Celtic Heroes

Hello people!

There are enough guides already in the lexicon section for us so that I won't have to go into great detail here but in this post I want to discuss how double attack works on druids.

I'll start by saying that I agree with most guides when they give you the 1:1 ratio of vit to focus. All druids will always rely on decent vit to compensate for low armour and decent focus for the fact they're casters.

So what's with the double attack? More importantly why would I choose it over another skill? Well let's talk gear.

Obsidian icon - Has 110 crushing, speed is irrelevant, requires level 60.
When I first started using double attack I actually had an Obsidian battlestave on my level 64 druid and even with low ability I noticed I had about a 500 damage reading. After ramping my ability up to around the 300 mark and adding a few mallach's pieces for strength (testing purposes only) I noticed it was at 350 damage. With extra str boosting pieces (nothing major just mallachs etc) I could get the damage up to 600. The issue I came across was that the battlestave is 2 handed. Then I realised there was an Obsidian Icon option which whilst sacrificing a wee bit ol' damage I could now equip an offhand with, potentially gaining either more damage or an additional effect. I noted down that with 150 ability and 5 strength with no boosts to anything I was at 230 damage.

Strength/Damage Based Offhands - This is referring to the Golden blades, Brands and Battleskewers etc. The purpose of this is to increase your damage (possibly with extra strength too) without actually having to sacrifice your original skill points or preventing you from easily switching back to your old self without the use of rebirths and alt books all the time.

Grimoires - Alternatively if you prefer you can pick up something such as a grimoire for the added focus bonus ultimately resulting in stronger skills rather than double attack damage. Whilst this is more comfortable for some people I wouldn't recommend it for the build we are trying to achieve.

Armour:
Goldsong set - I can really only recommend this if you are level 80 and have a full set. This will add damage, health and energy which is always a nice added bonus which is hard to argue with.

Silverweb helms - Again level orientated but there are some great level 70 ones. I personally had a lvl 70 one which, even though it was meant for rogues, I struggled to find much better.

Otherworld lux helms - Not really recommended due to the fact they cost so much for 50 damage extra.

Solstice/earthstone pieces - Some people argue that the armours are far too low for these to be of any use but a greater solstice helm I believe give 150 to health and energy and as a druid you already have low armour as it is.

How to use:

The idea of this type of build is that we aren't stripping much from what's already there and are only really adding to it. I'd expect you to still be casting lightning strike, storms touch and swarm only this time rather than waiting for 2 auto attacks before the next skill recharges you're going hit that bugger with a double attack and hit him hard. This guide really only stretches from 60-100 and I can't really tell you how where you'd be at every level however, with the help of skill rings I can tell you that by level 70 you will be using those skills constantly.

Order of attack (from my experience)

Lightning strike -> Swarm (if required) -> Storms touch -> Lightning strike -> Double attack

If you feel that the mob's health is low enough that swarm isn't needed id possibly bring double to second attack. Idea is to keep lightning first because it's recharged by the time the next skill or possibly 2 skills are cast.

I MUST STRESS THAT THIS GUIDE IS NOT FOR THE PEOPLE WITH NOT ALOT OF GOLD.

For anyone that plays druid they will know that storm, lightning and swarm alone can be an energy drain which is why this guide takes a lot of money.

Solid regens are recommended such as a hero rejuve for lighter levels with enough sigils to allow you to cast straight again for next battle with ease.

- Feel free to comment anything you've either noticed in this or when using a similar set up and ill edit accordingly.

I actually recomend and use double attack and auto-based builds for players looking to make a Druid alt, and use it in my own, however generally the requirements are far pricier than the standard spell-based build for newer druids (yet perfect for high levels looking to speed through the lower levels). Here are some notes:

1. Totems are slow. That's a given, and while they can have decent damage their DPS is heavily offset by the fact that, well, it takes a long time to swing it. If you are using dmg offhands or earthstone/solstice/DPS-auras, you want to have a substantial auto attack as well during the recharge times. So instead of solely using the obsidean totem, utilize a novelty weapon in the downtime (or entirely). I personally prefer the banshee blade until you get the warden totem, although the blade tends to have issues with allowing double attack with specific offhands. Also, strength doesn't seem to lend much aid to auto damage, and personally I prefer the attack and defense gains by prioritizing Dex (with just eniugh vit to get by). Being able to land 5 hits of 70 damage yields better results than landing 3 hits of 100 damage. And speaking of dex..

2. If they can't hit you, they can't kill you. Until you start leveling in OW, the majority of mobs do not use skills. I find that if you stock up on defense and utilize as much defense-adding gear as possible (barring the offhand), you can evade 70-90% of enemy auto attacks. If you go full out dex, max Bark and Nature's Touch (which seldom get interuppted due to your defense), then not only are you able to maximize your auto hits but survive most encounters without wasting time spamming touch or potions.

3. The bliss can't last forever. While it is great fun to whack connachts upside the head while they feebly attempt to properly aim an arrow, there comes a time when it simply is not effective anymore: Otherworld. By then, most mobs cast skills and the spell boosts from nature magic and focus overtake the artificial invincibility crafted through auto-based builds. Since dex doesn't help with evasions, and the DPS from spells is now greater than the DPS from autos, at around level 105-110 I reccomend switching to a magic-based build. You are welcome to hang onto the auto, but after that the mob resists and damage curves begin favoring Magic.

Hopefully this helped!

Are you suggesting to use any Str & would a Ymir totem work with this build?

Are you suggesting to use any Str & would a Ymir totem work with this build?

Ymir totem should work, although it ruins the possibility of an offhand. I personally liked the offhand blade and it's strength bonus.