Wind Druid Guide|Criticism Thread

[Noober]

(PVP) Wind Druid Guide
by Noober

05.04.05
v1.00

Introduction
What is a Wind Druid?
A Druid who focuses on the ‘wind’ skills in the Elemental tree for a well rounded character.

Why play a Wind Druid?
Great physical damage
Hurricane and Cyclone Armour!
Good for both PvP and PvM
Watch as FoH’ers cry

Why not play a Wind Druid
Can’t really think of a reason…Poison Necro’s might surprise you?
Some classes might require the use of less savoury tactics to defeat

Stat Placement
Strength: As will almost every PvP build, only enough for equipment. This includes charms (i.e. if you have an Annihilus). You have no other use of this stat. With Enigma, hopefully this should be (almost) at base.
Dexterity: Plan for max block with [Dexterity Required = (2*clvl*75 / Shield Block) + 15] your end game shield. Like strength, it is not worth investing for the Defence bonus or Attack Rating bonus.
Vitality: The effect of Warcry's + Oak Sage relies on your hp. Max this.
Energy: Base. You will not need more energy for PvP, use mana pot(ion)s.

Skill Placement
The Wind Druid relies on synergy’s for its skill ‘Tornado’ for his/her main damage dealing outlet. Similarly it relies on synergy’s for its elemental defence, Cyclone Armour.

Max the following skills in this order:
20 Tornado – Being your main skill, it is advisable to max it.
20 Hurricane – Both a synergy and an excellent secondary skill. Used mainly for stunning but also on occasion damage.
20 Cyclone Armour – Confers excellent elemental damage resistance in addition to being another synergy.
20 Twister – Your final synergy. Rarely used once the build is complete.
1-20 Oak Sage – Optional, and usually where all remaining points are distributed.

One-point wonders:
1 Summon Grizzly – Your tank/”meat shield”.
1 Summon Spirit Wolf – Not only a prerequisite to Summon Grizzly, but an brilliant skill for summon stacking, should you choose to.

Prerequisites:
Arctic Blast
Summon Raven
Summon Dire Wolf

Remaining points can be distributed between Summon Grizzly or the Vine/Creeper tree.
Total Points to complete build: 105 (Level 94 after all skill quests completed).
This figure includes maxed Oak Sage.

Equipment
- Skills and cast-rate are the main focus when deciding on which
Some things to note when considering equipment:
- Fast hit Recovery is an often neglected area which has caused the deaths of many Wind Druids.
- I would not recommend taking this build into the PvP field without the Teleport of Enigma.
- Fast Cast Rate (FCR), in cases, may be preferable to damage, but regardless, reach at least the 68% breakpoint.
- A Druid with 99% FCR will teleport at the same speed as a Barbarian with 20% FCR (usually from two rings, thereby not crippling the Barb in any great way)

Main Weapon
Heart of the Oak Flail (Runeword Ko+Vex+Pul+Thul) – An excellent, if expensive, weapon. The resists provided, the FCR of 40%. My preferred choice, and that of many others.
Wizardspike Bone Knife (Elite Unique Dagger) – Huge resists and 50% FCR. What else could you ask for? Mana? It has that too .
Doom Warspike (Runeword Hel+Ohm+Um+Lo+Cham) – Used mainly for the -60% resistance (and possibly Holy Freeze). Not recommended seeing as your main attack is physical. It also has the added disadvantage of slowing a Whirlwinder, resulting in you being hit more.
Earthshifter Thunder Mail (Elite Unique Mace) – Crazy requirements. Only listed for that wonderful +7 boost .

Shield
Stormshield Monarch (Elite Unique Shield) – Good block and the still godly damage reduction. Use this against other Wind Druids and melee (the exception being below). You could also strength glitch this item (i.e. use + Strength items to equip it, then use its own +30 Strength mod it hold it). I would recommend socketing it with a -15% requirements/+15% resist all jewel.
Lidless Wall Grim Shield (Exceptional Unique Shield) – Mana, skills and FCR. The only reason you don’t use this 100% of the time is because of its low block (do not max block for this shield, do it either for Stormshield or Whitstan’s). Not particulary expensive.
Sanctuary Large Shield (Runeword Ko+Ko+Mal) - Cheap, nice block, resists and fast hit recovery. Only placed in a large shield for the low requirements, you may wish to change to a higher block shield. Slow Missiles is EVIL however and is generally regarded as bad manners (you will understand when it is used against you!).
Whitstan's Guard Round Shield (from the Orphan's Call set) – Only for the block. Cheap too. Possible budget choice.

Weapon Switch
Call to Arms Crystal Sword (Runeword Amn+Ral+Mal+Ist+Ohm) – Plenty of extra life and mana, and +1 to skills . No other choice if you can afford this.
Lidless Wall Grim Shield (Exceptional Unique Shield) – Purely for the +1 boost to CtA.
Sigon’s Guard Tower Shield (From the Sigon’s Complete Steel set) – Cheaper then Lidless, but has higher Strength requirement. Doesn’t really matter which you choose to use.

Armour
Enigma Breast Plate (Runeword Jah+Ith+Ber) – The Teleport alone would be sufficient reason to make this the top choice, but not only that, it has a huge boost to strength and damage reduction. You may of course also use this in a Mage Plate should you have sufficient items that you require no points be invested in Strength. I honestly cannot think of a single other suitable armour for this build (which I might remind you is focused on PvP).
Skin of the Vipermagi (Exceptional Unique Armour) – Lack of Teleport puts it far below Enigma regardless of its FCR and resists. I personally would recommend this over CoH for its FCR.
Chains of Honor Archon Plate (Runeword Dol+Um+Ber+Ist) – This is strictly for the PvM’ers. It would offer no advantages over Enigma for melee dueling (unless you fight an Avenger or other similar weak PvP builds).

Helmet
Jalal’s Mane Totemic Mask (Unique Druid Pelt) – Though people may laugh at you for using a Shapeshifter helm, it not only gives +2 Druid skills, +30 all resists and +20 Strength/Energy, but also a wonderful 30% Fast Hit Recovery (FHR). When Shael’d, it alone will reach the 8 frame FHR breakpoint. Probably the only reason I make this first preference (over Shako) is probably my paranoia bought on by constant WW’er attacks!
Harlequin Crest Shako (Elite Unique Helm) – Classic greatness. Skills, mana, life and damage reduction. The +skills, being universal, will affect your Call to Arms (CtA) too (about 6% Life/Mana)!
Hierophants Rare Circlet of the Magus (Rare Circlet) – If you can get on with nice secondary mods (e.g. good resists, strength/dexterity, open sockets, mana/life etc.), then you have a godly helm. Hardest to get in the game, of course.
.08 Valkyrie Wing Winged Helm (Exceptional Unique Helm) – Not only does this helm have a GODLY +30% FCR, but it also has a GODLY +30% FHR and a GODLY +30% Fast Run/Walk. Only non-ladder though, and avoid the duped 123 (or 126/132 on West?) defence ones (or get them for half the price of a legit one). But honestly, they are probably all duped.
Gaia’s Magic [Druid Pelt] of the Magus (Magic Circlet) – Get with a natural +3 Tornado for highest possible pure damage.
Delerium [Druid Pelt] (Runeword Lem+Ist+Lo) – If you can get a non-magical pelt with a ‘natural’ +3 Tornado and then stick a Delerium on it, you have a good helm.
Ravenlore Sky Spirit (Unique Druid Pelt) – Generally reserved for Fire Druids, it is nevertheless suitable for this build.
Crown of Ages Corona (Elite Unique Helm) – Good with 2 open sockets and high resist, but the requirements are too high.

Belt
Arachnid’s Mesh Spiderweb Sash (Elite Unique Belt) – Top choice, bar none. Skills, FCR and mana.
Verdungo’s Hearty Cord (Elite Unique Belt) – Damage reduction (maxed with Stormshield) and life. You may choose to use this against melee.
Gloom’s Trap Mesh Belt (Exceptional Unique Belt) – Mana belt, no other significant features.
Thundergod’s Vigor War Belt (Exceptional Unique Belt) – Strength and vitality. Maybe lightning absorb/max resistance too?
Crafted Belt – If you can afford a godly craft, you can affor Arachnid’s mesh which is likely better.

