Making my first Wolfie

[AnimageCGF]

Alright to start off, i'm semi-rich and can afford the things i'd like, finding someone with them is the hard part. I happened to find a good questing party on E/SC/L in hell, and a werewolf was tearing it up. He refered me here and said i could find great advice. I found out I already signed up here just forgot to visit often.

I have the typical Rabies/Fury druid here from Stoutewolf and Rangniheldr's guide.

My Equip:
Wep - 404% ebotd Great PoleAxe
Arm - ArchonPlate "Enigma"
Hlm - Jalal's Mane - Shael'd (Should i Upgrade?)
Belt - 39/15 Verdungo
Gloves - Bloodfist (Again, upgrade all the way?)
Boots -204 Upped Goreriders
Amulet - 1.11 Highlords (no 08s for me)
Ring1 - 248/20 Raven
Ring2 - 5% BK
weap2/shield = 6Bo CTA/Spirit

My strength is about 55, enough to get 103 at 75 so i can use enigma to further strength glitch, my only problem is jalal's then. I see people upgrading theres, but i'd like not to invest alot in strength, more than i need to.

Dexterity is another question. Since i shall duel a bit, i'd like to also have a shield for possibilities. Is it necessary? I have a 40/400 Grief PhaseBlade and a StormShield available, but if i dont need to go OneHanded, i'd like not to. Will i really need dex though for 2 handed. I see the Req for the GPA is 70, but a Eth Tombreaver is 103. I'd like to get one of those one day, but trading is difficult to find stuff i'd like. Only offer i've received was for a base ed% one, which i wouldnt want.

Also, Are the newer highlords and BK really worth it? I understand why the 08 versions are superior, but i dont see the BK really helping me, what should i use as an alternative?

Don't you guys have resist problems in hell? There's almost no resists on this build outside highlords, anni, torch, and jalal's. Wont running through hell be abit hard with ele skills tearing me up? I dont have the eth tomb yet, which would add resists.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, any helpful hints and advice are necessary, i'm really looking for this guy to tear it up and be my main character for a while. I play my builds for long amounts of time and i'd like this guy to make it.

[Maniphesto]

welcome :D

first off your gear is pretty good. You shouldn't have any problems at all just owning most everything PvM. (I won't really make any comments on PvP since I don't really do much PvP'ing)

Some things I can comment on are that I would switch out the enigma for a fortitude. Or at least get a fortitude armor you can throw on (enigma isn't really very effective for the wolfie since you can't teleport in werewolf form).

Second, switch out the bul kathos for another raven frost, OR, if you can afford it see if you can find a rare godly ring with all resist duel leech and any other stats like +str.

Bloodfist isn't really needed either, I'd rather go for something like Drac's or LoH. You could also use steelrend if your str was high enough.

Also, you dont really need highlords from what I understand being a wolf the 20% ias doesn't do anything for you? (don't quote me on this im not sure, I prefer a rare druid ammy +2 skills all resists and other stats.

I also choose to use the ebotd GPA over tomb reaver, not everyone does this but I feel its worth it and I will explain why.

#1. GPA ebotd has higher damage then tomb reaver since most people socket TR with shael shael zod for the speed.

#2. requirements for GPA are less then tomb reaver saving you some str you can put into vit.

#3. GPA gives you +30 to all attributes giving you a BIG boost to all stats, most important str and vit (allows me to use steelrend gauntlets.)

#4. GPA gives you solid leech giving you more freedom in other areas with your items.

The only thing that tomb reaver has going for it over ebotd GPA is the fact it is a little bit faster, and it has big resistance bonus. The speed isn't really needed especially in PvM you are way more then fast enough with GPA.

Im still trying to increase my resistances in hell (i do fine with mine the way they are, but for perfection purposes i want max resist)

[inkanddagger]

you will be leeching so much that resists wont matter, especially with 8k+ life. I have never had a problem.


shield/grief or botdz is your best option vs melee - conc barbs, shield fury druids, zealots, etc.

dexterity = attack rating also, which is especially nice on fury/rabies.

