Druid minions discussion

PC General Discussion
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With all the necro minions hype i cant help but wonder when we are going to get a rework of the druids minions. I like that wolves are getting better alongside the necro minions. However, they really dwarf in comparison and I was hoping the dev team could find ways to make them truly viable. I assume im in the minority here but I think that kind of druid/beast tamer fantasy is insanely cool and would be a lot of fun if things such as the bear from D2 were added into the game. That or add an entirely new kind of companion to the game. (sabertooths/other big cats - or something like Ents or tree spirits) I plan on trying out the wolves for the new season even if they probably wont be viable. I know that I may be one of few that want this kind of change. Id just like to see the druid have fun minion playstyle like in d2! If anyone else has fun ideas I would love to hear it.

EDIT-
So, I have tried running this build and its honestly not performing well compared other builds on the druid. I have stacked as much damage tempers and gotten so many extra skill points and I agree its waaaaaay stronger than it used to be. The issue is more that the companions need to be reexamined and expanded upon if you compare them to necro minions. I had a better time with them than I initially thought I would with the build. it got incredibly boring and the issues of the build shine through. I have tried both the necro and the druid and the difference is night and day. The companions need to be better passively without having to use a glyph.

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Druid minions got a massive buff with Tempers. You won’t be some zookeeper, but on PTR they were vastly better than S3.

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Missing a Bear companion I guess, but still it is hard task to flex the two systems together. I personally also evade the summoning skills on the druid. This is what we got from the fact that every skill has to be viable option to stay on your action-bar… d2 you cast summon, two and forget, now you need to hold it.

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I’ve been keeping up with most of the changes and I agree! I think the wolves will be fun to try out this season so im giving it a shot! I really like that they gave them a massive health buff and how they will scale 100%! (very needed imo) I think that necro minions just have waaaayyy more love poured into them. Multiple forms and skills built into how the class plays and then affixes to augment their power and numbers is awesome! I’d just really love to see that kind of system implemented for the druid!

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I hate the term “viable”. It’s simply not a valid descriptor when players use it. Viability is a comparison, innately. Viable for what? Without that comparative, the term is meaningless.

Furthermore, given the dynamic of D4, you’re not slotting 6 active core-type skills. Many Druids for instance, take Cyclone Armor, simply for Damage Reduction. Having 2 Campanion skills isn’t unheard of, especially considering they offer passive damage/buffs and have an active component.

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Viable in a sense that i can clear endgame content with them and not take 30 mins to beat a single dungeon

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There’s Tempers that massively decrease the cooldown of Wolves, and two that increase damage. Up to 180% for Wolves specifically, or 90% for All Campanions. There’s also one to grant 18% Wolves Attack Speed, but I don’t see this being used with the 100% stat carry.

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Duude. Druid companions are ACTUALL SKILLS. You can rank them up to oblivion. They also have tempering affixes related to them. They might not have many aspects and paragon and glyphs and so on. Necro minions are way more handicaped in that regard. That is why they are getting so many buffs, and are also a class mechanic.

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I didnt know about the cooldown reduction so thanks for telling me! I dont see the attack speed being used either. Thanks for the info!

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Apparently you can temper Ravens attack speed now so I have a lot of questions now.

Is the raven’s attack speed for their passive or only their active?
Can they now benefit from the attack speed of bestial rampage when using the aspect that allows pets to use it? If so can poison creeper also benefit from attack speed now?

Theres a tempering for Psn creeper duration and I have to ask is this only the duration of their active? or will it also increase the poison duration of their passive attacks?

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I agree that the wolves being an actual skills helps them out a lot! I agree that the minions absolutely needed a buff as well. Not trying to bash them! I just couldnt help but thinking about the wolves since the talk all over my youtube feed is how good the necro minions are going to be this next season. Id like to see some genuine improvements to the supporting affixes and some more augmentaion of the wolves skill and maybe have another skill added for another companion that scales 100% as well. I think they are treating the necrominions great! I just would love to see similar treatment for the other class with minions

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I didn’t test specifically, but I would assume it’s the Passive component only. The Active deals damage over 6 seconds, like a DoT.

Yes, but I’d assume again thst it’s the Passive attack speed.

Creeper (and all pets) always benefited from attack speed, it was just such a low number as to not matter.

Not sure, I didn’t test that one specifically. I would assume both as it poisons on both the Passive and Active.

I can tell you that I personally think Wolf/Companion with Poison/Lightning will be massively strong. You’ll get some nice multipliers on both Poison and Storm skills, as well as Rabies. Wolves and Creeper will spread everything nicely.

Claw/Rabies/Wolf/Creeper/Raven/Shred

Raven might be dropped for Cyclone Armor, or Roar. There’s a Temper to increase size of Cyclone Armor, but with a cap of 100%, I’m not sure how useful that will be.

Uniques: Staff of Crone, Mad Wolf, Storm’s Companions

Prior to getting Crone, a 2H with the +1 Companion Aspect might be good, as it goes to +2.

Aspects: Might, Blurred Beast, Metamorphosis, Virulent, Alpha, Stampede

There’s another Aspect (I forget the name) that increases damage based on the number of companions.

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Don’t get me wrong I would love to see Druid companions improived by more aspects, a paragon board, glyphs, uniques. If necro minions were a skill on the skill tree, their story would have been different. Or more like similar to druid companions.

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The Sheperd’s aspect.

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One of the best aspects for Druid if you know how to get the most from it. Currently running a pet build on Eternal, no extra powers, and I am not struggling with my pets at all…(yet? @~NM78, still leveling 3 glyphs to 15, yeah I started with a Pulverize Build so only 3 over 15 currently)… And to think they will inherit 100% in S4. It’s gonna be crazy.

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This isn’t true. Ravens and creeper did not benefit from the attack speed portion of bestial rampage in anyway, but wolves always have. Even on season 3 currently the passive portion gets no benefit at all.

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Druid pets are overpowered in s4 if you know what you are doing. While they might not hold up in the pits, anything before t100 and especially the leveling will be extremely easy. Its going to be the best leveling build once more people understand how easy it is to cheese capstone dungeons with them.

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i love the arguement that druid summons are skills… that still do less damage than necro summon auto attacks…even after these so called awesome temperings that druid has access to that necro doesnt…

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I just made it to WT3 on my Druid, but the Ravens are the hardest hitting skill right now for my char and I think it is hilarious. There was a temper for raven damage and one for the size of effect. My two handed weapon gave me an extra companion plus more damage too. Didn’t mess around too much with tempers bc everything I have is low level right now.

For getting to WT3 and level 50 it has been a LOT of fun using it. That’s all I ask of a game. Fun. Nevermore, Demons!!

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Running a level 80ish summoning druid, I find myself dying more than my minions LOL. I know gitgud. Problem really is speed clear, when Helltides dump all demons on you or against the blood maiden, the wolf AI becomes unresponsive and tends to wander even when clicking the active. That is the main problem atm. Against bosses the companions are fantastic.

With Yen’s blessing, I can almost get 3 creeper actives one after another (with timing) . Maybe we need a unique that allows for casting free companion actives to help with the clear or a unique for the raven with earth or storm elements.

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