I'm a 27 lvl Fire Druid and I just picked up this handy dandy axe. I hear it's great for low-level druids, but does that include caster druids, or were-druids? I'm using a yellow falchion and blue spiked shield now, as I'm ignorant of what gear fire druids should be using. So: keep or give away?
btw: my fire druid is almost too easy, but I just finished with Meph on Normal. Lovely lovely Fissure eases all cares...|||a fire druid is a caster so caster gear|||Thanks. But unlike Necro and Assassin, I don't know what held objects specifically bolster mana/casting speed/Druid skills, etc., but i'll be on the lookout...|||Some good cheap caster stuff:
'Spirit' sword: Tal Thul Ort Amn (ladder only)
'Lore' helm: Ort Sol
Peasant Crown (helm)
Skin of the Vipermagi (armor)
'Stealth' armor: Tal Eth
'Rhyme' shield: Shael Eth
Nightsmoke (belt)
Magefist (gloves)
Frostburn (gloves)
'Insight' polearm: Ral Tir Tal Sol (on your act2 merc)
Make sure you know the specifics of runeword making before actually attempting any of them.|||Thanks, Scudstorm! I'm assuming that the non-Runic items are gold uniques, available in Normal and Nightmare?
Here's a question about those Act 2 Mercs: how do you know which does what? All I see is that some are Offensive and some Defensive. I know this is a terribly n00bie question, but which mercs have which auras, and how do you know what an aura does? My current Act 2 Merc has a blue aura, but there's no indication what that is.
Many thanks!|||A good weapon for a Fire Druid would be the Earthshaker unique Battle Hammer. It gives +3 to elemental skills. Fire Druids don't need as much FCR as other casters because all their spells are on a timer.
For the merc question, check here.|||^^actually, you can shop for a +3 elemental club.. just as good as earthshaker, with potentially less str reqs.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Fury/Rabies Question
Hey guys, I was thinking about making a Fury/Rabies werewolf sometime in the future, as I had come across some gear.
What I've found so far are;
Lightsabre
Stormshield
Jalal's Mane
Cerberus's Bite
Razor's Edge
Coldkill
Trang-Oul's gloves (a must or so I've heard for Rabies in Hell)
Bloodfist gloves
Atma's Ammy
My question is, out of the gear listed there, which is best?
I know everyone swears by Grief Zerk axe, but can't afford that atm, so which weapon is best paired with SS?
Are the +skills from Jalal's that much better than the 100% + AR from Cerberus's bite?
As for skills, I've heard many things about Werewolf, 1 pt., 5-10 pts., Max it.
What's really the best to get max use out of your skills, without skimping on Werewolf?
Other than that, I was considering an Act III Cold merc, rather than an Act II Holy Freeze, simply because I'd like him to be able to keep some distance,and all my other guys have Act II mercs...
Hope to hear back soon!|||who swears for grief zerk axe? i guess you mixed that with grief pb
from what you say you gonna play pvm. this automatically rules out use of rabies cause rabies on monsters is the best way to crash the game. this leave you as pure fury
lightsabre--> low dmg
razor edge --> solid weapon
jalals>>>>>>>>>>> cerebrus
bloodfist> trang since you gonna use fury
atma? use highlords|||Rabies crash the game still? Bnet can't be that fragile... I've run with rabies before and had the screen lit up, but never actually used it, and didn't crash on me.
But what you're saying, Rabies has a PvP usage? I know it can kill other players, but didn't know it was used much with high player resistance.|||If you use poison creeper rabies then fury it crashes game In any region with alot of mobs. Something to do with bnet closing down a lag dupe bug I think not 100% sure. As for weapon are you playing ladder or nl ?. If ladder I can hear everyone screaming upp a good ed ribbcracker it's cheap and is great pvm . If your nl try to get barraner star and sheal it they work ok if shealed. There's so many weapon chioces that are cheap that will work|||Quote:
Rabies crash the game still? Bnet can't be that fragile... I've run with rabies before and had the screen lit up, but never actually used it, and didn't crash on me.
But what you're saying, Rabies has a PvP usage? I know it can kill other players, but didn't know it was used much with high player resistance.
pvp? main killer for rabies/fury is rabies. look the simple math:
60 000 poison dmg over 20 sec. reduced for pvp penalty it is 10 000 over 20 sec. with 75 % resists it is 2500 pvp dmg. but if opponent dont have stacked poison resists and usually it is used d-web+20-20 monarch on switch, which gives -75 % to poison resists. this push dmg back to 10 000, which almost all opponents|||Didn't know the final damage of Rabies could get that high >.>
May end up pvping then
But until then, what other kind of hybrid wolf can I make? I don't want to play pure Fury, would get too dull for me, just how I play.
Or maybe Werebear, if it can hybrid in anyway?
Or finally, can a werebear/wolf hybrid be done? And to what effect?|||try fireclaws. you play as wolf or bear
What I've found so far are;
Lightsabre
Stormshield
Jalal's Mane
Cerberus's Bite
Razor's Edge
Coldkill
Trang-Oul's gloves (a must or so I've heard for Rabies in Hell)
Bloodfist gloves
Atma's Ammy
My question is, out of the gear listed there, which is best?
I know everyone swears by Grief Zerk axe, but can't afford that atm, so which weapon is best paired with SS?
Are the +skills from Jalal's that much better than the 100% + AR from Cerberus's bite?
As for skills, I've heard many things about Werewolf, 1 pt., 5-10 pts., Max it.
What's really the best to get max use out of your skills, without skimping on Werewolf?
Other than that, I was considering an Act III Cold merc, rather than an Act II Holy Freeze, simply because I'd like him to be able to keep some distance,and all my other guys have Act II mercs...
Hope to hear back soon!|||who swears for grief zerk axe? i guess you mixed that with grief pb
from what you say you gonna play pvm. this automatically rules out use of rabies cause rabies on monsters is the best way to crash the game. this leave you as pure fury
lightsabre--> low dmg
razor edge --> solid weapon
jalals>>>>>>>>>>> cerebrus
bloodfist> trang since you gonna use fury
atma? use highlords|||Rabies crash the game still? Bnet can't be that fragile... I've run with rabies before and had the screen lit up, but never actually used it, and didn't crash on me.
But what you're saying, Rabies has a PvP usage? I know it can kill other players, but didn't know it was used much with high player resistance.|||If you use poison creeper rabies then fury it crashes game In any region with alot of mobs. Something to do with bnet closing down a lag dupe bug I think not 100% sure. As for weapon are you playing ladder or nl ?. If ladder I can hear everyone screaming upp a good ed ribbcracker it's cheap and is great pvm . If your nl try to get barraner star and sheal it they work ok if shealed. There's so many weapon chioces that are cheap that will work|||Quote:
Rabies crash the game still? Bnet can't be that fragile... I've run with rabies before and had the screen lit up, but never actually used it, and didn't crash on me.
But what you're saying, Rabies has a PvP usage? I know it can kill other players, but didn't know it was used much with high player resistance.
pvp? main killer for rabies/fury is rabies. look the simple math:
60 000 poison dmg over 20 sec. reduced for pvp penalty it is 10 000 over 20 sec. with 75 % resists it is 2500 pvp dmg. but if opponent dont have stacked poison resists and usually it is used d-web+20-20 monarch on switch, which gives -75 % to poison resists. this push dmg back to 10 000, which almost all opponents|||Didn't know the final damage of Rabies could get that high >.>
May end up pvping then
But until then, what other kind of hybrid wolf can I make? I don't want to play pure Fury, would get too dull for me, just how I play.
Or maybe Werebear, if it can hybrid in anyway?
Or finally, can a werebear/wolf hybrid be done? And to what effect?|||try fireclaws. you play as wolf or bear
No one loves the poor EBOTD GPA
I wonder about the lack of love for EBOTD GPAs. I clearly understand the appeal of Ribcrackers, and the rarity of the Tomb Reaver alone no doubt adds to its popularity, but why do so few people mention the EBOTD GPA?
According to the speed calcs, the EBOTD swings 4.46 times per second, a respectable 82% of the Reaver's 5.43/sec. The perfect 415% GPA average damage is slightly higher than a perfect 360% Eth Reaver (666 vs 630), and the -25% to target defense mod on the GPA will help actually deliver damage to the target, but I'll grant that the final effect damage from a Tomb Reaver is probably still higher.
I'd consider the MF and Resists of the Reaver to be mostly a wash with the other features of the GPA such as +attributes, -25% def, dual leech, etc.
Ultimately though, the difficulty of getting a good (3 sock eth)Reaver is insanely high, whereas the difficulty of getting a GPA around 400% ed is comparatively easy. So is the exclusivity, bragging rights, etc. associated with the Tomb Reaver the reason why it gets so much attention? Is there some fundamental flaw with using the GPA (aside from the slightly slower attack rate)? Is there something else that I'm missing?
Yours confusedly,
Curby|||No one loves the eBotD GPA?
This is what I'm keeping for my Wolf. Note that this item is in single-player
Code:
This will be his main weapon which I plan to use the Nihlithak quest to personalize. Fact is for a singler-player, I'm never going to find a eth Tomb Reaver with 3 sockets, decent rolls as well as two 40/15s however with 1.13 increased rune drops, I can actually make a second BotD as well|||it is not that nobody loves gp botd, but all mention tomb as best 2 hander for pvp and ribcracker for pvm. i used gp for some time before i got my first etomb|||Quote:
it is not that nobody loves gp botd, but all mention tomb as best 2 hander for pvp and ribcracker for pvm. i used gp for some time before i got my first etomb
In pvm, both eth tomb reaver and ebotd gpa kill faster than upped ribbie(eth or not). At least my CS run benchmarking in players 8 confirmed it. And plenty of damage potential:
http://i41.tinypic.com/23j0dus.jpg|||screenshots from editors dont impress me...|||Quote:
screenshots from editors dont impress me...
At least they provide academic information of it performance
|||*sigh*
A: Everyone loves EBotD. It's not discussed a lot because when giving ranges of gear, it falls between Tomby and Ribby.
B: Ribby is, per cost, the best PvM weapon. Yes, Perfect eth Tomby and 4XX ED EBotD can kill faster. Oh noes.|||Very roughly speaking, an upped non-eth Ribcracker probably takes around 1 HR worth of resources to acquire/build. EBOTD GPA probably takes around 3. I have no idea what a fully outfitted eth 3-sock Reaver takes to acquire/build, but I'd guess around ten times as much (for non-perfect %ED). In short:
Ribcracker: reasonably effective, dirt cheap
EBOTD GPA: extremely effective, moderately affordable
Tomb Reaver: effectiveness is highly variable, and anything approaching EBOTD is astronomically expensive
I'd argue that a reasonably well-off player with a few runes to spend on a weapon can look at the GPA as a very reasonably-priced and effective upgrade from the Ribcracker (instead of, say, spending the funds on an eth upped ribby), yet so many posts seem to imply that from the Ribcracker, there's no other feasible upgrade path besides the Reaver. I just wanted to make sure that there isn't some critical flaw in the EBOTD that I'm missing. Lacking that, I wanted this thread to be a reminder that the EBOTD is pretty awesome for its cost, just like the Ribcracker.|||what stands out on ribcracker is 50 % crushing
thats why i recomend stormlash (as 1 hander) cause of combination of crushing and static
Quote:
At least they provide academic information of it performance
it show information of huge damage, low life and crap resistances|||Quote:
it show information of huge damage, low life and crap resistances
Ok, heres it with a more viable charm setup then: http://i40.tinypic.com/35mldp2.jpg
According to the speed calcs, the EBOTD swings 4.46 times per second, a respectable 82% of the Reaver's 5.43/sec. The perfect 415% GPA average damage is slightly higher than a perfect 360% Eth Reaver (666 vs 630), and the -25% to target defense mod on the GPA will help actually deliver damage to the target, but I'll grant that the final effect damage from a Tomb Reaver is probably still higher.
I'd consider the MF and Resists of the Reaver to be mostly a wash with the other features of the GPA such as +attributes, -25% def, dual leech, etc.
Ultimately though, the difficulty of getting a good (3 sock eth)Reaver is insanely high, whereas the difficulty of getting a GPA around 400% ed is comparatively easy. So is the exclusivity, bragging rights, etc. associated with the Tomb Reaver the reason why it gets so much attention? Is there some fundamental flaw with using the GPA (aside from the slightly slower attack rate)? Is there something else that I'm missing?
Yours confusedly,
Curby|||No one loves the eBotD GPA?
This is what I'm keeping for my Wolf. Note that this item is in single-player
Code:
Breath of the Dying
Superior Great Poleaxe
VexHelElEldZodEth
Two Hand Damage: 345 - 950
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Level: 69
Required Strength: 136
Required Dexterity: 72
Fingerprint: 0x82773efb
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Poison Nova when you Kill an Enemy
Indestructible
+60% Increased Attack Speed
400% Enhanced Damage
-25% Target Defense
+50 to Attack Rating
+200% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
7% Mana stolen per hit
15% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
All Stats +30
+1 to Light Radius
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
Requirements -20% Ethereal
6 Sockets (6 used)
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Eld Rune
Socketed: Zod Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune
This will be his main weapon which I plan to use the Nihlithak quest to personalize. Fact is for a singler-player, I'm never going to find a eth Tomb Reaver with 3 sockets, decent rolls as well as two 40/15s however with 1.13 increased rune drops, I can actually make a second BotD as well|||it is not that nobody loves gp botd, but all mention tomb as best 2 hander for pvp and ribcracker for pvm. i used gp for some time before i got my first etomb|||Quote:
it is not that nobody loves gp botd, but all mention tomb as best 2 hander for pvp and ribcracker for pvm. i used gp for some time before i got my first etomb
In pvm, both eth tomb reaver and ebotd gpa kill faster than upped ribbie(eth or not). At least my CS run benchmarking in players 8 confirmed it. And plenty of damage potential:
http://i41.tinypic.com/23j0dus.jpg|||screenshots from editors dont impress me...|||Quote:
screenshots from editors dont impress me...
At least they provide academic information of it performance
|||*sigh* A: Everyone loves EBotD. It's not discussed a lot because when giving ranges of gear, it falls between Tomby and Ribby.
B: Ribby is, per cost, the best PvM weapon. Yes, Perfect eth Tomby and 4XX ED EBotD can kill faster. Oh noes.|||Very roughly speaking, an upped non-eth Ribcracker probably takes around 1 HR worth of resources to acquire/build. EBOTD GPA probably takes around 3. I have no idea what a fully outfitted eth 3-sock Reaver takes to acquire/build, but I'd guess around ten times as much (for non-perfect %ED). In short:
Ribcracker: reasonably effective, dirt cheap
EBOTD GPA: extremely effective, moderately affordable
Tomb Reaver: effectiveness is highly variable, and anything approaching EBOTD is astronomically expensive
I'd argue that a reasonably well-off player with a few runes to spend on a weapon can look at the GPA as a very reasonably-priced and effective upgrade from the Ribcracker (instead of, say, spending the funds on an eth upped ribby), yet so many posts seem to imply that from the Ribcracker, there's no other feasible upgrade path besides the Reaver. I just wanted to make sure that there isn't some critical flaw in the EBOTD that I'm missing. Lacking that, I wanted this thread to be a reminder that the EBOTD is pretty awesome for its cost, just like the Ribcracker.|||what stands out on ribcracker is 50 % crushing
thats why i recomend stormlash (as 1 hander) cause of combination of crushing and static
Quote:
At least they provide academic information of it performance
it show information of huge damage, low life and crap resistances|||Quote:
it show information of huge damage, low life and crap resistances
Ok, heres it with a more viable charm setup then: http://i40.tinypic.com/35mldp2.jpg
The Definitive Guide to PvM Fire Druids
The definitive guide to PvM Fire Druids
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. How to use this Guide
3a. Skills (discussion)
3b. Skills (investment)
3c. Skills (variants)
4. Stats
5. Equipment
6. Hireling
7. Leveling
8. Game play
1. INTRODUCTION
The Fire Skills in the Druid Elemental tree aren’t popular even with players who favour Druids. They are clearly underpowered compared with the Wind skills, and the Fire skills are hard to use. Nevertheless Fire Druids are fun to play, and with the right equipment and skill investment it is possible to finish the game solo.
In this guide I will try to give a complete picture of Fire Druids. Over the last 2 months I have built several variants and tried different equipment setups, so that I can be confident about what works and what doesn’t.
The skills section is quite extensive because there are many setups that work. I will start with a basic recipe, and then go into the different variants that are possible and how they perform. The equipment section is equally large because I have tried covering all items that suit the Fire Druid.
