Level 70 WW Druid rocks in Hell!

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Hi,

I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
in Hell.

My WW Fury Druid is level 71 now and just has rescued Deckard Cain in Hell
diff at /players 2! Which other build can do this without uber-equipment?

Skill layout is:

Werewolf 15
Lycan. 10
Fury 15

Oak Sage 20
Dire W. 3
Grizzly 1

I have saved 5 skill points and 29 stat points at the moment.

He has 75 res all, 188 STR and 146 DEX. Life is about 1200 before Oak Sage
and Def 2258.

Equipment:

Jalal's Mane with UM
Upped Duriel's with UM
Crafted Blood Gloves with 10%CB
Crafted Belt with resists
GoreRider boots
rare +2 ammu with 16 res all
Carrion Wind ring
Rare Ring with 103AR and 5%ML

Weapon Switch #1
LawBringer Phase Blade / Spirit Monarch

Weapon Switch #2
Bonehew with SHAEL and -15%req jewel

For casting Grizzly and Oak Sage I have an Islestrike axe (+2 Druid skills)
and +3 Summons ammu and a Summoning GC.

Might Merc has an Obedience in a Superior Thresher giving 58 to 683 damage.
Ethereal Boneweave Duress armor and Crown of Thieves hat for the life
leech.

I plan to max Fury and then alternate between Rabies and my Grizzly or Dire
Wolves. PI's will get LawBringer attacks with Rabies and level 15 Decrep. I
hope this will also work against these darn OK's in Diablo's Lair.
Lawbringer has quite low damage and Rabies also no damage addition.

When starting out in the wilderness, I take my merc's Obedience Thresher
and smack some easy monsters to trigger the Enchant. Then he gets his
weapon back and I'm set.

Damage:

Fury 1127-5707 AR 9074
Feral R. 694-3427 AR 8009
Rabies 496- 722 AR 8652
1248-1476 poison

I think this is quite impressive. Bonehew with SHAEL gets 5fpa, so that's
alot of Fury damage per second. But I'm working on crafting Feral Axes, as
they theoretically can get to 4fpa.

Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster drains it
to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion. And WW running
out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad thing.

Regards,

Oliver

 

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Oliver Wenzel <ouuch@t-online.de> wrote:

>I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
>previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
>in Hell.

as my first bowazon made it into hell level awhile back, i can't give
you the exact numbers, but it was early 60's or so when she did it. i
partnered up with a barbarian that was also the same level. he was
getting his butt handed to him, but i found that i had a relatively ok
time managing it.

my biggest problem with hell level and my bowazon was the major quest
bosses. i *always* had a hard time with andarial and duriel, as i
never did enough damage and spent far more time running around in
circles trying to avoid them, which gave me little time for shooting
arrows. the gronk barbarian was my lifesaver in those cases. even at
mid-80's, i still have a hard time taking those two down on my own
with the bowazon.

cassandra
--

 

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On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
> previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
> in Hell.
>
> My WW Fury Druid is level 71 now and just has rescued Deckard Cain in Hell
> diff at /players 2! Which other build can do this without uber-equipment?

I played a Fury Druid on the last ladder and made Patriarch at
lvl 76 without dying on hell level and with mostly lesser
gear than you have (though I did have an anni).

> Skill layout is:
>
> Werewolf 15
> Lycan. 10
> Fury 15
>
> Oak Sage 20
> Dire W. 3
> Grizzly 1

I had something like
Werewolf 5
Lycan 20
Fury 20
Oak Sage 20
Dire W 8
Carrion Vine 1
Cyclone Armor 12


> Equipment:
>
> Jalal's Mane with UM
> Upped Duriel's with UM
> Crafted Blood Gloves with 10%CB
> Crafted Belt with resists
> GoreRider boots
> rare +2 ammu with 16 res all
> Carrion Wind ring
> Rare Ring with 103AR and 5%ML
>
> Weapon Switch #1
> LawBringer Phase Blade / Spirit Monarch
>
> Weapon Switch #2
> Bonehew with SHAEL and -15%req jewel

I had Jalal's, regular Vipermagi, Sanders' gloves, Goblin Toe,
String of Ears, Horizon's Tornado Scourge, "Rhyme" in
Superior Grim shield, and Demon's Arch on switch for dealing
with PIs. My jewelry was all rares that gave some resists
and also cast some chain lightning on attack.


> For casting Grizzly and Oak Sage I have an Islestrike axe (+2 Druid skills)
> and +3 Summons ammu and a Summoning GC.
>
> Might Merc has an Obedience in a Superior Thresher giving 58 to 683 damage.
> Ethereal Boneweave Duress armor and Crown of Thieves hat for the life
> leech.

I used an HF merc who did have an eth Hone Sundan, along with a regular
Duriels and, I think, a Rockstopper for his hat.

The point of the Cyclone Armor, beyond resists, was to synergize the
tornadoes unleashed by my weapon.


> Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster drains it
> to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion. And WW running
> out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad thing.

I was also without mana leech. When you get your Lycan a little higher
you won't run out.

 

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Hi,

Last2Know <grokkalot@yahoo.com> wrote in
newsan.2005.03.28.16.17.57.528653@yahoo.com:

> On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>
>> My WW Fury Druid is level 71 now and just has rescued Deckard Cain in
>> Hell diff at /players 2! Which other build can do this without
>> uber-equipment?
>
> I played a Fury Druid on the last ladder and made Patriarch at
> lvl 76 without dying on hell level and with mostly lesser
> gear than you have (though I did have an anni).

I hope to get him there in his early 80ies. I like to take my time looking
for stuff...

>
>> Skill layout is:
>>
>> Werewolf 15
>> Lycan. 10
>> Fury 15
>>
>> Oak Sage 20
>> Dire W. 3
>> Grizzly 1
>
> I had something like
> Werewolf 5
> Lycan 20
> Fury 20
> Oak Sage 20
> Dire W 8
> Carrion Vine 1
> Cyclone Armor 12
>

Why Lycan 20? Oh well, I guess another 50% life is a good addition in HC
play? I'm currently at 2.2K life, I think I will pump a bunch of stat
points in vit now.

>> Weapon Switch #1
>> LawBringer Phase Blade / Spirit Monarch
>>
>> Weapon Switch #2
>> Bonehew with SHAEL and -15%req jewel
>
> I had Jalal's, regular Vipermagi, Sanders' gloves, Goblin Toe,
> String of Ears, Horizon's Tornado Scourge, "Rhyme" in
> Superior Grim shield, and Demon's Arch on switch for dealing
> with PIs. My jewelry was all rares that gave some resists
> and also cast some chain lightning on attack.

Actually, LawBringer is quite cheap with with AMN, LEM and KO. Just too bad
it doesn't have any speed or damage bonusses.

>
>> Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster
>> drains it to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion.
>> And WW running out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad
>> thing.
>
> I was also without mana leech. When you get your Lycan a little
> higher you won't run out.

Why would Lycan help my mana ball? Or do you mean the duration of WW?
At level 10 (with +7 from items) I'm already getting 400 secs out of WW.
Another 10 points in Lycan would get me to a full 10 minutes. But I guess
I'll stay with the 10 skill points.

Oh well, and I'm quite proud of my keyboard setup:

Q : Weapon switch
BoneHew:
F1: Fury (left-click)
F2: Feral Rage (right-click)
LawBringer:
--: Feral Rage (lefr-click)
A : WW (right)
S : Rabies (right)

So, normally I'll use Bonehew with Fury and can throw in some Feral Rages
easily. Against bosses or tougher monster packs, I can switch to Lawbringer
easily and get them decrep'ed while charging up my Feral. And apply some
poison, too.

Pots and TP are close by on 1-4, F3=Oak Sage and F4=Grizzly. Very easy
compared to my Pally with all that Aura Switching.

Regards,

Oliver




>
>

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 06:16:23 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Last2Know <grokkalot@yahoo.com> wrote in
> newsan.2005.03.28.16.17.57.528653@yahoo.com:
>
>> On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>>
>>> My WW Fury Druid is level 71 now and just has rescued Deckard Cain in
>>> Hell diff at /players 2! Which other build can do this without
>>> uber-equipment?
>>
>> I played a Fury Druid on the last ladder and made Patriarch at
>> lvl 76 without dying on hell level and with mostly lesser
>> gear than you have (though I did have an anni).
>
> I hope to get him there in his early 80ies. I like to take my time looking
> for stuff...

I wasn't racing either. Really, I'm just supporting your point that
Fury Druid is one melee char capable of soloing Hell in 1.10 without
too much trouble provided some solution is found for PIs and avoiding
IM. In particular, the big life ball and minions make the Ancients
much easier for this build than for most other chars.



>>
>>> Skill layout is:
>>>
>>> Werewolf 15
>>> Lycan. 10
>>> Fury 15
>>>
>>> Oak Sage 20
>>> Dire W. 3
>>> Grizzly 1
>>
>> I had something like
>> Werewolf 5
>> Lycan 20
>> Fury 20
>> Oak Sage 20
>> Dire W 8
>> Carrion Vine 1
>> Cyclone Armor 12
>>
>
> Why Lycan 20? Oh well, I guess another 50% life is a good addition in HC
> play? I'm currently at 2.2K life, I think I will pump a bunch of stat
> points in vit now.

I state again that more life if helpful for *every* char. More chance
to stay alive, less need to retreat, harder to put in hit recovery,
etc.

