Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction
Druid FAQ
by Alessar (c) 2001

Version: 0.9 (almost final!)
August 16, 2001

All commercial use and reproduction prohibited.
I only have a few skills to complete, and I hope you will find this 
useful in choosing your strategy for playing the Druid. Feel free to send 
your comments to: alessar@ignmail.com. 

The Druid

The new Druid character is incredibly popular, but I'm surprised to see 
that almost everyone who has something to say about the class focuses on 
the shape shifting abilities. I do not claim to be an expert on Diablo 2, 
but I like reading other people's ideas about skills and abilities, and 
play strategies, and since there hasn't been much posted yet, I decided 
to do this general commentary on all of the Druid's abilities.

Some statistical information is summarized here, and it is from 
Blizzard's official website, Arreat Summit 
(http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/druid.shtml)

                                 DRUID SKILLS

                                  ~Elemental~

Most of the Druid elemental skills have casting delays, in fact, most of 
the earth/fire spells share a linked casting delay. The fire spells 
usually have a larger area of effect and higher base damage than the wind 
and ice spells. However, most of the wind/ice spells are not delayed. So 
it is a basic strategy to unleash a powerful earth/fire spell and then 
switch to a wind/ice spell for a few seconds and snipe at the targets. 
Additionally, most earth/fire spells require a solid floor to cast on, 
and are useless on water areas or open space (such as in the Arcane 
Sanctuary), though bridges are perfectly fine. Elemental can be played on 
its own or mixed with Summoning, but is completely incompatible with 
Shape Shifting as you cannot cast Elemental spells when in Werebear or 
Werewolf forms. I believe Druids are unique in having a skill in this 
group which requires every other skill on the entire tab as 
prerequisites. Druids have no ability to use lightning, and only two of 
the Air spells are actually ice damage, the others being physical. 
Further, their only poison capability is via a summoned minion. This 
limitation in diversity is one of the Druid's two major limitations, 
however, I don't believe it's an unbalanced limitation.


*Firestorm*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 4
Damage: approximately 3.5xlevel+(1-4).  Per second. Fire. 
     At Level One: 3-7. At Level Twenty: 89-92.
Area of Effect: 3 trails of fire spray outward in a narrow cone.
Comment: This is the druid's cheapest spell but I don't think that its 
ultimate damage amount makes it worth pursuing. If it fits your combat 
style I don't think it would be bad to put a few points in this, but I 
only put 1 in and quickly moved on to Molten Boulder and other skills.

*Molten Boulder*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starting at 10 at Level One, increasing approx 
.5/level to 20 at Level Nineteen
Damage: approximately 10xlevel+(1-6). Per second. Fire.
     At Level One: 11-16. At Level Twenty: 205-209. 
Area of Effect: Wide straight line, slowly moving outward.
Comment: Pushes target back (not the same as crude knockback; the boulder 
slowly and constantly pushes the target until it cannot). The boulder 
explodes at the end for a small radius which is helpful for inflicting 
extra/final fire damage on the target. Incredibly useful for holding 
dangerous foes at bay, and devastating in small confined tunnels. In 
insect tunnels, for instance, you can simply unleash a boulder and slowly 
walk after it. Everything in your path will likely be completely smashed 
before it gets to you. 

*Arctic Blast*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starts at 4, increases 1 point every few levels to 
cost19 at Level Twenty.
Damage: approximately 7xlevel+(1-8). Per second. Ice. Continuous.
     At Level One: 8-15. At Level Twenty: 133-140.
Area of Effect: Thick jet, starting at 5.6 yards and increasing slowly to 
12 yards at Level Twenty. Movable; can be used to "hose down" enemies.
Comment: slows down foes, deals fairly big damage... an excellent skill. 
The combination of freezing and a continuous skill allows it to be used 
on enemies with lots of hit points. I found it worth taking several 
points in this. The damage boost is nice, the range lengthens a bit, and 
the mana cost increase is quite minor.