[Noober]

Gloves
Magefist Light Gauntlets (Normal Unique Gloves) – +1 Fire Skills, 20% FCR, 25% mana regeneration. Cheap and hands down best.
Frostburn Gauntlets (Normal Unique Gloves) – +40% max mana!
Trang-Oul’s Claws Heavy Bracers (From the Trang-oul’s Avatar set) – 20% FCR and 30% cold resistance. Only against Cold Sorc’s, otherwise use Magefists.
Bloodfist Heavy Gloves (Normal Unique Gloves) – Hit recovery and life.

Boots
Classic Rare Boots – Most of these are dupes, but the godly affixes on these can’t be understated. Obviously if you dislike using dupes, don’t bother with these. But +50% to main resists and high stats can be quite enticing…
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots (Elite Unique Boots) – Strength, Vitality, Poison resist, hit recovery and repair durability (i.e. get an ethereal pair if possible).
Waterwalk Sharkskin Boots (Exceptional Unique Boots) – Dexterity and life. Increased maximum fire resist may also prove useful.
Silkweave Mesh Boots (Exceptional Unique Boots) – If, for some reason, you need the mana.

Amulet
Hierophants Crafted Caster Amulet of the Magus (Crafted Amulet (caster)) – The only way for an amulet to reach 20% FCR is through the caster craft and the ‘the magus’ suffix. Also very important is the +2 to Druid skills. Secondary (though still very important) affixes are resists/dual-stats. Extremely expensive non-duped.
Mara’s Kaleidoscope (Unique Amulet) – +2 skills and high resists. Even a little stat bonus. Don’t forget the +2 skills adds to your CtA.
Gaea’s Magical Amulet of the Magus(Unique Amulet) – Simple choice if all you are looking for is damage.
Seraph’s Hymn (Unique Amulet) – Not as good as Mara’s, but still good.

Ring
The Stone of Jordan Ring (Unique Ring) – Don’t expect to find one, but if you play non-ladder you’ll find thousands of dupes.
Ravenfrost Ring (Unique Ring) – If you don’t want to get frozen (remember, being frozen has no effect on casting speed and since you should be a 100% Teleporting Druid…).

Charms
x9 20 Life/5 Resist All small charms (duped)
x9 xx Life/x Resist All small charms
x9 xx Life/FHR small charms
x10 +1 Elemental Skills grand charm with Life
x1 Annihilus small charm
x9+ 15 Life/70 Mana bugged small charm (Is also duped as well as bugged. Very bad manners with Energy Shield, though a huge boost. Expensive too (9x 3/20/20 for a permed). USeast only.).

Resist Equipment (optional)
Monarch with x4 Ort/Topazes
Monarch with x4 Thul/Sapphires
Snowclash Battle Belt
Thundergod’s Vigor War Belt
The Rising Sun Amulet (VERY BAD MANNERED!)
Nokozan Relic Amulet
3 Socket Helm with x3 Vex/Ohm/Lo
Death’s Hand Leather Gloves (Death’s Disguise set)
Crafted Caster Belt with 10% Magic Damage reduction
x2 Raven Frost Ring
x2 Dwarf Star Ring
x2 Wisp Projector Ring
Griswold’s Valor Corona socketed with x2 Ohm or x2 Thul
Waterwalk Sharkskin Boots
Hotspur Boots

Strategy
The general idea is to buff with Hurricane, Cyclone Armour and Oak Sage then teleport within range upon which you will spam Tornado’s in their face. Add a little summoning, and you can easily run through PvM. In PvP you must then take into account the fact that they are trying to kill you too (after all, the damage PvM enemies cause is almost negligible compared to PvP!).

