Guild Wars 2

Also will it be likely running a complete set of one stat is most beneficial in raids?
Or will the healing diminishing returns (if any) be too much?

Maybe even zealot?

I’d hold off until the 23rd. If Irenio adds any conditions to the Druid, Apothecary would be a nice alternative to Cleric’s. If it remains direct damage & healing, then opt for Cleric’s, unless you have the coin, then invest into Zealot recipes if you haven’t already unlocked them from the Marionette event way back when.

I think Zealots is ok
But honestly think that Raid Partys are going to want a dedicated Healer that will stay alive.
So sacrificing some Damage for Main stat Healing and a secondary stat Toughness or Vitality.
Thoughts?

I’m guessing when you say “main stat healing and a secondary stat toughness or vitality” you mean between Cleric’s and Magi’s?

If so, I would say it depends. If most raid bosses target the player with the highest toughness, being a Cleric Druid could be a double-edge sword.

On the flip side, going with Magi’s would mean in those encounters with bosses targeting the highest toughness player would ignore you, so no pressure or additional role.

All speculation with a sprinkle of preference if you want to control aggro while healing or not.

It depends on the kind of build you make. Condi-heal hybrids will likely run apothecary, power builds will run Cleric or Zealot, and a build for absolutely nothing but healing and support would probably do best with Magi’s for the survivability without aggro draw.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that all this talk about a “soft trinity” for raids simply means they need SOMEBODY, or multiple somebodies, to perform the function rather than basing an entire build around it. I keep hearing about hardcore DPS checks, and having zero damage to contribute to them in a game where every glass has access to solid damage someplace strikes me as probably a bad idea.

I say Cleric because you may be a source of aggression, so the toughness helps. Also staff is power weapon so a steady damage is a bit better than a few crits right?

Renn.8241:

I think Zealots is ok
But honestly think that Raid Partys are going to want a dedicated Healer that will stay alive.
So sacrificing some Damage for Main stat Healing and a secondary stat Toughness or Vitality.
Thoughts?

I think for the best raid parties they will want zealots a healer who can heal and do damage when possible. For the middle of the road raids I believe you are right in this regard.

I like Zealot’s too, but if someone “requires” me to run that, I’ll ask him/her for the gold for it. I got those recipes for my Guardian a long time ago, when prices were good and the content was current. The recipe prices are currently not reasonable/worth the cost of admission.

I have both sets in Exotic, just in case, because I want to see what it will look like on Oct. 23. I do like the idea of Apothecary, though admit the condition damage won’t be that high even though I plan to run “condi-Druid”. If all else fails, I have a Cleric’s to fall on.

No Ascended crafting is “worth it” (IMHO) until we know the “state of the Druid” come HoT release.

If you want to heal a bunch but still do decent damage then you have to go with Apothecary imo.

Eurantien.4632:

If you want to heal a bunch but still do decent damage then you have to go with Apothecary imo.

Explain please. …

Knighthonor.4061:

Eurantien.4632:

If you want to heal a bunch but still do decent damage then you have to go with Apothecary imo.

Explain please. …

Physical damage on any every class without crit chance and ferocity is very, very low.

Condition damage only requires Condition Damage and Duration to contribute significant offensive pressure.

Ergo, if a class has any condi weapons available and can heal, it will offer more damage while healing than alternatives.

This is why Tempests will, in my humble opinion, be a bit better equipped for raid healing WHILE offering consistently good damage.

As it looks right now. . . Cleric’s or Zealot’s seems the best way to go imo. We don’t know if they’ll add any condi to staff so personally I’m waiting until the 23rd to buy any gear. I don’t want to waste laurels on a build that would feel useless.

CandyHearts.6025:

As it looks right now. . . Cleric’s or Zealot’s seems the best way to go imo. We don’t know if they’ll add any condi to staff so personally I’m waiting until the 23rd to buy any gear. I don’t want to waste laurels on a build that would feel useless.

Condi based Healing druids may not have to use staff. Axe + Torch might work for a heavily condi focused druid who builds A.F. with damage and pops into C.A.F. as needed to heal.

It all depends on how the numbers work out.

Swiftwynd.1685:

CandyHearts.6025:

As it looks right now. . . Cleric’s or Zealot’s seems the best way to go imo. We don’t know if they’ll add any condi to staff so personally I’m waiting until the 23rd to buy any gear. I don’t want to waste laurels on a build that would feel useless.

Condi based Healing druids may not have to use staff. Axe + Torch might work for a heavily condi focused druid who builds A.F. with damage and pops into C.A.F. as needed to heal.

It all depends on how the numbers work out.

