Druids suck - convince me I'm wrong!

Long story short, literally the only reason I even have a druid is because every other class is fun in their own way and after having each of those, leaving one out just felt wrong. But beyond that, I just can't stand it. I have yet to find a druid build that is actually at least mildly entertaining to play, let alone one that doesn't also just suck compared to other classes options.

I've settled on a summoner as the "least stupid" but even those, even in full BiS, aren't just still bad but they remain beyond aggravating to play, simply because watching your wolves' idiot "AI" leisurely strolling across the screen from left to right most of the time, rather than attacking anything, is just exceptionally daft.

So basically, I guess I'm putting up a challenge:
Give me a druid build that is at least mediocre by comparison (not holding out for "good" on a druid by any means) and that is actually somewhat entertaining. And convince me why that's the build to play!
I'll give every idea I might not have tried yet or haven't tried in ages a fair shot.

Whomever manages to convince me of something that I'll actually replace my summon druid with wins a

Jah.
If by some miracle someone manages to come up with an idea that actually takes my druid from "just annoying and hands down the least interesting class out there" to "at least tied for last place, rather than miles behind", you win 5

Jah instead.
And if by some bigger miracle someone from Blizz actually reads this and takes it as incentive to fix summons AI...well, you can spawn your own

Jah I guess but do it anyways! Or at least replace them with Hephasto-bind AI or something. Sure, they then possibly wouldn't use their special abilities anymore but blindly zerging summons with no special ability use would still far surpass the current "inactive most of the time but sometimes buffs up before becoming inactive again".

Full disclosure, it has been decades of this. So I'm not sure there's any new idea even left. There's hence a very real chance this goes nowhere, noone wins anything and he remains an annoying, badly coded summoner. But hey, worth a shot either way!

I am running fire druid in split p8 96tz. Not OP, perfectly serviceable.

The most value druid has over most anyone is their play patterns (except for summoner, ew) not being brain-dead. Really, how do you even look at summoner and say to yourself: "Yep, I have fun with my most damaging skill being

Teleport (that's not even mine) and watching the whole spectacle without casting literally anything."

1. You get to use

Ravenlore with

Defender's Fire (using uniques in runeword-infested world is a plus in my book) and you need to cycle through 4 skills, sometimes even all 5, to maximize damage potential because of cast delays. With one

Opalvein you get to forego a 19+% fcr

Caster Amulet and can use any 9-10% amulet instead, which is a plus. Firedruid is also the real flagship of Phoenix

Monarch.

2. Furydruid is still my pet char (pun intended). Juggling those timed skills makes it THE build that needs more than 2 brain cells. Plus it deals a ton of damage (think mine has some 8-24k in charscreen) and there is no clear-cut BiS weapon, so you get to use more than one. Almost like druid is a balanced class, as all generic druids should be. With

Protector's Stone the option to switch from a GG Metamorphosis to

Jalal's Mane after getting buffs is back on the menu.
Biggest perk? You look badass in

Sacred Armor and you are probably the only non-merc character that can use it at the cost of -5% frw because you will have put a lot into strength as well. Looks > frw.
If you are a sick-o with cash in your mattress, furydruid is one of the better chars to use 3/20/20s in PvM.

3. Never played wind druid. Don't care for physical caster with all the Hell resists, moreso now that warlock does it better. Seems like a weak firedruid to me.

4.

Rabies druid is terrible even in BiS gear. Had a +3

Rabies +3

Fury: Skill +

Heart of Wolverine Metamorphosis. Even in secret level it did little in p1. Venom proc doesn't fix this.

5.

Fire Claws bear is perfectly fine, strong, just single target.

TL;DR You can be pure physical furydruid, you can be

Armageddon furydruid, you can be fireclaw bear speccing into fire, or just bear speccing into physical, or speccing into both; you can be fireclaws geddon bear, firedruid, Wind druid (meh), summon druid (ew),

Rabies druid (double-ew). So many builds that differ a lot in itemization.

Amazing build, you will love this.

