Best SP Bear with No Gear

[HumptyDumpty]

Hi Diablo II fans!

I like the look of the Werebear..... I am wondering if anyone knows what the best build might be for a single player (TCP co-op too) only build starting from scratch. No gear, won't be MF'ing at all so won't get anything specific ... ever. I've been reading a lot of guides, but all recommended very specific gear that I will never see. That's fine, I want to make sure I stay ligit so whatever drops is what I get.

What would you suggest as the best bear build cosidering that? I prefer melee, but of course it is pretty slow going. Nice damage when he eventually hits though.

Thanks in advance!

[Pyrotechnician]

If you prefer a melee wearbear and you are going with no gear and no magic finding. Then to get yourself through normal and nightmare mode nothing is going to beat a build based around fireclaws. The damage is not reliant on a decent weapon as are most melee builds but is centered more around +skill items which are usually easier to get without specific gear. Once you get to hell mode your going to have more difficulty as the number of fire immunes are plenty, there you are going to want to respec and incorporate the use of shockwave as that will be the main thing to keep you safe during your progress through hell. Hopefully by then you will have picked up a decent melee weapon somewhere along your travels.

[HumptyDumpty]

Thank you.

Fireclaws is better than maul and perhaps some hunger?

The reason I was thinking of those skills is because of the fire resistances found in hell difficulty. I think I recall that a nice high-damage fast weapon is needed for maul though. Perhaps I just answered my own question.

I could just put a point into shockwave initially and then raise it more during hell difficulty. In the past, I have been still leveling up my characters while running through hell difficulty so that approach might work even without a respec.

[Pyrotechnician]

Fireclaws will overall produce better damage numbers through Normal and Nightmare mode as the number of fire immunes there are limited. Once you reach hell mode though fireclaws is impossible to work with due to the large number of fire immunes so you will need to switch to something else, most likely a Maul/Hunger combination with the use of shockwave. As you stated though this requires a good weapon find, or finding the right runes to create a good weapon. Doing it this way then respecing makes it so that your not reliant on finding a good weapon "right away" and will have most of nightmare to find a suitable one.