Unipuma's Dryad Guide (for lazy rich people)

[Unipuma 0]

Aim of this setup:

Ranged fighting with flee option, lots of +attack, little defense, anti-micromanagement, item-finder.

 

 

Overview

Skills

1: Ranged Weapons

2: Tactics

3: Perception

4: Concentration

5: Spell resistance

6: Armor lore

7: Caba Voodoo Focus

8: Nature Weaver Focus

9: Speed Lore

10: Bargaining

Combat Arts

- Forest Flight

- Tangled Roots

- 3 Buffs

Weapon

Poison Blowgun

Fire Blowgun

Pet

Spider (insect head)

Mount

Monitor Lizard with Nature Weaver Buff

 

 

 

In Depth (aim of setup)

 

What was the aim and why?

My initial thoughts were to make a badass Shadow Warrior. But, I needed gold and items for that build. Shadow Warriors have no Bargaining and the Enhanced Perception is in de second half of the tree, so that would cost a wasted 'Blacksmith' skill or something.

I came up with following solution: make a Dryad build only for the gold and the items, with Enhanced Perception and Bargaining as her main skills. Play with Dryad, do the quests a bit and then put all the good loot in the shared chest so I can use it with my SW.

 

What went wrong in the first idea?

In short: the Dryad kills MUCH faster than the SW

 

Now what?

Ok, stay calm. We stick with the plan. Keep focussing on item-finding. But now we need to make sure the Dryad stays alive, not just cannonfodder that has 300 deaths to her name. We do that by focussing on killing stuff before it reaches her face. As soon as it's in her face we run like mad.

 

Riight.. and what was that about anti-Micromanagement?

Ok.. let me say: I HATE micromanagement (MM from now on)

I'm lazy, I dont want to go to inventory in the middle of a fight, pick the right Shrunken Head, click combo 1 or combo 2, swap weapons etc etc. Seriously, my brain can't handle that as I'm already watching Knight Rider on TV, pet my cat who's on my chest, eat the chocolate thats on my desk (melting), and also talk on the phone. No way I can handle another thingy beside that.

The thing is: this game needs buttloads of calculating to get an optimised build. Problem is, there is no way to take out learned Runes or Skillpoints. How is a level 20 person gonna make a build that also has to work on level 200? Imho: NOT.

Some people have the time and luxury to restart builds over and over but I have not. (Well I do but I can't be bothered to redo all the missions)

 

Yeah so whats the solution?

For me it's easy: ALL Combat Arts stay at level 1, except the 3 Buffs. Max those out to level eehh 500?

 

Wha.. whyyy:)

First of all: I'm not gonna use my Combat Arts to kill monsters. I'm gonna focus on my weapon for killing. Make it 100% to hit, critical every shot. By not having to watch and calculate all the other Combat Arts it makes gameplay very easy. Nothing to combo, not having to worry that raising Sinister Predator will make your Forest Flight reload-time 4 kazillion seconds (effectively rendering it useless in long fights).

But if all Combat Arts stay at 1, the Combat Arts we ARE gonna use (Forest Flight and Tangled Roots) still work even if you have 3 buffs on at level 50 (giving you +350% time penalty on Combat Arts)

 

I'm not gonna read long answer, say it shorter.

Ah, a lazy person. This is the right guid for you.

In short: Combat Arts level 1, max the buffs. Forest Flight and Tangled Roots stay usefull.

 

Hence the title: Guide for Lazy people.

 

 

 

In Depth: bow or blowpipe?

 

Easy: Blowpipe!

Bows have better stats, often better mods. But, blowpipes have 3 rediculously good arguments:

 

1: they can fire through walls, rocks, bridges, houses etc etc.

Demonstration:

http://i38.tinypic.com/xbabcx.jpg

Inside a church, hitting 3 opponents whilst firing through a wall.

 

2: they have no 'arrow-flight-animation'

When I run outside in a mountainous enviroment my arrows get stuck on a rock, or even on a small hill if the enemy is just on the other side of that tiny hill. Stuck arrow = missed arrow !

 

3: instant hit. Important on MOVING objects. If you use arrows, and the target is moving lateral to you even a slow moving target is too fast for even a fast-flying arrow. With the blowgun there is no animation, so the microsecond you fire, it either hits or misses purely based on your to-hit-%. Not on to-hit-% PLUS target moving speed!

