prepared to cast a lot.
Tornado is a step up from Twister and much more impressive. Again, it can be fired off rapidly. Again, its cost is constant (at 10 per casting). It has no stun duration yet has much higher damage: 273-283 at level 20. Combine that with rapid casting and you have a good option for an Arty Druid to dish out some quick damage.
Another notable feature of these two skills is that they are both physical damage. Cold resists will not affect them, meaning they give the tree a third form of attack damage.
Hurricane is the level 30 skill for the Cold branch of the Elemental tree. Again, constant mana cost (30 per casting). It damages all enemies within 5.3 yards about twice a second (previously more frequent, but it needed to be toned down and Blizzard made a good move in doing so). It chills enemies, but for such a short amount of time that on Hell difficulty they just barely stay chilled between hits. As soon as they move out of range they're nice and thawed. This skill, as Armageddon, requires you to be near the enemies, but its reliability makes it hit far more often. At level 20 it does 202-227 per hit. Now factor that its duration is 10 seconds and that it hits a bit faster than once a second, and you have the potential to do quite a bit of damage per casting. Keep in mind that this is to multiple enemies, as well.
One addition on Hurricane is that it does not cause Lightning Enchanted Bosses to spark at all. This is something unique to this skill among all of the elemental attacks in the game. It makes it possible to stand besides a Conviction enchanted Multiple Shot Lightning Enchanted boss and breathe easily while attacking slightly faster than once a second. That's something that can't be said of any other skill.
The proper support of Summoning skills can augment your character; however this will require a heavy skill point investment. For that reason I prefer to stay away from Animal Summons. They simply do nothing that a Mercenary could not. You are a spell caster with this Druid, not a Necromancer with an army. This is not to say that summoning Animals would not make for a viable build, but merely that they are not necessary.
Oak Sage is an essential skill for an Elemental Druid. If you want to plan your skill points, prepare for 20 to be placed right here. At level 20 it gives +125% hit points to you as well as your allies, be them NPCs or other players. Many have played all-Vitality Sorcs due to the virtues of having such enhanced life. This Spirit enables the enhanced life yet still allows you to invest in Energy. Also, keep in mind that you will be battling enemies that are right next to you, in order to hit them with your two most powerful skills. The added life is crucial for making this strategy work. Additionally, Oak Sage works phenomenally with Mercenaries. But we'll get to them later. In a pinch, an Oak Sage can make an impromptu Tank as well. Casting it directly upon an enemy will always result in the enemy shifting its entire attention to the Oak Sage. This can buy some valuable time if you need to make your exit.
If you're the multiplayer type, you'll find that a high level of Oak Sage can make you everyone's best friend. Who doesn't appreciate +125% life?
Poison Creeper deserves a point as a prereq for other skills and as a killing aid in the beginning of an Elemental Druid's life. Beyond that, I'd not suggest any points placed here. This skill has its moments where it may be helpful to halt an enemy's natural healing, but other than that is useless in the late game.
Carrion Vine has its uses all the way into Act 5 Hell. At level 1 it replenishes 4% of your maximum life for every corpse it eats, which is more than adequate with the high hit points you'll have while using Oak Sage. Due to diminishing returns I'd not suggest any more points devoted here. If you find yourself running low on health, summon this vine and the earth shall heal you.
Solar Creeper is useful as well, but does better with perhaps 3 points placed in it, in order to raise its mana replenishing properties to match the life replenishing of Carrion Vine. This is especially important when using one of the three rapid-fire cold skills.
It should be noted that the three Summoning skills I've suggested are not necessary. Forgoing them, considering the allocation of skill points I've suggested, means a total of 25 skill points that could be used to improve upon your Elemental Skills. However that is a path of much greater resistance, in which you may discover that you have problems with life and mana supply.
Also, due to the fact that they consume corpses, some parties may not be kind to your usage of Carrion Vine or Solar Creeper. Use them as you need, but try and limit their use if your comrades-in-arms are in need of corpses. You can not Unsummon a vine, however casting Poison Creeper will cause the corpse-eater to die and help some uneasy Necromancers breathe a bit more easily.
