Need help Fireclaw bear

[Awooooolf]

Hi everyone! :wave:

for a long time now I have been wanting to make a fireclaw druid but whenever I make something thats not an necro and play it untwinked I fail.
First I made a paladin but failed alot, so I traded my things for barbarian items and made an titan barb. It was the most fun I have ever had in diablo. but then again I made an fire sorc and didnt buy any things before making it so I failed alot again, so now I have been buying lots of things for my fireclaw druid. I want him to be perfect and just as fun as my titan barb. This is what I got so far:

Jalals - I think I will socket it with an um rune
+1 druid skills +30 str +12 dex amulet - is it good?
Duress "mesh armor" - my first "good" runeword :alright:
gorerider - crushing blow and open wounds
credendum belt - I think I have to use to get good resísts in hell
Ravenfrost ring - cnbf and other useful things
Ravenfrost ring - other useful things
Magefist or bloodfist - which one is best?
Baranars star - for fire immunes on switch

and for my merc I have bonehew "amn", treachery, and gaze

charms:

Anni 19/12/10
druid torch 15/17
do I need more charms?

This is what I am going to get:
Spirit shield monarch
6 Shael phaseblade or gris caddy?
tiamat's rebuke on switch maybe?
maras amulet or is my amulet good enough?
insight - will I have problem with mana?

So this is what I have and need, will this be good or do I need some changes?
First I wanted infinity for fire immunes but it is way too expensive so I decided to use baranars and tiamats on switch. I will have no leach but with a 30 dmg phase blade does 5%ll really make an difference?
With no other charms with resist I will atleast have a positive amount of resists. I will have about +10~ skills. one more thing that I dont like is that spirit monarch needs 150~ str and a phase blade needs 130~ dex so maybe a girs caddy would be better? but I heard that it won't reach 4 fps attack.

What is your proffesional opinions?

I play non ladder europe softcore and I cant afford super expensive runewords and all my good things I got for free.

My skill build will be:
20 fc
1+ firestorm
20 molten boulder
20 fissure
20 volcano
1+ shock wave
5+ lycanthropy
1 oak sage
1 carrion vine
1 all pre req

what is best to put more into as I get to higher levels?

[Awooooolf]

Why doesn't anyone help me? I feel so alone, everyone hates me and I dont have any friends. WHY!!!?!?! WHY ME, GOD!?!?!? WHY!?!?!?!?

Should I do it with a knife or maybe a plastic bag over my head? I might even try hanging myself.... I feel so alone.

[superjayson]

is this for pvm ?

[devildriver]

im gonna ignore your second post if thats ok.
I'll try to help -.-
My fireclaws knowledge is very BEAR LOL (bare, get it??)
OK here it goes.

If you are unsure on skill points then looking at Jason rated's fire claws bear guide is very useful. It says you could sacrifice a fireclaws synergy for lycanthropy to make you more of a tank. I am not sure what you should do at higher levels.

6socket phase blade is a must.

I would chose bloodfists over magefists any day.

SS is better then spirit for a melee char such as a fireclaws bear obviously so get one of those.

You will most likely NOT have a problem with mana especially at higher levels.

If you can get a maras then sure.

Everything else looks decent and im sure will work, I dont have a strategy on fire immunes though, so wait for an expert to come in. Try not to kill yourself too :)

[jakotaco]

I played a fireclaws druid as my first char on ladder4 and it was fun, some thought i was mad and said it was like doing a wwsin untwinked, that is definately not true. Once you have the phase blade and 6 shaels (which was tough untwinked, but not impossible through trading) Shock wave is your and your parties best friend until you get strong enough to tank. And you will probably keep using it to some extent even after that.

Skill build looks solid.

Fire immunes are a pain if solo, 4fpa and crushing blow makes sure you can hurt them but to finish them alone you might want a physical damaging merc, and a weapon with some phys damage. Griz caddy or Grief comes to mind, but the second one is a bit too expensive. Else you might try to take them out with volcano once they are stunned from shockwave they will at least stand still inside it...

[Awooooolf]

thanks for the reply
I play pvm but maybe i'll do some pvp later
but what is best to max last? 1 more synergy or lycan? and is ss really much better than spirit? do i need the extra survivability? but maybe with ss I can max synergy and with spirit lycan

can baranars work or do I need to get a gris caddy?

thanks again :thumbup:

[Verashiden]

I didn't help because if you'd taken a minuet to search you'd have found plenty of answers for you questions.

