Matriarch/Patriarch/Guardian Archive Thread

Originally posted by AJK on Aug 3, 2007:

Wipe your feet! A new pat.

If I had known fury wolves could be this devastating, I would have started one sooner. I don't think I'll ever build a zealot again after trying this. Though he is quite cookie-cutter and horribly twinked, I deemed it worth my effort to write something about him. Especially since he's my first druid.

Patriarch DeadlyDoormat, lvl. 88, angry wolf.

Skill (lack of) plan:

Fury: 20
Werewolf: 20
Lycanthropy: 20
Raven: 5 (one point would have sufficed)
Teddy bear: 4 (I thought more points added life. they don't)
Heart of the Wolverine: 20


Instead of a code box with obviously overpowered gear, let me tell you about my tools as I progressed through the game.

Stage I, The beginning.
A Superior Great maul, socketed with 6 -15% req. jewels with a bit of added stamina, which is always gg in the very early levels. Normally I would use an all-poison envy setup, but this time I wanted something that would last beyond Catacombs 3.

Stage II, gib more speed.
The Chieftain. Slightly higher damage and more importantly, faster. I don't think I will ever use the big banhammer again for lack of get-on-with-it-already.

Stage III, enter the hurt.
At level 34 I went back to a Great Maul again. More specifically, an upped Steeldriver ('Shael'). This one reaches 6 frame fury and I suddenly noticed a huge improvement in the critters' willingness to play dead. This one lasted throughout Normal and a good part of nightmare. My defiance merc was only there to level, so I didn't bother giving him something interesting, apart from Hwanin's Bill some clever critter hid in a random urn in the desert.

Stage IIIa, more pain plz.
Not a weapon upgrade. It's funny how an armor upgrade can do wonders for your killitude too. I present: Guillaume the Face, Duress the Boneweave, and Gore the Rider. Yay for deadly strike, yay for crushing blow, and yay for more cold damage.
I used Ghoulhide for gloves. Reason: more damage against undead, and obligatory mana leech. Dual raven frosts completed my AR needs and dexterity wants.

Stage IIIa, section 2, why no Jalal's you nub?
I hate cookie cutters. No scratch that, I don't because I'm a power freak. I just wanted to reach a nice amount of deadly strike in my end-game gear. I wanted to have this mod so eagerly that I didn't go with Jalal's. The green horny helmet also has FHR and +str, so I could live with the loss.

Stage IV, unleash the fury.
No not the skill, an upped, Shaeled ribcracker. Speed and a tight high damage range. This weapon took care of NM, act V nicely for me. The fact that I slipped into something more comfortable, called Fortitude, only strengthened the bulldozer VS anthill analogy. Hint: I wasn't the anthill. Verdungo's Hearty cord replaced my string of, er.., can't remember, toes? noses? pinkies? Highlord's wrath gladly took the place of the Eye of Etlich because according to my homies the word on the street is that deadly strike is good.

Stage V, total annihilation.
I wanted to see what a 100% deadly strike 'Grief' fury wolf plays like. I dropped the ribcracker and substituted a 'Grief' phase blade and a Lance Guard (??!). Yes, lance guard. It has the 20% deadly strike I needed to hit close to 100% deadly strike. Questing though Hell act I was a joke. I wouldn't have minded a /players 16 setting at that point. The only problems were a few PI zombies, but as soon as my merc leveled to 75, you can probably guess what happened. It starts with R and end with eapers (it's not Retarded leapers). Before that, Djinn Slayer and Tiamat's Rebuke took them down with elemental damage, slowly.

Interesting fact, at lvl. 80 I hit 100% deadly strike. A quick tally of my enhanced damage sources resulted in 1169% ED total. Applied with 100% DS to a minimum damage of 420 resulted in 10k minimum physical damage per hit. With this power under my claws, leveling to 85 in the Pit didn't sound like a chore anymore.

Stage VI, endgame.
Ahhh, level 85 at last. Time to equip what has been my plan all along: a ShaelShaelSomething (a plain 40% damage jewel) Tomb Reaver, and 'Hel' Azurewrath on switch for PIs.

Ever since I found a perfect res. 240% ED 3os tomby in the Baal competition last MFO I decided that I had to try this fury wolf thing at least once. I also decided that I would want 4FPA or nothing. This meant that I had to wave buh-bye to my total annihilation gear, but that crap was grossly overpowered anyway. And fun.

With my final gear in place I headed for the monastery and beyond, vowing to never abandon the /players 8 setting ever. As you can guess, it didn't take long to finish the game, but some spots still remained tough.

-Act II, tombs. Lots of undead and PI ghosts. I could dispatch of small packs without too much effort, but getting mobbed is still not a good idea when your attack is interruptable and half of said pack drains your mana.
-Act III, trees on hyperspeed. Even with a very fast hit recovery in wolf form, a group of fury trees still > me.
-Act IV, the chaos sanctuary. The first time after hitting lvl. 85 that I died (ten times in a row). I didn't feel like switching to something ranged for OK's so I tried my tactic of running like the wind and smacking OK's up the back of their heads. This tactic worked fine, but I learned the hard way that their nephews can still plop IM on your furry behind when they're still off-screen. Yay for softcore!
-Act IV, diablo. The bastard got me with his flame wave as I ran away to TP for safet...death.
-Act V. The ancients rolled over like a bunch of drunken elephants, but I got whacked by a group of curse witches and charger zombies only a few steps into the WSK. Anticlimactic. The throne room and Baal were easy, altough /P8 Baal isn't something I would recommend doing for fun. It's not entirely unlike pelting a whale to death with marshmellows.


Forge drops: NM: Fal, Hell: Gul (yay!)

Other finds:
Cracked Sash, The Den of Evil, normal.
193% ED Moser's, The lost city, NM.
Pestilent LC of Venom, Countess' Tower, Hell.
501 def. Great Hauberk, Somewhere in Act V Hell.
155/32/12 Gheed's, Hell Baal.

Future builds: a sorc and a necro, both very twinked and very non-cookie. Stay tuned!
 
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Originally posted by Antonio on Mar 10, 2008:

Presenting: Patriarch Ursus Magnus

Hi all, this is my first patriarch tread, even though this is not the first character that i "finished" game with, but this is the first patriarch (yeah, i like female characters more :laugh:). As its pretty obvious from his name, it's a wearbear druid. A mauler to be precise.

This character was started a while back, but was abounded at act 5 hell just after he rescued Anya. Mostly because I got tired of him and wanted to focus on my trapper. but today I picked him up and decided that we should go for the prestige Patriarch title. To do that, I had to relieve my trusted sister in Arm, a fire rouge mercenary Amplisa. Amplisa and Ursus have been through lot, well, almost through all of the game. But the lack of +%ED on the Maul skill coupled with the single target attack was crying for more damage. So a Might desert warrior was hired. I didn't remember his name, he has been around for only a short time, but he proved him self so he can hang some more with us :laugh:

A bit of history: Normal questing was easy, even though a bit slow at the very beginning(i guess it's like that with every character.) P8 all the way, no bigger problems. As soon as it was available, Ursus equipped a ribcracker, a great weapon that made late Normal a breeze. Some thing applies for Nightmare which was even faster, now whacking monsters with maxed maul and an uped 290 ED shaeled ribcracker.
Transition to Hell was a lot harder then to Nightmare, resulting in a few deaths at the beginning of the Act1. But I picked my self up soon, and leveled the druid to clvl 85 in the Pits. That was required so that ursus can equip his end game weapon, a 3os Tomb Reaver. I didn't want to go through all Hell not using the weapon this character was designed to use. The speed and the damage of the reaver made Hell a nicer place to kill monsters.

A couple af things I liked about this character:
-the sound af a bear roar when getting hit by a fast attacking monsters, or when walking in the fire. He gets all angry and furious, gurgling and roaring while slapping monsters around
-he is so superior in Normal and Nightmare it's insane(when properly geared up of course). thats because his main attack has no synergies and the offensive core of the build almost done when Maul and WB are maxed.
-more then 2k life without the oak sage
-speed of attack, damage to a degree, low mana cost of attack


A couple of things I disliked:
-vulnerable to ranged attacks. Shock wave does little help when you are getting hit by a ranged pack from distance while handling the melee foes. No block is the key factor here I think.
-one target attack. Even though the damage is good and the attack speed is great, Maul is still a single target attack. That gets annoying when surrounded by a large pack of not that dangerous monsters(flayers, those teleporting imps, sand maggot youngs...) Here is a screenshot that says it all :laugh:
-no real solutions for the physical immunes. On p1 setting a switch weapon(Baranars) can handle most of the situations, but on higher player settings you have to pray for a decrep from merc's reaper toll to break the immunity or you are helpless. I have yet to meet physical immune Lister...
-low durability on the weapon: frequent repairs

Now the stats, skills and gear sections:


Character name : Ursus_Magnus
Character type : Druid
Character level : 87

Strength : 150
Energy : 20
Dexterity : 100
Vitality : 255

Life : 2320 / 704
Mana : 278 / 192
Stamina : 420 / 400

Maul damage with slvl 23 HoW and Might aura: 1497-7434
AR: 6590 (goes to 9k with enchant)
Resists in Hell(F/C/L/P): 75/70/75/70

Skills:
20: Lycantropy, Wearbear, Maul, Heart of Wolverine
9: Grizzly
1: Carrion Vine, Shock Wave and all prereqs

The slvl6 Shock Wave wont be enough so the remaining points will go there until I get more then 7 seconds stun length. The one point in Vine was intended as a free corpse disposal utility, but the vine is far to fragile to be of a real assistance. I still cast it together with all the other summons, but I don't count on it to be of any help.

