Treewarden Druid

Hi everyone,

it's been a long time since I played Median and back in the day I played a Pummel Treewarden with CtC Procs, so I wanted to play one again. Now Pummel got replaced by Thorn Strike and in the Patch notes it says "which hits multiple times". But it doesn't really "hit" anything. So CtC is not working? Also Mana on hit doesn't work either. I'm not sure if it's bugged or if it's intended and Werewolf is the new CtC on melee attack thing for Druid. At least when reading the set items it looks like it.

So what's the point of Thorn Strike? Just a filler skill? It does no damage, CtC on attack doesn't work, insane mana cost and Mana on hit doesn't work either (maybe leech? didn't test). Would like to know your experience and thoughts on this skill. I'm considering to try out Werewolf now, so hopefully I don't have to change too many items.

Thorn strike hits 6 times per second. It doesn't proc on attack skills because it's not a Melee attack (you can cast it from a range), therefore it also won't get mana on attack. Only mana/procs on striking, mana/procs on kill will work for it

Any skill that deals physical weapon damage will leech.

Wildfire will work with mana on attack and on attack procs.

Too bad. I liked Thorn Strike because I could target the ground. Wildfire dmg is nice but attacking monsters drives me nuts, especially when you move really fast

You have any idea how to make Thorn Strike viable? Would stacking elemental damage work?

DerLoki wrote:Too bad. I liked Thorn Strike because I could target the ground. Wildfire dmg is nice but attacking monsters drives me nuts, especially when you move really fast

You have any idea how to make Thorn Strike viable? Would stacking elemental damage work?

Get a Nimmen war axe and idol of scosglen/thorn strike will cause a proc fest.

I am not a good player personally but I really don't like the changes made to Treewarden. It was never a really good class to begin with, and now it feels even worse.

First of all, both Thorn Strike and Wildfire drain a lot of mana. Wildfire was always a bit mana costy, but its previous mana cost was nothing compared to what it is now, and pummel didn't cost mana at all, you never had problems with its mana cost not even at level 6. I don't really feel the damage buff for it either, I guess the mana costs overshadows it. The animation change for wildfire is good though.

Next, Thorn Strike. It's a whole different story. First of all it doesn't proc from melee attack. Secondly, it doesn't stun mobs as pummel did, and thirdly, it does much worse damage than pummel because it uses the slow attack animation which is really really cancer. It would be amazing if it used the fast attack animation, and then I wouldn't mind mana cost/no on attack procs etc. But really this skill is worse than pummel in every way possible, also it's area of effect is smaller than pummel as well.
The only "advantage" is that you can cast it from range. But that's really fucked up, you're a huge tree, literally the strongest-looking morph in the whole game and you're forced to stand behind and pew pew from range like some pussy, which is hilariously absurd. TW was always the class that immediately rushes to mobs, and the faster you reach them = the better (because of pummel stun).

The other thing I find completely absurd is that you can kill fire immune mobs faster with WILDFIRE than with Thorn Strike, because of the fast attack animation, without even using Mythal or having any pierce etc, it's very absurd imo.

Anyway to conclude I think Treewarden became even worse, while it was never really that good to begin with. I am not complaining or mad by the way, I really like the new patch but I just feel this change was completely wrong. IMO bring Pummel back or give Thorn Strike the fast attack animation and it'll be alright.

Concerning mana cost: I played a wildfire treewarden (maxing wildfire) and used

Earth Song

Earth Song
Hawk Helm (4)
Defense: (54 - 63) to (79 - 92)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 4
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 10
5% Cast Speed
+(11 to 15)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(21 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(11 to 15)%
Cold Resist +(11 to 15)%
Poison Resist +(11 to 15)%
+(8 to 13) Mana after each Kill
Socketed (2)
Defense: (211 - 238) to (276 - 311)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 22
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
10% Cast Speed
+(16 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(51 to 70)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Poison Resist +(21 to 25)%
+(18 to 23) Mana after each Kill
Socketed (2)
Defense: (513 - 570) to (658 - 731)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
15% Cast Speed
+(21 to 25)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(71 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Poison Resist +(31 to 35)%
+(28 to 33) Mana after each Kill
Socketed (3)
Defense: (788 - 908) to (1004 - 1157)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 48
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
20% Cast Speed
+(26 to 30)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(91 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(36 to 40)%
Cold Resist +(36 to 40)%
Poison Resist +(36 to 40)%
+(33 to 38) Mana after each Kill
Socketed (4)

