Runes of Magic US / AU

I'm going to say as probably the only one dumb enough to have both p/r and d/r, that I've solo'd many many bosses on my main priest, therefore the d/r should have the same potential, but actually be slightly harder to do it with - lacking a holy aura, and the heal is slower. But referring to the energy pool spells instead of mana pool spells, I can think of one boss that my priest had major problems with, HoDL Yash, where a geared d/r should be able to get through...

You won't use PWE ever. The damage becomes horrible compared to Earth Arrow, and energy takes too long to refill once depleted. I've never had mana issues though. We have like two wisdom buffs.

It's really not a question of "Is this class a good solo character?" It's more, "Is my wallet ready to make a good solo character?" There's videos of like every class soloing bosses. The difference between you and them is the money.

Besides, /k classes have a lot easier time soloing than non /k classes.

And, if you're wanting to 1v1 PVP, heals won't really save you in this game. The lack of any sort of PVP stun or debuff in that way really hurts Druids. ROM PVP is over in like three seconds, or one if you're up against a scout.

But again, PVP is really just a gear show off as well...

Just play what you like. If the class appeals to you, then do work son.

Although I will ask how a D/R's heal is slower compared to the P/R? We have a 4 sec or so CD on an instant cast GH, a Recover which ticks HoTs, and Regenerate. All those running should really at least close in on a P/R's single-target HPS.

Poetical is correct, you never use PWE, the damage boost from the earth knowledge makes Earth Arrow hit much higher, even with Shadow Contract on. I just think two dots *might* make the difference in that particular fight vs Yash because every add-round I had to kite, p/r was using bone chill and the shitty Infectious wound (energy cost, instant shitty damage - too long cd).

p/r Urgent heal with a clear thought is .7 seconds, coupled with Healing Salve and Regen running at all times. d/r can keep up Curing Seed - 30 seconds means one more cast - Blossoming, and Recover also ticks hot - takes almost the full 2 seconds to cast. MNF while an instant, is limited by NP.

Perhaps I'm a bad druid, but so far, I've been finding a lot of problems with MNF being limited by NP. d/r will want to use MNWrath dot, which reduces NP to low. I'm sure a good druid can easily work their way around this for specifically timed uses, but it'll still mean ~2 sec cast for Recover/Restore Life when MNF is not available.

Mainly, I think it takes a solid heal rotation to solo with druid. Whereas any "oh ****" moment, a priest can pop soul source or holy aura, and in p/r's case can even spam Urgent - which is how I solo'd WA first , druid has got MNF every 5 seconds.

Another thought, p/r's Rising Tide is down to 1.5sec, d/r will still be casting near 2sec.

p/r elites are much better for pvp. Though both classes will have trouble vs casters.

That being said I found d/r lots of fun leveling up with the two instant dots. I felt that's what p/r should've had. The MNF while not super overpowered Group Heal, is certainly a very interesting and handy instant heal.

P.S. While cast times are faster with p/r it is supposed to be affected by the heal formula, therefore will also be healing slightly less than other priests with exact same statting. Same would go for Rising Tide casting.

xD What the hell... if I wasn't correct I wouldn't have stated it in my post.

Anyway dude, seriously just play what you like. A bunch of people have been posting negative feedback on D/R in the druid feed back thread, myself included, about some of the elites, like Shadow Contract. Hopefully the devs will listen and change it around a bit so that there's actually a reason to play D/R.

Because really, what's separating D/R between the other Druid classes right now is just broken, it-looks-good-but-sucks-in-the-field elites.

So don't let things you read or postings about dumb D/R elites get you down. Maybe eventually there'll be a reason to cast PWE or have Shadow Contract up.

If you like DOTs and healing or whatever, keep your D/R and may the future be fruitful. If not, find another class and be fruitful there.

Again, solo potential really is all in the gear pretty much... So yes, the solo potential is definitely there for a D/R, but same can be said for at least MOST of the other class combinations.