Gear:
Head: Jalal(tal for extra poison resistance)
Arms: Tomb Reaver(shaelEthShael for speed and chance to hit improvement)
Body: Duress(resists, small ED, FHR, open wounds, crushing blow, you name it)
Hand: Laying of Hands(350 ED to demons, 50 fire resist, 20 ias)
Belly: String Of Ears(damage reduction, life steal)
Feet: Gore Riders(crushing blow, open wounds, deadly strike)
Neck: Highlords wrath(1 skill, deadly strike, lightnig resist, 20 ias)
Ring: Raven Frost(CBF, dexterity, AR, cold absorb)
Ring: Wisp Projector(makes souls bearable, some mf)
Switch: Baranas and Tiamat for physical immunes

Inventory: resistance charms and sharp grand charms, Gheed and some small mf charms.

Merc: vamp gaze, kelpie/reapers, duriels (i might put shaft, not sure yet)

Finds: Only thing I can remember is an Um from Nihlatak temple in Nightmare that made the Duress possible, also a very nice small charm from WSK: 11 poison resist and 5 FHR. it goes great with the 11 lightning resist 5 FHR sc i found a couple of months ago

Future plans: I got lucky with my WSK 2/3 map with this character, the entrance to WSK 3 is just around the corner, and to the Throne Room a bit further away but i can still get there fast. That means that he will be doing some solo Baal runs for Baalathlon mostly because I need a break from my trapper, she has dome 200 runs, and Ursus can handle the next 50 at least.

That's it folks, thanks for reading, congratulations to those that are still awake 👍
 
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Originally posted by bassen on Mar 26, 2008:

Patriarch Odin Firehand, the story of

Hi
Here comes the life of Odin Firehand the Shapeshifting Werewolf druid.
Enjoy the story too ^^ made it by facts from my playing ^^


History:

This is not the first character I made a patriarch of. The first one was CrWolf the summoning druid but I executed him when I found out he had a illegal item. However I had much druid items before that which made me decide to go for another druid. This time a wanted to punch the monsters my-self so I wen't for a shapeshifter.

Life of Odin Firehand:
Odin Firehand was 20 years old when he became a adept in shapeshifting, almost a half-year ago (= a few weeks irl). He had learned from his deceased father CryWolf a bit of shapeshifting. But while his father was cunning in the art of Bear he wanted to focus in the art of the Wolves.

The village, Liphaey, he lived in were no longer safe. In the north part of the world there were stories and rumors about three primary evils. The other druids in the village normally told these stories to scare their children from leaving and going alone out in the dangerous forest.

Odin Firehand was not scared tho, he thought he had nothing to fear and one day he had gone to seek adventure and glory. He wandered a long time before he encountered a encampment which came to be the beginning of a dangerous adeventure in the seek for glory.

Becoming a patriarch - the beginning of a journy
The stories told in the village of Liphaey were true. After a rescue a man of knowledge, Deckard Cain, he was told he had to begin a journy to defeat the threat over the world. The journy began in the encampment and reached to a number of places.

Skillallocation (within the story)
While travel with Cain he developed his shapeshifting skills (Werewolf slvl 20). He learned to endure more pain than any other normal druid was able of (lycantrophy slvl 20) by focus the pain in a rage which regenerated his body (Feral Rage slvl 1) while he was in battle. Also by focus his thoughts on a lost love, while in Werewolf-form, he could deal several attacks at once making his enemy die almost instant (Fury slvl 20). Back from the village he also knew how to posion his enemy by adding some rare herbs on his claws (Rabies slvl 1)

As the journy went on Odin Firehand talked to the other druids by whispering messages in the wind. The old villager shaman told him that if he wanted to deal more lethal wounds at his enemies later he only had to whisper "meolah" and the spirits from the forest would aid him in his battle (Heart of Wolverine slvl 20) or if he just wanted to endure more pain he could force any tree spirit to add their lifeessence to him (Oak Sage slvl 1).

While in the desert Cain and Firehand found a new friend Chalan which was good with polearms. He had a weapon of the ancient times called Insight the gods of Ralew, Tira, Talmia and Solith had themselves blessed it with incredible powers. Since he was from de desert where Tal Rasha came from, he also had a mask that were once worn by the ancient one. His armor was also blessed by gods, the evil gods and brothers Shaelin, Thulein and Umael.

When they reached a grey place called Kurast Odin felt homesickness and to have someone to talk to except deckard Cain, he learned to summon animals from the bare of his hands (Raven slvl 1, Spirit wolf slvl 1, Dire wolf slvl 8, Gryzzly Bear slvl 1)

When the 84th (clvl 83) day was close he defeated the last of the three prime evils, the mighty Baal.

Non-story-stats:
Character: Odin Firehand
Level: 83

Skills:
20 Werewolf
20 Lycantrophy
1 Feral Rage
1 Rabies
20 Fury
1 Raven
1 Spirit Wolf
1 Oak Sage
20 Heart of Wolverine
8 Dire wolf
1 Grizzly Bear
= 94 (82 from Leveling, 12 from quests)

Stats:
STR 90
DEX 115
VIT 270
ENE 20

End equipment:
CryWolf's Jalal's Mane
Armor: Shaftstop with Jewel of Fervor
Weapon 1: Immortal Kings Stone Crusher with Hel and Shael
Weapon 2: Fleshrender
Shield 2: Spirit
Ring 1: Raven Frost
Ring 2 Raven Frost
Hand: Immortal Kings Forge
Belt: Immortal Kings Detail
Boots: War Traveler
Neck: Chromatic Amulet of the Titan (28% + 20 STR)

Inventory:
4 GC shimmering charms: 2x15% 1x14% 1x13%
1 LC Shimmering charm: 1x8%
then a few charms giving life and some resistance
1 Gheeds Fortune

Other items used:
CryWolf's Skin of the Vipermagi
Runeword - Stealth
Runeword - Stenght
Buriza-Do Kyanon mostly of the game until act 2-3 in Hell

Mercenary:

Act: 2
Difficulty: Nightmare
Ability: Might aura
Weapon: Insight - Thresher
Helmet: Tal Rashas Horadric Crest
Body Armor: Treachery - Ethereal Scarabhusk
Switch to Kelpe at Baal

Game status:
Mods: RWM/RRM
Ver: 1.11b
Softcore/Hardcore: Softcore

Hellforge
N - Eld
NM - Ko
H - Um


Other information:
I have used many of the items that I was able to save after my unfortunate trade with (a now banned player). But before I used the Anya-quest to make the Spirit of CryWolf live in his grandchild Odin Firehand


made by Bassen

I dedicate the story to Neksja who also have traveled with me all along and helped me alot
 
Originally posted by bcoe on Mar 19, 2010:

Patriarch Tyto_Alba (Doom/Phoenix fury wolf)

Patriarch Tyto_Alba


This is yet another ridiculous (but stylish, I hope) rune-fest thanks to 1.13b. Early on in 1.13b, I found a Cham and built a doom/2x dream pally. One of my favorite things about the doom was the CtC Volcano. What a neat animation, and it sure does spit out a ton of fireballs with unfortunately trivial damage. So I wondered, what about if we synergized that volcano? Well, I refreshed my memory on the under-utilized fire side of the elemental tree, and remembered that both Fissure and Molten Boulder synergize Volcano. Then I noticed that those two skills also synergize Firestorm. So I wondered, what has a CtC firestorm? Oh yeah, Phoenix. It’s a dumb, overpriced, never-been-made-on-SPF runeword. I had 1x Vex (from Trav) and 1 Lo (from Pindle, 1.13a). Better start crushing the cows…. I spent about 5 days running the cows like crazy. No Jah. I took a break and did some baal-running with my relatively new lite-sorc, and got a Jah within an hour or two. What a crazy game. I cubed up another Vex and made Phoenix. That would have been unthinkable a few months ago. Amazing.

The name is the latin for the Barn Owl. A fascinating bird, really, found nearly everywhere, but evolutionarily and biologically quite distinct from all the other owls. Beautiful.

STATS:
Name: Tyto_Alba
Level: 80
Strength: 139 (166)
Dexterity: 55 (79)
Vitality: 276 (281)
Energy: 20 (45)

Life: 2744
Mana: 268


Skills (after + skills):
Elemental tree:
Firestorm: 1 (8)
Molten Boulder: 20 (27)
Fissure: 20 (27)

Summoning tree:
Oak Sage: 1 (8)
Heart of the Wolverine: 6 (13)

Shape Shifting tree:
Werewolf: 1 (10)
Lycanthropy: 20 (29)
Feral Rage: 1 (10)
Rabies: 1 (10)
Fury: 20 (29)

LCS:
LCS
Fury damage: 3099-9942
6 fpa
AR: 6448
5% CtC Lvl 18 Volcano (224-231 physical damage, 224-231 fire damage per ball)
40% CtC Lvl 22 Firestorm (1266-1470 fire damage/second)
35% Deadly Strike
25% Crushing Blow
16% Life Leach
3% Mana Leach

Active Auras:
Level 12 Holy Freeze (Doom)
Level 13 Redemption (Phoenix)
Level 12 Conviction (Infinity – Merc)
Level 16 Might (Merc)
Level 13 Heart of the Wolverine


How I got there:

I leveled him up to 67 as a standard fury wolf, with a standard ribby then an upped ribcracker. I experimented a bit and statted all the vines, and played with PC and Rabies a bit. Once I hit level 67 I respecced into my final gear/skills/stats.

On to equipment….

Equipment:
Head: Jalal’s Mane (ummed)
Amulet: Mara’s (+30 resists)
Armor: Fortitude Archon Plate
Weapon: Doom Berzerker axe (eth-bugged)
Shield: Phoenix Monarch
Switch: Lawbringer Crystal Sword/Stormshield
Belt: String of Ears (8%LL, 15%DR)
Gloves: Cruel Fist (awesome crafted gloves)
Rings: Ravenfrost (18 dex/ 242 AR) and a BKWB (5%LL)
Boots: Gore riders

Charms:
Some Sharp GCs, some shimmering SCs.