Dealing with Fire Immunes
There are a lot of Fire Immunes in Hell. This is a problem for every Fire-based character, and so too for the Fire Druid. If you have Enigma you can teleport around them, but even then there are superuniques to kill so you need a way to handle Fire Immunity.
Therefore the effectiveness of this character depends on a single item: An Infinity Polearm. With your merc swinging Infinity all your trouble will go away; apart from a few monsters in Act 4 all will lose their immunity and will be quickly taken care off.
If you cannot afford Infinity or if you play non-Ladder, you will have a harder time getting through Hell. In this case your best option is to go with a build variant that includes summons (at least a strong Grizzly, preferably 3 Dire Wolves. And you will use Volcano more often for the physical damage it deals. Combine this with a well-equipped Mercenary and possibly a missile weapon to deal some physical damage yourself, and you will slowly but surely get through Hell, with the Ancients being the only major obstacle.
Read this guide on breaking immunities on why you need Infinity and what it will do for you.
Casting Delays
One of the peculiar things about the Fire skills is that they all have casting delays, as follows:
Firestorm – 0.6 seconds
Molten Boulder – 2 seconds
Fissure – 2 seconds
Volcano – 4 seconds
Armageddon – 6 seconds
This means that after you cast for example Fissure, you have to wait 2 seconds before you can cast another Fire skill (or other timered skill). In the meantime you can do other things, such as use Normal Attack or cast Summons.
My experience is the casting delay of Fissure (2 seconds) is rarely a problem; after a bit of practice it you start using those 2 seconds to look for the right place to cast the next. In the case of Volcano (4 seconds) it is a bit slow; especially if you try to combine Volcano with Fissure you constantly feel like you have to wait. But with Armageddon the casting delay is downright annoying. In one variant I built my intention was to have both Hurricane (1-pt, 50 seconds) and Armageddon (20 pts + synergies, 50 seconds) running at the same time. But because both have a casting delay of 6 seconds, that meant I would have to wait 12 seconds before I could casting Fissure and Volcano again.
2. USING THIS GUIDE
Abbreviations
I use the following abbreviations:
FS – Firestorm
MB – Molten Boulder
FSR – Fissure
VLC – Volcano
ARM – Armageddon
HUR – Hurricane
CA – Cyclone Armor
GR – Grizzly
DW – Dire Wolves
SW – Spirit Wolves
RAV – Ravens
OAK – Oak Sage
Damage Notation
I used the following notation for presenting damage:
20 +40s -> 2.5k-3.0k fdmg + 1.0k-1.5k dmg
This means: with 20 points (including equipment bonuses) and 40 points in synergies, the skill does 2500-3000 Fire Damage and 1000-1500(physical) damage.
All damages are calculated as listed on the Arreat Summit.
Use the skill damage calculator for your own setup
Equipment rating
I use the following rating for equipment:
*** - top choice
** - Good alternative
* - Acceptable if nothing else is available
$$$ - expensive (Ist or higher)
$$ - Affordable (Pul to Ist)
$ - Cheap (less than Pul)
# - Ladder Only
3A. SKILLS (discussion)
Firestorm
Synergies: MB, FSR
30 + 20s -> 1.6k-1.8k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 3.0k-3.2k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 2.8k-3.1k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 5.3k-5.8k fdmg
With the highest listed damage of all Fire skills and the shortest Casting Delay, FS seems to be a great skill. Unfortunately this is not the case. The listed damage is per second, and since a ‘wave’ passes through a monster in less (a half second if you are lucky), the actual damage is lower. On the positive side, if you stand very close to a monster all 3 Firestorm 'snakes' pass through it, and you do tripple damage.
Although personally I don't like using Firestorm, some players consider it a good skill to use beside others (Fissure / Volcano). Unlike Fissure, Volcano and Teleport you can use Firestorm on your left button, so there's nothing wrong with having it there for emergencies.
Molten Boulder
Synergies: FS (fire dmg), VLC (physical dmg)
30 + 20s -> 250-300 dmg + 670-770 fdmg (with FS synergy)
30 + 20s -> 780-880 dmg + 280-320 fdmg (with VLC synergy)
40 + 20s -> 420-460 dmg + 1.1k-1.2k fdmg (with FS synergy)
40 + 20s -> 1.2k-1.4k dmg + 450-500 fdmg (with VLC synergy)
30 + 40s -> 780-880 dmg + 670-770 fdmg
40 + 40s -> 1.2k-1.4k dmg + 1.1k-1.2k fdmg
MB is slow and impossible to aim. The knockback effect is fun, but this only happens with smaller monsters. With other monster the boulder simply disappears as soon as it hits the target. Even in a place such as the Maggot Lair other skills outshine MB.
This makes MB nothing more than a synergy for other skills
Fissure
Synergies: VLC, FS
30 + 20s -> 1.4k-1.5k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 2.2k-2.3k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 2.3k-2.4k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 3.6k-3.8k fdmg
Fissure is the best skill in the arsenal. It works particularly well with moving targets, because it damages them several times. It has the tendency to miss monsters that stand still if they stand between the burning areas, but these monsters rarely form a threat until they do move, and a second Fissure will take them out swiftly.
Fissure has a number of unknown effects, which make it do enormous damage in certain cases. This normally happens when (1) it is placed under a large group of monsters, (2) when those monsters are fast and (3) when they are big. As said, the exact nature of these effects is unknown, but it adds to the already impressive performance of Fissure.
Fissure with a single synergy maxed will be strong enough to kill any monster in Hell. This includes Fire Immunes if your Mercenary uses Infinity. But they won’t die immediately so you need your Merc and summons to keep them away from you. Fissure with 2 synergies maxed will take out monsters immediately, whole batches at once.
Volcano
Synergies: FSR (Fire dmg), ARM (Fire dmg), MB (Physical dmg)
30 + 20s -> 175-180 dmg + 540-560 fdmg (with FSR synergy)
30 + 20s -> 530-540 dmg + 160-170 fdmg (with MB synergy)
40 + 20s -> 270-300 dmg + 920-1000 fdmg (with MB synergy)
40 + 20s -> 870-880 dmg + 270-300 fdmg (with FSR synergy)
30 + 40s -> 540-550 dmg + 550-570 fdmg (with FSR and MB synergy)
40 + 40s -> 870-880 dmg + 920-1000 fdmg (with FSR and MB synergy)
The damage from Volcano doesn’t look like much, but a single cast under any static monsters will kill him quickly. It combines physical and fire damage, so it’s a great way to deal with Fire Immunes. This is the skill you will use to take out bosses while your Grizzly and Merc keep him in place.
It would be logical to max MB to make Volcano deal more physical damage. This does indeed improve the effectiveness of Volcano, but in my experience it isn’t necessary. Volcano is fast enough without it, and it is a backup skill anyway.
Armageddon
Synergies: FS, MB, VLC, FSR (Fissure only increases duration)
30 + 20s -> 2.9k-3.3k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 4.4k-4.9k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 4.7k – 5.4k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 7.3k – 8.1k fdmg
Armageddon does a lot of damage when it’s synergized, but it has a number of problems. First and foremost, it rarely hits anything. Second, Armageddon requires you to invest 5 points in the Wind skills as prerequisites. And third, it has a Casting Delay of 6 seconds, during which you can’t cast any other Fire skill.
I have made a Druid with Armageddon (20 + 30s), but I felt that the 25 points were wasted, certainly compared with other options (another Fire skill or summons).
Note that in his PvP Fire Druid Guide, FWI considers Armageddon an essential part of his strategy.
Summon Grizzly
Synergies: DW (adds life), SW (adds AR and defense)
10 + 1s -> life 3k, damage 300
10 + 20s -> life 6k, damage 300 (synergy: DW)
30 + 1s -> life 3k, damage 2.4k
30 + 20s -> life 6k, damage 2.4k (synergy: DW)
You need a Grizzly, period. At the very least you invest 5 skill points (GR and 4 prerequisites) for an extra meat shield. Even with this minor investment your Grizzly won’t die often (in fact his life bar rarely goes below 90%), and especially if you use Teleport (Enigma) your Grizzly will provide great safety. However, I believe that the optimum Fire Druid setup includes max Summon Grizzly. This will give you an additional source of physical damage along with Volcano and your Merc. Maxing DW to give your Grizzly more hit points is a waste; your Grizzly will survive without it.
Summon Dire Wolves
Synergies: GR (adds damage), SW (adds AR and defense)
10 + xxs -> Too low life – it won’t survive
30 + 1s -> life 1k, damage 50
30 + 20s -> life 1k, damage 2.3k
Dire Wolves should only be used in Fire / Summoning hybrids, because for them to be effective you need to invest 40 points (max DW and GR). In this case they will be pretty effective both as shields and in dealing with Fire Immunes. I do not recommend only investing only in DW; although this will give you 3 meat shields I believe that a Grizzly (that you get for the same investment) is far superior because it gives you an additional source of non-Fire damage.
Raven
Ravens blind monsters, which can be very useful at times. Especially if you use the helm Ravenlore (with +7 to Raven) I recommend using these cheap minions all the time.
Oak Sage
10 -> 250 life, +80% hit points to party
30 -> 450 life, +175% hit points to party
Oak Sage gives you and your minions extra life. Even single-point investments with some bonuses can double your hit points, although you will need to recast him regularly. Investing up to 20 points will make him stronger and more effective, but I wouldn’t consider this the first priority since you have so many others.
Carrion Vine
1 point here will give you some life replenishment. Your vine will die a lot, but recasting is simple enough.
Cyclone Armor and Hurricane
10 CA -> 160 dmg absorbed
30 CA -> 388 dmg absorbed
You’re making a Fire Druid, not a Wind Druid. But a single point in Cyclone Armor (plus a prerequisite) will make it absorb up to 200 elemental damage. Another setup I tested and liked was 20 points in Cyclone Armor and 1 pt in Hurricane. This give you 400 elemental damage absorb and a 1-pt Hurricane that slows everything that comes close to you. And it looks great.
3B. SKILLS (investment)
I recommend the following investment:
Elemental
1-20 Firestorm
1-20 Molten Boulder
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
0-20 Cyclone Armor
0-1 Hurricane
(and up to 3 prerequisites)
Summoning
1 Raven
1 Oak Sage
1-20 Dire Wolves
1-20 Grizzly
0-1 Carrion Vine
(and up to 2 prerequisites)
This gives you a lot of flexibility, and in the next section I will show a number of variants to clarify the choices. The most important things you should notice:
- I suggest that you max Fissure and Volcano, because these are the most effective Fire Skills, and both have their usefulness. They are also each others’ synergy.
- I do not recommend investing in Armageddon, because these points are wasted.
- I do not recommend maxing Oak Sage because there are other options that have more use. But I do suggest always using the 1-pt OAK
- I recommend always taking at least a 1-pt Grizzly.
3C. SKILLS (variants)
(All these variants assume about 95 points to invest, i.e. completed at level 83)
Variant 1 – Fully Synergized Fire Druid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Molten Boulder
20 Firestorm
1+ Grizzly
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
2 Prerequisites
This is the most obvious setup; you max all 4 Fire skills (ignoring Armageddon) and put the rest in Grizzly. Your Fissure and Volcano will do awesome damage, and you will race through Hell, especially if your Merc has Infinity. Without Infinity you will need to rely on your Merc and Volcano.
In this variant you can also elect to keep Grizzly at 1 point and invest in Armageddon as a synergy for Volcano.
Variant 2 – Fully Synergized Fissure and strong Grizzly
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Firestorm
20 Grizzly
1+ Oak Sage
1 Raven
2 Prerequisites
This is my favorite setup; I believe that what Volcano loses (investment in synergy) is more than compensated by the stronger Grizzly. Even without Infinity Fire Immunes will be a minor problem because your Merc and Grizzly will tank them and (slowly) take care of them.
Variant 3 – Fire / Summoning hybrid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Dire Wolves
20 Grizzly
1+ Fire Storm
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
You have 3 Dire Wolves instead of one Grizzly. In this setup Fire Immunes are no problem at all. This is the setup I described in my Fire Hunter guide, where I equipped my Druid with a bow to do additional damage (see equipment section).
Variant 4 – Dual-elemental Druid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Grizzly
20 Cyclone Armor
1 Hurricane
1+ Firestorm
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
4 prerequisites
With Hurricane and Cyclone you will had some extra safety (also for your Merc and Grizzly), at the expense of some power in Fissure. If you really want to put a point in Armageddon, go ahead. Just remember that you will need 12 seconds to put Hurricane and Armageddon up. But it looks awesome.
In this variant you can also choose to max Firestorm before Grizzly for more Fissure power at the expense of versatility.
4. STATS
Strength
You will need to invest enough to wear your equipment. Ideally you allow for equipment strength bonuses but this requires some patience. The heaviest item will probably be a Monarch (for Spirit or Phoenix), which requires 156 strength.
Dexterity
I do not recommend max block because you are a caster and normally you are quite far behind your Merc and minions. Most danger comes from elemental ranged attackers (Vipers, Gloams), which you cannot block anyway. This means that normally your Dexterity can stay at base (because of bonuses from equipment). If you use a missile weapon I do not recommend investing in Dexterity beyond the requirement; your bow/crossbow is not your main weapon and survivability is more important
Vitality
Everything that you do not invest elsewhere goes here.
Energy
You don’t need much mana because all your skills are timered. If you use Enigma and want to tele around a lot, make sure you wear some equipment with energy/mana bonuses.
5. EQUIPMENT
You have a lot of options when it comes to equipment, but here is roughly what you are looking for:
- Skill bonuses to boost your Fire skill damage. You prefer items that give a bonus to all skills (not just elemental), because that will also make your minions stronger
- Increased Fire damage, Reduced Fire Resistance. This boosts your damage further and helps you deal with Fire Immunes (with Infinity)
- Fast Cast Rate – This is especially useful if you use Enigma for fast Teleport. It is less relevant for the Fire Skills since they are timered, though it does allow you to get out of casting animation quicker so you can move again.
- Safety, i.e. resistances, vitality/life, damage reduction. I like to aim for max fire and lightning resistance and positive Cold and Poison resistances; that is normally enough to survive in Hell.
To look up items, look at the Arreat Summit items section.
Using Enigma
Most non-sorceress caster characters benefit greatly from Enigma. Ignore all the nice features such as the strength bonus and damage reduction; it is all about the +1 to teleport. I used Enigma for all my setups, though I do believe that Fire Druids do fine without it. I use Teleport mainly to skip certain areas, but rarely in combat. There are several (much cheaper) alternatives that will do fine. If you use Enigma try to get some FCR to speed you up. Relevant breakpoints: 46% for 13 frames, 68% for 12 frames, 99% for 11 frames. Also make sure you have enough mana by wearing the right equipment (Torch, SOJs, Gloom’s Trap, Silkweave)
Using Aldur’s Watchtower
If there is one build for which you can use the Druid set, it is this one. You don’t need FCR without Enigma, and the set gives you lots of safety and sufficient skill bonuses. I have not included the Aldur set items in the lists below but this is a serious option.
Caster Weapons
Heart of the Oak (rw) *** $$$
This is the ultimate all-round caster weapon; +3 to skills, 40% FCR and 30%+ resists. It is the best choice available for Fire Druids
Doom (rw) ** $$$
You won’t get FCR and lose a skill point, but you get the Holy Freeze aura in return.
Spirit (rw) ** $ #
Earth Shifter ** $
+7 to elemental skills is awesome, but you need to invest a lot in strength to carry it
Earthshaker ** $
Gaea’s Club (magic weapon) ** $
This weapon is shopable (a great choice for untwinked) and gives you +3 to Elemental skills
Mang Song's Lesson ** $$
This two-hander gives you +5 to skills and potentially -15% enemy fire resistance
Dark Clan Crusher * $
Islestrike * $
Athena’s Wrath * $
A polearm with +1-3 to Druid skills; you get points for looks but it’s two-handed so you lose some skill points.
Missile Weapons
Faith (rw) *** $$$ #
This bow is especially great if you use summons because it will provide them with the Fanaticism aura.
Widowmaker * $$ #
Put this on switch and use caster weapons as your main setup.
Harmony (rw) * $ #
Put this on switch and use caster weapons as your main setup.
Silence (rw) * $$$
One of the few options you have on non-ladder, and it's damn expensive.
Shields
Phoenix (rw) *** $$$ #
-28% to enemy fire resistance makes this my first choice. And some other nice mods such as a redemption aura and some fire absorb.
