Guild Wars 2

I main as a ranger, and in GW1 I mained as monk, so I am very excited for druid! I do have a few concerns, but I realize a lot of this is still speculation right now. Still, I’d like to see what people are thinking.

1. Will druid be necessary for any content?
2. Do we expect people to stick with the current berserker meta even post icebow?
3. After people learn the content will druids still be wanted?

It’s very likely that druids will be wanted.
New content is supposed to contain attacks that cannot be dodged or blocked – so healer coming in to the berserker meta may very likely be the thing.

Dungeons can still be done with eyes closed and cat on the keyboard so I believe druids will not be wanted for casual PvE (old content). If they change all the content and difficulty, druids might get a place even for dungeons but I don’t see that coming.

Staff druid will be the WvW/PvP god that everyone will pray to, but I believe the standard LB+S/A will still be the MetaZerk for gold farming.
I still want to try the BoostDruid without staff but I don’t see it being anywhere near efficient as current Frost Spotter.

So for raids yes, but for old content zerk ranger is better?

MusicMuse.5749:

So for raids yes, but for old content zerk ranger is better?

As far as my predictions go. Yes.
The glyph of Empowerment is not numerically as powerful as either 20% damage modifiers from MM or Spotter from SK.
The only place to fit the Druid will be instead of BM(NM) and a utility slot for the glyph (so sacrificing either Quickness or 25% damage from Signet).

The glyph might have been amazing with the IceBow bursts but those are going down by 50%.

Any predictions on post farm content for druid? Do you think we will still be needed

I’m guessing druid is designed for raids only other than raid druid won’t do much in dungeon fractal or open world boss

No, other classes healing specs that can also provide defensive support, offensive support or damage will be taken instead.

Can’t druid provide a lot of that sort of support while also healing unavoidable damage quickly?

MusicMuse.5749:

Can’t druid provide a lot of that sort of support while also healing unavoidable damage quickly?

No, all it can do is heal. It has poor access to blind, no access to aegis or prot, can’t stack might or provide constant fury, nothing unique like alacrity, its projectile defense is straight inferior to reflects.

Only real advantage it has is it can still bring Frost Spirit and Spotter, things that are going to go out of favour due to what other classes can bring once hot launches.

MusicMuse.5749:

Can’t druid provide a lot of that sort of support while also healing unavoidable damage quickly?

Druid is based on healing.
aka damage recuperation. Not damage prevention (which is more useful for speed running and farming).

For farming I still suggest people to play some of the current Ranger builds. Effectiveness, you know. Ranger has a great potential for upcoming PvE challenges but Druid offers literally nothing for current content.

I can see how for current content druid is a bit redundant, I can always do very well with current ranger meta builds, I am just hoping that druid is and always will wanted for raiding (and maybe the newer tiers of fractals)

MusicMuse.5749:

I am just hoping that druid is and always will wanted for raiding (and maybe the newer tiers of fractals)

And it won’t unless they change it to be able to do mroe then heal spam.

Levetty.1279:

MusicMuse.5749:

I am just hoping that druid is and always will wanted for raiding (and maybe the newer tiers of fractals)

And it won’t unless they change it to be able to do mroe then heal spam.

It’s not really “spam” in a way that every other class in the game “spams” unless you mean spectral 1 which is quite spamming. It seems to me that you are kind of viewing druid through the current pve lens where support and helping your team survive content isn’t really needed, but remember that raids are going to have a lot of damage that you can’t dodge or passively avoid. This is why it is inaccurate to claim that other classes can do the same job as druid only with more damage. It’s simply not true even as far as damage goes either, as it seems druid will still be a very capable dps, especially at range, remember they still have full access to two trait lines and all the old weapons. A lot of fighting will be at range. You will not be able to melee the boss safely and passive heal all the damage it does. Weakness and chill will not affect raid bosses. The melee classes will require more healing than anything else, making the druid even more viable.

I’m still pretty skeptical about druid healing when waterfields that have no cooldowns on blasts still exist.

Fluffball.8307:

I’m still pretty skeptical about druid healing when waterfields that have no cooldowns on blasts still exist.

Druid does bring a lot of water fields, but they would require coordinated stacking as a lot of people would be spread out I bet, and with stacking that spectral heal spam will easily overshadow water field blasts, not to mention how awesome the seeds would work along with it. Think of it this way with 1 or 2 druids in the group the dps classes can stick to it instead of having to retreat or swap to water attainment to heal up : )

That leads to a lot of dps the druid adds just by being present

Im unsure how a druid would fit into raids due to lack of utility and damage if it goes full heal. Yeah, sure you might bring some dps to the table but is it really worth the spot, Idk yet. Beta testing should give the answers i am looking for. Remember there are other prof that bring healing to the table, and an elite that already puts out HUGE healing (If you dont know which one, shame on you.) And brings utility for frontline damage mitigation. GW2 has always been about mitigation first, healing second. Druid does bring some Condi mitigation, but its situational at best. As for WvW, sure a druid can be a zerg healbot but as with that other spec that will not be named because of all the hate it gets from its parent prof, you lose out on dps. Its an uphill battle for you Rangers, and trust me i understand your pain. I main engi, and we get pounded daily too.