Now, let's move on to the timers' roles in this skill tree. With the emergence of timers, the Druid's Elemental skills have been built with them in mind. An understanding of these timers brings one a step closer to mastering this tree.
What exactly does this mean? After casting any of those elemental skills, you may not cast another for the duration of the timer indicated, with the exception of those I have indicated as N/A. These can be cast at any time, regardless of the timers that are running from the other skills.
If you cast Hurricane or Armageddon, you will be committed to that skill for the next six seconds. That six seconds for which, if you've chosen your attack poorly, you may be completely ineffective against the enemies you're facing. This is most prevalent in areas with mixed immunities, with the caverns of Act 5 being the best example. Usually it's a good idea to have Armageddon running at all times, pummeling the highly cold resistant enemies you'll be encountering. However, if you have just cast Armageddon and a pack of Minotaurs rounds the corner, you're in trouble. For this reason, be prudent in your casting of each. Try not to cast every six seconds, as you'll be eager to do. Ride the skills out into the 8 to 9 second area before deciding to recast. You'll be thankful if you need to suddenly switch elements.
Additionally, those two skills mean that you'll have 4 seconds in between castings to fire off another skill that is also on a timer. A barrage of Firestorms would be possible, however not practical due to the low damage. Molten Boulder is viable, and can be cast twice in between Armageddon or Hurricane castings. Fissure is also a possibility, as is a single casting of Volcano. In any case, an important part of playing this build lies in knowing how to properly combine your Elemental Skills.
The highest fire damage combo you'll have at your disposal is built on Armageddon. After the 6-second timer of Armageddon runs out you'll have a few options, depending on your style of play. A few Firestorms can be cast rapidly before recasting Armageddon, however the damage is negligible at high levels. Firestorm is an improvement, but Volcano is definitely your best bet here. It's possible to get a Volcano in the instant your Armageddon timer releases by switching to the skill via a hotkey and holding down the mouse button you have it assigned to. Then switch back to Armageddon once it's been cast and hold down the mouse button again. This will give almost a seamless transition between casting the two skills, and you'll rarely notice any gap between the two rounds of Armageddon.
As far as a crippling cold barrage goes, you are for more limited in your options. In fact, there are only two true Cold damage skills available: Hurricane and Arctic Blast. In this case the two can be used simultaneously, with another cast of Hurricane whenever it nears the end of the skill's ten second duration.
With either Armageddon or Hurricane, a good way to gauge the timer is to keep a skill (such as Molten Boulder) on left-click. When the opportunity to cast another skill presents itself, the left-click skill icon will change from red to white, giving you a ready indicator that you can re-cast your current skill or change your strategy if need be.
Perhaps the ultimate casting combo, resistances/immunities permitting, is to rapidly switch back and forth between Hurricane and Armageddon. This will give you a good three or four seconds of overlap, meaning both skills will be in effect at the same time. The only way you could do more casting damage at once is by adding one of the 3 non-timer cold branch skills. Twister, Tornado, and Arctic Blast are all available for casting at any time, adding a third skill to hit an enemy with. Twister has its virtue of stun, Tornado its physical damage, and Arctic Blast its cold damage and chilling. Which, if any, you choose to use is up to you.
The final Elemental Skill that is not on a timer is Cyclone Armor. I know what you're thinking. "Big deal." To be honest, though, this is a big deal. Continuously casting Cyclone armor can make you invincible to elemental damage, since enemies simply cannot keep up with its damage absorption, which will be reset with each casting. An LEB will have a VERY hard time getting through that with his/her sparks. In order to be damaged by elemental attacks you'd need to be taking enough damage to decimate the Cyclone Armor in the span of time it takes to cast it once. It should be noted, however, that you should never stand by with unwarranted confidence of your safety. Take care.
Mercenaries are a big part of the world of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and a good hired hand will benefit you in more ways than one. Plus, they're expendable (but don't let them hear that). You'll have four options as far as Mercs go, with two rising above the rest: those of Acts 2 and 5.