Monarch 4x Fire Facet ** $$$
This will give you up to -20% to enemy fire resistance (and +20% extra damage), so it’s a close second to Phoenix.
Spirit (rw) ** $$ #
+2 to skills also gives your damage a boost, though it does nothing against Fire Immunes
Lidless Wall * $
Splendor * $
Sigon’s shield * $
Moser’s Blessed Circle * $
Armor
Enigma (rw) *** $$$
Teleport, FRW and an enormous strength boost
Chains of Honor (rw) *** $$$
A great alternative to Enigma, with a lot of safety (resists, DR).
Skin of the Vipermagi (rw) ** $
Cheap and with great mods for a Fire Druid.
Rain (rw) ** $$
The 1.11 Runeword give +2 to Druid skills, lightning resist and a lot of mana.
Spirit Shroud * $
Smoke (rw) * $
Arcaine's Valor * $$
If you get one with +2 to skills it's quite a decent choice. No resists though.
Helm
Ravenlore *** $$
This helm is specially made for Fire Druids, with -15-20% to enemy fire resistance and +3 to elemental skills
Jalal’s Mane * $
The all-round Druid choice will work if you don’t have Ravenlore.
Lore Druid pelt (rw) */** $
If you find a pelt with +3 to Fissure and insert the runes of Lore, that will be a pretty good option
Delirium Druid pelt (rw) ** $$$
It's expensive for what it does, but if you find a pelt with 0/3 sockets and the right mods, it can be pretty good.
Gaea's Druid Pelt ** $$/$$$
With +3 to elemental skills and other good mods, a good option
Belt
Arachnid’s Mesh *** $$
The only belt with +1 to skills
Rare belt with good mods * $
Resists and FHR would be good.
Gloom’s Trap ** $
Extra mana is helpful if you use Enigma
Verdungo’s Coil * $$
Thundergod’s Vigor * $
Nightsmoke (upped) * $
Boots
Sandstorm Treks *** $
A good Strength bonus and FHR make this the first choice
Rare with FHR and resists *** $
Potentially better than Treks
Aldur’s Advance ** $
Silkweave ** $
Extra mana is helpful if you use Enigma
Gore Riders ** $
War Traveller ** $$
Wear one of these if you use a bow
Waterwalks * $
Treads of Chton * $
Natalya’s Soul * $
Gloves
Magefist *** $
The only option here; it’s cheap and offers +1 to Fire skills.
Crafted Hit Power gloves * $
If you wield a bow, this will give you knockback (which works great in combination with Fissure). The additional mods must be pretty good for these gloves to surpass Magefist though.
Rings
Stone of Jordan *** $$$
+1 to skills and a lot of extra mana
Bul Kathos’ Wedding Band ** $$$
Slightly cheaper than SOJs, and also with +1 to skills
Rare ring with good mods * $-$$$
Resists, strength and life/vitality.
Amulet
Mara’s Caleidoscope *** $$$
+2 to skills and resists make this the top choice
Rare with +2 to druid/elemental skills */** $
Potentially a lot cheaper than Maras
Gaea’s magic amulet ** $
+3 to elemental skills
Rising Sun ** $
Highlord's Wrath ** $$
A great choice if you wield a bow
Eye of Etlich * $
Telling of Beads * $
Inventory
Druid Hellfire Torch *** $$ #
Druids Torches are cheap so get one if you’re on ladder.
Annihilus *** $$$ #
Elemental skillers *** $$
If possible with other mods such as life or FHR
Scs 5% resist all / 11% resist fire or lightning ** $$
Use these to bring your resists up to 75%
Switch
There are 3 options for switch weapon/shield:
a) Call to Arms + Spirit for extra life/mana for you and your merc/minions
b) A bow (e.g. Widowmaker, Harmony) to deal with Fire Immunes
c) HotO + Spirit or Spirit + Spirit or Mang Song's Lesson for casting stronger minions (e.g. when Faith bow is normal weapon)
6. HIRELING
Hireling selection
In case you missed it: this build benefits greatly from Infinity, so we prefer Act II Mercenaries. They are also strong meat shields and provide an aura by themselves. Act V Barbarians would work as well but I never use them so cannot judge.
Act II Might ***
Great if you have summons and/or bow
Act II Holy Freeze ***
Provides additional safety with its aura. No need to equip Doom. Probably the best choice for a pure caster
Act II Prayer **
Life regeneration can work great. Unless you have Infinity, give this merc an Insight for double healing
Act II Defiance **
This will help mainly to make sure the Merc survives.
Weapon
Make sure your Merc has life leech on weapon, helm or armor.
Infinity (rw) *** $$$ #
The conviction aura is all we really need, but the other mods are just as juicy.
Insight * $ #
If you can’t afford Infinity this will allow you to teleport freely
Reaper’s Toll * $
The Decrepify curse will slow down enemies, lower their defense and increase the physical damage of your merc, minions and Volcano.
Armor
Fortitude *** $$$
A lot of extra damage
Chains of Honor *** $$$
Life leech – allows you to use Infinity and Guillaumes. Plus great resists and DR
Shaftstop ** $
Stone ** $$
Duriel’s Shell * $
Helms
Guillaume’s Face *** $
If you have life leech on armor or weapon
Andariel’s Visage *** $$
Tal’s mask ** $
Vampire’s Gaze ** $
7. LEVELING
Level 1-15
Equip a bow or melee weapon and do Tristram runs. Put skill points in prerequisites until you get to Fissure, then put everything in Fissure.
Items to consider: Hrasus’ set.
Level 16-30
Do Tomb/Cows/Dia runs. By this time your Fissure will be quite strong, so start using it. Also get 1 Dire Wolf (hopefully with some items to boost it to lvl 3 for 3 wolves). Keep investing in Fissure, and put the rest in Volcano. Get a Grizzly at lvl 30. Items to consider: Hrasus Set, Spirit sword, Eye of Etlich, Manald Heal, armor and helm socketed with Tir’s (for unlimited Fissure casting), Magefist.
Level 30-45
Do Baal runs. Keep investing in Fissure until you’re done, then continue with Volcano. Use your Grizzly as a meat shield, and give your mercenary a decent poleaxe. By now you can equip some nice gear.
Items to consider: Jalals, Splendor/Lidless, Spirit sword, Vipermagi, Magefist, Elemental skillers, Hone Sundan or low Insight (for merc)
Level 45-60
Leveling through Nightmare, followed by NM Baal runs. Use Fissure and Volcano (both maxed). Further investment depends on chosen skill setup.
Level 60-75
NM Baal runs. You can equip all your end gear now except for Arachs and maybe Andariel’s on merc.
Level 75+
Hell levelling. I prefer not to get a rush here because this is where your character really gets tested.
8. PLAY STYLE
General questing
In general, Fissure (right mouse button) is your first option and Volcano your second (hotkey right mouse button). Run forward and cast Fissure in front of you when a monster approaches. Let your Grizzly/Wolves and Merc advance. Don’t hesitate to recast your minions at the right spot. Use Volcano to take out ranged attackers and bosses/revivers. Now and then check the health of your summons and if necessary recast (this is rarely necessary with a Grizzly though).
Bosses
Cast your Grizzly next to the boss to distract and keep the boss in one place. Next, keep casting Volcano until done. Keep your distance and focus on keeping your Merc alive. With Mephisto, Diablo and Baal you may need to recast your Grizzly 1-2 times before they die.
Difficult areas
The most difficult thing you will encounter is the Hell Ancients. If you play solo you may well not be able to pass them. With my ideal setup (variant 2, Fissure + Grizzly) it took me several tries to pass them, while with the others I gave up rather soon and found someone to help me. The problem is that your Grizzly dies quite quickly to a leap attack or WW attack. You need to resummon him quite often and in the meantime keep your Merc alive and keep casting Volcano to do damage.
I also had some difficulty in Act 4 with large groups of unbreakable Fire Immunes (Venom Lords). They swamped my Merc and Grizzly and I had to teleport away several times to break the group up so I could take them 1 or 2 at a time.
Without Enigma there are some other areas that may be tricky, such as the Maggot Lair. In my experience it is quite difficult to cast Fissure there, so you should use Volcano more often and be patient.
Thanks their for input goes to:
- Jary
- Lumpor
- MalVeaux
- MYK
- Verashiden
- Xena1985
------|||Amazing job! This guide is 100% gg, I really have nothing else to add lol.
|||Heya,
Fantastic and complete. Love it.
I only have two things to add:
1. Mang Song's Lesson. +5 skills is better than Spirit + Spirit and it can get up to -15% fire resistance to enemies. Unfortunately it's quite rare and unfortunately it's got no other perks (life, mana, FHR, resists, etc). More like something for a summoner hybrid since it benefits both summons & fire at the same time, and the summon based builds are much safer and don't have to worry to much about resists and all that in the first place.
2. Minor thing:
Quote:
Insight * $$$
If you can’t afford Infinity or you are non-ladder, this will allow you to teleport freely
I doubt it was meant to be $$$ and I think insight is # (ladder only).
Cheers,
|||@ Jary
I tried to be complete so I am glad that you can't think of stuff to add.
@ Malvieux
Thanks for spotting; I edited both your comments in.|||Nice guide! One thing I'd like to mention:
Even when not moving, Fissure hits a TON when dropped under a large groups' feet. This leads me to believe that it somewhat reacts on a similar mechanic to Creeper. So if you have a big group being held still, cast Fissure and watch the fire damage sky rocket.|||I think Ed got it right actually. Its deffinitely movement based..the way the damage is reapplied, 'cause sometimes standing monsters (or opponents if PvP) can sit and have it miss over and over since the vents only cover about half the area like a checker board (except the squares alternate..sorta), so enemies movement through the hot spots dictates most hte damage. During the duration of the fissure "checker board" lol, enemies can reapply teh damage by passing in and outta the hotspots infinite times. Since enemies in big groups within your vision can't "stop" moving they'll continue to move within the pack reapplying the damage, such as shenk or a big group of hell cows. However, if say... 4 hell cows surrounding you are melee attacking you, so immobile, and you fissure..they'll probably only take a couple burns but not as much as if you were to back off and have them chase you around the mats. Anyways, you know this i"m just babbling 'cause I'm bored >.<|||See, I'd think that too. However, with my Huntermentalist even when a large group is standing still they take LOADS of fire damage. That's why I say it's kinda like Creeper. Movement does dictate a large percentage of damage, especially PvP. I'm not sure how to explain why it works on large groups though. Perhaps only one unit has to be moving to make Fissure go berserk?|||I think Vera is also right; the damage does depend on the number of monsters in some way. But it can still miss monsters in a group if they stand still (e.g. with skeleton archers there are often 1-2 that survive). I also think that the damage depends on the speed of the monster moving over the Fissure mat.|||Heya,
I definitely agree that the damage is quite different in application compared to other skills like it (damage over time, over an area). I did some quick tests just to show it working both in Hell with my Fissure/DireWolf Druid in Act1 and in Act5 for different movement, speeds, sizes of monsters.
It seems to hit them more often when they move and when they're larger. It seems to have something to do with their sprite touching a vent's sprite perhaps and each shift into or out of it triggers the `fire' animation resulting in damage dealt.
I made a quick video of it. Though even at the smaller res on YouTube you can still plainly see how often the fire explosion triggers on the baddies (my original was recorded at 800x600, so it was really clear... YT re-encoded to smaller res, grr).
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_OVQGYcNUw
By the way, this Druid was heavily inspired by a lot of what went into this guide from a lot of you guys. He's really fun. Firestorm/Fissure/Volcano with DireWolves/Grizzly; Might Merc with Reaper's Toll. Nothing is immune to the group completely. Maxed FS/Fissure, DW/Grizzly. Volcano is my synergy. I actually use FS up close because if the three fire streams hit the enemy at close range, the damage is ridiculously high and their life bar just sinks so fast. So I maxed it and use it often when I'm not fissuring a single target.
Cheers,
|||Nice video, interesting choice of music as well. So you're saying that it has something to do with the size of the monster as well. That wasn't apparent from your video, and I can't remember having a problem taking out Dolls or those small teleporting demons. I plan to rebuild my Fire Druid soon so I'll do some testing of my own.
My idea was that it had something to do with hit recovery; Fissure doesn't do damage when monsters are in HR ,so if a monster has a shorter HR they would be hit more often. The monsters you have in your video might have a shorter HR than smaller monsters.
You've got an interesting setup. Personally I wouldn't want to miss maxed Volcano because it's the best Fire skill to handle (end) bosses. I used to have Firestorm (maxed and synergized) on left mouse so I could cast it when a monster was at close range, but it never worked for me.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. How to use this Guide
3a. Skills (discussion)
3b. Skills (investment)
3c. Skills (variants)
4. Stats
5. Equipment
6. Hireling
7. Leveling
8. Game play
1. INTRODUCTION
The Fire Skills in the Druid Elemental tree aren’t popular even with players who favour Druids. They are clearly underpowered compared with the Wind skills, and the Fire skills are hard to use. Nevertheless Fire Druids are fun to play, and with the right equipment and skill investment it is possible to finish the game solo.
In this guide I will try to give a complete picture of Fire Druids. Over the last 2 months I have built several variants and tried different equipment setups, so that I can be confident about what works and what doesn’t.
The skills section is quite extensive because there are many setups that work. I will start with a basic recipe, and then go into the different variants that are possible and how they perform. The equipment section is equally large because I have tried covering all items that suit the Fire Druid.
Dealing with Fire Immunes
There are a lot of Fire Immunes in Hell. This is a problem for every Fire-based character, and so too for the Fire Druid. If you have Enigma you can teleport around them, but even then there are superuniques to kill so you need a way to handle Fire Immunity.
Therefore the effectiveness of this character depends on a single item: An Infinity Polearm. With your merc swinging Infinity all your trouble will go away; apart from a few monsters in Act 4 all will lose their immunity and will be quickly taken care off.
If you cannot afford Infinity or if you play non-Ladder, you will have a harder time getting through Hell. In this case your best option is to go with a build variant that includes summons (at least a strong Grizzly, preferably 3 Dire Wolves. And you will use Volcano more often for the physical damage it deals. Combine this with a well-equipped Mercenary and possibly a missile weapon to deal some physical damage yourself, and you will slowly but surely get through Hell, with the Ancients being the only major obstacle.
Read this guide on breaking immunities on why you need Infinity and what it will do for you.
Casting Delays
One of the peculiar things about the Fire skills is that they all have casting delays, as follows:
Firestorm – 0.6 seconds
Molten Boulder – 2 seconds
Fissure – 2 seconds
Volcano – 4 seconds
Armageddon – 6 seconds
This means that after you cast for example Fissure, you have to wait 2 seconds before you can cast another Fire skill (or other timered skill). In the meantime you can do other things, such as use Normal Attack or cast Summons.
My experience is the casting delay of Fissure (2 seconds) is rarely a problem; after a bit of practice it you start using those 2 seconds to look for the right place to cast the next. In the case of Volcano (4 seconds) it is a bit slow; especially if you try to combine Volcano with Fissure you constantly feel like you have to wait. But with Armageddon the casting delay is downright annoying. In one variant I built my intention was to have both Hurricane (1-pt, 50 seconds) and Armageddon (20 pts + synergies, 50 seconds) running at the same time. But because both have a casting delay of 6 seconds, that meant I would have to wait 12 seconds before I could casting Fissure and Volcano again.
2. USING THIS GUIDE
Abbreviations
I use the following abbreviations:
FS – Firestorm
MB – Molten Boulder
FSR – Fissure
VLC – Volcano
ARM – Armageddon
HUR – Hurricane
CA – Cyclone Armor
GR – Grizzly
DW – Dire Wolves
SW – Spirit Wolves
RAV – Ravens
OAK – Oak Sage
Damage Notation
I used the following notation for presenting damage:
20 +40s -> 2.5k-3.0k fdmg + 1.0k-1.5k dmg
This means: with 20 points (including equipment bonuses) and 40 points in synergies, the skill does 2500-3000 Fire Damage and 1000-1500(physical) damage.
All damages are calculated as listed on the Arreat Summit.
Use the skill damage calculator for your own setup
Equipment rating
I use the following rating for equipment:
*** - top choice
** - Good alternative
* - Acceptable if nothing else is available
$$$ - expensive (Ist or higher)
$$ - Affordable (Pul to Ist)
$ - Cheap (less than Pul)
# - Ladder Only
3A. SKILLS (discussion)
Firestorm
Synergies: MB, FSR
30 + 20s -> 1.6k-1.8k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 3.0k-3.2k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 2.8k-3.1k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 5.3k-5.8k fdmg
With the highest listed damage of all Fire skills and the shortest Casting Delay, FS seems to be a great skill. Unfortunately this is not the case. The listed damage is per second, and since a ‘wave’ passes through a monster in less (a half second if you are lucky), the actual damage is lower. On the positive side, if you stand very close to a monster all 3 Firestorm 'snakes' pass through it, and you do tripple damage.
