Druid on Aldur's

[Beedy]

Druid on Aldur's

It's like a druid on drugs... feeling all good and shiny and all, but doing you no good.
At least that's the feeling I get if I read other's take on Aldur's.
I found myself the armor today and decided to go for it. Inspired by SSoG's Kodiak guide as well as my experience with a buriza fire claws bear back in 1.09 I decided to try out the Kodiak based on elemental damage (weapon, armor, head AND boots slot taken by Aldur's leaves me exactly 0 Crushing blow.)
Basing my build around hunger means I get very low Physical damage, and I am pretty much in need of Dracul's for the life tab CtC to keep myself alive and kicking (biting) against unleechables in hell. (this means that craftable CB gloves are out too.)

The idea is to complete hell with it and I aim to be a good tank with it if I manage hell solo.

I'd love some ideas on this, should I got for summoning with it, to take a bit of the heat of my back, or possibly for the extra damage? Or maybe the poison creeper, as a source of damage I don't aim for in my build. Or go full out on shockwave/hunger and eat them at my leisure?

Thanks for any feedback! :thumbsup:
Regards, Beedy


So far my idea is to use Aldur's Set offcourse, Raven Frost, Dwarf Star, Thundergod's Vigor for the Absorb. Dracul's for leeching off unleechables. And an inventory full of +elemental damage charms (and one poison for the prevent monster heal effect.) This should pretty much be okay to take down everything.

But that's Theory...
I base my ideas on what I know from 1.09 as a druid and what I have read/seen of 1.11 (just started playing D2 again.) and I would very much love some experienced (bear)druids' take on this.

 

[Ed from Russia]

You said it yourself; no Crushing Blow and below-average damage makes the Aldurs set useless for any physical-damage build. Fireclaws is possible, and one of the best options, but you can only reach (I think) 7 frames if you sockets 3 Shaels in the weapon. In comparison, a Phase Blade with 6 Shaels reaches (I think) 5 frames. Still, that's not too bad, certainly for PvM. The set also gives good defense and resistances, and some leech.

If you go for Fire Claws, you probably want to have your skill setup roughly as follows:
- 20 Fireclaws
- 1-20 Lycanthropy (more for more life)
- 1-20 Werebear (increases damage and leech, if you want hybrid fire/physical)
- 0-20 Oak Sage (instead of Lycan if you play multi-player)
- rest in FC synergies

You could also go for a Werewolf instead of Bear, but I think the bear is better (=safer).

As for equipment, I think it's pretty obvious. You could go without a shield (you have a low FBR so you prefer to just take a hit now and then), or choose Stormshield or Sanctuary. For gloves, Draculs are fine, or maybe LoH. If you choose a Fire/Physical damage hybrid you could choose Blood (crafted) gloves for some Crushing Blow. Rings: 2 Ravens or Raven/Wisp. Amulet: Maras or Rising Sun or rare with +2 to Druid/Shapeshifting skills and other useful mods.

I haven't tried it yet, but I am wondering if the set aura is visible when you are a bear.

The other build that the set is pretty good at is a Fire Druid; a Windy is not possible because of lack of FCR, but a PvM Fire Druid is a pretty good option. Look up the guide in the stickies.

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

a 6 shael phase blade*120 ias* will reach 4frames, only 110 ias is needed, so 4 shaels and 2 15ias with second mod jewels will work too

 

[Beedy]

Thanks a load for your reply Ed from Russia :smiley:

Really helped me rethink on what to do with the Aldur's set. I've read through the guide on Fire druids, and I'm going to try that one. It probably does mean I won't be able to solo hell, because of the fire immunes, but maybe with merc, a good spirit, some wolves and a creeper I'll manage them too.

Gonna try for firestorm, fissure and volcano, and use the boulder to knockback enemies. I have absolutely no experience with this, but I'll learn on the go.
I'm thinking to throw a couple of points into spirit wolves, dire wolves and grizzly. I won't have much to play with, as I'd like to max a spirit too, so I am at 81 points with that and have about 14 points to sink in summons.

Which spirit to choose? And how is the survivability of summons in hell, with only a few hard points in it?

I'll generally be playing solo or teaming with a necro summoner or lightning sorc. My gear will grant +6 or +8 to all druid skill (still thinking on the shield) and another +3 to fire and +1 to elemental skills.

I got the feeling I'm gonna have a load of fun with this one :wink3:

Would love to hear how the summons can survive in hell, as I am thinking on going for the heart of wolverine, to boost merc/wolves damage (would be a great boon to the necromancer too, if teaming with him.)
But if the wolves won't survive, then an Oak Spirit would be much better, and it helps everyone I'd team with to survive longer.

 

[admante]

You can't cast any elemental spells except for armageddon when in wereform.

Wolves are mostly for being distractions. It's the bear that does damage. Personally, I would go for oak sage.

