Druid vs Sentinel

Layil

Longtime IRE scrub giving Achaea another try and going into territory rather abnormal for me, so I'm looking for advice before embracing class and mistakes become more expensive. I'm primarily interested in hunting/rp but want to learn at least enough combat to be kinda useful in defense, etc. I'm having a hard time deciding between Druid and Sentinel, thematically I can go either way (not feeling Sylvan, before that's suggested). Assume no artefacts any time soon and bear in mind I'm borderline permanoob in combat. Will one be significantly easier/more viable?

Calira

Both are very viable in terms of team and solo combat. Druid is likely much easier to learn for a beginner and less artifact reliant.

Krypton

Druid Incinerate may quite honestly be the simplest way in the whole game to have some semblance of helpfulness in any group defence situation.

Ankhareoutef

Dude. Druid is amazing. You have passive healing, passive aff curing, room hinder that moves with you, fitness as an active heal, another active heal in bear form, tons of free artifacts (flying and lyre for example), tons of utitlty (track can function as make-shift wings and earrings of sinope), all the utility of Groves, and that's just toolkit.

You have a few viable killpaths (frozen pound into reclamation damage burst or incinerate, reclamation insta [though it's tough without a level 2 throwing axe], incinerate [instakill if they are under 50% health], and some awesome fire claw kill damage routes), guaranteed party bypass, the easiest limb prep in the game, and crazy ass damage even unartied (mail is good pvp damage, bees are crazy awesome, and passive damage from reclamation). Did I mention amazing group play? Trumpet and hydra bind come to mind.

Ive never played sentinel, but they're really potent. I just think Druid is in a really good place.

Downside, though, is that druid's pve damage is on the low side. You have great tankiness to compensate (and don't underestimate vigour and the healing spores in reclamation).

Lyrin

Both good!  

If you're primarily interested in hunting, unartied sentinel with trans skirmishing does significantly (~25%) more dps than unartied druid with trans metamorphosis.     With arties, the gap between the two widens further in Sentinel's favour.   Aside:   Just did a quick test to confirm that number.  druid bashing is depressing

If you're also interested in PVP, druid is FAR better than sentinel before you reach tritrans.     Druid can be quite effective with only trans metamorphosis (roar/bind/bite/maul/incinerate), however sentinel needs high level skills in skirmishing (doublestrike), woodlore (enrage) and metamorphosis (dismember/petrify) to be good.

Once you reach tritrans, both are very effective and let you do fun things.   Druid combat is simpler and focused around damage and limb prep, while sentinel is more complex and blends limb prep and afflictions.  

With tritrans and a similar level of artefact investment, I would argue that Sentinel has a higher skill cap and better "power level" than druid in 1v1 and small group fights.   Druid outstrips sentinel in large group combat due to its awesome hinder and damage output.

Based on the preferences you describe in the OP, Druid would be your best bet.

Layil

Thanks for the super quick responses! I liked Sentinel a smidge more in terms of flavour but it did look like it might be more difficult to learn and artefact dependent so I'm glad I didn't switch and grind to level 50 this morning.

Krypton

If trying to understand this thread gives you a headache... don't go Sentinel.

Krypton

Ankhareoutef said:

a) another active heal in bear form

b) guaranteed party bypass

a) Are you talking about Vitality? That's in other morphs, too; bear is a useless morph. Oh, you mean Might -- yeah, that's not in bear morph.

b) What is this? Parry bypass typo?

Ankhareoutef

Krypton said:

Ankhareoutef said:

a) another active heal in bear form

b) guaranteed party bypass

a) Are you talking about Vitality? That's in other morphs, too; bear is a useless morph. Oh, you mean Might -- yeah, that's not in bear morph.

b) What is this? Parry bypass typo?

Yea. Phone corrected parry to party

And yea. I just have bears on the brain. It's somewhere in there!

Layil

Well I've got five levels before I'm committed to my decision and I'm on my way to see some friends' bands right now so that gives me a bit to think. I'm leaning towards switching to Sentinel in part because it fits my idea for my character a bit better and, to be honest, there's a part of me that takes the increased difficulty as a challenge. Maybe it'll help improve my scripting skills even. Thanks again everyone for your input.

Ankhareoutef

Yea, being new shouldn't pressure you into a class. You gotta pick what you think is best for your character and your play style. Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask for help!

Caelan

Ankhareoutef said:

Krypton said:

Ankhareoutef said:

a) another active heal in bear form

b) guaranteed party bypass

a) Are you talking about Vitality? That's in other morphs, too; bear is a useless morph. Oh, you mean Might -- yeah, that's not in bear morph.

b) What is this? Parry bypass typo?

Yea. Phone corrected parry to party

And yea. I just have bears on the brain. It's somewhere in there!

Might is jaguar and icewyrm

Fitness is Wolf, Hyena, Cheetah, Jaguar, Elephant

Ankhareoutef

Are you sure they're not in wyvern or hydra too?

Nazihk

Wyvern and Hydra both have fitness and might.

Taryius

They are, I think. He's just speaking for Sentinel.

Caelan

Taryius said:

They are, I think. He's just speaking for Sentinel.

Yeah, assumed that was obvious.  I don't do...Druid.