Although personally I don't like using Firestorm, some players consider it a good skill to use beside others (Fissure / Volcano). Unlike Fissure, Volcano and Teleport you can use Firestorm on your left button, so there's nothing wrong with having it there for emergencies.
Molten Boulder
Synergies: FS (fire dmg), VLC (physical dmg)
30 + 20s -> 250-300 dmg + 670-770 fdmg (with FS synergy)
30 + 20s -> 780-880 dmg + 280-320 fdmg (with VLC synergy)
40 + 20s -> 420-460 dmg + 1.1k-1.2k fdmg (with FS synergy)
40 + 20s -> 1.2k-1.4k dmg + 450-500 fdmg (with VLC synergy)
30 + 40s -> 780-880 dmg + 670-770 fdmg
40 + 40s -> 1.2k-1.4k dmg + 1.1k-1.2k fdmg
MB is slow and impossible to aim. The knockback effect is fun, but this only happens with smaller monsters. With other monster the boulder simply disappears as soon as it hits the target. Even in a place such as the Maggot Lair other skills outshine MB.
This makes MB nothing more than a synergy for other skills
Fissure
Synergies: VLC, FS
30 + 20s -> 1.4k-1.5k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 2.2k-2.3k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 2.3k-2.4k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 3.6k-3.8k fdmg
Fissure is the best skill in the arsenal. It works particularly well with moving targets, because it damages them several times. It has the tendency to miss monsters that stand still if they stand between the burning areas, but these monsters rarely form a threat until they do move, and a second Fissure will take them out swiftly.
Fissure has a number of unknown effects, which make it do enormous damage in certain cases. This normally happens when (1) it is placed under a large group of monsters, (2) when those monsters are fast and (3) when they are big. As said, the exact nature of these effects is unknown, but it adds to the already impressive performance of Fissure.
Fissure with a single synergy maxed will be strong enough to kill any monster in Hell. This includes Fire Immunes if your Mercenary uses Infinity. But they won’t die immediately so you need your Merc and summons to keep them away from you. Fissure with 2 synergies maxed will take out monsters immediately, whole batches at once.
Volcano
Synergies: FSR (Fire dmg), ARM (Fire dmg), MB (Physical dmg)
30 + 20s -> 175-180 dmg + 540-560 fdmg (with FSR synergy)
30 + 20s -> 530-540 dmg + 160-170 fdmg (with MB synergy)
40 + 20s -> 270-300 dmg + 920-1000 fdmg (with MB synergy)
40 + 20s -> 870-880 dmg + 270-300 fdmg (with FSR synergy)
30 + 40s -> 540-550 dmg + 550-570 fdmg (with FSR and MB synergy)
40 + 40s -> 870-880 dmg + 920-1000 fdmg (with FSR and MB synergy)
The damage from Volcano doesn’t look like much, but a single cast under any static monsters will kill him quickly. It combines physical and fire damage, so it’s a great way to deal with Fire Immunes. This is the skill you will use to take out bosses while your Grizzly and Merc keep him in place.
It would be logical to max MB to make Volcano deal more physical damage. This does indeed improve the effectiveness of Volcano, but in my experience it isn’t necessary. Volcano is fast enough without it, and it is a backup skill anyway.
Armageddon
Synergies: FS, MB, VLC, FSR (Fissure only increases duration)
30 + 20s -> 2.9k-3.3k fdmg
40 + 20s -> 4.4k-4.9k fdmg
30 + 40s -> 4.7k – 5.4k fdmg
40 + 40s -> 7.3k – 8.1k fdmg
Armageddon does a lot of damage when it’s synergized, but it has a number of problems. First and foremost, it rarely hits anything. Second, Armageddon requires you to invest 5 points in the Wind skills as prerequisites. And third, it has a Casting Delay of 6 seconds, during which you can’t cast any other Fire skill.
I have made a Druid with Armageddon (20 + 30s), but I felt that the 25 points were wasted, certainly compared with other options (another Fire skill or summons).
Note that in his PvP Fire Druid Guide, FWI considers Armageddon an essential part of his strategy.
Summon Grizzly
Synergies: DW (adds life), SW (adds AR and defense)
10 + 1s -> life 3k, damage 300
10 + 20s -> life 6k, damage 300 (synergy: DW)
30 + 1s -> life 3k, damage 2.4k
30 + 20s -> life 6k, damage 2.4k (synergy: DW)
You need a Grizzly, period. At the very least you invest 5 skill points (GR and 4 prerequisites) for an extra meat shield. Even with this minor investment your Grizzly won’t die often (in fact his life bar rarely goes below 90%), and especially if you use Teleport (Enigma) your Grizzly will provide great safety. However, I believe that the optimum Fire Druid setup includes max Summon Grizzly. This will give you an additional source of physical damage along with Volcano and your Merc. Maxing DW to give your Grizzly more hit points is a waste; your Grizzly will survive without it.
Summon Dire Wolves
Synergies: GR (adds damage), SW (adds AR and defense)
10 + xxs -> Too low life – it won’t survive
30 + 1s -> life 1k, damage 50
30 + 20s -> life 1k, damage 2.3k
Dire Wolves should only be used in Fire / Summoning hybrids, because for them to be effective you need to invest 40 points (max DW and GR). In this case they will be pretty effective both as shields and in dealing with Fire Immunes. I do not recommend only investing only in DW; although this will give you 3 meat shields I believe that a Grizzly (that you get for the same investment) is far superior because it gives you an additional source of non-Fire damage.
Raven
Ravens blind monsters, which can be very useful at times. Especially if you use the helm Ravenlore (with +7 to Raven) I recommend using these cheap minions all the time.
Oak Sage
10 -> 250 life, +80% hit points to party
30 -> 450 life, +175% hit points to party
Oak Sage gives you and your minions extra life. Even single-point investments with some bonuses can double your hit points, although you will need to recast him regularly. Investing up to 20 points will make him stronger and more effective, but I wouldn’t consider this the first priority since you have so many others.
Carrion Vine
1 point here will give you some life replenishment. Your vine will die a lot, but recasting is simple enough.
Cyclone Armor and Hurricane
10 CA -> 160 dmg absorbed
30 CA -> 388 dmg absorbed
You’re making a Fire Druid, not a Wind Druid. But a single point in Cyclone Armor (plus a prerequisite) will make it absorb up to 200 elemental damage. Another setup I tested and liked was 20 points in Cyclone Armor and 1 pt in Hurricane. This give you 400 elemental damage absorb and a 1-pt Hurricane that slows everything that comes close to you. And it looks great.
3B. SKILLS (investment)
I recommend the following investment:
Elemental
1-20 Firestorm
1-20 Molten Boulder
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
0-20 Cyclone Armor
0-1 Hurricane
(and up to 3 prerequisites)
Summoning
1 Raven
1 Oak Sage
1-20 Dire Wolves
1-20 Grizzly
0-1 Carrion Vine
(and up to 2 prerequisites)
This gives you a lot of flexibility, and in the next section I will show a number of variants to clarify the choices. The most important things you should notice:
- I suggest that you max Fissure and Volcano, because these are the most effective Fire Skills, and both have their usefulness. They are also each others’ synergy.
- I do not recommend investing in Armageddon, because these points are wasted.
- I do not recommend maxing Oak Sage because there are other options that have more use. But I do suggest always using the 1-pt OAK
- I recommend always taking at least a 1-pt Grizzly.
3C. SKILLS (variants)
(All these variants assume about 95 points to invest, i.e. completed at level 83)
Variant 1 – Fully Synergized Fire Druid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Molten Boulder
20 Firestorm
1+ Grizzly
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
2 Prerequisites
This is the most obvious setup; you max all 4 Fire skills (ignoring Armageddon) and put the rest in Grizzly. Your Fissure and Volcano will do awesome damage, and you will race through Hell, especially if your Merc has Infinity. Without Infinity you will need to rely on your Merc and Volcano.
In this variant you can also elect to keep Grizzly at 1 point and invest in Armageddon as a synergy for Volcano.
Variant 2 – Fully Synergized Fissure and strong Grizzly
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Firestorm
20 Grizzly
1+ Oak Sage
1 Raven
2 Prerequisites
This is my favorite setup; I believe that what Volcano loses (investment in synergy) is more than compensated by the stronger Grizzly. Even without Infinity Fire Immunes will be a minor problem because your Merc and Grizzly will tank them and (slowly) take care of them.
Variant 3 – Fire / Summoning hybrid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Dire Wolves
20 Grizzly
1+ Fire Storm
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
You have 3 Dire Wolves instead of one Grizzly. In this setup Fire Immunes are no problem at all. This is the setup I described in my Fire Hunter guide, where I equipped my Druid with a bow to do additional damage (see equipment section).
Variant 4 – Dual-elemental Druid
20 Fissure
20 Volcano
20 Grizzly
20 Cyclone Armor
1 Hurricane
1+ Firestorm
1 Oak Sage
1 Raven
4 prerequisites
With Hurricane and Cyclone you will had some extra safety (also for your Merc and Grizzly), at the expense of some power in Fissure. If you really want to put a point in Armageddon, go ahead. Just remember that you will need 12 seconds to put Hurricane and Armageddon up. But it looks awesome.
In this variant you can also choose to max Firestorm before Grizzly for more Fissure power at the expense of versatility.
4. STATS
Strength
You will need to invest enough to wear your equipment. Ideally you allow for equipment strength bonuses but this requires some patience. The heaviest item will probably be a Monarch (for Spirit or Phoenix), which requires 156 strength.
Dexterity
I do not recommend max block because you are a caster and normally you are quite far behind your Merc and minions. Most danger comes from elemental ranged attackers (Vipers, Gloams), which you cannot block anyway. This means that normally your Dexterity can stay at base (because of bonuses from equipment). If you use a missile weapon I do not recommend investing in Dexterity beyond the requirement; your bow/crossbow is not your main weapon and survivability is more important
Vitality
Everything that you do not invest elsewhere goes here.
Energy
You don’t need much mana because all your skills are timered. If you use Enigma and want to tele around a lot, make sure you wear some equipment with energy/mana bonuses.
5. EQUIPMENT
You have a lot of options when it comes to equipment, but here is roughly what you are looking for:
- Skill bonuses to boost your Fire skill damage. You prefer items that give a bonus to all skills (not just elemental), because that will also make your minions stronger
- Increased Fire damage, Reduced Fire Resistance. This boosts your damage further and helps you deal with Fire Immunes (with Infinity)
- Fast Cast Rate – This is especially useful if you use Enigma for fast Teleport. It is less relevant for the Fire Skills since they are timered, though it does allow you to get out of casting animation quicker so you can move again.
- Safety, i.e. resistances, vitality/life, damage reduction. I like to aim for max fire and lightning resistance and positive Cold and Poison resistances; that is normally enough to survive in Hell.
To look up items, look at the Arreat Summit items section.
Using Enigma
Most non-sorceress caster characters benefit greatly from Enigma. Ignore all the nice features such as the strength bonus and damage reduction; it is all about the +1 to teleport. I used Enigma for all my setups, though I do believe that Fire Druids do fine without it. I use Teleport mainly to skip certain areas, but rarely in combat. There are several (much cheaper) alternatives that will do fine. If you use Enigma try to get some FCR to speed you up. Relevant breakpoints: 46% for 13 frames, 68% for 12 frames, 99% for 11 frames. Also make sure you have enough mana by wearing the right equipment (Torch, SOJs, Gloom’s Trap, Silkweave)
Using Aldur’s Watchtower
If there is one build for which you can use the Druid set, it is this one. You don’t need FCR without Enigma, and the set gives you lots of safety and sufficient skill bonuses. I have not included the Aldur set items in the lists below but this is a serious option.
Caster Weapons
Heart of the Oak (rw) *** $$$
This is the ultimate all-round caster weapon; +3 to skills, 40% FCR and 30%+ resists. It is the best choice available for Fire Druids
Doom (rw) ** $$$
You won’t get FCR and lose a skill point, but you get the Holy Freeze aura in return.
Spirit (rw) ** $ #
Earth Shifter ** $
+7 to elemental skills is awesome, but you need to invest a lot in strength to carry it
Earthshaker ** $
Gaea’s Club (magic weapon) ** $
This weapon is shopable (a great choice for untwinked) and gives you +3 to Elemental skills
Mang Song's Lesson ** $$
This two-hander gives you +5 to skills and potentially -15% enemy fire resistance
Dark Clan Crusher * $
Islestrike * $
Athena’s Wrath * $
A polearm with +1-3 to Druid skills; you get points for looks but it’s two-handed so you lose some skill points.
Missile Weapons
Faith (rw) *** $$$ #
This bow is especially great if you use summons because it will provide them with the Fanaticism aura.
Widowmaker * $$ #
Put this on switch and use caster weapons as your main setup.
Harmony (rw) * $ #
Put this on switch and use caster weapons as your main setup.
Silence (rw) * $$$
One of the few options you have on non-ladder, and it's damn expensive.
Shields
Phoenix (rw) *** $$$ #
-28% to enemy fire resistance makes this my first choice. And some other nice mods such as a redemption aura and some fire absorb.
Monarch 4x Fire Facet ** $$$
This will give you up to -20% to enemy fire resistance (and +20% extra damage), so it’s a close second to Phoenix.
Spirit (rw) ** $$ #
+2 to skills also gives your damage a boost, though it does nothing against Fire Immunes
Lidless Wall * $
Splendor * $
Sigon’s shield * $
Moser’s Blessed Circle * $
Armor
Enigma (rw) *** $$$
Teleport, FRW and an enormous strength boost
Chains of Honor (rw) *** $$$
A great alternative to Enigma, with a lot of safety (resists, DR).
Skin of the Vipermagi (rw) ** $
Cheap and with great mods for a Fire Druid.
Rain (rw) ** $$
The 1.11 Runeword give +2 to Druid skills, lightning resist and a lot of mana.
Spirit Shroud * $
Smoke (rw) * $
Arcaine's Valor * $$
If you get one with +2 to skills it's quite a decent choice. No resists though.
Helm
Ravenlore *** $$
This helm is specially made for Fire Druids, with -15-20% to enemy fire resistance and +3 to elemental skills
Jalal’s Mane * $
The all-round Druid choice will work if you don’t have Ravenlore.
Lore Druid pelt (rw) */** $
If you find a pelt with +3 to Fissure and insert the runes of Lore, that will be a pretty good option
Delirium Druid pelt (rw) ** $$$
It's expensive for what it does, but if you find a pelt with 0/3 sockets and the right mods, it can be pretty good.
Gaea's Druid Pelt ** $$/$$$
With +3 to elemental skills and other good mods, a good option
Belt
Arachnid’s Mesh *** $$
The only belt with +1 to skills
Rare belt with good mods * $
Resists and FHR would be good.
Gloom’s Trap ** $
Extra mana is helpful if you use Enigma
Verdungo’s Coil * $$
Thundergod’s Vigor * $
Nightsmoke (upped) * $
Boots
Sandstorm Treks *** $
A good Strength bonus and FHR make this the first choice
Rare with FHR and resists *** $
Potentially better than Treks
Aldur’s Advance ** $
Silkweave ** $
Extra mana is helpful if you use Enigma
Gore Riders ** $
War Traveller ** $$
Wear one of these if you use a bow
Waterwalks * $
Treads of Chton * $
Natalya’s Soul * $
Gloves
Magefist *** $
The only option here; it’s cheap and offers +1 to Fire skills.
Crafted Hit Power gloves * $
If you wield a bow, this will give you knockback (which works great in combination with Fissure). The additional mods must be pretty good for these gloves to surpass Magefist though.
Rings
Stone of Jordan *** $$$
+1 to skills and a lot of extra mana
Bul Kathos’ Wedding Band ** $$$
Slightly cheaper than SOJs, and also with +1 to skills
Rare ring with good mods * $-$$$
Resists, strength and life/vitality.
Amulet
Mara’s Caleidoscope *** $$$
+2 to skills and resists make this the top choice
Rare with +2 to druid/elemental skills */** $
Potentially a lot cheaper than Maras
Gaea’s magic amulet ** $
+3 to elemental skills
Rising Sun ** $
Highlord's Wrath ** $$
A great choice if you wield a bow
Eye of Etlich * $
Telling of Beads * $
Inventory
Druid Hellfire Torch *** $$ #
Druids Torches are cheap so get one if you’re on ladder.