Greiz's men can benefit your spell-casting Druid both by tanking and lending their auras. For these qualities a Defensive merc is your best choice. Equip him with high-defense body armor, good helm, and a high-damage Spear or Polearm and you have quite an aid when venturing into the fray. Due to their jab attack, a weapon with a chance of casting a spell makes a good choice.
Barbarians are also an option, and are THE choice of many high level spell-casters. They can tank suitably, and also contribute over 1,000 points of damage per hit if given the proper equipment. All for Greiz's men applies here, with the exception of weapon choice. You'll want the highest damage sword you can get on this guy.
With both, your Oak sage will increase their HP along with their natural life regeneration, meaning more often than not they'll heal more quickly than they can be damaged. The high damage they can lend to your arsenal, in the form of physical attacks, means you will have an indirect weapon against a boss that's both Fire and Cold immune. This means there is not a single enemy in the game that you CAN'T kill in some fashion. The best quality of Mercs is their reckless attack. They'll march right up to a mob and go at it, meaning you can stand directly behind them, just out of melee range yet inside of Hurricane/Armageddon range.
Once you've mastered the strategic aspect, the trick to getting the Druid's Elemental skills' power to the point where you're holding your own alongside more powerful builds is in the equipment you wear. Using the proper equipment can increase your power like you wouldn't believe.
Helm: There are three options to be considered. First are Druid pelts that can have +skills on them. If you get your hands on a Gaean pelt (+3 Elemental) with some other Elemental Skills bonuses, you'll have an ideal helm. "Gaean" can also occur on circlets, as can "Heirophant's" (+2 Druid skills). Finally, any helm with a general +skills on it (Tarnhelm, etc.) makes for a good option in headgear. Anything besides +skills in a helm makes for an added bonus. Enjoy.
Body Armor: There are two key modifiers to look for here. The first is resistances, as is true with any character class. A 4-socket armor can grab you a quick 30% resist all with the runes RalOrtTalThul in it. My personal favorite 4-socket armor is to socket a Perfect Skull and then follow with RalOrtThul. This will give you 30% fire/lightning/cold resist as well as life/mana regen (not to mention a great black color to your armor). The second thing to look for is +skills. In classic Diablo II the only armor that gave a general +1 to all skills was the Silks of the Victor unique Ancient Armor. Now there are other options. Silks are still there, but the emergence of Spirit Shroud, Scullder's Ire, Arkaine's Valor, and Naj's Light Plate gives you some options, and ANY can be socketed to add regen or resistances.
Primary Weapon: You will not be hitting enemies with your weapon, so stop thinking "weapon" right now. Instead think "wand". Now, look for +skills for this slot. Clubs, Spiked Clubs, and their exceptional/elite counterparts can have +Druid skills, including +3 Elemental. Gambling is the best way to acquire one of these, and the prices are reasonable in doing so due to the low base item. If you're lucky, you could get your hands on an Islestrike unique Twin Axe, which gives +2 to all Druid skills.
Secondary Weapon: Hmm..... you have your skills, and have augmented them with some +skills modifiers on items. How could you further increase the amount of hurt you're putting on the Prime Evils' minions? Time to get in touch with your inner Necromancer and use a wand. Shop the wand dealers often and eventually you'll find a wand with charges of Lower Resist. In the middle of battle, switch to secondary, cast LR, and go back to your primary setup. Enemies don't stand a chance. Staves can also have charges of Lower Resist, but would mean the lack of a shield while casting. I prefer to have resists on that backup shield, just in case.
Shield: Again, resists are important, but skills can factor in as well. There are MANY more options here. A rune word shield of either The Ancients' Pledge (RalOrtTal, lends resistances in the 40's as well as some enhanced defense) or Rhyme (ShaeEth, 25% resist all, +25% Magic Find, mana regen, increased blocking, Cannot be Frozen) make wonderful choices and are relatively easy to acquire, with the most rare component being the Shae rune. In the field of +skills, there are two major options. You can either find a Sigon's Guard or craft a Druid shield (magical Large Shield, Eld, Ral, Jewel, and a junk item). A Druid shield can get +1 Druid skills, will always have an increased chance of blocking as well as a -requirements mod, and may receive random mods such as resistances or damage reduction, to name a few. On top of that it can be socketed to lend extra resists if you wish, or anything a gem/jewel/rune adds, for that matter. It's the power-setup shield of choice.