Resists: 85/75/85/75

Merc: Might with Infinity ethereal thresher, Fortitude, Crown of thieves

Finds:
Hellforge: Hel/Gul

Thoughts:

This guy is AWESOME. I love him dearly. He worked EXACTLY how I hoped he would. I knew that the CtC firestorm would interrupt his fury, but I hoped that the negative enemy fire resists (-85 from Infinity, - 28 from Phoenix) would make the damage relevant, and that the Holy Freeze and Freezes Target +3 mod on Doom would make those hiccups in his attack sequence safe and tolerable. Well, it worked perfectly. Even against PIs, the fire damage from firestorm and volcano killed them pretty darn quick. Against non-PIs, the massive damage from doom generally took care of them plenty fast. Against bosses or mobs, whenever Volcano triggered, it just melted them amazingly fast. I have no idea how many of those fireballs spew out, but it is a big number, and the cumulative damage is very impressive.

The safety of this character was really awesome. The HF and Freezes target from Doom work well to slow any advancing enemies to a crawl. The big LL and huge damage is nice, and the Redemption is great too. An added bonus is that reviving monsters are no longer an issue.

Gearwise, I’m pretty happy with what he’s got. I really struggled with what to do on the switch. I used CtA/Spirit for most of the game, but it really only added about 600 life, and he didn’t really need it. I switched to a lawbringer to have the option to spread some Decrepify in case I ever ran into FI/PIs, but never really needed it.

Regarding Phoenix, I’m really not sure what to think. I think that if the CtC firestorm was not synergized, the interrupted melee attack would be much more annoying. Also, if everything around him wasn’t frozen, it would have made him very vulnerable. I’m very glad I built it for him, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with it next.

Skillwise, the only debate was what to do after MB/Fissure/Lycan/Fury were all maxed. I ended up going with HoW for a bit of added damage, but it was pretty frail and the boost was small. In another 5-10 levels, it might get a bit tougher and be more useful. I debated working my way up to Armageddon. I think it would have worked OK. Maybe if I rebuild…

A nice CTC screenshot:

Two Volcanos

Next? I think I'm done with the HR craziness for a while. I'm excited for the ladder starting with the final 1.13 patch. I think a restart is just what the doctor ordered. I'll play these guys some on the side (still at grail -1), but playing some less powerful toons sounds like fun too...

Thanks to:
Liquid Evil, whose Earthshifter Armageddon duid is kind of like this guy’s big brother.
Vox_Dei, whose recent Wind Wolf is Tyto’s evil twin (or maybe its vice versa?)
All of SPF for being so fun…

Thanks for reading.
 
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Originally posted by bcoe on Aug 24, 2010:

Patriarch Ninox_Rufa (Rabies Druid)

Patriarch Ninox_Rufa


As I posted recently in the IFT, I have a new toy (perfect roll Bramble). This is the first poison-based character I wanted to make. I’ve had him “paused” in late NM waiting to make the suit. He’s brilliant, a ton of fun, and extremely effective.

His name is the latin name for the Rufous Owl, a big pretty owl of tropical forests. Since he’s kind of similar to Tyto_Alba (probably my favorite Pat ever), I wanted to name him after an owl too.

STATS:

Naked/Gear
Name: Ninox_Rufa
Class: Druid
Experience: 748707075
Level: 81

Naked/Gear
Strength: 125/156
Dexterity: 105/136
Vitality: 245/272
Energy: 20/45
HP: 675/811
Mana: 180/324
Stamina: 384/434
Defense: 26/1442
AR: 495/22092

Skills (after + skills):
Poison Creeper: 20/29
Oak Sage: 1/10
Heart of Wolverine: 9/18 ----- Future points to go here

Werewolf: 1/20
Lycanthropy: 20/39
Feral Rage: 1/20
Rabies: 20/39
Fury: 20/39

LCS:
Rabies Damage: 43-44k
Fury damage: 1982-5828

Equipment:
Head: Jalal’s Mane (Um)
Amulet: Mara’s (+30)
Armor: Bramble
Weapon: Doom BA
Shield: Spirit Monarch
Switch: Death’s Web (poison facet) / Spirit monarch
Belt: Whistan’s guard
Gloves:Trang’s
Rings: Bul Katho’s WB, Raven Frost (+19/+249)
Boots: Dread Tread (20FRW, 10FHR, +40FR, +37LR, +7dex)

Charms:
8x Shape-shifting grand charms
SCs (fine/steel)

Resists: 75/80/75/75

Merc: Might with eth Reapers toll (with RjoF), fortitude archon plate, Delerium

Finds:
Hellforge: Fal/Fal
Nothing else. I mean nothing.

GoMule item data dump:
Code:
Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 297
Durability: 8 of 20
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0xdddf7747
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+200% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
All Resistances +45
+5 to Mana after each Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Um Rune

Um Rune
Required Level: 47
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds
Armor: Cold Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%
Shields: Cold Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +22%
Fire Resist +22%
Poison Resist +22%

Bramble
Archon Plate
RalOhmSurEth
Defense: 799
Durability: 42 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0xb91f0812
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 21 Thorns Aura When Equipped
+50% Faster Hit Recovery
+50% to Poison Skill Damage
+300 Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Regenerate Mana 15%
+5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Fire Resist +30%
Poison Resist +100%
+13 Life after each Kill
Level 13 Spirit of Barbs (33/33 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Socketed: Sur Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune

Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Sur Rune
Required Level: 61
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Blinds Target +1
Armor: Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Shields: +50 to Mana

Eth Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: -25% Target Defense
Armor: Regenerate Mana 15%
Shields: Regenerate Mana 15%

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 73
Durability: 9 of 16
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xc315fc50
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+25% to Poison Skill Damage
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%


Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xcf71d547
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +5
All Resistances +30

Wilhelm's Pride
Battle Belt
Defense: 75
Durability: 8 of 18
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 88
Fingerprint: 0xe888ef3e
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Mana stolen per hit
5% Life stolen per hit
+75% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +10%


Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x3e746e9c
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
5% Life stolen per hit
+40 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+50 Maximum Stamina

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x3dc73b9b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+249 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+19 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Dread Tread
Greaves
Defense: 20
Durability: 17 of 24
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0x5f6b0228
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+28% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +33%
Fire Resist +40%

Spiritual Grand Charm of Craftmanship
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xd0fbfa3b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+1 to Maximum Damage

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x516eae1
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x42a733f4
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x57b785dc
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+13 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x21b79834
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xba494aca
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xe47b10e3
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xdf522a3c
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0x95de362b
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Identify
Fingerprint: 0xfd04ba6c
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x33b20a5f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Fine Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x8b4f2676
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Maximum Damage
+20 to Attack Rating
+2 to Strength

Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x99023e4d
Item Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+18 to Attack Rating
+14 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4ff449e6
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Maximum Damage
+15 to Attack Rating
+19 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0xaff1275d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+20 to Attack Rating
+12 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x2b5c5b05
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Maximum Damage
+20 to Attack Rating
+2 to Strength

Steel Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xbd177116
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+28 to Attack Rating
+20 to Life

Steel Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x8d5c4b5a
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+32 to Attack Rating
+2 to Strength

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0xd8fde929
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Doom
Berserker Axe
HelOhmUmLoCham
One Hand Damage: 165 - 486
Indestructible
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 103
Required Dexterity: 40
Fingerprint: 0x3058fb15
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 18 Volcano on striking
Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped
+2 to All Skills
+45% Increased Attack Speed
359% Enhanced Damage
-45% to Enemy Cold Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
Freezes target +3
Requirements -20%
Ethereal
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Cham Rune

Hel Rune
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Requirements -20%
Armor: Requirements -15%
Shields: Requirements -15%

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Um Rune
Required Level: 47
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds
Armor: Cold Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%
Shields: Cold Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +22%
Fire Resist +22%
Poison Resist +22%

Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist

Cham Rune
Required Level: 67
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Freezes target +3
Armor: Cannot Be Frozen
Shields: Cannot Be Frozen

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 144
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 81 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x9e67ca62
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+104 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+8 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 141
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x2c69eeb4
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+96 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+7 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Death's Web
Unearthed Wand
One Hand Damage: 22 - 28
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x947795ca
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
+2 to All Skills
+1 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-52% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage
+8 to Mana after each Kill
+10 Life after each Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x74979779
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage

Mercenary:

Name:       Ahsab
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Off-Nightmare
Experience: 64568416
Level:      81
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   179/179
Dexterity:  144/144
HP:         1607/1728
Defense:    1189/3043
AR:         1865/1865

Fire:       174/134/74
Cold:       174/134/74
Lightning:  174/134/74
Poison:    174/134/74

Fortitude
Archon Plate
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1542
Durability: 59 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0x84a060f2
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+121 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +29
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +50 to Attack Rating
+1 to Light Radius
Armor: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius
Shields: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius

Sol Rune
Required Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Minimum Damage
Armor: Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Damage Reduced by 7

Dol Rune
Required Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Armor: Replenish Life +7
Shields: Replenish Life +7

Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist


Delirium
Diadem
LemIstIo
Defense: 312
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0xe3487bf
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Chance to cast level 13 Terror when struck
6% Chance to cast level 14 Mind Blast when struck
1% Chance to cast level 50 Delirium when struck
11% Chance to cast level 18 Confuse on striking
+2 to All Skills
+261 Defense
+10 to Vitality
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 17 Attract (60/60 Charges)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Io Rune

Lem Rune
Required Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Armor: 50% Extra Gold from Monsters
Shields: 50% Extra Gold from Monsters

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Io Rune
Required Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Vitality
Armor: +10 to Vitality
Shields: +10 to Vitality


The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 66 - 784
Durability: 29 of 33
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 107
Required Dexterity: 81
Fingerprint: 0x987fd40
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
+15% Increased Attack Speed
272% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
Adds 4 - 44 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (28 Frames)
12% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%
Ethereal
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Fervor

Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x87fd6c5a
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
40% Enhanced Damage

Thoughts:

I really like druids. They are just so much fun. I’m not crazy about them as repeated-use runners for MF/etc, but for leveling/patting, they are awesome. There are so many fun and different skills.

Rabies may be my favorite. It gets huge damage – maybe not as much as the poison javelins or poison explosion, but its plenty. I love the speed of a running werewolf combined with Rabies – you tap the leading edge of an advancing mob and run around while they all slowly die. For style points, you can use doom to freeze the original infected enemy in place so that the others will get poisoned as they run by after you. This strategy is particularly effective against cows (/p1 anyway). As you run away, switch over to the Death’s web to hasten their demise. Delicious – and more fun than should be allowed.

