Build Guide - The Town Dump WereBear

[schnelltot]

What if I max Maul instead of HOW? I know my pets will have reduced killing power, but honestly I'm more concerned about my killing power--the more the better. slvl 20 Maul with fully charged 260% damage is superior to HOW's slvl 20 153% ED (and the AR is better for Maul, too).

I like HOW (it especially looks cool with that red aura below your feet) and had it maxed on another build a while ago, but I hate how it dies in a snap, and you have to recast it over and over again. It's annoying.

[Kichel]

Thanks for this guide as this character looks like fun!

I am currently working on a Hard Core/Ironman Level 16 atm (no twinking) version of this build.

The only change in skill selection I am planning is the use of 2 points to vines to eat corpses (more important in HC).

My equipment will be quite poor all along the way of course. Rather than specific equipment choices, any poor man item stat selections and suggested tips would be appreciated.

On the Maul vs HOW, I think you will need the HOW for Hunger and the other attacks when you are not using Maul. Hunger appears to be a large part of this build and low AR on its attack would cripple you.

[ReCo]

There is one very important question for me: how does it deal with Iron maiden? hunger only

some factors:
wearing IK items (there is hidden bonus of 200% damage)
might merc, maxed HoW

i made some calculations and with hunger my max phisical damage is around 600 (not counting 200% bonus damage to undead etc , so the number is higher in fact)

ive got 2,5k life (and 20% damage red) at the moment and play in hardcore so i cant do the test alone
will i survive hit with iron maiden? how much damage will i take? will i deshift first instead of dying?

[Verashiden]

In order:

Yes
Think it'll be ~2.4k (400% return)
Yes

[safetypro]

Sorry guys, was away on vacation. I have a bunch of catching up to do so I hope I address everyone's questions adequately.

Someone mentioned using werefolf and fury instead of werebear and maul.. has anyone tried that? It seems fury would provide more dmg, as well as being able to hit several targets in one go.
one could then go for both, having both werebear-maul and werewolf-fury, or go for fury only and getting more points in it, which would mean more dmg.

I tried the wolves in hell act4 and they didn't really do a lot of dmg. (with lvl 20 spirit) didn't have my might merc with me at the time, though.

I used fury while leveling this ladder. I used it to speed up a very slow weapon. It's really not needed once you equip your IK maul. You will be hitting 7 frames with lots of damage and as was mentioned by Verashiden, you will loose your Shockwave. The Werebear is much sexier than a Werewolf anyways.

Dire wolves are very Hell viable. I use wolves all the time and only switch to Grizzly for bosses. With proper skills and gear your wolves will do plenty of damage.

How do you guys use this in hell? Is it viable running around in 8 player hell baal games? I'm sorry if this has been asked

Sure it's viable in 8 player Hell Baal games. It will bring a skill set that will be welcomed by your group. You may consider using your Grizzly instead of your Dire Wolves due to it's increased damage and durability.

What if I max Maul instead of HOW? I know my pets will have reduced killing power, but honestly I'm more concerned about my killing power--the more the better. slvl 20 Maul with fully charged 260% damage is superior to HOW's slvl 20 153% ED (and the AR is better for Maul, too).

I like HOW (it especially looks cool with that red aura below your feet) and had it maxed on another build a while ago, but I hate how it dies in a snap, and you have to recast it over and over again. It's annoying.

You need the HoW and you don't need to max Maul. Your killing power will be fine with the recommended skill set.

Maxed HoW does die once in a while, however if you pay attention when it is being attacked, you can often kill the monsters before they damage your HoW. All bets are off of course, when you face act bosses like Diablo and Baal but hopefully, the HoW will remain long enough for you to get in a few good hits. Seriously, you will only have to re-summon HoW occasionally if you play smart, draw mobs away from large groups, attack in smaller groups and come to HoW's aid when it is attacked.

Thanks for this guide as this character looks like fun!

I am currently working on a Hard Core/Ironman Level 16 atm (no twinking) version of this build.

The only change in skill selection I am planning is the use of 2 points to vines to eat corpses (more important in HC).

My equipment will be quite poor all along the way of course. Rather than specific equipment choices, any poor man item stat selections and suggested tips would be appreciated.

On the Maul vs HOW, I think you will need the HOW for Hunger and the other attacks when you are not using Maul. Hunger appears to be a large part of this build and low AR on its attack would cripple you.

Thanks for choosing this build to try HC. There are a couple of people who tried this in Hardcore and were successful. IIRC one of the HC builders did list his gear and slightly different skill choices.
[EDIT] Read Terria's posts on pages 6 through 9.

Good luck with your build and trust nobody!

There is one very important question for me: how does it deal with Iron maiden? hunger only

some factors:
wearing IK items (there is hidden bonus of 200% damage)
might merc, maxed HoW

i made some calculations and with hunger my max phisical damage is around 600 (not counting 200% bonus damage to undead etc , so the number is higher in fact)

ive got 2,5k life (and 20% damage red) at the moment and play in hardcore so i cant do the test alone
will i survive hit with iron maiden? how much damage will i take? will i deshift first instead of dying?