Yeah that’s the other problem. The numbers and not knowing what’s what.
I actually enjoyed staff during certain things. Not so much in others. So my build is a blank slate entirely until I know every single change. :/

Would be interesting to see staff (with added condi) – axe/torch be a thing. But I for some reason don’t find it likely. I think for generating the most CAF without healing longbow 2 will probably bring the best amount. But I could be wrong. I’m making a lot of stabs in the dark. What I wouldn’t give for 1 more beta test. xD

Knighthonor.4061:

Eurantien.4632:

If you want to heal a bunch but still do decent damage then you have to go with Apothecary imo.

Explain please. …

If they buff staff so it has some condition damage.

Or

With the changes they made on how astral energy charges, we might not have to take staff at all. Non-staff weapons may still be able to charge 100% under the 10s cd.

Ascended celestial armor with either magi (cheap option), ascended cleric’s or ascended nomad’s weapons and trinket might be a better idea.

I tried Celestial during the Beta. Works very well imo. Ok power damage, (but nothing to write home about), good, to very good (but not excellent) condition damage. Don’t forget we got flame trap, and others. I used spike/flame trap + axe+dagger (and staff). If i wanted i could do 3-4k condi spike (flame trap, axe 2, and the rest of em skills). Not bad imo. And meanwhile keep good healing etc. Since healing will be lower BUT healing power will scale now druid skills, i think celestial, will feel even better (compared to other stats). But that may be just me

Since people are suggesting things like Magi and Celestial: Why not Nomad’s? If it’s dedicated raid Healer and you want toughness for Aggro, then Nomad has more reliable aggro. Vita+Tough gives you good +Heal scaling from consumables to make up for the +Heal secondary stat.

You basically function as the group’s tank and healer, leaving the raid with 9 people for zerk team and condi team.

You can basically be the raid’s tank AND the healer. Add in a zerk group and a condi(sinister) team and you’re good to go.

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Since people are suggesting things like Magi and Celestial: Why not Nomad’s? If it’s dedicated raid Healer and you want toughness for Aggro, then Nomad has more reliable aggro. Vita+Tough gives you good +Heal scaling from consumables to make up for the +Heal secondary stat.

You basically function as the group’s tank and healer, leaving the raid with 9 people for zerk team and condi team.

You can basically be the raid’s tank AND the healer. Add in a zerk group and a condi(sinister) team and you’re good to go.

Interesting idea, but can you actually effectively heal your group while tanking? I don’t think you could mainly due to small radius of heals and need to move a lot as a tank.

Kitty.1502:

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Since people are suggesting things like Magi and Celestial: Why not Nomad’s? If it’s dedicated raid Healer and you want toughness for Aggro, then Nomad has more reliable aggro. Vita+Tough gives you good +Heal scaling from consumables to make up for the +Heal secondary stat.

You basically function as the group’s tank and healer, leaving the raid with 9 people for zerk team and condi team.

You can basically be the raid’s tank AND the healer. Add in a zerk group and a condi(sinister) team and you’re good to go.

Interesting idea, but can you actually effectively heal your group while tanking? I don’t think you could mainly due to small radius of heals and need to move a lot as a tank.

Why wouldn’t you? Druid healing is mobile and with how much complaining there is about healing people that move, the Druid knows where they’re going to go before anyone does. That means they can reliably land the heals.

Why not?

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Kitty.1502:

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Since people are suggesting things like Magi and Celestial: Why not Nomad’s? If it’s dedicated raid Healer and you want toughness for Aggro, then Nomad has more reliable aggro. Vita+Tough gives you good +Heal scaling from consumables to make up for the +Heal secondary stat.

You basically function as the group’s tank and healer, leaving the raid with 9 people for zerk team and condi team.

You can basically be the raid’s tank AND the healer. Add in a zerk group and a condi(sinister) team and you’re good to go.

Interesting idea, but can you actually effectively heal your group while tanking? I don’t think you could mainly due to small radius of heals and need to move a lot as a tank.

Why wouldn’t you? Druid healing is mobile and with how much complaining there is about healing people that move, the Druid knows where they’re going to go before anyone does. That means they can reliably land the heals.

Why not?

Raid will most likely need to be disjointed from the tank, such as being behind the boss while the tank it not within melee range of the boss kiting him. The radius on Astral Form 4 would hit, which is their biggest/best heal and 1/3 would hit but if healing is really needed more healing than that one skill would be needed. Furthermore there might be points where the tank might be fully out of all heal range. Not saying its impossible, just that I can see situations that can be common enough for it to not be useful.

Kitty.1502:

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Kitty.1502:

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Since people are suggesting things like Magi and Celestial: Why not Nomad’s? If it’s dedicated raid Healer and you want toughness for Aggro, then Nomad has more reliable aggro. Vita+Tough gives you good +Heal scaling from consumables to make up for the +Heal secondary stat.

You basically function as the group’s tank and healer, leaving the raid with 9 people for zerk team and condi team.

You can basically be the raid’s tank AND the healer. Add in a zerk group and a condi(sinister) team and you’re good to go.

Interesting idea, but can you actually effectively heal your group while tanking? I don’t think you could mainly due to small radius of heals and need to move a lot as a tank.