[AnimageCGF]

I use the bloodfists for the 86% fhr breakpoints (90% FHR). I figured that would be best since no shield/low resists. I have a pair of dracs i could use, but i'm looking for advice so i'll try out both pairs. Don't see me needing life tap except for certain duels.

Does Feral Rage allow me to leech from skellies and such? other than that cant think of a reason to use dracs outside some duels and ubers.

I have a really nice life/30res dusk fortitude i guess i can use. Does it not being an archon really effect me? I never thought Wolves were about defense, but i could make a good archon one i guess.

EDIT: I guess i'll have to refigure my str needs later. I may just invest 70 points in dex (req for the GPA) and let the gains from gear just add to my AR. But i guess max block aint too hard, if i add another Raven, that's 40 dex, anni torch another 40.

What do you guys think is a good base str/dex for me. I'd like to get an eth Tomb reaver eventually, even to just fool around with someday, so figure that in as well.

[AnimageCGF]

Started my Druid tonight. Named him Kazama_Fury on E/SC/L in honor of stout's guide and druid.

[remsy]

I can't wait to duel you.
I'm kaze_nokizu on east softcore ladder.

As a melee dueler, you need stormshield. In fact, it's not that you need stormshield, it's that you should be wondering what to socket it with.

Shael for faster blockrate, p diamond(never um) for resists, ber for dr, things like that depending on your gear at the end.

You could have other shields for other scenarios but by the time you get up there, you'll have a full enough stash as it is between the charms and the two-hander. So you need to get it right immediately.

55 str is good enough. Use enigma, it's a damn good wolf armor as it helps out with life, massive str and damage reduction. I don't see why you had to use an archon though. I used a wyrmhide, I wanted a dusk but this was faster to get. I only put 15 into str so 30 total and I just used jalals, anni and torch to get up there.

Bloodfists are awesome gloves for the life and fhr but you need atleast 2 12fhr shape gcs in the stash and a shaeled jalals.
Why?
There are times when you will need those dracs. Going against a good conc barb is an example of a time when lifetap will save you, another is a ww barb.

You can get the last 12 fhr from scs so you don't use up all your space as you need life scs/gcs in your stash too.

Grief is a decent choice for your one-hander, some people are experimenting with griz-caddies but it literally drained me both mentally and physically to get my eth tombreaver and 40-15s that I couldn't go through that stress again to get a good griz caddy, 3 more 40-15s and a Lo rune. But since you said you're semi-loaded, you could try this. I hear it's better than grief but I can't say for certain.

I didn't up my gores as since I have such low str, if I died, I'd have to go swapping gear out of stash to put everything back on again. I upped jalals because I can still manage to just get it on and it looked sweet.

Rings and amulet should be:
1. Angelic ring, amulet and 1 ravenfrost

2.Dual ravens and highlords

3. ravenfrost, wisp and highlords

4. ravenfrost, dwarfstar and highlords

i.e. when dueling melee, the raven angelic combo but for other situations, you need all the resists you can get. Or if you're lucky, you'll find one of those sweet rares with dual leech, str, resists and ar.

Use aldurs boots for the most part. You won't notice the difference against most people but the life bonus is nice.

I've only ever needed to put gores on versus a good wolfbarb where I need all the help I can get.

That's just the way I play though, others have slightly different views.

[omgitsmeta]

If you really really need resistances, you could switch your armor to CoH, but I see Fort or Duress as better alternatives overall.

[remsy]

No need for fort. Reason why I personally say this is the variables. I don't like them and I'll only get fort if I trade for it.

But look at CoH. It has way more resists, more strength.
Fort has the ed and more life than CoH but think of this.

CoH has +2 to skills. This actually gives you more life, which you will need in the situations where you go up against casters and have to spend a good deal of time chasing them down with your two-hander.

It was proven somewhere on these forums that fort is vastly superior to duress for a druid. Your choices are CoH, enigma and fort.
Always have enigma in the stash and either a CoH or a fort in reserve.

I'm going for the CoH due to lack of str.

Another resistance solver is maras....

[stoutewolf]

Alright to start off, i'm semi-rich and can afford the things i'd like, finding someone with them is the hard part. I happened to find a good questing party on E/SC/L in hell, and a werewolf was tearing it up. He refered me here and said i could find great advice. I found out I already signed up here just forgot to visit often.

