There was a certain group of players who weren't thrilled with the feel of Druids during the first two betas of Diablo 4. But even after some improvements, which increased the damage of companion skills, reduced ultimate cooldowns, and added changes to Maul and Pulverize, some were still concerned that they weren't strong enough compared to the other four classes.
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Well, according to Joe Piepiora, associate game director of Diablo 4 (speaking to Gamestar), the Druid is a class that scales dramatically in the lategame, so much so that everyone underestimates its power in those early levels:
"The Druid is actually one of our strongest classes, at least according to our internal testing. However, players were not able to experience the full perspective during our Betas.".
One key issue is that unlike three of the five classes, Druids weren't able to complete the quest to unlock the Spirit Animal system, which is a core part of the kit. It's like playing a Necromancer with half of their summons missing. It really doesn't give you a sense of what the class can do without it. Druids and Barbarians weren't able to unlock level 15 because those quests were done outside of the beta zones, so there's no real way to tell how they'll perform long-term until release.
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In addition to the basic class abilities you gain from these quests, there are important skills at the end of the skill tree that players don't get with beta skill points. Beyond that, once you get into the paragon system for all classes, there are legendary nodes to change things up further, and of course, legendary and unique items with perks that change abilities and boost performance that weren't there in the beta. Or maybe you didn't get the good beta, like if you missed out on the one that turns your wolves into werewolves.
While I think it's perfectly fine to judge how the classes were in the early hours of the beta, I think it's pretty clear that nothing can be fully judged until the full game is released. However, Blizzard is receptive to player complaints. While they may claim that these classes will be better later, they had no problem buffing and nerfing based on beta feedback, which they did especially with the Barbarian and Druid. And when they realized they went too far with the Necromancer skeleton nerf, they brought it back in the middle of the final Server Slam. It looks like it's going to be a very reactive sandbox.
So if you were excited to play Druids but were disappointed with their performance in the beta, I wouldn't write them off just yet. We'll find out what they're like when they fully launch in just under two weeks from now.
Also read: Diablo IV: How the devs will keep you hooked
source of information: forbes.com