Annihilus *** $$$ #
Elemental skillers *** $$
If possible with other mods such as life or FHR
Scs 5% resist all / 11% resist fire or lightning ** $$
Use these to bring your resists up to 75%
Switch
There are 3 options for switch weapon/shield:
a) Call to Arms + Spirit for extra life/mana for you and your merc/minions
b) A bow (e.g. Widowmaker, Harmony) to deal with Fire Immunes
c) HotO + Spirit or Spirit + Spirit or Mang Song's Lesson for casting stronger minions (e.g. when Faith bow is normal weapon)
6. HIRELING
Hireling selection
In case you missed it: this build benefits greatly from Infinity, so we prefer Act II Mercenaries. They are also strong meat shields and provide an aura by themselves. Act V Barbarians would work as well but I never use them so cannot judge.
Act II Might ***
Great if you have summons and/or bow
Act II Holy Freeze ***
Provides additional safety with its aura. No need to equip Doom. Probably the best choice for a pure caster
Act II Prayer **
Life regeneration can work great. Unless you have Infinity, give this merc an Insight for double healing
Act II Defiance **
This will help mainly to make sure the Merc survives.
Weapon
Make sure your Merc has life leech on weapon, helm or armor.
Infinity (rw) *** $$$ #
The conviction aura is all we really need, but the other mods are just as juicy.
Insight * $ #
If you can’t afford Infinity this will allow you to teleport freely
Reaper’s Toll * $
The Decrepify curse will slow down enemies, lower their defense and increase the physical damage of your merc, minions and Volcano.
Armor
Fortitude *** $$$
A lot of extra damage
Chains of Honor *** $$$
Life leech – allows you to use Infinity and Guillaumes. Plus great resists and DR
Shaftstop ** $
Stone ** $$
Duriel’s Shell * $
Helms
Guillaume’s Face *** $
If you have life leech on armor or weapon
Andariel’s Visage *** $$
Tal’s mask ** $
Vampire’s Gaze ** $
7. LEVELING
Level 1-15
Equip a bow or melee weapon and do Tristram runs. Put skill points in prerequisites until you get to Fissure, then put everything in Fissure.
Items to consider: Hrasus’ set.
Level 16-30
Do Tomb/Cows/Dia runs. By this time your Fissure will be quite strong, so start using it. Also get 1 Dire Wolf (hopefully with some items to boost it to lvl 3 for 3 wolves). Keep investing in Fissure, and put the rest in Volcano. Get a Grizzly at lvl 30. Items to consider: Hrasus Set, Spirit sword, Eye of Etlich, Manald Heal, armor and helm socketed with Tir’s (for unlimited Fissure casting), Magefist.
Level 30-45
Do Baal runs. Keep investing in Fissure until you’re done, then continue with Volcano. Use your Grizzly as a meat shield, and give your mercenary a decent poleaxe. By now you can equip some nice gear.
Items to consider: Jalals, Splendor/Lidless, Spirit sword, Vipermagi, Magefist, Elemental skillers, Hone Sundan or low Insight (for merc)
Level 45-60
Leveling through Nightmare, followed by NM Baal runs. Use Fissure and Volcano (both maxed). Further investment depends on chosen skill setup.
Level 60-75
NM Baal runs. You can equip all your end gear now except for Arachs and maybe Andariel’s on merc.
Level 75+
Hell levelling. I prefer not to get a rush here because this is where your character really gets tested.
8. PLAY STYLE
General questing
In general, Fissure (right mouse button) is your first option and Volcano your second (hotkey right mouse button). Run forward and cast Fissure in front of you when a monster approaches. Let your Grizzly/Wolves and Merc advance. Don’t hesitate to recast your minions at the right spot. Use Volcano to take out ranged attackers and bosses/revivers. Now and then check the health of your summons and if necessary recast (this is rarely necessary with a Grizzly though).
Bosses
Cast your Grizzly next to the boss to distract and keep the boss in one place. Next, keep casting Volcano until done. Keep your distance and focus on keeping your Merc alive. With Mephisto, Diablo and Baal you may need to recast your Grizzly 1-2 times before they die.
Difficult areas
The most difficult thing you will encounter is the Hell Ancients. If you play solo you may well not be able to pass them. With my ideal setup (variant 2, Fissure + Grizzly) it took me several tries to pass them, while with the others I gave up rather soon and found someone to help me. The problem is that your Grizzly dies quite quickly to a leap attack or WW attack. You need to resummon him quite often and in the meantime keep your Merc alive and keep casting Volcano to do damage.
I also had some difficulty in Act 4 with large groups of unbreakable Fire Immunes (Venom Lords). They swamped my Merc and Grizzly and I had to teleport away several times to break the group up so I could take them 1 or 2 at a time.
Without Enigma there are some other areas that may be tricky, such as the Maggot Lair. In my experience it is quite difficult to cast Fissure there, so you should use Volcano more often and be patient.
Thanks their for input goes to:
- Jary
- Lumpor
- MalVeaux
- MYK
- Verashiden
- Xena1985
------|||Amazing job! This guide is 100% gg, I really have nothing else to add lol.
|||Heya,Fantastic and complete. Love it.
I only have two things to add:
1. Mang Song's Lesson. +5 skills is better than Spirit + Spirit and it can get up to -15% fire resistance to enemies. Unfortunately it's quite rare and unfortunately it's got no other perks (life, mana, FHR, resists, etc). More like something for a summoner hybrid since it benefits both summons & fire at the same time, and the summon based builds are much safer and don't have to worry to much about resists and all that in the first place.
2. Minor thing:
Quote:
Insight * $$$
If you can’t afford Infinity or you are non-ladder, this will allow you to teleport freely
I doubt it was meant to be $$$ and I think insight is # (ladder only).
Cheers,
|||@ JaryI tried to be complete so I am glad that you can't think of stuff to add.
@ Malvieux
Thanks for spotting; I edited both your comments in.|||Nice guide! One thing I'd like to mention:
Even when not moving, Fissure hits a TON when dropped under a large groups' feet. This leads me to believe that it somewhat reacts on a similar mechanic to Creeper. So if you have a big group being held still, cast Fissure and watch the fire damage sky rocket.|||I think Ed got it right actually. Its deffinitely movement based..the way the damage is reapplied, 'cause sometimes standing monsters (or opponents if PvP) can sit and have it miss over and over since the vents only cover about half the area like a checker board (except the squares alternate..sorta), so enemies movement through the hot spots dictates most hte damage. During the duration of the fissure "checker board" lol, enemies can reapply teh damage by passing in and outta the hotspots infinite times. Since enemies in big groups within your vision can't "stop" moving they'll continue to move within the pack reapplying the damage, such as shenk or a big group of hell cows. However, if say... 4 hell cows surrounding you are melee attacking you, so immobile, and you fissure..they'll probably only take a couple burns but not as much as if you were to back off and have them chase you around the mats. Anyways, you know this i"m just babbling 'cause I'm bored >.<|||See, I'd think that too. However, with my Huntermentalist even when a large group is standing still they take LOADS of fire damage. That's why I say it's kinda like Creeper. Movement does dictate a large percentage of damage, especially PvP. I'm not sure how to explain why it works on large groups though. Perhaps only one unit has to be moving to make Fissure go berserk?|||I think Vera is also right; the damage does depend on the number of monsters in some way. But it can still miss monsters in a group if they stand still (e.g. with skeleton archers there are often 1-2 that survive). I also think that the damage depends on the speed of the monster moving over the Fissure mat.|||Heya,
I definitely agree that the damage is quite different in application compared to other skills like it (damage over time, over an area). I did some quick tests just to show it working both in Hell with my Fissure/DireWolf Druid in Act1 and in Act5 for different movement, speeds, sizes of monsters.
It seems to hit them more often when they move and when they're larger. It seems to have something to do with their sprite touching a vent's sprite perhaps and each shift into or out of it triggers the `fire' animation resulting in damage dealt.
I made a quick video of it. Though even at the smaller res on YouTube you can still plainly see how often the fire explosion triggers on the baddies (my original was recorded at 800x600, so it was really clear... YT re-encoded to smaller res, grr).
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_OVQGYcNUw
By the way, this Druid was heavily inspired by a lot of what went into this guide from a lot of you guys. He's really fun. Firestorm/Fissure/Volcano with DireWolves/Grizzly; Might Merc with Reaper's Toll. Nothing is immune to the group completely. Maxed FS/Fissure, DW/Grizzly. Volcano is my synergy. I actually use FS up close because if the three fire streams hit the enemy at close range, the damage is ridiculously high and their life bar just sinks so fast. So I maxed it and use it often when I'm not fissuring a single target.
Cheers,
|||Nice video, interesting choice of music as well. So you're saying that it has something to do with the size of the monster as well. That wasn't apparent from your video, and I can't remember having a problem taking out Dolls or those small teleporting demons. I plan to rebuild my Fire Druid soon so I'll do some testing of my own.My idea was that it had something to do with hit recovery; Fissure doesn't do damage when monsters are in HR ,so if a monster has a shorter HR they would be hit more often. The monsters you have in your video might have a shorter HR than smaller monsters.
You've got an interesting setup. Personally I wouldn't want to miss maxed Volcano because it's the best Fire skill to handle (end) bosses. I used to have Firestorm (maxed and synergized) on left mouse so I could cast it when a monster was at close range, but it never worked for me.
Is belt ok
I normally use verdungos nos belt or tndgs. But with just starting west I've found a rare belt that seems cool for a wolf . Stats are 24 fhr 18 str 50 to life and 2 low resists aswell as def per lvl is it a viable belt for endgame gear ? Persanally I think it's great but I've been wrong before 
|||i use similar belts on my rabies/fury and wolfbarb
i always look that belt have 20+ str so i can easily excange it with tg. i have made comparison with verdungo before but here it is:
at best it provides 80 life (40*2 non bo-able life)
10 % fhr
15 % dr
blood crafted belt for comparison:
> 24 fhr
> 30 str; 1 point saved gives 2 life more (multiply this with shape+bo)
> 80 life; augumentad with werewolf+lychantropy+bo (300%+ on it)
> 10 % ow
> resists up to 30 % single resist
0 % dr
rare belt is second best which lacks ow and have potentially 20 life less. life leech is useless in pvp and just waste potentially usefull mode|||So basically it's fine mate . Remember I'm a simple guy ! Hehe my method normally of testing is put it on see if I can kill easier if I can it's a winner tnx vk you and verash are my tech guys
|||i use similar belts on my rabies/fury and wolfbarbi always look that belt have 20+ str so i can easily excange it with tg. i have made comparison with verdungo before but here it is:
at best it provides 80 life (40*2 non bo-able life)
10 % fhr
15 % dr
blood crafted belt for comparison:
> 24 fhr
> 30 str; 1 point saved gives 2 life more (multiply this with shape+bo)
> 80 life; augumentad with werewolf+lychantropy+bo (300%+ on it)
> 10 % ow
> resists up to 30 % single resist
0 % dr
rare belt is second best which lacks ow and have potentially 20 life less. life leech is useless in pvp and just waste potentially usefull mode|||So basically it's fine mate . Remember I'm a simple guy ! Hehe my method normally of testing is put it on see if I can kill easier if I can it's a winner
tnx vk you and verash are my tech guys
Wolf/Bear Hybrid Build
I was hoping to get some input for this build/guide/whatever you'd like to call it:
Section 1: Introduction
This is a character that I had a ton of fun playing in the last ladder season, and I plan to make one this ladder, as soon as I get around to making a skelliemancer to build up some base wealth. I wanted to share it with you, because it's a significantly different build than I've seen in any of the guides here, and if you have half as much fun playing it as I did, it's worth your time.
Have you ever decided to go with a shapeshifter, but had a hard time deciding between the speed of a werewolf and the power of a werebear? What if I told you that you can have the best of both? What if I told you that you can have a powerful summons with this as well? What if I told you that this character can solo hell untwinked? (And can solo hell on players 8 if you happen to have some of the top gear I will list below - and I didn't have an anni or a torch. Full Disclosure: I didn't do all of hell level on players 8, just the bosses and level 85 areas.) Well, you'd probably think I was being true to my namesake... or lying. You may think that, but you would be wrong.
I actually made two of these druids last ladder season. The first one was untwinked, and soloed hell. The second one was well equipped, (but no anni, torch, or using any runewords that required a very high level rune) and could do Baal runs on players 8. Therefore, I would like to humbly submit for your review, the Idiot's Guide to the Little Bit of Everything Budget Druid. (I know, the name needs some work. It's the best I can come up with given you're investing skill points in all 3 trees, and that none of the equipment is extremely high end.) At first glance, this build appears similar to a Fire Claws/Fury druid, but there are definitely some game play differences, and obviously, most Fire Claw/Fury druids, don't use both WW and WB.
Section 2: Skills
A. Shapeshifting tree
Werewolf - 1
Lycanthropy - 10+
Werebear - 1
Feral Rage - 1
Maul - 1
Rabies - 1
Fire Claws - 20
Shockwave - 1
Fury - 20
Subtotal: 56
B. Summoning Tree
Raven - 1
Oak Sage - 1
Spirit Wolf - 1
Heart of Wolverine - 0 or 1
Dire Wolf - 10+
Grizzly 1+
Subtotal: 14
C. Elemental Tree
Firestorm - 20
Molten Bolder - 0+
Subtotal: 20
Grand Total: 90
Skills marked with a "+" are good candidates for further development once the base build is completed, which can be accomplished as early as level 79 with all skill quests completed. They can be applied at your discretion in any area where you'd like to improve.
Section 3: Explanation of Skill Distribution
WW, WB, and Lycanthropy - Since you're going to be using both the bear and wolf forms, you only need a single point in each of them. Your bound to find some +skill gear along the way, so their effective level will be higher than 1. On the other hand, Lycanthropy benefits both forms, and since you're a melee character, having extra life is a very good thing. With +skill gear, I had Lycanthropy at skill level 20, and I had 1800 life in hell difficulty, which I felt was a good balance between skill/stat point investment and survivability. That said, your "comfort zone" for life total in hell may be higher or lower than mine, but I do not recommend going with less than 10 in Lycanthropy, and this skill is definitely a candidate for further investment once the base build is completed.
Fury - Will be the attack you use most, and you'll obviously be using this in WW form. Fury synergizes nothing and receives synergies from nothing, but with a decent weapon this is a hell viable skill well worth maxing.
Fire Claws - Is your secondary attack. You're going to use this against anything that is physical immune, mana burn, and/or anything else that is very dangerous and not fire immune. Fire Claws is a "one enemy at a time skill" so you are going to want to use this skill in WB form, and make gratuitous use of shockwave. In case you are unaware, shockwave works on everything except Act Bosses. And I mean everything - the Ancients can even be stunned. Although it appeared that champions and unique monsters had some level of resistance to it. Sometimes multiple castings of shockwave was required to stun them, but once stunned they remained stunned just as long as the rest of their pack.
Firestorm - Is a 20 point synergy for Fire Claws. In order for your secondary attack to be effective in hell, you're going to need to be able to inflict several thousand points of damage with it, and even with a lot of +skill gear, a 20 point distribution in Fire Claws alone will not get you there. You need to max a synergy as well. If you want to take your Fire Claw damage even higher, Molten Bolder is an additional synergy for Fire Claws that can be worked on after the base build is complete.
Animal Companion - This is more personal preference than anything. I spent 10 hard points in Dire Wolves. I used them more than Grizzlies, and with my +skills they had a decent survival rate. My Grizzly was extremely durable, but since I was able to kill stuff on my own, I was more interested in the crowd control offered by the Dire Wolves, than the tanking abilities offered by my grizzly. They didn't kill much, but they take the heat off you and your merc. After I finished my base build, I split my remaining skill points on Dire Wolves and Grizzly, which offer passive bonuses mutually shared to life and damage, respectively.
Spirit - Is completely optional. You don't have the skill points available to devote more than a single point to either of them, and in hell difficulty, they will die frequently. I ended up putting a single point into both OS and HoW, and normally had HoW active. The build is not mana intensive at all, so frequently recasting your spirit is more of a nuisance than anything.
Section 4: Attributes
(There's nothing particular unusual about this):
Strength - As always, enough to use your gear. The highest strength requirement item I have in the gear selection below is from the shield slot, which is 156 for both Stormshield or a Spirit runeword. So I would set 156 as the upper maximum. If you aren't going with either of these items you can get by with less (and with some gear setups, considerably less).
