New Ladder, First time druid in need of help

[khalten]

New Ladder, First time druid in need of help

Hello all,

I have been lurking these forums for over a year now, and this ladder reset finally pushed me to posting. :smiley:

I have decided to try a druid for the first time due to the ladder reset, and have some questions for you experienced druids. I currently would like to do a fury druid, as they sound to be a fun build. I have been searching all over, but cannot really find what I am looking for, so any help would be appreciated.

My current plan for skill distribution is as follows, (in this order):

1. Lycanthropy - 20
2. Fury - 20
3. Feral Rage - 20
4. Oak Sage - 20
5. Werewolf - 20 (?)

I will put all stat points into STR and Stam, (mostly STR to enhance damage), with only what I need in dex in order to wear equip.

So my questions are as follows:
1) What kind of weapon do I want to use for this setup? Does a shield provide any value when in wearwolf form, or should I just go with the biggest 2hander I can find?
2) I am currently level 9. I am using a magical short sword and shield, and swing VERY SLOW in werewolf form. Do any of my future skills ever speed up my attack rate? I am coming from a frenzy barb, which I love to death, so I am used to a little more "speed" w.r.t. playstyle.
3) Is this build something I can use to solo hell and ubers? It seems like it would be a lot of fun to play, so I am hoping it is as versatile as my frenzy barb was.

Thanks to anyone who can help me out here.

Khalten

 

[khalten]

Hello all,

I have been lurking these forums for over a year now, and this ladder reset finally pushed me to posting. :smiley:

I have decided to try a druid for the first time due to the ladder reset, and have some questions for you experienced druids. I currently would like to do a fury druid, as they sound to be a fun build. I have been searching all over, but cannot really find what I am looking for, so any help would be appreciated.

My current plan for skill distribution is as follows, (in this order):

1. Lycanthropy - 20
2. Fury - 20
3. Feral Rage - 20
4. Oak Sage - 20
5. Werewolf - 20 (?)

I will put all stat points into STR and Stam, (mostly STR to enhance damage), with only what I need in dex in order to wear equip.

So my questions are as follows:
1) What kind of weapon do I want to use for this setup? Does a shield provide any value when in wearwolf form, or should I just go with the biggest 2hander I can find?
2) I am currently level 9. I am using a magical short sword and shield, and swing VERY SLOW in werewolf form. Do any of my future skills ever speed up my attack rate? I am coming from a frenzy barb, which I love to death, so I am used to a little more "speed" w.r.t. playstyle.
3) Is this build something I can use to solo hell and ubers? It seems like it would be a lot of fun to play, so I am hoping it is as versatile as my frenzy barb was.

Thanks to anyone who can help me out here.

Khalten

OK, so I was able to figure a few things out, and came up with more questions in addition to the ones above.

Firstly, werewolf increases your attack speed, but many advocate in putting no more than 10pts into it...why? Wouldn't increased attack speed be a good thing?

Secondly, do I need Oak Sage? I mostly solo, so playing and benefiting other people with my auras is really not important. If I don't need it, what should I get instead?

And Thirdly, how do I edit posts?

Thanks!
Khalten

 

[Gluttony]

OK, so I was able to figure a few things out, and came up with more questions in addition to the ones above.

Firstly, werewolf increases your attack speed, but many advocate in putting no more than 10pts into it...why? Wouldn't increased attack speed be a good thing?

Secondly, do I need Oak Sage? I mostly solo, so playing and benefiting other people with my auras is really not important. If I don't need it, what should I get instead?

And Thirdly, how do I edit posts?

Thanks!
Khalten

A max oak sage is not going to die anytime soon. It benefits you, yourself as much as any party member. Werewolf does not really increase your attack speed but boosts attack rating. It's more like accuracy which you get a lot of for being a werewolf anyway. As a pure fury wolf I do like max werewolf for the simple fact that there's nowhere better to spend the last points but still, max it last as the other skills are more useful.

If you're going to put points into vitality don't put any points in strength. You just need enough for end game gear and that's it. Strength is not very useful unless you're going for a titan build. The strength you get from boosting it is not enough to warrant anymore points. You will attack slow until you get a fast/endgame weapon. Such as rib cracker. A shield does provide value but I suggest going for two handed weapons (such as ribcracker) still you might want max block just in case you ever feel like putting a shield on.

A fury werewolf can solo ubers with the right equipment. :smiley: This is why you're going to want to max both oak sage and lycanthropy. It'll get you about 9000 hp+ with endgame gear. You'll also be hitting for around 7000 damage and attacking really fast. Feral Rage will keep your health bubble popping back up to full when they finally bring you down. Good luck :smiley:

*Edit* Oh, missed this question. At the bottom of the most you make there's a button that says "Edit" and another that says "Quote" you can use the edit button. If you take too long between a post the edit button goes away I believe.

 

[Zigot_HD]

OK, so I was able to figure a few things out, and came up with more questions in addition to the ones above.

Firstly, werewolf increases your attack speed, but many advocate in putting no more than 10pts into it...why? Wouldn't increased attack speed be a good thing?