 

4: also I read that she actually uses her tongue with this blow...pipe...

 

I use 1 blowpipe with POISON base, and 1 with FIRE base.

So far I havent seen mobs that are highly resist to a combo of both fire and poison.

 

 

 

In Depth: COMBAT ARTS

 

In this build, it's important to understand that your main weapon is your only weapon. If it misses, you're screwed. % to hit is most important. % Criticals is secondary.

Also note that I'm only talking about BLOWPIPES.

 

 

Sinister Predator: +atk speed, +% to hit. Modifications: Eagle Eye, Marked Shot, Unflinching.

 

Eagle Eye vs Rapid Fire

I believe the Blowgun already is close tot he maximum firing speed. Chosing this would not give a huge gain. Chosing Eagle Eye saves skillpoints on Tactics.

Marked Shot vs Perforate

Sorry but I never see enemies line up so they can be shot all at once. They always surround, making 'pierce' useless. Also, very useless on Bosses since there is only ONE target and hitting the wall behind him wont impress him to death.

Unflinching vs Hunting Focus

As said, I;m not using other Combat Arts. I'd rather have the hit%.

Only argument that would validate Hunting Focus is if you want to use Forest Flight every 2 seconds. But Forest Flight already has a time-reduce mod.

 

 

Moribund Animus: mob distraction #1. Modifications: Stone Skin, Elevation, Fury

This setup aims to kill mobs before they can reach me. That doesn't work if 5 enemies attack at once. My pet distracts 3 enemies, so I can pick my targets one by one and I'm safe. Keeping the pet alive is more important than using the pet to actually kill mobs. You can forget about that.

Stone Skin vs Malice

Survival of pet = longer distration. Make it a tank. Without this, pets get 'killed' rather fast redering it useless.

Elevation vs Headhunter

Well.. this was an experiment. The idea is: higher level pet = better armored/evading/damaging pet. Right now I'm level eehh 55 I think and my pet is level 75. It can survive a Boss fight.

And Shrunken Heads I really can't be bothered with. They all suck except my one in a million Dragonhead find.

Fury vs Headhunter

Have I told you lately how I feel about Shrunken Heads?

*maybe* Headhunter is nice if your aim is to go for yellow shrunken heads.

But see it this way: a Shrunken head is basically just a slot like a ring or amulet. And you can buy those with excellent buffs at vendors.

I went for Fury so the pet attacks faster, thus more chance to actually HIT a mob and thus distracting it. (not damage, distraction!)

 

*note. Level or quality of Shrunken Head does *NOT* affect summoned pet qualities !

 

 

Ancient Barkskin: under construction

 

 

Forest Flight: Teleport skill. Modifications: Roots, Expert, Escape

This has got to be one of the best skills in game. Teleport through everything, go everywhere (needs a bit of training to figure out the exact maximum range of the teleport). Best is, if you're surrounded by a mob and you teleport, the mobs that stay behind will be entangled ! (% chance to entangle) Works on Bosses.

Roots vs Recovery

Choice between very tiny heal or making enemies incapable of following you? Easy choice!

Expert vs Escape

Hmm... there are 2 things that can kill me. Stun/confuse/root effects, and Mages that do buttloads of ranged damage in 1 shot.

For Silver-mod I chose Expert, since the gain from decreased regeneration time is rather big, and on Gold there is another 'chance to escape root' bonus.

Refresh vs Escape

I really dont see the point in a minor healing effect when I carry 50 potions around. I do see the point in escaping when I'm rooted. Hence I chose Escape.

 

 

Tangled Vine: Immobilise Boss skill! Modifications: Sprawl, Impair, Encroach

Sprawl vs Tendrils

I'd rather have a Boss thats stuck in 1 spot for a long time so I can shoot it over and over doing 500 damage, than some Vines that do 50 damage. (dunno the exact damage value, but it's not gonna be high since my CA is at level 1 !) Stuck Boss = better than slightly scorched and very angry Boss.

Impair vs Singe

Ow wait.. this is the scorching part. No matter.

Bosses do rediculous damage with 1 shot. The less shots it can fire per minute the better. Therefore: Impair, which reduces attack speed.

