Need help from wise old druids

[Tangerinedream]

Ok I have been reading numerous threads concerning the build. I have decided instead of a pure fury druid I want to do a fury/rabies so that I am able to deal with pesky immunes and large groups of characters with a hit and run strat if need be. I am having difficulty deciding what gear to use and overall what skills to use as the core. Obviously if it is a fury/rabies hybrid then those will be the main ones, but what place does feral rage have in there? Here are some of the gear questions I have.

Weapon:

I jacked an ebotdz from my friend ;p. I want this character to be able to do Ubers and pvm with this build. I keep hearing about Grief, ribcracker, buriza (for PIs). I am so confused, I think I have a good weapon obviously but is it the best weapon for this character. One reason I hear about grief is because people say that this is the only set up with hunger that can live through iron maiden. Would the ebotdz be able to as well? I dont see why it couldn't, what does grief have that makes it the only set up with hunger able to survive?

I also am going to try to get deaths web and 4 soc poison facet shield. Would there be another weapon switch set up some would suggest?

Armor:

Another area of difficulty for me. I have enough hi runes to trade for a CoH. Is this the best armor for me because I keep hearing about fort and the ed it gives. But that seems to be for a pure fury build, am I right? Since this is a fury/rabies hybrid would the resists and +skills etc from CoH be better or would fort still be better since fury will be the primary skill used? I wouldn't think Bramble would be in the running would it? Also I am going to make a treachery for the fade and stuff for Ubers.

Belt and shield:

I have dungos and SS for DR in conjunction with the armor I think I will be choosing (CoH) I have hit the DR cap. So I think I am fine here unless you guys want to make suggestions. Some say phoenix runeword but I want this character to have max DR and max resists for hell and Ubers and so I think I am heading the right way.

Gloves:

Just not sure if dracs is the best with a hybrid build, but I have them. Would I have just trangs in inventory when I need to do a rabies hit and run?

Rings:

Ravens Frost for obvious reasons. I have BK as well. The only ring I am not sure about for this build is the BK. Would there be a better ring for this build?

Ammy:

I think I am going with Highlords. Cant think of any other that fits this build best.

Helm:

Jalals is the helm I have chosen. Most seem to choose this for obvious reasons. I thought about Cerb Bite but this is better imo with resists and same plus to skills for the shapshift tree and over all 2 skills to other trees. I like HR better than more crushing blow because I seem to have a lot already.

Boots:

Gores again for obvious reasons.

Overall questions:

Well I showed the gears that I plan on using or at least think I will be using. Some other questions is how much should I focus on things like IAS, HR, BR? I keep going through breakpoints but I am starting to get confused. I have pieces that increase these aspects but I am having hard time hitting break points. The primary two I would focus would be IAS and HR. Any suggestions here would be great and maybe just a quick explanation would helpful because the sites and calculators assume you already understand this stuff well.

Well I have a lot here and suddenly can not remember some of the other things I was going to post. Thanks in advance for those who help me better understand this build.

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Ok...one step at a time
Read the great fury/rabies guide in the stickies.

Hunger is a 1 point wonder.

Weapon-Ebotdz works great with this build in both pvm and pvp. Ribby is used in pvm/ubers because of the fast attack and the great % of CB on it. For pvp it is advised to have a 1 handed weapon with max block, and also a 2 handed weapon for range. Dweb and a 4 facet'd monarch are standards for the switch glitch with rabies.

Armor-Coh is a great armor for pvm, but not used in pvp that often. Fort has the great 300% ed for your fury damage but doesn't offer up much for rabies. Bramble has the great up to 50% poison dmg for your Rabies but again doesn't offer up much for your fury. Engima(tossing in another armor) is a good overall armor it has 2 skills for rabies, the str combines to add ed for fury, and it has massive FRW which you will need in pvp. For pvm coh/duress/smoke can all work. For pvp fort/bramble/enigma all have their place inside your stash.

Belt and Shield-Dungos combined with a Stormshield are great for this build. Phoenix does offer up some nice ed but it lacks anything in the blocking department, also has no res.

Gloves-For pvm Dracs are a godsend you will use fury through pvm and when Life Tap procs you will basically be invincible. For pvp however, Trangs are mainly used for the extra poison dmg, not to mention LT in duels is considered BM by most.

Rings-Ravenfrost is a must as you pointed out. The other ring can be a lot of different things, dwarf/wisp for a little extra sorb, a nice rare with dual leech/stats/res, angelic ring combined with the ammy, even another raven. A BK ring however doesn't add much, the 1 skill isn't that great on a melee build, and the life doesn't get multiplied by BO/Lycan/Oak it ends up as just a drop in the bucket for your overall life.

Ammy-For pvm highlords is nice for the ds/res, atmas should also be thrown into consideration. The ctc amp on atmas reduces the physical res of monsters in the effected area, it will remove PI's, since you will use fury in pvm it helps out a lot. For pvp however a 3 ss/90+ life ammy, angelic ring/ammy, cats eye, can all be used depending on the situation.

Helm-Jalals is the best overall helm for this build by far. Cerebus bite can be needed in pvp against very high def characters but that is about it.

Boots-Gores are wonderful for fury. Aldurs boots are another set worth looking at, mainly for pvp but the FRW/life/fire res is nothing to just push off to the side.

Overall questions:

HR/BR?

Check the calcs for your overall speed, remember IAS on gear doesn't help out a fury wolf much unless you are swinging very slow, which with an EBOTDz you should be fine with your fury speed.