[superjayson]

thanks for the reply
I play pvm but maybe i'll do some pvp later
but what is best to max last? 1 more synergy or lycan? and is ss really much better than spirit? do i need the extra survivability? but maybe with ss I can max synergy and with spirit lycan

can baranars work or do I need to get a gris caddy?

thanks again :thumbup:

max last synergy last.

if you're just going to be pvm,spirit will work fine, although for pvp and melee builds in general ss > spirit.

you are better off getting some crushing blow and open wounds (which you already have) and rely on a merc for fire immunes. baranar's suck.

[Awooooolf]

AWESOME! VERASHIDEN POSTED IN MY THREAD!!!!
You rule! I wish I was as good as you, but you probably have to be a god to be as good as you are. well thanks for dropping in :jig:


so ditch the baranars then, I really thought that it would be good but i guess my merc can handle most of the fire immunes while I hit with my cb and open wounds

thank you jayson

[superjayson]

also put a point into shockwave. after the rest of your gear boosts it to higher levels you'll have the ultimate crowd control in pvm.

[Jary]

AWESOME! VERASHIDEN POSTED IN MY THREAD!!!!
You rule! I wish I was as good as you, but you probably have to be a god to be as good as you are. well thanks for dropping in :jig:


so ditch the baranars then, I really thought that it would be good but i guess my merc can handle most of the fire immunes while I hit with my cb and open wounds

thank you jayson

NObody disses rashi!! (except me)

I've been using a Caddy... although a (barely noticeable) frame slower, I like the extra physical damage. Also, I went 2 synerg, max Werebear route... I think I handle PI's and Fi's very easily that way, but.. well, to each is own :)

[Verashiden]

AWESOME! VERASHIDEN POSTED IN MY THREAD!!!!
You rule! I wish I was as good as you, but you probably have to be a god to be as good as you are. well thanks for dropping in :jig:


so ditch the baranars then, I really thought that it would be good but i guess my merc can handle most of the fire immunes while I hit with my cb and open wounds

thank you jayson

I'm godly? Heh, normally I'd give you some wise *** remark back. But for some reason, I like you O_o. Welcome aboard!

And personally, I feel Caddy >> PB PvM. The physical damage allows you to leech as well as deal with FIs.

[Awooooolf]

ok, so I should use gris caddy then even though devildriver said it was a must to use phase blade. but what should i socket it with? Do I need those 40/15 jewels? I dont think I can afford them :scratchchin:


well 1 point in shock wave wont give me the 10 second stun it will probably be enough. with my final gear and no skillers I will have 8.8 sec stun.
if I will be using gris caddy fire immunes wont be much of a problem I guess and without baranars on switch I might get me one of those barbarian on a stick (cta) probably a very low one or /f msg anyone have a free cta??

thanks for all the replies! and to you verashiden, I like you too :wink:

[Jary]

nothings a must. Depends how you wanna make your bear. Me, I wanna have the least amount of dead matches... phase blade is one of the fastest (easiest) ways of killing, but the problem is you run into a LOT of FI's in hell. I want something that handles well in all situations, which is why I used Grief PB/Griz Caddy. Using grief you swing at 7 fpa, a little slower, but you can just plow through FI, PI ancients or Trav np at all. Griz caddy is similar, you swing very fast at 5 fpa, but it cuts through FI's... and if they're undead it has 250% damage to undead mod too ^.~ Either way, its fast vs effective.. any of the options work well. Another great option that I've used before on my FC Bear is azurewrath. If you don't have a Lo or ias/xx jewels for your caddy this is prolly your better option, it swings at 6 fpa so sorta right in-between caddy & grief, but it's so friggin versatile and will kill ANYTHING in the game. It requires you to be lvl 85 though, so it is sorta endgame but another great option.

Hope that gives you a good idea. Dont hurt yourself now =P

[Awooooolf]

I think i'll use the azurewrath then but I will need to get 15 oias to get 6 frames attack. how fast is 6 frames? 4 is like 6.2 attacks in 1 sec I think.

The main problem is what weapon to use before I get to level 85. the 2 weapons I can get my hands on is a 6s phase blade and a gris caddy. one of the reasons I wanted to use gris caddy was the low dex req compaired to a phase blade, but when I am going to use azurewrath later it wont matter. I would have to change my equipment if I want to have any leech and I dont really know what to socket the gris caddy with and if I need 40/15 jewels i'm totally screwed. I need to know what my options is when it comes to socket my caddy. how much ias do I need to get 5 fpa? what is the cheapest way I can socket my caddy? what is the best way to socket it? :scratchchin:

[Jary]

For 5 fpa, your best options are:
-3xshael, +damage jewel
-3xshael, Lo
-3x15ias/40ed, shael

...listed in increasing $

The Lo option is really nice too. Add that to highlords and that's ~55% deadly. Throw in Gore riders and you have ~70%. Use Lance guard for your shield, that's 90% deadly lol.. so pretty much doubles your all around damage. Just a thought

highlords is a great way to clear any Oias too. You might as well have over 125 dext anyways, 'cause I'd highly recommend getting a stormshield along the way at some point. If not now later.

[Awooooolf]

Warning! lots of pointless reading, make sure you got coffee :coffee:

well going with stormshield and highlords would lower my resists alot but increasing my dr. while the deadly strike on highlords would increase my damage, loosing the +2 skills on spirit would deacrease it. I really dont like ss, if I would want a new sheild I would probably use Spirit ward with a -15 req jewel + some other juicy mod. I would be able to use highlords because spirit ward gives 90 all resist and it also have higher block than ss but a bit slower. without spirit shield I would probably use magefists instead of bloodfists because the 30 fhr wont hit bp.

I can choose from 2 different builds now:
1. Highlords + Spirit ward with a nice jewel + Gris caddy with good jewels
2. Maras + spirit + gris caddy with shaels
since nr 2 is more expensive (and I already have highlords and spirit ward) I can buy better jewels for my caddy if I go with nr 1. also spirit ward makes you look awesome.
What is best? and is a good gris caddy better than a azurewrath?

Spirit ward

Defense: 393-478 (varies)(Base Defense: 153-170)
Required Level: 68
Required Strength: 185
Chance to Block: Pal: 74-84%, Ama/Asn/Bar: 69-79%, Dru/Nec/Sor: 64-74%
Paladin Smite Damage: 11 To 35
+130-180% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+25% Faster Block Rate
20-30% Increased Chance of Blocking (varies)
All Resistances +30-40 (varies)
+6-11 Cold Absorb (varies)
5% Chance To Cast Level 8 Fade When Struck

[Jary]

Personally I'd rather save 30 points of strength using ss and put them in dexterity or life. Either way, ward is a good alternative.

also spirit ward makes you look awesome.
True dat :P

What is best? and is a good gris caddy better than a azurewrath?
mmm.. tough call. I'd say, if you're geared more around phys damage... like my FC bear went 2 synergies + max Werebear (fort, highlords, etc) then griz caddy is clearly more dominant, simply 'cause it dishes out more physical damage at a slightly faster speed so the extra ED really helps it a lot. However, if you're gonna go pure FC route (3-4 synergies) and not completely geared for phys damage then I'd say azurewrath is much more effective since it adds crazy damage mods and bonuses without needing to be geared as much for damage... kinda get what I mean? >.<

[Awooooolf]

well with a -15 req jewel the 185 str goes down to 157 which is only 1 more str than ss. but ofc if you put the jewel in a ss it would be lower, but some people use stormshield with shael or um and still dont think 156 str req is too high. on my fireclaw druid I need a shield for 2 reasons, more damage and more resists. as I have shockwave most melee attackers wont get in a single hit on me, thats why the dr on ss is not that needed. If i'll do some pvp ofc I will equip the ss but for pvm I like max resists for those gloams.
I think i'll use highlords, gris caddy and spirit ward but when I get to level 85 i'll switch to maras, azurewrath and "spirit" monarch or ss. maybe i'll still use spirit ward as a prebuff on switch but if I have a cta by then i'll most likely use it instead. what is best? more damage and life with spirit or more dr and max block with ss? :scratchchin:

[Jary]

max block > vita (druids dont get a very impressive vita-per-life)

[Awooooolf]

I'll go max block, no spirit then.

I have checked how much resists I will have in hell with maras and stormshield, and this is what I found out:

using jalals with um, stormshield with p-diamond and a 22 resist maras.

