Vanguard Druid Review : Lightening in a Bottle (er…paper cup)

Posted by Draedus in Vanguard News, Vanguard Guides

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In my effort to try out all the classes again post release/patch changes I rolled a Half Elf Druid (played him up to level 10) when my wife tried out a new Kojani Bard (< <...meh )

My first impression was - “Wow, I stomp mobs before they ever touch me”, my Second impression was “a mob touched me and I crumbled into a million pieces”

I’d gotten used to playing Melee & Tank classes who can take a few hits. Turns out newb casters cannot. I’m sure that after a while with some decent gear you can take a few hits, but early on it seems casters are paper missle launchers - delivering heavy firepower, but quickly going down in a blaze of glory.

Then I got in the caster groove and started to kite (you’ve GOTTA love Vanguards ‘cast and walk at the same time’ situation) thats the ticket - once you start to kite a bit, you’re unstoppable.

By level 10 you have a decent root/DOT, a DOT, a timed cast direct damage, an instant direct damage, a DPS/Aggro ‘pet’, a weak HOT and a decent insta heal

I saved my pennies from quests and mob trash until I got to Tanvu and hit the Exchange Broker where I spent 4 silver on some decent cloth gear (nothing fancy). On my main, I crafted 2 basic low level focus items for my alt Druid (Usually available for 1-5s each at the exchange broker) these made a decent difference.

At this point I can pull and crush any near level 2 dot mob with-out ever getting touched. I can chain pull (pull1 kill1 > pull1 kill1) 4-5 single mobs or a couple sets of 2 pull mobs before I run low on mana. Some ‘energy’ gear would help tremendously, but I wasn’t prepared to twink this alt just yet.

If you’re coming to VG from WoW, you’re sure to notice the distinctly different focus of the Druid class - while you can heal a bit, your primary role (unlike a WoW Druid) is pouring on DPS

Druid Healing
HOT - The first heal you get is a pretty weak HOT (heal over time), and not much help if you’re already struggling in a fight - it heals about 12-20 HP every 2-3 seconds (guess) so generally it won’t save you if you’re already below half health against a decent melee combatant. It is however a great post combat heal getting you back in battle ready by the time you find another mob to pull.
Insta-cast Heal - The second heal is decent insta-cast hitting you up with 150-200+ HP - enough to save you from doom in a pinch, or to back up a tank partner (or a Bard who thinks she’s a tank), but it’s not going to make you main Tank Healer in a raid. (leave that to the heal Spec Rangers

Druid CC
By level 10 you have some decent soloing CC - a DOT/root, a solid/slow root, and an aggro/damage dealing pet of sorts. The pet is really more of a quick cast DOT that keeps a bit of aggro and does a bit of damage nice for those 2 pulls against melee mobs that otherwise interupt casting. The DOT root you get early on is decent and allows for a nice long 2nd cast before you start getting interupted by melee attacks - it gets the mob with-in looting distance just before you unleash the insta-cast beam o’ death

Druid DPS
At level 10 I’m doing some decent DPS, but then again I’m double fisting 2 focus items now -
Grouping - be careful about over aggroing in a group, make sure the tank has suffecient aggro then unleash the elements & burn ‘em down
Soloing - I have a developed a decent little system for combat that generally keeps me unscathed. I open just inside casting range with the long cast DOT, followed immediately by the short cast root/DOT which generally holds long enough for me to lay down at least one lighting strike (sometimes 2) before the mob is released (very angry at me) just in time for me to pierce him head to toe by a beam. Again, generally a same level 2dot mob (or even 1-2 higher) is dead before making it to me, falling politely at my feet to be looted and or skinned.

Kiting - Solo Casters Best Friend
For heavy hitters (guys who interupt long casts) or most 3 dots I prefer to kite them since it generally takes a few extra casts to lay them out. Again for former WoW casters you’ve GOT to love the cast AND move system of Vanguard - you movement is slowed, but you don’t stop casting. I find myselfs constantly moving as a caster, staying engaged with my surroundings and always looking out for mobs I might otherwise aggro. With a Root that also slows attacker movement speed for a time you can generally kite mobs for quite a while before they make it with-in reach. If you run low on health and mana early on re-rooting & kiting is generally more effective than your HOT. with decent armor at higher levels this may not be the case.

Again, as always, this is only a look at my experience with a Druid up to level 10. Generally the classes really srtart to shine post level 10, so tell us about your Druid, or Druids you’ve grouped with. Strengths weaknesses etc

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