FC Build: Stats, Skills, and Gear

[Papasmurf90]

Hey guys,

I've decided to go with a Fire Claw Bear but am having some trouble with the skills, stats, and gear. So, first of all, for the skills, I'm obviously going to max FC but don't know what to do after that. I've heard to max all of FC's synergies and one in oak or maxing three of FC's synergies and putting the rest into Lyc along with one in oak. Which would you recommend? Also, do I want to max Werebear? Could someone just list all the skills I want to max?

Second, since I don't have any gear I really don't know what gear I'll be using late game. So what stats do you recommend to shoot for that let me be fairly flexible with my gear?

Finally, as far as gear goes, what is some good gear that isn't super hard to get (i.e Engima)? Also, I'll be using this guy for MF from fairly often so I may need some MF gear as well.

Thanks guys!

[vvild]

i personal preference is maxing FC, Lycan, 2 synergies, and remaining into third synergie. i also put 1 point into oak, wolves, ravens, poison creeper, and shockwave.
but its all about the person using the characterand what they like.

a basic rundown for cheap pvp gear would be
helm: jalas with a shael
armor: enigma
weapon: 6 shael phaseblade
shield: stormshield
amulet: angelics
ring: angelic
ring: ravenfrost
belt: verdungos
gloves: bloodfist
boots: waterwalk

charms go for 9 shapeshifters, torch, anni, and 10 small charms with life and or resist
stats go for enough strength to use items, enough dex for max block, and then rest into vit.

this is the basic foundation for a pvp FC bear, and very cheap compared to other chars. if ya cant get enigma and verdungos you could switch em for twitchthrow and string of ears(for max dr). from here you can upgrade everything as your obtain enough wealth. i use FC for pvp only so i dont know about mf. hopefully jary should be on soon, hes got a fine data base of FC bears up in his melon n_n

hope i helped some ^^

[Papasmurf90]

Yeah, thanks. For skills I'll go with your build but for Stats I'm still unsure, like I said, I'm not sure of the amount of Str that I'm going to need. Also, since this is going to be PvM, is block still a big deal?

Thanks.

[vvild]

i dont know much for pvm. sorry i cant help ya.

[superjayson]

Yeah, thanks. For skills I'll go with your build but for Stats I'm still unsure, like I said, I'm not sure of the amount of Str that I'm going to need. Also, since this is going to be PvM, is block still a big deal?

Thanks.

stats are the same for any character.
str = enough for your gear. Once you figure out what you're using and any +to str items you have you will know how much you need.
dex = either enough for any gear requirments or enough for max block. If you're PvP you will want block.
vit = anything not put in the above two goes here
energy = blizzard hates even numbers.

[Papasmurf90]

I know, but the thing is, I don't know what my late game items are going to be...

Edit: How does 136 Dex for Phase Blade sound and around 100 Str? Just shooting for a general number that will let me be flexible.

[sunflowersmooth]

I know, but the thing is, I don't know what my late game items are going to be...

Edit: How does 136 Dex for Phase Blade sound and around 100 Str? Just shooting for a general number that will let me be flexible.

I've built a couple pvm fc bears, so I went through the same problem.

I usually shoot for max block, so I have the flexibility to go into pvp later on if I want. Not to mention block helps a lot in pvm too, even though it is not neccessary required. You will usually get dex stats from equipment, so if you are not going for max block, then you should have less than 136 base dex. If you do max, then you will have around 180-200 base.

As for str, 100 is a safe bet. Some people go over, some stay well-under, but because they have enigma and all of their gear pre set. 100 is a good number. Just find your most heavy armor you are going to use and build it around that. Stormshield for example, may be your heaviest.

As for mf, it sounds fun at first, but there are wayy to many fire immunes to be effective. I wouldn't try it.

btw, if you don't use stormshield, you should probably use a spirit monarch, good resists and skills for fc which greatly benifits from plus skills.

[Papasmurf90]

Okay, thanks. Thats what I was looking for. Still trying to decide if I want to go for block or not though...

[Jary]

I suggest maybe use COH/Enigma for armor (though enigma gives more mf :), and Orphans Call set:
-easily affordable
-low strength requirements
-Guilliames gives a good 35% crushing blow for immunes, which at times compensates for the +4 skills you lose.

