12-05-2003, 06:58 PM
Just thought I would give an update on this build and the thoughts I have now from playing with the character.
Attempt 1: Hardcore with arctic blast
The plan was to max arctic blast, twister, tornado, hurricane, and cyclone armor. He ended up dieing to a fire enchanted Lister in nightmare. Mostly because of my own bad play, but I'm sure he probably would have had troubles getting through hell without dieing anyway.
Attempt 2: Hardcore with oak sage instead arctic blast
I decided to give in and not be a pure elementalist. I figured that the benefit of maxing oak sage would be more than the benefit of maxing arctic blast. This build was doing decently. He got up to the maggot lair in hell. I was soloing it and wasn't paying enough attention so a scarab killed me. Overall though I was pretty happy with how the build was going.
Attempt 3: Same as two basically, but with maxing oak earlier.
This one I have just started. Hopefully I will have learned to play a little more careful by now and so he might live longer than the previous ones. While playing Attempt 2 I did come up with some ideas though.
The first one revolves around the fact that I am using a defiance merc with all these builds. Since I am going for higher life, but no blocking I figure I will need the defence. This got me thinking about upgrading items that I end up using. If I use Vipermagi and Jalal's Mane and upgrade them to their elite version then I should get quite a defensive gain combined with the defiance merc. I could also use Ravenlore, but I think that I have a better shot at finding Jalal's Mane. So thats my first idea, to try and get as much defence as possible from the items that I use while still using the items that are best for the build.
The second one is about how much strength is needed for the build. I've come to the conclusion that the optimal strength is 118. This is how much you would need to wear an upgraded Jalal's Mane. It would be slightly more than what a Ravenlore needs, but I don't want to bet on getting one of those. This would also give you enough to be able to use a good variety of other items that you may run across (like the earthshaker).
The third one is about energy. Originally I had thought that about 50 energy would be a good idea. I've since decided that you really don't even need that. So I think that leaving energy at base for a wind druid is perfectly fine.
For some reason I am still resisting the idea of blocking on a wind druid. From the reading I have done, most seem to suggest getting max block. I am still of the opinion that putting the points that you would have to put in dex for max block into vit is a better idea. I haven't tried a blocking wind build though yet so I could be wrong. In the end though I just feel more comfortable with the idea of higher life and no block than I do with maxed block and lower life.
Anyway I just thought I would share some of the thoughts that I have currently on this build.
Attempt 1: Hardcore with arctic blast
The plan was to max arctic blast, twister, tornado, hurricane, and cyclone armor. He ended up dieing to a fire enchanted Lister in nightmare. Mostly because of my own bad play, but I'm sure he probably would have had troubles getting through hell without dieing anyway.
Attempt 2: Hardcore with oak sage instead arctic blast
I decided to give in and not be a pure elementalist. I figured that the benefit of maxing oak sage would be more than the benefit of maxing arctic blast. This build was doing decently. He got up to the maggot lair in hell. I was soloing it and wasn't paying enough attention so a scarab killed me. Overall though I was pretty happy with how the build was going.
Attempt 3: Same as two basically, but with maxing oak earlier.
This one I have just started. Hopefully I will have learned to play a little more careful by now and so he might live longer than the previous ones. While playing Attempt 2 I did come up with some ideas though.
The first one revolves around the fact that I am using a defiance merc with all these builds. Since I am going for higher life, but no blocking I figure I will need the defence. This got me thinking about upgrading items that I end up using. If I use Vipermagi and Jalal's Mane and upgrade them to their elite version then I should get quite a defensive gain combined with the defiance merc. I could also use Ravenlore, but I think that I have a better shot at finding Jalal's Mane. So thats my first idea, to try and get as much defence as possible from the items that I use while still using the items that are best for the build.
The second one is about how much strength is needed for the build. I've come to the conclusion that the optimal strength is 118. This is how much you would need to wear an upgraded Jalal's Mane. It would be slightly more than what a Ravenlore needs, but I don't want to bet on getting one of those. This would also give you enough to be able to use a good variety of other items that you may run across (like the earthshaker).
The third one is about energy. Originally I had thought that about 50 energy would be a good idea. I've since decided that you really don't even need that. So I think that leaving energy at base for a wind druid is perfectly fine.
For some reason I am still resisting the idea of blocking on a wind druid. From the reading I have done, most seem to suggest getting max block. I am still of the opinion that putting the points that you would have to put in dex for max block into vit is a better idea. I haven't tried a blocking wind build though yet so I could be wrong. In the end though I just feel more comfortable with the idea of higher life and no block than I do with maxed block and lower life.
Anyway I just thought I would share some of the thoughts that I have currently on this build.