Also remind that this setup has poor defense so eehh really.. you don't wanna get hit at all.

Encroach vs Intent

To be honest: this skill has just enough range so Encroach is not really needed. But, since I already choose not to do damage with this CA, Intent is useless. I would only go for Intent if I'd chosen Tendrils AND Singe before it.

Encroach makes life just a little easier. Can Tangle Bosses now almost out of the screen

 

*note: it is my strong belief that Rooted mobs are easier to hit with ranged weapons. I can't support this with numbers or fact, but I really do believe it.

 

*note 2: IF you entangle a Boss, you can actually use a BOW again since the target is now stationary. BOWS have the advantage that they usually do much more base damage and are easier to find (better % on good bonusses on the weapon)

 

 

 

In Depth: SKILLS

 

1: Ranged Weapons +atk speed, +% to hit

I keep this maxed.

90% hit to a normal mob, is only a 10% loss of dps.

BUT.. 90% on normal mobs, means you do only 30% on Bosses (numbers are not accurate, as example only)

Question:

If player A does 30% to a boss, and player B does 40% to a boss, how much more damage does player B do?

NOT 10 %. It's 33% !

If player A does 30%, and player B does 90%, how much more damage does player B do?

NOT 60%, no, a whopping 200% EXTRA.

(ask your maths teacher to explain, I'm too lazy (hey you lazy people still reading this guide? hahahah suckers!))

In short: keep it maxed.

 

2: Tactics +% damage, +% criticals

% damage part is the thing that counts, because you already get a % critical bonus from Sinister Predator buff.

Very good skill, but do NOT max it in the beginning as it is just not needed yet!

Put it to level 9 so you get MODIFIER POINTS for the CAPRICIOUS HUNTER tree. With 9 points you can modify Sinister Predator buff.

Later on in the game (at level 50 or so), set Tactics to level 31 so you can get another 3 MOD points you can put into Forest Flight.

In short: set to 9 early, modify Sinister Predator.

~ 50: set it to 31 so you can modify Forest Flight.

 

3: Perception Increased chance to detect hiding places, traps and stealthed creatures

Hmm... The skill actually doesnt say anything about better loot from mobs. Howevery I find buttloads of stuff, lotsa green, lotsa yellow from monsters. Also, in every 10 crate I open there is 1 yellow item so I really think it works. I also have the feeling I get much more cash, with drops of 40.000 gold from 1 champion being regular loot.

BIG note: Enhanced Perception modifier unlocks the +% EXPERIENCE bonus on rings/armor ect etc !

In short: keep it maxed.

 

 

4: Concentration 2 buffs, 3 at 75 skillpoints.

Ah damnit. 75 skillpoints just to get 3 buffs. But hey thats the build so do it!

Remember: you can only put 75 points into this, if your character is also level 75 or higher. So in the beginning, keep it at 1. Invest in other stuff. Later on when you get 5 skillpoints per level, reserve 2 or 3 for Concentration and make sure you have 75 points in it by the time your char is also level 75.

In short: keep at 1 till level 75, then 75 it.

 

5: Spell resistance +spell resist, +% evade critical SPELL

Tough one.. I needed either Spell Resist, or Combat Reflex to get to Armor Lore. Why choose Spell Resist?

I think Combat Reflex only works on physical weapons such as axes and arrows, not on spells. During gameplay I found that physical damage is not such a problem, since mobs dont actually reach me. They die before they do.

Spellcasters however are ranged. They really hurt, so I figured I need more protection from that.

As fas as I see it: a critical hit from a spell is MUCH worse than a critical hit from a physical weapon.

I put this to 5 in the beginning just to unlock Armor Lore. I;m level 55 now and still the skill is at 5. Will raise later on when I have leftover skillpoints.

In short: put to 5 to unlock Armor lore.

Much much later in the game, add points when needed.

 

6: Armor lore % armor bonus, -%penalty on Combat Arts

Armor is for wussies. Nah seriously I only use it to unlock the bonusses on the armors.

In short: keep it low, add points later on in the game when you have leftover points.

 

7: Caba Voodoo Focus higher CA level possible

Well... it's not really needed to take this skill at all. I just took it to unlock the MODS for Moribund Animus.

Only 9 points needed in this skill to unlock the mods you need !