Some of the most important principles in dueling.
- You are the only caster that deals physical damage, meaning no absorb (with the exception of your Hurricane)
- The main purpose of your Hurricane is to stun. It also, being a buffing ability, allows for an instant attack, you will need this to stop defensively teleporting Sorc’s.
- Your Tornado can’t be blocked, but damage reduction does affect it.
- Namelock if you ever want to hit a Sorc and ignore everyone who shouts at you for “AA” (auto-aim).
- People may react far from kindly to a person re-casting Cyclone armour/summons.

Summon Stacking: Perhaps one of the most evil (and of course bad mannered) abilities in the game. Teleporting with (usually) 5 wolves on top of you will result in them being ‘stacked’ on top of you. Not only does this mean that that it is hard to aim at you, but they will also absorb attacks for you, even ones such as Blessed Hammers/Bone Spears/Bone spirits. Suddenly some of your otherwise hardest match-ups become easy.

Hurricane: If you really want to make Hurricane a threat on its own, use Doom. Not only will you now have a slowing and stunning passive attack, but it now deal decent damage (a base damage of about 2-3K) because of the -60% resist. The main purpose of this usually, however, is to force you opponent to use worse equipment (to make up the res) then actually kill them. Once again, beware of WW’ers as freeze does not reduce their attack speed!

Challenging match-ups:
Lighting Sorc: Generally the worst of the Sorc’s, but against Wind Druids, the only build that can both penetrate you armour and kill you in a single hit. The only ways to combat this is to be careful, summon-stack or be lucky (a 5-48,000 damage range certinaly helps!).
Fireball Sorc: It’s catching them that is almost impossible if they have 200 FCR. Don’t expect to touch a good one without reaching the 99% FCR breakpoint.
WWsin: The fact that you must get within range to deal damage doesn’t exactly help against a Bramble sin. Against a Ghost sin put some FHR so that they can’t traplock you as effectively. It is important to learn how to Teleport defensively well against these builds.
WWBarb: Perhaps your single worst match-up. The biggest challenge for a Barb facing you is dealing with a skilled defensively teleporting, summon-stacking, recasting Wind Druid. FHR is important!! Getting caught by a dual wielder is, suffice to say, not the best situation to be in. If you summon stack, a good Barb will try to separate you with Leap, so this will only get you a few lucky kills. If a Barb teleports in top of you, you can hit him with a Tornado or two before you teleport away. Also depending on how well he can whirl, you may be able to hit him with a few Tornados if caught in Dance of Death.
Hammerdin: Beating a experienced desynching Hammerdin without summon stacking is almost impossible. On the other hand, if you summon stack, losing is rather difficult. Generally teleport to their blind spot (directly below them), hope they get lazy, and spam away.

Example Wind Druid
The approximate stats of my Wind Druid with no pre-buff:

- 4.7K Life
- 912 Mana
- 6K Tornado Damage (7K with no max block and 68% FCR)
- 2.5K Hurricane
- 2.7K Cyclone Armour
- 75/75/75/17 Resists
- 50 (53)% Damage Reduction
- Max block
- 99% FCR
- 9 frame Hit Recovery

Additional Resources
Arreat Summit (items and general information):
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp
Skill Planner:
http://www.d2skills.com/
Character Tables:
http://www.d2tables.com/

Additional Notes
- The new Ladder Runewords will not be detailed due to the fact that I have not tested them yet.

Version History
v0.9 – All but strategy (half-completed) and example completed
v1.0 – Example build added

Additional Credits
C Elegans - For help with design/layout issues .

Please post any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism you may have.

-Noober

[Noober]

Post reserved for future additions.

And yes, half the equipment section is copied and pasted from my other guides.

[Grimar]

Thanks! it finaly came But i'm only playing PvM, so which would you recommend? have never played druid before.. Remember that i have to find all the items to, not trade them. but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Noober]

I also used my PvP setup for PvM, but you should focus less on physical damage reduction, and more on elemental resists. E.g. Sanctuary > Stormshield, CoH/Vipermagi > Enigma (though you might want to keep it for summon stacking) etc. Still focus on skills and FCR of course.

[C Elegans]

Excellent Noober! I sticky this in the Guide thread now, sorry for the delay, I have been extremly busy with my job (spring is research grants applications time).