Links
Druid Guides:
http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=129178
Please read this and the FAQ first before asking questions, chances are you will find what you're looking for there.
Info on runewords, items, and classes can be found on the Arreat Summit.
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/
The Dragoon's Home Page:
http://students.washington.edu/akri...wolf/index.html
Dragoon is one of the most knowledgable people regarding shifting druids, and he has a elemental skill calculator on his site as well.
Breakpoints for Druids:
http://wirsz.phpwebhosting.com/Druid.htm
I'm not sure if I can link to the skill calculator. Look around, you can find it, try google.
Wereform
Q. Is werewolf better than werebear?
A. In 09 they were about even. In 1.10, they are easier to make, and easier to get a decent speed with. With even gear, werewolves probably come out a bit on top.
Q. Does IAS from my other gear, like Highlord's Wrath or Laying of Hands help my speed in wereform?
A. No, it's called OIAS and has little to no effect on druid (provided you have a high level werewofl and fast weapon), which is one reason you need a fast base weapon with high IAS to get a nice speed, whereas a pally can get 4 frame with something slow like Schaefer's Hammer. Dragoon has a speed calculator on his site. Located
Here. Remember, when using his calculator, the base value is the opposite of the Arreat Summit, so a Giant Thresher would be 10 base in his calculator.
Q: Which is better? Aldur's Watchtower or unique/set combinations?
A: Unique/Set combos are definitely better, for melee druids and elementalists. Not to say that Aldur's can't be decent though, Blizz just messed it up.
Q. Are shifter druids still powerful in PvP?
A. Played right, yes. I'm not going to lie though, they aren't going to be owning a whole room, bone necros using the Marrowwalk bug or Wind druids are probably a better choice if you just want to 'pwnzor nublets'.
Q. Should I use Earth shifter on my werewolf/bear?
A. There are far better weapons, Earth shifter is quite slow.
Q. But look at the +skill and dmg!
A. Damage isn't everything. Neither is +skill. Speed is important to consider.
Q. Okay, what should I use then?
A. There are several nice weapons that will compliment your werewolf. A nice comparison can be found on Dragoon's site,
here.
For a quick answer, the best PvP 1 hand weapons are a CCSQ (Cruel Cryptic Sword of Quickness) or, the much cheaper 3x Ed/IAS jeweled 1x Lo Griswold's Redemption Caduceus. Both reach a 4 frame fury I believe. Shael Baranar's Star is old school and has some great elemental damage.
As far as 2 hand PvM, IK Maul, Shael Shael ___ Tomb Reaver, and upgraded Shael ribcracker are all great. Breath of the Dying Great Poleaxe is an expensive but powerful weapon as well. And for you oddballs, BoTD Archon Staff has great minimum damage, and the nice sound of smashing skulls each hit, if Ribcracker is too common for you.
Q. You say 2 hand like it should only be used vs. monsters?
A. 2 Hand in 09 was a good option PvP, but now with the Eth bug gone defense is more important, and since druids have no inherant defensive bonuses you need Block and DR in PvP. In 09, it was dmg = leech = life, and 2 handers had more damage. However, in 1.10, it's more suited to PvM, since you can get by without 50% DR and Block.
Q. I've heard about a bug with the Carrion Wind ring? Explain.
A. The Carrion Ring bug is just like the Marrowwalk bug. You get the synergistic effect of level 21 Poison Creeper to rabies, if you have no points invested. This saves you 20 points, and allows for Rabies hybrids to be much stronger. Do not invest points in Poison Creeper or it won't work.
Q. Okay, I've read the guides about Fury/Rabies and Fireclaws/Rabies, which is better?
A. Fury/Rabies is probably better if you have good gear, as far as PvP goes.
Q. What's a common skill layout for a werewolf?
A. 20 Lycanthropy, 20 Werewolf, 20 Fury, 20 Oak Sage/Heart of Wolverine, 1 Grizzly. Some wolves go for 20 rabies as well, using the Carrion bug, to kill Physical Immunes.
Q. What about a werebear?
A. 20 Werebear, 20 Lycanthropy, 20 Spirit, and then Maul or Fireclaws, and Shockwave. It all depends on your play style. Some people like to shockwave monsters and kill them while they are stunned, and some like to be in a all out melee brawl, blow for blow.
Q. So Shockwave is a good idea to get?
A. In PvM, yes. In PvP, no, not really, and if you do, go base.
Q. What helm should I use for my werewolf/bear?
A. Jalals is always a good choice. Cerberus Bite is also nice, and don't forget Guillamue's, you don't necessarily have to have a druid specific helm.
Q. Okay, I think I understand charged skill bugs now. Is the 'Stone' runeword armor great for a fireclaws bear?
A. It's okay, but not great. You can't get close to the damage with Fireclaws that you could by maxing the skills yourself.
Q. I have seen barbs transform into wolves and lots of other chars transform into a bear. Are they haxors?
A. No. A barb can transform into a wolf by using the unique helm Wolfhowl. Anyone can transform into a bear by using a Beast runeword.
Q. Why all the OT? What's wrong with Garbad?
A. No one knows.
Summoning
For a plethora of Summoner info, check Lothric's guide,
here.
