New Druid here

[ChillyKoti.1928]

Hello,

I recently started to play Ranger and decided to go for druid.

I'm aiming more towards general PvE and Fractals.

I'd like to have some advices like which weapons could be good and what traits could have great synergy. Personally, I really liked Longbow, Greatsword, Sword, Warhorn and Staff, though I haven't found any Ranger weapon that I don't "like".

For stat, I thought about Zealot. Is this good? I thought about it because of the Power / Precision that still fits the ranger while the healing power seems to go well with druid.

I checked Metabattle, but I am truly seeking advices from more experienced players (Ranger mains for exemple).

Regards.

[Josif.2015]

Choosing your gear stats depends on the type of build you're aiming to make.

In open world and dungeons, play core ranger or soulbeast with berserker stats so that you'll be able to kill mobs quicker. You can play druid as a DPS build if you want to, but you're better off playing either core ranger or soulbeast. For weapons, use greatsword and sword/axe. I don't recommend using the longbow in dungeons and fractals because it's a very safe weapon, the majority of the skills can hit a single target and there aren't that many high damage, multi target skills.

In fractals, most druids play the harrier support build, at least the majority of them play it in tier 3 and tier 4. Zealot stats are alright I guess, but in my opinion if you want a cheap alternative to harrier stats, go with cleric. Cleric is one of the cheapest healing power stats matched only by magi stats. The reason why I recommend cleric is because it gives you power, toughness and healing power. Toughness is necessary for pulling aggro which helps out DPS professions with low health like elementalist, guardian and thief. Ranger already has medium health and you don't really need the vitality that magi stats give you. And finally for weapons, use the staff to heal allies, axe to stack might and warhorn to provide boons to allies.

[Excursion.9752]

Like Hoodie was saying going Harrier is not cheap. The main focus of a druid in fractals is might stacks and then healing. The more boon duration the better. Nothing will register after 100% so no need to over do it. Remember to check your boon duration AFTER you have popped your potions so you can see how much of a boost you get from them and how much you actually need/want. I like to mix healing gear (magi stats) into where I can once my boon duration is maxed out.

You will not be providing much damage for the group but you will be amplifying the groups overall damage. Once you see everyone has 25 stacks then pop your Glyph of Empowerment for the extra damage. One other thing to note is your position to the group is vital to your groups success. I like to be slightly behind the pack so that every boon I give will apply to everyone as well as the extra healing you provide with using staff 1.

Druid can be as easy or as complex as you want to make it and its fun to experiment with new things and techniques. Just remember being a druid comes with a lot of criticism. Every time your party wipes everyone is quick to tell you how bad you are even when most times it not your fault. Brush it off

I do not do much pve content outside of world bosses with my harrier druid so I can not comment on its effectiveness. You are not going to be a world beater with high damage with it but you should be able to sustain just fine. Just ends up in longer fights.

[ChillyKoti.1928]

I'll definitely take those advices in consideration. I already have almost all ascended harrier trinkets.

I'll definitely unlock soulbeast too.

Thanks for your advices :)

[DOPCFOUR.4207]

Great advice from the other guys, but if you're a stubborn bastard like me and want to play druid in open world remember you can swap out your more supportive utility skills like spirits, for something a little more selfish.Taking strength of the pack is always handy if no one is relying on you and if you're running verdant etching, like you probably are as a druid, glyph of equality is a nice personal stunbreak/aoe daze.Good Luck, friend always nice to see a new Druid :)

[Durzlla.6295]

@DOPCFOUR.4207 said:Great advice from the other guys, but if you're a stubborn kitten like me and want to play druid in open world remember you can swap out your more supportive utility skills like spirits, for something a little more selfish.Taking strength of the pack is always handy if no one is relying on you and if you're running verdant etching, like you probably are as a druid, glyph of equality is a nice personal stunbreak/aoe daze.Good Luck, friend always nice to see a new Druid :)

Building off of this post, going with a few shouts seriously helps for soloing,

and if you’re a monster like me who doesn’t want to change their build at all, you can still run all spirits and do fine in open world, especially post rework since it gives you more heal targets, so more CA so more QuickDraw CA5 for cleaving + WH4 QuickDraw.

I would highly recommend for solo spirit play though to drop Frost spirit for storm spirit since it’s active does damage and for solo stuff extra vuln is way more beneficial (since it’s you and pet) than the Frost spirit buff.

[VDAC.2137]

I mostly followed the recommendations on SnowCrows, Discretize for build. I use Harrier’s armor but my accessories are a mix of Harrier, Magi and Minstrel for improved survivability. I play my Druid in fractals and raids. You’d certainly want a different build (probably not Druid) for soloing open world. I used to just swap staff for longbow and otherwise rely on my pet for damage and even that is slow-going but with the upcoming nerf to pets, I probably won’t at all on that character.