Play-style was essentially always rabies-first, saving fury for PIs. 20pt fury with a big weapon is a devastatingly effective “backup” attack. HoW was very helpful (but fragile) at boosting the AR. Poison creeper was noticeably effective in Normal, mainly just for amusement in NM/hell.

I statted him to be able to wield either a doom BA or grief PB. Grief is probably more effective, with the bigger physical damage, the venom, and the -25 to enemy poison resist. Doom is more fun, though. The +2 skills boosts the raw Rabies damage a decent amount, and the HF/freezes target/CtC volcano are really fun. I thought about dumping some poison facets into a Head Hunters Glory for more poison damage, but spirit was good enough. He had stupid amounts of FHR – I thought about going for the next breakpoint but didn’t see the point.

I’ll probably use him to run cows for a little while. He’s quite fast and safe on /p1, but more than anything else, he’s just a lot of fun. Basically I run around trying to herd up as big a group as possible, then hit them once and see how many drop from one round of Rabies. Its pretty damn impressive….

So, if you haven’t tried a rabies druid, I highly recommend it.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Colorless Green on May 27, 2008:

Patriarch Giese, Fury/Rabies Druid

This is going to be a PvP char, but the listed stats/equipment/whatever is the PvM questing/baal running setup.


Patriarch Giese, Level 85 Fury/Rabies Druid

Str: 165 (215)
Dex: 178 (201)
Vit: 152 (187)
Ene: 20 (40)

Life (with WW, BO, OS): 2720
Mana: 402
Resists: 73/75/80/74
Fury Damage: lots. LCS can't handle the pwnage that is grief and I don't wanna do the math.
Fury AR: 7460
Rabies Damage (per skill tree): 11997-12444 over 15.6s

Skills:
Werewolf: 1 (11)
Lycanthropy: 20 (30)
Feral Rage: 1 (11)
Rabies: 20 (30)
Fury: 20 (30)
Poison Creeper: 20 (24)
Raven: 1 (5)
Spirit Wolf: 1 (5)
Oak Sage: 12 (16)

Equipment:
Jalal's Mane (Um)
Fortitude Archon Plate
Pain Hand Crafted Gloves (+7 dex, +20 life, +28% FR, 3% LL, 25% PLR, 10% CB)
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Gore Rider
Highlord's Wrath
Raven Frost
Bone Whorl (+4 min dmg, +4% res all, +21% CR, 6% LL, 6% ML)
Grief Phase Blade
Stormshield (PD)

Might Merc:
The Reaper's Toll, Shaftstop, Vampire Gaze


Well, grief pwns. Fury is annoying - it's kinda like an underpowered and buggy version of zeal. Rabies is neat but not tremendously effective. It was helpful against large groups of low hp monsters like flayers and such (though I doubt I really would have killed much slower just using fury), and quite nice against PI's while I was waiting for decrep to trigger. I came to think of it as an area-of-effect PMH.

Based on the fact that I was using a grief at 5 frames, there wasn't anything at all that remotely resembled a challenge. I played hell on p8 through diablo then just set it down to p1 for A5 because I wanted to do MP baals to level instead of questing. Ancients = cake, minions = cake, baal = slightly less cake. I was actually surprised at how annoying the baal fight was (relatively speaking - he still went down quickly with nothing even close to a NDE). He spawned a clone instantly and they both spammed the ice wedge the whole fight, so I basically spent the whole fight running towards him.

Lem/Gul from HFs (yay, first decent HF drop I've gotten in a while). Got a 200%ed/8%LL titan's from hell diablo and a mediocre thunderstroke from some random monster in A2 or A3 or something.

Also, it looks like my prediction after my last pat was accurate - exactly a week since the previous was finished. Next up will likely be another class-specific set (probably amazon) assuming I can come up with a build I like.

-CG
 
Originally posted by Colorless Green on Jun 12, 2008:

Patriarch Danson, Aldur's Fire Claws Summoner

And, here we have #7 of my class-specific set octumvirate. I think I actually found a viable build for the Aldur's set.


Patriarch Danson, Level 81 Aldur's Fire Claws Summoner

Str: 86 (151)
Dex: 145 (205)
Vit: 244 (289)
Ene: 20 (65)

Life (w/BO): 2152
Mana (w/BO): 772
Resists: 75/75/75/27
Fire Claws Damage (per LCS, including might/HoW): 3680-4440
Fire Claws AR (per LCS, including HoW): 9462
Grizzly Damage (per skill tree, not including might/HoW): 2490-2618

Skills:
Raven: 1 (12)
Spirit Wolf: 1 (12)
Dire Wolf: 1 (12)
Grizzly: 20 (31)
Oak Sage: 1 (12)
Heart of Wolverine: 16 (27)
Lycanthropy: 1 (12)
Werewolf: 1 (12)
Werebear: 1 (12)
Maul: 1 (12)
Feral Rage: 1 (12)
Fire Claws: 20 (32)
Shockwave: 6 (17)
Firestorm: 20 (30)

Equipment:
Aldur's Stony Gaze (Shael, IAS jewel)
Aldur's Deception
Magefist
Arachnid Mesh
Aldur's Advance
Highlord's Wrath
The Stone of Jordan
Bul Kathos' Wedding Band
Aldur's Rhythm (ShaelShaelShael)
Rhyme Hyperion
CtA/Lidless on switch (though not often used)
Charms: 3 summoning skillers, 2 shapeshifting skillers, resists

Might Merc: Reaper's Toll, Treachery, Tal's Mask


So, this was much, much more fun than the M'Avinazon. Granted, I played on p1 for all of hell (not that I spent much time above that on the zon), but I didn't have any problems whatsoever and it went very, very quickly.

I'd highly recommend this variant to anyone struggling over how to make it through hell with Aldur's set without losing their mind. This certainly isn't ever going to be useful for anything beyond questing, but I think it takes advantage of the set in more or less the best way possible this side of 1.07 haxcharms and expensive jewels.

Shockwave was heavily used (as it should be on any werebear), non-FI's went down in a couple fire claws hits, and FI's (or whatever non-FI's weren't right in front of me) died quickly to the bear and merc. I recast the bear to target FI's pretty frequently, using it something like a physical damage version of hydra. I'd switch to maul to help the bear/merc after all the FI's were dead, but this didn't really come up often, since they were both quite quick killers.

Chaos sanctuary: no problem - merc only died once (to a pretty impressive pile of monsters including an OK champ pack that managed to land an IM). Ancients: no problem - spawn included both cursed and an extra strong on the whirler, but only one FI. The other two died very very fast to FC, and once I got the grizzly/merc to focus on the FI, he went down quickly too. Probably 90 seconds total, if that. Minions: no problem - shockwave. Baal: no problem, but a bit slow. I don't believe I died at all during hell (only deaths before hell due to not caring about a tiny bit of exp loss so swinging away with a 1.07 oath around IM).

Io from hell hellforge, I forgot the NM hellforge but it was unremarkable. Leviathan from hell diablo. Incidentally, between twinking and my final gear, I spent 12 shaels on this char.

Anyways, this was surprisingly fun, particularly since I'd been quite pessimistic about the char since I started the octumvirate, and I figured it'd look particularly pathetic immediately on the heels of the death frenzier, but, no. It was fun.

Next (and last) is a Griswold's pally, which I believe will be an avenger, though I haven't made up my mind entirely yet. The min damage avenger looks quite interesting, but I don't think I have good enough jewels for it. I'm also going out of town for a couple weeks on Monday, and have friends coming to visit for the weekend, so I might not wind up finishing the char before then. If not, look for the final pat thread right around the beginning of July.

-CG
 
Originally posted by Colorless Green on Feb 22, 2009:

Patriarch Lon, Feral Wolf

Patriarch Lon, level 85 Feral Rage Werewolf Druid


Str: 166 (207)
Dex: 20 (43)
Vit: 309 (314)
Ene: 20 (55)

Life: 3171
Mana: 439
Resists: 75/75/80/75
Attack Rating (Feral Rage): 8759
Damage (Feral Rage): 2020-11k

Skills (oath switch for FR, cta switch for everything else):
Werewolf: 20 (30)
Lycanthropy: 20 (30)
Feral Rage: 20 (27)
Heart of Wolverine: 20 (29)
Summon Grizzly: 11 (19)
Summoning Pre-reqs: 1 (9)

Equip:
Jalal's Mane (Um)
Fortitude Archon Plate
Dracul's Grasp
String of Ears
Gore Rider
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Raven Frost
Bone Whorl Ring (6 LL/6 ML/4 min/4 res all/21 CR)
Oath Feral Axe
CtA/Spirit on switch

Might Merc: Reaper's Toll, eth Treachery, Vampire Gaze

Code:
Oath
Feral Axe
'ShaelPulMalLum'
Two-Hand Damage: 162 to 899
Required Strength: 186
Required Level: 49
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x220abc4c
+10 to Energy
+339% Enhanced Damage
50% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal
75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+12 Magic Absorb
Indestructible
30% Chance to cast Level 20 Bone Spirit on striking
Level 16 Heart of Wolverine (20/20 Charges)
Level 17 Iron Golem (14/14 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)


This char was a blast to play, but I'm a sucker for anything that moves fast. Even aside from that, though, 11k max damage at 8 fpa is loads of fun. I breezed through all of hell at p5, and could have easily gone p8 without too much of a disadvantage, though it would have made PI's a bit more tedious. Pretty much every fight involved just running into a pack and holding down shift and left click until everything was dead. A lot of (lower hp) stuff was one hits pretty much all the way through. Hell took probably a total of 5 hours of play time maximum (and I, generally speaking, kill any monster that I wake up, so it wasn't just running through stuff).