Complete Set Bonus
+85 To Life
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
All Resistances +15
+100 Defense
+10 To Dexterity
+20 To Strength
80% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

and a lil' extra mf for giggles ><

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... Whitstan's Guard gives a higher chance to block than normal, so it'll keep your dexterity down which isn't too shabby : /

Whitstan's Guard
Chance To Block: Pal: 97% Ama/Asn/Bar: 92% Dru/Nec/Sor: 87%

[akybo]

For elemental I sugest max firestorm,fisure and volcano,not molten builder as some people do as volcano is more usefull in both pvp and pvm then mb.

[Papasmurf90]

I suggest maybe use COH/Enigma for armor (though enigma gives more mf :), and Orphans Call set:
-easily affordable
-low strength requirements
-Guilliames gives a good 35% crushing blow for immunes, which at times compensates for the +4 skills you lose.

Complete Set Bonus
+85 To Life
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
All Resistances +15
+100 Defense
+10 To Dexterity
+20 To Strength
80% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

and a lil' extra mf for giggles ><

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... Whitstan's Guard gives a higher chance to block than normal, so it'll keep your dexterity down which isn't too shabby : /

Whitstan's Guard
Chance To Block: Pal: 97% Ama/Asn/Bar: 92% Dru/Nec/Sor: 87%

Okay, thanks a ton. So I guess I'll go for max black with Whitstan's Guard, what do you think my Dex will be around? Also, if I go Enigma, which I probably won't get for a while, what do you think would be a safe Str level, 100?

Thanks.

[Jary]

That's a yah on Firestorm, Fissure, and Volcano. If your going Lycanthropy max that first and finish volcano last I'd say, 'cause when your teleporting around sometimes your first plan of action is to fissure a large group, then Bear drop on on them :)

As for your Strength:
Your highest strength requirement would be Guilliames Face @115 strength.
Again, its all relative to your gear, but working backwards I'll let you figure it out...

Minimum Strength= 115 - (Enigma@clvl 75=56+(.75n-lvls) -(Torch? 10-20) - (anni? 10-20) - (Sandstorm Treks? 10-15)
= Interval: [4,29] strength depending on attributes

therefore, the most you'll ever need to add is 9 strength :)
Also, this is only lvl 75 so you'll need even less in the long run, so strength is almost negligible here. Just make sure you hit max block and you'll be fine.

Torches are easy to come by, but if you don't get an anni which is understandable:
Minimum Strength = Interval: [14, 39], so maybe a lil' more then. Either way hardly any is required. (sry bout the number crunching--u get the point though^^)

I'd say your biggest problem will be resists, so I recommend 'Um'ing your Helm and shield, and throwing in a few light-fire resist/life Lc's etc, to balance it out. But its deffinitely worth keeping Nigma.
Let me know how it works out, lata playa

[Papasmurf90]

Awesome, thanks a ton for all the help. I guess I'll shoot for 115 Str, max block, and I'll sink the rest into Vit. I'll go for the Orphans Call set and a Nigma as well.

I'll let you know how it turns out, again, thanks a ton Jary.

Edit: One more quick question, I guess I'll go with a 6 Sock PB as I already got one but what should I socket it with. I hear 4 Shaels and some jewels. Is 6 Shaels overkill? Thanks.

[akybo]

U need 110 ias to hit the break point,so the best will be 4shaels+2x 15ias/other modes jewels(ar,resist),if u aint got those go for 6shaels pb.

[scorchedMAYO]

I think I found the best gear for a pvp fire claw druid:

-6os pb(superior with ar) 4 shael, 2 15ias/(restistance/ar) (hits max attack speed(at 108% ias, with extra mods from jewels, no damage should come from weapon

-jalals with 5/-5 fire die(basically 4 all skills and fhr, resist all, ect- must have

-upgraded blade buckle belt(30 fhr- highest possible for belt, and all other belts suck, dungos doesnt affect damage), adds strength and dexterity
-enigma in high def armor(you will have str from other equiptment)45% frw, 2 allskills
or
-arkains valor with 5/-5 fire die(30 fhr, 2 all skills, can socket 5/5, vita)

