Kodiak: Should i max fireclaw?

[slothkin]

Kodiak: Should i max fireclaw?

Im going to rebuild my kodiak to maximize stat pts and also cuz i dont like my current bears name. My question is should i max fireclaws instead of heart of wolverine. In pvp games i have yet to find a situation where wolverine has served me better than oak. If i max fireclaws it will give 485%bonus to attack rating at skill lvl 30 as opposed to 310 from maul. And i will still be able to use oak sage. It seems like a good idea to me but im afraid im missing something or the guide would have suggested it. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[Rawness]

Why not? Dunno if the damage will be good thou.

 

[Porky]

The only reason to switch to using Fire claws is when you're done charging up with maul. But when I made my kodiak, I usually never ended up fully charging up Maul and the 20 points in FC was wasted. So my opinion would be to use your skill points on something else.

 

[slothkin]

The only reason to switch to using Fire claws is when you're done charging up with maul. But when I made my kodiak, I usually never ended up fully charging up Maul and the 20 points in FC was wasted. So my opinion would be to use your skill points on something else.

Good point i didnt realize it but i just counted it took 18 hits to fully charge up maul. So maybe the pts in fireclaw would be a waste.

 

[Porky]

You or your opponent is going die before you hit them 18 times. So use the points in something else.

 

[Ed from Russia]

My question is should i max fireclaws instead of heart of wolverine. If i max fireclaws it will give 485%bonus to attack rating at skill lvl 30 as opposed to 310 from maul.

Are you thinking that you get the 485% AR bonus of Fire Claws even if you use Maul? This is not the case; the 485% bonus only works if you use the skill Fire Claws. If you are building a PvP Mauler I can't see a reason why you'd max FC; there are no physical immunes in PvP (only 75% block and 50% DR, and skills like Bone Armor).

Actually I do like the idea for PvM; a FC/Maul hybrid:
20 Lycanthropy
20 Maul
1 each Hunger, Shockwave, Werewolf, Werebear, Feral Rage
20 Fireclaws
rest in FC synergies (about 30)

Equip an upped shael'd Ribcracker and you have enough speed for both attacks.

The choice between Oak Sage and HoW is a personal one; it's an ongoing discussion.

 

[slothkin]

The reason i was thinking of it is because attack rating is one of the kodiak's biggest weaknesses. As it stands right now i have both oak sage and heart of wolverine maxed but i rarely if ever use wolverine. I was wondering if it would be worth it to max fireclaw just so i would have a better option against high defense classes. In pvp i rarely charge up maul fully anyway so im thinking this might be my best option.

And no, im not an idiot that thinks the ar bonus is passive but if i charge up maul and switch to fireclaw i still get the damage bonus from maul while using the ar from fireclaw.

 

[Jary]

Are you thinking that you get the 485% AR bonus of Fire Claws even if you use Maul? This is not the case; the 485% bonus only works if you use the skill Fire Claws. If you are building a PvP Mauler I can't see a reason why you'd max FC; there are no physical immunes in PvP (only 75% block and 50% DR, and skills like Bone Armor).

Actually I do like the idea for PvM; a FC/Maul hybrid:
20 Lycanthropy
20 Maul
1 each Hunger, Shockwave, Werewolf, Werebear, Feral Rage
20 Fireclaws
rest in FC synergies (about 30)

Equip an upped shael'd Ribcracker and you have enough speed for both attacks.

The choice between Oak Sage and HoW is a personal one; it's an ongoing discussion.

Why not just max Werebear, get passive damage bonus, and JUST use fireclaw. The +skills from 1 pt maul should be enough to make by the few occasions you'd need it. Good idea with ribby too

I don't think 1 point in hunger's worth it... it does so little : / Just my opinion

Slothkin, the best kodiak imo prolly isn't a kodiak lol. I'm in the same boat as you, my opinion of maul (other than just charging up a hit or two for stun in pvp/pvm) is not a good one. It takes TOO LONG to be effective, the AR is horrible, and the list goes on. I think you're right about using Fireclaw with oak in PvP, however it's sorta an all or nothing thing to me. If you're gonna do it, you might as well synergise it to get your bargain outta it, you wont regret it The great thing is, you could easily do something like this:

15+ firestorm
20 fissure
20 fireclaw
20 lyc
20 werebear
1 maul
1 oak

And still maintaining the same Kodiak gear: highlords, fortitude, griswolds caddy/Grief (5-6 fpa), SS, Gores, bloods, etc.... you basically lose almost no damage that you had before. If you think about it, you'd have the same initial passive physical damage except you'd have the awesome AR from Fireclaw and an added ~7k Fireclaw bonus for kicks I think it'd be pretty cool 'cause even in PvM you'd have a pretty awesome physical damage base from Werebear, Fortitude, ~50% deadly strike, without even having to chargeup maul much or worry about its crap ar, so you can just focus on FC which would be some awesome versatility. I'm not saying that maul can't be used ever, it can still be used to chargeup from quilrats or town, etc, but that's about as far as its effectiveness goes in duels.. when most duels last only a few hits. Food for thought

 

[slothkin]

Interesting idea. Might turn out really well. Think ill give it a try. The only thing is i like the idea of being a pure physical damage beast but this might be too good to pass up. Might actually give me a prayer against pallys and barbs and what not.

