Need a bit of advice on my Werebear

[Nolomite]

Need a bit of advice on my Werebear

I've got a ridiculously overpowered Werebear who is fortunate enough to have a bunch of great items - EBOTD T-Maul, Delerium helm, Fortitude armor, etc.

I've got Lycan., Werebear, and Maul maxxed, of course, and he's a couple levels away from maxxing HOW. I had originally planned to pump Shockwave, but at this point I'm convinced that would be a waste: he's got 4 hard skill points in it, which gets him 13 net points, and I don't see where any further pumping would help my character along.

My question is, what do I start working on next? I figure I'll have about 10 skill points with which to do something constructive, after I max HOW. I'm getting a few points (7?) of Armageddon now (from the base helm I made Delerium in) that helps with groups and PI's - will dumping points into the synergies help me at all? I'm not sure that will even work, as I've never tried to synergize an item-granted spell.

Also, will Cyclone Armor help me? Can I cast that when in Bear-form?

Adding wolves or a bear to summon is appealing as well - especially if none of the other options are helpful. However, I do a boatload of physical damage now, so adding more will be of limited use (but I would appreciate them drawing attackers off of me)

Any suggestions you might have would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[waflob]

I've got Lycan., Werebear, and Maul maxxed, of course, and he's a couple levels away from maxxing HOW. I had originally planned to pump Shockwave, but at this point I'm convinced that would be a waste: he's got 4 hard skill points in it, which gets him 13 net points, and I don't see where any further pumping would help my character along.

Any suggestions you might have would be GREATLY appreciated!

What you said already makes good sense. Any interest in hunger ? Damage is reduced, but if you do lots anyway, you should be able to leech effectively. I did this with my mauler and switched to hunger when the red bulb got too low for my liking.

Otherwise, as you said, summon another bear for company

DelBoy

 

[Chimaira]

First of all your gear sounds pretty sweet, except for the BOTH Thunder Maul...I've seen a couple of people using these with bears/wolves and it's just very wrong. With that maul you'll be attacking at 12 frames, which is roughly 2 times per second or very very slow. The most important thing for a bear is to have a very fast weapon, and I know BOTH has 60% IAS, but you unfortunately also need a very fast base speed weapon. So my suggestion to you is to get a BOTH Champion Axe...that will land you at 7 frames or almost twice as fast as your previous attack. Of course the damage will drop, buy it will be more than made up for by the increased attack speed.

I also think your Shockwave is fine where it is now. You should definitely get a Grizzly bear since he's an awesome tanke even with 1 skill point. More than 1 point is a total waste since Grizzly won't do do noticeable damage at lvl 10 or whatever.

You can't cast Cyclone Armor when in Bear-form so that would be annoying, also it won't be very powerful. I'd max HOW, and get Grizzly + 1 point in Carrion Vine can't hurt you, it will in fact heal you After that you can't have all that many skill points left.

 

[jepspi]

The moment I saw a "thundermaul" as your weapon I felt my heart break a little.

My question is: WHY torture your bear with a slow weapon? I seriously suggest using a 6 shael phase blade as of this moment because this will GREATLY help you out.

You also haven't mentioned if the bear you have is going to be a melee PKer or shockwave.. and from the looks of it it seems you are pretty confused as well.

You will have to decide what is important: keeping yourself alive or dealing damage as much as possible. The stats you have maxed are great, and maxing HoW will further that. Only put 1 point in unnecessary skills such as pets (ravens, wolves, bear, vine) IF you have stabilized your main priorities (which you have to decide what). Plus skill items that you get from amulets, charms, or whatever you decide to pack in the bag will suffice your pets.

 

[Chimaira]

While I can totally agree that a BOTH Thundermaul on a bear is a no-no I think that a 6 shael phase blade for a PvM maul bear is just as silly. I might be fast but the damage will be seriously lacking compared to other slower weapons like the BOTH Champion Axe I mentioned or even a Ribcracker. For PvP pure speed might be necessary but for PvM a compromise between speed and damage is necessary, to achieve the best results.

 

[jepspi]

I guess the part I missed out on is whether his druid is going to be a PVP or PVM.

Chim is right, a compromise is needed for a PVM so off the top of my head I'd say Bstar.

 

[Voice]

@ chimaria: BotD or BOTD ... not BOTH

Might consider maxing fc .. it looks like you used a few unecessary points. I do not recommend putting points into grizzly, 1 in him max. Reasoning for this is that w/ the few amount of points that you will be putting in him he will be a tank, and wont do noticable damage so you will be better off putting into dire wolf to increase the life of your grizzly.

I personally dont think grizzly is all that necessary for wb's since shockwave should allow you to take down most monsters at your own pace.

All in all I would see how many points you can get into fc. If you can get a decent amount into fc then that might be the way to go since it will allow you to do fire damage against pi's.

I agree your weapon is to slow do a search and you can find weapons that are suggested for maul wb's. Might consider a weapon switch that does ele damage like bstar + tiamates to take on pi's as stated above.

