Starting Over, Untwinked: What would be the most Survivable?

[:1]So, its been 4 years since I last graced these forums with my presence, and I got the itch to dive back into BNet and play some D2. I miss the fun of rampaging and destroying enemies.

And, like all things, I am going to be starting over from scratch. Pure, and untwinked.

The druid is my favorite class in D2, so it is safe to assume I am going to go that route! I want to do a shapechanger but with all the changes recently I have no idea what the devil to do.

I want something tough, survivable, and able to dish out plenty of damage without needing to be twinked up at the start. Obviously this leads me to either a Werewolf, or a Werebear.

I am going under the assumption that MOST of the time I will be flying solo (I play on Ladder/BNet for the events and whatnot)

So what kinda build should I be looking at? Fury Wolf? Fireclaw Bear? Some sort of mad combo that has never been heard of?!

In this post 1.13 world of respecs, what should I be lookin into?!|||I prefer fury. Bear is too slow and I like multitarget attack like zear or fury.

Best weapon which you can get at start is Khalim Will or Horadric staff, which you can het free.

Mid lvl weapon, good for NM and even hell is "Black" RW in knout.|||Quote:








I prefer fury. Bear is too slow and I like multitarget attack like zear or fury.

Best weapon which you can get at start is Khalim Will or Horadric staff, which you can het free.

Mid lvl weapon, good for NM and even hell is "Black" RW in knout.




Arent both those weapons needed to complete the quests in those acts?

Not the Black RW (not idea what that is honestly)

But the Will and the Staff....unless I can get 2 copies of them somehow?|||Black rune word second from top:

http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp...original.shtml

Items are needed to complete quests, but you can get is free on BNet. They have no str dex req and are great when you start game. They disapear or you cannot pick up them when finish quest.

Moreover most eople forget about very useful cube recipes:

Diamond (any quality) + 1 Staff (any type and quality) + 1 Kris (any quality) + 1 Belt (any type and quality) = Savage Polearm Class Weapon

ivl = 50. The polearm will always have the Savage prefix (66-80% Enhanced Damage) and has a chance at getting a suffix as well. The polearm will be one of the following, selected randomly: Bardiche, Battle Scythe, Bill, Halberd, Lochaber Axe, Partizan, Poleaxe, Scythe, Voulge, War Scythe (put another way, any normal polearm or any exceptional polearm other than Bec-de-Corbin and Grim Scythe).

3 Normal Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon

This adds sockets to a magic weapon. The original magic weapon properties will be removed (rerolled) when the new weapon is created. If you use this formula with a weapon that is not normally socketed such as a Javelin, this recipe will create a new magical weapon without any sockets. ilvl=30 magic weapon with 1-2 sockets.

(works either with chipped gems but ilvl=25 then magic attributes are worse)

more here:

http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/cube.shtml|||Hrmmm that Polearm one is kinda neat. I am gonna have to see about making one of those. But if the ilvl is 50 what level am I going to need to be to use the damn thing?|||Quote:








Hrmmm that Polearm one is kinda neat. I am gonna have to see about making one of those. But if the ilvl is 50 what level am I going to need to be to use the damn thing?




Less then 50. lvl req can be different. For example ring Stone of Jordan has ilvl 42 and you can use it at lvl 29.

Anyway is you roll Bardiche lvl req can be low, but if you get Lochabert axe minimum lvl req is 21. Moreover exceptional polearms have high strenght or dex requrements.

See arreat summit page.|||make a steel runeword 'tir el' and go for a fireclaw bear with shockwave. this will let u run through normal and nightmare without any hassle and depending on the items u come up with until then u can always respec. bear in mind shockwave is capped at 10 seconds, no matter what the skilltab says|||So should I farm Countess a bit to get the runes? I only have found 2 runes thus far, a Ral and a Tal, and both were from her.

Steel looks like a solid runeword. Just gotta find a 2 socket sword/axe/mace and the 2 runes.

So what would be a Fireclaw Bear build? I have never done it so I am not sure how it works. I am level 14 at the moment so if I respec and went Fireclaw where should my points be placed?|||I never used fireclaw then I think somone other can explain it better. I do not like this built, because you need 122 points to finish it. In game at lvl 99 you can get 110 points - it cannot be finished. Moreover "fallen one" monsters are fire immune in hell. I can die fighting with dangerous monsters, but not with them

Here you have short explanation fireclaw werebear.

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=714462

Fireclaw bear/wolf use fire damage instead of weapon phisical damage. Then it is not important what damage you got from runeword, but how fast is weapon. Steel has +20 weapn speed then you make fire dmg more often then with another RW which has not IAS (incresease attack speed). Fastest weapons which you can get on your lvl are flail, military pick and long sword. Another weapons are slower.

You can use fireclaws with bear or wolf. I think that you invest some points in werewolf, then I advice stay wolf, not bear - another way you waste all points invested in this skill. Well made ww can be useful character. You can even kill ubers with him. Moreover fury let you attack few targets at once or attack one monster few times. This is very usefull.

At lvl 14 you should be able to kill Andariel and go to act 2 and get horradrim cube. For first characters countess is the best rune source. Second source is tranvical - they do not drop runes always but quite often.

Do not go to nightmare before you get lvl 40.|||Yea I am working my way to Andy, I am in the Inner Cloister right now, so tonight should be the night Andy dies.

My issue here is that my Wolf doesnt have alot of HP and I am burning pots. I dont mind Respecing at all right now, since I get one per act.

Also I have done a Fury Wolf back in the day so I know they CAN be good, but I also like to play Tanks... I might have to seriously look into the bear. After I do some rune farming tonight and try to get a 2 socket sword/axe/mace so I can make Steel.