*Fissure*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 15 for 3.2 second sequence.
Damage: approximately 8xlevel+(1-10). Per second. Fire.
     At Level One: 15-25. At Level Twenty: 217-227.
Area of Effect: large open area, approximately a quarter to a third of 
the screen. Damage spots appear randomly, but the area is fairly well 
saturated by the end of the sequence. Moving foes are likely to hit a 
couple of the fissures, as it can't hurt your party. I often cast it on 
the ground right by me when I'm about to be swarmed.
Comment: casting this on the ground your foes are about to rush into is 
perfect. Also good on bridges. They will run in and take huge damage. It 
may not appear very effective in earlier dungeons but once used in open 
spaces the effect is appreciated. I found a single point to be quite 
effective all the way up to the Flayer Jungle, when I switched to 
Volcano. Interestingly, Fissure does more damage than Volcano, but has a 
slightly smaller area of effect.

*Cyclone Armor*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Increasing: 4+1/level, including Level One.
Damage Absorbed: 40 at Level One, +12/level
Area of Effect: Caster
Comment: It might seem at first glance that this skill is inferior to the 
Necromancer's bone armor, which is similar, as it "only" absorbs fire, 
cold, or lightning damage. However, the armor will last until it has 
encountered such damage, and can be incredibly useful if surprised while 
not wearing good resistance equipment. Actual usefulness will of course 
vary based on your equipment and play style. This skill would be really 
useful to shape shifters, but I don't think I'd waste a point buying 
Arctic Blast (the only prerequisite) just to have it. At least it 
persists until used, so if you do go that route you can cast it in town 
and then assume were form. If you find an item that bestows this skill, 
it would definitely be worth using it.

*Twister*
Level: Eighteen
Mana Cost: Fixed: 7
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air"). Stunning: 0.4 
seconds.
     At Level One: 6-8; steps up by 2 points per level (8-10, 10-12, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 66-68.
Area of Effect: Random. 1-5 Small tornados blast outward for each use. 
Comment: Not a highly damaging spell, and poor in confined spaces as the 
small whirlwinds will just go into the walls and be lost, Twister is 
great for quickly stunning large numbers of foes. Especially when those 
foes have just walked into the area of effect of a Fissure spell. With no 
casting delay, it's easy to literally barrage an oncoming horde of 
monsters, and then Fissure them while they're stunned. I don't think the 
damage is worth investing in points for, its main benefit seems to be the 
sunning.

*Volcano*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 25
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Fire.
     At Level One: 15-20; steps up by 4 points per level (19-24, 23-28, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 155-160.
Area of Effect: Random but large. Similar to Fissure but with a definite 
center point from which the fire erupts. Damage can thus spray into non-
land areas if cast adjacent, which is great for the river-lurking demons 
in Act III.
Comment: I like this as a replacement for Fissure. The use is very 
similar but it seems to me that where you place the eruption point is 
more likely to get hit by the lava, so you can target it a little more. 
Fissure might still be better when used defensively.

*Tornado*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air").
     At Level One: 25-35; steps up by 8 points per level (33-43, 41-51, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 273-283.
Area of Effect: Single Target/pulse in straight line. 1 large tornado 
streaks out to hit foe, grazing all in path
Comment: Unlike Twister, Tornado doesn't stun (pity, really). However the 
damage is pretty solid. For some reason, it seems better to aim behind 
your foe and let the Tornado do more collateral damage. I find, though, 
that I am still using Twister and only use this when I'm trying to beat 
on a specific hero. Since it has a nice range, you can use this from a 
"safe" distance.

*Hurricane*
*Armageddon*
forthcoming



                                  ~Summoning~

Druids have a variety of minions which they can call upon, but they can 
be categorized in 4 groups: Ravens, Nature Spirits, Vines, and Spirit 
Animals. Only one variety of each can be called upon at once, but in some 
cases multiples of that type can be used. For instance, a Druid may have 
up to 5 Spirit Wolves following him, but as soon as a single Dire Wolf is 
summoned, all the Spirit Wolves are dispelled as both are Spirit Animal 
types. The Druid minions, in general, are much tougher than those seen 
before. For instance, I had several Dire Wolves romping around in Act IV 
and not only were they living for quite a while, they were ripping into 
some fairly buff demons. 


