Idea for Bear/Swarm hybrid build

[invispoet]

So i’ve seen a few “BearSwarm” type builds, but I’m a bit discouraged at the idea of having to summon hives and wait for the locusts while other mobs are trying to kill me…

I have the framework of a build in my head, but i’m not sure how feasible it is. The main idea would be to have Shout/Roar apply bleeds to everything it hits/stuns, then have Swarm get stronger by hitting all the bleeding targets with Swarmstrike. I haven’t got to try this yet, so i’m not sure how it would play out. When you shout then shift to Swarmblade form, do the bleeding and stunned mobs change to locusts, or are they still there so you can hit them and absorb the bleeds? There’s also a node for shout to reset its cooldown when you crit, so you could theoretically have this happen multiple times.

If this works, then you would run Wearbear, Swarmblade, and Warcry for the first 3 skills, but i’m unsure what to use for the last 2. I was thinking Summon Spriggan and maybe maelstrom for a steady stream of healing, but not sure if there’s a better option.

Thoughts?

[LVC1FR]

[WIP] Swarm Form Druid - Spriggan and Swarmblade Minion Poison build, 70+ minions and insane healing

Howdy! This is my first posted build, and I’m gonna come right out and say that it’s probably kinda bad. It’s fun as hell though, so I wanted to share. Character is only level 72, so this is more of a proof of concept than an actual guide. Please oh please feel free to take this and run with it. I transition back and forth from Spriggan form and Swarmblade form to take advantage of that 70% DR while commanding a Swarm of bugs, thorns and vines. I only really use 3 buttons for this build, de…

I was messing around with this concept of Spriggan/Swarmblade a while back, it was fun to play actually, very engaging and not a lazy build in any capacity. Once you got the rhythm between the two forms down, it was a lot of fun. I sort of gave up when it got to empowered monos, it was still successful but got 1 shot a lot. I’m sure the build could be put together a lot better than I did it.

[insidius_13]

So, I am thinking of something similar. Here are my thoughts.

I was thinking of either an Ignite Swarmblade using Maehlin’s Hubris using using the same idea, or simply going pure bleed using Serpent Strike for super attack speed then doing exactly what you said. Going this route, I don’t pick up bear form and stick with swarmblade but have to use Spriggan in place with Eterra’s Path for the rage sustain (in either concept mind you).

To answer your question, the mobs should remain their when you pop their bleeds which then summons the swarm around you to do more damage per bleed eaten. I just think that you would have to invest A LOT into locust swarm to get mileage out of this since as a DOT it cannot crit. If you added maelstrom to this, and changed it to physical damage via the Cyclone node, you could get added physical damage per stack of mael, thus increasing your overall dps with bleeds and Locust Swarm.

I feel there is something there, including in the ignite and bleed builds I mentioned, but I just cannot finalize them.