>>> Weapon Switch #1
>>> LawBringer Phase Blade / Spirit Monarch
>>>
>>> Weapon Switch #2
>>> Bonehew with SHAEL and -15%req jewel
>>
>> I had Jalal's, regular Vipermagi, Sanders' gloves, Goblin Toe,
>> String of Ears, Horizon's Tornado Scourge, "Rhyme" in
>> Superior Grim shield, and Demon's Arch on switch for dealing
>> with PIs. My jewelry was all rares that gave some resists
>> and also cast some chain lightning on attack.
>
> Actually, LawBringer is quite cheap with with AMN, LEM and KO. Just too bad
> it doesn't have any speed or damage bonusses.

It is cheap and is available at a low char level.
But wasn't an option yet on the last ladder and doesn't do as
much elemental or physical damage as a Demon's Arch or especially
a Gimmershred. I wouldn't want to use it as a primary weapon
on a mature char.

>>
>>> Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster
>>> drains it to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion.
>>> And WW running out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad thing.
>>
>> I was also without mana leech. When you get your Lycan a little higher
>> you won't run out.
>
> Why would Lycan help my mana ball? Or do you mean the duration of WW?

Yes, I meant the latter.

>At
> level 10 (with +7 from items) I'm already getting 400 secs out of WW.

Okay, I responded to your mention of the problem of it running out.

> Another 10 points in Lycan would get me to a full 10 minutes. But I
> guess I'll stay with the 10 skill points.
>
> Oh well, and I'm quite proud of my keyboard setup:
>
> Q : Weapon switch
> BoneHew:
> F1: Fury (left-click)
> F2: Feral Rage (right-click)
> LawBringer:
> --: Feral Rage (lefr-click)
> A : WW (right)
> S : Rabies (right)
>
> So, normally I'll use Bonehew with Fury and can throw in some Feral
> Rages easily.

I don't like to use Feral Rage because it lowers the damage over
time. Either you don't need it, or you need it for the life
leech, supporting my point that a bigger life ball is helpful.

>Against bosses or tougher monster packs, I can switch to
> Lawbringer easily and get them decrep'ed while charging up my Feral. And
> apply some poison, too.
>
> Pots and TP are close by on 1-4, F3=Oak Sage and F4=Grizzly. Very easy
> compared to my Pally with all that Aura Switching.

Why do you do so much aura switching? They don't stack anymore...

 

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On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
> previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
> in Hell.
>
> My WW Fury Druid is level 71 now and just has rescued Deckard Cain in Hell
> diff at /players 2! Which other build can do this without uber-equipment?
>
> Skill layout is:
>
> Werewolf 15
> Lycan. 10
> Fury 15
>
> Oak Sage 20
> Dire W. 3
> Grizzly 1
>

My fury druid just made it to level 89 last night on EuHCL.
His skill points is like this.
Werewolf 20
Lycan. 20
Fury 20
Oak 20
Grizzly 1
Carrion vine 1

and then 1 in all the prereqs, i have 12 points saved atm, don't know what
to do with them

> I have saved 5 skill points and 29 stat points at the moment.
>
> He has 75 res all, 188 STR and 146 DEX. Life is about 1200 before Oak Sage
> and Def 2258.
>

He has with gear, 225 str, 105 dex, 325 vit and base energy. And a
shitload defense, i get +2000 just from armor.
> Equipment:
>
> Jalal's Mane with UM
> Upped Duriel's with UM
> Crafted Blood Gloves with 10%CB
> Crafted Belt with resists
> GoreRider boots
> rare +2 ammu with 16 res all
> Carrion Wind ring
> Rare Ring with 103AR and 5%ML
>
> Weapon Switch #1
> LawBringer Phase Blade / Spirit Monarch
>
> Weapon Switch #2
> Bonehew with SHAEL and -15%req jewel
>

My equipment is.
Jalal's mane
Prudence in a eth sacred armor
+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
rare/crafted rings with res and AR
IK maul, belt, boots and gloves.
Lidless wall and fleshrender on the switch.

> For casting Grizzly and Oak Sage I have an Islestrike axe (+2 Druid
> skills) and +3 Summons ammu and a Summoning GC.
>

I have to shape shifting skillers, and all that gives.
I cast oak as level 25, bear level 6, carrion vine level 6, change to
werewolf with level 31 lycan and werewolf. And i attack with level 27 fury.

> Might Merc has an Obedience in a Superior Thresher giving 58 to 683
> damage. Ethereal Boneweave Duress armor and Crown of Thieves hat for the
> life leech.
>

I'm tagging along with a barb merc using full sazabi's set.

> I plan to max Fury and then alternate between Rabies and my Grizzly or
> Dire Wolves. PI's will get LawBringer attacks with Rabies and level 15
> Decrep. I hope this will also work against these darn OK's in Diablo's
> Lair. Lawbringer has quite low damage and Rabies also no damage
> addition.
>

Using 4 pieces of the IK set gives me a good deal of elemental damage to
those PI's out there.