Fire: 75
Cold: 145
Light: 100
poison: 75

and if I prebuff fade from my mercs treachery I get +60 all resists and 15 dr, and with the 35 dr from ss I have 50 dr :thumbup:

would I be able to kill ubers If I get vamp gloves, something with lots of resists and use gris caddy or azurewrath? maybe change gores and jalals for goblin toes and guillames face.

****! I found out I need the highlords to get 6 frame attack with azurewrath, how can I get max resists in hell and still have the oias I need for 6 fpa?

Ah well I think I got an solution to it, if I change credendum to nosferatus coil I got 10% ias and with the 10% on bloodfist i'll get enough for 6 fpa on azurewrath, it also has life leech. but this means changing from magefist to bloodfist again. lol this is really confusing

[Awooooolf]

I wrote a poem for this dead thread::coffee:

My friends they left me long ago
I got no place to stay
I ask for food from door to door
but no one ever helps me out
they leave me all alone

I have no hope, my dreams are lost
the life of mine is cold and weak
I haven't eaten in a week

I'm lying bleeding on the street
a knife is in my hand
I cut myself to understand
why no one helps a desperate man

[lumpor]

A good way to see how fast a "x frame attack" is, is to look at the amount of frames,. That will be how many seconds it will take for you to attack 25 times. If you have a 6 frame attack, it will take 6 seconds for you to attack 25 times.

Also, 6 is 150% of 4. Therefore, a 6 frame attack will take 50% longer than a 4 frame attack.

the fastest way is to check how many times the numer of frames fits in 25. 5 fits 5 times in 25. therefore you will be ablt to attack 5 times per second with a 5 frame attack. 4 will fit 6,25 times in 25, so therefore you will attack 6,25 times per second with a 4 frame attack. Basically, it's division, but for people who don't like math that's another way to put it

Basically, just divide 25 with the number of frames your attack has and that's how many attack/second you will make. 25/10=2,5 so a 10 frame attack attacks 2,5 times/second

For skills, I recommend max fourth synergy in softcore if you have max block and lycanthropy in hardcore or no max block

[Awooooolf]

thanks for the help :thumbup:

btw did you like my poem?

[lumpor]

Yeah, especialy the ending. :)

[MCPWTB]

Hey, I need help for my hardcore PVM fireclaw bear.
I am in single player so even six socket phase blade is hard to find, much less 6 shaels, much less anything better. So don't even go there, I know all the best equipment, but I'm going to have to do with less.
I do have shael um so I was looking at two options:
Duress armor or Crescent Moon in a Phase Blade.
I was thinking the crescent moon would help with lightning damage and the bonuses of duress speak for themselves.

I just don't see a way to finish hell with just physical and fireclaw for damage, mostly because of Fire resistances.

[Verashiden]

Shockwave run? I mean seriously.

Are you doing single clears? If not, just run NM countess until you get the Shaels you need and put them in a six soc Weapon. It won't be as fast as a PB but it'll do for all intents and purposes.

Duress>>>>>>Crescent Moon. Crappy Lightning damage is crappy and monsters are just as resistant to lightning as fire, making Static a horrible spell for procs.

So, use SW and if you can't win the fight, avoid it.

[MCPWTB]

Thanks.
I decided on Duress after thinking about the damage output vs crescent moon.

Like you said, faster attack with CB is going to be better than a static proc all the time. So obvious today.

Kind of not interested in doing countess runs. Thanks for the advice anyways.


Also one more question,
Is it worth it to put more points(+5?) into shockwave assuming I have minimal plus to skill, if any? Or should I just throw the rest into fireclaw synergies?

[Verashiden]

Put enough points to get SW to 15 after +skills

[siegecommander]

I personally found getting hunger (just 1 point) to be extremely helpful, since I don't have any form of gaining mana (no mana leech on equip ). Hunger w/ gris caddy refills my mana (and life!) really fast, and saved me countless times where the only way to heal would be potting.

[MCPWTB]

New question, I read arreat summit and now am confused because it lists demon crossbow at -60 base speed.
For just putting shaels into a weapon, should I use a 5 socket ChuKoNu/Demon Crossbow or a 6 socket phase blade[-30]? Would it still get the crushing blow with the crossbow?

Thanks.