Best thing about picking a skill that you don't need to take up to 200, is that you have many leftover points to put in usefull skills. Rather have a high Tactics Lore than a high Combat Art.

In short: 9 points only!

 

8: Nature Weaver Focus higher CA level possible

Same as Voodoo Focus. Initially take it to 9, so you can modify Entangled Vine.

Later on in the game, put it to level 31 so you get another 3 mod-points for Ancient Bark. Seriously, Entangled Vine first, then Ancient Bark.

In short: To 9 early, modify Entangled Root, to 31 later in the game to modify Barkskin.

 

9: Speed Lore +atk, +def, +speed (need more testing)

Difficult one.

On paper the bonusses look really small. I've been collection leftover skillpoints and I'll put my findings in here. Why choose this skill then?

Well, it's another +ATK, always good. It's +speed, and when riding the Monitor Lizard a little % speed is a lot I think.

Rumour: as far as I read somewhere, people say that there is sort of a hidden bonus in this skill, a % bonus. So on paper +100 ATK, but in reality it's 200 ATK that you actually get.

In short: to 75 waayyy late in the game.

 

10: Bargaining +% special offers

I think this skill really compliments the Enhanced Perception skill.

As far as I know it ALSO influences price of stuff you're going to sell.

Dryad with Bargaining sells an Axe for 50.000, put it in chest, give to my Death Warrior and he only gets 45.000 for it (numbers are not correct).

As far as I've read on the forums, the skill has been nerfed a bit. No more orange items, no more set-items at vendors. I will eventually get it up to max later in the game, because people say it should stay close to character level to be effective.

One more thing: it's really hard to find GOOD blowpipes. I rely on vendors for that because I need 1 specific bonus on the blowpipe (-% to evade for enemies). So I also plan to take Bargaining high just to buy a decent weapon.

In short: beginning of game: keep at 1, endgame put it to max.

 

 

In all, as far as I can tell now, I'll be needing

200-75-200-75-5-5-9-31-75-200 skillpoints.

Thats 875 in total, and this game has eeehhh 950 max?

So I got 75 points left to put into important skills like Armor Lore, Spell resist or Tactics.

*note: if someone were to drop Bargaining and take a spell like Damage Lore just to 75, that would free up loads of skillpoints.

It's just that this build is also a money-making item-find build

 

 

 

 

 

In Depth: Why not take <insert skill> instead?

 

I'm not gonna discuss all skills, just the ones that would fit into my build.

 

Capricious Hunter Focus.

I did not pick this because to make this skill work good (low recharge times), I would have to invest a lot of skillpoints into it. My golddigger setup doesn't leave me any room for that. In fact I think I'm already beginning to get under-defensed (however, I have not used Ancient Barkskin at all so far)

Besides, I;m not gonna kill stuff with Combat Arts, I;m just gonna use the blowpipe. No Micromanagement for me!

 

Combat Discipline

I might not have mentioned it, but I HATE MICROMANAGEMENT!

Why would I bother with combo's?

Also: one you started a combo, you can;t stop the sequence.

So theoretically, if you put 3 Combat Arts in a combo, and each CA takes 10 seconds to execute, your puppet is standing still for 30 seconds.

I can't handle that with my armor. I need speed, freedom, I like to run around naked! No Combat Discipline for me.

 

Damage Lore (need testing!)

I actually been thinking about this one.

Dryads do lots of DOT damage. Some Bosses regenerate fast. In other games it has always been, that regeneration is at 0 when a secondary effect is in place (poison for example).

BUT... DOT is something I hate. I still need to test this as well, but I dont think DOT stacks.

Example: I do 10 poison damage, and for 10 seconds after the hit I do 1 damage per second. In total I do 20 damage.

I shoot the monster 2 times.

Second 1: 10 damage from the hit.

Second 2: 10 damage from another hit, +1 damage from the poison effect.

The question that needs to be answered:

Second 3: 2 damage from BOTH shots? Or only 1 damage?

I didn't pick it so far because I have more faith in Speed Lore.

I will also be testing which are exactly SECONDARY EFFECTS. If 'scare away mob' is a secondary effect then this skill might actually be superdupergood !

 

Constitution

One of the best skills as far as I've read, but... I just don't have the skillpoints anymore and I needed Armor Lore for the bonusses. With pain in my heart I skipped this skill.