*Raven*
Level: 1
Mana Cost: Fixed: 6 per bird
Damage: Variable, Level+(1-3); Uses: Level+11
Type: Raven (unique type)
Comment: Ravens are the most unique of all summoned minions. In a sense, 
they don't exist. They cannot be attacked, they cannot be killed. They 
are almost like floating damage. Unlike, for instance, skeletons, this 
means that no matter what Act of the game you are in, a raven will 
persist to deliver its payload, a few points of damage at a time. At 
first level, a single raven can attack 12 times for 2-4 points of damage, 
totaling 24-48 points of damage, for 6 mana. At 20th level, five ravens 
can attack 31 times for 21-23 damage, totaling 3255-3565, for 30 mana. On 
the downside, since ravens cannot be killed by melee attacks, monsters 
won't attack them, in other words, they won't draw fire from your 
character. Also, since they deliver damage via a melee attack-like action 
their attacks can be blocked (they usually do hit reliably); the upside 
is that they at least can get in the face of some monsters and slow them 
down. Since the number of ravens maxes at 5th level with 5, a typical 
user could deal 480-640 damage for 30 mana. A single point more leaps the 
damage range to 595-765.  Ravens, particularly coupled with the defensive 
powers of shapeshifting, could be a strategy in and of themselves. They 
are probably worth spending 5 points in even if you are not going to max 
out your skills in them.
     To test the possibility for this FAQ, I made a character who only 
put points into Ravens. With 15 levels of this skill, I must say that the 
ravens last a good long time and they have no problems killing anything 
in Act I. That includes Andariel, though I did have to run around the 
room for a bit and use potions while they were taking her on. Still, it 
left me free to throw Antidote and Rejuvenation potions onto my Rogue 
minion, keeping her alive. 

*Poison Creeper*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed: 8
Damage: Approximately 3*level+(1-3) Contagious Poison over 4 seconds
Type: Vine
Comment: The creeper is a very weak minion, with distressingly low life 
totals even with several skill points in it. The poison damage it 
delivers is not very high, however, poison currently prevents monster 
heal. The creeper is actually inflicting "disease" but just as "air" is a 
euphemism for "normal physical damage," "disease" simply is poison that 
can be passed on to adjacent monsters. I have not found it to be 
particularly impressive with a single point, but at least it draws fire 
and inflicts a little extra damage. In the later acts, poison might be 
more useful, but since my character has a poisoned weapon, I just haven't 
had any inclination to return to using it. Again, it's a matter of 
playing style, but I do think the Creeper's hit point totals are way too 
low.


*Oak Sage*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Variable: 14+level, including first
Effect: HP increasing aura: 25%+5%/level, including first
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Useful for free bonus HP as well as another target to draw 
heroes from your character. Like most minions, fairly easily killed but 
is much sturdier than the Poison Creeper. Compared to a Paladin's aura, 
the radius of the Oak Sage is quite high. Oak Sage combined with Werebear 
form can create a truly formidable "tank."


*Summon Spirit Wolf*
Level: Six
Mana cost: Fixed: 15 per wolf, max of 5 wolves
Damage: variable. 2-6 plus 1/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: These are probably the basic workhorses of summoned creatures 
for the druids. Each wolf starts with 35 life, and the first five skill 
levels each adds another summonable creature. Summon Spirit Wolf is a 
double-value skill. Each level of it adds a passive bonus to all Spirit 
Animals (including spirit wolves) which increases attack and defense %s. 
The bonus starts at +50% and increases 10% for each level thereafter. 
Consequently, if you place five points into this skill, whichever Spirit 
Animal you have active will have a 90% bonus to attack and defense!

*Carrion Vine*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore HP to the Druid. 
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (4% at Level One, 
reaching a max of 10% at Level Fifteen). Most of the benefit for putting 
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. I suspect the 
greatest use for this skill would be in fighting a Necromancer, as the 
devouring of corpses would hinder his ability to raise minions or use 
Corpse Explosion on you. I'm still evaluating the usefulness for a 
single-player game but I'm not impressed so far and neither are my 
friends who've commented on this FAQ. As far as I can tell, the health 
restored is, similar to the damage of Corpse Explosion, based on the hit 
points of the creature consumed, not your character, as I found I was 
getting less life restored with the Vine than I was with an item that had 
5% regeneration.

*Heart of the Wolverine*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 19+level, including first
Effect: Damage and Attack increasing aura: 13%+7%/level, including first, 
in increased damage; 18%+7%/level, including first, in increased attack 
rating.
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Wow! First, Heart of the Wolverine has many more hit points to 
start with than Oak Sage or the vines. It's much more durable. Its power 
is incredibly useful for yourself, your minions, and your party members. 
The extra hit points from Oak Sage were useful at lower levels, but now I 
think it's better to enhance the attack and kill your enemies quicker. 
Further, the bonus is a %, so the stronger your attack is, the more it 
will be enhanced.