The seed bloom is fairly easy and powerful, among other things I’d say that the way druid is looking now it’s going to be at least moderate at Condi cleansing in real situations.

As far as sacrificing dps? I don’t really see it. Sure if you are healing you aren’t damaging, but like I said it saves others from having to stop and do it. When druids are not healing they are still one of the best range dps, and a very good melee dps

Let us not forget the large and long lasting fire field from the new pet which will provide a lot of might potential during the fight (has to be cast on the boss)

MusicMuse.5749:

The seed bloom is fairly easy and powerful, among other things I’d say that the way druid is looking now it’s going to be at least moderate at Condi cleansing in real situations.

As far as sacrificing dps? I don’t really see it. Sure if you are healing you aren’t damaging, but like I said it saves others from having to stop and do it. When druids are not healing they are still one of the best range dps, and a very good melee dps

but in that a problem arises, healing does not give you credit towards loot at the end. If you primarily focus on healing… you shaft your contribution towards the kill and end up getting less/none

The PvE meta right now is everyone contributes a little bit to the party’s safety, which allows all 5(10) players to bring almost max damage. I just can’t see them making content so hard it would put people off that. 10 players functioning at 95% of max damage and everyone helping to keep the party up makes a lot more sense to me than 9 players at 100% damage and 1 guy who is utterly useless except for healing.

That’s not to say druid won’t have his place for healing, I just think it will be as part of a bigger party comp and the druid is still going to be running mostly damage traits and utilities. Maybe 3 eles, a zerker+zealots druid running glyph, FS and spotter, a herald, 2 engis, 2 guards, a warrior, and a thief with SB is a colossal amount of healing and everything doesn’t completely fall apart if the druid gets knocked down.

I agree with everything you said, but basically what I’m getting at is that healing and coordinated support will be far more important in raids, and that druid will bring a lot of passive dps to the entire group

1- I don’t think any profession or specialization will be necessary

2- It’s not related to frostbow but if BWE mobs are representative of the HoT mobs, then I don’t think there will be a place for a full zerk meta in HoT. There are mobs that have high resilience to direct damage.

3- It will most likely depend of the behavior of the druid and not it’s overall gameplay. If the Ranger/Druid community build itself a good reputation in game then they will be wanted. On the other hand, if they do not care of what their pet (since yes they still got pet) do, continue to push mobs out of aoe and allie range, then the druid will most likely be discarded for more reliable profession like the Elementalist/tempest.

Understand that the “healing stuff” already exist in game. The Druid, while having some windows of burst heal won’t be able to keep the celestial form for a whole fight. A good management of their energy pool will be very important and they will have to keep in mind what their pet do at the same time.

We can say that the Druid spec is a second chance given to the ranger to prove that they can behave well in a party. In the end they will become meta only if the Druid’s players use their head and avoid hindering their party more than they help it. If they aren’t able to do that, understand that an ele or a guard will still be able to dish out amazing healing output with less effort.

MusicMuse.5749:

I agree with everything you said, but basically what I’m getting at is that healing and coordinated support will be far more important in raids, and that druid will bring a lot of passive dps to the entire group

Say what? Did you just say a lot of passive DPS? LOLOLOL!! And no, healing in the form of blasting a water field is and will be all that’s needed. That’s done through coordination or, at least, situational awareness that a water field is down and needs to be blasted.

sam.4681:

I’m guessing druid is designed for raids only other than raid druid won’t do much in dungeon fractal or open world boss

It was designed for raids. That’s the only place it’ll see use.. that is until the raids are learned and we start taking the least amount of healing needed.

MusicMuse.5749:

Levetty.1279:

MusicMuse.5749:

I am just hoping that druid is and always will wanted for raiding (and maybe the newer tiers of fractals)

And it won’t unless they change it to be able to do mroe then heal spam.

It’s not really “spam” in a way that every other class in the game “spams” unless you mean spectral 1 which is quite spamming. It seems to me that you are kind of viewing druid through the current pve lens where support and helping your team survive content isn’t really needed, but remember that raids are going to have a lot of damage that you can’t dodge or passively avoid. This is why it is inaccurate to claim that other classes can do the same job as druid only with more damage. It’s simply not true even as far as damage goes either, as it seems druid will still be a very capable dps, especially at range, remember they still have full access to two trait lines and all the old weapons. A lot of fighting will be at range. You will not be able to melee the boss safely and passive heal all the damage it does. Weakness and chill will not affect raid bosses. The melee classes will require more healing than anything else, making the druid even more viable.