Gloves: I see a trend forming. Again, resists and whatever other mods you feel you need. One noteworthy unique would be a pair of Magefists. The +Fire Skills mod will in fact add to the Druid's Fire skills in his Elemental Tree.
Belt: Don't accept anything lower than a Plated Belt in the long run, since you'll want the 4 rows of potions (with a few unique exceptions such as Lenymo for mana regen or Nightsmoke for the 10% to all resists, if you value their mods over the extra storage space). After that you'll want resists and +life, since you can get almost 100 hp from a belt no problem. Beyond this, keep your eyes open. There are quite a few new set/unique belts that will make a good choice for an Elemental Druid.
Boots: Again, nothing specific here. Look for resists and enhanced run/walk speed. Crafting a pair of caster boots may make a good option. Caster boots (magical Boots, Eld, Jewel, Perfect Amethyst) or Elite Caster boots (magical Wyrmhide Boots, Sol, Jewel, Perfect Amethyst) will add a % to your maximum mana as well as adding regen. A pair of crafted Druid boots (magical Boots, Eld, Ort, Jewel, and a junk item) can also prove valuable, since they're guaranteed a small amount of Lightning Absorption. With the common appearance of LEB's in your journey, this can be very helpful.
Jewelry: Amulets follow the same rules as Circlets, so keep an eye out for a Gaean Amulet. Rings have all the options in the world, including crafted Caster rings (magical ring, Ral, perfect Amethyst, Jewel), crafted Safety rings (magical ring, Ral, Perfect Amethyst, Jewel), and Rares with resists or other helpful mods. Other valuable assets are +skills rings such as the Stone of Jordan or Bul Kathos' Wedding Band.
Charms: Again, this is an area where the options go on seemingly forever. Notable charms to look for are Natural (+1 Elemental Skills, only available on Grand Charms), those with increased run/walk speed, faster hit recovery, life, or resistances. You'd best be careful, though. Once you start collecting charms, you may find you have little to no room left in your inventory to pick up items. And charm addiction is hard to overcome.
+Skills Bonuses: Throwing it all together, you can have the following +skills if you wish (and if you're actually able to gather all the items I've listed):
+3 Elemental Skills from Gaean Amulet +3 Elemental Skills from Gaean Circlet +3 Elemental Skills from Gaean Club +1 All Skills from Unique Ring +1 All Skills from Unique Ring +1 All Skills from Sigon's Guard or crafted Druid Shield +2 All Skills from Arkaine's Valor +10 Elemental Skills from 10 Natural Grand Charms = +24 to all your Cold Elemental Skills
+1 Fire Skills from Magefists = +25 to all your Fire Elemental Skills
This means it's possible (although highly improbable) to have level 44 Hurricane and Level 45 Armageddon. That's two elements maxed, with only 48 skill points used total (considering only one point in each prereq) to get the two to a base level of 20 each. It's far from practical to keep your inventory completely filled with charms, but this makes for quite a demonstration of how powerful you could make him. The Druid has Elemental Skills of Fire, Cold, and physical damage. This means that +skills to this single tree will increase his myriad forms of attack. There are simply not any enemies he'll be ineffective against.
Sure, these are ideal strategies. These are ideal examples of gear. But when an Elemental Druid begins he has nothing to his name except for his Buckler, Club, a couple scrolls and some minor health potions. Your strategy will definitely change as you progress.
In the early game, an Elemental Druid is definitely a weaker build. Your starting weapons will be Firestorm and Poison Creeper, which don't exactly strike terror into the hearts of your enemies. Players of a Sorceress will be used to the weaker early levels of their character, but this can be a change for those that are used to melee. For this reason, you may end up spending a good half of that first Act whacking enemies with a melee weapon. Mana will be in short supply at this point, and any items with +mana per kill will make a world of difference.