> When starting out in the wilderness, I take my merc's Obedience Thresher
> and smack some easy monsters to trigger the Enchant. Then he gets his
> weapon back and I'm set.
>
> Damage:
>
> Fury 1127-5707 AR 9074
> Feral R. 694-3427 AR 8009
> Rabies 496- 722 AR 8652
> 1248-1476 poison
>

Don't remember my damage output, but it's enough for killing anything that
moves faster than they kill me
I have enough AR to have a 87% chance of hitting hell baal, and i'm
spending my remaining stat points in dex just to get it has high as
possible.

> I think this is quite impressive. Bonehew with SHAEL gets 5fpa, so
> that's alot of Fury damage per second. But I'm working on crafting Feral
> Axes, as they theoretically can get to 4fpa.
>

Hmmm, you need 56% IAS on the weapon to get it to 4fpa, isn't 30% ias max
when you craft and then one socket with a shael for additional 20% which
leaves you 6% short of the 56% mark?

> Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster drains
> it to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion. And WW
> running out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad thing.
>

I have choosed to put 2 pskulls in my IK maul for the leech, i don't need
the extra ias i would get for shaels, i'm at 6fpa and could go to 5fpa
with a shael, put i think i'm better off with some leech.

--
Sonni

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:38:36 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:



> Prudence in a eth sacred armor

Just wanted to say that I appreciated reading this idea.
I've looked at the runewords a bunch of times and somehow
missed the fact that a) Prudence could be used in an
eth armor and that b) the result is possibly the best
armor available from a purely defensive point of view with
its high def, resists, FHR, and high MDR.


> +1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet

You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
one is available.

 

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Hi,

Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in
newsan.2005.03.29.09.38.36.88534@sonni.org:

> On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>
>> I think this is quite impressive. Bonehew with SHAEL gets 5fpa, so
>> that's alot of Fury damage per second. But I'm working on crafting
>> Feral Axes, as they theoretically can get to 4fpa.
>>
>
> Hmmm, you need 56% IAS on the weapon to get it to 4fpa, isn't 30% ias
> max when you craft and then one socket with a shael for additional 20%
> which leaves you 6% short of the 56% mark?
>
well, I just checked and found a crafted Small Crescent with 40%IAS on
it. So, if the rules don't change for Feral Axes, socketed with a SHAEL
I'd be at 60%IAS = 4fpa.

>> Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster
>> drains it to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion.
>> And WW running out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad
>> thing.
>
> I have choosed to put 2 pskulls in my IK maul for the leech, i don't
> need the extra ias i would get for shaels, i'm at 6fpa and could go to
> 5fpa with a shael, put i think i'm better off with some leech.

Why don't you use Feral Rage? 1 or 2 hits to charge-up the life leech,
then switch to Fury and leech for another 20 seconds? Works like a champ
for me..

Regards,

Oliver
>

 

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Hi,

Last2Know <grokkalot@yahoo.com> wrote in
newsan.2005.03.29.16.41.58.258993@yahoo.com:

> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 06:16:23 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>>
>> I hope to get him there in his early 80ies. I like to take my time
>> looking for stuff...
>
> I wasn't racing either. Really, I'm just supporting your point that
> Fury Druid is one melee char capable of soloing Hell in 1.10 without
> too much trouble provided some solution is found for PIs and avoiding
> IM. In particular, the big life ball and minions make the Ancients
> much easier for this build than for most other chars.

I already found an Arioc's Needle dropped by some Fallen in Act1.

These PI Ghosts in the Countess dungeon can be quite difficult in a boss
pack, but normally Lawbringer's Decrep allows me to kill them.

>>
>> Why Lycan 20? Oh well, I guess another 50% life is a good addition in
>> HC play? I'm currently at 2.2K life, I think I will pump a bunch of
>> stat points in vit now.
>
> I state again that more life if helpful for *every* char. More chance
> to stay alive, less need to retreat, harder to put in hit recovery,
> etc.

More life sure ain't bad, but I'll get it from life charms and vit points
and not by putting more than 10 skill points into Lycan.
I guess the +life percentages from WW, Lycan and Oak Sage add up? And don't
multiply somehow?

>> Pots and TP are close by on 1-4, F3=Oak Sage and F4=Grizzly. Very
>> easy compared to my Pally with all that Aura Switching.
>
> Why do you do so much aura switching? They don't stack anymore...

Holy Freeze/Shock depending on Immunities.

Regards,

Oliver

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 18:58:27 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Last2Know <grokkalot@yahoo.com> wrote in
> newsan.2005.03.29.16.41.58.258993@yahoo.com:
>
>> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 06:16:23 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>>>
>>> I hope to get him there in his early 80ies. I like to take my time
>>> looking for stuff...
>>
>> I wasn't racing either. Really, I'm just supporting your point that
>> Fury Druid is one melee char capable of soloing Hell in 1.10 without
>> too much trouble provided some solution is found for PIs and avoiding
>> IM. In particular, the big life ball and minions make the Ancients
>> much easier for this build than for most other chars.
>
> I already found an Arioc's Needle dropped by some Fallen in Act1.

