breaking fire immunity for fire claw ???

[jox]

Hello all,

I'm planing to make a fire claw were bear. I was wondering how people deal with fire immunes in hell with this build... and as you know, 1/3 of monsters are fire immune in hell. The thing about fire claw is that it litteraly zaps up every single spare skill points that you really don't have a secondary attack. Maul at level 1 with + skills still ends up realy sucky since maul has no AR bonus so I'd end up swiping at empty air. So I was thinking... what would it take to break fire imunity ? Infinity has level 12 conviction... that's -85% to all res... how about we use phoenix shield... that's -28% fire res... with fire claw, I'd have to use a 6 x shael'ed phase blade so no phoenix weapon there... anything else you guys can think of ? I know it won't break fire immunity for everything... just like lightning... but those monsters whose fire immunities - bosses etc.. can be dealt with by merc.

Here is my proposed gear

Helm - Jalal's (with fire facet ???)
armor - enigma - for frw and strength
shield - phoenix / shaeled storm shield
weapon - 6x shaeled phase blade
rings - raven frost & bulkathos
ammy - +3 ss and res ammy (or high lords ??)
belt - verdungos or arachnids
glove - magefist (or dracs ?)
boots - upped gores or aldurs

So I figured I'll use storm shield with non immunes for the block/res and with fire immunes, I'll switch over to phoenix.... Phase blade requires high dex anyways so might as well have max block... with storm shield that is.... not with phoenix.

So... if you guys have any other ideas/opinions, please share !

[JettJagwar]

ravenlore helm lowers enemy resistance to fire.

[malakho]

Personally...
I think that a phoenix instead of the 6-shael phase might be better.....if ya cant damage them what good is ultra-lightning fast speed compared to just lightning-fast speed lol

Not that im the expert in this subject, but i found that oftentimes hitting the fastest breakpoint in speed just isnt the most critical factor in all situations. I used a slower weapon on my zealot for a long time just because it gave me tons of elemental damage which helped out quite a bit in hell, an didnt notice an extreme difference when i switched to my botdz after getting one.

[Minstrelboy]

Personally...
I think that a phoenix instead of the 6-shael phase might be better.....if ya cant damage them what good is ultra-lightning fast speed compared to just lightning-fast speed lol

Not that im the expert in this subject, but i found that oftentimes hitting the fastest breakpoint in speed just isnt the most critical factor in all situations. I used a slower weapon on my zealot for a long time just because it gave me tons of elemental damage which helped out quite a bit in hell, an didnt notice an extreme difference when i switched to my botdz after getting one.

Phoenix is a piece of crap for a fire claw druid, because of firestorm cast delay always occurs and breaks your supposedly ultrafast attack. It is not the same as hellfire torch firestorm, unfortunately, which is the firestorm of diablo. But what on phoenix is, that is druid firestorm...:embarassed:

[stoutewolf]

take jalals and infinity merc+phoenix shield, this will do the job i guess. Btw dont go for highlords, ur dmg aint physical so there are much better amulets like 3 ss/res or life, craft amulet with frw, maras:smiley:

[jox]

take jalals and infinity merc+phoenix shield, this will do the job i guess. Btw dont go for highlords, ur dmg aint physical so there are much better amulets like 3 ss/res or life, craft amulet with frw, maras:smiley:

Thanks for the reply guys... just a point to make though...

Malakho...
I thought once firestorm from pheonix casts, the delay is for casting... but you're saying that it'll have a casting delay on attacks as well ? Is this true ? Can I have this verified please ?

Stoutewolf...
I'm using Jalals for the +skills, res and fhr. But from your comment.... it seems you were infering that it has lower fire res mod... do you mean jalals or raven lore ? Ravenlore has nothing for a ss druid so the only use I'd have for it is the -10% to 20% enemy fire res... which is a waste in my opinion.

and what is a griz caddy ??? I'm sorry if I sound like a noob....

Surely there must be a way to break hell's fire immunity. Before I beat myself up more over this subject, does anyone know if in hell, if a monster is fire immune, that it has 100% fire res ? or is it more ? I'm talking about normal monsters here and not boss/champion monsters. If it is indeed just 100% fire res... then infinity and pheonix should do the job right ??? 85 + 28 is - 113% fire res.... which is what stoutewolf pretty much says....

[stoutewolf]

Thanks for the reply guys... just a point to make though...

Malakho...
I thought once firestorm from pheonix casts, the delay is for casting... but you're saying that it'll have a casting delay on attacks as well ? Is this true ? Can I have this verified please ?

Stoutewolf...
I'm using Jalals for the +skills, res and fhr. But from your comment.... it seems you were infering that it has lower fire res mod... do you mean jalals or raven lore ? Ravenlore has nothing for a ss druid so the only use I'd have for it is the -10% to 20% enemy fire res... which is a waste in my opinion.

and what is a griz caddy ??? I'm sorry if I sound like a noob....

Surely there must be a way to break hell's fire immunity. Before I beat myself up more over this subject, does anyone know if in hell, if a monster is fire immune, that it has 100% fire res ? or is it more ? I'm talking about normal monsters here and not boss/champion monsters. If it is indeed just 100% fire res... then infinity and pheonix should do the job right ??? 85 + 28 is - 113% fire res.... which is what stoutewolf pretty much says....

no jalals doesnt have -fire res, bu i advice it cause it is the best helm for a fire claws druid. gris caddy stands for griswolds cacedeus (the scepter from the griswolds set). Firestorm from the torch doesnt have a casting delay. Dunno the fire res from norml monsters in hell although infinity alone breaks alot of fire immunes for my fire sorceress so the combo phoenix+infinity is definetly enough

[Minstrelboy]

Phoenix firestorm does cast delay on every melee attack, except whirlwind. I tested it.