-eth treks(strength, dext, 20 frw, extra def from eth(repairs itself), 20 fhr

-5/-5 fire die'd spirit ward(stormshield sucks for fireclaw druid, spirit ward has 5%(1/20)chance to cast fade(increases elemental resistances by +50%, physical resistance+8% for over 3 minutes)
^also has all resistance 30-40, 74% block rate, and high defense

draculs grasp(has life tap- you are hitting people ~4 times a second and will probably cast life tap, thus regaining health very fast while dueling
^has strength and good defense also, +open wounds, and life steal

angelics set(ammy and ring)the attack rating bonus is very needed to have a good chance at hitting the enemy

Raven frost(cannot be frozen, attack rating, cold damage to perhaps slow enemy, dexterity)

merc using infinity takes immunities away for pvm

*any suggestions/feedback??*

[Jary]

-Valor is great, but its strength requirement is far too high, not to mention heavy and slow; therefore opposite of what you'd want in duels. In duels, speed is one of your greatest weapons... so use enigma: its quick, gives teleport which is helpful in certain tight situations, and gives xtra dr/life.

-Spirit Ward is a terrible choice. It might have some potential vs casters but it has low blockrate, damage reduction, etc. If fade is that important your better off buffing with treachery (lvl15 fade & Venom)... I've bm'd with it plenty of times ><, but they're usually fc zons so they're asking for it :)
Use Stormshield, its by far the best choice... better than 20/-20 monarch too.

-Blade buckle-- I dont see the point in this choice. Your losing 15% dr, and around 120 life that adds up to a lot factoring in oak, bo, and lycanth. If you hit the 48, 55, or 87% breakpoint that's all that matters (I think the numbers are right I can double check).

For me, Jalal 'shael' + dungos (10) reaches 60% so that's all I need, unless I wanna jump to 90% by using bloodfists, which would prolly be my second choice to magefists... not draculs, which dont benefit much with lifetap 'cause of the low physical damage on phase blade.
The only benefit you'd get from dracs would be open wounds, but the 25% chance just isn't enough to be worth it, go magefists and add an extra 1k onto your damge.

Everything else sounds like the right idea.

[scorchedMAYO]

-Valor is great, but its strength requirement is far too high, not to mention heavy and slow; therefore opposite of what you'd want in duels. In duels, speed is one of your greatest weapons... so use enigma: its quick, gives teleport which is helpful in certain tight situations, and gives xtra dr/life.
but doesnt damage reduced only work on physical/magic damage, not fire(elemental)?
if so than dungos it is for vita and dr
but blade buckle has highest fhr for any belt and has str and dext also.....no other belt is better if dr doesnt affect fire claws, i just saw somewhere that it only was for physical and magic
-Spirit Ward is a terrible choice. It might have some potential vs casters but it has low blockrate, damage reduction, etc. If fade is that important your better off buffing with treachery (lvl15 fade & Venom)... I've bm'd with it plenty of times ><, but they're usually fc zons so they're asking for it :)
Use Stormshield, its by far the best choice... better than 20/-20 monarch too.

that must clear up stormshield also: damage reduced working for fireclaws
if it does than I change my mind
Spirit ward is among the only 5 shields in the game that have over 74% block rate and since it had resistances---if SS's dr doesnt affect fire claws than it is basially a piece of crap with bad stats and low block rate
if it does affect it, than it is the best shield

with jalals 5/5, treks, dungos,
30+20+10 is 60 already......the next break point is at

[superjayson]

but doesnt damage reduced only work on physical/magic damage, not fire(elemental)?
if so than dungos it is for vita and dr
but blade buckle has highest fhr for any belt and has str and dext also.....no other belt is better if dr doesnt affect fire claws, i just saw somewhere that it only was for physical and magic

that must clear up stormshield also: damage reduced working for fireclaws
if it does than I change my mind
Spirit ward is among the only 5 shields in the game that have over 74% block rate and since it had resistances---if SS's dr doesnt affect fire claws than it is basially a piece of crap with bad stats and low block rate
if it does affect it, than it is the best shield

with jalals 5/5, treks, dungos,
30+20+10 is 60 already......the next break point is at

Yeah it does. What's your point ? If you're PvP you're going to go up against alot of physical melee chars so the DR on your gear will help significantly...

Blade buckle does have alot of FHR but it's worth what you must give up to use it. I'd rather use bloodfist/anarch or magefist/dungos.