 

 

 

 

In Depth: Best bonusses (rings, armor, weapons)

 

The bonusses you're looking for thisbuild are:

 

+% damage (at Blacksmiths)

Aim for at least 25%

 

Opponent level for Death Blow

Suppose it's at 20%. That means that, when opponent health drops below 20% you do double damage. It doesn not stack linear. 20%+20%+20% is about 45% (still, thats goood )

Aim for at least 33%

 

Opponents chance to evade

Godly! Eventually if you try to stack % to hit, it;s not linear anymore. So 20+20+20 is only 45.

However, Opponents chance to evade seems to be a totally other %.

20-20 to hit, combined with 20% oppochancetoevade leads not to 45%, but to 55%

Aim for at least 20-25%

 

Enhanced perception

Use the Relics to make this higher. Not that much influence on the game I think but still important for golddiggers.

 

% chance to find valuables

Well... eehhhhh this was the whole idea of this build so as long as I kill mobs easy, I will sacrifice damage/defense to put some % valuable rings on

Aim for at least 50% if you really wanna find lots of set-items and good yellows.

 

I will be testing the 'Chance to fear opponents away' bonus soon.

I got some rings and stuff that does ~5%. I wonder if mobs really run away (Bosses !) if I got it at 25%. Since my blowgun does 3 hits per second, this could actually be a very good bonus.

Not tested yet!

 

Right.

I think that's about it.

Please feel free to comment. Also point out any spelling mistakes and stuff so I can correct it.

I will be updating every now and then but as I might have mentioned before.. I'm LAZY and I consider tweaking this guide a form of MICROMANAGEMENT so don't expect me to do it every day.. or week.. maybe once a month

 

Good luck folks.

*note: this is based on 'feelings' not on hard number evidence!

[Little Sara 1]

You have a total of 921 skill points to pick.

 

This sounds like a build I would do on my Dryad.

 

As for my Seraphim, I'd probably keep Bargaining at 75 + bonuses, simply because compared to my other skills its crappy. I also bring none to 200, because its not needed. If you DO get +100 for all skills, and +30 for Bargaining, and +30 for Enhanced Perception on another set of relics, well you'd have 200 in both.

 

The problem with having 330 is not that it isn't higher, it's that it's diminishing returns and god knows what benefit you have from having a skill +130 from your level.

[Flooxim 50]

This guide is very intriguing, but very interesting at the same time.

Good job with the guide! Very fun to read.

I'll consider trying it for my next character.

 

 

You said something interesting in your guide :

Armor is for wussies.

 

So true!

 

 

Max

[Schot 415]

Wow, nice write up Unipuma. Very thorough but there's just one problem. We have to read it all. Whew! I thought this was supposed to be the lazy rich persons build. Perhaps you could add in a digital butler who would read the build to us?

 

Love your writing style. Very funny, hehe. Excellent elaboration on points and some really great tips for a Dryad in general. One question. How much base damage are you adding to the build? Is there a certain number of sockets you reserve for base damage rings/amulets? Also, is there a minimum number of sockets required suggested for this build?

 

Cheers and welcome to Darkmatters Unipuma.

[Putrescine 12]

Just use Opera or Firefox (with plugin) and have the good 'ol MS-Sam do that dirty work for you Schot

[claudius 104]

Which stats did you increase? Dexterity?

[Dobri 55]

I suppose Dexterity and Vitality mainly. Dexterity increases ranged damage and vitality will give your dryad some more hit points, which she'll need, you can be sure of that! Unipuma's build is solely based on direct damage and utility, with minimum micromanagement and a lot of utility skills (perception, bargaining). This means you will need to strike a good balance between damage and HP in order to survive.

 

NOTE: Since blowpipe doesn't hit behind obstacles anymore (as of patch 2.34 or 2.31), it may be more prudent to go with a bow (I think unipuma made that change to his build in the ascaron forums, but maybe not here). I'd say whatever unique bow/pipe with 3 sockets you manage to lay your hands on

Edited January 23, 2009 by Dobri

[Flooxim 50]

Do you mind if I create your guide with my program and submit it to my Guides Database?

 

 

Max

[Rectify 1]

I've really been impressed with this guide, and I'm loving my dryad. Thanks for the guidance.

