Difference between revisions of "Druid Elemental Skills"

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Druid Skills Navigation
Years of study and a life lived in harmony with nature have provided the Druids a unique empathy with the world around them. These skills represent the Druids' ability to influence the forces of nature. Expertise in these skills allows them to strike at enemies from a distance, assault whole groups of enemies at once, and even protect themselves from the elemental attacks of others.


These skills were terribly underpowered when D2X was released, and remained that way for some time. The character was fun through normal, and could do some work in a solo game in nightmare, but these skills did not pack enough punch to be of any use in Hell. Several patches later, Elemental Druids can be played quite effectively, thanks to the extensive synergies woven throughout this skill tree.

Out of this entire skill tree, only Armageddon can be cast while in Werewolf or Werebear form.


Firestorm

Fire-storm.jpg
Casting Delay]: 0.6 Seconds

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: Firestorm is boosted by:

  • Molten Boulder: +23% Fire Damage Per Level
  • Fissure: +23% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: Wielding this ability, the Druid projects waves of molten earth that spread outward and burn a wide swath of destruction through his foes.

This is the same ground fire attack that Diablo uses (and you see the graphic as part of Mephisto's death animation as well) and it's fun to use for the Druid, but doesn't do nearly enough damage to be effective long term. This skill is tremendously damaging when Diablo casts it on Hell, since he gets many more fire streams then he has on Normal. If you are in close, you'll get hit by dozens of the streams, all of them doing moderate damage, and adding up to be enormous damage all at once. The Druid doesn't get additional streams like that, so even at very high levels this is no better than a very weak, short duration, moving firewall.

Mana Cost: 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Average Fire Damage Per Second
3-7 7-10 10-14 14-17 17-21 21-24 24-28 28-31 32-36 37-41 42-45 46-50 51-55 56-59 60-64 65-69 71-76 77-83 83-90 89-97

Molten Boulder

Moulten-boulder.jpg
Casting Delay: 2 Seconds

Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: Firestorm
Synergies: Molten Boulder is boosted by:

  • Volcano: +10% Damage Per Level
  • Firestorm: +8% Fire Damage Per Level

Effect: A fun skill to use, this one sends forth a rolling boulder of molten stone. You'll need to supply your own bowling pin sound effect. A burning patch of fire is left when the Molten Boulder explodes, dealing fire damage to a small area for some time.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost
10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19
Damage
6-12 6-12 10-17 14-22 18-27 22-32 26-37 30-42 34-47 41-55 48-63 55-71 62-79 69-87 76-95 83-103 90-111 100-122 110-133 120-144
Fire Damage
6-12 6-12 10-18 15-23 19-29 23-34 28-39 32-45 36-50 44-59 51-68 59-76 66-85 74-93 82-102 89-111 97-119 108-131 118-143 129-155
Average Fire Damage Per Second
11-16 19-24 28-32 36-41 44-49 52-57 60-65 69-73 79-84 90-94 100-105 111-116 121-126 132-137 142-147 153-158 166-171 179-183 192-196 205-209

Arctic Blast

Arctic-blast.jpg
Required Level: 6

Prerequisites: None
Synergies: Arctic Blast is boosted by:

  • Hurricane: +15% Cold Damage Per Level
  • Cyclone Armor: +15% Cold Damage Per Level

Details: This spell functions like a freezing Inferno, a sort of icy flamethrower that chills and damages anything it strikes.