[Jary]

damage reduction only works against physical attacks, and the most you can get it 50%. Therefore, Stormshield (35%dr) & pDungos (15%) reduces HALF of ALL PHYSICAL damage! >< Stormshield is by far the best, no other item in the game besides bTal comes even close to that damage reduction. Spirit ward has similar chance to block, but has a slower block rate. Yes it offers nice resistance, but throw an Um in your stormshield and you have pretty much the same thing, resistance is overrated in duels... ask any real dueler, its situational, not mandatory these days.

Blade Buckle is pure garbage compared to perfect Dungos, Trang, and Tgods. If you need the extra fhr use bloodfist gloves which are amazing gloves, they give 30% fhr and +40 life... wowz :)

You could waste 120 points into strength using Valor, or put like 0 into strength and use enigma... allowing you to have ~420 vitality... your choice :)

[scorchedMAYO]

I thought damage reduced actually brings your damage up and has bad wording that doesn't make sense
Because I remember ber'ing my shako once, a while ago, and it brought my damage up by a thousand somehow(maybe a mistake...)

Ya bladebuckle is crap when damage reduced works in the way you described it

i have like 80 hrs and a perfect legit hammerdin with random stuff worth many hrs lying around so I can easily afford everything for the build

so far I've bugrushed and chaos to level 60, every stat point into vita
and I was wondering;
do you put
20-fireclaw
20-firestorm
20-molten boulder
20-fissure
rest-volcano?

do you upgrade jalals?(it would force you to put points into str to wear it
base str + 20 anni, +20 torch+ 10 points into str gives you 65-----the req for non upd jalals

Because life is more important than that last synergy adding damage from the base fireclaw damage itself right?

Oh and what should I make the enigma out of?
to balance good defense and low str requirement

with good anni and druid torch(20 all stats for torch, hopefully and 20 from anni)
thats base of 15 str, +40 to make it 55, 10 points into str to wear NONupgraded jalals....which adds 20 str
so now you have 85 str........6 more through either SS 6 str GC, or putting 6 in stats
now 91 to wear treks
get a +15 treks and you have 106 strength
which enough to wear an archon plate enigma
SO MY GUESS IS AP, so you only have to put 10 points in(with a 6str shapeshift gc)
and the str from enigma lets you wear everything else!

*EDIT*BETTER TO PUT 6 INTO STR THAN TO WASTE THE LIFE MOD OF A SS GC, SO PUT A TOTAL OF 16 POINTS INTO STR.....WITH PTREKS, PANNI, PTORCH

on to dexterity
the highest dext item is 136(phase blade)
base is 20
raven frost 20
now 40, torch and anni bring it to 80.......so does that mean you want to put 56+ points into dexterity?
with p raven, p anni, p torch

[superjayson]

I thought damage reduced actually brings your damage up and has bad wording that doesn't make sense
Because I remember ber'ing my shako once, a while ago, and it brought my damage up by a thousand somehow(maybe a mistake...)

Ya bladebuckle is crap when damage reduced works in the way you described it

i have like 80 hrs and a perfect legit hammerdin with random stuff worth many hrs lying around so I can easily afford everything for the build

so far I've bugrushed and chaos to level 60, every stat point into vita
and I was wondering;
do you put
20-fireclaw
20-firestorm
20-molten boulder
20-fissure
rest-volcano?

do you upgrade jalals?(it would force you to put points into str to wear it
base str + 20 anni, +20 torch+ 10 points into str gives you 65-----the req for non upd jalals

Because life is more important than that last synergy adding damage from the base fireclaw damage itself right?

Oh and what should I make the enigma out of?
to balance good defense and low str requirement

with good anni and druid torch(20 all stats for torch, hopefully and 20 from anni)
thats base of 15 str, +40 to make it 55, 10 points into str to wear NONupgraded jalals....which adds 20 str
so now you have 85 str........6 more through either SS 6 str GC, or putting 6 in stats
now 91 to wear treks
get a +15 treks and you have 106 strength
which enough to wear an archon plate enigma
SO MY GUESS IS AP, so you only have to put 10 points in(with a 6str shapeshift gc)
and the str from enigma lets you wear everything else!

