Maul/Fireclaws Bear vs Fury/Fireclaws Wolf?

I'm trying to build up a decent druid, as I've never managed to play one at high levels before. My last character was a sorceress, so I want to move toward a melee druid to switch things up a bit. I've read through several of the guides on here, and I'm having some trouble deciding between a werewolf and a werebear. I know I want to use fireclaws as an elemental skill, and a good physical skill to complement it, and I prefer to use two-handed weapons because I've got a decent stock of them including a Windhammer. However, I'm not sure whether to play a werewolf and use Fury/Fireclaws or a werebear and use Maul/Fireclaws. Any suggestions on the advantages/disadvantages of each, and good ways to build either one would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! |||With a 6 shaeled Phase Blade (what a lot Fire Claw druids use) a Bear will swing at 4fpa, a Wolf at 5pfa. So a Bear will do more fire damage per second.

As for backup attacks, Fury generally kills faster than Maul. However, Bears have the extra safety of Shockwave, which makes them nearly unkillable in PvM.

You have to point one point into both Werewolf and Werebear to get Fireclaws, anyway, so you can try out both and see which one you like more, and respec when you have finalized your build.|||Depends on what you have for weapons really. Wolf in general will kill a little faster than werebear and you have a little better weapon selection. Werebears have more life though and are better tanks in general.|||Well, you could have both a wolf and a bear.

If you like big 2-handed weapons, there is a specific guide for using Earth Shifter. I know you said you had a Windhammer, but I can vouch for the effectiveness of that guide if you have an Earth Shifter.|||Thanks for the replies so far.

Aldeth, that hybrid bear/wolf of yours looks interesting. How well do you think it would work using 2-handed weapons rather than weapon/shield?|||Unfortunately, I cannot say from personal experience. As I noted, in both of my builds, I used a shield. The one potential problem I could see is AR. I had around 200 in dexterity, and obviously, you wouldn't invest that much - quite possilby none at all, in dexterity.

Normally, adding to dexterity does not mean much in terms of AR, but when your main skills are a level 30 Fire Claws and Fury, that measly 4 points of AR per point in dexterity turns out to be a lot more than 4 once the multipliers are factored in. Having a high dexterity as opposed to base dexterity is literally worth thousands in AR.

So I'd definitely look at packing as much AR as you can from your other gear slots. The Angelic combo is a possibility, although that would force you into some pretty serious gear sacrficies that I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps dual Raven Frosts as rings? I highly recommend one as part of your gear anyway, and if you add a second, you'd be missing out on a BK as your second ring, but that's only +1 to all skills, so you still should be OK.|||I can see the point about AR - I'm already having serious trouble with it (got around it for the moment with Sigon's helm/boots and a Blessed Aim merc, but that won't last). Maybe I'll see if I can get hold of a Fleshrender and try going with a shield - already got a stormshield on another character that I could divert.|||If you already have a Stormshiled and a Fleshrender, there's no reason not to use that combo. Also, make sure you up Fleshrender to the elite version once you hit the necessary level. (I don't remember exactly what level is needed for the elite version, but I think it was around 60ish.) The other reason FR is such a good choice is it gives you an immediate source of CB.

Also, take a look at some of my other weapon options in the guide. Everything in the "Adeqaute Alternatives" are end-game viable. Everything in the "Good N' Cheap" sections are fine through Nightmare. There are definitely choices in there other than FR that will work, or can hold you over until you get a FR.|||OK, thanks for all your help here - this is looking good so far. Out of curiosity, what would you socket into the Fleshrender? Shael?|||Definitely a Shael. Also, one of the less-noticed equipment selections in the guide is Lavagout as your gloves. They proc enchant, which greatly increases your AR and fire damage.