"The Druidess starts with a robe and a sickle which is particularly effective against molds and plants. She starts with some fruit and vegetables." - In-game description.
The druidess is a spellcaster class, who is best at dealing with plant-like creatures, all of which are easily succumbed to the sickle. Her inventory may seem peculiar, consisting of some poor quality shields which if the player chooses to, can by polymorphed into a powerful construct with her wand of polymorph.
Stats[]
Alignments and Belief[]
Belief System: Inner Power.
- Chaotic Good;
- Lawful Good;
- Neutral.
Talents[]
- Animal Forms;
- Beast Mastery;
- Dweomery;
- First Aid;
- Gastronomy;
- Literacy;
- Magic Precision;
- Mycology;
- Nightmare Mode.
Starting Equipment[]
- Blessed +1 sickle (immutable, wielded in right hand);
- Blessed +1 green headband (immutable, being worn);
- Blessed +0 white robe (being worn);
- Uncursed -3 small shield (being worn);
- Two uncursed -3 small shields;
- Blessed wand of polymorph (8 charges).
- Four fresh apples;
- Three fresh carrots
- Two fresh pears.
Starting Skills[]
- Life Spell: 1 point.
Starting Pet[]
Strategy[]
The druidess is very similar to the druid (and there is some strategy cross-over) initially, however her talents (unlike the druid) are more specialized for a magical role on top of the animal forms. You should note the shield that comes in the picture. It isn't mentioned, but she starts off with three -3 shields and the one she has equipped should be unequipped immediately upon start (unless you like having 0 armor). Additionally, her headband is enchanted and protects her from the effects of confusion. Her +1 sickle is immutable, which means that she does not struggle to deal with green molds and acid blobs.
The recommended option is to get animal forms first, this gives you an option (at the cost of some mana) to transform into a creature from a list. This is useful since it functions exactly like polymorph and some of these critters are pretty powerful early on (like the giant ant). Additionally, you have 2 or more lives depending on your mana, as long as you keep yourself polymorphed, that is.
Drop all of you Wooden shield's on the ground and then zap the shields with your polymorph wand.
This will create a Wicker Man, Who is really good at the start of the game (NOTE: If you have enough leather suits, I'm pretty sure you can make a Leather Golem) however, your Wicker Man won't last long, as he will attack any shopkeeper in sight.
Animal Form and Polymorphing
When the druidess polymorphs, she drops (most) everything she has equipped - and depending on the form, even cursed items (you will need the animal forms talent, or some other source of polymorph control to choose what form it is at a whim). This enables utilizing decent cursed equipment and identifying whether items are cursed or blessed without dweomery (as long as she can equip them).
Keep some things in mind when polymorphing in regards to your health and mana:
- Essentially, their current human levels will determine your animal form's current levels; polymorphing at 50% health and mana will mean your animal form will start with around ~50% of its health and mana as well, meaning it is recommended you polymorph right away in a tough fight as every HP you lose as a human will affect your performance as an animal, and that you don't waste too much mana casting other spells while in human form, since you may need that mana both while polymorphed, or to re-transform if your animal form is "killed". The trick here is that it is one way; when you return to human form, your health and mana will be reset to their prior amount (minus the mana cost to polymorph), regardless of how much of each you lost as an animal. When in animal form, many of your spells may still be available, meaning you shouldn't be afraid to completely expend your mana by casting spells while in animal form! It also means you are best off saving health and mana potions for human form. Naturally, this same rule is in play when you are polymorphed by any means other than the druidess' animal form ability.
It is also very important to note that any experience points (EXP) you earn while polymorphed will transfer over to your human form when you revert. However, other boons such as gaining stat bonuses from certain potions, foods, and/or randomly from a fountain will apply to the polymorph form only and be permanently lost when you transform back into a human. Always save these methods of raising your stats for when you are a human.
Also, though even the tier 3 Animal Forms will only get you so far into the dungeon and new animal forms are NOT unlocked as you level up, the passive polymorph control it provides means that if you are polymorphed by other means such as a wand, trap, or spell - that you will have access to a unique list of monsters depending on your level, which in the long run are far more effective than any animal form, but this secondary passive effect makes the talent still worth having later on.
As well, some of the different forms have a much higher (or lower!) carrying capacity, allowing the druidess to grab more loot and sell it if that's your persuasion. However, they may often have a lower charisma, which will affect the prices merchants will pay for your goods, meaning it may be best to change back into human form before selling. They also have a separate hunger timer, meaning if you are finding yourself starving to death, it is worth shifting into a new form to buy yourself time for finding food, but be sure to change back before eating what you found.
Additionally, caution needs to be exercised around unknown amulets. Most players might rely on turning back into a human on death while polymorphed and will encounter instant permadeath if an amulet of unchanging is worn. Since you otherwise do not die when reaching 0hp while polymorphed, you should also be sure to remove your amulet of life saving - if one is equipped - just to make sure it isn't wasted.
Trivia[]
- The druidess class was made available in Wazhack v1.2.