Quoted from "CallTheAngels;407545"

Because really, what's separating D/R between the other Druid classes right now is just broken, it-looks-good-but-sucks-in-the-field elites.

I think d/r is supposed to be a dps class. It is the only druid that lacks a second groupheal, and the only druid that gets a boost to some element damage (not that it boosts much).

Quoted from "CallTheAngels;407545"

Again, solo potential really is all in the gear pretty much...

Without a burn, you need a self-healing class that has decent dps to solo boss content. Some combos are more feasible than others.

yeah D/R is supposed to be a DPS class. hence i even went damage specced. But what's increasing a D/R's DPS right now over the other Druid classes? Not much, due to most of our elites being kind of useless. DOTs in this game are terrible and really pretty negligible. You should never have Shadow Contract on... so we're down to like Speed Catalysis which is okay, Magic Turmoil which is ehh... and Dark Moon which is also ehhh...

And this guy can't even utilize Dark Moon.

So really, a damage-specced Druid/Anything can hit pretty much the same DPS a D/R can right now. Classes like D/M and maybe D/Wd could even match it possibly.

And I see -plenty- of videos that are not healer or healer secondaries that solo bosses. It all depends on how much money you put into the game. You may have an easier time with a healing class, but using any other combination to solo bosses is not impossible in the least.

If you, OP, want proof, head to the Videos subforum and really just.. look at the first few topics. I see Paz soloing Blackstar as a M/K, then some R/K soloed Temple.. etc etc.

And the guy who soloed Temple is supposedly F2P.

And really, D/R right now has one of the lower soloing potentials for Druid classes. Other combinations offer much better elites for a soloer. Hopefully D/R will be reworked a bit, and this won't hold true when the patch comes out.

Quoted from "CallTheAngels;407601"

yeah D/R is supposed to be a DPS class. hence i even went damage specced. But what's increasing a D/R's DPS right now over the other Druid classes? Not much, due to most of our elites being kind of useless. DOTs in this game are terrible and really pretty negligible. You should never have Shadow Contract on... so we're down to like Speed Catalysis which is okay, Magic Turmoil which is ehh... and Dark Moon which is also ehhh...

And this guy can't even utilize Dark Moon.

So really, a damage-specced Druid/Anything can hit pretty much the same DPS a D/R can right now. Classes like D/M and maybe D/Wd could even match it possibly.

And I see -plenty- of videos that are not healer or healer secondaries that solo bosses. It all depends on how much money you put into the game. You may have an easier time with a healing class, but using any other combination to solo bosses is not impossible in the least.

If you, OP, want proof, head to the Videos subforum and really just.. look at the first few topics. I see Paz soloing Blackstar as a M/K, then some R/K soloed Temple.. etc etc.

And the guy who soloed Temple is supposedly F2P.

And really, D/R right now has one of the lower soloing potentials for Druid classes. Other combinations offer much better elites for a soloer. Hopefully D/R will be reworked a bit, and this won't hold true when the patch comes out.

any druid has at least a good solo potential ... with some patience however most of their shortcomings are visible during group play. that's where the mad imbalance of the game becomes the most visible... however whatever you consider 'good' or 'bad' while they may or may not end up as terrible compared to others, even if you play the most horrible of all: any character is playable in this game as long as you enjoy it.

Having said that: i kinda deliberately play a 'broken' character, even amongst other druids because at least it gives me a gaming feeling.
instead of playing a no brain superpimped character if i make a mistake with my f2p d/r at least it does matter for my or someone else's survival and therefore i feel like i'm effectively playing.

so yes i do use the broken shadow contract and poisonous widow embrace combination just to get that feeling ... nevertheless i know it's effectively broken because almost any druid uses earth arrow and knowledge of the earth which gives them more damage while suffering from no healing penalty whatsoever. so i could do the same, it's just i don't because i like some more tension in my gameplay.
having said that you can hardly use pwe/ea during group play anyway because it's pointless when those instant damage skills from others hit on anything except bosses so you're not going to recharge nature points like the developers intended ... what a mistake did they make...

however you said it: horrible vs good skills and terrible game mechanics aside to a large extend dps and whatever your character can achieve is just a measure how much cash shop items you can use in the game, especially on the 'broken' characters... however not for all of them.

you see d/r shares one aspect with all druids but in an enhanced version: debuffs and for them these are not crippled like for the other druids because seeds do not require nature points once you have the elite so these become a main trait, there's speed catalysis also besides the usual stuff and these things are not gear dependent whatsoever.

so even as crappy geared f2p player not only can I solo quite a lot where some other characters need a lot more gear to do the same, I'm also always kinda usefull just by using seeds and speed catalysis if i'm not suddenly pushed into an 'emergency main healer' kind of role because something went horribly wrong in the group... if need be i can do that, sometimes even with shadow contract on but if i wanted a pure healer i'd have picked something else and if it was for healing a whole group it would not have been a druid but a priest because druids are not really suited to fight against massive aoe's aimed against whole groups of players.

anyway playing a druid, even the perhaps intended damage druid d/r i'm never going to score high on the scrutinizer lists, my dps looks basically pathetic when i watch that stuff but i let the other players score higher in dps ... i heard the nickname 'void' druid once, probably used in some astronomical or star trek reference but i do like the surrealism in that name because that's what i'm doing: playing a so-called 'vacuum/empty' character but one with the potential to make the others even look better when i play it right. :p

First off Mena, D/R isn't as broken as you make it out to be. If you want to play a real broken character, switch over to R/D or play D/W.

I'm not sure where you're going with the use of broken skills or how that pertains to the OP.

Yes, D/R does have the elite that gets rid of NP requirement for the debuffs. But I'm failing to see how that dictates that D/R is a much better soloer than the other Druids.

For instance:
D/S has really nice HOTs as well as MP recovery. As you know, HOTs allow for more castings of Earth Arrow before you have to cast another Recover or Restore Life. They also get another 5 NP, which as you also know, would be awesome.

D/M gets a group HOT, which is just another HOT in a soloers arsenal, and also gets a nice buff with Inspiration and Holy Fury.

D/Wd allows for a chance to get a NP out of Recover, and prolongs the effect of Recover. Also a magic damage boost and a healing buff, etc...

Really I can go on about any combination in the game.

I'm not bashing on D/R, I love the combination. It's just that I really don't see how this Druid combination is that much better than most other classes in terms of soloing. Hence I tell the OP to play which ever class he or she wants, become good at it, and soloing will come naturally. with some money. or in game grinding for gold.

Edit: To further cement the OP's question of using the energy-using elites as an alternative to Earth Arrow in combination with healing to solo, no. It's not possible, due to the low damage output, meaningless Shadow Contract, and low energy recovery.

Quoted from "CallTheAngels;408317"

First off Mena, D/R isn't as broken as you make it out to be. If you want to play a real broken character, switch over to R/D or play D/W.

I'm not sure where you're going with the use of broken skills or how that pertains to the OP.

Yes, D/R does have the elite that gets rid of NP requirement for the debuffs. But I'm failing to see how that dictates that D/R is a much better soloer than the other Druids.

For instance:
D/S has really nice HOTs as well as MP recovery. As you know, HOTs allow for more castings of Earth Arrow before you have to cast another Recover or Restore Life. They also get another 5 NP, which as you also know, would be awesome.

D/M gets a group HOT, which is just another HOT in a soloers arsenal, and also gets a nice buff with Inspiration and Holy Fury.

D/Wd allows for a chance to get a NP out of Recover, and prolongs the effect of Recover. Also a magic damage boost and a healing buff, etc...

Really I can go on about any combination in the game.

I'm not bashing on D/R, I love the combination. It's just that I really don't see how this Druid combination is that much better than most other classes in terms of soloing. Hence I tell the OP to play which ever class he or she wants, become good at it, and soloing will come naturally. with some money. or in game grinding for gold.

