Thrower-Zoo Druid build.. any tips?

After playing the other classes for a while i figured i tried making a "Hunter" druid build
I've been toying around with the idea of building a druid that looks like this.. (body armour is an Enigma btw, seem to have forgotten to add it in the pic)
The idea behind this build is that you spawn your doggies and that you throw knives at a distance, the stat distribution is just the standard STR/DEX for gear and rest in VIT.
The elemental skill tree is just purely to synergize with the %40 proc chance to cast

Firestorm from our Phoenix shield.
I haven't had the chance to try it yet as i simply don't have a high enough level druid to wear the gear. The 40% proc chance to cast

Firestorm is what motivated me to put this together. Albeit i have no idea how effective it is.
The skills are as follows:
Is there anyone willing to tinker with this build and keep me posted on how effective it is. Or should i just forget about this and leave the Phoenix shield for different builds. (builds that actually use mana)
Any input is appreciated.

no idea about it, but your throw weapon should be

Eth, mercenary also should be using

Eth weapon. and if you want the gloves for

Enchant, just buff with alt Obedience, lvl 21

Enchant last around 10 minutes.

That's a good one for off hand to proc the higher lvl

Enchant. And switch back to Call To Arms. Definitely a good idea. Thanks

Fun idea! Good play on the elemental zookeeper
Questions :
1) will the lvl22

Firestorm from Phoenix really get synergies from the skill tree points? Or is that "fixed" at lvl22?
2) since you're having your zoo as the meat shield and are acting from the back with your throwing weapons, maybe spec to a different elemental skill?

Firestorm works best at close range. Maybe just the

Molten Boulder? That would make the shield slot available for sth else maybe, too.

I'm actually making a Fury druid with the same idea. Phoenix on weapon and shield for 80% chance to proc and I maxed the

Firestorm synergies. The synergy bonus does add to the

Firestorm damage.

Fury's rapid attacks mean that I'm constantly casting

Firestorm. It doesn't have very high damage, I was mostly theory-crafting. I still haven't gotten far enough through the game with this one to really test its viability.

fraggykrueger wrote: 2 weeks ago

Fun idea! Good play on the elemental zookeeper
Questions :
1) will the lvl22

Firestorm from Phoenix really get synergies from the skill tree points? Or is that "fixed" at lvl22?
2) since you're having your zoo as the meat shield and are acting from the back with your throwing weapons, maybe spec to a different elemental skill?

Firestorm works best at close range. Maybe just the

Molten Boulder? That would make the shield slot available for sth else maybe, too.

Q1: Yes the

Molten Boulder and

Fissure will synergize with the dmg the

Firestorm does. But you can't increase the lvls on

Firestorm from the shield itself. It sits on lvl 22. (You can increase the chance to cast if you equiped a Phoenix weapon)

Q2: My understanding is that

Firestorm casts at the location it hits since the same goes for the proc on

Nova from weapon. Havent tested it yet with

Firestorm from Phoenix shield. Will get back to you on that when i have. (Or if someone else could confirm would be helpfull)

RackAnewShoe wrote: 2 weeks ago

I'm actually making a Fury druid with the same idea. Phoenix on weapon and shield for 80% chance to proc and I maxed the

Firestorm synergies. The synergy bonus does add to the

Firestorm damage.

Fury's rapid attacks mean that I'm constantly casting

Firestorm. It doesn't have very high damage, I was mostly theory-crafting. I still haven't gotten far enough through the game with this one to really test its viability.

The

Warshrike +

Razortail combo makes it so i cast

Firestorm constantly from a distance also. But if i was going melee i would probably go for the same thing as you. But i havent tested its viability either.. just theorycrafting (im guessing the fire dmg is nothing to write home about but it's fun to try something new)

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

Q2: My understanding is that

Firestorm casts at the location it hits since the same goes for the proc on

Nova from weapon. Havent tested it yet with

Firestorm from Phoenix shield. Will get back to you on that when i have. (Or if someone else could confirm would be helpfull)

https://www.theamazonbasin.com/wiki/ind ... n_Striking

The following skills are cast at the target from the user's location:

• Firestorm
• (...)

All other skills below are cast on or from the target's location.

So it's not the same as

Nova.

Comparison - ranged builds to better show the difference in procs:

Nova:

Firestorm:

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

That's a good one for off hand to proc the higher lvl

Enchant. And switch back to Call To Arms. Definitely a good idea. Thanks

If you're going to get

Enchant on swap, I recommend replacing your gloves with some 20IAS

Hit Power Gloves. The knockback will help. Plus you can roll some decent resistances and/or good strength/dex. Otherwise you'll be overriding your lvl 21

Enchant with your glove's lvl 10

Enchant.

Knappogue wrote: 2 weeks ago

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

That's a good one for off hand to proc the higher lvl

Enchant. And switch back to Call To Arms. Definitely a good idea. Thanks

If you're going to get

Enchant on swap, I recommend replacing your gloves with some 20IAS

Hit Power Gloves. The knockback will help. Plus you can roll some decent resistances and/or good strength/dex. Otherwise you'll be overriding your lvl 21

Enchant with your glove's lvl 10

Enchant.

If i'm doing the swap thing i'm definitely ditching the gloves, will have to see how much i need a higher version of

Enchant first because the lower level just might work also. because me personally i'm not not a huge fan of having to swap items just to cast things. (will do it if i have no other choice tho) =)

Trang Oul wrote: 2 weeks ago

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

Q2: My understanding is that

Firestorm casts at the location it hits since the same goes for the proc on

Nova from weapon. Havent tested it yet with

Firestorm from Phoenix shield. Will get back to you on that when i have. (Or if someone else could confirm would be helpfull)

https://www.theamazonbasin.com/wiki/ind ... n_Striking

The following skills are cast at the target from the user's location:

• Firestorm
• (...)

All other skills below are cast on or from the target's location.

So it's not the same as

Nova.

Comparison - ranged builds to better show the difference in procs:

Nova:

Firestorm:

Saw the video of the

Firestorm casting from user so your correct on the matter. That being said this changes my perspective on the shield completely.. guess it's back to the drawing board. thanks for the info!

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

Saw the video of the

Firestorm casting from user so your correct on the matter. guess they have to change the page on amazonbasin because this is a little misleading

The tables list all the occurrences of CtC On Striking, regardless of how they are targeted.
The same wording is used on On Attack.

Trang Oul wrote: 2 weeks ago

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

Saw the video of the

Firestorm casting from user so your correct on the matter. guess they have to change the page on amazonbasin because this is a little misleading

The tables list all the occurrences of CtC On Striking, regardless of how they are targeted.
The same wording is used on On Attack.

Yeah your right, thanks again.

H3retic wrote: 2 weeks ago

If i'm doing the swap thing i'm definitely ditching the gloves, will have to see how much i need a higher version of

Enchant first because the lower level just might work also. because me personally i'm not not a huge fan of having to swap items just to cast things. (will do it if i have no other choice tho) =)

Some people don't mind that extra swap. I'm one of those that do mind. Its such a hassle, even if you leave it in your stash. Needing to do the swap at the beginning of every game, casting

Enchant, and then swapping back? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Did a quick calculation and got 1366 damage per second from

Firestorm. Probably not worth it.