 

[Weltkriegpally]

iirc, you did a thread on this before and had a faith merc? If you did, and have the level of fanat+the amount of ias in gear, I believe you could hit 8 fpa with a tmaul, which is more than adequate, imo, especially given that you have to be approaching 15k+ damage. (Given a crap ebotd gpa, my bear on non ladder hits at 7 fpa and does 13k charged maul). I know a decent ebotd tmaul can hit *much* harder.

--welt

 

[Nolomite]

The moment I saw a "thundermaul" as your weapon I felt my heart break a little..........

My question is: WHY torture your bear with a slow weapon? ........

and from the looks of it it seems you are pretty confused as well.....

I've seen a couple of people using these with bears/wolves and it's just very wrong

I must apologize: I thought this was the Druid forum, not Arrogant Snobs 'R' Us.


Hopefully you won't lay it on as thick for the next guy. Please not that the theme of my original post was "Where do I go from here?" and not "Oh My God I'm an Idiot Who Has Made TERRIBLE MISTAKES PLEASE PLEASE SMART PEOPLE BAIL ME OUT".


To those of you who chose not to take whacks at me as if I were a pinata - thank you. I've got an ethereal Champion's Axe and was considering taking Chimaira's suggestion, but at this point I'm more likely to just delete this character & hope I never become associated with the Druid Forum again in the future.

And to all of you - is there any question as to why this forum doesn't see much activity?

Have a nice day.


(Welt - that wasn't me - I've never had a Faith merc.)

 

[Thrawn_II]

well, i'll just post also my tips on your first post, that fireclaws is very nice against phsy immunes, and it can do lots of dmg. also, hunger does work like a rejuv potion after a couple hits. no, nothing elemental works when in were- form. and unless you're going solo, a grizzly helps alot!

otherwise, id say fireclaws. oh, and i've beaten the game lanning w/ another WB druid, and i was a WB druid myself. never maxed anything, i was too curious about the game lol.

enjoy.

EDIT: and yeah, it seems that there are lots of opinionated people here. oh well. i personally like speed as well, but if i can get a wb druid that has skills in everything to beat the game, i must've been doing something right!

 

[Weltkriegpally]

well, nolo, I wouldn't say dump him, although I tend to agree that an ebotd tmaul is a bit slow for my tastes, it IS a very viable weapon and with that kinda hit power, slow isn't always a bad thing. Now, you could try a faith merc for ar+speed+damage, and it will help some with pis. as far as geddon goes, I highly suggest a stone armor for the level 16 moulten boulder charges, as it will give a great increase in damage, but its not worth synergizing. It would also boost fireclaws a great deal if you chose to use that as a secondary attack. Really, I think a smarter idea for pi's would be to use a shael bstar+tiamats on switch. 8 or 9 fpa and lotsa elemental. Now, I am curious as to the choice of delirium. It gives some cool confuse effects, but bears don't really need it, having access to that awesome skill shockwave. Jalals gives fhr/resists/4 ss/stats and a free socket. The main reason I suggest it is for the resists, lol. I know bears have crap for that. It also gives a nice ar bonus which again, is always useful to a bear. However, its your call, and if you want, I could take al ook at it on east. I have built many bears (most highly successful pvp) and could comment on where to go from there.

--welt

 

[jepspi]

I must apologize: I thought this was the Druid forum, not Arrogant Snobs 'R' Us.


Hopefully you won't lay it on as thick for the next guy. Please not that the theme of my original post was "Where do I go from here?" and not "Oh My God I'm an Idiot Who Has Made TERRIBLE MISTAKES PLEASE PLEASE SMART PEOPLE BAIL ME OUT".


To those of you who chose not to take whacks at me as if I were a pinata - thank you. I've got an ethereal Champion's Axe and was considering taking Chimaira's suggestion, but at this point I'm more likely to just delete this character & hope I never become associated with the Druid Forum again in the future.

And to all of you - is there any question as to why this forum doesn't see much activity?

Have a nice day.


(Welt - that wasn't me - I've never had a Faith merc.)

First of all, I don't know who you're quoting with that second one.

Second, let's be real here for a second. Can you honestly tell me that using a Maul would be of best interest? Not even a Barb can make up for that kind of speed. Yes the damage is GREAT, but where you lack in speed is where you will also lack in success.

I noticed you only quoted half of what I posted, where the other half had my advice. Good job.

My post wasn't an attack or a bash at all and I have no clue how you can perceive it as such. You say that your bear is "ridiculously overpowered" and I take it you were waiting for a humble reply. Good job again.

You also have not answered my question: PvP or PvM.

 

[Nolomite]

The second quote was Chimaira's, posted above yours.

I cut/pasted the offensive parts, jep - that's is the issue which I was speaking to. Your entire post is there for all the world to read - people can decide for themselves whether I was being obfuscating, or whether you were in fact spewing snobbery.

To provide the answer you are so deperately looking for, my bear was PvM. Now you are armed with the information to dismiss your silly suggestion of a 6xShael Phase Blade. And, who PvP's with a Delerium helm?

