Shape Shifter/Wolf Help

[aceshigh]

Shape Shifter/Wolf Help

Never made a non elemental druid before. Listed below are some of my questions/concerns and there r many concerns i am forgettin to mention (not on purpose) plz help me fill those in as well.


I decided to use Wolf form. This is stricly PvM.

Weapon: i was reading that many pvm wolves go 2 handed. I know for a fact that maxin block on my hammerdin made a HUGE differnece, but i guess maybe for melee druids, shield not needed? With that being said i saw the following possible options:

Rib Cracker: i heard all bout the sound! And in terms of stats, the CB and FHR are nice, good dmg. Seems to be a fan favorite.

Cranium Basher (Uni. THunder maul): i did not see this option mentioned in any threads. Prolly cause of the 253 str = / . But in terms of dmg, 75 open wound and ed it could pack quite a punch (plus added res and chance to cast amp dmg). But is it too slow and is the str that insane?

EBOTD cv or something???

Helm: Cerebus bite has nice AR, ll and OW but lacks the res etc of jalal....?

Armor: Most likely COH unless someone convinces me otherwise.

Glove/Boot: Drac/gore, again unless proven otherwise.

Jewerly (Ammy/ring) ??? Mara raven and ?? duno =]

Belt: string for dr and ll? or maybe cause of life tap, id want dungos?

Before i talk about skills i would invest in lemme state my chars purpose. Clear out the lvl 85 areas (obviously not more effeciently then hammerdin etc). Just fun pvm. While keepin fun in mind, i also dun wana get nervous when i see a swarm of units runnin at me.. Wana be geared/skilled to hold my ground and mark my terriroty = /

So i know i wana max fury and lycan. But ive seen mixed opinions on maxin werewolf it self, and its diminishin returns on Atk Speed. Also would i wana just get a few wolves to take hits, get a solid bear goin (how many points invested equates to a "solid bear". Max oak sage? get a second attack, what attack --maybe feral for single target hits and bosses (do wana kill baal at the end of the wsk walk). I wana do decent dmg in half to full games if possible = /.

IF u read all the way to this point in the text,then u must really wana help me out so PLEASE give me ur best =]

THanks !

 

[mustermann]

max ww is ur only way in pvm, u got plenty of skills.

weapon:Ribcracker.
U could take botd as well but well i dont think it does more damage.
CB rocks.

Boots:Gores. no duscussion^^


Armor: Fortitude or Lionheart. I guess u got anni and torch so dont worry about the resists. But CoH isnt bad either

Jewelry: There i see u are a true lame hammerdin player. D)
Highlords >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Maras.
Good craft>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Maras for Hammerdin as well.
(i got rares that beat maras cuz they got 20dex, 2xresi and 2skill, life...

Ring: raven, rare dual leech.
No buls no soj

Beltungo > String but not cuz of lifetap (dont know what lt has to do with the belt..) but because of fhr.
If u dont have dungo take string its not bad though u dont need the lifeleech.


Gloves:LoH. 40fire resist, 350ed to demons.
Huge damage.
Why huge damage?
1)demons=1/3 of all Monster (though id say its more), 115ed!
2)u loose 40% total phys(!) Damage+Safety if lt is triggered.
Why? Reapers Toll Merc.

 

[Enigmers]

Dracs isn't bad either.
For a weapion, a good Eth Botd Great Poleaxe is really fast and does lots of pure physical damage (IE leeching) but Ribcracker is probably the best weapon. Or you could be classic pro and use Silence, though Its not worth the Ist and Vex runes it takes.

 

[JuniorHigh]

Not completely related, but does Ribcracker grant a WolfBarb with Mace Mastery more damage?

 

[Cubbie]

Afaik Ribcracker is a maceclass weapon so that Mace Mastery will work fine with it.

 

[aceshigh]

In terms of the merc,

i was originally thinking makin act1 rogue (cold) with faith for the fanat.

but im realizin many say reaper toll. Not sure if i have one since later rolled. I got 1 of everything else ladder only but dun think i got one of those,. And if i do it isnt ethreal. Would it be stupid to hand my merc non eth toll?

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

no, its used for the chance to cast decrep not the dmg

 

[frums]

and even a non eth one will deal enough damage

 

[Verashiden]

String of Ears > Dungoes. The vit doesn't increase life all that much and the FHR is kinda pathetic. Just Shael your Jalal's and go to town.

 

[mustermann]

dont think so well vit is "only" 80life but 80life is 80life
I dont need 8ll so i take dungos (got a dual leech ring that is enough until feral rage and some skillers in inv so ll doesnt matter).

i was originally thinking makin act1 rogue (cold) with faith for the fanat.

Fana gives u zero attack speed.

If u want togo the dupe way u can take Pride.
It will increase ur damage but not that much as reapers toll will.
Reapers also adds safety to u (decrep) as to ur merc(ll).

Or you could be classic pro and use Silence, though Its not worth the Ist and Vex runes it takes.

ehm lol?
Why should he take this weap for a fury ww?

 

[Verashiden]

Erm, correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Droods get 1.5 life per vit point >.>.

And you can NEVER have too much LL. Especially in Hell.