The Druid can cast this for as long as he likes, pivoting and aiming it after the cursor, just as the Sorceress can. The chill time is quite long, so flashing targets with this will keep them slowed for a good duration.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost Minimum Mana Cost: 4
4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 16 17 17 18 19
Cold Damage Per Second
8-15 14-21 20-28 26-34 33-40 39-46 45-53 51-59 58-66 66-74 73-81 80-89 87-96 94-103 101-111 108-118 116-126 123-135 131-143 139-151
Cold Length (seconds)
4 4.6 5.2 5.8 6.4 7 7.6 8.2 8.8 9.4 10 10.6 11.2 11.8 12.4 13 13.6 14.2 14.8 15.4
Range (yards)
5.3 6 6 6.6 6.6 7.3 7.3 8 8 8.6 8.6 9.3 9.3 10 10 10.6 10.6 11.3 11.3 12

Fissure

Fissure.jpg
Casting Delay: 2 Seconds

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Firestorm, Molten Boulder
Synergies: Fissure is boosted by:

  • Firestorm: +12% Fire Damage Per Level
  • Volcano: +12% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: A sort of area firewall, this spell creates rends in the earth, allowing molten stone to seep to the surface and burning anything in the vicinity.


Mana Cost: 15 - Duration: 3.2 Seconds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fire Damage
15-25 21-31 27-37 33-43 39-49 45-55 51-61 57-67 69-79 81-91 93-103 105-115 117-127 129-139 141-151 153-163 165-175 177-187 189-199 201-211

Cyclone Armor

Cyclone-armor.jpg
Required Level: 12

Prerequisites: Arctic Blast
Synergies: Cyclone Armor is boosted by points in the following skills:

  • Twister: +7% Damage Per Level
  • Tornado: +7% Damage Per Level
  • Hurricane: +7% Damage Per Level

Details: This shielding spell is essentially an elemental version of the Necromancer's Bone Shield. It absorbs a set amount of elemental damage, but has no effect against physical attacks. The amount of damage absorbed isn't really big enough to bother with for most bear/wolf Druids though, especially with the enormous amounts of hit points those characters get.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Damage Absorbed 40 52 64 76 88 100 112 124 136 148 160 172 184 196 208 220 232 244 256 268

Twister

Twister.jpg
Damage Type: Physical

Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Arctic Blast, Cyclone Armor
Synergies: Twister is boosted by points in the following skills:

  • Tornado: +10% Damage Per Level
  • Hurricane: +10% Damage Per Level

Details: Each cast of Twister sets up a small tornado that stuns and deals physical damage to any enemies in the area. Twisters move semi-randomly once they are cast, and are best used in large quantities, killing enemies while your minions occupy them.

In addition to the damage this skill deals, it can knock back monsters, providing a sort of defense to the Druid, and giving him time to cast more of them before the monsters reach him.

The damage from Twister and Tornado is physical, just as if the Druid walked up and punched them. This is helpful on monsters that have an elemental immunity, but makes them worthless in Hell, where every monster has at least 50% physical resistance.

Mana Cost: 7 - Stun Length 0.4 Seconds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Damage
6-8 8-10 10-12 12-14 14-16 16-18 18-20 20-22 23-25 27-29 30-32 34-36 37-39 41-43 44-46 48-50 52-54 57-59 61-63 66-68

Volcano

Volcano.jpg
Casting Delay: 4 Seconds

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Firestorm, Molten Boulder, Fissure
Synergies: Volcano is boosted by the following synergies:

  • Molten Boulder: +12% Damage Per Level
  • Fissure: +12% Fire Damage Per Level
  • Armageddon: +12% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: A more powerful version of Fissure, the Volcano erupts from one point and deals substantial fire damage to everything in the vicinity.

Targets in the radius of effect from the Volcano take fire damage per second, but if they get hit or not is largely random. One monster can die immediately while another could last the entire Volcano with only minor damage. Where the little fireballs land has nothing to do with which monsters take damage; the graphical effects are just eye candy.

Mana Cost: 25
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Damage
8-10 8-11 11-13 13-15 15-17 17-20 20-22 22-24 24-26 29-31 33-35 38-40 42-44 47-49 51-53 56-58 60-62 67-69 73-76 80-82
Fire Damage
8-11 11-13 13-15 15-17 17-20 20-22 22-24 24-26 29-31 33-35 38-40 42-44 47-49 51-53 56-58 60-62 67-69 73-76 80-82 87-89

Tornado

Tornado.jpg
Damage Type: Physical

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Arctic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Twister.
Synergies: Tornado is boosted by points added to the following skills:

  • Cyclone Armor: +9% Damage Per Level
  • Twister: +9% Damage Per Level
  • Hurricane: +9% Damage Per Level

Details: An upgraded version of Twister, a Tornado is much larger and more powerful, but lacks the stunning effect of the smaller Twisters. Tornados can be paired with Twisters to add damage while retaining the handy stunning bonus.