Q. Are summoners viable?
A. Yes, but you need a lot of +skill, they aren't so great PvP as Shaman's were in 09.
Q. Is the Spirit bug gone? What was the Spirit bug?
A. In 09, any Spirit over level 20 only gave level 20 bonuses. So a level 30 oak was the same as a lvl 20 oak. Now the bug has been removed, so max your spirit of choice!
Q. What is a 'bear lamer?'
A. A bear lamer is how HC and some SC players affectionately refer to summoners who stand inside town and cast bear, trying to kill duelers without be in any danger to themselves. Try not to do this, you give summoners a bad name.
Q. I don't want to go pure summons, what are some hybrids?
A. FenrisWulf pioneered the 'Hunter', a summoner who used Bows. There are also Huntermentalist who combine a bow, summons, and elemental skills! And of course, you can always make a shifter with more than one point in summons if you want an extra-powerful ally to help you.
Elementalists
Q. I see a lot of wind druids, are they good?
A. Wind druids are one of the most powerful builds in 1.10, for more information see enris' guide
here.
Q. How about fire druids?
A. Garbad and the druid forum wrote a FAQ to 1.10 fire druids. It's rather thorough, and listed
here.
Q. I want to pwnzor, which is better?
A. Wind druids are easier and probably better.
Q. Okay. I hear a lot of arguements, who will win, a wind druid or a necro?
A. It's fairly even, a necro does have a speed/damage advantage though. Wind druids can minion stack to avoid necromancer's attacks.
Q. What is minion stack?
A. Minion stacking is when you teleport and your minions teleport with you, effectively 'stacking' them on top of you and making you invulnerable to some attacks.
Q. Wow, sounds powerful. Is this considered bad manners?
A. No, not really.
Q. How does Cyclone armor work?
A. Cyclone armor takes damage before resitances. It takes all damage at 0 resistance. Good vs. Cold sorcs and FoH, bad if you invested in resist equipment.
Q. So do resistances on my druid matter?
A. Yes, they're still important, cyclone armor can't always be up.
Q. Will my druid still 'pwnzor' in pvp if I don't have Enigma?
A. They can do fairly well, but they're no longer the powerhouse they are with Enigma.
Q. Is it worth it maxing block for a pvp windy?
A. If you want any chance vs good melee chars you will need it. If you only want to duel casters, skip the block.
Q. I read the wind druid guide, is there gear I could use that's won't cost me an arm and a leg?
A. In the guide, there are secondary equipment suggestions, and most are cheap. It's slightly hard to find.
Q. What kind of damage are Tornado and Twister?
A. Physical, which means they can be reduced with Damage Reduced% like from Stormshield or Shaftstop.
Q. Can Tornado be blocked?
A. Nope, it is physical, but it's a spell. Twister can be blocked though. Tornado can however be blocked by the assassin's Weapon Block skill and Dodged by Amazons.
Q. Why not max out Arctic Blast? It looks like it would do good damage.
A. Arctic Blast (and Inferno) is bugged so it only does about 1/3 the displayed damage.
Q. Why not make enigma in the highest def armor possible for a windy?
A. Windys have no defense modifying skills so they benefit little from high defense gear. Mage plate, or breast plate are the best options for most casters.
Q. I have perfect gear on my windy and he still sucks and can't kill anyone. Why does he suck?
A. Practice dueling more. Try to duel people better than you to learn.
Q. Should I use Earth Shifter, Earthshaker, or Islestrike on my wind druid?
A. It's not advised, HoTO, Wizardspike, or even Suicide Branch are better because of the speed and lower requirements.
Q. Should I use Nightwings, Cold Rainbow Facets, or Doom, they seem like they would help my Hurricane.
A. No, Hurricane shouldn't be a wind druid's major source of damage. Tornado is more effective.
Q. Jalal's or Shako?
A. Personally I like Shako. Jalal's is nearly as good though. Another option is a +2 druid 20fcr rare circlet.
Q. What about a fire druid?
A. Generally fire druids use Ravenlore. It has -fire resist.
Q. Oh, that sounds good on a fire druid. Will it break immunity?
A. No, only conviction or lower resist wands will break immunity.
Q. Dang, well, aside from lower resist wand, what can I do about Fire Immunes when I'm PvMing?
A. Armageddon has a small unlisted amount of Physical damage on it, and Volcano is part physical. A high damage physical merc is faster though.
Q. A mercenary? What should I use?
A. For PvP, an Act 1 Rogue with a High damage bow. For PvM, a Holy Freeze Act 2 Desert Guard, preferably with Reaper's Toll. This will break some Physical Immunities, like a Phys/Fire immune, as well as make Tornados into killing machines with a 33% Damage increase.
Q. On a wind druid, would Hurricane defeat the purpose of a Holy Freeze merc?
A. No, not really, they're different kinds of freeze, (Holy Freeze will turn even a cold immune blue, the only monster it won't work on is Frenzytaurs). It also means double the slow.
Q. Okay, I read your FAQ, I still have questions.
A. The Druid forum will be happy to answer them. Just try to be sure it's not answered in the FAQ or Guides sticky.
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