 

[Arkardo]

Just something that came in mind: I understand that Fireclaws on a Werebear is safer, but wouldn't the Werewolf's IAS save you one or two Shaels?

 

[nex]

I understand that Fireclaws on a Werebear is safer, but wouldn't the Werewolf's IAS save you one or two Shaels?

No, wolves are slower. Werewolf can only reach 5 fpa fireclaws, bear 4 fpa.

 

[superjayson]

Just something that came in mind: I understand that Fireclaws on a Werebear is safer, but wouldn't the Werewolf's IAS save you one or two Shaels?

in theory yeah, but blizzard screwed up when setting up the attack speed tables. werewolf ias = pretty much useless.

 

[Ed from Russia]

@ Beedy

IMO with a Fire Druid you need to make a choice, whether you are going to use your summons to deal damage or just as tank. For strong summons you need to put 15-20 points in both Dire Wolves and Grizzly. This leaves about 60 points for Fire skills, or 40 if you want an spirit. In this case you can go for Heart of Wolverine if you prefer (the choice between HoW and OS is really upt to you, whether you prefer safety or speed).

There are 3 other options. First, you can choose only to use a Grizzly and put 20 points in this skill. With decent gear bonuses your Grizzly will survive well in Hell (he will die now and then but you can easily recast) and he will do nice damage. Again you could choose either spirit. The second option is to max Dire Wolves, and play with either the wolves or the grizzly. That way you have 1 or 3 meat shields that deal no damage. But it will make it easier for you to aim your Fissures and Volcanos. Obviously in this case you should go for Oak Sage (your Merc should already do fine by himself). The last choice is to put only 1 pt in Dire Wolves and Grizzly. With some skill bonuses your Grizzly will be a cheap tank, but not much else. This also gives you more points for your spirit (Oak Sage) and for Fire skill synergies.

Note that I am talking about PvM here. I am not a PvP player but I think that you probably want to the Grizzly in PvP so you can use teleport safely (with Enigma).

Concerning survivability: as mentioned 1-pt Grizzly does fine, and Wolves (with 20+20 invested) also does decently. They die now and then but you simply recast. Spirits die a lot, but again you just recast.

Concerning the fire skills: your most useful skill is Fissure; it takes care of whole groups of monsters without effort. Volcano is the ultimate Boss killer; your Grizzly and Merc keep him in place and Volcano deals fire and physical damage. This is also the way to deal with fire immunes, together with the occasional Boulder in narrow areas (the Maggot Lair becomes a lot of fun). I never use Fire Storm. You need to max at least Fissure and Volcano for the Fire damage to be effective (they synergize each other). After that you could go for Fire Storm (synergy for Fissure) or Molten Boulder (synergy for Volcano). I am still not sure which is best, but I normally invest in Molten Boulder because it boosts the Physical damage of Volcano, making that more effective in handling Fire Immunes.

Another way of dealing with Fire Immunes is Poison Creeper, that you can get from the Carrion Wind ring.

I haven't tried a Fire Druid with Aldurs yet, but I think the following gear should work:
- Aldurs set, socketed with Fire Facets and/or Ums.
- Spirit Shield or Lidless Wall seems obvious, or Sanctuary for safety.
- Magefist gloves for extra skill bonus
- Arachnid's Mesh or a rare belt with good resistances. Or maybe the IK belt, for the resists and strength (so you can equip Spirit Monarch easier)
- Carrion Wind and an SOJ, or a rare ring with good resists
- Maras amulet, or a magic/rare Druid amu with bonus to elemental skills

 

[Beedy]

I got the build pretty much in my head now. Going to max fissure volcano and oak sage, and use the remaining points for dire wolves or spell synergies. When I get to hell, I'll see whether I need a few more points in dire wolves for the wolves'/bear's survivability and else I'll just sink them all in synergies for fissure and volcano.

I had pretty much the same idea on gear, though if I get my hands on Arach, SoJ and Mara's they're for my sorc first, so the druid will have to do with rising sun or a good rare amulet, and I'll go with a IK belt and a resist ring. Aldur's on it's own should give about 140 strength in total (need 75 for the weapon, which gives 45 strength from set bonusses, and the armor gives another 20, add in IK belt and I have more then enough for spirit.)

Thanks a lot for the tips and the help Ed from Russia! :smiley:

 

[MrKaxe]

The other build that the set is pretty good at is a Fire Druid; a Windy is not possible because of lack of FCR, but a PvM Fire Druid is a pretty good option.

A Windy is possible, just not optimal with this set as you can use crafted Belt, perfect Spirit, rings and Magefist to get one FCR bp lower than the top.
As already stated, the best use of this (quite useless compared to the other class-specific sets) set would be Fire Claws.

 

[ffejrxx]

nm baal just gave me aldur boot and helm

if anyone here wants it whisp me
europe scl

*ffejr30 :afro:

 

[come back zinc]

I haven't tried it yet, but I am wondering if the set aura is visible when you are a bear.

It is and it's glorious.