PvM Fire Claw/Armageddon Druid

[Scudstorm]

Hello

I'm new to the Druids world, and would like some opinions on this build.

I got the idea basically while reading SSoG's Kodiak Druid, Armageddon variant. And I thought: hey, why not have FC as main melee attack instead? Both FC and Armageddon would have 1 less synergy, it's true, but maybe it can work out.

Basic skill plan is:

20 Fire Claws
20 Armageddon
20 Firestorm (or Molten Boulder?)
20 Volcano
5 Fissure (to double Armageddon length)
1 Werewolf, 1 Lycanthropy
1 Oak Sage, 1 Poison Creeper, 1 Raven, 1 Spirit Wolf, 1 Dire Wolf
1 in all the pre-requisites.

This will be finished at clvl 90, which is a reasonable point to stop as I personally never was able to go further. More points will go into Oak Sage, so that it can last more than a dozen seconds in Hell...

Gear-wise, I'm planning the following:

Weapon: Shael'ed Azurewrath (will it hit 5 fpa breakpoint as with hunger? with 5% oias of course)
Armor: Duress
Shield: Any Spirit, as this Druid doesn't spam his elemental attack
Helm: Jalal's
Boots: I'll need some resists. Maybe some rares. Gores if resists are okay.
Ring1: Raven Frost
Ring2: Dual leach and/or res ring
Belt: Arachnids (for dmg), String (for dr and leach)

As for gloves and ammy, as I have to get oias here, these setups would work:

Dracs + Highlords or
Lavagouts + Any ammy, probably resist ones (Maras? expensive :lipsrsealed:)

Throwing in a Torch (Druid ones aren't very expensive), I should be able to get max resists in Hell.

This char is meant to be able to play in Hell and have fun (not cast a portal every 30 secs to fill up pots and heal). It's basically a Kodiak, with a different main attack skill.

Comments? Suggestions?

[superjayson]

i wouldnt bother putting points into fissure. armageddon can be cast in bear form so save the points for something better.

Azurewrath will hit a max of 6 frames with a shael + 15 OIAS (assuming my calculations are right). not the speed you want, but still completely viable for pvm.

i dont know why you would want gores. maybe if you were pvp and wanted to load up on some open wounds and cb, but for pvm no.

forget drac's and highlords. use those if you make a fury wolf. although if you go with my suggestions on the azurewrath try bloodfist as that comes with lots of life/fhr and some oias.


i was never huge on armageddon for a melee druid. just too many skill points to throw around to make things viable. it ends up making armageddon just an expensive display of fireworks. although im thinking more pvp here. for pvm it should work better.

[Scudstorm]

Thanks for the reply!

Points in fissure aren't completely lost as they synergise FC. But I see what you mean... Maybe put those into Oak Sage?

With Duress and Spirit, I already hit the 86% fhr breakpoint and am a bit far from the 152% one, so Bloodfist isn't very temptating... Not as temptating as the Enchant proc from Lavagouts, at least (which has already 20% oias, which means I don't have to look for more).

I wrote Gores because I didn't know what other boots would be better. Any suggestions? Preferably with some frw though.

I was thinking dracs because this char has a lot less leach than the Kodiak. Highlords to go with it because it's the only ammy I have that gives 20% oias (to compensate the lack of oias on the glove slot), +1 skills and resists. Deadly strike won't do a lot...

I think the question comes down to: is the added FC damage in this build worth 1 frame faster attack and huge leach of the Kodiak? I believe it's about 5k or so, but the indiablo skill calculator just went down :(

[superjayson]

Thanks for the reply!

Points in fissure aren't completely lost as they synergise FC. But I see what you mean... Maybe put those into Oak Sage?

With Duress and Spirit, I already hit the 86% fhr breakpoint and am a bit far from the 152% one, so Bloodfist isn't very temptating... Not as temptating as the Enchant proc from Lavagouts, at least (which has already 20% oias, which means I don't have to look for more).

I wrote Gores because I didn't know what other boots would be better. Any suggestions? Preferably with some frw though.

I was thinking dracs because this char has a lot less leach than the Kodiak. Highlords to go with it because it's the only ammy I have that gives 20% oias (to compensate the lack of oias on the glove slot), +1 skills and resists. Deadly strike won't do a lot...

I think the question comes down to: is the added FC damage in this build worth 1 frame faster attack and huge leach of the Kodiak? I believe it's about 5k or so, but the indiablo skill calculator just went down :(

you could just put the extra points into molton boulder for the fc damage. any points extra points into oak sage should go into lycan first. both give the same life bonus, but oak sage wont go wondering around committing sucide. i still recommend at least one point in oak.

go for aldurs boots. 40frw/50fire res/50 life.

i dont think you need life leech cause you got shockwave which is the ultimate pvm skill. im really against using equipment for only 1-2 stats, such as highlords in this case. if you can really get the ias else where do it, as you only need 15%.

[Scudstorm]

i dont think you need life leech cause you got shockwave which is the ultimate pvm skill.

I didn't know that. So I should stun every pack before engaging them?

[superjayson]

thats what i do. only one point is needed. provided you have some + to skills to boost it further.