Eh on second thought that just seems like a weak version of a fireclaw bear. Went through a lot to get max dmg life charms and with that setup ss lifers would do better. Dont want my charms to be a waste so ima stick with mauL

 

[Jary]

Yeah, deffinitely. This is more a Fireclaw-->maul wannabe = P so sadly it would be a Shape/Shape-lifer GC dependent :[

Porky used a similar version (however I think he just went pure FC, I believe) and had amazing results melee v melee. Original idea came from the question... "how to beat a Fury? what if they just sorb?" Thought about it, and sorta narrowed it down:

- pure fireclaw: use of phase blade, no OW, easily sorbed in this fight, that's the "un-equalizer" :[ It sucks, but it's the sad truth. Even the highest FC can be diminished into nothing while their 6k physical makes short work of you.

-maul: Speed is slower, fhr slower, damage tooooo weak. No real advantages here.. actually only "one" minor advantage is stun, but its auto lose.

-FC/physical hybrid: now this offers versatility. This would be hard for the Fury to deal with... they have a good 7-10k fireclaw to deal with (depending on setup) as well as hard-hitting passive physical damage with Grief slamming into them with deadly strike & open wounds. If they decide to absorb fire, they still have stun and Phys damage to deal with, if they dont they get owned by fireclaw. That simple.

I'm by no means saying this is anything perfect but it does solve a lot of problems :wink3:

 

[Porky]

Yeah, I pretty much used an FC druid's skill layout but equipped it like a mauler. I hit around 10k FC with grief + fort and 70% Deadly strike. It works extremely well vs Melees, even better than my 4fpa FC druid.

 

[Jary]

I used that layout for an Aldurs FC build, with highlords & dracs... but if I had Fort at the time that "woulda" been what I'da done for equip lol (it was nl :sad2: ).

Porky, what was your gear layout, this sorta makes me curious I almost wanna try it out some time in the near future, but first:

-worth having OW with Grief setup?
-blood gloves vs bloodfists?
-Cerebrus 'shael' vs Jalals?
-20% Oias from Highlords hit 6 fpa breakpoint for Grief or will I need more?
-before each fight, worth killing a monster or two to buff Grief with venom or no? Can buff be town charged?

Generally most FC druids deal with ww barbs, smiters, etc with fissure, but this build might allow you more of a fighting chance in bearform:thumbsup: which could be fun. Sorta wanna try the this flaming kodiak style

 

[Porky]

- No idea, only OW I have is from Gore riders
- I myself am having a hard time deciding whether I should get some +str/+dex blood gloves, which would give me more life, or using bloodfists and a fhr sc for 1 faster fhr frame. So I have no idea yet.
- Cerebus IMO is pointless as it only gives me around 1.5k extra AR
- With a 30IAS Grief PB with 25%OIAS (Bloodfists + Highlords) the fastest it can go is 7fpa. The only weapons able to hit 6fpa are weapons that hit 4fpa on a Fury druid, such as a Cruel Fanged Knife of Quicky and such.
- I never really bother about buffing the venom that much since I really don't care about, nor do I like prebuffing.

And I built this druid specifically for Druidpk's, so you have fun with your fissure thing.

My equipment is;
Jalals --> going to switch to CoA for the DR and so I can use a blood crafted belt
Highlords
Grief Pb
Fortitude
Shael'd Stormshield
Bloodfists
2x Ravenfrosts
Verdungo's --> going to switch out with a blood belt sooner or later
Gore riders

 

[slothkin]

Unless im reading ias calc wrong grief pb only gets up to 7fpa and i think thats too slow. Anyway i decided to max both maul and fireclaw but not synergize it so its main use is extra ar. I really like the way it turned out with a few exceptions. I still cant touch smite(unless i get lucky and 3 shot em with the 2hander), and even with the added ar high defense pally/barbs still rock me. Other than that tho im glad i got both fireclaws and maul. Extra AR from fire claw while still maintaining my identity as KodiakmAULbear.

 

[Porky]

The grief is only useful during melee duels. In public duels vs. casters and such you either want a 4-5fpa weapon. So a Gris caddy is pretty much your only choice.

 

[PacoQuerak]

Jeebus i had a great idea. This build looks like fun. I think i am going to put my old dusty pheonix shield to work! Remember kids, pheonix sheild adds to attack damage and fire damage!

 

[Porky]

I'm pretty sure that the Firestorm casted from a Phoenix shield interupts your attack, so that would be a bad idea.

 

[Jary]

Porky, you're over 100 posts now!

I guess this means your an official member here and I have to respect you...

...

...still workin' on it, I'll get there :thumbsup: :thumbsup: jk jk

(still waiting on your flamboyant kodiak build with 3 vinds

 

[Porky]

We all know that you have deep respect for me, don't try to hide it. And I think it's supossed to be called the Flamboyant Worm Eater now.

 

[Verashiden]

Let's review, shall we?

NEVER USE PHEONIX ON A DRUID!!!

Thank you.