[MizzouVic]

Before you get too far into this build, I just wanted to say I had a fury/rabies druid before (1.11) and the poison just didnt seem very effective with pvm, I had deathsweb and 50% bramble, so not like I dont have decent equipment.
For the more experience members, please correct me if I was wrong, I do not want to give wrong info, I just wanted to give my 2 cents.
Thanks!

[BAMFSpecialOps]

For the last time, RABIES IS NOT A PVM SKILL...

[Tangerinedream]

Why is rabies not considered a pvm skill? I would think that a pure fury build would have a harder time than a hybrid build. Nothing that I have at this point other than a ravensfrost does enough elemental damage to take down a physical immune character. A simple lvl 2 amplify damage will remove PIs? So basically I should just go pure fury than if I am going to focus primarily on pvm and have that in my stash. If I go pure fury and plan on doing pvm/Ubers 99.9% of the time then I should just get CoH for both the rest of the DR (my dungos isn't perfect 15%), which would put me at the 50% cap. Also CoH has all the resists which is perfect for hell and ubers.

Also my line of thinking was for act IV when going against a lot of skellies and Iron Maiden I could do a hit, switch glitch and run till they die. All the while it is spreading and saving me trouble of having to stay in the mix and possibly getting one shotted due to Iron Maiden dropping on me.

Also I did read the fury/rabies guide, as I stated above I read the stickies and various other guides other than that one. I am starting to look into some zealot threads since it is a similar build.

I am still confused concerning iron maiden and the hunger question. Will hunger + ebotdz be able to survive this curse? I remember one person saying in an older thread that one reason grief is so good is because that with hunger is one of the few things melee can do to survive and iron maiden. Clarification on this would be greatly appreciated because it will affect my weapon choices.

So basically if I was going to focus on pvm/Ubers using what I have, and seeing it as being better imo than a two handed build with little to no DR, here is the gear I would be using.

helm: Jalals- Resists, AR increase, FRH, +skills
Ammy: Highlords- resists, +skills, deadly strike OR Atma's Scarab: PIs
Weapon: ebotdz
Shield: SS socketed with Diamond- Resists, DR
Armor: Coh- Resists, DR (caps me off at 50% with dungos and SS), str boost, + skills.
Rings: Ravenfrost and BK (seems to be the only thing that fits the spot for now.)
Belt: Dungos- DR, great stats
Boots: Gores- perfect for melee what else can be said. I think this makes up for not having ribby for ubers since the CB along with the zerker and stuff is high. So if ribby is simply for the great CB and fast speed then I think ebotdz plus gores do the job, while still allowing me to have a shield for block and DR.
Gloves: Dracs- LT what more needs to be said? Pure fury build I dont need to worry about trang gloves or anything else.

More tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Tang

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Rabies is NOT a pvm skill because it has a huge duration, monsters have decent poison res, infecting over 10 or so monsters will drop a game. Unless you want to run around in circles waiting for your rabies to actually kill something then shy away from it. For PI's there are always high elemental dmg weapons, the CTC from torch, and atmas ammy does take away a lot of the PI's in the game, toss a reapers on your merc for the CTC decrep and you will have an easier time, it also lowers the physical res of monsters.

COH is a great pvm armor, res/dr/leech/some str get it if you can.

For IM, go right after the OK's and try to take them out first, if you do get cursed with IM run around until you get recursed, or grief+hunger will take them out without you dying.

If you are going to do ubers, get a ribcracker and upgrade it and socket it with a shael.

I would still think about at least a Dwarf instead of a BK ring the extra fire res/life(that gets multiplied by bo/oak/etc) well outweighs the skill/small life from the BK.

[Tangerinedream]

Ok I hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but due to your advice I am changing a lot of my original ideas. Instead of the fury/rabies (pvp focuse), I am just going for a pure fury build.

I still do not understand what is the issue with grief + hunger, why can't it be ebotdz + hunger? What is it that grief has over zerker? The damage reduced due to hunger is the same on both weapons, what is it that makes one viable and the other one not. If I could get this answered explaining then I would be content. I have looked at some threads/guides but they dont really answer it unless I am missing it over and over again.

Thank you

Tang

[Verashiden]

It's not, Grief's + damage is bugged so it doesn't register under IM, hence why Hunger + Grief PB can keep you alive even while Maidened.

[Tangerinedream]

And all the questions have been answered. Thank you thank you guys. Well I am off to get a rush and plan out my skills and have a blast. I think for chaos sanctuary and just act IV as a whole I will have like a buriza or something as my weapon switch, since that is considered ranged and doesn't register the IM correct?

Well I cant wait for this character :P

Tang

[Verashiden]

That used to be the case with one of the newer patches they fixed that "bug" and now you'll die if you swing with Buriza while Maidened.

[Tangerinedream]

UGH well how do I make it through and IM bomb then?

The only thing I could see making it was rabies since it would be the hit and run deal but that, as stated earlier, is more pvp focused and not worth using in pvm.

Any suggestions outside of just gettign a Grief PB?

Tang

[Verashiden]

Rush the OKs, when you enter melee with them they immediately cast Decrep on you so they can run. It'll override Maiden and leave you safer >.>

[Tangerinedream]

I the word "safer" is a bummer still LOL. oh well I guess that is the only option.

People still wouldn't see rabies as a safe healthy(lol) alternative?

Tang

[Verashiden]

Nope, because if you're on BNet you'll be dropping games left and right.

[Tangerinedream]

I guess Imma have to spring for a grief then and sell my cojones.

Tang

[Verashiden]

Well, Another solution is a weapon with low physical, high elemental damage on switch. Baranar's won't outright kill you like other weapons will but will deal enough damage to not make killing painful.