Secondly, do I need Oak Sage? I mostly solo, so playing and benefiting other people with my auras is really not important. If I don't need it, what should I get instead?

And Thirdly, how do I edit posts?

Thanks!
Khalten

Hey,

Werewolf increase attack speed, but it depend on the skill you're using.
Fury only base on weapon speed. So any xtra IAS from gear is useless.
With final gear on, your werewolf will get to a decent lvl anyway.

Oak is very beneficial, also, if you want to have more AR, you could save some point into HOW. But having more life can never go wrong. You just need to remember to cast OAK once it die.

And don't forget some pets are always fun when you solo.

Fury Druid is very capable of Uber Trist. ( Maybe not in a multiplayer game 4+ though )

Z

 

[khalten]

Thanks for your help friends. I am starting to figure this out some. I will max out Oak for the hps, and lycanthropy and fury. However, whats a good method for feral rage? I have read on the boards some who say max it and some who say no more than a few points. Is there a point of diminishing returns for this skill? If so, I could free up points from that, and a few from werewolf, and branch out into another tree a bit, (for a pet or some other skill).

Something else strange that you mentioned is the IAS on armor doesn't effect your attack speed, only your weapon. Is that working as intended?

Please keep the input coming, you all are more than helpful and more than appreciated.

 

[Gluttony]

Thanks for your help friends. I am starting to figure this out some. I will max out Oak for the hps, and lycanthropy and fury. However, whats a good method for feral rage? I have read on the boards some who say max it and some who say no more than a few points. Is there a point of diminishing returns for this skill? If so, I could free up points from that, and a few from werewolf, and branch out into another tree a bit, (for a pet or some other skill).

Something else strange that you mentioned is the IAS on armor doesn't effect your attack speed, only your weapon. Is that working as intended?

Please keep the input coming, you all are more than helpful and more than appreciated.

Like I said before, I suggest you add levels after you max everything else of any importance. This way you don't really end up spending much points into feral rage (unless you plan to level to 99 then you'll have max). The higher the feral rage the better it'll be in helping you take out ubers (I believe). Still, you should wait for more input. :smiley:

 

[Verashiden]

Feral Rage is a debatable skill. On one hand it is, essentially, a one point wonder. However, for precision it can be maxed. So the choice is between if you want to rely solely on Fury or do you want a secondary attack for when you need one target dead fast. For example: being in the middle of a fanact enchanted boss pack and you want the boss dead now. Feral would be a better option than Fury.

 

[Gluttony]

Feral Rage is a debatable skill. On one hand it is, essentially, a one point wonder. However, for precision it can be maxed. So the choice is between if you want to rely solely on Fury or do you want a secondary attack for when you need one target dead fast. For example: being in the middle of a fanact enchanted boss pack and you want the boss dead now. Feral would be a better option than Fury.

I also think that since he plans on doing ubers maxxed feral would be very helpful for him which is why I advocate him spending all extra points into the skill to help him better at that task which he wants his wolfy to perform. I can tell you original poster from having a fury wolf you're in for a blast. It's a very strong build that can both pve/pvp. I hope you have fun. :smiley:

P.S. if you can get a baranar's star. This weapon will allow you to crush those annoying physical immune monsters and abyss knights.

 

[Verashiden]

Azure Wrath > BStar >.>

 

[khalten]

Thanks for the great feedback guys. My new gameplan is to max lycanthropy, put 5 in WW, 1 in feral rage, max oak sage, and max fury. I should be done with that at approximately level 62, upon which I can put more points into feral rage, and then fill out WW a bit more. At 80-85 I might start pumping points in summon for dire wolves or a bear. All stats will be vit with just enough STR to wear armor and enough DEX to keep block reasonable, (if I stick with a shield).

As far as end game gear goes, what is a fury druids end game gear? Metalgrid, ravenfrost, ribcracker (or maybe eBOtD/grief/Beast in a polearm) and SOJ are some good end game items that I know of which would do well for druids, but what abour armor/helm/gloves/boots/belt?

Thanks for your continuing help!

Khalten

 

[Gluttony]

Thanks for the great feedback guys. My new gameplan is to max lycanthropy, put 5 in WW, 1 in feral rage, max oak sage, and max fury. I should be done with that at approximately level 62, upon which I can put more points into feral rage, and then fill out WW a bit more. At 80-85 I might start pumping points in summon for dire wolves or a bear. All stats will be vit with just enough STR to wear armor and enough DEX to keep block reasonable, (if I stick with a shield).

As far as end game gear goes, what is a fury druids end game gear? Metalgrid, ravenfrost, ribcracker (or maybe eBOtD/grief/Beast in a polearm) and SOJ are some good end game items that I know of which would do well for druids, but what abour armor/helm/gloves/boots/belt?

Thanks for your continuing help!

Khalten

End game pvm gear would probably be..

Ribcracker
Jalas or cereberus
2 ravenfrost or ravenfrost/angelic
Metal grid if you go two raven frost or angelic
Gore Riders
Blood fist gloves
Verdungo's (or a nice crafted blood belt)
Last and not least Enigma/coh/fortitude