And what did you plan to with it? On realms, I was very pleased
to get an ethereal +4 Ariocs the other day as part of a trade and
it works well for boosting the mercs aura while giving him good
damage. I haven't checked but would have thought Ariocs too slow
for a Fury weapon.

> These PI Ghosts in the Countess dungeon can be quite difficult in a boss
> pack, but normally Lawbringer's Decrep allows me to kill them.

Fortunately they don't due too much damage unless they are enchanted
with some other aura.

>>>
>>> Why Lycan 20? Oh well, I guess another 50% life is a good addition in
>>> HC play? I'm currently at 2.2K life, I think I will pump a bunch of
>>> stat points in vit now.
>>
>> I state again that more life if helpful for *every* char. More chance
>> to stay alive, less need to retreat, harder to put in hit recovery,
>> etc.
>
> More life sure ain't bad, but I'll get it from life charms and vit points
> and not by putting more than 10 skill points into Lycan.

Charms that give a lot of life are considered valuable, elite items.
But anyway, we are talking about the relative merits of different
skill distributions, and the higher your base life, the more benefit
you get in some sense from the skill based multiplier.

> I guess the +life percentages from WW, Lycan and Oak Sage add up? And don't
> multiply somehow?

Yes, they add.

 

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> I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
> previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
> in Hell.

I'm just going to attach a question here, since it's on the same path... I
have never played high-level characters much, and not at all in 1.10. I like
fast melee characters, and my favorites have always been frenzy barbs, but I
figure he's very dependent on equipment when going to hell... I'm not having
much luck, anyway. Then I tried a cold paladin, and he rocked in nightmare -
but hell is just way out of his league... Anything not cold immune is a
breeze, but there's no way I can deal with cold immunes without some
seriously good equipment. So, never having played a druid at all (which may
count as blasfemy having owned the game since day -1...), I just started a
fury druid, hoping he will give me as much fun as frenzy barbs and zeal
pallies, but worrying whether or not he'll cut it. So, what's your take on
this - will the fury druid be better than the other two categories, given
that I probably won't have that good equipment?

Another thing: I was thinking Heart of Wolverine for the damage, but you're
going with oak sage. Is that the general rule of thumb? Should I worry more
on staying alive, and less on dealing damage? It's obvious that being dead
won't deal much damage, but it's just not much fun whacking away and not
killing anything, just waiting for sorcs and amazons to wipe the area...
Kinda makes you feel redundant...

Mvh. Otto

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:06:20 +0200, Otto J. wrote:

>> I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All my
>> previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really start out
>> in Hell.
>
> I'm just going to attach a question here, since it's on the same path... I
> have never played high-level characters much, and not at all in 1.10. I like
> fast melee characters, and my favorites have always been frenzy barbs, but I
> figure he's very dependent on equipment when going to hell... I'm not having
> much luck, anyway. Then I tried a cold paladin, and he rocked in nightmare -
> but hell is just way out of his league... Anything not cold immune is a
> breeze, but there's no way I can deal with cold immunes without some
> seriously good equipment. So, never having played a druid at all (which may
> count as blasfemy having owned the game since day -1...), I just started a
> fury druid, hoping he will give me as much fun as frenzy barbs and zeal
> pallies, but worrying whether or not he'll cut it. So, what's your take on
> this - will the fury druid be better than the other two categories, given
> that I probably won't have that good equipment?

Are you playing on BNet of SP? What gear do you have so far?
To answer your question in general terms, Fury Druid is stronger
than the two builds you mention because Holy Freeze is underpowered
as a damage dealer (and also available on a merc anyway) while Fury
Druid can swing almost as fast as a charged up Frenzy Barb while
swing a much higher damage 2h weapon, or he can swing almost as
fast while using a shield. The main thing he lacks is Berserk for dealing
with PIs and IM, so you have to plan to work around that. He also
lacks the high defense and utility curses, but compensates with
useful pets. Beyond that, similar advice for all melee chars applies:
max resists, get lots of crushing blow, fast high damage weapon, etc.


> Another thing: I was thinking Heart of Wolverine for the damage, but you're
> going with oak sage. Is that the general rule of thumb? Should I worry more
> on staying alive, and less on dealing damage?

It's not a general rule for SC (might be for HC) but in this case,
HoW just doesn't add all that much damage.

 

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Hi,

"Otto J." <hifiotto@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:42499920$0$636$ba624c82@nntp02.dk.telia.net:

>> I wonder how early a char can get to Hell diff and survive there? All
>> my previous chars wait until late 70s or early 80s levels to really
>> start out in Hell.
[snip]
> So, what's your take on this -
> will the fury druid be better than the other two categories, given
> that I probably won't have that good equipment?