Dexterity - If you take my advice and use a shield, you'll need a significant investment in dexterity to maintain a max block rate. How much depends on what shield you go with, but between hard points spent and gear, you'll need about 200 in dexterity by the time you hit level 80.
Vitality - Once you have your strength requirement satisfied, and have enough for max block, all remaining points go here. By mid nightmare, you should be allocating your points as approximately an even split between dexterity and vitality. My characters had vitality scores around the mid-point between strength and dexterity.
Energy - None of course.
Section 5: Skill and Stat Point Allocation
The first skill you are going to want to max is Fury, which is a bit problematic seeing as how it's a level 30 skill. Fortunately, there are some options for your skill points pre-level 30. You're going to want at least 10 points in Lycanthropy, so you can certainly siphon off some of you excess skill points there, and if you like Dire Wolves, you can start pumping them as well, while picking up all the prerequisites and one point wonders along the way. But skill points 30-49 should definitely go into Fury.
After that, the next thing you have to get working on is Fire Claws and the Firestorm synergy. You won't be hard pressed to use this skill with any frequency pre-Hell, but you've got to start developing it in NM so it's ready to go when you're ready to go.
After that, you're done with the base build, so do as you'd like with my suggestions above.
As for stat allocation, now that we have respecs available, I would prioritize strength and vitality at the expense of dexterity in Normal. Blocking is certainly not necessary in the early stages, and I would recommend foregoing a shield entirely in the early going in favor of something like Bonesnap to help you level a bit quicker. Respec when you're ready to equip your endgame shield.
Section 6: Equipment
A brief introduction here. There are three things that you need to look for that are critical to the performance of this build.
+Skill Items - The most important thing to look for is anything that gives +skills. Your points are spread out quite a bit in this build, and so anything you can do to squeeze every last drop that you can out of your skills is well worth it. I was only able to solo hell on players 8 in the second iteration of this build because I had +7 to the summoning tree and +10 to the shapeshifting tree.
Max Your Resistances and Blocking - The second thing of almost equal importance is getting your resistances and Blocking as close to max as you can. There's a ton of gear combinations that will allow you to have resist all 75% in hell, but I just wanted to stress that here. I recommend you get a healthy dose of resistances out of your body armor and helm, and you'll see that reflected in the specific gear sections below. If you cannot max all of them, at least shoot for the max in lightning and fire, and do what you can for cold and poison.
Crushing Blow - As you will see further down in this section, none of the weapons are uber (remember, this is a budget build). You won't be seeing any eBotD berserker axes or other such items. To supplement our rather low damage output, you're going to need at least one, and preferably two sources of Crushing Blow. You'll be using Fury a lot, so it's not necessary to go overboard with CB, but more is better. I had 35% on the second interation of my character, and I found that satisfactory.
Other very useful mods you're going to want are life leech, and at least one source of mana leech, and cannot be frozen.
I've broken down the gear into three subsections: Top Choice(s), Adequate Substitutes, and Good N' Cheap. So something for everyone. The top choices are generally not high end runewords. If you have access to them, feel free to use them, but I generally don't like to include equipment I do not personally use as a recommendation, and I don't have any high end runewords.
Let me stress once again - you don't need ANY of the top choices to be able to solo hell. My first character who soloed hell (on Battlenet, but always played solo, so the equivalent of players 1 setting) had his equipment almost exclusively from the Good N' Cheap choices.
A. Weapons
As I stated earlier, I highly recommend using a shield, and therefore, all of the selections are weapons that only take one hand to use.
Top Chioce:
Upped Fleshrender - Bonus points because the standard version has a level requirement of just 38, so it's a leveling weapon, and then it eventually becomes your end-game weapon. It requires 133 strength upped, so that's still well within our strength range.
Adequate Substitutes:
In all cases, this group will be items that offer nearly the same performance as the top choice, and all could be considered end game viable - that will be true for all the equipment sections. Really, you can't go wrong with any of these choices. Also, I'd highly advise socketing your endgame weapon with a Shael rune (unlees you're using a runeword of course).
Heart of the Oak Runeword (Ko-Vex-Pul-Thul) - It has to be done in a mace or staff weapon, and since we need 4 sockets and a one handed weapon, a scourge is really you're only choice here. It certainly isn't a cheap option, and needing a Vex places it out of the price range of a lot of people - including me. I did NOT use this weapon, because I didn't have the runes for it. But with +3 skills, FCR, a ton of resistance, and mana leech (among other things) I sincerely feel that this would be a very solid choice if you can afford the runes.
Nord's Tenderizer and Baranar's Star - I'm lumping these two together because they both offer good base damage and elemental damage which will make dealing with physical immunes all that much easier. You could even take on a dual physical and fire immune with these weapons. Baranar's Star does have a rather high strength requirement of 153, so it's a bit on the high end of our strength limits.
Stormlash - Great weapon, extremely fast, but really hard to acquire, and you can't equip it until level 82. It's not a bad weapon at all to graduate into during hell difficulty, but I cannot make it a top choice simply because it takes so long to use it.
Upped Dark Clan Crusher - a poor man's Fleshrender
Good N' Cheap:
King's Grace Runeword (Amn-Ral-Thul) - works in swords. Big bonuses to attack rating and damage, especially against demons and undead, which makes up 2/3 of the monsters in the game. I used this weapon for a while with my first druid...
Honor Runeword (Amn-El-Ith-Tir-Sol) - until I found a five socket weapon to make this one. This one has a little bit of everything - bonus damage and attack rating, life leech, +10 strength, mana per kill, deadly strike, and even +1 to all skills. The base weapon is harder to acquire than the runes.
Aldur's Rythm - is included only for completeness. It is far and away the poorest of the options I listed here, and the only reason I'd consider using it would be if I had the complete set, as the bonuses offered by the completed Aldur's Set are quite impressive.
B. Armor
Top Choice:
Chains of Honor (Dol-Um-Ber-Ist) - I'm deviating from my cheap gear promise on this one, but this armor has everything. Arguably the best armor in the game for any melee class, and especially good for a build that could use +skills. And given the runes you need to make it, it should be awesome. If you can afford it, go for it. It's worth the cost of the Ber.
Adequate Substitutes:
Duriel's Shell - Solid defense, life, and resistances. Very good balance.
Goldskin - For those in need of additional resistances, you can get +35% resist all in one place. (If you socket it with an Um, or preferably a +15% resist all jewel with a good second affix, you're up to +50% resist all.) It's cheap to up this armor, which brings the defense quite high, and it still only requires 140 strength to equip.
Rain Runeword (Ort-Mal-Ith) - Only the Mal is even somewhat uncommon, and it does give a very nice +2 to all skills along with some other bonuses. If you make this in a decent base item, you could do a lot worse.
Duress Runeword (Shael-Um-Thul) - This one is extremely under-rated as far as I'm concerned. You get 40% FHR, some resistances, and 15% CB chance, making it an excellent option if you're finding it difficult to squeeze CB out of your other equipment slots.
Aldur's Deception - the +skills makes this the only item of the set that is worth using by itself.
Que-Hegan's Wisdom - Solid choice, and +1 skills is nice, although I'd prefer everything above before I used this.
Good N' Cheap:
Skins of the Vampermagi - Even a low end one offers a decent amount of resistances and +1 skills. And the low end ones can be traded for a few pgems.
Smoke Runeword (Nef-Lum) - With 75% defense and +50% to all resistance, at the low, low price of just a Lum makes this a great armor, especially if you use a decently high defense base armor to start with.
C. Shield
We want max block, so any shield with a high block rate is going to be favored.
Top Choice:
Stormshield - an item that needs no futher explanation. If you have it, use it. This was the shield I used for the second build. At 156 strength, it will likely be your highest strength requirement. Socket it for extra resistance, or if you're covered there, throw an Eld in it to save some points in dexterity.
Adequate Substitutes:
Spirit Runeword (Tal-Thul-Ort-Amn) - Again the base item is harder to acquire than the runes. You'll need 156 strength for this one too, as the lightest 4-socket shield is the Monarch. The +2 skills are nice, but one very big drawback of this choice is you'll need an obscene amount of dexterity to reach max block. Prohibitively so, in fact. With a high strength requirement, and gobs into dexterity (seriously - do the calculations - at high levels you're looking at upwards of 300), your vitality will take a big hit. So if you don't care about maxing block (and I strongly advise that you should care), this would be the top choice. However, if you like to max block, I would rather have...
Sanctuary Runeword (Ko-Ko-Mal) - Huge block rate and huge resistances. If you don't have a Stormshield, this would be my second choice.
Whitsan's Guard and Gerke's Sanctuary - both fairly easy to acquire and have great block rates, although you'll need to add a pdiamond for resistances. (Or an Um if you must - to me, Ums are rare enough to be runeword only. I cannot justify socketing them into a shield for 3% more resist all than a pdiamond.)
Good N' Cheap:
Rhyme Runeword (Shael-Eth) - everyone should be able to afford this. I'd make it in a tower shield (or pavise if you already have the strength requirement satisfied) for the best base block rate, but you'll get the bonus 20% chance to block, +25% resistances, and even some magic find. Can't go wrong!
Sigon's Guard - Huge base chance of blocking, and even +1 to all skills.
D. Headgear
Obviously, you are going to want to use a druid pelt here.
Top Choice:
Jalal's Mane - Huge +skills, resistances, life, mana, and a ton of other good stuff. Definitely socket worthy.
Adequate Substitutes:
Rare +2 to druid skills pelt - (or circlet, although the pelt is probably a bit easier to acquire, as if you get lucky Anya can even hook you up) - with other good attributes, like leech, resistances, damage reduction, magic find.
Harlequin Crest - The old standby. +2 skills, bonus life, mana, 10% DR and even magic find. No resistances though, so if you're lacking in that department, you may need to socket it with a resistance jewel with some other decent second mod.
Cerebus' Bite - Not as good as Jalal's but no slouch either.
Spirit Keeper - I had this on my first druid - it's better than you think!
Good N' Cheap:
Rare +1 druid skills pelt - (or circlet) with other good attributes. You can sometimes get one of these as a reward after rescuing Anya in Normal!
Aldur's Watchtower - again only if you're using other item(s) of the set.
E. Boots
Top Choice:
Gore Riders - You need some Crushing Blow with this character, and this is a great place to get some. And with this choice you get Open Wounds and Deadly Strike to boot, even better!
(This is one of the item slots where I feel the top choice is significantly better than the alternatives.)
(Not-so) Adequate Substitutes:
Golbin Toe - crushing blow, but not much else. This also qualifies as Good N' Cheap
Good N' Cheap:
Tearhaunch - more resistances never hurt.
Aldur's Advance - again, only if you're using other item(s) of the set.
F. Belt
Top Choice:
Arachnid Mesh - ton of good mods, especially +1 skills - need I say more?
(This is other item slot where I feel the top choice is significantly better than the alternatives. Still, Arachnid Meshes don't exactly grow on trees, so if you don't have one...)
Adequate Substitutes:
String of Ears - Damage reduction and some life leech are always useful, although with a lot of the other gear choices, you probably already have a fair amount of life leech. I used String with both my druids, and it served me very well.
Nosterafu's Coil - about as hard to find as Arachnid Mesh, although not nearly as useful. Life leech, slows target, a bit of IAS, and the +15 strength should indirectly mean +15 more to vitality. So certainly not a bad option.
Good N' Cheap:
Nightsmoke - for the resistances. Up it if you want more belt slots.
Goldwrap - for some IAS and obviously, magic find, also can be upped if you cannot live without 16 belt slots.
G. Gloves
Top Choice:
Lavagout - I found that the Enchant procs quite frequently, and usually procs again before the timer expires, so it ups your attack rating and damage, which is great for this build. Not that hard to get your hands on either... get it? I'm here all week folks!
Adequate Substitute:
Dracul's Grasp - I used Lavagout for most of the game with both characters, but this would definitely be a solid choice.
Good N' Cheap: Chance Guards if you want some mf.
H. Rings
Top Choices:
Raven Frost and Bul-Kathos - ideally one of each
Adequate Substitues:
Stone of Jordan, Dwarf Star, Whisp Projector - although I highly recommend at least one RF.
Good N' Cheap:
Nagelring, Manald Heal
Rare with resistances, +AR - pretty much mandatory if you don't have a RF.
I. Amulets
Top Choice:
Mara's Kaleidoscope - +2 skills, huge resistnaces, very tough to find. Therefore, consider these...
Adequate Substitutes:
Seraph's Hymn - the bonus to paladin skills doesn't do you any good, but the +2 skills and bonus attack rating and damage to demons and undead does.
+2 Skills Rare (or crafted) Amulet with other good mods
Metalgrid - would work but I like everything above this better
Good N' Cheap:
Eye of Etlich - doesn't get much cheaper than that, and +1 skills along with some cold damage always helps.
+1 Skills Rare (or Crafted) Amulet with other good mods - you can gamble one of these while you're still in normal.
Section 7: Mercenary
I went with a might merc, and I had him equipped with a 3xAmn Hone Sudan, Shaftstop, and a chromatic tiara of life everlasting. Based on the equipment selection, you probably realized that I was going for crushing blow, resistances, life leech and damage reduction - all things that help keep your merc alive, and helping you. An argument can be made for a holy freeze or a defiance merc, that would also provide some benefit to you. Just like with you, CB is an important mod to look for on your merc's equipment.
Section 8: Gameplay and Realistic Expectations
So what are we looking at damage wise here? I ended up with a Fury damage range of 2099-4107, with a 71% chance to hit Hell Baal. Those numbers are the second iteration of this build, with an upped Fleshrender and are prior to casting HoW, without Enchant procing on my Lavagouts, as I don't know if you'll use that skill/item. Average Fire Claw damage in Bear from was just shy of 6K. (Sorry, I don't have the screen shots, so you'll have take my word for it - or you won't if you think I'm a lying bastard. The only reason I have the numbers is because I discussed this with a friend a while back and saved an e-mail. Sadly, I cannot provide any figures regarding the first character, as he is on a bnet account that has long-since expired.)
But going with just those base numbers, my terrible math skills yield that you will land at least one crusing blow per five swing fury cycle approximately 66% of the time against Hell Baal, assuming a 35% chance of landing a crushing blow. Those numbers are obviously better if you factor in HoW and Enchant procing on the gloves. From my memory, I was able to take out Hell Baal in players 8 with Lavagouts, HoW active, and my merc helping in about two minutes - not super fast but not bad either.
As for gameplay, Fury is going to be your attack of choice, provided that you aren't up against something that is physical immune and/or mana burn and/or generally nasty to deal with (like an extra fast pack of frenzytaurs or stygian dolls). For most creatures, the "use Fury until everything is dead" tactic works very well - even in hell difficulty.
However, when you do run into one of the aforementioned groups, the first thing you do is order an all-out retreat. At that point, you shift into bear mode, go Fire Claws on left click, Shockwave on right click. Hopefully, you have some access to some +skill items like I did, so your one point investment in Shockwave actually is cast at level 11. Keep them stunned while you whack away using Fire Claws. In big packs, one stunning is obviously insufficient to take out the entire pack, so refresh your Shockwave at regular intervals (preferably before it runs out.)
Now, I know what you're thinking... "What happens when you run into something that's immune to both fire and physical damage Mr. Smartypants? You don't have anything to deal with it." And in this instance, you'd be correct. I have no magical solution as to tactics when you only have two major damage types, and you run into something that is immune to both of them. Fortunately, dual physical and fire immunes are not particularly common, so you don't have to worry a great deal about this. However, you do have two options available. Option 1 is you still retreat and transform into a werebear, and you still get shockwave ready. Here the idea is to stun them and run like hell. It's only going to be boss packs that spawn dual fire/physical immune, so even if you stun and run past them right into another pack, chances are those aren't going to be another undefeatable dual immune pack. Option 2 is more straightforward - cast Powerword: Save and Exit.