Through Act 2 you'll find yourself engaging in melee combat now and then, whether it be due to your mana supply running low or if spells' damage just not cutting it. Keep hope alive. It will get easier. You could always put more than the prereq point into the skills you're using, but keep in mind that this means one less point that will be devoted to more powerful skills later.
The toughest time will most likely be that when you're reaching the later areas of Normal Difficulty, yet haven't hit level 30 yet. Level 30 is the breaking point. Your progress will pick up unbelievably after that. Those two level 30 skills will be your workhorses for the rest of your career. Now you need to go from there.
I'd suggest that Armageddon be the first thing you pump if you've chosen to use Arctic Blast, Twister, or Tornado as a rapid-fire skill. This will give you two forms of damage with which you may attack. Once Armageddon has been raised significantly, you may move on to pumping Hurricane as well. You will not encounter any crippling immunities until you've had a chance to devote points to each, meaning you'll be ready for whatever is thrown your way.
Finally, you must know that all this wisdom means zilch if your character can't live and grow. Allocation of attribute points can make or break your character's growth. There's a degree of customization here as well, but there are some guidelines to be considered.
Strength: This attribute asks only as much as you need to wear the equipment you wish. 77 is the strength requirement for a Dusk Shroud (elite Quilted Armor), which is the highest defense you can get for such low strength. If you're planning on some +skills armor, the heaviest (requirement-wise) in the game is Arkaine's Valor, with a requirement of 165 strength. If you socket a Hel rune (-15% reqs) that'll mean 141 Strength is needed. Personally, I prefer to have 100 points as the base for my Strength. Why is that? A Druid looks great in Ancient Armor. Who says there are no points for style?
Dexterity: I'd advise against placing ANY points here. All it will do is increase your blocking percentage. "But wait, isn't that good?" I'd say no. When you're in the middle of a horde of enemies, the last thing you need is the blocking animation preventing you from making a move to escape if you need to.
However, If you're part of the camp that advocates blocking enhancement through dexterity, keep an eye on your %chance to block while playing and add however much you deem fit. It's true that blocking can shelter you from the blows of your assailants.
Energy: An Elemental Druid is very mana-efficient, due to the timers on the majority of his skills and the fact that many of their casting costs do not increase as you add skill points. However if you plan on casting Arctic Blast, Twister, or Tornado, I'd suggest some investment here. Solar Creeper can only help you maintain your blue orb to a point. Best advice I could give is to use common sense. If you feel you need more mana, invest more points in Energy. 150 Energy is more than enough. Without spamming the three skills I've just mentioned, you could get by with 100 just as well.
Vitality: This is where the bulk of your points will go, and in the late game you'll find it being the only recipient of attribute points. You should be strong in Vitality throughout the life of your Druid. It only makes sense that the more hit points you have, the more punishment you can take. And the more punishment you can take, the more damage you can dish out before having to retreat.
With the addition of a Vine, Spirit, Mercenary, and the right strategies and tactics, an Elemental Druid CAN in fact be successful. "But what does successful mean?" If you're wondering if he's viable for Normal and Hell, he definitely is. If you're wondering if such a Druid can solo eight player games in Hell Difficulty...he can. If you're wondering if such a Druid can solo the game and still be successful without backup from other players...he can. If you're asking if he can break dance on Baal's head while juggling seven Full Rejuvenation potions...I'm working on it. Give me a few more levels. * Smiles *
See you in Town, -Z
Special Thanks:
Bolty and MavFin for the existence on the Lurker Lounge and for hosting this Guide, Addiction, BigGrim, Dagnirauko, Elric of Grans, Grendel, HorrorStrike, Licid, LifeBringer, Maxeil, Phenom, Rand'al, Shlonglor, Sirian, Sir_Die_Alot, Skandranon, SpiderDrake, whyBish, Zerbot, Zoid, And everyone else with whom I've played my Elemental Druid in either the LOD beta or retail version, talked strategy, shared items, or from whom I've gained inspiration for any segments of this Guide. Your contributions have been invaluable.
Suggested Reading:
The Arreat Summit's Druid Page by Shlonglor The Inferno Sorceress Guide by Faragon MalabarMan's Guide to the Blitzkrieg Elementalist by MalabarMan
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"No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse."