Druid needs to be changed.

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Maikky.8526

Maikky.8526

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

(edited by Maikky.8526)

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Posted by: TJgalon.5012

TJgalon.5012

So, how did it play. In use between solo and team battle, did you feel like you were not doing well, or swapping weapon to say your bow or sword? I just wondering if maybe you picked the wrong traits?

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Posted by: Maikky.8526

Maikky.8526

So, how did it play. In use between solo and team battle, did you feel like you were not doing well, or swapping weapon to say your bow or sword? I just wondering if maybe you picked the wrong traits?

“Wrong Traits”

You are LOCKED into Lived Viciously and Natural Mender when you pick Druid, if these were optional traits then there would be no problem .

There no option to just pick these traits if I wanted to do group content vs. solo content, when you pick Druid being in a group or around other players is needed or else these two traits are pointless .

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Posted by: Walkure.9056

Walkure.9056

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

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Posted by: Maikky.8526

Maikky.8526

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

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Posted by: TJgalon.5012

TJgalon.5012

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

Also, anything could change in the next 3 weeks. Friday is beta, which mean we can try Druid, which I will, I am excited to try it and raids, Are feedback could have an effect of Druid and such. Druid seem like they can pull off come good synergy in theory but we wont know till we can play around with it. Automatically declaring it useless or needs to be change before trying is jumping the gun I think.

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Posted by: LanfearShadowflame.3189

LanfearShadowflame.3189

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

It was specifically stated on the stream that your pet is counted as an ally.

Don’t look at me like that. Whatever you’ve heard, it’s probably not true.

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Posted by: Susanoo.2586

Susanoo.2586

Ok for starters, A lot of people are looking forward to this new style for druid, it could possibly give us a definite spot in high end PvE/Raiding/WvW, it was stated from the start this elite spec was support focused hense the minor traits mentioned. Nobody is forcing you to take druid, Yes don’t get me wrong it does suck that some people may not even use their elite specs because it doesn’t suit their playstyle but that can’t be helped, Arenanet cannot cater to every single aspect of the community with just this Expansion.

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Posted by: Vayne.8563

Vayne.8563

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

Allies include everyone on your side, even yourself. It always has meant that in this game. Yes, your pet gets benefit from that too.

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Posted by: Iason Evan.3806

Iason Evan.3806

A good question is how many things from the million page Ranger thread actually made their way onto this elite spec?

Leader of The Guernsey Milking Coalition [MiLk] Sanctum of Rall

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Posted by: Ardid.7203

Ardid.7203

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

Allies include everyone on your side, even yourself. It always has meant that in this game. Yes, your pet gets benefit from that too.

Why Fumigate don’t cleanse condis on my Engie then?

“Only problem with the Engineer is
that it makes every other class in the game boring to play.”
Hawks

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Posted by: shav elven.3891

shav elven.3891

Seems to me they got dragon hunter and druid on wrong classes. switch em.

Have fun and Be safe.

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Posted by: Tyaen.5148

Tyaen.5148

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

I’m pretty sure “allies” include your pet (and yourself) as well just like all other professions on gw2.

If it does, my mistake, when it says a allies one assumes other players .

Allies include everyone on your side, even yourself. It always has meant that in this game. Yes, your pet gets benefit from that too.

Why Fumigate don’t cleanse condis on my Engie then?

Because you can’t stand in the field being sprayed. If you could it would affect you.

Tyyaen – Engineer (80) [SS]
http://camelotunchained.com/v3/

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Posted by: Random.4691

Random.4691

No thanks, how’s about we wait for testing to start ?

On paper, I’m happy with what they have done.

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Posted by: DresdenAllblack.1249

DresdenAllblack.1249

So don’t go Druid when you’re solo. Half of us will not be playing the elites or rolling Revenant anyways.

Angelina is free game again.
Crystal Desert

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Posted by: Palador.2170

Palador.2170

A good question is how many things from the million page Ranger thread actually made their way onto this elite spec?

I think the name “Ranger” made…. oops. Nope. Not even that.

Sarcasm, delivered with a
delicate, brick-like subtlety.

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Posted by: Tongku.5326

Tongku.5326

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

Dude …. you are seriously having a spasm over nothing. It is 1 trait line which you may or may not opt to use for any given situation.

Just look at guardians, you’re complaining about 30-40% of a single trait line being group oriented ? Guards have 30-40% of all their traits group oriented, in fact, many traits even barely function on the guardians themselves unless they use them on group / team mates, and they’re fine. They do great both in solo and group content.

In addition, unlike guards, you have the option of picking this up and going full selfish offense or utility on your other trait lines, you can ditch stuff such as pet dependant condi cleanse etc. That alone makes this freagin ubber and is huge improvement, then throw everything else it provides on top of that.

Running druid will surpass guards by far, maybe not in pure functionality at given encounters for specific stuff, but definitely in flexibility because of what I pointed out above.

Heavy Deedz – COSA – SF

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Posted by: Ariane Barnes.6483

Ariane Barnes.6483

Was testing the Druid in Beta, some first impressions:

I’m not a fan of the two step process skills like targeted skills. I will use them, but not as often as I will auto target skills.

That being said, I am not a fan of the Druid. First of all, 3 of the ranger staff skills are targeted skills. That’s at least two too many. Second of all, the “celestial avatar” that reverses you from killer to healer only stays up for a short time making the use of most celestial skills a 3 step process (press f5, then target, then fire)

Sublime Conversion, skill 5 on the staff is completely useless when not in sPvP. I have played enough of this game to know there is little use for a healing shield in PvE or WvW. Making it a targeted skill makes it even worse. I’d recommend swapping staff skill 5 and “Glyph of Tides”, so skill 5 becomes a decent AoE.

Speaking of AoE, Vine Surge (staff skill 4) needs some work, too. Again it is ground targeted, but it really shouldn’t be. It would be more useful if it were targeted on a enemy/friend or pet, and then it should travel 1200 feet in that direction or until it hits an obstacle.

Ancestral Grace is also ground targeted, but like other skills of its type (Jump shot, Blink, Shadowstep) it is very useful that way.

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Posted by: Spurnshadow.3678

Spurnshadow.3678

Healing, buffs, and cleanses always favor players over pets. Your pet will only receive the benefit if there are 4 players around you. If there are 5, then your pet gets nothing. Party members > nearby players > pets.

Blackgate Native. It takes tremendous strength and skill to pull a lever.

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Posted by: Mr Pin.6728

Mr Pin.6728

With 3 weeks until live druid is not going to change. At best you can expect some small numbers tweaks. But hey, that’s what happens when you wait until the last second to get player feedback.

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Posted by: MashMash.1645

MashMash.1645

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

Dude …. you are seriously having a spasm over nothing. It is 1 trait line which you may or may not opt to use for any given situation.

Just look at guardians, you’re complaining about 30-40% of a single trait line being group oriented ? Guards have 30-40% of all their traits group oriented, in fact, many traits even barely function on the guardians themselves unless they use them on group / team mates, and they’re fine. They do great both in solo and group content.

In addition, unlike guards, you have the option of picking this up and going full selfish offense or utility on your other trait lines, you can ditch stuff such as pet dependant condi cleanse etc. That alone makes this freagin ubber and is huge improvement, then throw everything else it provides on top of that.

Running druid will surpass guards by far, maybe not in pure functionality at given encounters for specific stuff, but definitely in flexibility because of what I pointed out above.

Druid is just plan bad. Seems like a rush job. You only need look at how it was not released earlier – they quite clearly gutted it and started over. Hence it got left till last and will have little testing time.

The DPS is garbage, healing is sub par, and basically the class is useless. Other classes do more and do it better. Unless thier is some incredibly niche mechanic in raids the Druid is a complete waste of time.

They must really, really despise us Rangers. Pets are the kitten tho.

Pre-Ordered HoT | Recently started to get what I paid for – may spend $$$

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Posted by: Esonver.8470

Esonver.8470

Druid is just plan bad. Seems like a rush job. You only need look at how it was not released earlier – they quite clearly gutted it and started over. Hence it got left till last and will have little testing time.

The DPS is garbage, healing is sub par, and basically the class is useless. Other classes do more and do it better. Unless thier is some incredibly niche mechanic in raids the Druid is a complete waste of time.

They must really, really despise us Rangers. Pets are the kitten tho.

Dude you’re talking about an Elite spec that can fully heal everyone easily and Celestial form only take 5 seconds to recharge, how the heck is it bad?

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Posted by: Kailee.8790

Kailee.8790

Druid has abysmal healing ratios

Base Heal Scalings are all 5% or less on Healing Power, only 1 skill uses 100% of the healing power for its ratio…

Healing Power is pretty much worthless on a class that is intended to be a HEALER

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Posted by: Scalpels.2809

Scalpels.2809

Just did some WvW as a Druid.

Definite issue with the fact that you can only heal a max of 5 people. It’s futile when the damage/condi AoE’s are slapping everyone and their mother.

Sacrificing the Ranger’s DPS (hah) for heals that aren’t really that great blocks the Druid from being viable in WvW. And Celestial Form seems too quick, but that just may be because I’m not used to it yet.

I have not used Druid in sPvP yet. That may very well be a different story…

~Sent
Blackgate – Revel

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Posted by: Knighthonor.4061

Knighthonor.4061

I disagree with the OP.

dont change whats not broken.

Druid is Ranger meta. I am loving it.

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Posted by: sharkswithlazers.7632

sharkswithlazers.7632

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

Dude …. you are seriously having a spasm over nothing. It is 1 trait line which you may or may not opt to use for any given situation.

Just look at guardians, you’re complaining about 30-40% of a single trait line being group oriented ? Guards have 30-40% of all their traits group oriented, in fact, many traits even barely function on the guardians themselves unless they use them on group / team mates, and they’re fine. They do great both in solo and group content.

In addition, unlike guards, you have the option of picking this up and going full selfish offense or utility on your other trait lines, you can ditch stuff such as pet dependant condi cleanse etc. That alone makes this freagin ubber and is huge improvement, then throw everything else it provides on top of that.

Running druid will surpass guards by far, maybe not in pure functionality at given encounters for specific stuff, but definitely in flexibility because of what I pointed out above.

Druid is just plan bad. Seems like a rush job. You only need look at how it was not released earlier – they quite clearly gutted it and started over. Hence it got left till last and will have little testing time.

The DPS is garbage, healing is sub par, and basically the class is useless. Other classes do more and do it better. Unless thier is some incredibly niche mechanic in raids the Druid is a complete waste of time.

They must really, really despise us Rangers. Pets are the kitten tho.

You seem to really want to feel like Anet is picking on you. You can’t possibly know their design schedule, so you’ve made up a fairytale that makes you a victim. You then make up another fairytale about them hating druids.

I felt that druid was a really exciting new elite spec. I do wish that the focus wasn’t exclusively on healing, but hey, ranger support has been lacking since this game was released. The heals are really powerful, best in the game. And yes, they have bad scaling, but that’s really REALLY good. That means you don’t need to grab cleric’s gear, lamenting that your damage is awful, while at raids. You could easily grab zerker and enjoy high heals with no stat investment. It’s a kitteneesy to not reward healing power, but it’s still a lot of fun to play around with.

The new pets are incredible. The best they’ve ever made. The older cats look… strange, but the tiger is impeccable. The dragons and dinosaurs are perfect too.

Not trying to be mean to you, but I just never understood why people make up a narrative to get mad at.

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Posted by: Pino.5209

Pino.5209

Druid has abysmal healing ratios

Base Heal Scalings are all 5% or less on Healing Power, only 1 skill uses 100% of the healing power for its ratio…

Healing Power is pretty much worthless on a class that is intended to be a HEALER

+1
This a major issue, a dedicated healer elite that can’t take full advantage of it’s supposedly primary stat, healing power.

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Posted by: Eponet.4829

Eponet.4829

Druid has abysmal healing ratios

Base Heal Scalings are all 5% or less on Healing Power, only 1 skill uses 100% of the healing power for its ratio…

Healing Power is pretty much worthless on a class that is intended to be a HEALER

That’s amazing. If it’s still a great healer with low ratios, it opens the door for more versatile set ups than just one dimensional healing.

I’ll have to give some sort of skirmishing/beastmastery/druid build a try, relying on celestial form as my primary form of group healing.

That said, you should probably calculate the ratios based on how often you can use that healing skill.

(edited by Eponet.4829)

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Posted by: Mitch.4781

Mitch.4781

Druid is pretty good. But your original complaint makes no sense. Why bother taking spotter if you’re not in a group? The whole idea of druid is that it gives Rangers the Group Utility people have been whining that they lack….

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Posted by: PaxTheGreatOne.9472

PaxTheGreatOne.9472

Druid as a healer heals a lot but the scaling with healing power is sad beyond words, AND it cannot bring any dmg. No damage = no tags, no tags =no drops. Why would I play for nothing….


  • IF druid brings healing gear it doesn’t work… Scaling is bad. In the end the healing is not OP… It’s mediocre, Except in celestial form where you are very focussed at healing but you will not get any DMG on target??? Oh and healing still scales like it has no reason to be focused on or be used… HEALING = USELESS stat on healer? REALLY? WTF? But this problem persists throughout the WHOLE game, Healing is the most unwanted and uncared for stat in this game, sccaling is bad in 85-95% of all cases and with the reduction of boon duration these 2 could have been coupled to improve them which wasn’t considered and creates problems still for boothe booners and healers both filling the same support roles.
  • IF druid brings DPS gear it doesn’t wok as you have no real DPS skills outside spamming 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 with an occasional 2 and
  • the removal of any ranged spawns in this BWE destroys the need for skill 5, also receiving healing is nice but actual reflection would be nice even i it was ony 50% of the original dmg…
  • the gyphs are mostly useless, just taking all shouts improves healing by providing perma regen, to all within range but also requiring the druid to be in melee or otherwise in range of others
  • the elite form allows for “great support” BUT IF YOU CANNOT TAG ANYTHING, why bother to take druid? If I bring a zeealot/cleric staff ele I have about the same options in healing (soothing mist for AOE field, staff 1 for small area healing, 3 for burst heal(with or without blast, 5 with multi blasts for group recover…) And I get DPS and boons and conditions when needed While I can still tag due to ALL skills DOING DAMAGE! which mean I’ll get drops.
  • Self heals are limited unless you take your staff into melee… This also shows a problem Ranged dmg is moderate, and melee dmg is low/moderate.. Leaving me with a question If I need to bring an AXE/warhorn for mid range or LB for ranger of Sword/WH or GS for melee.

This also raises a question What is the druid:

I will refer to a book I loved and it had a nice discription for somthing,the description read: HARMLESS. Whcih would be fitting for Druid, except for the player themselves, DO we need to give up getting income and drops to be allowed to heal?

Even if you’d improved some dmg druid wouldn’t get above MOSTLY HARMLESS status anyways…

I know I’ll take a Hyperspace Bypass to another character as soon as the demolition of ranger has been done. -wink to: the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – by Dougles Adams-


What could be done?

  1. If you want a healer make sure healing works, AND it gets a decent reward…. having heals without aggro can be nice…. but I DO need tags, and damage… damage is a problm as precision and ferocity are the 1st 2 stats to be dropped from a healing build.
    I personally loathe the wet noodling through content and the foresight of having 6 skills doing 0 dmg I really really do not like.
  2. Improve healing throug healing stats : A LOT Also minor healing stats are used in a wide range of builds and major healing clerics in only a small range of builds
  3. Improve Elite Form to do dmg, at this moment I’d take any class in healer form above druid SO I CAN GET DROPS. having a “powerfull avatar form” which doesn’t help anybody cause I cannot assist in killing stuff really seems -useless- for the party and for myself
  4. Either improve staff range to 1500 as well with the staff or leave it and increase fields to make sure I can heal from just outside Melee and have some actual benefits of the healing for myself…. Why 1500 range? cause I do not mind giving up my longbow for a zap beam but it is annoying to not be able to fire from the same range and needing to run into 1200 ranged from 1500 to be able to swap to staff and do anything…..
    And last but not least
  5. Improve HEALING as an attribute; Add boon duration so dedicated healers can get boon duration from speccing fully into heals (15% for celestial(~750 healing), 20% minor stats(~950) 27,5% major stats (1381,) 40-45% for “all-in-I-do-not-care-about-something-else” healers (2000-2200(major stat, healing food, healing utility, healing runes, sigil of life)…
23 lvl 80’s, 9 times map, 4ele, 4ncr, 3war, 3grd, 3rgr, 2thf, 2msm, 1eng, 1 rev.
Been There, Done That & Will do it again…except maybe world completion.

(edited by PaxTheGreatOne.9472)

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Posted by: Eponet.4829

Eponet.4829

  • IF druid brings DPS gear it doesn’t wok as you have no real DPS skills outside spamming 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 with an occasional 2 and

In theory, it seems like it wouldn’t be too bad as a hybrid quick draw 2nd ranged weapon with a longbow, your staff rotation being to start out with 4, cast 2, then cast 4 and 2 again while repositioning with 3, as during the 9 second weapon swap cooldown, you should be able to in theory cast 2 4s (Using quick draw) and 2 2s, with enough time for another skill during the remaining time.

It’s impossible to test it in practice though, due to quick draw being bugged and not applying to staff skills.

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Posted by: DBZVelena.5186

DBZVelena.5186

I like the traits on druid aspecially the run one. i made me drop a sigil and added another.
But the druid skills all feel like meh. aspecially the elite, which doesnt even do what its suppoced to do when i’m right on top of enemies. Never mind any kind or ranged combat.

Proud Medic of the Splinter Warband. PM me to know more.

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Posted by: Siphaed.9235

Siphaed.9235

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

It is not “shafted”. 4/5 of the current spec lines for Rangers are all damage based. So what if this one spec option is healing only? You don’t have to use it when solo playing at all. It is meant for group synergy and group play (just as the Scrapper is, Ventari spec is, and quite a few other builds are). Build something outside of Druid if you’re going to be solo playing this game.

Not everything in this game is needs to be or is going to be built around solo play. That is horrible design in an MMORPG.

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Posted by: Jericho.7935

Jericho.7935

I’ll be completely honest, I hardly ever play WvW let alone PvP… I’m the type of player who has always preferred sticking to PvE and the storyline. However, I do agree with most players who have voiced the fact that Druid is practically ONLY healing based. I was incredibly psyched for Druid, when I read the the article that revealed its abilites I was a little skeptical to say the least, but I was optimistic. However, I tried Druid in the Beta, and although there are some enjoyable things about it I am very disappointed that everything about the Druid seems to be to help out other players and very Raid/ pvp oriented… All the abilities seem to have the keyword "allies"in the descriptions.

I am a fan of the celestial magic though, its not what I expected from Druid but it is fun and visually appealing. BUT, the fact that there is like no abilities that do significant damage is a big let down. Especially that in the Celestial avatar form there should be at least 1 ability that does significant damage (maybe aoe damage like meteor shower + an aoe heal) or even if lunar impact not only healed allies and dazed foes but also did some damage.

As for Sublime Conversion… it just seems pretty useless and I think a lot of people can agree. Visually its top notch but what it actually does less so.
Also, this is a minor point, but I would REALLY love if the visual aspect of Solar beam changed a bit. The ray seems very weak and small, unlike the actual power of the sun which should be impressive.. It would be really awesome if the width of the beam was slightly larger<3

Another ability, Seed of life in the celestial form… I just dont get it. the Healing is good, but it reminds me wayyyyy too much of the sylvari healing seed ability and would just seem weird for any other race other than Sylvari (Also, Im sorry but the ability itself is kind of ugly and grosses me out..)

I don’t want to bash the Druid specialization like everyone is, but… I mean there;s a reason why it caused such an uproar. It’s a radical change to the Druid Dynamic and completely switches a dps class to a healing one…

All in all it is still a good class, I just hope that there can be some extra damage incorporated in the Druids abilities.

Ps. The new pets are just awesome though<3

The key to success in GW2…
To find the speed boost chickens of course! #AscalonSpeedBoostChicken

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: DresdenAllblack.1249

DresdenAllblack.1249

The issue is with healing power not with Druid.

Angelina is free game again.
Crystal Desert

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Borlan.2164

Borlan.2164

Well I am not sure if it needs to be changed but honestly, what´s up with that staff´s sound? it sounds like a toothless old person eating porridge. We find it annoying. That definitely needs to be changed.

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: runeblade.7514

runeblade.7514

Right now in the beta, I am playing a Power Druid. IMO, it is way better than the Power Ranger build.

5x Warrior, 5x Ranger, 4x Elementalist, 4x Engineer,
4x Necromancer, 3x Mesmer, 4x Guardian, 4x Thief, 4 Revenant

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: SamTheGuardian.2938

SamTheGuardian.2938

Ever other elite spec’s traits are good for both solo/teamplay while Druid is stuck with stuff like “Live Vicariously” and “Natural Mender” which basically means these are useless in any kind of play where you’re not around other people .

These should be changed to include Pets when you say Allies .

The Celestial Form spells (I know 5 has dmg) should have some form of dmg effect or hit effect no matter how small .

You’re basically making an Elite Spec have to either choose to play in a group or sacrifice 30 – 40% of it’s kit while every other spec has a choose to have fun and do whatever in both environments .

Rangers have been shafted since the start, making their only new spec in a new xpec only half usable in any kind of solo play is just BS .

When you create a new Ranger in BWE#3 you get a Druid with Greatsword & Longbow. Although not spec for dedicated healer, it is great at solo play and can enter Celestial form and begin dropping big heals. I see the example Druid build ANet has given us as a great example of how much fun the class can be.

As a dedicated Healer with Staff/Staff I will say it gets the job done but it’s best with served with a party that is speced for a dedicated healer The problem is Druid as dedicated healer, while effective is not much fun. The other problem is up to this point most parties do not spec with a dedicated healer. Although it has been possible to do so with a Guardian or Ele, most have not. No one wants a dedicated healer taking up a party slot in a dungeon run. I found a few teams willing to let me run exploreable dungeons with them and they loved the full health bars but missed the DPS. At the end of the runs most said they would rather have a DPS spec fill the slot.

TL;DR I think the default Druid build ANet gives you on BWE#3 Ranger is a good example of how to find the fun in this class. It’s a support build dealing a balance of damage and support.

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Laniya.9520

Laniya.9520

Ok for starters, A lot of people are looking forward to this new style for druid, it could possibly give us a definite spot in high end PvE/Raiding/WvW, it was stated from the start this elite spec was support focused hense the minor traits mentioned. Nobody is forcing you to take druid, Yes don’t get me wrong it does suck that some people may not even use their elite specs because it doesn’t suit their play style but that can’t be helped, Arenanet cannot cater to every single aspect of the community with just this Expansion.

I personally really like the Druid, I do wish Anet would add the ability to save and swich traits on the fly. That would solve a lot of problems. I really enjoyed playing the Druid, but I agree with “PaxTheGreatOne”….You do spam the 1 skill for damage. Everything has a bit of damage on it, but not enough. The pet did a good job, and that helped a lot. I would like to see some AOE skill on the Druid that both heals and does damage to mobs. Something similar to one of the new Engi skills….only for heal and damage. This way we can enjoy healing along with getting some damage in. I agree we need more healing going on if we are to be healers.
I also played the Revenant, which i really enjoyed last time. This beta for Revenant was like the first time, no power.
The pets are great!!! and so helpful to have more HP on them and the ranger. They had more damage as well. When HoT comes out I hope all that does not get lost. All that was long overdue. It was nice to see some players say….come on Rangers give us some heals…..

(edited by Laniya.9520)

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Posted by: Laniya.9520

Laniya.9520

Druid as a healer heals a lot but the scaling with healing power is sad beyond words, AND it cannot bring any dmg. No damage = no tags, no tags =no drops. Why would I play for nothing….


  • IF druid brings healing gear it doesn’t work… Scaling is bad. In the end the healing is not OP… It’s mediocre, Except in celestial form where you are very focussed at healing but you will not get any DMG on target??? Oh and healing still scales like it has no reason to be focused on or be used… HEALING = USELESS stat on healer? REALLY? WTF? But this problem persists throughout the WHOLE game, Healing is the most unwanted and uncared for stat in this game, sccaling is bad in 85-95% of all cases and with the reduction of boon duration these 2 could have been coupled to improve them which wasn’t considered and creates problems still for boothe booners and healers both filling the same support roles.
  • IF druid brings DPS gear it doesn’t wok as you have no real DPS skills outside spamming 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 with an occasional 2 and
  • the removal of any ranged spawns in this BWE destroys the need for skill 5, also receiving healing is nice but actual reflection would be nice even i it was ony 50% of the original dmg…
  • the gyphs are mostly useless, just taking all shouts improves healing by providing perma regen, to all within range but also requiring the druid to be in melee or otherwise in range of others
  • the elite form allows for “great support” BUT IF YOU CANNOT TAG ANYTHING, why bother to take druid? If I bring a zeealot/cleric staff ele I have about the same options in healing (soothing mist for AOE field, staff 1 for small area healing, 3 for burst heal(with or without blast, 5 with multi blasts for group recover…) And I get DPS and boons and conditions when needed While I can still tag due to ALL skills DOING DAMAGE! which mean I’ll get drops.
  • Self heals are limited unless you take your staff into melee… This also shows a problem Ranged dmg is moderate, and melee dmg is low/moderate.. Leaving me with a question If I need to bring an AXE/warhorn for mid range or LB for ranger of Sword/WH or GS for melee.

This also raises a question What is the druid:

I will refer to a book I loved and it had a nice discription for somthing,the description read: HARMLESS. Whcih would be fitting for Druid, except for the player themselves, DO we need to give up getting income and drops to be allowed to heal?

Even if you’d improved some dmg druid wouldn’t get above MOSTLY HARMLESS status anyways…

I know I’ll take a Hyperspace Bypass to another character as soon as the demolition of ranger has been done. -wink to: the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – by Dougles Adams-


What could be done?

  1. If you want a healer make sure healing works, AND it gets a decent reward…. having heals without aggro can be nice…. but I DO need tags, and damage… damage is a problm as precision and ferocity are the 1st 2 stats to be dropped from a healing build.
    I personally loathe the wet noodling through content and the foresight of having 6 skills doing 0 dmg I really really do not like.
  2. Improve healing throug healing stats : A LOT Also minor healing stats are used in a wide range of builds and major healing clerics in only a small range of builds
  3. Improve Elite Form to do dmg, at this moment I’d take any class in healer form above druid SO I CAN GET DROPS. having a “powerfull avatar form” which doesn’t help anybody cause I cannot assist in killing stuff really seems -useless- for the party and for myself
  4. Either improve staff range to 1500 as well with the staff or leave it and increase fields to make sure I can heal from just outside Melee and have some actual benefits of the healing for myself…. Why 1500 range? cause I do not mind giving up my longbow for a zap beam but it is annoying to not be able to fire from the same range and needing to run into 1200 ranged from 1500 to be able to swap to staff and do anything…..
    And last but not least
  5. Improve HEALING as an attribute; Add boon duration so dedicated healers can get boon duration from speccing fully into heals (15% for celestial(~750 healing), 20% minor stats(~950) 27,5% major stats (1381,) 40-45% for “all-in-I-do-not-care-about-something-else” healers (2000-2200(major stat, healing food, healing utility, healing runes, sigil of life)…

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Mitch.4781

Mitch.4781

Well I am not sure if it needs to be changed but honestly, what´s up with that staff´s sound? it sounds like a toothless old person eating porridge. We find it annoying. That definitely needs to be changed.

What the kitten are u talking about?

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Markesh.7540

Markesh.7540

I actually loved the druid gameplay. I used it with my brother who tried Reaper and another build and you actually can have great synergy between classes. The way the druid is now would likely lead to my ranger returning as my main. Yes, for solo play, attack may be lower but you can have builds other than healer. I just enjoy the role, hope they don’t nerf it cuz it worked perfectly for me and because of that I have a BIG reason to look forward to HoT. Love the guardian too. If you miss the arrow powerhouse, might be something to consider, great potential as well.

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Laniya.9520

Laniya.9520

This is a bug i found with the Druid….I went into pvp lobby to mess around with the Smokescale pet. But the pet would not stay active, it defaulted to another pet. I assumed this was because of HoT not being out yet and us maybe not being allowed to use the new pets in pvp. When i left the lobby, the pet panel was deactivated. It is now bugged and I can not get the pet panel back. The button is there, but it won’t work. So i am petless. Nothing i do brings it back. I hate to delete and start again after setting everything up like i want. And i have ascended gear on there from being in the raid this morning. That was the fun, having the new pets to play with. Besides not doing enough damage without them. Anyone have this happen?

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Nemesis.6938

Nemesis.6938

honestly, i only think it needs some tweaking

maybe change some staff skills into more damage oriented and add conditions to them (see staff redux thread)

change some traits to make them synergise better with existing builds/traitlines

tweak the numbers, such as damage, healing or astral force generation – i think then well get there

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: scerevisiae.1972

scerevisiae.1972

I also dislike being forced into trait choices i don’t want. Just make them all selectable, or provide more minors to choose from.

downed state is bad for PVP

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Hans.8467

Hans.8467

Right now in the beta, I am playing a Power Druid. IMO, it is way better than the Power Ranger build.

Yes power Druid is amazing! didnt like the druid before because I used healing spec, but now I love the druid:)

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Lord Snow.3257

Lord Snow.3257

This will be focused around the pvp side of things, so stuff like tagging mobs etc will not be included here.

The Druid is a heavy healer, with utility from the staff, and control/damage from glyphs (and that +10% healing side from one of the glyphs). We have a choice to go either supportive with heals and control and being a tank, or damage while still pumping out some good healing. But, the main focus on both of these ways of playing has a huge flaw each. Healing power scales extremely poor on almost every skill, this needs to be looked at. And the damage from staff is pathetic, staff damage needs some love, especially the auto attack (both the base damage and the power scaling are too low).

Over to the core element of the Druid, the Celestial Form. The abilities of the form, the glyph’s changed form, and over half of the major traits, are all focused around being situational and being able to jump in and out from Celestial Form, which is not the case with how it currently works. The core problems rest with the fact we lose all Astral Force when exiting the Celestial Form, and there are only two ways of gaining good about of Astral Force; Staff auto-attack (and I think this might be due to a bug) and Troll Unguent (I’ve yet to test the Lingering Light trait to judge it’s effectiveness in this regard, it might be a third way, though I doubt it). We are forced to choose between abusing a bug, being forced into choosing one heal, or both.
An easy fix to this, would be to fix the (non-existing) Astral Force-gain from damage, this way we can charge up Astral Force without relying on Staff or Troll Unguent.
The change that absolutely needs to happen with Celestial Form, is to change it into behaving more like Necromancer’s Deathshroud (imagine what would happen if Necromancers would lose their entire Deathshroud Life Force when exiting the form, and they would need full Life Force to enter it, the class would effectively be broken).
How to fix Celestial Form: Make it so we do not lose our Astral Force when exiting, keep the mechanic that we need full Astral Force, and give it a cooldown for how often we can enter it. That way we can actually be situational with our abilities, utilities and traits, while not being able to abuse certain traits by entering-exiting the Form all the time.
The #1 and #2 skills of the Celestial Form feel pretty weird as they currently are, I would recommend merging these two skills into one, placing it in the #2 skill slot and making a new “auto attack”. A life-draining skill or something similar (preferably with both a damage and a healing function, as only having one damage skill in the form with a 10 sec cd doesn’t feel right, even Elementalist auto attacks in Water Attunement deals damage).
The #3 and #4 skills of the Celestial Form are perfect, balance all you want, but please do not change them.
The #5 skill leaves the Druid way too vulnerable, giving us the ability to move, even if just at 10% base speed or something would be a nice change, it would also make it so we can’t unintentionally cancel the ability by moving. The skill would be so much more fluent if this change was to make it, no matter how low the movement speed (it should still be possible for enemies to get away from the ability of course).

The Glyphs are ok-ish. Due to Troll Unguent being half-mandatory, there is little incentive to using the glyph heal, nevertheless, comparing it to the other heals, it seems to be the weakest (water spirit doesn’t count). The daze and knock-back ones are good, the one that applies cripple and weakness is pretty weak, 3 sec of cripple and weakness is not that noticeable. The +10% damage/healing one doesn’t feel very impactful in any way. The elite is an improved version of retaliation that ends when enemies do not stay on top of you. The only time it can be good is when you are being focused a lot, and in most of those cases you are disabled and unable to use the skill. The Celestial version is good on the other hand, but it also suffers from players running out of the radius. I would suggest keeping the activation radius, but increase the radius needed to break the tether (for both normal and Celestial versions).