For Act Bosses, even though you'll have a better FC damage than Fury damage, I found Fury to be much more effective, as you're base damage isn't great, so you're going to want to rely on your Fury attack to maximize the frequency of landing a crushing blow. I'd also highly recommend getting up a grizzly against act bosses, and recasting HoW (if you opted for the skill) whenever necessary. Act bosses were not a major problem. This build could not take them out quickly, but with a high leech rate on both my main character and my merc, there was little chance of dying - i.e., I was leeching back life faster than I was receiving damage.|||i like your guide. i think you could do with some highlighting and some bigger text for the section heads, maybe bold around gear selections, just to make it a bit easier to read. i also would like to see some screen shots or final damage outputs (in text if screenies are impossible) for your 'meh' build and your fully decked out one. i'm really curious on your fury AR and damage.
it seems like most of your gear is centered around +skills and you would rely entirely on weapon for fury damage (which is where most of any fury wolf's damage comes from) but you've picked some sub standard weapons to use for sheer damage. where does the AR come from? what kind of chance to hit, say hell baal, do you have (i know you said bear side for single targets, just curious and he's a good base to compare AR)? are you in wolf form more or bear? do you go around in one, then quickly switch to the other as situations warrant or just go with whatever shape you were in last?
i want to repeat that i like your guide and think the build is interesting. i'm not trying to nit pick you or anything.|||@cdm - constructive criticism is always appreciated. I made the guide a little easier to read, added a couple of extra sections, and expanded the gear choices a bit (I cannot believe I forgot to add Durress in the Adequate Substitute Armor, as that's what I used for a good chunk of time). The answers to your specific questions are in Section 8.
Thanks again - I've never written a guide before, and I'm certainly open to advice from any and all regarding means of improving it.|||I like your build. Seems both solid and fun. Fleshrender is old school and I like that too - Shael it and use Highlord Ammy probably.
I'm on NL now so upping a FR or getting one would be hard but I do have a 296ed Stormlash Shael'd. COH is needed for the resists. Good choice on Lava Gauts (AR), Jalal, COH, Gores, Raven, BK,SS and Arac - good skill build up. With my wep - would change skill set as follows. The reasoning is: I would use fireclaws more if it had more punch/damage and I like the AR. But a lot of that is personal preference and having fun.
This build could definitely kill hell baal. I also like the + 9 to SS and 7 to all with equip. You would get more with Flesh with your setup. I think it's a good job for a guide and a good idea for shapeshifting that works for you. I have the same build for a wolf with my Stormlash. Yep it's spendy and hard to get a good one - but I use mine well. The static, lite dmg, and CB rocks with FC.
A. Shapeshifting tree
Werewolf - 4
Lycanthropy - 12
Werebear - 1
Feral Rage - 1
Maul - 1
Rabies - 1
Fire Claws - 20
Shockwave - 1
Fury - 0
Subtotal: 42 approx
B. Summoning Tree
Raven - 1
Oak Sage - 1
Spirit Wolf - 1
Heart of Wolverine - 0
Dire Wolf - 1
Grizzly 8
Subtotal: 12
C. Elemental Tree
Firestorm - 7
Molten Bolder - 7
Fissure - 7
Volcano - 20
Subtotal: 41
Grand Total: 95|||I always go old school - usually out of necessity as I've never had any luck scoring high end runes, so a good percentage of the high end 1.10 runewords (ladder and non) are out of reach.
A shaeled Stormlash is an excellent choice for a weapon - as I said in the guide, if it was usable prior to level 82, it would probably be a top choice. Upping the fire damage is certainly a viable option. There are 20 unspent points in my skill setup, so you could theoretically max a second synergy and still do everything I listed. Out of curiosity, why 7 each in FS, MB, Fissure and 20 in Volcano? That seems very specific to be just a rough estimate of how many you'd like.
One thing that I didn't include in the guide is that character is an excellent Pit runner. There are no standard monsters that spawn physical immune, and while there is a small chance of a random unique spawning phys/fire immune I've rarely encountered one.
You do need the +skill to make the build shine though. In the first iteration of this character, he was able to solo hell, but there were definitely parts where the going was slow, and grew rather tedious. So it's possible with low-end gear, but it's not nearly as fun.
Section 1: Introduction
This is a character that I had a ton of fun playing in the last ladder season, and I plan to make one this ladder, as soon as I get around to making a skelliemancer to build up some base wealth. I wanted to share it with you, because it's a significantly different build than I've seen in any of the guides here, and if you have half as much fun playing it as I did, it's worth your time.
Have you ever decided to go with a shapeshifter, but had a hard time deciding between the speed of a werewolf and the power of a werebear? What if I told you that you can have the best of both? What if I told you that you can have a powerful summons with this as well? What if I told you that this character can solo hell untwinked? (And can solo hell on players 8 if you happen to have some of the top gear I will list below - and I didn't have an anni or a torch. Full Disclosure: I didn't do all of hell level on players 8, just the bosses and level 85 areas.) Well, you'd probably think I was being true to my namesake... or lying. You may think that, but you would be wrong.
I actually made two of these druids last ladder season. The first one was untwinked, and soloed hell. The second one was well equipped, (but no anni, torch, or using any runewords that required a very high level rune) and could do Baal runs on players 8. Therefore, I would like to humbly submit for your review, the Idiot's Guide to the Little Bit of Everything Budget Druid. (I know, the name needs some work. It's the best I can come up with given you're investing skill points in all 3 trees, and that none of the equipment is extremely high end.) At first glance, this build appears similar to a Fire Claws/Fury druid, but there are definitely some game play differences, and obviously, most Fire Claw/Fury druids, don't use both WW and WB.
Section 2: Skills
A. Shapeshifting tree
Werewolf - 1
Lycanthropy - 10+
Werebear - 1
Feral Rage - 1
Maul - 1
Rabies - 1
Fire Claws - 20
Shockwave - 1
Fury - 20
Subtotal: 56
B. Summoning Tree
Raven - 1
Oak Sage - 1
Spirit Wolf - 1
Heart of Wolverine - 0 or 1
Dire Wolf - 10+
Grizzly 1+
Subtotal: 14
C. Elemental Tree
Firestorm - 20
Molten Bolder - 0+
Subtotal: 20
Grand Total: 90
Skills marked with a "+" are good candidates for further development once the base build is completed, which can be accomplished as early as level 79 with all skill quests completed. They can be applied at your discretion in any area where you'd like to improve.
Section 3: Explanation of Skill Distribution
WW, WB, and Lycanthropy - Since you're going to be using both the bear and wolf forms, you only need a single point in each of them. Your bound to find some +skill gear along the way, so their effective level will be higher than 1. On the other hand, Lycanthropy benefits both forms, and since you're a melee character, having extra life is a very good thing. With +skill gear, I had Lycanthropy at skill level 20, and I had 1800 life in hell difficulty, which I felt was a good balance between skill/stat point investment and survivability. That said, your "comfort zone" for life total in hell may be higher or lower than mine, but I do not recommend going with less than 10 in Lycanthropy, and this skill is definitely a candidate for further investment once the base build is completed.
Fury - Will be the attack you use most, and you'll obviously be using this in WW form. Fury synergizes nothing and receives synergies from nothing, but with a decent weapon this is a hell viable skill well worth maxing.
Fire Claws - Is your secondary attack. You're going to use this against anything that is physical immune, mana burn, and/or anything else that is very dangerous and not fire immune. Fire Claws is a "one enemy at a time skill" so you are going to want to use this skill in WB form, and make gratuitous use of shockwave. In case you are unaware, shockwave works on everything except Act Bosses. And I mean everything - the Ancients can even be stunned. Although it appeared that champions and unique monsters had some level of resistance to it. Sometimes multiple castings of shockwave was required to stun them, but once stunned they remained stunned just as long as the rest of their pack.
Firestorm - Is a 20 point synergy for Fire Claws. In order for your secondary attack to be effective in hell, you're going to need to be able to inflict several thousand points of damage with it, and even with a lot of +skill gear, a 20 point distribution in Fire Claws alone will not get you there. You need to max a synergy as well. If you want to take your Fire Claw damage even higher, Molten Bolder is an additional synergy for Fire Claws that can be worked on after the base build is complete.
Animal Companion - This is more personal preference than anything. I spent 10 hard points in Dire Wolves. I used them more than Grizzlies, and with my +skills they had a decent survival rate. My Grizzly was extremely durable, but since I was able to kill stuff on my own, I was more interested in the crowd control offered by the Dire Wolves, than the tanking abilities offered by my grizzly. They didn't kill much, but they take the heat off you and your merc. After I finished my base build, I split my remaining skill points on Dire Wolves and Grizzly, which offer passive bonuses mutually shared to life and damage, respectively.
Spirit - Is completely optional. You don't have the skill points available to devote more than a single point to either of them, and in hell difficulty, they will die frequently. I ended up putting a single point into both OS and HoW, and normally had HoW active. The build is not mana intensive at all, so frequently recasting your spirit is more of a nuisance than anything.
Section 4: Attributes
(There's nothing particular unusual about this):
Strength - As always, enough to use your gear. The highest strength requirement item I have in the gear selection below is from the shield slot, which is 156 for both Stormshield or a Spirit runeword. So I would set 156 as the upper maximum. If you aren't going with either of these items you can get by with less (and with some gear setups, considerably less).
Dexterity - If you take my advice and use a shield, you'll need a significant investment in dexterity to maintain a max block rate. How much depends on what shield you go with, but between hard points spent and gear, you'll need about 200 in dexterity by the time you hit level 80.
Vitality - Once you have your strength requirement satisfied, and have enough for max block, all remaining points go here. By mid nightmare, you should be allocating your points as approximately an even split between dexterity and vitality. My characters had vitality scores around the mid-point between strength and dexterity.
Energy - None of course.
Section 5: Skill and Stat Point Allocation
The first skill you are going to want to max is Fury, which is a bit problematic seeing as how it's a level 30 skill. Fortunately, there are some options for your skill points pre-level 30. You're going to want at least 10 points in Lycanthropy, so you can certainly siphon off some of you excess skill points there, and if you like Dire Wolves, you can start pumping them as well, while picking up all the prerequisites and one point wonders along the way. But skill points 30-49 should definitely go into Fury.
After that, the next thing you have to get working on is Fire Claws and the Firestorm synergy. You won't be hard pressed to use this skill with any frequency pre-Hell, but you've got to start developing it in NM so it's ready to go when you're ready to go.
After that, you're done with the base build, so do as you'd like with my suggestions above.
As for stat allocation, now that we have respecs available, I would prioritize strength and vitality at the expense of dexterity in Normal. Blocking is certainly not necessary in the early stages, and I would recommend foregoing a shield entirely in the early going in favor of something like Bonesnap to help you level a bit quicker. Respec when you're ready to equip your endgame shield.
Section 6: Equipment
A brief introduction here. There are three things that you need to look for that are critical to the performance of this build.
+Skill Items - The most important thing to look for is anything that gives +skills. Your points are spread out quite a bit in this build, and so anything you can do to squeeze every last drop that you can out of your skills is well worth it. I was only able to solo hell on players 8 in the second iteration of this build because I had +7 to the summoning tree and +10 to the shapeshifting tree.
Max Your Resistances and Blocking - The second thing of almost equal importance is getting your resistances and Blocking as close to max as you can. There's a ton of gear combinations that will allow you to have resist all 75% in hell, but I just wanted to stress that here. I recommend you get a healthy dose of resistances out of your body armor and helm, and you'll see that reflected in the specific gear sections below. If you cannot max all of them, at least shoot for the max in lightning and fire, and do what you can for cold and poison.
Crushing Blow - As you will see further down in this section, none of the weapons are uber (remember, this is a budget build). You won't be seeing any eBotD berserker axes or other such items. To supplement our rather low damage output, you're going to need at least one, and preferably two sources of Crushing Blow. You'll be using Fury a lot, so it's not necessary to go overboard with CB, but more is better. I had 35% on the second interation of my character, and I found that satisfactory.
Other very useful mods you're going to want are life leech, and at least one source of mana leech, and cannot be frozen.
I've broken down the gear into three subsections: Top Choice(s), Adequate Substitutes, and Good N' Cheap. So something for everyone. The top choices are generally not high end runewords. If you have access to them, feel free to use them, but I generally don't like to include equipment I do not personally use as a recommendation, and I don't have any high end runewords.
Let me stress once again - you don't need ANY of the top choices to be able to solo hell. My first character who soloed hell (on Battlenet, but always played solo, so the equivalent of players 1 setting) had his equipment almost exclusively from the Good N' Cheap choices.
A. Weapons
As I stated earlier, I highly recommend using a shield, and therefore, all of the selections are weapons that only take one hand to use.
Top Chioce:
Upped Fleshrender - Bonus points because the standard version has a level requirement of just 38, so it's a leveling weapon, and then it eventually becomes your end-game weapon. It requires 133 strength upped, so that's still well within our strength range.
Adequate Substitutes:
In all cases, this group will be items that offer nearly the same performance as the top choice, and all could be considered end game viable - that will be true for all the equipment sections. Really, you can't go wrong with any of these choices. Also, I'd highly advise socketing your endgame weapon with a Shael rune (unlees you're using a runeword of course).
Heart of the Oak Runeword (Ko-Vex-Pul-Thul) - It has to be done in a mace or staff weapon, and since we need 4 sockets and a one handed weapon, a scourge is really you're only choice here. It certainly isn't a cheap option, and needing a Vex places it out of the price range of a lot of people - including me. I did NOT use this weapon, because I didn't have the runes for it. But with +3 skills, FCR, a ton of resistance, and mana leech (among other things) I sincerely feel that this would be a very solid choice if you can afford the runes.
Nord's Tenderizer and Baranar's Star - I'm lumping these two together because they both offer good base damage and elemental damage which will make dealing with physical immunes all that much easier. You could even take on a dual physical and fire immune with these weapons. Baranar's Star does have a rather high strength requirement of 153, so it's a bit on the high end of our strength limits.
Stormlash - Great weapon, extremely fast, but really hard to acquire, and you can't equip it until level 82. It's not a bad weapon at all to graduate into during hell difficulty, but I cannot make it a top choice simply because it takes so long to use it.
Upped Dark Clan Crusher - a poor man's Fleshrender
Good N' Cheap:
King's Grace Runeword (Amn-Ral-Thul) - works in swords. Big bonuses to attack rating and damage, especially against demons and undead, which makes up 2/3 of the monsters in the game. I used this weapon for a while with my first druid...
Honor Runeword (Amn-El-Ith-Tir-Sol) - until I found a five socket weapon to make this one. This one has a little bit of everything - bonus damage and attack rating, life leech, +10 strength, mana per kill, deadly strike, and even +1 to all skills. The base weapon is harder to acquire than the runes.
Aldur's Rythm - is included only for completeness. It is far and away the poorest of the options I listed here, and the only reason I'd consider using it would be if I had the complete set, as the bonuses offered by the completed Aldur's Set are quite impressive.
B. Armor
Top Choice:
Chains of Honor (Dol-Um-Ber-Ist) - I'm deviating from my cheap gear promise on this one, but this armor has everything. Arguably the best armor in the game for any melee class, and especially good for a build that could use +skills. And given the runes you need to make it, it should be awesome. If you can afford it, go for it. It's worth the cost of the Ber.
Adequate Substitutes:
Duriel's Shell - Solid defense, life, and resistances. Very good balance.
Goldskin - For those in need of additional resistances, you can get +35% resist all in one place. (If you socket it with an Um, or preferably a +15% resist all jewel with a good second affix, you're up to +50% resist all.) It's cheap to up this armor, which brings the defense quite high, and it still only requires 140 strength to equip.
Rain Runeword (Ort-Mal-Ith) - Only the Mal is even somewhat uncommon, and it does give a very nice +2 to all skills along with some other bonuses. If you make this in a decent base item, you could do a lot worse.
Duress Runeword (Shael-Um-Thul) - This one is extremely under-rated as far as I'm concerned. You get 40% FHR, some resistances, and 15% CB chance, making it an excellent option if you're finding it difficult to squeeze CB out of your other equipment slots.
Aldur's Deception - the +skills makes this the only item of the set that is worth using by itself.
Que-Hegan's Wisdom - Solid choice, and +1 skills is nice, although I'd prefer everything above before I used this.
Good N' Cheap:
Skins of the Vampermagi - Even a low end one offers a decent amount of resistances and +1 skills. And the low end ones can be traded for a few pgems.
Smoke Runeword (Nef-Lum) - With 75% defense and +50% to all resistance, at the low, low price of just a Lum makes this a great armor, especially if you use a decently high defense base armor to start with.
C. Shield
We want max block, so any shield with a high block rate is going to be favored.
Top Choice:
Stormshield - an item that needs no futher explanation. If you have it, use it. This was the shield I used for the second build. At 156 strength, it will likely be your highest strength requirement. Socket it for extra resistance, or if you're covered there, throw an Eld in it to save some points in dexterity.