[Rectify 1]

After almost 50 levels into my dryad with this build on the PS3, I can say that it just plain kicks booty. Tangled vine used properly means absolutely no hits with bosses unless they have ranged attacks. It also seemed to me that Tangled Vine had an aggro debuff on it, because at times after it broke, mobs would just start wandering instead of attacking me. It could be a bug, I'm not knowledgeable with regards to CAs except when to use them.

 

I also have to agree with the easy to be killed factor. At just below level 50 with an armor lore of 16, her armor rating is around 900 thanks to a time chest set piece dropping(at level 50 430+ armor) nothing I have seen comes close to that) as well as having the armor buff(can't remember the buff name). Even so, when you get hit(I'm on silver atm) you notice it in the orc lands. I also am not sure of the level cap, but after reading Schot's set run guide I believe the orcs cap at level. 57 on silver.

 

I think I may pass on speed lore for either toughness or constitution. It isn't helping that bow drops seem to be rather lame for me atm, and blowpipe/throwing stars just don't seem to do as much damage as a bow(of course, I haven't attempted a test to see that, I have tried the blowpipe and it fires about the same or maybe a little faster then the bow).

 

The named that summons the T mutated bears and boars gave me a run for my money. Still a zero death count(knock on wood, as I need my trophy for it).

 

One thing I do have to say is extremely annoying is the fact that my bow does not normally hit flying mobs at all. It just seems to miss all the time, and if anything, I would think the most effective way of taking out a flyer is with a ranged weapon........

Edited July 24, 2009 by Rectify

[Kharzon 0]

After almost 50 levels into my dryad with this build on the PS3, I can say that it just plain kicks booty. Tangled vine used properly means absolutely no hits with bosses unless they have ranged attacks. It also seemed to me that Tangled Vine had an aggro debuff on it, because at times after it broke, mobs would just start wandering instead of attacking me. It could be a bug, I'm not knowledgeable with regards to CAs except when to use them.

 

I also have to agree with the easy to be killed factor. At just below level 50 with an armor lore of 16, her armor rating is around 900 thanks to a time chest set piece dropping(at level 50 430+ armor) nothing I have seen comes close to that) as well as having the armor buff(can't remember the buff name). Even so, when you get hit(I'm on silver atm) you notice it in the orc lands. I also am not sure of the level cap, but after reading Schot's set run guide I believe the orcs cap at level. 57 on silver.

 

I think I may pass on speed lore for either toughness or constitution. It isn't helping that bow drops seem to be rather lame for me atm, and blowpipe/throwing stars just don't seem to do as much damage as a bow(of course, I haven't attempted a test to see that, I have tried the blowpipe and it fires about the same or maybe a little faster then the bow).

 

The named that summons the T mutated bears and boars gave me a run for my money. Still a zero death count(knock on wood, as I need my trophy for it).

 

One thing I do have to say is extremely annoying is the fact that my bow does not normally hit flying mobs at all. It just seems to miss all the time, and if anything, I would think the most effective way of taking out a flyer is with a ranged weapon........

 

Give you a good heads up on somethings. I'm level 57 on the PS3. I have a 10k armor. Yes, 10k. It's actually possible to have a 50k+ armor at 50, you just have to put the time into farming up some runes or use runes for trading in + gold. I'm on gold dif atm. I can sit there and never get hit by mobs, and the ones that actually do manage to get through my armor, die with reflection. I use the 3 time pieces + stuff with at least 2 silver slots (blacksmithing not working on console) and if it actually has 3 sockets, I use the def on the bronze socket. I use 1 combo to kill everything, all around me. Ravaged Impact + Darting Assault, which WILL kill in a complete circle around you. I press and hold the button and 4 groups of 5+ mobs each die in a matter of seconds. Only 2 Combat Arts kill faster and that would be a High Elf's BT and the Seraphims FN. Couple that with Deathblow, damage X-X, +all skills, +all Combat Arts and you can't beat it. I hate to say it, but this build isn't even the laziest you can do and most assuredly not the best dryad. Check out Put's build and Chrona's inside that post. I did a combo of those two and dropped a skill (constitution, which is useless on console with no HC) and added Cabal Focus. Use the blowgun to run around with, bow for buggy mobs or even a sword/hafted/2 hander. I'm getting ready to redo my sockets and armor now that I've gotten to Sloeford (went and did all the quests from the starting point up through the long canyon leading towards the temple at the top, killing the Griffon on the way). I'm sure that now I'm finding better +all skills, +CA, +aspect, +deathblow, etc my armor is going to shoot through the roof. Currently I hit for 1.5-4k naturally and once I hit the deathblow threshhold, I top 6k-9k hits, and thats not even with a critical With a DB at 70%, MF at 50%+, not only do I kill super fast, but since I'm pulling such big groups of mobs, I get tons of unique/legendary drops. Remember, most legendary drops have the wrong amount of stars on them. I play the PC version as well, and noticed that some of the orange are labeled with only 3 stars in the ps3 version. If you are interested in my particular build, I'll make a new post and pop it up there, otherwise, I'd re-iterate reading Put's and Chrona's builds. After all, the games been out so long, you won't be able to come up with a 'new' build. Builds have been pretty much found.

