Newcomer - druid questions

[Ganraeln]

Hi all, getting back into D2 in anticipation of D3!

I'm trying my hand at the Druid for the first time, and have seen several builds out there - some of which are at odds as to the best use of skill points. So, I have a few questions:

1) For summoners, how useful are points in Spirit Wolves? It looks like the synergy helps the attack (rating?) and defense (rating?) of other summons. I've seen some builds that insist on this synergy being useless, and others that say it helps. So, what's the scoop?

2) For that matter, what's the defense rating and attack rating of Dire Wolves and the Grizzly before other modifiers? How does the to hit chance and chance to be hit get calculated for these summons?

3) I'm thinking about a hybrid shapeshifter / summoner build (I want get get in and scrap with my minions!) with the following skills:

Shapeshifting:

? points - Lycanthropy
20 points - Werewolf
1 point - Feral Rage
1 point - Rabies
4 points - Fury

Summoning:
1 point - Raven
1 point - Oak Sage
? points - Spirit Wolves
20 points - Dire Wolves
20 points - Grizzly

I only have 68 points allocated, because I'm not sure if the Spirit Wolves or the Lycanthropy points are more important.

I figure I can just get to 4 points of Fury, to get to the 5 attacks, as the extra points only help a little bit with attack+% (is that attack rating, like the same bonus that is enhanced with Werewolf itself?), and I think I can overcome the lack of damage % with items (yes, no, maybe?). I figure the 20 points in Werewolf is indispensable to get the attack speed, and I get (hopefully) all the attack rating boost I need from werewolf.

Do I need the points in Spirit Wolves in order to make my summons viable in Hell difficulty? Or am I better off dumping the points into Lycanthropy?

[Jary]

Hi all, getting back into D2 in anticipation of D3!
Yeah dude! get the blood flowing again, welcome!

1) For summoners, how useful are points in Spirit Wolves? It looks like the synergy helps the attack (rating?) and defense (rating?) of other summons. I've seen some builds that insist on this synergy being useless, and others that say it helps. So, what's the scoop?
Yeah... it is kinda pointless usually since +skillz actually add to the synergies for summons (no other skill trees do that lol). As long as you have a good amount of +skills you can get by without.

2) For that matter, what's the defense rating and attack rating of Dire Wolves and the Grizzly before other modifiers? How does the to hit chance and chance to be hit get calculated for these summons?
I guess I could spell it out, but I'll let you play around with the bible for D2 Players: :wink:http://www.d2items.com/skills.php?class=bar

3) I'm thinking about a hybrid shapeshifter / summoner build (I want get get in and scrap with my minions!) with the following skills:
I think that's a good idea. On my Shock-summoner, I was just a pure summoner and put one point in maul (but with +skills it was like lvl 16 lol), but toss on a Grief PB for kicks and I could duke it out with my Bear pretty dang well. 2v1, I like those odds, throw in a merc and its a 3v1 brawl party. lol
From what I see though, what you really need to check out is SafetyPros "TownDump Werebear" Guide, its built around Bear but it works just as well with Fury Wolf. I mean, use your imagination pretty much... instead of Maul use Fury. Also, Since you're using Fury you can get by with one less Shael, so make sure you check out the Ias Calculator in the stickies.. kk :wave: