So now the druid.
Because how Druid is designed is somehow forcing players to play tank because:
- or you go shouts with runes of the trooper, which are tank stats.
- or you go survival but then you need you use the staff for the AF if you want to have access to the CAF.
- Verdant Etching option is a no go right now, because of the delay together with the weak cleanse make it a nope.
CHANGES
Staff[/u]
i want to love this weapon because of the Astral Grace skill, unfortunately the rest of the skills are from pretty bad to meh.
Right now is an utility\healing weapon. Unfortunately the healing is mostly very meh but i can’t think of a way to buff the heals without making anybody around the druid OP.
- Solar Beam: Add 1 stack of burning for 3 seconds when target within 600. This skill needs something else to be viable.
- Astral wisp: apply 1 stack of burning of 1 second. Same as Solar Beam.
- Ancestral Grace no changes.
- Vine Surge change to 1200 ranged AoE 300 radius that apply ancient seeds up to 5 targets. Increased CD to 25. The druid don’t have access to ranged AoE and the corridor desings simply has no real uses. Its better desing to drop and AoE that applies bleeds and cleanse were the druid can help the group.
- Sublime Conversion: reduce CD to 20. Wall duration increased to 8 seconds. Healing by projectile increased and angle normalised to hit players behind the wall. This skill does not reward the very situational effect it does, as other professions (like guardian shield) brings similar skills that not require position (they are 360), same duration and shorter CD.
Celestial Avatar[/u]
Astral form is being reduced to 2 skills (Lunar Impact and Rejuvenating tides) basically because of the lack of purpose or bad design of the skills.
- Cosmic Ray: This is changed to a constant ranged AoE that apply the heal every 1/2 second (like it does now with the aftercast if you like clickfest). The Druid click in one point and a ray of light hits there until the Druid uses other skill. This skill need to change the click fest that it is. Engineers complain how bad is the bo,b kit, we dont need that with the ranger. With this change allies know were to stand for the heals and the druid dont get mad pursuing the allies all around.
- Seed of Life. Revert back to 2 condition cleanses. 1 when the skill is cast, so the druid can benefit from the skill and another with the usual delay. As suggestion i would love the skill to change to a blooming flower or something that can be spotted easily instead the actual that does not lift from the ground.
- Lunar Impact: Revert back the daze to 2 seconds. With the higher CD was enough to balance this skill.
- Rejuvenating Tides: Reduce the cast time to 1\2 second to work similar to Breserker’s Flames of War Normalise the duration to 5 seconds and each pulse is applied every second. Thus the druid can do other heals while healing with this skill. Increase the CD to 10 seconds to compensate.
- Natural Convergence: This skill needs to do same damage as PvP in any game mode and should apply an small pull once per second, similar to the Champion Grawl StoneWorker Swirling Sands to somehow apply an active defense. Enemy players should use stability to burst the druid in melee or kill it from range. The blackhole apply a condition similar to petrified instead immobilise.
The damage should be normalised between PVP and PVE/WVW. in PvE/wvw the damage seems halved which make the skill pretty useless as bad as it is right now. In comparison: Dragon Hunter 4cd skill with 2 root and 1200 range does 8k damage in zerker. This skill does less damage with a more telegraphed tail and 300 radius from the druid. Thus something else than the normalised damage is needed.
Glyphs[/u]
Their effects are mostly fine, unfortunately their lack of range and wonky casts make them not a good option. So here are my suggestions.
- Glyphs retain their range, CD and effects but they apply their effects in a PBAoE for few seconds when active.
This works this way: Druid activate a glyph and the small icon from the casting is visible on over the head of the druid while the effect is active as similar fashion as does for the Glyph of Empowerment, so other players (allies or foes) can recognise the effect and behave in consequence.
The druid can have only one Glyph effect active, although this effects are short in duration, if the druid cast a second Glyph the new overwrite the old.
The damage component from the Glyphs is removed as is unnecesary.
- Glyph of Rejuvenation: Healing to self and allies reduced 50%. This Glyph applies 3 pulses in 3 seconds. This glyph needs better self healing and with this change it would come in line of the rest of the heals. In CA the healing is swapped same as now.
- Glyph of Aligment: 3 pulses for 3 seconds were it does apply the stacks of weakness, cripple and poison. In CA cleanse 2 conditions per pulse. The healing component is removed as is unnecessary and completely redundant in CA.
- Glyph of Equality: 2 pulses for 2 seconds. Break stun on cast, then daze 2 second each pulse. This condition does not stack in duration and the foe can still move away from the short range. If the foe stay in range will buff the daze in 1 second. In CA Break Stun to allies and self per pulse. Does not cleanse conditions.
- Glyph of the Tides: 2 pulses 2 seconds. First pulse is knockback, second pulse apply 2 seconds of slow.. In CA first pulse is pull second pulse is 2 seconds of Slow.
- Glyph of Empowerment: 3 pulses for 3 seconds.Each pulse apply 2 seconds of glyph buff. In CA each pulse apply 20% damage reduction for 2 seconds.
- Glyph of Unity: Foes tethered can not untether from the Druid. If the Druid moves further than 600 units the foes are pulled to the Druid. Foes can not teleport, shadow step or blink our of tether range as they will be pulled once they reach the limit. Previously tethered enemies remain tethered when downed.
Damage is applied to the druid is directly applied to the tethered foes. Conditions applied to the druid are applied to tethered foes. This tether is destroyed if the druid is teleported or if the tethered goes out of range using stability.
In case of Defiance Bar if out of tether range would apply the equivalent of the rest of the tether duration in pull effect (max of 600 damage to the defiance bar) and break the tether.
In CA apply 6 pulses for 6 seconds. Each pulse will copy all boon from the tethered allies to the druid and from the druid to tethered allies with the standard boon duration from WHaO (replicate the shout function but between allies instead the pet)
Astral Force[/u]
Generally speaking all player base coincide the AF generation and use is wonky at best really unpractical and annoying most of the time. So i suggest:
- AF generation from damage is removed
- AF generation from heal is affected for the healing amount. A percentage of the healing amount is used to calculate the AF gained instead a fixed percentage.
- Druid apply small heals around the target with any weapon. Each attack apply heal base of 62 (0.06)(same as SotW) in 360 radius of the target up to 3 allies.
- This effect is included in the minor trait Celestial being.
Traits[/u]
- Cultivated Synergy removed.
- Lingering Light is moved to adept traits. It’s functionality is restored to cast an astral wisp, that now heal allies around and burn foes, ICD 12 seconds duration 6 seconds.
- New GM Warth of Nature: Outgoing Healing drom the Druid (pet skills are not affected) is splitted in half. This affect all avatar skills, All Druid traits and allies healing by the glyph.
- Affected effects heal for the 50% of the original healing.
- up to 5 foes inside of those healing areas are damaged for the other 50%. This damage can crit and proc sigils.
This new GM is to allow players that want to play druid to have more build diversity while still building for healing still will be balanced with the current stat sets.
example: A full zerker Druid would heal for 2500 in lunar impact.
with this GM would heal for 1250 and damage for 2500 on critical impact.
The minor would apply 30 heal and 60 damage 360 AoE from the target.
So those are my suggestions. Although the changes are pretty extreme in some cases i think this could benefit all the players in long term,