Why wouldn’t you? Druid healing is mobile and with how much complaining there is about healing people that move, the Druid knows where they’re going to go before anyone does. That means they can reliably land the heals.

Why not?

Raid will most likely need to be disjointed from the tank, such as being behind the boss while the tank it not within melee range of the boss kiting him. The radius on Astral Form 4 would hit, which is their biggest/best heal and 1/3 would hit but if healing is really needed more healing than that one skill would be needed. Furthermore there might be points where the tank might be fully out of all heal range. Not saying its impossible, just that I can see situations that can be common enough for it to not be useful.

This can go both ways. Raid progression also shows that an extra DPS can surpass mechanics that extra healing would require. If a Rabid Engi can count as a raid main tank, then you can still pull that from the Condi team to offtank.

Otherwise, you basically just acknowledged that Astral 1,3,4 can hit a stack. If a healer needs to heal the raid instead of themselves, then they heal the raid instead of themselves. It’s not required to heal itself, it just has the benefit of “Cant heal people that move” problem completely negated when it comes to tank healing. Also, the tank can sustain by raid healing.

^
This is funny. This is exactly how I was building my druid. Full Nomads with consumables to add +healing.

I’ve always been a main healer in any MMO I have played. Most recently I was tank-healer in LORTO and had the raid ball up on me.

Im.not sure how well it will work in GW 2 raids but it’s what I’m trying out. If I find it dosent work the ascended set I have built will still not go to waste as it will be used for WVW.

Because full Nomad’kittens like a wet noodle. Meanwhile if you need a little bit of dps when wearing celestial armor, you can use berserker’s trinkets and still have your healing power in the range of 600 without food or sigils in PVE.

Star Ace.5207:

I like Zealot’s too, but if someone “requires” me to run that, I’ll ask him/her for the gold for it. I got those recipes for my Guardian a long time ago, when prices were good and the content was current. The recipe prices are currently not reasonable/worth the cost of admission.

I have both sets in Exotic, just in case, because I want to see what it will look like on Oct. 23. I do like the idea of Apothecary, though admit the condition damage won’t be that high even though I plan to run “condi-Druid”. If all else fails, I have a Cleric’s to fall on.

No Ascended crafting is “worth it” (IMHO) until we know the “state of the Druid” come HoT release.

If they add a burn to Solar Beam (0.5s per pulse), then Apothecary will do as much damage as Cleric, and be better off with full might and Sun Spirit, but if they do not add a burn, it will be far less damage.

Zealots is really the absolute best of both worlds, since you have precision for crit/procs and can still get 920 condi damage with might and banners. I’ll have an Apothecary set too if they add a burn, though.

I believe in Cleric for the time being.
From my theory, with that bit of toughness it becomes possible for you to do your job.

You won’t have to watch all the 20 things that might possibly kill you. You’ll just need to watch the crucial attacks (because unlike DPS players – you have to SEARCH for low HP targets that takes away your focus).

If you have that toughness, you can afford to take those few hits of AoE in order to heal your fellas up. Because that second you might have needed to dodge an attack might as well be the second that cost your friend his life.
That’s nothing like postponing your DPS by 1 second. If you miss your time, the team DPS can drop by 12 000 for 3-5 seconds in a blink of an eye (1 guy downs and 1 needs to rezz him up again).
I intend to play druid via Pet oriented DPS and occasional bursts only. My job as a druid is to allow people to stand in that AoE for longer to maximize THEIR dps. Not to be that DPS machine myself.

That’s what I think.

personally i have a complete set of armor and staff in ascended nomads thats waiting for my druid. i plan on using clerics for the accesories.

currently staff has no condi , and full healer will use staff and support utilities, so speccing condi will do very little.

a healer/trapper apothecary build could be good mix for raids though, if you decide not to use spirits.

Warlock.7136:

personally i have a complete set of armor and staff in ascended nomads thats waiting for my druid. i plan on using clerics for the accesories.

Yup, that was just as well one of my ideas. To be the tank and healer at the same time. Pet deals DPS by itself regardless, which makes the druid like one of the better tanks (since 30% of our DPS simply won’t go away regardless of stats).

Didn’t try it, though. It’s a b!t$hy duty squared. Healing is troublesome by itself.

Wondrouswall.7169:

I’d hold off until the 23rd. If Irenio adds any conditions to the Druid, Apothecary would be a nice alternative to Cleric’s. If it remains direct damage & healing, then opt for Cleric’s, unless you have the coin, then invest into Zealot recipes if you haven’t already unlocked them from the Marionette event way back when.

^ this

Right now I’m looking at using zealots staff and top (best bang for the very expensive buck) and celestial everything else, along with Monk’s runes.

I’m going Cleric Armor, Cele trinkets, it seems to only lack a 20%ish dps difference. The extra crit damage from cele is nice, and this mix isn’t leaving me for dead if I get hit.