I have the typical Rabies/Fury druid here from Stoutewolf and Rangniheldr's guide.

My Equip:
Wep - 404% ebotd Great PoleAxe
Arm - ArchonPlate "Enigma"
Hlm - Jalal's Mane - Shael'd (Should i Upgrade?)
Belt - 39/15 Verdungo
Gloves - Bloodfist (Again, upgrade all the way?)
Boots -204 Upped Goreriders
Amulet - 1.11 Highlords (no 08s for me)
Ring1 - 248/20 Raven
Ring2 - 5% BK
weap2/shield = 6Bo CTA/Spirit

My strength is about 55, enough to get 103 at 75 so i can use enigma to further strength glitch, my only problem is jalal's then. I see people upgrading theres, but i'd like not to invest alot in strength, more than i need to.

Dexterity is another question. Since i shall duel a bit, i'd like to also have a shield for possibilities. Is it necessary? I have a 40/400 Grief PhaseBlade and a StormShield available, but if i dont need to go OneHanded, i'd like not to. Will i really need dex though for 2 handed. I see the Req for the GPA is 70, but a Eth Tombreaver is 103. I'd like to get one of those one day, but trading is difficult to find stuff i'd like. Only offer i've received was for a base ed% one, which i wouldnt want.

Also, Are the newer highlords and BK really worth it? I understand why the 08 versions are superior, but i dont see the BK really helping me, what should i use as an alternative?

Don't you guys have resist problems in hell? There's almost no resists on this build outside highlords, anni, torch, and jalal's. Wont running through hell be abit hard with ele skills tearing me up? I dont have the eth tomb yet, which would add resists.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, any helpful hints and advice are necessary, i'm really looking for this guy to tear it up and be my main character for a while. I play my builds for long amounts of time and i'd like this guy to make it.
hey and welcome to the forums!:grin: first things first the guy below your first post doesnt play druids i think so dont listen to him. Your gear seems pretty solid. Though i advice you to use the eth tombreaver when you can get one. THis weapon is 1 frame faster in the fury hits and 2 or 3 frames faster in the first hit from your fury.

i advice you to use a one handed weapon aswell, it is really a must versus ww barbarians/zealers and other melee duellers with a shield(except smiters)and as puma said, the ar boost is really nice. The highlords is worth it cause of the deadly strike on it, every time dedly strike triggers you give your opponent double the damage you do. So basically your damage output is ~1/3 higher with highlords when you are a decent lvl, and ofc the +1skills is nice aswell. I chose the bk as an option mainly for the +1skills, the life pro lvl isnt effected by boost and neither by your shapeshift, if you can lay your hands on a nice rare ring, do it!:thumbsup:

As for the forti or enigma choice, it was such a hrd decision for me tht i took both, they both have their advantages and weaknesses:grin: . If i should pick one again i think i would go for fortitude, but thats mainly because i can get my frw elsewhere.
as for the resist: jalals=30(ummed=50!)/torch=10-20/anni=10-20/tombreaver 30-50/fortitude 25-30 lets say you have average gear. 30+15+15+40+27=127
now you can choose to um your jalals or not.

If you do u your jalals you get 147 resistance. This is 57 resistance in hell. (75 lightning cause of highlords)

if you dont you have 37 resistance in hell.(72 lightning cause of highlords)

to get 75 to all resistance there re a few options, if you have above average gear you get it from your gear already. Else you can choose to put some all resist charms in you inventory or use treachery. Treachery will up your resist with 60(!) when fade triggers, this tkes about 15 seconds when you stand in a flame or in a monster group.

if you have anyore questions or things arent clear just ask them!

regards,

stoutewolf

p.s.: cool to see another kazama_fury:thumbsup:

[AnimageCGF]

I have decided to go for the all of the above route. And I have updates on gear.

I am now level 60 in hell about to start baaling.

I got quite a low eth Tombreaver now, and put two 40/15s and a zod. Comes to about 320% ed, quite below a perfect, but it will do. Poor res on it as well at 3x. Got it for a pul last night from a kid in a chaos game who said it was a stupid merc weapon :P. Similarly i offered 10 high runes for a "good" one and no one would trade me, so I feel i got really lucky.