No I am looking at it through a lens of looking what other support builds are capable of, I think a lot of people here need to do the same before they start blindly praising this healbot spec.

Levetty.1279:

No, all it can do is heal. It has poor access to blind, no access to aegis or prot, can’t stack might or provide constant fury, nothing unique like alacrity, its projectile defense is straight inferior to reflects.

Only real advantage it has is it can still bring Frost Spirit and Spotter, things that are going to go out of favour due to what other classes can bring once hot launches.

Levetty.1279

And it won’t unless they change it to be able to do mroe then heal spam.

Natural Convergence

• Channel your celestial powers, pulsing cripple and slow. Once the channel ends, any foes still within its radius will be trapped by a black hole, immobilizing them.

Lunar Impact

• Call down a massive lunar beam to heal allies and daze foes. Combo Finisher: Blast

Solar Beam

• Fire a concentrated beam of light, damaging the target foe and healing allies inside of the beam.

Ancestral Grace

• Become a wisp of natural energy traversing to the target location. When you reach the target, heal nearby allies.

Vine Surge

• Send forth vines that immobilize enemies and cleanse conditions from allies.

Glyph of Alignment

• Damage and apply conditions to nearby foes.

Glyph of Alignment

• Heal and remove conditions from nearby allies.

Glyph of Equality

• Daze nearby foes.

Glyph of Equality

• Heal allies and recover from stuns.

Glyph of the Tides

• Push nearby enemies away from you.

Glyph of the Tides

• Pull nearby enemies towards you.

Glyph of Empowerment

• Increase outgoing damage of nearby allies.

Glyph of Unity

• Tether yourself to nearby foes. Whenever you take damage, deal damage to the foes tethered to you.

Druidic Clarity

• Becoming celestial avatar removes conditions from you.

Primal Echoes

• Reduces recharge of staff skills. Daze nearby foes when you swap to staff.

Celestial Shadow

• Grants superspeed and stealth to nearby allies when leaving celestial avatar form.

Natural Stride

• Reduces the duration of movement-impairing conditions. Your movement speed is increased as long as you have none of these conditions.

Ancient Seeds

• Striking a stunned, dazed, knocked down, or launched foe summons roots to entangle them.

Grace of the Land

• While you are a celestial avatar, your allies gain reduced incoming condition damage.

I understand that you dislike the Druid. You are completely entitled to your opinion and I respect it. But there is a difference between constructively criticizing and spreading misinformation, which you are doing in the bolded portions of your quotes. Misinformation is not helpful, and it will not aid Irenio as he attempts to balance the Druid based on player feedback in the coming weeks. It will make his life more difficult as he attempts to dissect the good criticism from the bad, and the longer it takes him to do so, the more likely we are to get an elite specialization that is not up to our standards.

You are free to constructively criticize the Druid’s skillset and all parts therein. You are free to claim there is too much healing in the Druid’s skillset. You are free to claim a glyph is underpowered, or the range on a celestial avatar skill is too low. You are free to give an alternative that you think will perform better. I encourage all of it.

But for now, I will politely ask you to not spread faulty information concerning the Druid and what it is capable of doing in its current iteration. Thank you.

TheFantasticGman.9451:

MusicMuse.5749:

I agree with everything you said, but basically what I’m getting at is that healing and coordinated support will be far more important in raids, and that druid will bring a lot of passive dps to the entire group

Say what? Did you just say a lot of passive DPS? LOLOLOL!! And no, healing in the form of blasting a water field is and will be all that’s needed. That’s done through coordination or, at least, situational awareness that a water field is down and needs to be blasted.

sam.4681:

I’m guessing druid is designed for raids only other than raid druid won’t do much in dungeon fractal or open world boss

It was designed for raids. That’s the only place it’ll see use.. that is until the raids are learned and we start taking the least amount of healing needed.

Yes I said passive dps, and you probably misunderstood me. I ment damage that is not done directly by the ranger but is a result of him doing something that enabled his party to apply that damage that would not have been possible if he had not. Yes, I realize that druid is not the only class that can perform like this, but he CAN do it so it should be counted. I never said that the druid was the only one that could be a party support either, but I do believe that they will be very good at it, hence why you would take a druid in your group. They have a ton of stuns and crowd controls that I believe will be good in add control situations and/or break bar bashing, along side everything else they can do. Nearly every skill and talent is multifaceted, that is their whole gimmick. While you are healing you are probably also dps’ing or cc’ing.

And no water fields alone will probably not be enough to keep everyone alive. Even if it is, the druid has that kind of stack and heal MORE than covered.

No, I understood you just fine, and I still laughed out loud.

TheFantasticGman.9451:

No, I understood you just fine, and I still laughed out loud.

Noted lol