The only slowdown while questing was at the frozen river (thanks to a really unlucky spawn of monsters including at least 6 ghost bosspacks), and that wasn't really even that much of a slowdown compared to the average char. Lister forced me to spread out the pack a bit, purely because interruptable melee attacks make tanking the entire pack pretty dangerous. Ancients went down in under 60 seconds - it was about 5 hits each for the two that weren't stone skin. Baal also went down in a very small number of hits.

I'm pretty sure this char would be just as effective without the 1.07 oath hax and the fortitude (provided you're comfortable playing at lower players settings), so I'd recommend giving it a shot if you want to try a good melee char that's a bit off the beaten path. It's a lot like frenzy except with a more forgiving cooldown period - I basically never lost my rage chargeup without going AFK.

Sadly, he had craptacular luck with drops - shael/hel from hellforges and nothing whatsoever to speak of from any other sources, but oh well.

All in all, great fun, particularly for a relatively unusual melee build. I'm quite surprised that there aren't any other pure feral wolves in the mat/pat compilation (that I saw during a brief glancethrough - apologies if I missed one.) Highly recommended.

-CG
 
Originally posted by Colorless Green on Jul 28, 2005:

Patriarch Urcwyn

Patriarch Urcwyn
Level 85 Maul Werebear

Stats:

Str: 189 (269)
Dex: 110 (161)
Vit: 196 (216)
Ene: 20 (50)
Life: 2800
Mana: 288
Fire Res: 66
Cold Res: 45
Light Res: 73
Pois Res: 14

Skills:
Oak Sage: 20 (23)
Grizzly: 1 (4)
Lycanthropy: 20 (25)
Werebear: 20 (25)
Maul: 20 (25)
Shockwave: 11 (16)
Prereq's: 1 (4-6)

Equipment:
(head) Jalal's Mane
(body) Lionheart Wyrmhide (switch to PT Skullders for pindle/pits)
(belt) Nosferatu's Coil
(glove) Laying Of Hands
(boot) Gore Rider
(ammy) Highlord's Wrath
(ring1) Raven Frost
(ring2) Order Grip (+20 str, +58 AR, +5 res all, 3% manaleech, +4 life regen, 8% MF)
(wpn) Upgraded Shael Ribcracker (295% ED)
(switch) Baranar's Star
(switch) Tiamat's Rebuke

Charms: Gheed's, some AR, bit of life, bit of poison damage, lots and lots of resists.

Notable Drops: Um + Fal from pits, Pul from hellforge, Crown of Ages from pindle.


Great pindle runner, good pit runner, *boring* quester. Questing basically consisted of clicking on the nearest monster, holding down the button until it died, then clicking on the next nearest. Essentially no danger whatsoever, and basically constant one-hit-kills. Good fun, I guess, but I'm not really a big fan of one-target-at-a-time chars. But now, I've played a druid. Finally.

-Isch
 
Originally posted by Cormallon on Aug 19, 2007:

Patriarch Batulix, Hwanin revived (#7 for my set sept)

Meet Bratulix, the fireclaws druid. He follows the tradition of Hwanin, the hero from former times. He managed to acquire said heros equipment and went through nightmare and hell with these thingies equipped. Sockets got added when Larzuk felt ready to punch them. This char completes my SC set sept.

The set is really nice for a werebear, the weapon is one of the fastest available. ctc static doesn't hurt either. The bad side is that the build lacks resists. I switched amulets and rings according to the situation, until I got the last socket quest and the anya reward in A5 hell.

Fireclaws do insane damage, especially with this fast weapon. Unfortunately, there are fire immunes. Those got handled a bit slower with crushing blow. And then there are FI/PIs... I thought I would have to park these, but to my astonishment I even could take those out in reasonable time. The few cold and lightning dmg I had was still enough for that task.

The mercenary is a cold rogue. With the Riphook and Blackhorns face she's got 50% slow monster, and the cold dmg slows them even more. This combination really is comparable with a Kelpie merc... sometimes even better, I think. I rarely had to worry about her. My char did enough damage, she was only there for the slow effect. Shockwave took care of the crowds.

Deaths: 3, all in hell. Mostly because I ran too fast into mobs that contained champions which couldn't be stunned with shockwave.

Although there weren't too much difficulties, and I went through the game at a reasonable speed (p7 in normal and nightmare, p1 in hell), I don't like this char very much. I guess he isn't fast enough to have fun slaughtering the monsters, and there isn't much variation in play to make up for the lacking speed, and he is save enough so there is no thrill from constant danger. Such is life. I'm nevertheless happy to have my set sept completed with him!



The numbers:

Character name : Bratulix
Character type : Druid
Character level : 80
Character exp : 722022301

Strength : 103
Energy : 20
Dexterity : 20
Vitality : 347
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0

Life : 3022 / 877 (in werebear form)
Mana : 218 / 178
Stamina : 484 / 485

Gold (Inventory): 14778
Gold (Stash) : 1543093

Defense 1760
Resists in hell: 75 / 56 / 75 / 30
Fireclaws damage: 4479-5287


Skills
Shapeshifting:
Lycantrophy 19 (26)
Werewolf 1 (8)
Werebear 1 (8)
Maul 1 (8)
Feral rage 1 (8)
Fireclaws 20 (27)
Shockwave 5 (12)

Elemental:
Firestorm 2 (4)
Molten boulder 20 (22)
Fissure 1 (3)
Volcano 20 (22)

Equipment

The Set:

Hwanin's Splendor - Grand Crown
Socketed with:
Ambergris Jewel of Fire
Required Level: 28
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x4ddcfb37
Lightning Resist +24%
Adds 9-22 fire damage

Hwanin's Blessing - Belt

Hwanin's Refuge - Tigulated Mail
Socketed with:
Plague Eye
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x8d10dfbb
+30% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +10%
Lightning Resist +29%
Cold Resist +10%
Poison Resist +10%
9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Hwanin's Justice - Bill
Soketed with:
Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7f58e02
15% Increased Attack Speed

Other:
Goblin Toe - Light Plated Boots
Raven Frost - Ring

Fiend Knuckle
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 11
Durability: 8 of 14
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0xd7c455f8
+10 to Life
+64% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +25%
3% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Light Radius
8% Chance of Crushing Blow


Shadow Noose
Amulet
Required Level: 51
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc34e0675
+19 to Dexterity
+37 to Life
+3 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +20
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Grim Touch
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xf282a6f0
+40 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +15%
4% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
36% Extra Gold from Monsters

Charms:

Spiritual Grand Charm (+1 Shapeshifting)
Spiritual Grand Charm (+1 Shapeshifting)
Spiritual Grand Charm of Balance (+1 Shapeshifting, 12% FHR)
Spiritual Grand Charm of Maiming (+1 Shapeshifting, +3 max dmg)

Shimmering Grand Charm (+13 res all)
Cobalt Small Charm (9% CR)
Lapis Small Charm (7% CR)
Ruby Small Charm (10% FR)
Ruby Small Charm (10% FR)
Garnet Small Charm of Anthrax (9% FR, 50 psn dmg over 6 sec)
Ruby Small Charm (10% FR)
Garnet Small Charm (9% FR)
Arcing Small Charm (1-26 lightn. dmg)


Mercenary Items :

Blackhorn's Face - Death Mask
Duriel's Shell - Cuirass
Riphook - Razor Bow
 
Originally posted by Cygnus on Apr 18, 2008:

Patriarch Getafix, Fireclaws/Fury Aldur's druid

This report contains some disturbing and possibly offensive. Those who have played fury wolves before are advised to proceed with caution. You have been warned :)

The set

Aldur's set needed a little bit of love. IK and Tal's are revered, Trang's and M'av's get used every once in a while, Gris' exists in many dreams and even Nat's gets the occasional honourable mention. Mention Aldur's and you get curses if you are lucky, shin kicks if you are not.

The set itself has juicy mods at first glance.
90-100 to all resists
+3 druid skills
+1 shapeshifting and elemental skills
150% bonus to attack rating
+45 to all attributes :eek:
An additional 15 to dex and 20 to str
50% magic find
15% mana leech
10% life leech
Fast walk and hit recovery
Up to 6 sockets

Perfect for melee, right? Can look at IK in the eye and not blink. Even better, it only uses up four equipment slots. Until you look at the beat stick, that is.

One-Hand Damage: 60 To 93 (76.5 Avg)
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 74
Durability: 72
Base Weapon Speed: [10]
+200% Damage To Demons
+50% Damage To Undead
Adds 40-62 Damage
Adds 50-75 Lightning Damage
30% Increased Attack Speed
10% Life Stolen Per Hit
5% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Socketed (2-3) (varies)*
+15 To Strength (2 Item)
+15 To Strength (3 Items)
+15 To Strength (Completed Set)

This deservedly gets booed off stage. One, it's an exceptional weapon, two, it doesn't have a big damage multiplier. Or does it? The full set bonus has a very intersting line:

+350% Enhanced Damage*

The Arreat Summit helpfully mentions that this is not a bug but a balance issue (i.e., "feature") *cough* yeah, there was the danger this set might just be a little too powerful.

The build

How best to put it to use? The mods obviously suggest melee, and the weapon is fast. Elemental damage would be great, hmm, Fire Claws fits the bill. But the somewhat icky issue of fire immunes needs to be tackled. I need a backup. "Leave it to the merc" appeared to be the vote winner. No go, I can take a single element sorceress with teleport or an amazon with valkyrie through Hell, but have every FI be killed by the moron? I thought it would be too tedious. Not to mention un-fun, killing every non-immune in a single hit with a highly synergized fire claws and going back to town and whining to the NPCs about every fallen boss that appeared in the moor. I began to look for alternatives. "Do a windy, those guys can clear Hell naked" Hardly a resounding affirmation of the set's virtues, is it? I wouldn't be using most of the set's bonuses but at least they won't be hurting me ... nope, can do better. "Use a ribcracker on switch." And lose the set bonus. "Just ditch the weapon and use Ribbie instead." You're kidding, right?

Could I make physical damage work? That off-weapon ED has been written off as a bug, but really, it's like having your own might aura. A little better in fact. If I could cram as many fine small charms as I could find into my back pack ... wait a second, 6 sockets!