 

[aceshigh]

Thank you everyone, for ur advice!

 

[mustermann]

Erm, correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Droods get 1.5 life per vit point >.>.

And you can NEVER have too much LL. Especially in Hell.

I got 3,5k life without oak this is enough for pvm (works for uber trist even if its build on eth tombreaver not on low req ribcracker)

Well lets say we dont max feral rage.we got 4(jalal)+1(hl)+4(anni torch)+3(i got 3shape skillers in my inv)=12skills.
That makes lvl13feral rage.
That makes a total of 60ll from feral rage. 20ll on hell.

I think that is enough, though some builds will max feral rage thats->lvl32feral rage=136%ll

I believe u know all these thing so do u really think that is not too much?
(i think of an high skill rabies/fury hybrid with inv full with skillers...)

 

[Verashiden]

Also remember that that's after 4-5 Hits. It's kinda like running resists on a Windy. And no, I don't think that's too much. I've been playing SP HC lately though so my opinion might be a bit biased.

 

[aceshigh]

So should i max feral rage?

Thing is, if i use dracs it wont take long for the tap to kick in. And then stackin life leech wont matter? ALso how much mana leech is enough to keep furyin or f.raging. Gota duel leech ring wit 4-5 mana would i need more?

 

[frums]

that should be more than enough
its only 4 mana/fury, so it should really never drop (except with mana burn, then you should have feral on left click, it uses normal attack that way)

 

[aceshigh]

I was lookin at duress, the OW CB and FHR seems nice but does it actually compare to the ll dr skill and RESISTANCE of COH?

what is the max FHR?

Also for my act 2 merc, would i want might or holy freeze. with freeze they r slowers so i get hit less and get more hits in (more dmg--but more dmg then might?)


Also, i really want someone to convince me on whether to use dracs or not. I know its preference etc. This is for pvm so no bad manner = /. BUt if i use dracs ill get tap and ill i wont need to find LL elsewhere. SO id prolly go with dungo over string (cause i dont need the LL). ALso if i use dracs i wun need the LL from coh, and a fury-druid dun seem to be so +skill oriented. SO then its just a matter of dmg vs resistance in the COH vs. Duress question. Also my secondary skill i think is gona be feral rage. It would help me single out one unit vs randomly attackin multiple (in the case of fury). BUt is feral only good for the life leech benefit or is it actually really dmgin. IF i used dracs and had the lifetap goin, would i wana use another secondary skills (would rabies actually hurt nething in hell.. i know poison res is extremely high).

And in terms of summons. Ill prolly wnat oak sage (maxed or not?). Would i wana get bear or wolves or neither. wolves help cover a wind druid while teleportin etc. BUt in my case would it matter if i got a few things on the front line with me attackin and doin no dmg = / (im assumin 1 point into wolves and +skills). Or would a bear prove usefull for takin hits (ill also have my merc). And 1 point for the life vine may be handy... again if im not usin dracs (See above lol)

I appreciate all ur advice, plz keep it comin =]

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

umm wow alotta questions, my first char when i got back on d2 was a pure pvm fury druid, and i didnt have dracs...well didnt have much, and he still did fine, no merc, no minions cept oak, which both spirits die fast and spirit can leave u hangin alot since ur life will go down greatly when it dies, the life tap could come in handy, i was doin 3k or 5k*dont remember sorry* with bonehew and i did fine in pvm cept chaos >< but that should be expected, friend gave me a coh, never tried duress to be completely honest but it has nice mods, FHR to aim for is 42/86...wow i answered out of order...but o well...and this is all imo

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

woops...double clicked lol so uh..hows everybody?

 

[aceshigh]

Well, i plan on usin rib cracker
50 fhr and 50 cb

i also plan on usin gores
15 cb and 15 ow

and dungo (if i use dracs)
10fhr

So that totals
60fhr, 75 cb and 15 ow

so im thinkin if i go with duress, being as im already at 75 cb (which i think is the max) then itll be a waste in that aspect. Duress also has OW. Not sure how much the max OW is but 15 will currently exist from gorerider and another 25 OW if i use dracs. And most importantly is the fhr. There is 40 fhr on duress, but ill already have 60fhr. So if im not efficiently using the fhr cb and ow of duress, then i would think fortitude would be more favorable?

Also if i din use dracs, what would be a good alternative.

only thing i could see would be lava gout for the 20ias and lvl 10 enchant. But would the enchant add that much dmg, and whats the max IAS?. Ill have ias from the ribcracker (50ias), hi lords and i think thats it. Lota other gloves provide nice stats like cb (which im already maxed on).

Life tap or Life leech !!!?

if i didnt use dracs, then i need massive LL (how much should i need). for belts (without dracs) should i use string or nosferatu which both have LL. It then comes down to ias/slow target vs dr.

BAM: i do agree, TONS of questions. I dun mind remakin a char if i feel i need to, but i dun wana build the char (stats/skills) around the wrong gear and have to remake cause of it = /. And i know there r tons of people out there who love the melee druid, and would hopefully be willin to key me in to some of the common mistakes, or advantages to certain gear.

Thanks again for all ur inputs