[jox]

Phoenix firestorm does cast delay on every melee attack, except whirlwind. I tested it.

man!!!! if fire storm from phoenix has a casting delay on all melee attack then that absolutely blows ! So much for that idea.... any other way you guys can think of to break hell fire immunity ? please don't make me go post in the sorc forum !!!!!!

[Lord Nyax]

A basic point that seems to be eluding most of you is that breaking an Immunity can only be done via Conviction or Lower Resist (the curse). Simple -% enemy resist items will not work until the Immunity has been broken. The Arreat Summit has a wonderful section about this, which I am hoping someone will link.

As an example, say you are fighting an enemy with 115% Fire Resistance. This makes them immune to Fire. Utilizing Infinity, with it's -85% resist Conviction, it will break the immunity (-% resist from Conviction and Lower Resist works at 1/5 capability when breaking Immunities). It will take 15 * 5 of the 85% that the Conviction produces to break the immunity. The remaining -% will function as expected. Since the immunity is now broken, Facets, Ravenlore, and Phoenix (and all other such things with plain -% res) will begin to function, quickly lowering the monsters Resistance low enough to all it to be hurt by fire effectively.

To summarize for your purposes:
2 ways to break an immunity: Inifinity, or a weapon with Lower Resist charges.

[inkanddagger]

use a griz caddy and highlords and your damage will be enough physical to take out any immunes.

[Valvolux]

'Phoenix' is rubbish with Fire Claws don't use it. If 'Infinity' is out of your price range (which is your best option vs. fire immunes IMO), level 1 Maul with some crushing blow + merc does well.

Stick with Jalal's over Ravenlore, you'll 1 hit kill anything that is not fire immune anyways so -% fire resist isn't really needed.

[jox]

'Phoenix' is rubbish with Fire Claws don't use it. If 'Infinity' is out of your price range (which is your best option vs. fire immunes IMO), level 1 Maul with some crushing blow + merc does well.

Stick with Jalal's over Ravenlore, you'll 1 hit kill anything that is not fire immune anyways so -% fire resist isn't really needed.


OK... so phoenix is bad, infinity is good... I'll work on getting an infinity.


while we're at it, can you shape shift expert critique my plan for my fire claw bear ? I want to take this bear to hell, enjoy playing him in hell and once I beat the game, maybe take him for a couple of fun rounds of dueling... So here is my gear plans

Helms- Jalal's
Armor- Enigma
Belt- Verdungos
Gloves- Magefist/Bloodfist
Ammy- +3ss and res
Rings- Ravefrost and Bulkathos
Shield- Storm shield socketed with shael
Weapon- here is where I need your advice... should I go for 6 shael'ed phase blade or Griz caddy (new term I just learned !!!!:cool: ) Should I build crushing bow into my build ? This is just for pvm right now... but after, I'll need to change gears for pvp.... and when that time comes, what gear changes will I need ? I've read that I need to reach the fhr breakpoint that's after 86... for smiters... what is that break point and how can I reach it ? Even with blood fist, verdungos, shaeled Jalal's and shadow dancer, thats only 120. Do I make up in charms ? that's A LOT of charms !!! My build is based on the strength boost of enigma... so I don't want to use bramble. Any advice ?

one more thing... stat wise, I plan to put enough points into strength for dusk shroud enigma, max dex, and rest into vit. I noticed that when I made my windy, with max block and low strength, my health point is still very low... he's level 76 and without oak sage, his life point is only 650... that's because he has to put in around ~186 to dex for max block. Is this normal for everyone else ??? please let me know. Thanks !

sorry... I forgot to add about resist... even for pvm my res doesn't look great from my gear selection... can you guys give me some advice on that too ? Please don't say maras...Maras & Infinity..........THAT'S EXPENSIVE !!!!

[Minstrelboy]

152 fhr without armor fhr? Tough call. first of all, with fc, you won't have much use of gore riders, that is 30fhr and bonus dex for your ar and max block. With shaeled jalals, verdungos and bloodfist you should have 120 fhr by now. So you will need 2 fhr gc and at least 2 fhr sc to reach the next breakpoint. In melee combat, presuming you are not facing another fc, you will need not much elemental resists, but poison. (atma scarab vs werewolf) also you can get a 2sk arky2 (30fhr, lot of life) and you can spare fhr charms/can switch your bloodfist to venom grip to boost your posion resist. Anyway, deadly strike won't hel pyou much from highlords, if you don't have deal with a pala or barb, where you will need angelics, just get on cat eye instead. As for elemental resists, i fear you will be absorb gear dependant (raven frosts, dwarf stars) due to poor resist in enigma.

4 frame attack speed breakpoint is 110 weapon ias for phase blade vs melee (2 weapon range) and war scythe vs casters (5 weapon range). But you will need a 6s 120 ias berserker axe (3 weapon range to deal with ww barbs, because they shall outrange you. Or you can play all or nothing, get a shaftsop, and try to whack them with 6 shael war scythe/grim scythe/giant tresher without block.

[Wildman]

Food for thought I use a zoded Etheral windhammer on my Firebear for PvM