Melee Druid recommendations

[Matthew Maxwell]

Hey there. Working on a melee druid right now. He's up
to 22 with a whole bunch of skill points unassigned. He's
been focusing on werebear, though he hasn't invested more
than one point in anything other than Oak Sage and Lycanthropy.

Any recommendations from other were-druids out there? Skills
that look great on paper, but actually suck and vice
versa? Is it worth investing in any of the summoning tree
at all?

I love the fact that one or two hits with Maul is usually
enough to lay waste to anything but bosses/champs, but
i hate the fact that when you miss, you have a rather nasty
wait for the next attack to start up, so i've figured
that IAS stuff should be at a premium.

What do weres do for crowd control? So far, all i've been
able to do is stand there and soak up damage and swat 'em
one at a time while my rogue picks off the stragglers? Does
shockwave fill that function?

So many questions, so little time...

-Matt, who really wishes that they could cast spells while
in were-form. What genius thought of that?

--
mmax...@san.rr.com.nospam
"Sea monkeys are NOT PRIMATES!" -- Max, of Sam and Max

remove 'nospam' to reply

[exek]

for crowd control,that shock wave skill or whatever is decent enough.

as to attack rating, heart of wolverine would probably have been a better
choice for a bear, who typical has a lot of life anyway

summons are good, just dont put more than one point in any of them except
dire wolf, which you put 5. this gives them enough life to tank for you
should then need arise.

you might want to put 1 or 3 points in the life steal vine, it can heal ALOT
of life.
"Matthew Maxwell" <mmax...@san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mmaxwell-081...@dt020nb3.san.rr.com...

[Jimmy F.]

I have a werebear and a werewolf at level 70 and I strongly suggest you use werewolf
instead of bear if you are planning on taking this character past normal diff level.
A werebear is very slow and usually has lots of problems hitting due to low AR.
Werewolf is very fast, has fury for crowd control and can charge up feral rage for an
additional AR bonus as well as lots of other things.

Shock wave slows down crowds, but you will never kill anything with it in a
multiplayer hell game. Even maxed the damage is way too low.

You are going to have problems with physical immunes in hell. The best skill for
them is Fire Claws, but I would also keep a backup weapon with lots of elemental
damage.

"Matthew Maxwell" <mmax...@san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mmaxwell-081...@dt020nb3.san.rr.com...

[Fred Garvin]

> Any recommendations from other were-druids out there?

For werebear:
20 heart of wolverine
20 maul
20 werebear
20 lycanthropy (max this last)
1 in carrion vine
1 grizzly
at 78 put remaining points into dire wolf to help keep bear alive
Act2 merc with blessed aim aura
As much IAS as possible

For werewolf:
20 oak sage
20 fury
20 werewolf
20 lycanthropy (max this last)
1 in carrion vine
1 grizzly
at 78 put remaining points into dire wolf to help keep bear alive
Act2 merc with might or defiance aura, depending on what you need
Lots of IAS

Tips for both werebear & werewolf:
On your alternate weapon tab keep a 6 socketed weapon full of perfect
emeralds, along with lots of 100 poison small charms in your inventory.
This will get you by the physically immunes.
Try and get strength to 190, and dex to 110. This will allow you to be able
to use all good 2 handed weapons (except thundermaul). So far the best
weapon I've used is a cruel balrog blade with 3 Shaels in it....highly
recommended. I've even tried IK's maul with a Shael, it's not quite as
good. It's a simple matter of how much average damage per second you can
deliver.
Get yourself the highest defense 2 socket armor you can find and make Smoke
rune word. With these two, relatively easy to find runes, you can have 800+
armor with +50 to all resists....not too shabby.

[Nick Zitzmann]

In article <mmaxwell-081...@dt020nb3.san.rr.com>,
mmax...@san.rr.com (Matthew Maxwell) wrote:

> Hey there. Working on a melee druid right now. He's up
> to 22 with a whole bunch of skill points unassigned. He's
> been focusing on werebear, though he hasn't invested more
> than one point in anything other than Oak Sage and Lycanthropy.
>
> Any recommendations from other were-druids out there?

I wrote a long guide on werebear druids. I'm still waiting for the
Diabloii.net Strategy people to post it.

In a nutshell:

1. Put 1 point into Werewolf and Feral Rage, no more than that.

2. If you're playing hardcore, then max Oak Sage and Lycanthropy first.
If not, then max Maul first, and put some points into Heart of
Wolverine. Oak Sage is better if you play hardcore, Heart of Wolverine
is better if you don't.

3. Fire Claws damage stacks on top of Maul damage. Once you have powered
up Maul, switch to Fire Claws for a damage bonus.

4. Spirit of Barbs looks great on paper, but it sucks currently. Also,
you won't need Solar Creeper unless you're playing in an area full of
unleechable monsters or physical immunes. I never learned either skill.

5. I actually like the wolves and bears. Some people don't. I think the
summoned grizzly bear's actually useful, and even a good source of
entertainment. (Try bear vs. bear duels...)

6. Very important! Werebear druids are slow, but there's something you
can do about it. The most important mods are faster hit recovery, faster
blocking, faster run/walk, and increased attack speed.

7. Druids can swing mauls (two handed mace class weapons) faster than
all other characters. Bonesnap is a good druid weapon, the Immortal
King's Stone Crusher is better, and the Cranium Basher is best.

8. Arkaine's Valor and Aldur's Deception are the best armors. The best
rings are Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band and Raven Frost. Best boots are
Aldur's Advance and Gore Rider. Best helmets are Jalal's Mane and
Harlequin Crest. Best non-magical amulets are the Cat's Eye and Mara's
Kaliedoscope (surprise).

9. About physical immune MSLEBs: Don't even think about it, even with
your resists maxed. These things _will_ kill you easily.

> What do weres do for crowd control? So far, all i've been
> able to do is stand there and soak up damage and swat 'em
> one at a time while my rogue picks off the stragglers? Does
> shockwave fill that function?

Shock Wave is a good, but not great, crowd control skill for werebear
druids. But there's really nothing better. (No character can control
crowds better than an amazon with a Windforce, Razortail, and maxed
Multiple Shots.) Accept that some characters are going to kill faster
than werebear druids in Hell difficulty. My general strategy is to tank
for sorcs so the sorc can kill moving targets more easily.

Nick Zitzmann
ICQ: 22305512

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