I really enjoy both the arcanist and shaman classes on their own and am interested in trying a Druid. I was wondering if anyone would mind posting a grimcalc of what they are currently using, or what you think would work. Melee, ranged, makes no difference to me. I like the idea of cold/lightning style play but am unsure how to piece one together, in the hopes of Ultimate gameplay. I don’t see many guides around on the Druid and was wondering if it was for good reason.:eek:
Hi, I currently playing a Druid but only at L30.
Using greater Ice spike as my default attack and Trozan Sky Shard. From the Shaman tree I will utilize Wind Devil with Raging Tempest to lower enemy resistance. Devotions are/will be Tsunami and Amatok, maybe Tempest too.
Something like this: http://grimcalc.com/build/8vOFDr
or like that for more stats: http://grimcalc.com/build/icUPr9
Downsides are enemies with frost resi 
(no Wind Devils yet) but overall damage is quite high. The Ice Spikes hit for alomst 1K, with high cast speed and 100% pentration that’s more than enough at the moment.
i could show you my build but its not that easy to play cuz its a glasscanon (miss 1sec and u will die in bossfights on elite/ultimate)
i called this build AoE (Aether of Elements) :rolleyes:
Why ?
its based on Aether & Element dmg and has a huge amount of Aoe so its the best name for the build ^^
looks like that:
mainattack only
everything u have
Ranged Primal Strike would probably work pretty well. Other than that, I’m in the same boat as you, trying to figure out how to cobble something together from the aetherstorm set archetype that wouldn’t die to a stiff breeze. There’s not much skill points to go around if you want everything, and what’s there doesn’t always synergize well.
This is what i’m running at the moment. although, without defensive devotion choices and only being level 42, but it works realy well with a 2 handed ranged weapon.
I’ve played my Druid more than any other character. Here’s what I got at level 85. Keep in mind that with with +skill items, those skills that I pulled points from get brought back to full rank. The points get stretched kind of thin, but it’s worth it.
I will share with you my build (devotions & skills). I am only level 30, but it is a good start.
LINK: http://grimcalc.com/build/hPOfgD
basically you “fire & forget” and run around dodging anything that would try to hit you.
The 3 main skills that I am currently using at this level are the following:
Storm Totem (Devotion: Tsunami)
Wind Devil (Devotion: Amatok the Spirit of Winter)
Lightning Storm (from the relic: Squall)
I’m not sure how this hasn’t been linked yet.
Look up Zappa’s Stormcaller guide. I’d link you right to it, but I can’t drop links yet, I think.
Edit: Ok here you go: http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26367
So, is the Trozan set strong enough to make a cold/lightning damage caster druid playable (i.e. is the single target DPS embarrassingly bad?)
How does it compare, damage wise, to other caster builds?
Picking out devotions is also tricky. I can see an argument for going towards the blue/red to pick up Hourglass/Tempest/Amatok; or towards green/purple for Leviathan/Elemental Seekers. Though, I have no idea how good any of these devotions are in practical context for damage.
Could also go for a hybrid of the 2 approaches:
http://grimcalc.com/build/Y7rXVKP
No Seeker or Hourglass, but fits almost all of the dedicated cold/lightning devotions.
Trozan set Druid, ie, TSS + WD + ST Druid, is strong and fun against large number of mobs and heroes. Even with my devotions focusing on defense (to reach 10k HP and ToL), Cold and Lightning are still around 1300%. It’s clearing speed is faster than most casters, but its single target DPS suffers, especially against Nemesis. It took me several mins of kiting + Mirror to kill Fabius (with 25/4/14 TSS, 26/16/14 WD, and 16 ST).
The problem is not the lack of damage multiplier, but rather the lack of various resist reductions. Druid only has WD or Elemental Storm (Rhowan’s Crown), and they don’t stack. You can add Black Star of Deceit, but that’s about it. On top of that, the trajectories of TSS is hard to predict, it’s almost impossible to aim and hit a single normal size enemy, let along hit “Unseen” while kiting. ST’s damage potential is terrible too, it takes too long to deploy all 3 totems, and their damages are too inconsistent to depend on (mine have something like 1000-3900 per totem). The other “minor” problem is Reckless Tempest and Blizzard require Crits to proc, but Trozan set and other Cold/Lightning equipments offer no OA to start with.
IMHO, it’s enjoyable to see all those procs (3 Sky Fragment, 2 Falling Skies, 1 Fallen Comet, 3 Reckless Tempest, and 3 Blizzard) wiping the screen, but the lack of single target DPS and no Life Steal (no % weapon damage) make Trozan set Druid inferior than other Top-tier casters (like CT Sorcerer, Vitality Conjurer, and Chaos Pyromancer).
Meh, I was afraid of that. They really need to fix that, perhaps a buff to Storm Totem for single target DPS or something. That skill is kind of trash, even with 3 the damage is bad (my Vitality Conjuror only uses it with the transmuter because I’ve got literally no where else to spend points on, no idea why I even bother casting it).
Well, I suppose one could still do an airstrike style build with Warpfire and a Sorcerer build. Fire Converted Torzan, Herald of the Apocalypse, Ulzuin’s Torch, Annihilation Relic, Devastation.
Sad thing is, I don’t think that build would use a single Torzan’s purple item despite Torzan’s Shards being the primary attack.
I don’t think it would either, but I think it’s be pretty decent regardless of that factor and you could always make an effort to stack +arcanist gear. I’ve run a similar build but w/o the converted TSS and it is pretty good. Also +1 totem is useless sack o shit
Trozan’s set is strange in that it actually buffs wind devil better than TSS.
PS Black Star of Decit shouldn’t stack with reckless tempest. You need to use something like Tome of Names or Arcane Bomb devotion to up your resist piercing.
Aye, my bad, so that’s why I was using BoM…:o
I just finished Ultimate with my TSS spellbreaker. Night’s Chill is great resist reduction and Wind devil doesn’t stack with rowan’s crown, so I think Spellbreaker is actually better than Druid. 10 sec cd on 3 sec duration mirror, plus 18 sec cd on 3 sec duration blade barrier as well as 5 sec cd on pneumatic burst make the char deceptively tanky despite low hp (7700).
From looking at Nightblade tree, I suppose yeah, you could do a Torzan caster build with that. Just feels wrong, though. Too much stabby going there for a proper caster feel.
i wanted to try the exact same build - being a Stormcaller in Grim Dawn looks like a lot of fun 
but i was wondering about what do you use as main attack. i assume it’s a caster setup (caster weapon + off hand) but i don’t know what’s the best choice as auto-attack replacer ?
if anybody has an idea i’d be glad to hear it 
Component skills are great for caster LMB. Try the lightning nova from Amber.
ty you for your reply, i thought about that skill but for some reason i believed it was a cooldown skill. that said it’s a melee range skill so it may not be the best choice for a caster :undecided:
Deathchill Bolts would be a better fit for ranged caster. It slows, has chance to freeze and pierces through enemies.