gear discusion helms for pvp wolf and bear

[sirhemp]

what are some of the positive/negatives of:


coa
jalals
cerberus
gaze



i havn't played druids in a while anyone wanna gimme some info?

[KellKheraptis]

Hmm...where to start. In general, Bear FHR sucks, so you'll want to get 86% AT LEAST, and possibly try for the next BP after if you can do so without gimping life and/or damage. Wolf FHR on the other hand is the best in the game IIRC, and 86% is easily gotten. To the helms :

CoA - Pros : A good one will have a whole slew of DR%, nice resists, and the same FHR as Jalal's, high defense (higher when multiplied as a bear), and the +1 skills, which will be added to BO on CtA.
- Cons : Gah, that strength requirement. No where near as many +skills as Jalal's or Cerebus, and no AR boost either.

Jalal's - Pros : FHR, Strength, decent Defense, Resists, bonus to AR, skills where you need them (and the +2 druid will affect Oak Sage and Cyclone Armor), with the option of 20 more FHR or 8% DR if they are needed, or life/15% res all if they aren't from the Larzuk hole.
- Cons : There aren't really any Cons IMO to Jalal's. With the possible exception of the rare 2 hander build for PvP, there are plenty of ways to get max DR without sacrificing the helm to do so. And even on a 2 hander, I'd chose Jalal's for the combo of Res/Stats/Higher Oak over a straight DR approach, and use superior positioning with a greater range.

Cerebus - Pros : Skills, massive AR boost on a good one, option of adding DR, a whole lot of OW. Definitely worthwhile to have around, for the melee mods.
- Cons : But then again, IMO it just doesn't measure up to Jalal's, and if you are striking quickly, OW from other sources will trigger plenty often anyhow. No resists either.

Vamp Gaze - Pros : Massive DR%, potential for more with the hole, LL and ML in one item, Cold damage for use against melee builds that neglect CBF (i.e. those that don't read from this forum)
- Cons : No +skills, no resists, no stats, no melee mods. Pretty much a one trick pony, since leech is pretty well non-existent in PvP now. In 09 my tune would have been slightly different, but not now.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure I've missed a few things that the others will be more than able to shore up. Most of all, have fun surprising 'em in pubs when they get their ear chewed off by a shifter! Awroooooo!!

~Kell

[sirhemp]

Hmm...where to start. In general, Bear FHR sucks, so you'll want to get 86% AT LEAST, and possibly try for the next BP after if you can do so without gimping life and/or damage. Wolf FHR on the other hand is the best in the game IIRC, and 86% is easily gotten. To the helms :

CoA - Pros : A good one will have a whole slew of DR%, nice resists, and the same FHR as Jalal's, high defense (higher when multiplied as a bear), and the +1 skills, which will be added to BO on CtA.
- Cons : Gah, that strength requirement. No where near as many +skills as Jalal's or Cerebus, and no AR boost either.

Jalal's - Pros : FHR, Strength, decent Defense, Resists, bonus to AR, skills where you need them (and the +2 druid will affect Oak Sage and Cyclone Armor), with the option of 20 more FHR or 8% DR if they are needed, or life/15% res all if they aren't from the Larzuk hole.
- Cons : There aren't really any Cons IMO to Jalal's. With the possible exception of the rare 2 hander build for PvP, there are plenty of ways to get max DR without sacrificing the helm to do so. And even on a 2 hander, I'd chose Jalal's for the combo of Res/Stats/Higher Oak over a straight DR approach, and use superior positioning with a greater range.

Cerebus - Pros : Skills, massive AR boost on a good one, option of adding DR, a whole lot of OW. Definitely worthwhile to have around, for the melee mods.
- Cons : But then again, IMO it just doesn't measure up to Jalal's, and if you are striking quickly, OW from other sources will trigger plenty often anyhow. No resists either.

Vamp Gaze - Pros : Massive DR%, potential for more with the hole, LL and ML in one item, Cold damage for use against melee builds that neglect CBF (i.e. those that don't read from this forum)
- Cons : No +skills, no resists, no stats, no melee mods. Pretty much a one trick pony, since leech is pretty well non-existent in PvP now. In 09 my tune would have been slightly different, but not now.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure I've missed a few things that the others will be more than able to shore up. Most of all, have fun surprising 'em in pubs when they get their ear chewed off by a shifter! Awroooooo!!

~Kell

thank you that was much more than i expected to get from anyone
1 thing i was thinking of was makeing a wolf with ber ber coa and jewelers monarch of deflecting with shaels and bers or a cham then goin with fort as armor any weaknesses you can point out in this idea would be greatly appreciated im trying to figure how to get back in the game with a wolf in 1.11 ( i havent played since early 1.10 haha )

[KellKheraptis]

Well, if you're going to be using a shield, generally speaking the granddaddy of em all is Stormshield, for it's massive DR, block, and resists. That would make CoA nothing more than a strength-intensive lump on your head with the redundant DR, when Jalal's could do the job much more efficiently. Not to mention a JMoD ranks right up there with a high ETomb as one of the most expensive items on the realms right now, bar none. My personal analysis of CoA on a shifter is that it's place is predominantly when going 2-handed against characters like Smiters, where you need DR but don't want to use a shield because the attack is unblockable. A BerBer 15% CoA would be an ideal item in this case, assuming you had enough AR without Jalal's or Cerebus' AR boost to hit.

[sirhemp]

Well, if you're going to be using a shield, generally speaking the granddaddy of em all is Stormshield, for it's massive DR, block, and resists. That would make CoA nothing more than a strength-intensive lump on your head with the redundant DR, when Jalal's could do the job much more efficiently. Not to mention a JMoD ranks right up there with a high ETomb as one of the most expensive items on the realms right now, bar none. My personal analysis of CoA on a shifter is that it's place is predominantly when going 2-handed against characters like Smiters, where you need DR but don't want to use a shield because the attack is unblockable. A BerBer 15% CoA would be an ideal item in this case, assuming you had enough AR without Jalal's or Cerebus' AR boost to hit.

i decided to go wolf and go with jalals now i just gotta decide on socket and armor lol cant decide on goin for dmg or life decisions decisions....

[Bash_]

coa+jmod, with the right sockets is superior to jalal/cerebus+storm. But if you are on a budget, go for it.

[KellKheraptis]

coa+jmod, with the right sockets is superior to jalal/cerebus+storm. But if you are on a budget, go for it.

What's the combo on that, Bash_ ? That would seem like it would cost a ton of life to pull off, what with the loss of 3 shapeshifting skills from no Jalal's/Cerebus.