There are cheaper weapons and items that should work in Hell. As you don't
say what is available to you, it's somewhat hard to make suggestions. If
you can get HEL, KO, THUL, ETH and FAL, make Obedience runeword in a
Thresher and that surely is a Hell capable weapon.
Barbs and Pally's need much more skill points to work in Hell diff,

>
> Another thing: I was thinking Heart of Wolverine for the damage, but
> you're going with oak sage. Is that the general rule of thumb? Should
> I worry more on staying alive, and less on dealing damage? It's
> obvious that being dead won't deal much damage, but it's just not much
> fun whacking away and not killing anything, just waiting for sorcs and
> amazons to wipe the area... Kinda makes you feel redundant...
>
Depends on the damage of your weapon and where you put your stat points. If
you go HoW, put as many stat points into Vit and as low as possible on STR
and DEX. And you need careful playing tactics, as you can't take as many
hits as when using Oak Sage.

Gambling can provide ammus and circlets with lots of +skills if you don't
have Jalal's Mane or a Harlequin Crest..

HtH,

Oliver

> Mvh. Otto
>
>

 

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Last2Know wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:38:36 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>
>
>
>
>>Prudence in a eth sacred armor
>
>
> Just wanted to say that I appreciated reading this idea.
> I've looked at the runewords a bunch of times and somehow
> missed the fact that a) Prudence could be used in an
> eth armor and that b) the result is possibly the best
> armor available from a purely defensive point of view with
> its high def, resists, FHR, and high MDR.
>


I like it too.

>
>
>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>
>
> You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
> one is available.
>
>

Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
I haven't checked, but i don't think so.
I don't need the extra res.

--
Sonni
-=-=-
E Pluribus UNIX.

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:49:41 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:

>>
>>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>>
>>
>> You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
>> one is available.
>>
>>
>
> Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
> grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
> I haven't checked, but i don't think so.
> I don't need the extra res.

I don't recall all of your gear. But I think it does
according to this "back of the envelope" type calc:

Your attributes like damage, AR, and life work by
multiplying a base amount by a skill modifier. Your
skills are roughly at level 25. So the percentage
change of going from 25 to 26 is probably less than
the percentage change to your attributes by adding
12 to each.

 

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Oliver Wenzel wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in
> newsan.2005.03.29.09.38.36.88534@sonni.org:
>
>
>>On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:32:28 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I think this is quite impressive. Bonehew with SHAEL gets 5fpa, so
>>>that's alot of Fury damage per second. But I'm working on crafting
>>>Feral Axes, as they theoretically can get to 4fpa.
>>>
>>
>>Hmmm, you need 56% IAS on the weapon to get it to 4fpa, isn't 30% ias
>>max when you craft and then one socket with a shael for additional 20%
>>which leaves you 6% short of the 56% mark?
>>
>
> well, I just checked and found a crafted Small Crescent with 40%IAS on
> it. So, if the rules don't change for Feral Axes, socketed with a SHAEL
> I'd be at 60%IAS = 4fpa.
>

Not bad, then it can be done

>
>>>Only real problem at the moment is his mana ball. If some monster
>>>drains it to zero, he is quite helpless until I apply a mana potion.
>>>And WW running out in the middle of a battle also is a very bad
>>>thing.
>>
>>I have choosed to put 2 pskulls in my IK maul for the leech, i don't
>>need the extra ias i would get for shaels, i'm at 6fpa and could go to
>>5fpa with a shael, put i think i'm better off with some leech.
>
>
> Why don't you use Feral Rage? 1 or 2 hits to charge-up the life leech,
> then switch to Fury and leech for another 20 seconds? Works like a champ
> for me..
>

Because i don't need more life leech and never needed it, the one i need
is mana leech.

--
Sonni

-=-=-
X-Windows...Playing tic-tac-toe on a UNIX box.

 

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Hi,

Last2Know <grokkalot@yahoo.com> wrote in
newsan.2005.03.29.20.15.07.496854@yahoo.com:

> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:06:20 +0200, Otto J. wrote:

>> Another thing: I was thinking Heart of Wolverine for the damage, but
>> you're going with oak sage. Is that the general rule of thumb? Should
>> I worry more on staying alive, and less on dealing damage?
>
> It's not a general rule for SC (might be for HC) but in this case,
> HoW just doesn't add all that much damage.

yeah, I just went through the calcs and wasn't very impressed by HoW:

STR186 = 286%
Fury L27 = 542%
HOW L30 = 223%
Might L22 = 250%

If I take STR, Fury and add How, that's roughly 25% more damage. My level
75 might merc adds more damage.

Regards,

Oliver

 

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Hi,


Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in news:4249b158$0$215
$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk:

> Last2Know wrote:
>> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:38:36 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>>
>>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>>
>> You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
>> one is available.
>
> Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
> grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
> I haven't checked, but i don't think so.
> I don't need the extra res.

you could always equip your current ammu while casting Grizzly and Oak.
For casting minions, I switch in Islestrike (+2 Druid skills) and a
magical +3 summoning ammu.