Rabies 20
Poison vine thingy 20
Fury 20
HoW 20
Prereqs
Rest in WW and

Lycanthropy

Gear:

Plague Bearer
4os socketed

Monarch with 4 poison facets (5/5 of course)
Trang gloves
Bramble
Metamorphosis with +3

Rabies / +3 Fury
Mara
BK ring x 2
Gore Riders

Swap:
Grief

Phase Blade
Another 4os socketed

Monarch with Bile jewel and 3 poison facets (5/5 of course)

Merc:
Act 5 with Bulwark, Mania, Plague and CoH


Play:
It's easy, you bite with

Rabies, and the poison spreads to everything. Meanwhile, you are Furiously hitting everything with your super Grief PB and the merc is

Burst of Speed hitting everything as well. Did I mention he's also giving you

Fanaticism making BOTH of you hit things even faster?

What's great is you're doing both poison and physical damage at the same time. What could go wrong!?

Elemental Fury Autocast Hybrid build (around

Stormlash).
Weapon:

Shael'ed/Jeweled

Stormlash
Offhand:

Stormshield or Phoenix, tho I prefer upped

Stormchaser for additional

Tornado procs.
Armor: Fortitude/Enigma for swap
Headgear: +3

Twister/

Tornado/

Hurricane,

Jalal's Mane also fits good here if no better options.
Gloves:

Laying of Hands

Boots:

Gore Rider/

War Traveler, up to your purposes

Belt: Nosferatu for IAS BP, or Verdungo's
Rings: Carrion Winds for

Twister procs,

Raven Frost (optional if you're reach and can afford

Cham'ed headgear, if yes - Bul'Katos then)
Amulet:

Highlord's Wrath.
Some Elemental skillers are needed for this build. Also, -physical res

Renewed Bone Break, as well as pre-RoTW

Crack of the Heavens do wonderful things to your DPS.

Max out Fury, 10 Lycantrophy, 10

Werewolf.
The rest goes to Elemental skills for synergy:
20

Twister
20

Cyclone Armor
20

Hurricane
Remaining points go to

Tornado.

Hurricane sports strong CC aura
In terms of fun this build shines. Also can clear areas/both ubers really good (with some gear swap/pre-buffing). Reaper's Toll on your merc buff that damage even further.

Summoner Druid has to actively engage combat. If you think that standing around watching your wolves kill stuff will work, you are doing it wrong.

I solo'ed my Summoner Druid to level 97, btw.

So my advice is:

-Make use of

Werebear/

Werewolf form and lead your pack into battle. You should always run ahead so your minion AI stays in "attack mode" and doesn't go in "roaming mode".

-

Shock Wave is a one-point-wonder with a high

Stun duration. It makes the Summoner Druid one of the safest builds in D2R and an excellent supporting party member! You bring thousands of life as meatshild, several auras and crowd control.

-Get some IAS/Crushing Blow and slap Champs and Bosses.

Maul: Skill brings another source of stun. Beast in a

Berserker Axe is the weapon of choice, providing

Fanaticism for everyone, skills to

Werebear, IAS and CB. Horizons gloves and boots give another 10% CB, high IAS, high AR, CBF and can be considered BiS for this build.

-Rethink your merc choice. Rogue Scout with Mist works best for me, because she doesn't get hindered by the pack and she brings some severely needed AoE and elemental damage. In my games, the Rogue does 50% of all the killing. She can deal 3k average damage with 8 fpa and elemental splash damage as well as 100%

Pierce on top. Additionally,

Inner Sight removes defense from monsters, so the low attack rating of the Druid isn't an issue anymore.

A2 merc is too slow, A5 merc doesn't have fitting weapon options. A3 merc doesn't have good aura options.

-Enigma is mandatory for any Summoner.

-Cast Ravens on critical monsters. They all will attack the monster you cast a

Raven on.

All in all, the Summoner Druid is a very weak build. It lacks AoE, it lacks elemental, it lacks raw damage. But that doesn't mean it can't be optimized to have fun. Don't play /p8 with it. Try soloing or small parties of 2-3 heroes where he works best.

For me, the Summoner Druid is one the most chilled and safe builds available. Perfectly made for late night gaming while watching a series or hearing some music.

Later on, I will post a video of my Summoner to showcase if this is appreciated.

Fury: Skill druid is a nice Ubers killer.
Works almost the same as a

Frenzy barb with almost same gear.