[Rectify 1]

After almost 50 levels into my dryad with this build on the PS3, I can say that it just plain kicks booty. Tangled vine used properly means absolutely no hits with bosses unless they have ranged attacks. It also seemed to me that Tangled Vine had an aggro debuff on it, because at times after it broke, mobs would just start wandering instead of attacking me. It could be a bug, I'm not knowledgeable with regards to CAs except when to use them.

 

I also have to agree with the easy to be killed factor. At just below level 50 with an armor lore of 16, her armor rating is around 900 thanks to a time chest set piece dropping(at level 50 430+ armor) nothing I have seen comes close to that) as well as having the armor buff(can't remember the buff name). Even so, when you get hit(I'm on silver atm) you notice it in the orc lands. I also am not sure of the level cap, but after reading Schot's set run guide I believe the orcs cap at level. 57 on silver.

 

I think I may pass on speed lore for either toughness or constitution. It isn't helping that bow drops seem to be rather lame for me atm, and blowpipe/throwing stars just don't seem to do as much damage as a bow(of course, I haven't attempted a test to see that, I have tried the blowpipe and it fires about the same or maybe a little faster then the bow).

 

The named that summons the T mutated bears and boars gave me a run for my money. Still a zero death count(knock on wood, as I need my trophy for it).

 

One thing I do have to say is extremely annoying is the fact that my bow does not normally hit flying mobs at all. It just seems to miss all the time, and if anything, I would think the most effective way of taking out a flyer is with a ranged weapon........

 

Give you a good heads up on somethings. I'm level 57 on the PS3. I have a 10k armor. Yes, 10k. It's actually possible to have a 50k+ armor at 50, you just have to put the time into farming up some runes or use runes for trading in + gold. I'm on gold dif atm. I can sit there and never get hit by mobs, and the ones that actually do manage to get through my armor, die with reflection. I use the 3 time pieces + stuff with at least 2 silver slots (blacksmithing not working on console) and if it actually has 3 sockets, I use the def on the bronze socket. I use 1 combo to kill everything, all around me. Ravaged Impact + Darting Assault, which WILL kill in a complete circle around you. I press and hold the button and 4 groups of 5+ mobs each die in a matter of seconds. Only 2 Combat Arts kill faster and that would be a High Elf's BT and the Seraphims FN. Couple that with Deathblow, damage X-X, +all skills, +all Combat Arts and you can't beat it. I hate to say it, but this build isn't even the laziest you can do and most assuredly not the best dryad. Check out Put's build and Chrona's inside that post. I did a combo of those two and dropped a skill (constitution, which is useless on console with no HC) and added Cabal Focus. Use the blowgun to run around with, bow for buggy mobs or even a sword/hafted/2 hander. I'm getting ready to redo my sockets and armor now that I've gotten to Sloeford (went and did all the quests from the starting point up through the long canyon leading towards the temple at the top, killing the Griffon on the way). I'm sure that now I'm finding better +all skills, +CA, +aspect, +deathblow, etc my armor is going to shoot through the roof. Currently I hit for 1.5-4k naturally and once I hit the deathblow threshhold, I top 6k-9k hits, and thats not even with a critical With a DB at 70%, MF at 50%+, not only do I kill super fast, but since I'm pulling such big groups of mobs, I get tons of unique/legendary drops. Remember, most legendary drops have the wrong amount of stars on them. I play the PC version as well, and noticed that some of the orange are labeled with only 3 stars in the ps3 version. If you are interested in my particular build, I'll make a new post and pop it up there, otherwise, I'd re-iterate reading Put's and Chrona's builds. After all, the games been out so long, you won't be able to come up with a 'new' build. Builds have been pretty much found.

