Celtic Heroes

Last week there was a post in General regarding Nature Magic and new skills. (I'll edit this once OTM sorts the forums to provide a link. It is currently missing).

The discussion took on a few different paths (type of damage, type of ability, skill traits) but I'd like to pose a question to you about the skill traits/actual skills.

The skill trait path of the thread looked at two forms of skills: damage and buffs (heals were not discussed as far as I can remember).

Of course, we all want Spring of Life and Abundant Aura to be addressed, but my simple question to you is this:

If new skills were added to the Druid repertoire in Update 4, what would you most like to see?

Personally, there are a few skills that I think would be interesting additions for us. I admit they are based on my EQ experience years ago.

Yes, I am aware that we already have a slew of skills, but Druids are very unique: we can (need to) work with each other more than other classes can when involved in group fighting. Two Mages can max fireballs and not interfere with each other; one Ranger's sharp shot is not going to affect another, for example. Many clan Druids, however, discuss who will specialize in which Wards etc.

Three skills that I would like to see:

1. Thistle Shield: This would be a passive damage skill. Similar to Cloak of Fire, it would deal some damage to the mob each time the shielded person is melee attacked. Now that Shadow armour offers Druids a similar skill, it might be moot... but we aren't going to wear Shadow forever. It is also unlikely that a Tank would be wearing Shadow. Mages will probably not want to be outclassed, so I would be fine with a small amount of damage.

2. Energy Siphon/Energy Attack: This skill could go two ways, hence the backslash. One idea is that it would siphon energy from the mob, giving it to yourself. The other is that it would simply attack the mob's energy pool. Either way, it would deplete the mob's energy, making it less effective in casting skills.

3. Shapeshift: This skill would be a physical morph into something else, say a tree or a wolf. It would create a lessened aggro range, allowing Druids to heal with less ad worry. The effect would cancel if the Druid attacks something, and could cancel if the Druid walks/runs from the spot.

I personally feel number 1 and 2 are more like mage skills. I see druid as a healing specialist and mages IMO are the specialist in indirect damage and energy management. But I really love ur shapeshift idea. This could work similar to camouflage(ranger skill) or hide. Since druids have such a low armor and many times low HP, this would let druids travel to places easier.

Natures guard
Energy cost- same as natures touch or bark
Casting time- instantaneous
For 5-10 seconds the target is completely invulnerable to all incoming damage, secondary effects still go through ie, freeze from chilling grasp or movement speed reductions. Spell would only negate damage.
Cooldown time- 1-2 minutes. Need feedback on what you all think as far as a cooldown time. Needs to be long enough to not be op if multiple druids are in the fight.
Points in skill equal the level of player you can cast it on similar to spring of life and bolas progression.
Most all the MMO's and RPGs ive played had this skill, or one very similar. Works as a nice "oh $#|t" button. But not so broken that it could be game changing. Oh no! The tanks about to go down! Bam 5 secs of invulnerability. Hopefully another druid heals in that time. Just a nice little buff I'd like to see.

A multi target HoT would be nice to have for boss fights. A weaker version of embrace, possibly tied into the shapeshift idea i.e. the spell is only avsilable in tree form.

I also think if a shapeshift ability is added it should be a temporary buff you can pop to increase speed of heals/give you one or two more heal options. It should be used for when you need a quick healing burst.

I played WoW for many years, and both my suggestions are similiar to druid options from WoW.

1. Thistle Shield: This would be a passive damage skill.

For the record there is no such thing as a passive skill in the game at the moment, having said that I think there should be one implemented . If this specifically was created as a passive skill then I think changes would have to be made to other skills in the game (or at least require some thought) e.g. defensive spikes, cloak of fire

Postscript for readers who are unsure: a passive skill is a skill that does not have to be cast - however it must be in your set of skill slots otherwise it cannot become active. Source: experienced MMOer . (they have passive skills in other games I play/have played i .e. WoW)

Glad someone brought this up!

One skill I would defintely LOVE to see is....

PURIFY
-Removes ALL harmful effects/debuffs from an ally (rend, howling wind, maybe bolas...)
-uses the lvl system (like bolas,entangle, hide, camo, etc)
-Has a moderatly fast recharge time
-high interruption chance (so druids can only use for group bosses)


And while we are on the subject...

SHIELD OF DREAMS
-literally shield of bark but for elemental defense


Hope to see these two come into the druid arsenal soon

I personally feel number 1 and 2 are more like mage skills. I see druid as a healing specialist and mages IMO are the specialist in indirect damage and energy management. But I really love ur shapeshift idea. This could work similar to camouflage(ranger skill) or hide. Since druids have such a low armor and many times low HP, this would let druids travel to places easier.

Just to clarify, my main point of the thread was to get people to post ideas that (hopefully) OTM would see.

But thanks for your critique. I see your point in a sense. CH is set up that way. That being said, Druids are masters of nature. A thistle/thorn shield is simple another plant based skill. It is really no different (except in direction) than Vines. As for the Energy drain... in EQ it was a Necromancer skill. I felt it would work with the CH Druid, mostly because it is also a nature based concept. Druids would be in tune with the aura or energy of those around them.

For the record there is no such thing as a passive skill in the game at the moment, having said that I think there should be one implemented . If this specifically was created as a passive skill then I think changes would have to be made to other skills in the game (or at least require some thought) e.g. defensive spikes, cloak of fire

Ya, there are no purely passive skills. Fine. I can play semantics, if you like. My point was a one time cast, and let it ride... but you know what I meant. You are just being "that way." Sure... I'll change it to the following:

1. Thistle Shield: This would be a passive-aggressive damage skill.

You're right, though. There should be purely passive abilities that all classes can use.... ex. I think when one parries, there should be the possibility of a free return attack.

Id like to see some sort of dispel ability. As well as more boss spell addons I.E either enhance their own power 10 fold, or reduce the tanks power 10 fold. Makes druids have more work than just popping some spells and figuring out how long they need to wait

I would love to see a spell that acted as a shield and would prevent all incoming damage for a set period of time. It could last maybe 5 seconds? Another skill id like to see is an instant cast heal spell that would heal the target by a small percentage of their total health maybe? Not sure how it would work but just any type of instant cast heal spell.