Edit: To further cement the OP's question of using the energy-using elites as an alternative to Earth Arrow in combination with healing to solo, no. It's not possible, due to the low damage output, meaningless Shadow Contract, and low energy recovery.

d/r is broken in the way that it's actually the opposite kind of druid than was intended: use the elite pwe and you do less damage than the spell every druid has... i'd say that's broken, druids who need a set skill from items to function at an appropriate level .. i'd also call that broken ... which is something else than unplayable.

but anyway i just got carried away and was already off topic. i've not said d/r was a better soloer than the other druids, it's worse actually than the others because you 'only' have 4 kinds of healing to combine, sounds terrible, doesn't it? .

actually it all depends on your gear what you can try to solo however i'm not afraid to use a shield an wand when needed for example and i'd say i can solo just fine with it compared to many other characters. for every 'solo' character there's a multitude of other characters which are worse off but players tend to forget that.

not only does d/r have enough healing, the increased dodge rate also helps and if you switch between mana consuming and energy skill you'd notice that you hardly run out of any one of them.
i have not bothered to try the suicide stuff because i'm just not rich enough in game to have the top gear however the main problem i usually face: bosses who time out before i can finish them off. i'd say that proves the solo capability anyway, i'm just lacking a few 10thousands of health, MA and about 3-4 times the magic damage i currently have to make one of those imo pretty useless you tube movies to prove that i've spend enough cash to solo in a game which is actually meant for group play ... i'd say it's even more fail if you try it with a character who can't heal itself because you mainly prove you can swallow pots then

I'm kind of disappointed that everyone claims that soloing all depends on your gear. Burn vids where they have to do enough dps before they die of course this is true, but others, such as battlemonk soloing - yes they generally have two sets of gear, but do they both have to be great? no.

The first time I solo'd Talomo on my lv 55 r/p umm 10k patk (don't remember exactly) t7 copy soul, took almost 20 minutes. I think you can tell by those numbers that is pretty lousily geared, and hence the longer fight. But it takes strategy and some player skill to actually keep that kind of play up, and the stubbornness to keep trying, and willingness/ambition to want to do so.

Anyone who knows how to effectively use their class for what it's capable of can solo, and you don't need to be spending thousands to overgear to do it. I think I explained enough that d/r should have the same soloing potential that I had as my priest, but lack holy aura, which really isn't that bad of a loss in terms of soloing bosses.

Tsundae, for back when TT was one of the end-game instances, that was pretty insane gear. o_O But Talomo is a different kind of boss in that it's not tank and spank. On bosses that actually do a lot of white damage, if you're missing on defense, you're going to hurt.

And I don't think a similarly geared P/R, geared at the level your R/P was, could actually get to Talomo himself. You'd need hide to get past the multitudes of mobs, as you did. So really, R/P > P/R solo potential in your example? You'll always have to get through some trash!

I can't believe you're downplaying the effect that great gear has on soloing. You definitely need very good gear to solo anything your level. Unless of course you're talking about soloing that doesn't matter, like HOTO at level 62.

Sure some skill helps. But.. not that much in this game haha.

Sure the D/R has the same soloing potential as your P/R. But that, in my honest opinion and out of experience with other class combinations, can be said for a lot of different classes. Sure, if you're not using Phirius Pots, you would have a little easier time soloing on a healer class, but SURELY NOT if you're not geared enough with enough defense and HP to be able to tank the hits a boss gives. Your damage taken /sec needs to be decently lower than your HPS on yourself so that you can still cast out Earth Arrows and whatever else. You can't just be sitting there healing yourself. that is where the good gear shines.

So play the class combo that you like the most, OP. That's all I'm saying. No matter the combination, if you put enough work into mastering your class, you will be able to solo as well.

I still stick firmly that anyone who desires to solo on any class can do so. I've seen it, witnessed it, and did it myself. Every class has it's strengths and weaknesses. Learn to exploit them, and you're good to go.

But I'm done posting on this subject. I've clearly made my point, I think I have enough evidence, and the OP can make the decision from there. On the lack of comments by the OP, I don't even think he reads this anymore. I'm not here to argue with some other kids, I'm just here to help the OP.