[Rectify 1]

I appreciate the response. I have only silver characters at best on the console(haven't really been able to play the PC version but barely).

 

I also have to admit I don't have the time to really delve deeply into a lot of the info you have laid out. I have had the game since the PS3 release, and just discovered how runes properly work a few days ago.

 

I have to rely on others for builds since I have the imagination of a rock and this seemed to be a good build of the bat. I can assure you making a new build wasn't in the cards.

 

As for farming, I just got finished doing my first runs a couple days ago.

 

Since I did end up dying on a stupid quest I forgot about in the seraphim lands, ill probably start her over anyways, so I'll check the other 2 builds.

 

Lastly, I would guess that you have a Plat farmer with the stats on that druid. I don't as of yet.

[azamantes 0]

One of the coolest builds I have ever read I finished the game and silver and played half of the campaign with this dryad build....

 

I didn't continue simply because I was waaaay too easy mobs where death in a couple seconds, and bosses couldn't even touch me if they had melee atacks

 

still it was very fun to play with her

[Onslaught2k3 0]

One of the coolest builds I have ever read I finished the game and silver and played half of the campaign with this dryad build....

 

I didn't continue simply because I was waaaay too easy mobs where death in a couple seconds, and bosses couldn't even touch me if they had melee atacks

 

still it was very fun to play with her

 

I second that. This build seems like the optimal cookie-cutter for dryads as it focuses on the main aspects of a ranged character while utilizing the best support casts for a CH-focused dryad. Props up to your build!

[cjaworsk 0]

So I've been trying this build myself and uh...

 

One question really:

 

How do you get your buffs to "500" if you only have a level 5 focus? I'm currently at level 25 with some crappy gear and stuff, but I have like 20 memorized runes of my buffs, yet they're all level 8.2 or some nonesense because I've got this huge penalty on combat skills. Should I be investing then in my focus and say maybe go a little less gungho on my bargaining for instance or some other skill?

[claudius 104]

How do you get your buffs to "500" if you only have a level 5 focus? I'm currently at level 25 with some crappy gear and stuff, but I have like 20 memorized runes of my buffs, yet they're all level 8.2 or some nonesense because I've got this huge penalty on combat skills. Should I be investing then in my focus and say maybe go a little less gungho on my bargaining for instance or some other skill?

 

 

For Ice and Blood I think its impossible because of rune cap of 200. Before Ice and blood you could eat I guess like 16000 or something but the thing is your focus determines your level without penalty. That is why you ate 20 and only got 8.2 because you don't got focus yet. I think some people had buffs in 500 by the end by eating a lot of runes (before ice and blood). With high focus.

[elijahkane 0]

I just bought Sacred 2 for the XBox and was wondering what levels should I max on my combat arts for this build. I see no reason why I couldn't max any of the buffs like sinister predator or ancient bark. Thanks.

[nEmFiZZ 0]

Is this build tested on Niob? Screw bronze, silver, gold, platinum! Those difficulties is childishly easy with ANY build

 

Any builds I approve is needed to be close to immortal in Niob.

Edited September 22, 2010 by nEmFiZZ

[Eleinta 0]

Hi there I'm new with the dryad and I decided to use this biuld. I'm in the beginning 22 level with gold moded sinister predator. And my question is how many runes I have to "eat" for sinister predator or moribund anonimus?

[Dragon Brother 620]

Hi there I'm new with the dryad and I decided to use this biuld. I'm in the beginning 22 level with gold moded sinister predator. And my question is how many runes I have to "eat" for sinister predator or moribund anonimus?

 

There's no set number, over time you will want to get them as high as possible, but whilst you are still at a low level just eat however many that leaves you with comfortable regens on your other combat arts, you will find that you can eat more and more as you level until you reach the point where they start to only increase the ca level by incremental amounts.