/math
off-weapon ED = 350
ED from strength = 150+
Level 24 Fury = 491
Total about 1000

That's right, each unit of damage (weapon and off weapon) gets multiplied eleven-fold. The weapon has a not-inconsiderable 76.5 damage to begin with, so I'm already at 800+ per hit. With a few damage jewels, I'll be able to make this work.

The gear

Weapon, armour, helm and boots are taken care of, which leaves two rings, gloves, belt and amulet slots to be filled. Oh, and the shield. The shield??? Which self-respecting shape-shifting druid uses a shield anyway? The argument against shields goes like this: shapeshifting critters take forever to block, and their skills are interruptible. Death-by-fallen is usually enough to convince druids to drop the shield and go big two-hander. The argument for shields is simpler: it blocks three out of four attacks, stupid. The set provides a nice +65 to dexterity, which makes it easy to reach max block. And with the %AR bonus, each point in dex adds 12.5 AR. Worthwhile investment, no doubt, but what about block speed? The block speed table
Code:
Block speed     12    11    10    9    8    7     6    5    4    3    2    1
Werebear         0     5    10   16   27   40    65  109  223
Werewolf                          0    7   15    27   48   86  200     
Barbarian                                   0     9   20   42   86  280
Sorceress                         0    7   15    27   48  200  200
A wolf is only as slow as a sorceress, and no one complains about blocking melee sorceresses. With a rhyme shield, a wolf is only one frame slower than a barbarian. Not bad. Rhyme it is.

String of Ears is a standard choice for the belt slot, blood gloves gave some useful crushing blow while juicy rares completed the setup.

Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 96
Fingerprint: 0x919a206f
+21 to Strength
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
10% Faster Cast Rate

Raven Turn <---------- I like this one :cool:
Ring
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x72780950
+17 to Strength
+24 to Life
+96 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +24%
Lightning Resist +11%
Cold Resist +11%
Poison Resist +11%
14% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Bone Eye
Ring
Required Level: 60
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x2531242c
+37 to Life
+50 to Attack Rating
+6 to Minimum Damage
Lightning Resist +6%
6% Life stolen per hit

Wraith Knuckle
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 48
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 34
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 93
Fingerprint: 0x177918a5
+10 to Life
+22% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +15%
1% Life stolen per hit
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Primary setup was an Aldur's weapon/Rhyme shield socketed with 3 shaels for fire claws. Weapon switch had another Aldur's weapon and Rhyme shields with these socketeds:

Shadow Eye
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x6e0986c5
+7 to Life
+7 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage

Crimson Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0x35764dc6
+6 to Minimum Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed

Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x4a70e3d
15% Increased Attack Speed

The helm got:

Ruby Jewel of Carnage
Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0xa75bf540
+13 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +21%

Rusty Jewel of Carnage
Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x77f37b3
+20% Enhanced Damage
+15 to Maximum Damage

The armour: (Larzuk socketed)

Raven Whorl
Jewel
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x611d9df2
+6 to Minimum Damage
+8 to Maximum Damage
+20 poison damage over 2 seconds

Charms: One shapeshifting skiller, plus some that add life, AR and resists.

The skills

Fire Claws: 27 (20)
Fury: 27 (20)
Lycanthropy: 26 (19)
Werewolf: 8 (1)
Grizzly: 6 (1)
Oak Sage: 6 (1)
Raven: 6 (1)
Carrion Vine: 6 (1)
Solar Creeper: 6(1)

Firestorm: 20
Molten Boulder: 1

Firestorm and Molten Boulder are Fire Claws synergies. I didn't really use these after I got Fire Claws.
Werewolf adds nicely to attack speed, and boosts attack rating further.
Lycanthropy gives a nice boost to life and to wereform duration.
The bear is durable against small or weak packs but has to recast often. Casting it ahead of me to absorb damage works very well.
The sage dies far too often, but boosts every one's life while it is around, quite useful.
Ravens were always kept around, but they had trouble consistently blinding in Hell. The blind duration is quite small as well.
Carrion vine is very useful to keep the life bulb topped up and helps with corpse disposal at well.
Solar creeper was used exclusively for corpse disposal, in instances where Getafix wasn't getting hit at all. A much more reliable source of corpse disposal than the carrion vine.

The stats

Level: 82
Life: 2928 (in wolf form, with Oak bonus), 2448 (without Oak bonus)
Mana: 451 (mana burn wasn't a problem -- regen was faster than attack speed)

Fireclaws setup:
Damage: 2.8k - 3.4k
AR: 11k

Fury setup:
Damage: 1.1k - 1.9k
AR: 8.4k

Hell resists: 75 all

Strength: 183
Dexterity: 200
Vitality: 285
Energy: 65

Block: 75%

The mercenary

Fazel

Holy Freeze Aura
Hone Sundan (AmmAmnShael)
Griswold's Heart (RalOrtThul)
Blackhorn's Face

The crushing blow is awesome, but damage is a little low. He took his own sweet time finishing off monsters after quickly getting them down to 10% of their max health.

The goodies

Ko (nightmare forge)
Telling of Beads (Hell Underground passage)
Ruby (37%) jewel (Hell Plains of Despair)
Pul (Hell forge)
Flamebellow (Hell Chaos Sanctuary)

The forge drops are above average, but out of my 7 hell forge drops, the best is an Um *grumble*

The progress

Firestorm was used until Fire Claws was available. Fire Claws murdered everything until act 4 nightmare, where fire immune knights first appeared. Chaos sanctuary was a pain, but Fazel was powerful.

The general strategy was to keep minions around (bear, vine, sage, and the crows), recasting as often as needed. Which was quite often, as the vine and the sage aren't exactly durable, and crows get a fixed number of pecks. Casting grizzly at an approaching pack made sure Getafix never felt the heat. He couldn't wade into packs like a Ribcracker wolf would have, but he had no trouble taking on critters 2 at a time. Cast the bear, let monster surround him and the moron, and whittle down the pack from the edges. It worked well, very well in fact.

Act 1 hell was easy, almost too easy in fact. Getafix leveled up first at the moor (up to level 70 or so), then at Pindle in nightmare and then again at the cold plains. At level 76, he could wear the full set and then pressed on. Pitspawn took us by surprise, but besides that, there weren't any scary moments.

It was safe passage through act 2. The solar creeper was the hero here, getting rid of the corpses avoiding endless resurrections. No tough moments.

SSzark provided quite a scare: fire immune, extra fast, extra strong and cursed. Getafix got trapped and for a moment it looked like it might be curtains, but Fazel killed a spider just in time for Getafix to sneak out. Dolls could be tanked. Even bosses and champs. 75% block adds a lot of safety here against multiple simultaneous explosions, and individual hits took off only a third of his life. The only one I didn't tank was a Possessed doll, I didn't want to risk it against their insane life. The council was a pushover, even Fanatic Bremm.

Act 4: FI knights, FI venom lords. And more FI balrogs. And even more balrogs. I saw those beasts in every single level. Bah. At the end of it all, there was this joy called the Chaos Sanctuary. More FIs and that god-awful IM. Need I say more? It's a miracle Getafix got out of that without dying. A sizable fortune was spent resurrecting Fazel, though. Three hours at the sanctuary and I nearly made a rant thread here at the SPF. Good thing I was feeling sleepy that evening, no? :)

Act 5: One close moment with snakes, witches and lancers in the caves. No frenzytaurs or cursing witches at all! But more OKs in WSK3 and the throne level. The old fogies didn't even require a reroll: they came out with absolute chump mods: two of them had LE, two of them teleportation. I think there was magic resistant among them. No auras, no extra strong, nor amp, no mana burn, no physical immunity, sweeet! CB + fireclaws got Madawc down first, after which it was slow progress against Korlic (FI). Talic drew a dud, his weapon barely did noticable damage. Once Korlic was gone, Talic was crushed. Baal behaved: no appendages, no clone until slivered and didn't knock us back too often.

All act bosses were dead easy: Fazel brought their life down and Getafix finished off the job.

It's all the more satisfying that he got through the game without dying at all.

The verdict

Fun factor: High (except OKs)
Kill speed: Good
Style: Yes, very much. When the last time you saw an Aldur's druid?
Item finds: Meh
Safety: Very high. Minions + high resists + high life + block + massive life leech.

The druid's got the glow around him, but he isn't going to get on the catwalk any time soon. In wolf form, he's a biped, looks somewhat like a kangaroo, and has rat/rabbit teeth. His centre of gravity is not directly over his feet, which would leave him liable to falling down frequently. In human form, there's that goat head ...

Those with a Ribcracker or similar fury wolf probably cringe at the thought of a 1-handed exceptional weapon max block wolf, I'll make up for it with a *real* wolf someday, ok? 👅

That wraps it up from me. Thanks for reading!
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @Cyrax on Jan 16, 2011:

Patriarch ViralInfection, flaming rabies druid

There's lot's of druids out there. Quite a few of them use either FC's or rabies mostly combined with other skills like fury. Surprisingly enough hardly none use both FC's and rabies together.

After doing some research i could only find 1 in the pat/mat/guardian compilation by Vorbiss, but that one was really old since it still used the carrion wind bug. The other place i found something like this was the druid forums. The flaming rabies guide was made for PvP, but i thought that if one can use it for that, it should be usable for PvM too. So my build is based on this guide.