Never had any problems with mana. Even if you still have some problems you can still use

Pollice Verso

Pollice Verso
Gauntlets (4)
Defense: (48 - 54) to (90 - 102)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength: 28
Item Level: 19
4% Chance to cast level 3 Time Strike when Attacked
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(7 to 10) to Strength
+(6 to 10) Life after each Kill
+(6 to 13) Mana after each Kill
Requirements -8%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (216 - 239) to (333 - 369)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 52
Item Level: 36
8% Chance to cast level 5 Time Strike when Attacked
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(12 to 16) to Strength
+(16 to 20) Life after each Kill
+(21 to 28) Mana after each Kill
Requirements -16%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (583 - 635) to (854 - 930)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 165
Item Level: 59
12% Chance to cast level 7 Time Strike when Attacked
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(18 to 24) to Strength
+(26 to 30) Life after each Kill
+(36 to 43) Mana after each Kill
Requirements -24%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (875 - 946) to (1274 - 1378)
Required Level: 52
Required Strength: 296
Item Level: 85
14% Chance to cast level 8 Time Strike when Attacked
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(25 to 30) to Strength
+(31 to 35) Life after each Kill
+(43 to 50) Mana after each Kill
Requirements -32%
Socketed (4)

to get along.

So just to be clear. You like thorn strike if it attacked faster (hello attack speed bonuses on gear?) but you complain about not getting mana on attack to work with it at a slower speed, meaning you'd run out of mana even faster.

Thorn strike also has a better range than pummel did. You can control the range and width depending on where you keep your mouse to click. If you are targeting close to the TW, the thorn field spreads out wider (almost 180 iirc), if you aim further away, it becomes more of a linear projectile.

There shouldn't be a problem to sustain Wildfire. If you don't want to use items that have Mana on hit or Mana after each kill just use some Mystic Orbs.

I also noticed that I kill fire immunes faster with Wildfire than Thron Strike.

Anyway I will give Thorn Strike another go when I get some "on striking" effects. If it's still bad I will try out WW.

Edit:

Natha

Natha
Druid Helms
'GulEl'
Runeword Level: 65
4% Chance to cast level 2 Arrow on Striking
20% Attack Speed
50% Hit Recovery
(31 to 50)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(58 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+5 to all Attributes
Physical Resist 10%

might be a solid Helm for Thorn Strike. But not sure if this alone would be enough. Anyone knows how much dmg the Arrow thing does? I think I will wait until I find a

Nimmenjuushin

Nimmenjuushin
War Axe (Sacred)
One-Hand Damage: (98 - 110) to (221 - 284)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 464
Item Level: 105
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
8% Chance to cast level 10 Claw Tornado on Striking
+(4 to 5) to Druid Skill Levels
+12% Bonus Damage to Mark of the Wild
(151 to 175)% Duration Bonus to Mark of the Wild
30% Attack Speed
50% Hit Recovery
+(101 to 150) to Maximum Damage
(8 to 15)% Life stolen per Hit
+(115 to 140)% Enhanced Damage
(21 to 30)% to Strength
Requirements -20%
Socketed (6)

DerLoki wrote:There shouldn't be a problem to sustain Wildfire. If you don't want to use items that have Mana on hit or Mana after each kill just use some Mystic Orbs.

I also noticed that I kill fire immunes faster with Wildfire than Thron Strike

This is because wildfire is a physical attack that spawns the fire from the target. It's also the reason people wonder why they're not getting mana on attack back from wildfire since you still need the attack rating for the initia physical hit to gain that mana on attack. Same reason for on attack procs with wildfire