So the question is how much is 1 point in WW and Fury against +12 all
stats? For the heck of it, I tried it out with my Mahim-Oak giving +10
all stats against a +2 Druid skills ammu.
I loose about 150 damage from 5202 and gain about 70AR - 6259 against
6331 with Mahim-Oak. So you will loose even less damage when going down 1
skill point.
If you'd gain resists, it might well be worth swapping..

Regards,

Oliver

>

 

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Hi,

Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in
news:4249b29f$0$213$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk:

> Oliver Wenzel wrote:
>>
>> well, I just checked and found a crafted Small Crescent with 40%IAS
>> on it. So, if the rules don't change for Feral Axes, socketed with a
>> SHAEL I'd be at 60%IAS = 4fpa.
>>
>
> Not bad, then it can be done

well, the affix calc I normally use is down, so I can't calculate the
chances to get one with decent damage.

>> Why don't you use Feral Rage? 1 or 2 hits to charge-up the life
>> leech, then switch to Fury and leech for another 20 seconds? Works
>> like a champ for me..
>
> Because i don't need more life leech and never needed it, the one i
> need is mana leech.

Don't forget the walk/run speed bonus? I feel like creeping when not in
Feral state..

Regards,

Oliver

 

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Last2Know wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:49:41 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>
>
>>>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>>>
>>>
>>>You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
>>>one is available.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
>>grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
>>I haven't checked, but i don't think so.
>>I don't need the extra res.
>
>
> I don't recall all of your gear. But I think it does
> according to this "back of the envelope" type calc:
>
> Your attributes like damage, AR, and life work by
> multiplying a base amount by a skill modifier. Your
> skills are roughly at level 25. So the percentage
> change of going from 25 to 26 is probably less than
> the percentage change to your attributes by adding
> 12 to each.
>
>
>

Hmmm!
with crafted amu.
Damage: 2421-4107
AR: 7429
Defense: 3058
stamina: 531
life: 4178
mana: 254

with saracens amu
Damage: 2411-4094
AR: 7735
Defense: 3061
Stamina: 543
life: 4108
mana: 260

So i would call it a tie on that part.
And saracens looses due to weaker bear and carrion vine.

--
Sonni
-=-=-
Is it possible to be totally partial?

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:10:43 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:

> Last2Know wrote:
>> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:49:41 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if
>>>>one is available.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
>>>grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
>>>I haven't checked, but i don't think so.
>>>I don't need the extra res.
>>
>>
>> I don't recall all of your gear. But I think it does
>> according to this "back of the envelope" type calc:
>>
>> Your attributes like damage, AR, and life work by
>> multiplying a base amount by a skill modifier. Your
>> skills are roughly at level 25. So the percentage
>> change of going from 25 to 26 is probably less than
>> the percentage change to your attributes by adding
>> 12 to each.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Hmmm!
> with crafted amu.
> Damage: 2421-4107
> AR: 7429
> Defense: 3058
> stamina: 531
> life: 4178
> mana: 254
>
> with saracens amu
> Damage: 2411-4094
> AR: 7735
> Defense: 3061
> Stamina: 543
> life: 4108
> mana: 260
>
> So i would call it a tie on that part.
> And saracens looses due to weaker bear and carrion vine.

Valid point about the bear and vine. The numbers above
suggest that you are already getting good base life
from stat points and gear but not so much dex/ar, so
if you boosted your resist with the saracens you might
be able to use a second Ravenfrost instead of a resist
ring - or a Dwarf Star for life and MDR, or a mama leech
ring and put shaels in place of those ridiculous PSkulls
in your IK maul!

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Hi,

Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in news:4249c453$0$270
$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk:

> Hmmm!
> with crafted amu.
> Damage: 2421-4107
> AR: 7429
> Defense: 3058
> stamina: 531
> life: 4178
> mana: 254
>
> with saracens amu
> Damage: 2411-4094
> AR: 7735
> Defense: 3061
> Stamina: 543
> life: 4108
> mana: 260
>
> So i would call it a tie on that part.
> And saracens looses due to weaker bear and carrion vine.

well, I just tried it somewhat different. Swap in all +skills for casting
minions and transforming to werewolf, then swap out against other stuff.

Casting Playing
SoJ Carrion Vine
+3 Summons/SS +res/mana leech ammu
IsleStrike LawBringer
Summoning GC

I first equip SoJ and +3 Summons, and cast Oak/Bear. Swap in +3 shape-
shift and shift to WW. Swap in Lawbringer and res/mana ammu.
WW/Lycan at level 28 will last about 500 secs, so doing this swapping
doesn't hurt too much. Much more life/AR (better resists from ammu means
I can replace resist charms with AR charms) and better duration.

I guess Lycant. only counts when you shift to WW, so if your level drops
after shifting, it doesn't matter.