Name: ViralInfection
Lvl: 80

Life in wolf form: 1355
FC dam: 3860 - 4328
FC AR: 8502
Rabies dam: 18-19K
Rabies AR: 6065

stats (naked / gear):
Str 136 / 209
Dex 116 /148
Vit 218 / 261
Ene 20 / 52

resists:
FR 51
CR 186
LR 65
PR 41

skills:
poison creeper, rabies, fire claws, volcano maxed
1 pt in pre-req's and lycanthrophy
future points in firestorm (4 hard points so far)

gear:
jalal's (socketed with um)
saracen's chance
6x shaeled PB
duress dusk shroud
SS (with pdiamond)
trang's claws
ravenfrost
verdungo's
gore rider's
grim whorl (dualleech, AR, cold resist + some minor things)

8x shapeshift skillers (some with minor mods) + some sc's for resists

merc: Razan the might merc
vampire gaze
duriel's
insight great poleaxe

Gameplay:

Twinked and pumping my vine gave me an easy start. No poison immunes early on so everything dies. Later on made sure i had at least some points in FC's in case i would run into something poison immune. So dividing points between FC's and rabies until the latter was maxed.
Just when things were starting to slow down a bit i reached lvl 42 meaning 8 skillers into my inventory which boosted rabies, FC's and my wolfform. Also every few lvls after that some more of my endgame gear became available so i became stronger and stronger. Most mosters almost died at sight. Only small downside on that was that rabies didn't get much of a chance to spread out. But that's something i could live with :).
Acts just flew by. NM was not much more than a blur. Surprisingly enough act I and II of hell were very easy too.
After that it was like i (or rather my merc) hit a wall. Things slowed down and my merc died a lot. By the time i hit the councils in trav i actually had to move some cash from ATMA to my char.
So with some ressurectingmoney in my pocket i was on my way again. Cleared the rest of the act, and most of act IV. Entering the CS damage was still holding up nicely. Even the poisondamage, which i didn't really expect since i maxed that ages ago. Besides the merc dying a lot i also got worried about the resists. They didn't look too bad in the LCS but somehow life often went down pretty fast when hit by elemental damage. Anyway playing with some more care then before i got through it easily (not counting all the times going back to town for the merc).
Act V was pretty much more of the same. Ancients went down easy, though that was partially because i had a very nice spawn. WSK was not so nice. On the second lvl i got lots of burning souls and they ate through my life like i had negative resists. So i decided to S&E and give it another go. That time things went much better. Also muled on some more cash. Yep, that merc just kept on dying.
Upon entering the final lvl i got some gloams. Again not so nice. Luckily not as hard as the earlier mentioned souls in WSK2. After getting rid of those things went pretty good. Only Lister had me running a bit, but after splitting up his pack i could take out 1 or 2 at a time. Baal was a pushover. He cloned himself once, but that was with only a sliver of life left.

In total i had ~10 deaths myself. Most due to careless playing.

All in all i had fun with this build. I'm surprised i haven't seen it here before. Damagewise it holds up very nicely, even in late hell. It is a bit fragile though since leech is almost non-existant with so little physical damage. Which for me is also just about the only downside besides the merc dying all the time.

I thought about getting him a reaper's but the insight made sure i didn't need any blue pots (the manaleech from the ring was not enough). Also the plan was to put metalgrids on him instead of saracen's chance but i haven't reached that lvl yet. And i wanted to put another SS with pdiamond on switch so my switchweapon could be plaguebearer, but i haven't gotten around to that. Damage with plaguebearer would've been 27-28K so i will take the time to do this.

Future: I'm thinking about trying him at cowrunning. Curious how good he would be with all the poison spreading through herdes of cows. Just worried about how to keep the king alive in all this.

Thanks for reading and maybe till next time 👋
 
Originally posted by dkthomas29 on May 28, 2006:

Introducing.... Patriarch Myrrdin

Please see below my Newest Patriarch. The count is now (3) Patriarch's and (2) Matriarchs. Starting to get quite a cute little Mat & Pat family :)

Myrrdin is a Werebear build and truthfully, it was one of the easiest characters I could build although slower other more popular characters. I was able to advance through Normal and Nightmare at player setting 8 and only dropped it down to Level 5 when I got into Hell level and finally to Level 1 when I got to the Crystalline Passage mostly to help speed up the game. I was real pleased that I was at level 87 by the time I hit Hell level and I never had to run areas to level up as I have had to with most of my other characters.

Myrrdin couldn't have made it without the awesome help of his Merc. With the help of The Reaper's Toll, he was able to knock down the Immune to Physical on almost all of the monsters we ran across with that particular immunity. That was the only hardship this character really had and my merc was able to handle that quite well.



Character name : Myrrdin
Character type : Druid
Character level : 87
Character exp : 1330806743

Strength : 113
Energy : 20
Dexterity : 58
Vitality : 334
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0

Life : 2086 / 862
Mana : 542 / 192
Stamina : 774 / 479

SKILLS
Raven 2/10
Poison Creeper 2/10
Carrion vine 1/9
Oak Sage 1/9
Heart of the Wolverine 20/28
Spirit of Barbs 3/11
Summon Spirit Wolf 20/28
Summon Dire Wolf 20/28
Summon Grizzly 20/28

Werewolf 1/8
Feral Rage 1/8
Lycanthropy 1/8
Werebear 1/8
Maul 1/8
Fire Claws 1/8
Shockwave 1/8

Artic Blast 1/8
Cyclone Armor 1/8


Aldur's Stony Gaze
Highlord's Wrath
The Stone of Jordan
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Thundergod's Vigor
Aldur's Advance
Dracul's Grasp
Aldur's Deception
Demon Limb
Aldur's Rhythm
Stormshield

Trainer's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Fingerprint: 0xfa7d398a
+21 to Life
+1 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Fingerprint: 0x8154f9b6
155% Extra Gold from Monsters
33% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 12%

Trainer's Grand Charm of Inertia
Fingerprint: 0x19e95111
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)


Mercenary Items :

Fortitude
Great Hauberk
Andariel's Visage
The Reaper's Toll
 
Originally posted by Doctor Clock on Mar 15, 2007:

Patriarch Beorn--First Non Pally SP Pat

Patriach Beorn

Werebear-Level 86

Stats: /w gear I’m too lazy to figure out what his stats are without.

Str: 119
Dex: 94
Vit: 347
En: 45

Resistances: 75//75//75//56 with Fade activated

Life: 2975
Damage: 787-5877 with fully charged Maul and Might merc


Skills: w/o gear//with
Lycanthropy: 16//22
Werebear: 20//26
Maul: 20//26
Hearth of Wolverine: 20//24
Dire Wolf: 11//15
Shockwave: 2//8
1pt in pre-reqs, Hunger, and Summon Grizzly

Itamz:
Jalas socketed w/ P ruby
Maras
Shaeled Reaper’s Toll
Treachery Archon Plate
Laying of Hands
Raven Frost
String of Ears
8%ll//3%ml rare ring
Gore Rider
And a variety of life/FHR/resistance charms.

Merc: He died a lot and Shockwave was used more to keep him alive than Beorn. Hone Sundan/Vamp Gaze/Shaft.

Norm: /players 8
Nightmare: /players 8
Hell: /players 3//players 1 (I went on /players 1 to run through most of Act 3 and 4 which were getting very boring. I turned it back up to /players 5 to take on the Ancients and /players 3 for the WSK and Baal)

I took a break from Diablo for a while, and this guy was sitting in Act 3 Hell when I did. I’ve been playing some other characters, but I decided it was about time I finished him. I also wanted to get my Hell HF drop. Lem :(. I don’t remember what else he found, it has been a while.

I made a Werebear mainly because I know I will never find a Ber rune for the Beast runeword, and thus can never make a Weretemplar (Werebear Paladin).

This is actually the first non-Paladin character I have made since .09. Granted, my favorite class is the Paladin, but I didn’t like this character too much. I don’t know what it was, but he was just boring. I don’t know if it is the single attack thing, or the fact that he is practically invincible with nearly 3k life, a mass stun attack (shockwave), a instant-heal attack (Hunger) and a summonable 3k life meat shield (grizzly). In fact, he actually landed 2 attacks with IM on him and survived (his min. damage is less that 1k, so I guess I hit low twice) Or maybe it was because by the time I reached Act 2 Normal, there was basically nothing new to the character. Shockwave, Maul, Maul, Maul, Shockwave, Maul...etc. Knowing very little about any of the other six classes, I probably picked a boring Werebear build. Maybe a Fire Claw/Armageddon Bear would have been more fun? I’m interested in trying another Druid, probably a wolf build. Perhaps a Druid expert can advise me on some more exciting builds. I like odd builds (2h Paladins, Holy Bolter/Elemental Zealot), but not tedius characters (weaponless Amazons, curse necros, etc)

Beorn killed well, though. With a 5.8k max and 48% Deadly Strike, uniques and champions fell in a few hits. His AR is terrible (just shy of 5k), making bosses a bit problematic. I probably should have muled an Angelic ring and amulet over, but I didn’t. He survived, though. The ITD on Reaper’s Toll solved most AR issues for general PvM. Only the bosses were a problem.

I don’t remember any deaths, but I probably killed him at some point. I don’t remember any good drops, nor what my NM Hellforge drop was. It probably wasn’t good.

I don’t know what else to say. He was very safe, and aside from AR issues that an Angelic combo could probably fix, he was nearly unstoppable. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll play him ever again.

Up next: I have a Paladin in Act 3 Hell that I will Pat soon now that classes are finished and I have more than a few days to study for finals.

Thanks for reading.
 
Originally posted by friedbananazzzz on Oct 20, 2009:

Patriarch Angry-Slayer: Feral Rage Wolf with 666% Damage to Demons!

Another odd build! Wheee! Patriarch! (beware my usual walls of text)
Feral Rage Wolf with a focus on dealing damage to demons... 666% Damage to Demons to be precise!

Etheral Edge: 172%
Black Hades: 144%
Laying of Hands: 350%
Total: !!!! 666% !!!!
But wait! You say that Dmg to Demons is only applied to a weapon's BASE damage? That's the great part of the axe: it's ETHERAL. So it has a great base: 93-165
93-165 x 666 = 619-1099
I don't even care if my math is wrong, Act Bosses melted in front of me. Which is what I was aiming for. I know the name is kinda lame as well, I originally had it in as a placeholder until I could think of something fitting, and then eventually just didn't care. I never really did any research for this guy; I have no idea what breakpoints he has for FHR or IAS, how the off-weapon damage really works, or what a better solution for PIs could have been. Don't care, this guy was fun.

Also had a WW duration of 660 seconds... Wheee!