I have both the enigma and fortitude on my character, with about 85 str base on my guy and 110 dex base.

I went Highlords, 248/20 raven, and 242/20 raven for jewelry now. I also have a shael'd stormshield and a grief phase blade as well on him.

I'm skipping drac's altogether as the idea of Super Upped Bloodfists is too cool. Too many characters have dracs :P i think i'll manage.

Now i wont be upping my jalals unless i figure out my strength and dex situation. I'd like to know what your base strength and dex are Stoute, except my druid torch is a 12att/18res and my anni is a 17/18/10. I cant skip that anni, but i'm sure i can get a better torch easy.

[stoutewolf]

I have decided to go for the all of the above route. And I have updates on gear.

I am now level 60 in hell about to start baaling.

I got quite a low eth Tombreaver now, and put two 40/15s and a zod. Comes to about 320% ed, quite below a perfect, but it will do. Poor res on it as well at 3x. Got it for a pul last night from a kid in a chaos game who said it was a stupid merc weapon :P. Similarly i offered 10 high runes for a "good" one and no one would trade me, so I feel i got really lucky.

I have both the enigma and fortitude on my character, with about 85 str base on my guy and 110 dex base.

I went Highlords, 248/20 raven, and 242/20 raven for jewelry now. I also have a shael'd stormshield and a grief phase blade as well on him.

I'm skipping drac's altogether as the idea of Super Upped Bloodfists is too cool. Too many characters have dracs :P i think i'll manage.

Now i wont be upping my jalals unless i figure out my strength and dex situation. I'd like to know what your base strength and dex are Stoute, except my druid torch is a 12att/18res and my anni is a 17/18/10. I cant skip that anni, but i'm sure i can get a better torch easy.
96 base str
177 base dexterity (this is pretty high but i a lvl 99 ans you need more dex every lvl up to get max block)
286 base vitality
20 base mana

this is without torch and without anni and ofc without gear.

btw you have chosen the right route for your wolf, you have made the right decisions:grin:

[remsy]

How is not upping Jalals with a base str of 85 a right decision yet upping bloodfists twice is?

Defense on bloodfists will still be laughable while jalals goes upwards of 400 def on upping with str req of 86... and level req of 73.
Up the damn jalals.

Since you're using highlords and dual ravens, you will be stuck just below 20k ar without dex or ar charms. But if you get those charms, go for it.

I feel you put too much into str as you could have had atleast 20 less. Nothing wrong with waiting it out to use stuff. The enigma keeps on adding to str as you level so you would've been able to use tombreaver once you hit 84 and dracs are an excellent source of strength.

You have 114 str basically since you put 86 in and the anni and torch are never gonna be taken off. Jalals won't be either and that's another 20 str bringing you up to 134, by the time you added the enigma at level 70, you'd be at 186 str, stormshield only needs 156 same as spirit for boing.
Eth tombreaver needs 155. And by the time you get to eth tombreaver you'd have 197 str regardless which is 41 points for vitality that went to str instead.

But that's just me griping. I made 5 werewolves to get the stats just right with various gear changes. I just found a -15 reqs 13 all res jewel and I'm staring at my pdiamond ss and thinking hmmmm....

[Rangniheldr]

96 base str
177 base dexterity (this is pretty high but i a lvl 99 ans you need more dex every lvl up to get max block)
286 base vitality
20 base mana

this is without torch and without anni and ofc without gear.

btw you have chosen the right route for your wolf, you have made the right decisions:grin:

Max block is for sissys:wink2:

My item setup is identical to stoutes except for some minor things like he has 4x lifer and i have 3x....Our Stat setup looks a bit different too.

Strength 8x-9x(dont remember)
Dex 7x
Vita 39x
base

I dont really like shields so i opted not to use one....He has max block and around 9.6k life if i remember correctly and mine has full vita and around 11k life.

Whichever way you choose they are both fun:wave:


Ps. Forti kicks enigmas butt, use eni vs casters to chase them down:fortuneteller:

[remsy]

Rang, what's your ar?
And do you actually duel everyone two-handed? Do you duel at all?
Do you win alot?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to know how you get a victory using an interruptible attack with no shield.