Adequate Substitutes:
Spirit Runeword (Tal-Thul-Ort-Amn) - Again the base item is harder to acquire than the runes. You'll need 156 strength for this one too, as the lightest 4-socket shield is the Monarch. The +2 skills are nice, but one very big drawback of this choice is you'll need an obscene amount of dexterity to reach max block. Prohibitively so, in fact. With a high strength requirement, and gobs into dexterity (seriously - do the calculations - at high levels you're looking at upwards of 300), your vitality will take a big hit. So if you don't care about maxing block (and I strongly advise that you should care), this would be the top choice. However, if you like to max block, I would rather have...
Sanctuary Runeword (Ko-Ko-Mal) - Huge block rate and huge resistances. If you don't have a Stormshield, this would be my second choice.
Whitsan's Guard and Gerke's Sanctuary - both fairly easy to acquire and have great block rates, although you'll need to add a pdiamond for resistances. (Or an Um if you must - to me, Ums are rare enough to be runeword only. I cannot justify socketing them into a shield for 3% more resist all than a pdiamond.)
Good N' Cheap:
Rhyme Runeword (Shael-Eth) - everyone should be able to afford this. I'd make it in a tower shield (or pavise if you already have the strength requirement satisfied) for the best base block rate, but you'll get the bonus 20% chance to block, +25% resistances, and even some magic find. Can't go wrong!
Sigon's Guard - Huge base chance of blocking, and even +1 to all skills.
D. Headgear
Obviously, you are going to want to use a druid pelt here.
Top Choice:
Jalal's Mane - Huge +skills, resistances, life, mana, and a ton of other good stuff. Definitely socket worthy.
Adequate Substitutes:
Rare +2 to druid skills pelt - (or circlet, although the pelt is probably a bit easier to acquire, as if you get lucky Anya can even hook you up) - with other good attributes, like leech, resistances, damage reduction, magic find.
Harlequin Crest - The old standby. +2 skills, bonus life, mana, 10% DR and even magic find. No resistances though, so if you're lacking in that department, you may need to socket it with a resistance jewel with some other decent second mod.
Cerebus' Bite - Not as good as Jalal's but no slouch either.
Spirit Keeper - I had this on my first druid - it's better than you think!
Good N' Cheap:
Rare +1 druid skills pelt - (or circlet) with other good attributes. You can sometimes get one of these as a reward after rescuing Anya in Normal!
Aldur's Watchtower - again only if you're using other item(s) of the set.
E. Boots
Top Choice:
Gore Riders - You need some Crushing Blow with this character, and this is a great place to get some. And with this choice you get Open Wounds and Deadly Strike to boot, even better!
(This is one of the item slots where I feel the top choice is significantly better than the alternatives.)
(Not-so) Adequate Substitutes:
Golbin Toe - crushing blow, but not much else. This also qualifies as Good N' Cheap
Good N' Cheap:
Tearhaunch - more resistances never hurt.
Aldur's Advance - again, only if you're using other item(s) of the set.
F. Belt
Top Choice:
Arachnid Mesh - ton of good mods, especially +1 skills - need I say more?
(This is other item slot where I feel the top choice is significantly better than the alternatives. Still, Arachnid Meshes don't exactly grow on trees, so if you don't have one...)
Adequate Substitutes:
String of Ears - Damage reduction and some life leech are always useful, although with a lot of the other gear choices, you probably already have a fair amount of life leech. I used String with both my druids, and it served me very well.
Nosterafu's Coil - about as hard to find as Arachnid Mesh, although not nearly as useful. Life leech, slows target, a bit of IAS, and the +15 strength should indirectly mean +15 more to vitality. So certainly not a bad option.
Good N' Cheap:
Nightsmoke - for the resistances. Up it if you want more belt slots.
Goldwrap - for some IAS and obviously, magic find, also can be upped if you cannot live without 16 belt slots.
G. Gloves
Top Choice:
Lavagout - I found that the Enchant procs quite frequently, and usually procs again before the timer expires, so it ups your attack rating and damage, which is great for this build. Not that hard to get your hands on either... get it? I'm here all week folks!
Adequate Substitute:
Dracul's Grasp - I used Lavagout for most of the game with both characters, but this would definitely be a solid choice.
Good N' Cheap: Chance Guards if you want some mf.
H. Rings
Top Choices:
Raven Frost and Bul-Kathos - ideally one of each
Adequate Substitues:
Stone of Jordan, Dwarf Star, Whisp Projector - although I highly recommend at least one RF.
Good N' Cheap:
Nagelring, Manald Heal
Rare with resistances, +AR - pretty much mandatory if you don't have a RF.
I. Amulets
Top Choice:
Mara's Kaleidoscope - +2 skills, huge resistnaces, very tough to find. Therefore, consider these...
Adequate Substitutes:
Seraph's Hymn - the bonus to paladin skills doesn't do you any good, but the +2 skills and bonus attack rating and damage to demons and undead does.
+2 Skills Rare (or crafted) Amulet with other good mods
Metalgrid - would work but I like everything above this better
Good N' Cheap:
Eye of Etlich - doesn't get much cheaper than that, and +1 skills along with some cold damage always helps.
+1 Skills Rare (or Crafted) Amulet with other good mods - you can gamble one of these while you're still in normal.
Section 7: Mercenary
I went with a might merc, and I had him equipped with a 3xAmn Hone Sudan, Shaftstop, and a chromatic tiara of life everlasting. Based on the equipment selection, you probably realized that I was going for crushing blow, resistances, life leech and damage reduction - all things that help keep your merc alive, and helping you. An argument can be made for a holy freeze or a defiance merc, that would also provide some benefit to you. Just like with you, CB is an important mod to look for on your merc's equipment.
Section 8: Gameplay and Realistic Expectations
So what are we looking at damage wise here? I ended up with a Fury damage range of 2099-4107, with a 71% chance to hit Hell Baal. Those numbers are the second iteration of this build, with an upped Fleshrender and are prior to casting HoW, without Enchant procing on my Lavagouts, as I don't know if you'll use that skill/item. Average Fire Claw damage in Bear from was just shy of 6K. (Sorry, I don't have the screen shots, so you'll have take my word for it - or you won't if you think I'm a lying bastard. The only reason I have the numbers is because I discussed this with a friend a while back and saved an e-mail. Sadly, I cannot provide any figures regarding the first character, as he is on a bnet account that has long-since expired.)
But going with just those base numbers, my terrible math skills yield that you will land at least one crusing blow per five swing fury cycle approximately 66% of the time against Hell Baal, assuming a 35% chance of landing a crushing blow. Those numbers are obviously better if you factor in HoW and Enchant procing on the gloves. From my memory, I was able to take out Hell Baal in players 8 with Lavagouts, HoW active, and my merc helping in about two minutes - not super fast but not bad either.
As for gameplay, Fury is going to be your attack of choice, provided that you aren't up against something that is physical immune and/or mana burn and/or generally nasty to deal with (like an extra fast pack of frenzytaurs or stygian dolls). For most creatures, the "use Fury until everything is dead" tactic works very well - even in hell difficulty.
However, when you do run into one of the aforementioned groups, the first thing you do is order an all-out retreat. At that point, you shift into bear mode, go Fire Claws on left click, Shockwave on right click. Hopefully, you have some access to some +skill items like I did, so your one point investment in Shockwave actually is cast at level 11. Keep them stunned while you whack away using Fire Claws. In big packs, one stunning is obviously insufficient to take out the entire pack, so refresh your Shockwave at regular intervals (preferably before it runs out.)
Now, I know what you're thinking... "What happens when you run into something that's immune to both fire and physical damage Mr. Smartypants? You don't have anything to deal with it." And in this instance, you'd be correct. I have no magical solution as to tactics when you only have two major damage types, and you run into something that is immune to both of them. Fortunately, dual physical and fire immunes are not particularly common, so you don't have to worry a great deal about this. However, you do have two options available. Option 1 is you still retreat and transform into a werebear, and you still get shockwave ready. Here the idea is to stun them and run like hell. It's only going to be boss packs that spawn dual fire/physical immune, so even if you stun and run past them right into another pack, chances are those aren't going to be another undefeatable dual immune pack. Option 2 is more straightforward - cast Powerword: Save and Exit.
For Act Bosses, even though you'll have a better FC damage than Fury damage, I found Fury to be much more effective, as you're base damage isn't great, so you're going to want to rely on your Fury attack to maximize the frequency of landing a crushing blow. I'd also highly recommend getting up a grizzly against act bosses, and recasting HoW (if you opted for the skill) whenever necessary. Act bosses were not a major problem. This build could not take them out quickly, but with a high leech rate on both my main character and my merc, there was little chance of dying - i.e., I was leeching back life faster than I was receiving damage.|||i like your guide. i think you could do with some highlighting and some bigger text for the section heads, maybe bold around gear selections, just to make it a bit easier to read. i also would like to see some screen shots or final damage outputs (in text if screenies are impossible) for your 'meh' build and your fully decked out one. i'm really curious on your fury AR and damage.
it seems like most of your gear is centered around +skills and you would rely entirely on weapon for fury damage (which is where most of any fury wolf's damage comes from) but you've picked some sub standard weapons to use for sheer damage. where does the AR come from? what kind of chance to hit, say hell baal, do you have (i know you said bear side for single targets, just curious and he's a good base to compare AR)? are you in wolf form more or bear? do you go around in one, then quickly switch to the other as situations warrant or just go with whatever shape you were in last?
i want to repeat that i like your guide and think the build is interesting. i'm not trying to nit pick you or anything.|||@cdm - constructive criticism is always appreciated. I made the guide a little easier to read, added a couple of extra sections, and expanded the gear choices a bit (I cannot believe I forgot to add Durress in the Adequate Substitute Armor, as that's what I used for a good chunk of time). The answers to your specific questions are in Section 8.
Thanks again - I've never written a guide before, and I'm certainly open to advice from any and all regarding means of improving it.|||I like your build. Seems both solid and fun. Fleshrender is old school and I like that too - Shael it and use Highlord Ammy probably.
I'm on NL now so upping a FR or getting one would be hard but I do have a 296ed Stormlash Shael'd. COH is needed for the resists. Good choice on Lava Gauts (AR), Jalal, COH, Gores, Raven, BK,SS and Arac - good skill build up. With my wep - would change skill set as follows. The reasoning is: I would use fireclaws more if it had more punch/damage and I like the AR. But a lot of that is personal preference and having fun.
This build could definitely kill hell baal. I also like the + 9 to SS and 7 to all with equip. You would get more with Flesh with your setup.
I think it's a good job for a guide and a good idea for shapeshifting that works for you. I have the same build for a wolf with my Stormlash. Yep it's spendy and hard to get a good one - but I use mine well. The static, lite dmg, and CB rocks with FC. A. Shapeshifting tree
Werewolf - 4
Lycanthropy - 12
Werebear - 1
Feral Rage - 1
Maul - 1
Rabies - 1
Fire Claws - 20
Shockwave - 1
Fury - 0
Subtotal: 42 approx
B. Summoning Tree
Raven - 1
Oak Sage - 1
Spirit Wolf - 1
Heart of Wolverine - 0
Dire Wolf - 1
Grizzly 8
Subtotal: 12
C. Elemental Tree
Firestorm - 7
Molten Bolder - 7
Fissure - 7
Volcano - 20
Subtotal: 41
Grand Total: 95|||I always go old school - usually out of necessity as I've never had any luck scoring high end runes, so a good percentage of the high end 1.10 runewords (ladder and non) are out of reach.
A shaeled Stormlash is an excellent choice for a weapon - as I said in the guide, if it was usable prior to level 82, it would probably be a top choice. Upping the fire damage is certainly a viable option. There are 20 unspent points in my skill setup, so you could theoretically max a second synergy and still do everything I listed. Out of curiosity, why 7 each in FS, MB, Fissure and 20 in Volcano? That seems very specific to be just a rough estimate of how many you'd like.
One thing that I didn't include in the guide is that character is an excellent Pit runner. There are no standard monsters that spawn physical immune, and while there is a small chance of a random unique spawning phys/fire immune I've rarely encountered one.
You do need the +skill to make the build shine though. In the first iteration of this character, he was able to solo hell, but there were definitely parts where the going was slow, and grew rather tedious. So it's possible with low-end gear, but it's not nearly as fun.
Windy Druid noob ISO help!
Starting my first Druid of the new season, but I've had no luck finding
up to date guides or strategy for Windy Druids.
So I'm turning to you guys for help, I need some advice from those with
hands-on experience
What skills/synergies should I max?
What items are the best for WD's?
Any other advice is appreciated.
Thanks !|||i'm pretty sure the windy guide here is quite all right despite its age. or this one for more pvm-oriented..
it's kinda cookie cutter, so you can't really go wrong with it..|||You don't need an updated guide on the Wind Druid, they've practically remained the same since 1.10.
Core Skills:
20 Tornado
20 Hurricane
20 Cyclone Armor
20 Twister
Remaining Points:
Oak Sage
Summon Grizzly
One-Point Wonders:
Raven
Summon Spirit Wolf
Goals: 68/99 FCR, 63/99 FHR (ideally 99/99)
Helm: Rare Pelt (+2 Dudu/+3 Tornado), Rare Circlet (+2 Dudu/20 FCR)
Armor: 'Enigma'
Weapon: 'Heart of the Oak', Wizardspike
Shield: 'Spirit' Monarch, Stormshield
Switch: 'Call to Arms', 'Spirit' Monarch
Gloves: Magefist, Trang-Oul's Claws
Boots: Trip-Res Rares, Waterwalk, (Eth.) SST, Aldur's Advance, Silkweave
Belt: Arachnid's Mesh
Amulet: +2 Dudu/FCR Rare or Crafted, Mara's Kaleidoscope
Rings: SoJ, BKWB, Rare Ring (Res/Stats/10 FCR)
Charms: Annihilus, Torch, Natural of Vita, Natural of Balance, Res/Life/Mana/FHR SCs
Mercenary: Holy Freeze with The Reaper's Toll
Pre-1.13 levelling was anal (if you didn't have someone rush you) because your main spells (Tornado/Hurricane) are teh suxx0r until synergies get pumped. With the re-spec potion, you can now go Fire Shaman or Werewolf or Werebear until Nightmare and then re-spec.
And to aim Tornados: never click on the target itself, click beside it, behind it, and re-position your character if it doesn't hit.|||Well as omgwtfbbqpwned said about the helmet it will be hard to get that even when ladder just came about 2 months ago. Jalal's ral will work out well for a starter build. I could go on with more gear but I might post that tomorrow or something like that.
up to date guides or strategy for Windy Druids.
So I'm turning to you guys for help, I need some advice from those with
hands-on experience
What skills/synergies should I max?
What items are the best for WD's?
Any other advice is appreciated.
Thanks !|||i'm pretty sure the windy guide here is quite all right despite its age. or this one for more pvm-oriented..
it's kinda cookie cutter, so you can't really go wrong with it..|||You don't need an updated guide on the Wind Druid, they've practically remained the same since 1.10.
Core Skills:
20 Tornado
20 Hurricane
20 Cyclone Armor
20 Twister
Remaining Points:
Oak Sage
Summon Grizzly
One-Point Wonders:
Raven
Summon Spirit Wolf
Goals: 68/99 FCR, 63/99 FHR (ideally 99/99)
Helm: Rare Pelt (+2 Dudu/+3 Tornado), Rare Circlet (+2 Dudu/20 FCR)
Armor: 'Enigma'
Weapon: 'Heart of the Oak', Wizardspike
Shield: 'Spirit' Monarch, Stormshield
Switch: 'Call to Arms', 'Spirit' Monarch
Gloves: Magefist, Trang-Oul's Claws
Boots: Trip-Res Rares, Waterwalk, (Eth.) SST, Aldur's Advance, Silkweave
Belt: Arachnid's Mesh
Amulet: +2 Dudu/FCR Rare or Crafted, Mara's Kaleidoscope
Rings: SoJ, BKWB, Rare Ring (Res/Stats/10 FCR)
Charms: Annihilus, Torch, Natural of Vita, Natural of Balance, Res/Life/Mana/FHR SCs
Mercenary: Holy Freeze with The Reaper's Toll
Pre-1.13 levelling was anal (if you didn't have someone rush you) because your main spells (Tornado/Hurricane) are teh suxx0r until synergies get pumped. With the re-spec potion, you can now go Fire Shaman or Werewolf or Werebear until Nightmare and then re-spec.
And to aim Tornados: never click on the target itself, click beside it, behind it, and re-position your character if it doesn't hit.|||Well as omgwtfbbqpwned said about the helmet it will be hard to get that even when ladder just came about 2 months ago. Jalal's ral will work out well for a starter build. I could go on with more gear but I might post that tomorrow or something like that.
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