I've attached a quote from the build guide on dealing with Iron Maiden:

Finally, Shockwave (lvl 24) has been dubbed the Best Werebear Skill by many seasoned Druid veterans including my friend SSoG. Shockwave damages your enemy and stuns them for a prolonged period. This makes Shockwave an extremely viable crowd control skill which will stop monsters in their tracks and render them useless to formulate a retaliatory attack. Simply cast the shockwave and you and your group will be able to pick them off like ducks in a shooting gallery. This effect makes shockwave a viable skill to use against Iron Maiden casting Oblivion Knights. When in the Chaos Sanctuary, simply cast shockwave over and over while your Mercenary and Wolves clean house. You can even take advantage of the extra +5 skills on your switch to have an even larger impact.

Hunger is a good skill but not recommended for Iron Maiden. You will still loose life and could die.

[schnelltot]

I've reached level 80 by now. I ended up maxing Maul and dropping HoW. I think I just preferred to have focused on the Werebear part of the build instead of the summoning. With +skills my slvl 28 Maul does +340% damage when fully charged, and using it with the IK maul and its elemental bonuses, it annihilates. I don't have to worry about recasting it or having to focus on protecting it when it gets swarmed by monsters, and I get the better AR and damage boost.

I also ended up maxing only Grizzly, with placing a handful of points in Dire Wolves to boost the Grizzly's health. Even without HoW, the Grizzly deals out good damage. The only thing I don't like about him is that he doesn't hold up well. He's got just over 3000 health and still, if he encounters just about any minion group, he gets his rear handed to him.

Contrast that with my Amazon build that had a similar level Valkyrie. She had like 2500 health but somehow was able to stand up to anything, and her damage wasn't far behind that of the Grizzly. I just think overall that the Druid summons are unimpressive compared with the other summonables in the Game (Valkyrie, Shadow Master, an army of Skeletons).

So I didn't quite follow the guide, but I am using the same gear. I think the IK set using Jala's rocks for a Werebear in itself. I'm happy with it.

[ericsonofchuck]

No idea if this has already been suggested in the first 20 pages, but I figured I'd throw out Bonesnap as a great weapon for the 24-75 stage. Equip it at 24, upgrade it at 30, then Shael it at 34 -- I'm doing ~1700 damage at lvl 38, with good attack speed.

[Verashiden]

Steeldriver is better IMO

[safetypro]

I've reached level 80 by now. I ended up maxing Maul and dropping HoW. I think I just preferred to have focused on the Werebear part of the build instead of the summoning. With +skills my slvl 28 Maul does +340% damage when fully charged, and using it with the IK maul and its elemental bonuses, it annihilates. I don't have to worry about recasting it or having to focus on protecting it when it gets swarmed by monsters, and I get the better AR and damage boost.

I also ended up maxing only Grizzly, with placing a handful of points in Dire Wolves to boost the Grizzly's health. Even without HoW, the Grizzly deals out good damage. The only thing I don't like about him is that he doesn't hold up well. He's got just over 3000 health and still, if he encounters just about any minion group, he gets his rear handed to him.

Contrast that with my Amazon build that had a similar level Valkyrie. She had like 2500 health but somehow was able to stand up to anything, and her damage wasn't far behind that of the Grizzly. I just think overall that the Druid summons are unimpressive compared with the other summonables in the Game (Valkyrie, Shadow Master, an army of Skeletons).

So I didn't quite follow the guide, but I am using the same gear. I think the IK set using Jala's rocks for a Werebear in itself. I'm happy with it.

Nothing wrong with putting your personal touch on the build. Glad it worked well for you and hope you had fun trying it.

Druids are definitely different than Amazons in terms of minions. The Druid summons have to be synergized to be Hell effective while the Zon's don't. You must also remember that the Druid's attack skills can be very effective with only a few points invested while the Zon needs her attack skills to be maxed or synergized to be effective. That's the trade off. Each class of character has their own idiosyncrasies that you must learn and work with to become effective.

No idea if this has already been suggested in the first 20 pages, but I figured I'd throw out Bonesnap as a great weapon for the 24-75 stage. Equip it at 24, upgrade it at 30, then Shael it at 34 -- I'm doing ~1700 damage at lvl 38, with good attack speed.

Steeldriver is better IMO

Either weapon is a decent choice for a leveling Werebear. My personal favorite is the Fleshrender which I can use with Tiamat's Rebuke for resists, +skills, juicy melee mods, good physical damage and elemental damage to boot.

[obtusemoose]

I just got my Werebear to 76 and I have to say, its a fantastic build. Have been using Fleshrender up until now, and the jump in damage up equipping the IK Maul is enourmous.

A maxed bear with decent +skills is just beastly, taking minion packs no worries, and the Wolves can do it too with support from shockwave.

Contrast that with my Amazon build that had a similar level Valkyrie. She had like 2500 health but somehow was able to stand up to anything, and her damage wasn't far behind that of the Grizzly. I just think overall that the Druid summons are unimpressive compared with the other summonables in the Game (Valkyrie, Shadow Master, an army of Skeletons).

You have to remember that the Valk benefits from D/A/E, and has a pretty decent amound of defense as well as rare equipment.

At the moment when I cast my bear hes at level 31, with Twin Isle, Sigons Guard, DTorch and 3 D Summon Skillers. He rides on about 6k life almost. Once I grab a few more skillers, a 2 Skills ammy and dig up my Spirit I can't see him getting worse

All in all great fun, the strategic use of Shockwave is what makes the build I think, and being able to tear into things yourself puts it head and shoulders over typical summoners.