*EDIT*BETTER TO PUT 6 INTO STR THAN TO WASTE THE LIFE MOD OF A SS GC, SO PUT A TOTAL OF 16 POINTS INTO STR.....WITH PTREKS, PANNI, PTORCH

on to dexterity
the highest dext item is 136(phase blade)
base is 20
raven frost 20
now 40, torch and anni bring it to 80.......so does that mean you want to put 56+ points into dexterity?
with p raven, p anni, p torch

It doesn't. Hence the name damage REDUCED. black buckle is good for the FHR, but thats it, but having bloodfist/dungos to chooes from it makes blade buckle garbage.

You're options are either Fireclaws + 3 synergies and rest into lyc for more life. Or Fireclaws + 4 synergies and 1 in lyc. Both work so its up to you.
Alot of people will say life over damage. If you search this forum you can find a thread with people arguing about wether to max the 4 synergies or not.

I upgraded my jalal's and only have a 40 base STR. I made an Enigma out of a DS which has 77 str req. 40 + 20 from torch and anni gives me enough to wear The Enigma. Usually I wear a non upgraded jalal's until I can wear treks and any other +str gear and I have more than enough to wear the up'd Jalal's.

I wouldn't make an enigma out of a AP. Engima isnt really a defense kind of armor and fireclaws isnt really a defence kind of char. I can get 7000k+ def on my FC and that's not with perfect gear.

[scorchedMAYO]

ok that sums it up for me than

All you need is a base of 31 and you can wear even ap nigma(put in 16)
15 starting str, need 65 to wear jalals, 40(anni and torch)+31 is 71, enough to wear jalals
jalals adds 20 so now 91 to wear treks, treks add 15 so thats AP enigma, which has enough str for everything else
I wouldn't make an enigma out of a AP.
the difference between AP and dusk is 6 stats points into str
which adds up to 60 defense......so maybe your right....depends if 6 extra stat points is worth up wards of 60 defence

angelics actually adds 10 dext, so 46 points at least is required in dexterity to wear the phaseblade

-5/5 stormshield
-5/5 jalals not upgraded
-4 shael, 2 15ias/ar jewels in pb
-enigma archon plate
-verdungos
-bloodfist
-eth treks
-angelic ammy and ring
-ravenfrost

16 points into strength(at least)
46 into dexterity(at least)
rest into vita(443 at most)
making base vitality 468!(not including any charms/equipment)

life comes first since lycanthropy and BO buffs add by %
so....
*20 fire claw
*20 fire storm
*20 fissure
*20 molten boulder
*20 LYCANTHROPY
*1 into prerequisite(4 total)
110 skill points to spend at level 99
but at level 96(which im shooting for if not higher); 107, so 7-4=3 into volcano heh

[superjayson]

I don't know whre you get your info but DS str is 77 AP is 103. More than 6 points.
Ps put at least one point into Oak. With +to skills you can get at least a lvl 10 oak which will boost your life by 1k or so.

[scorchedMAYO]

I don't know whre you get your info but DS str is 77 AP is 103. More than 6 points.

to get to duskshroud you have
15 base str
+20 anni
+20 torch
thats 55
you need to put 10 stat points to wear jalals to wear ds enigma to wear everything else

for archon plate
15 base str
+20 anni
+20 torch
thats 55
you need to put 10 stat points to wear jalals, another 6 to wear TREKS to wear AP enigma
55+10=65=jalals
65+20(jalals)+6=treks(91 req)
which adds enough str to wear AP nigma

there, I prove my point
so 6 extra points into strength is the difference between using duskshroud enigma and archonplate enigma

BUT about the rest of my other post, do you think it is good?

[superjayson]

I see your point. I just dont see any reasoning in using an AP enigma other than style.

rest sounds good. I don't use the angelic ring/ammy though. I use 2 raven frosts and a metalgrid and mara's for non melee.
some people max volcano instead of molton bolder. unshifting to cast a volcano the odd time. I don't do that though.

[scorchedMAYO]

ya two raven frosts and metal grid saves you
--10 stats points, maybe to put into vita(raven=20 dext, angelics=10)
--25-35 all resistances
--350 defense
--more mana and cold absorb

you lose

--450 ar (1150-700)
--75 life

hmm

Oh and about AP nigma vs dusk

it depends if putting 6 str in stats is worth the extra 60 defense from archon plate

[superjayson]

6 str points for 60 def isn't much of a difference maker no matter what. Still just a matter of style.