*Summon Dire Wolf*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 20 per wolf, max of three wolves.
Damage: variable. 8-14 plus 2/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: Dire Wolves are definitely a good replacement for Spirit Wolves. 
Their innate attack damage is about double. Their base hit points alone 
are more than double that of Spirit Wolves. And like Summon Spirit Wolf, 
this skill also gives a passive benefit to all Spirit Animals. In this 
case, it's a hit point bonus, starting at 50% and increasing 10% per 
level after that. Thus with a single skill point in Summon Dire Wolf, 
your 35 hp Spirit Wolves will become 52 hp Spirit Wolves. With three 
points, 59 hp. You may wish to keep using Spirit Wolves until you have at 
least three skill points in Dire Wolves as losing 4 minions at once may 
be a little difficult to handle. 

*Solar Creeper*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 13+ 1/level including first
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore MP to the Druid. 
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (2% at Level One, 
reaching a max of 6% at Level Twelve). Most of the benefit for putting 
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. The druid has 
several skills to enhance his hit points and defenses, and no other way 
to increase mana recovery so the vine is potentially the most useful of 
the three, in that it can serve the double purpose of cleaning the field 
of corpses and restoring the caster's mana.

*Spirit of Barbs*
*Summon Grizzly*
forthcoming 


                               ~Shape Shifting~

One of the most unusual skill sets of all Diablo characters, Shape 
Shifting allows a druid to take the form of a Were Wolf or Were Bear and 
deliver devastating hand to hand damage. The one major drawback to this 
entire tab is that no Elemental spell can be cast in were form. You can, 
however, summon. Consequently, some people may choose to play a pure 
Shape Shifter, or a Shape Shifter/Summoner, but mixing all three tabs is 
definitely wasteful. This absolute inability to combine Shape Shifting 
and Elemental is one of the druid's two greatest limitations.


*Werewolf*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +35% Life bonus, 25% Stamina bonus, variable attack and attack 
speed bonus
Comment: The essential first skill of this tree. It is possible to start 
with Werebear at Sixth level, but a big mistake. Werewolf is the pre-
requisite to Lycanthropy, which is the passive/mastery skill for this 
entire tree. Werewolf form makes the caster faster, and increases attack 
some. 

*Lycanthropy*
Level: One
Mana Cost: None; passive skill
Effect: Life bonus +25%, +5%/level; Duration of Werewolf and Werebear are 
increased by 40 seconds, plus 20/level. 
Comment: The essential passive skill. You will want at least a few points 
in Lycanthropy so that your transformations persist a few minutes at 
least. Further, it adds hit points to you in both Werewolf and Werebear 
form.

*Werebear*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +100% Life bonus, variable damage and defense bonus
Comment: Werebear form will make you tough, hard to kill, and able to 
dish out a lot of damage. It may seem a bit slow and lumbering, but once 
you hit your foes, they'll feel it.  Basically focus on Werewolf if you 
want to make quicker attacks, and focus on Werebear if you want stronger 
attacks.

*Feral Rage*
(Werewolf form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Life Steal. Also increases 
walk/run.
Comment: The life steal % increases  in three stages, with each 
sequential hit (4%, 8%, 12% at first level). This is shown with a power-
up marker. Personally I found Maul to be more my taste; I didn't see much 
benefit from a single level of this ability.

*Maul*
(Werebear form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Stun.
Comment: Similar to the way that Feral Rage's life steal powers up, the 
damage bonus of this skill increases with each hit. At first level, for 
instance, it does +25%, then +50%, then +75% damage. Add in the ability 
to stun for 1.7 seconds or more and it becomes deadly. I found Maul an 
incredibly easy way to kill Andariel.

*Fire Claws* (Werewolf or Werebear form only) (adds Fire damage)
*Rabies* (Werewolf form only) (adds Poison damage)
*Shockwave* (Werebear form only) (area of effect Stun)
*Hunger* (Life and Mana drain but reduced damage)
*Fury* (Werewolf form only) (multiple attack technique)
Forthcoming