OP, the D/R is a marvelous class that will hopefully see brighter days in the future. If you gear up, you will definitely have nice soloing capabilities, but the same can be said for many other classes, so if the playstyle of your D/R thus far hasn't appealed to you, don't be afraid to stray. With enough hard work and dedication, you can solo on most classes pretty easily.

Erm, I don't know why you have to talk specifically about the Talomo fight. And anyway this is a d/r talk, so the r/d can do it

Soloing Talomo or any lower instances that don't matter are still reasonably good ways to get mementos or gold for those who don't want to bother with a party or TH events.

Not arguing with you on boss minimums. Another example, HoS Andriol hits for 18k static, you *do* need to break hp over that, and pdef enough to not be dead in his whitestrikes, to be able to have an attempt to solo it.

Hi guys...

Before anything, let me state that I have very bad equipment. Only stuff I get from quests and maybe some occasional drops.

This said, I am currently D35/R27 and I just recently hit a major wall. Before level 32, I would "Briar Entwinement" and "Corrosive Poison" on every mobs I would see and they would pretty much be done after the 12 seconds.

That allowed me to do amazing "AoE" killing as I walked through monster camps putting my two instant cast dots on everything. It was amazing.

Now, since the last section of Dragonfang Ridge, my two Dots barely get mobs to 1/2 their HPs.

Is this a trend I can only see get worst? Will Shadow Contract make a big difference on my damage capacity?

In addition, how is D/R healing in instance?


Thanks for the wisdom sharing!

__________________________
Atlanach (D/R) - Reni Server

Well first off let me say, i tmight be they updated a few things since these guys used theirs last but my d/r;r/d is nothing but pwnage against anything I put it up against. Even a good portion of pvp (not siege, thats not real pvp, just a bunch of monkeys trying to prove who has the bigger...well you get the idea). It does however, require a good bit of thinking outside the box. I'm assuming that by now you are well past DFR, and yeah the farther you get you might notice the dots doing less "pwn" and more "/catchbreath" but thats really due to raised defenses of the mobs, so when you notice that there's a few things you can do, and I understand the ridicule this will get me, but I'm in AV right now and it has held true since I left Ystra: keep your dots high as you can, keep your earth and dark boost buffs high, keep rockslide high-->that is one of your key burst dps skills and will eat chunks out of health. Personally I don't put too many points into earth arrow, contrary to popular opinion. I keep it to a level that feels good with me when I use it (which is rarely) and I keep widow on a similar scale. Wisdom as always is maxed each level, then comes the out of the box thinking: I melee some too. Until I hit about 50 I did single hand w/shield hammers. I would T5 or T6 them but still squeeze on some good wisdom and intel. The shield was mostly stam, intel wisdom of course. Once i hit 50 I used some hammers I found that wouldn allow dual wield, and if you read some threads you will find the mdmg does not get reduced in offhand, the two combined were almost as good as a T5 staff (make sure they're OD) and I loaded most of my rune slots with intel. When you dot everything you want to dot, switch to melee and alternate with rockslide and maintaining dots. Shadowstab does some respectable dps if your weapon is good enough and oyu have kept it high on rogue side. Save the range spells for groups or as lead attacks. You always have the option to just move back and range if you get in over your head, or throw a spirit guidance and let them help you out (debatable, that skill works about 7% of the time properly). All that being said, I have tried and proven it so far. Can you solo bosses that way? Not a chance, not the big ones that matter, but you can do pretty much anything else. I see you're on Reni, I moved to Govinda, but I still have toons rotting in Reni so if you got questions I'll PM you with my IGn so you can contact me. I check on them every few days or so. Hang in there, it just takes an unusual way of playing to squeeze the most out of this combo. If you want r/d tips too let me know. I was soloing NoM with that combo at 40, all bosses. Got a few d/wd tips, but still learning that one. Oh almost forgot, party healing as a d/r...yeah not really. Support heal to make sure the priest or other druids stay alive maybe, but thats about as far as it goes really.