The Tornado will pass through multiple targets and continue, but it has no knock back or stun, unlike Twister. Also like Twister, there is no casting delay.

The damage from Twister and Tornado is physical, just as if the Druid walked up and punched them. This is helpful on monsters that have an elemental immunity, but makes them worthless in Hell, where every monster has at least 50% physical resistance.

Mana Cost: 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 20
Damage
25-35 29-41 38-50 48-60 57-69 67-79 76-88 86-97 95-107 112-125 128-142 145-160 161-178 178-195 194-213 211-231 227-248 251-273 274-298 298-323

Hurricane

Hurricane.jpg
Casting Delay" 6 Seconds

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Arctic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado.
Synergies: Hurricane receives bonuses from skill points in the following skills:

  • Cyclone Armor: +2 Second Per Level
  • Twister: +9% Damage Per Level
  • Tornado: +9% Damage Per Level

Details: A howling storm is created around the Druid, dealing damage to anything nearby. Cast this and run near the monsters, putting them in the swirling band of damage.

This skill is devastating in small Normal difficulty games, but becomes more or less worthless in bigger games, other than as a sort of low-radius, damage-dealing, Frost Nova. Each Hurricane lasts for 10 seconds, with a six second casting delay. You can have two of them going at once for the last few seconds each time, or can cast a Volcano or other skill then, though you'll have to wait on the casting delay for it to run out before you can cast another Hurricane.

The outer edge of the Hurricane is about 5.3 yards from the Druid, and the inner edge is about 4 yards. You must keep monsters in the ring of wind to deal them damage; too close or too far does no good. This works best with minions to tank, once they engage the monsters you can run up behind them so the Hurricane is spinning right on top of the monsters, chilling and damaging them. Cast Tornados at the same time, for maximum damage.

Mana Cost: 30 - Radius 6 Yards - Duration: 10 Seconds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Cold Damage
25-50 32-57 39-64 46-71 53-78 60-85 67-92 74-99 84-109 94-119 104-129 114-139 124-149 134-159 144-169 154-179 166-191 178-203 213-223 233-243


Armageddon

Armageddon.jpg
Casting Delay: 6 Seconds

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Firestorm, Molten Boulder, Arctic Blast, Fissure, Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado, Volcano, Hurricane
Synergies: Armageddon is boosted by points in the following skills:

  • Fissure: +2 Second Per Level
  • Firestorm: +14% Fire Damage Per Level
  • Molten Boulder: +14% Fire Damage Per Level
  • Volcano: +14% Fire Damage Per Level

Details:: A bit like Volcano crossed with Hurricane, Armageddon is focused on the Druid and follows him around the screen, raining down fiery damage.

The radius of 5.3 yards refers to how far out the damage goes. The Druid is always the center of the radius, so from him out to 5.3 yards there are meteors crashing down erratically. This skill is hard to use since you can't really aim it. You want to cast it and move around the target (so you don't get hit), but while keeping any targets within the relatively limited radius of effect.

As hard as this is to hit things with accurately, and with it requiring more pre-reqs than any other skill in the game, the actual effectiveness of it is surprisingly low.

  • This is the only elemental skill that can be cast while in either of the Druid's fur forms.
Mana Cost: 35- Duration: 10 Seconds - Radius 5.3 Yards
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fire Damage
25-75 40-91 55-107 70-123 85-139 100-155 115-171 130-187 150-209 170-231 190-253 210-275 230-297 250-319 270-341 290-363 315-390 340-417 365-444 390-471