Regards,

Oliver

>

 

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:32:12 -0600, Last2Know wrote:

> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:10:43 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>
>> Last2Know wrote:
>>> On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:49:41 +0200, Sonni Skammelsen wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>+1 druid skills, 9 res all crafted amulet
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>You would get more benefit from a Saracens here if one is available.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>Will the +12 all attr. ake up for loosing one skill point in oak,
>>>>grizzly, lycan, ww and fury ?
>>>>I haven't checked, but i don't think so. I don't need the extra res.
>>>
>>>
>>> I don't recall all of your gear. But I think it does according to
>>> this "back of the envelope" type calc:
>>>
>>> Your attributes like damage, AR, and life work by multiplying a base
>>> amount by a skill modifier. Your skills are roughly at level 25. So
>>> the percentage change of going from 25 to 26 is probably less than the
>>> percentage change to your attributes by adding 12 to each.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Hmmm!
>> with crafted amu.
>> Damage: 2421-4107
>> AR: 7429
>> Defense: 3058
>> stamina: 531
>> life: 4178
>> mana: 254
>>
>> with saracens amu
>> Damage: 2411-4094
>> AR: 7735
>> Defense: 3061
>> Stamina: 543
>> life: 4108
>> mana: 260
>>
>> So i would call it a tie on that part. And saracens looses due to weaker
>> bear and carrion vine.
>
> Valid point about the bear and vine. The numbers above suggest that you
> are already getting good base life from stat points and gear but not so
> much dex/ar, so if you boosted your resist with the saracens you might be
> able to use a second Ravenfrost instead of a resist ring - or a Dwarf Star
> for life and MDR, or a mama leech ring and put shaels in place of those
> ridiculous PSkulls in your IK maul!

It's just fine tuning of a near perfect build
I already at a point where i have 87% chance of hitting hell Ball.
Putting 2 shaels in the IK maul gives me nothing more than putting a 15%
ias jewel with a nice second mod in there, i need 12% ias to go to 5fpa
and 41% for 4 fpa. I can't get to 4 fpa with IK maul.
I just haven't found the right 15% ias jewel yet.

Iirc i also have a nice crafted amu somewhere with res all, +2 skills and
some other good mods that i can use now after getting to level 89.

--
Sonni

 

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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:24:27 +0200, Oliver Wenzel wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Sonni Skammelsen <news@sonni.org> wrote in news:4249c453$0$270
> $edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk:
>
>> Hmmm!
>> with crafted amu.
>> Damage: 2421-4107
>> AR: 7429
>> Defense: 3058
>> stamina: 531
>> life: 4178
>> mana: 254
>>
>> with saracens amu
>> Damage: 2411-4094
>> AR: 7735
>> Defense: 3061
>> Stamina: 543
>> life: 4108
>> mana: 260
>>
>> So i would call it a tie on that part. And saracens looses due to weaker
>> bear and carrion vine.
>
> well, I just tried it somewhat different. Swap in all +skills for casting
> minions and transforming to werewolf, then swap out against other stuff.
>
> Casting Playing
> SoJ Carrion Vine
> +3 Summons/SS +res/mana leech ammu IsleStrike LawBringer
> Summoning GC
>
> I first equip SoJ and +3 Summons, and cast Oak/Bear. Swap in +3 shape-
> shift and shift to WW. Swap in Lawbringer and res/mana ammu. WW/Lycan at
> level 28 will last about 500 secs, so doing this swapping doesn't hurt too
> much. Much more life/AR (better resists from ammu means I can replace
> resist charms with AR charms) and better duration.
>
> I guess Lycant. only counts when you shift to WW, so if your level drops
> after shifting, it doesn't matter.
>

Without knowing yours or others playing styles i doesn't have the luxury
for going back to town for recasting oaks, bears, vines and ww.

Sometimes you meet some moon lords and other frenzy dudes that is able to
kill your minions, and when you go to places with OK and IM you have to
recast your bear on top of those so he can stun them so you safely can
take them out without they can cast any spells.

And i was a little mistaken about my amu, it have 3 res at 13% and the
last at 23%, so i don't gain resist by using saracens. And again i really
don't need more AR, it's just for the numbers, that's why i just letting
it flow

--
Sonni

 

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> yeah, I just went through the calcs and wasn't very impressed by HoW:
>
> STR186 = 286%
> Fury L27 = 542%
> HOW L30 = 223%
> Might L22 = 250%
>
> If I take STR, Fury and add How, that's roughly 25% more damage. My level
> 75 might merc adds more damage.

OK, I guess I just basically haven't completely understood the damage
calculations. What your'e saying is that HOW doesn't double the total
damage, it doubles the basic damage and adds that to the total damage? If
that's the case, it makes sense to spend 20 skill points elsewhere...

How about, say, a jewel that has + to damage, either a percentage or a fixed
amount - how is that calculated into things? Is there any place I can read
about this?

Mvh. Otto