I'm totally LOST (Ranger to Druid transition)
Well what game mode you play your current build in?
I’m assuming you are talking about PvE (based on the full zerk gear), on that I’ll say, keep playing as ranger.
In PvE I really disliked druid, I never made my ranger to be the healer/support I made it to be the DPS or DPS/support, but in PvP I really enjoyed druid, playing as one made me reach ruby on the league.
Charter Vanguard [CV] – HoD
Bardy Belzebuson – Ranger Sir Belzebu – Herald
(and the other 8 elite specs maxed too)
(and the other 8 elite specs maxed too)
PvE = Still the Berserker.
Even if you heal as druid, your stats are most efficient as Berserker.
In PvP
You can swap anything you like and test out. Clerics, Celestials, Berserkers, Rabids, all work.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
Just generally speaking, I think your build priorities are:
- Making sure you’ve got solid access to Celestial Avatar Form.
- Balancing between group damage buffs and breakbar breaking
- Focusing on your Healing potency, then Damage potency.
Accessing Celestial Avatar Form is based on numbers of actions, not how much you heal or hurt for. So, focus on Regen and multihit attacks until you’ve gotten to a comfortable cadence. I think a good sanity check for that is to be able to make your way through a HoT Map Meta without finding yourself unable to go into CA form when you feel like you need it.
Balancing between group damage buffs / breakbar breaking / healing potency is going to be a ‘what other people need from you’ thing. Some groups are just going to need more of one thing or another. There are some things that are pretty accessible and friendly across multiple groups though, for instance I’d almost always suggest picking Grace of the Land and visiting your local Laurel Merchant to swap your bottom row of Trinkets to Ascended Clerics.
Personally,
I’m comfortable with Staff and Resounding Timbre + We Heal as One + Runes of Dwayna for CA Accessibility. For DamageBuffs I like the much popular Frost Spirit and Grace of the Land + Verdant Etching. For BBBreaking I like offsetting that duty primarily onto Pets with Wolf/ElectricWyvern + WiltingStrike + Beastly Warden, saving my control glyph du jour and entering CA form to help break it myself as a last resort. My Armor is Magi, Trinkets are Berserker/Clerics, Staff is Magi my secondary weapons are more dps-y though I’m still hammering out the particulars.
(edited by Vox Hollow.2736)
Druid Does not have to be about team support. though it does make supporting your team easier, It also makes it easier to directly effect your foes. Ancient seeds is awesome with short bow and whenever they get it to proc off of spike trap will be even better. Personally I don’t find druid to be anything except an asset to the ranger. You can easily gain access to Avatar just by healing yourself and your pet, the trait line does not force you to use glyphs, and while i like glyphs I do not use them. I run a rull trap Ranger and have nothing but fun with it.
Yeah, I specced Druid, but I’m still there to deal damage. Don’t feel yourself forced to be a support.
Yes, I am a Ranger. No, I don’t like having a pet.
As some other rangers stated with the same setup you use:
A new possibilty for you to play with your current setup is unlocking all druid traits, equip a cleric’s staff, and use staff and celestial avatar as your escape when you’re low on health. Keep everything else the same and play as you used to play.
Gladomer is a streamer on twitch and he uses Druid for both Condi and Power damage, if you want references, btw.
Yes, I am a Ranger. No, I don’t like having a pet.
From my (newbie) experience, for HoT meta event trains, you can keep using your glassy zerker gear as a druid, maybe mix in a few trinkets that improve your toughness or vitality a little. In the end, it is more important to learn attack patterns of mobs and how to dodge them. In my eyes, going full cleric or survivability sounds pretty boring because it will take you ages to kill anything.
All you need is a little backup that one single mistake doesn’t kill you and this is exactly what druid does, it offers a backup heal, condi cleanses, escapes via staff, entangles and more. Don’t feel obliged to heal like crazy, just do the damage you would do anyway with a ranger and once in a while be give ppl a little heal.
Before crafting a zealot staff, i worked with a berserker staff and had no problem at all.
If you like a little more survivability, some condi builds here look pretty amazing, offering a lot of toughness. But if you have decent berserker gear, stick with it and better get used to dodging and evading with your skills, maybe run a few fractals for ascended rings that give you toughness/vitality and that’s it.
PS: Only talking about pve open world, ofc.