You honestly don't see where I would find your post a bash? According to you my bear was being tortured and I am confused. From my point of view my bear was very much overpowered and I was just looking for a useful place to park the last 10 or so skill points - I feel I was very clear on this issue.

I'll clarify a bit more, lest anyone get caught up in the rhetoric, here's a summarized version of the dialog -

Nolo: Hi Druid board! I've got a werebear that's going great - where do you suggest I park the last few skill points

Druid Board: Hi Nolo! Put a point into Summon Bear, try Fireclaws for help with the PI's, and YOU ARE A NOOB FOR USING THAT T-MAUL. OH MY GOD!

When I first started item trading, I was taken aback by the people who would ask me which items I was using, then criticize my choices - without asking why I might have chosen a Kelpie Snare over a Hone Sundan. These people decided that since I chose a different path than they did, I must be either ill-informed or lacking in imagination. Talk about gall. To those people here who have exhibited the same lack of maturity, I would suggest you ASK a person what their goals are before ragging their methodology.

----

Welt - I went with the Delerium to augment the crowd-control solutions that Shockwave provides - the range on Shockwave was too short to reach a lot of the archer and caster groups, but they did get caught up in the LvL 18 Confuse that Delerium throws. Since I could get +2 skills on top of the Druid skills (Maul/Armageddon) inherent in my helm, it seemed an effective and interesting addition to the offensive repertoire. The armor was a Fortitude - I wanted to see it's impact on melee damage (It was my first, and to this point my only Fort) and I wanted the resistances it provided.

----

Lastly, my Act II merc had a Reaper's Toll, specifically selected for its ability to cast Decrepify and break physical immunity. This merc setup has worked nicely on my PvM Windy.

 

[Chimaira]

First of all if my post offended you I'm sorry...that was certainly not my intent. I just wanted to say that for PvM Maul bears damage isn't everything, which a lot of people seem to think it is. You asked for my opinion/help and I gave it to you, and get called arrogant for it . You said BOTD Thundermaul was a great weapon for a PvM Maul bear, and so I wanted to explain why it in reality wasn't so great, or I tried to help you.

Also when you say something like this, I can't see why you are offended when someone tells you that there might be a better weapon for you to use.

Any suggestions you might have would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[jepspi]

First of all if my post offended you I'm sorry...that was certainly not my intent. I just wanted to say that for PvM Maul bears damage isn't everything, which a lot of people seem to think it is. You asked for my opinion/help and I gave it to you, and get called arrogant for it . You said BOTD Thundermaul was a great weapon for a PvM Maul bear, and so I wanted to explain why it in reality wasn't so great, or I tried to help you.

Also when you say something like this, I can't see why you are offended when someone tells you that there might be a better weapon for you to use.

And that is exactly what I said. Perhaps in my mind, having a FAST and decent damage weapon is better than a sluggish yet brute weapon that you so prefer. That is called an opinion, yet you seem to take it as a "bash" on your druid. I don't get what you are being so defensive about; my very first post on this thread was an ANSWER to the suggestion you were aiming for.

Let me clear this gas up your head.

I used the word 'torture' exaggeratedly and I was hoping you would have caught it. No you didn't, and instead went on a zealous parade bashing my post that you have taken wrong. Maybe I should have used 'punish' or 'chain-down-a-cross' to make you understand that my post wasn't a BASH.

No one is attacking you here; we are giving you suggestions that you asked for and well I'm goddamn sorry that you don't like it.

 

[Sista]

My 2 Cents

I came here looking for advice on where to put skill points on a werebear....ended up finding a pissing contest about tmauls. I, personally, use an ebotd tmaul on my werewolf.....he does approximately 21k damage with auras from wolverine and might merc....in baal runz, paly auras are getting his damage up as high as 35k....He wears upped jalllalalallalalas with a 15ias 35ed jewel, perf fort armor, gore rider boots, drac grasps, carrion wind ring, metal grid amulet, and I believe a raven frost...I'm doing this by memory and can't remember the name of his belt but it is one with ias also. He's a pretty viable beasty in runs. I don't pvp, but when friends have asked me to 'test' their characters, i've wiped them out in one fair swipe of my paw. I'm not so sure as to what weapon to go with for my bear, but had considered an ebotd warpike, because of it's increased attack speek and fast attack....I make up resists in sc's and anni. I don't think I'll be able to be swayed from this decision of ebotd, but I would like some advice on other gearing....or maybe I'll just try exact set up as what's on my wolf and alter it if needed.....but any input would be appreciated....
Thanx, Sista

 

[Chimaira]

If you want a relatively slow and huge damage weapon I'd suggest a Thundermaul instead of War Pike...almost the same damage but the maul is much faster on a bear. It seems that you can reach a 10 frame attack with only 32% OIAS which isn't all that bad. Highlord's Wrath (deadly strike and huge EBOTD damage=) and some kind of gloves with 20% IAS (preferrably crafted blood gloves) could reach that breakpoint. Other than that I don't see much reason to change the gear you are already using on your wolf, maybe another Ravenfrost instead of Carrion Wind?