The Staff. As mentioned earlier the damage part of this weapon is extremely lacking. Yes, I am fully aware that it is supposed to be a support weapon, but do note, “weapon” is still a key word here, and regardless of build/play-style the weapon should be able to deal some damage.
The auto attack heal is pretty weak with damage stats, which is understandable, but the damage part shouldn’t be weak in this case. It should be either you sacrifice damage for healing, or healing for damage, currently since healing power scales bad, we are stuck with low damage and low healing. What we have left is the utility the staff offers.
Staff #2 actually deals damage, low but still damage. It summons an orb that travels around it’s target 2 and a half time. With a healing of 322/391(without/with – healing power). The scaling of both the healing and the damage needs some adjusting.
Staff #3’s healing scaling is actually good, but it is quite clunky in close combat, it has to finish it’s full animation regardless of the range. When we use the skill right where we are standing (either to heal as quickly as possible or heal someone standing close) we are stuck for the entire duration of the animation as if it’s traveling the whole animation. This often results in allies running away from the healing area, or us not being able to heal in time. Since the animation is the same as Ride the Lightning, it should end when it reaches its target point, like Elementalists do when hitting an enemy with their ability.
Staff #4 immobilize duration is a bit low unless you hit twice with it (especially with all the movement-impairing condition duration-lowering traits or just condition duration reduction in general). The cd seems a bit too long compared to its effect. Since half of the skill is cleansing movement-impairing conditions from self and allies, the cast time should not be 3/4 of a second, unless you see it coming (in which case you should be dodging it), you will lose out on a good part of its effect.
Staff #5’s healing is not noticeable, so it works more like a projectile destroyer. Like skill #4, the cd also seems a bit too long for its effect (though this may just be me under-appreciating these kinds of skills). The non-existing cast time is beautiful though.

Traits won’t make sense to talk about until Celestial Form mechanics are fixed (I really hope those changes will kick in). If all the suggestions I’ve made above are implemented, I think the Druid traitline will be the line with the most choice in traits (as in people will pick traits out of preference, not from strength).

New pets. First of all I would like to try them out in spvp, hopefully at next beta weekend.
After testing them against some mobs in pve:
I find the Wyverns (which are EPIC!) to be overall quite weak. Their regular abilities are lackluster, they seem to deal low damage, and I highly doubt they will be able to hit anything vs real players. Their active abilities however look very promising. But, the Fire Wyvern absolutely needs its active to be ground targeted, the fire needs to spread faster, and it shouldn’t take 2 whole seconds for it to start firing (the last point is without having to run up to a target(location, plz)). This change will help make the pet way more reliable. The Lightning Wyvern’s lightning feel seems a bit short compared to its cooldown, making it last a few more seconds would be nice.
The Bristleback looks amazing, however, the Sharpen Spines ability (the activate ability) should really switch place with Spike Barrage. The most impactful ability should always be the active, this also removes some aspect of randomness with the pet.
The Smokescale. This one’s my favorite, it looks perfect. Although as much as I don’t want to see nerfs to my class, the Shadow Assault ability may need to be toned down, it deals a bit too much damage currently, even with a cooldown of 24 seconds.
The Tiger is Red Moa v2, a good pet, but a bit boring.

Feel free to comment on my suggestions and come with your own as well.

Lastly, Irenio, if you are reading this, good kitten work on the Druid! My hype kinda died when you said “heavy healer”, but was restored when you showed us what you’ve developed. All that’s left is smoothing these (very) rough edges.

(edited by Lord Snow.3257)

Druid needs to be changed.

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Posted by: Lord Snow.3257

Lord Snow.3257

This is a bug i found with the Druid….I went into pvp lobby to mess around with the Smokescale pet. But the pet would not stay active, it defaulted to another pet. I assumed this was because of HoT not being out yet and us maybe not being allowed to use the new pets in pvp. When i left the lobby, the pet panel was deactivated. It is now bugged and I can not get the pet panel back. The button is there, but it won’t work. So i am petless. Nothing i do brings it back. I hate to delete and start again after setting everything up like i want. And i have ascended gear on there from being in the raid this morning. That was the fun, having the new pets to play with. Besides not doing enough damage without them. Anyone have this happen?

Find some water, jump in, add which (land) pets you want, problem solved.

Going into pvp lobby with HoT pets removes them (for some reason we are not to test them in spvp), this makes it so that you have no pet when you go back, pvp has the function to give you default pets, pve doesn’t, it hasn’t needed it yet, since you have a starter pet when you make a character.

This is a nice temporary fix until they fix the bug.