[Rangniheldr]

Rang, what's your ar?
And do you actually duel everyone two-handed? Do you duel at all?
Do you win alot?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to know how you get a victory using an interruptible attack with no shield.

My ar varies from 16-25k depending on my gear...With enchant i hit the upper 30's.

Well its quite simple actually, vs melee chars i slap on a coa ber/ber i win about 50% of my duels vs smiters, 75% vs hammerdins, 75% vs sorcs, 25% vs barbs,
10% vs zealers(with them wearing a shield) 80% vs trapsins( yes i absorb), 70% vs ww sins.


Thats about it....

[remsy]

I was talking about melee only, against casters, I also use my tombreaver.

[Rangniheldr]

I was talking about melee only, against casters, I also use my tombreaver.

Like i said im usually dead even with smiters..i win 99% of my w v w duels(so far only my dear friend stoute has beaten me^^)bvc 50%, bvb 0%, bva 10%
Bvc 25%, Zealer 5-10%,ww sin 70% ...lots of other builds but i just listed the main ones.

As for the gear setup i go 2 handed and put on a coa ber / ber, simple as that.

[AnimageCGF]

Great points guys. Druids level 85 right now :P. He'll be 90-92 by the end of today (9 am central, gonna play from 5pmto12am)

I have exactly 156 with gear before i don my stormshield. However i'm having regrets about grief as my weapon on switch.

I was thinking about getting an ebotd Zerker and using that on switch. Saves me those attribute points. And dueling my overpriced smiter friend(btals, 40/400grief, perf eth upped hoz, perf coa, and all that junk) I couldnt even get close with grief and swung very slow.

I'll be upping my jalal's today, but i'm feeling bad, mine are a 156% pair, while everything else perf ed% (30% bloods, 200% gores).

I spent most of last night getting lifers. I have a 38/32/27/29/9(i found this in the trading game lol), and a 7% frw that someone gave me free. The other 3 are plains atm, My small charms atm are a 3/20 no life, 1max/14ar/20 life, 4 20 lifes, a 19, and that's all i have atm for melee and life small charms.

I'm getting just shy of 5k life when oak and ww, i think that's fine for skipping out on BattleOrders most of the time. I have it in my stash just incase, but i like having my grief/ss on switch for the block since i've been pvming.

So keep the grief, or get an ebotdz. i fear if i get the z, i alreayd have to remake.

[Rangniheldr]

Great points guys. Druids level 85 right now :P. He'll be 90-92 by the end of today (9 am central, gonna play from 5pmto12am)

I have exactly 156 with gear before i don my stormshield. However i'm having regrets about grief as my weapon on switch.

I was thinking about getting an ebotd Zerker and using that on switch. Saves me those attribute points. And dueling my overpriced smiter friend(btals, 40/400grief, perf eth upped hoz, perf coa, and all that junk) I couldnt even get close with grief and swung very slow.

I'll be upping my jalal's today, but i'm feeling bad, mine are a 156% pair, while everything else perf ed% (30% bloods, 200% gores).

I spent most of last night getting lifers. I have a 38/32/27/29/9(i found this in the trading game lol), and a 7% frw that someone gave me free. The other 3 are plains atm, My small charms atm are a 3/20 no life, 1max/14ar/20 life, 4 20 lifes, a 19, and that's all i have atm for melee and life small charms.

I'm getting just shy of 5k life when oak and ww, i think that's fine for skipping out on BattleOrders most of the time. I have it in my stash just incase, but i like having my grief/ss on switch for the block since i've been pvming.

So keep the grief, or get an ebotdz. i fear if i get the z, i alreayd have to remake.

Is your grief in a zerker axe?

[stoutewolf]

Great points guys. Druids level 85 right now :P. He'll be 90-92 by the end of today (9 am central, gonna play from 5pmto12am)

I have exactly 156 with gear before i don my stormshield. However i'm having regrets about grief as my weapon on switch.

I was thinking about getting an ebotd Zerker and using that on switch. Saves me those attribute points. And dueling my overpriced smiter friend(btals, 40/400grief, perf eth upped hoz, perf coa, and all that junk) I couldnt even get close with grief and swung very slow.

I'll be upping my jalal's today, but i'm feeling bad, mine are a 156% pair, while everything else perf ed% (30% bloods, 200% gores).

I spent most of last night getting lifers. I have a 38/32/27/29/9(i found this in the trading game lol), and a 7% frw that someone gave me free. The other 3 are plains atm, My small charms atm are a 3/20 no life, 1max/14ar/20 life, 4 20 lifes, a 19, and that's all i have atm for melee and life small charms.

I'm getting just shy of 5k life when oak and ww, i think that's fine for skipping out on BattleOrders most of the time. I have it in my stash just incase, but i like having my grief/ss on switch for the block since i've been pvming.

So keep the grief, or get an ebotdz. i fear if i get the z, i alreayd have to remake.
you have to attack a smiter 2 handed because smite is a ignores targets def/ignores block attack. The worst grief does actually more damage as the best eth botd zerker so i advice you to keep that.You need the attribute points whatsoever when you decide to use a 2 handed weapon aswell, which i strongly advice:thumbsup:

@remsy, Rangniheldr kills everything without a shield and smiters somethimes(except other werewolves with better equip like me). He looses versus every melee with a shield normally for example barbarians or zealers. He has chosen for a 2 handed build because not many duellers use a shield these days(except some barbs and the rare zealer)

[stoutewolf]

Rang, what's your ar?
And do you actually duel everyone two-handed? Do you duel at all?
Do you win alot?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to know how you get a victory using an interruptible attack with no shield.
he wins cause of the natural high ar from a wolf and damage, along with 11k life and 4 fpa attack this is hard to beat for everything without a shield:grin:

[Rangniheldr]

he wins cause of the natural high ar from a wolf and damage, along with 11k life and 4 fpa attack this is hard to beat for everything without a shield:grin:

Thanks for the support:laugh:

Btw, im still gonna catch you muhahaha

[AnimageCGF]

I have no where near the AR you guys have i dont get it.

I have about 10k with full gear on, and about 8k with the tombreaver on. I really dont want to have to use angelics the whole time to duel anyone. Is my problem maxing oak instead of werewolf?

Should i have skipped the rabies route since i dont even use it, i never have had time yet to even apply it.

[AnimageCGF]

Okay, after dueling alot this afternoon in pub duels, i've come to another conclusion.

Maxing Oak was a mistake. I shouldnt depend on having that extra life, but should have put points in werewolf instead. I think the AR payoff would have been alot better. Why do you guys max out oak? It's always a target in duels. I think a level 1+ with skills would have been sufficient. People head after the sage first and thats when i attack anyways. I think the WW AR would make my team easier.

[stoutewolf]

Okay, after dueling alot this afternoon in pub duels, i've come to another conclusion.

Maxing Oak was a mistake. I shouldnt depend on having that extra life, but should have put points in werewolf instead. I think the AR payoff would have been alot better. Why do you guys max out oak? It's always a target in duels. I think a level 1+ with skills would have been sufficient. People head after the sage first and thats when i attack anyways. I think the WW AR would make my team easier.
just say the magic spell: abra-kadabra-alakazam nd resummon your oak on the otherside:laugh:

[sablast]

Okay, after dueling alot this afternoon in pub duels, i've come to another conclusion.

Maxing Oak was a mistake. I shouldnt depend on having that extra life, but should have put points in werewolf instead. I think the AR payoff would have been alot better. Why do you guys max out oak? It's always a target in duels. I think a level 1+ with skills would have been sufficient. People head after the sage first and thats when i attack anyways. I think the WW AR would make my team easier.
you can think of oak as some kind of damage reduction while dueling. If you take only one hit while your oak is alive, you'll lose less life then without oak at all (even if you don't resummon it again), and you have better chance to survive duel. If your opponent is far enough, just resummon it.

[AnimageCGF]

Resummoning is easy. Im not into having that oak as a crutch for my life. i've been faring well enough in duels without it. I have just about 5k life w/o it and 6 with it atm. I'd personally rather have more ar so i dont need a Angelic every duel.