Angry-Slayer (Final LCS)

Level : 82
Strength : 212 (231)
Dexterity : 44 (70)
Vitality : 222 (222)
Energy : 22 (22)
Yes, I added 2 to energy, I went themed here apparently; all the stats were 2's (dex was as good as I could get). Just need 10 more Str.

Life : 2211 (unshifted was around 800 I think)
Mana : 226
Defense : 1552 (abysmal)
FHR : 27%
Open Wounds : 50%

Resists:
Fire - 75
Cold - MINUS 53
Light - 44
Poison - 47


Feral Rage:
Level 27
Faster R/W speed: +19-58 %
Life Steal: +4-116 %
Damage: +180 %
Attack Rating: +280 %

(with HoW)
Damage: 1469-2663 (1934-3539)
AR: 9439 (11193 for a 71% cth Baal)
Cerebus, Atma's and Rage gave 416% AR and Werewolf gave 485% AR, so I didn't even need enchant. Nor did I need an abundance of Steel charms either, as the weapon has a huge +300 flat AR and Raven gave +212.


Gear:
Cerebus' Bite (rare FR jewel)
Black Hades (+crap Diamond Jewels 25/31/31) (really would have liked something with resists, but had theme requirements to meet)
Etheral Edge (personalized and Shael'd)
Laying of Hands
Blood Craft Belt (see below) Light Res and 17% FHR
Gore Rider
Atma's (for the Amp, was my only PI solution)
Raven Frost
Rare with ML, Lit/Poi/All Res and some life

Switch:
Dark Clan Crusher and Spirit shield for prebuffing

My Prides:
Code:
Angry-Slayer's Ethereal Edge
Silver-edged Axe
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 257 to 457
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 74
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe97883c0
+177% Enhanced Damage
+300 to Attack Rating
45% Increased Attack Speed
172% Damage to Demons
+7 Life after each Demon Kill
+11 Fire Absorb
Indestructible
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Black Hades
Chaos Armor
Defense: 908
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 140
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc64f69e9
+25 to Maximum Stamina
+165% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Maximum Damage
-2 to Light Radius
Half Freeze Duration
144% Damage to Demons
+352 to Attack Rating against Demons  (made sure I ALWAYS HIT BOSSES, just don't think it shows in the LCS)
Socketed (3: 3 used)  (3 crappy Diamond jewels, one was rare with the +max dmg/stm)

Cerebus' Bite
Blood Spirit
Defense: 346
Durability: 19 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 86
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x192aff61
+137% Enhanced Defense
+8 to Maximum Damage    \
Heal Stamina Plus 12%    } all from rare jewel
Fire Resist +27%        /
9% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Feral Rage (Druid Only)
116% Bonus to Attack Rating
33% Chance of Open Wounds
+4 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Blood Lash
Mithril Coil
Defense: 59
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 56
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x62aa8156
+15 to Strength
+12 to Life
Lightning Resist +28%
1% Life stolen per hit
17% Faster Hit Recovery
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
7% Chance of Open Wounds

Merc:
Ice Rouge from Normal
Treachery
Blackhorn's - for slow
Upped Riphook - for LL, OW and slow
Total 50% Slows Target
A Might Merc would have net me higher damage, but I wanted something more stylish. She gave me decent Slow too, which was great on everything. I only noticed that fade triggered about 4-5 times, so her resists were pretty low; she might have benefitted more from the +life from Nat's Armor stuffed with IAS jewels. Oh well.


Charms:
2 Shapeshifting skillers
+111 AR
+92 life
a bunch of FR and LR SCs
a smattering of +max dmg and fr/w


Skills:
Werewolf: 20 (30 prebuff)
Lycan: 20 (30 prebuff)
Feral Rage: 20 (27 used)
Heart of the Wolverine: 20 (24 prebuff: 181% dmg, 186% AR)(CG said he loved his, so I went for it)
Grizzly: 1 (5 prebuff: life: 2925 dmg: 115-165) (more damage was useless, he needed more life, hence the points in wolves)
Dire Wolf: 9 (life bonus for Grizz) Any more will go here
Oak, Raven, Spirit Wolf: 1 (pre-reqs)


Hellforge:
Normal: El (wtf)
NM: Fal
Hell: Lum
Best non-HF rune: Lum (RIGHT before I got to the HF too, I was so mad when a second one dropped from the HF).


Finds:
Nothing really worth mentioning (no elite S/U), but the Durance Council dropped a Hone Sundan, which is useful. That CE Imp halfway up to Shenk dropped a +27RA Skins of the Vipermagi, but I have lots of better ones...
Some useful charms:
Steel Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xeebd852
+115 to Attack Rating
28% Extra Gold from Monsters

Small Charm of Good Luck
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xfd4a4d68
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ruby Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x56791d5c
+2 to Strength
Fire Resist +10%


Deaths:
I think I had one in early normal somewhere (may be thinking of a different character): had my head turned and wasn't even looking at the screen. I watch TV while I play Normal and NM, so something funny must have come on. Didn't care, it's SC.

HELL
1. Fanatic LE Ghost (PI) pack in one of the jail levels took me out. Even with Amp triggered, they were stacked, and my health plummetted too fast for me to react.
NDE by a Doll in Durance 2: spikes then CE explosion knocked me back to human form. Luckily it was the last enemy to die.
2: No problems from IM in Normal or NM, but one dumb one right at the very beginning of the CS in Hell. Managed to clear out all the Doom Knights with no problems, started to take out the OKs (after!), got IM'd as I started my swing, hit, shifted, got hit with a missle. Way too fast to do anything. No other problems with IM (I think I read in the Flaming Mauler guide about dropping the Grizz on them so they cast decrep and run, and it worked wonderfully).
3: Bombarded by bloodstars in the Crystalline Passage as an Extra Strong Viper pack charged twice while I was cursed, reverted to human, too many stars already firing at me, no chance. Got my body, ran away, came back for revenge just before I did Ancients.
4. Frozen Tundra, stuck against a bush or something, swarmed and couldn't run, and again bombarded by a pack of witches.
5. Right at the VERY end of the WSK3 (RIGHT ON THE BRIDGE!) was a boss pack of PI witches. Amp refused to trigger. Pissed me off more because I had just avoided a NDE from them while I was attacking a flayer boss pack no less than a minute earlier.


Progress:
I love a skill that grants a speed bonus. Makes questing so much faster (though sometimes got too far ahead of my minions). Breezed through Normal and NM on P8, Hell on P1 (River of Flame at P3 'cause it was all demons...) A better weapon, or a might merc, or fortitude/CoH (etc), would have given me much better damage, and allowed me to play at a higher player setting, but I liked the uniqueness instead. Maybe next time.

With no shield and pitiful defence, I got hit A LOT. But with so much LL, it was like playing with Drac's on most underpowered characters: watching the life bulb ping-pong up and down like crazy. Had to be extra careful around skeletons though. Low FHR meant that the rapid fire bloodstars from witch packs were a real pain, but most other ranged attackers weren't much of a problem.

Never completed Nihlathak's or Countess Quests on Hell, may do that later...

Damage to Demons was great, there were many times when DS would trigger and I would get OHKs. Act bosses all died SO EASILY it was a joke.

Izual took less than 10 hits, roughly 4-5 seconds.
Hephesto (or whoever it is that guards the forge) was Extra Fast, Conviction and Mana Burn. He went into hit recovery so fast he never had a chance to swing at me.
Fought Diablo with 56 Fire Res and 34 Lit Res. 126% Life Leech FTW!

First Ancients roll had Conviction Korlic and Cursed Talic, killed Merc while I was still trying to see their mods.
Second roll Korlic went down before I saw what he was (I think Extra Fast, which is pointless with Leap), Talic was Mana Burn and Extra Strong, so he made me use a few rejuv's just so I could recast Grizz. Madawc was Cursed and FE. Went from full health down to 175 after his death. Luckily Korlic was dead and Grizz had Talic occupied somewhere else.

WSK1: FI Whatever Lords (Frenzytaurs), CI Vile Witches (Demons!) and PoI Defilers. No problem except for a boss/champion pack of 'Taurs that tore through my team. Constant recasting of Grizz in their midst while I picked off stragglers from the outside eventually took them down (but went through about 8 bears).
WSK2: Steel Scarabs, Black Souls, and Frenzied Ice Spawn. My 44 Light Res would not cover it here, but luckily I was prepared for such an occasion: had TGod's and a couple of LR GC's in the stash just in case. Only one boss pack of the Souls made me retreat and regroup, rest of the map went smoothly.
WSK3: Soul Killers (flayers), Rancid Defilers, and PI Witches. All Demons, but the boss pack of witches at the end was a real pain.
Throne: Assailants, Dark Lords (vampires) and CI Vile Witches. A couple close calls with boss packs of witches bombarding me with bloodstars, but otherwise no issues. Rejuv's were a big help there.

4 out of 5 waves are Demons. Take a guess as to how this went.
Wave 1: Colenzo went down in two hits.
Wave 2: All undead, unleechable Skellies, and I have MINUS 53 Cold Resist (so they actually hurt). Took a bit of running around and resurrecting the merc, but they still went down...
Wave 3: Hydras had my merc and minions all dead in about 2-3 seconds. I had Bartuc and the rest of the council all dead in about 8-10 seconds. (not sure if Edge's FireAbsorb actually helped here or not, but the hydras didn't seem to bother me much...)
Wave 4: Grizz distracted them, Merc slowed them, I took them out. Piece of cake.
Wave 5: Had to pull them away from Baal's presence so I wasn't constantly Decrep'd, but by then they were all slowed and bleeding, and were easy to kill. Lister had Conviction, but it wasn't that bad.

Merc's slow made Baal a pushover, never used a potion (on anyone) and I don't think he even managed to hit me.


Future plans:
May level him up to 84 to finally use the Tomb Reaver I've been sitting on for over a year (thanks again omg!). It'd be nice to try him out in an MP game once I get my laptop fixed and I can MP again. The mana ring, Gores and Atma's will come off and go to another character, but the rest of his gear can pretty much stay on him so I can play him whenever I get a chance without having to completely re-gear him everytime. Would be nice to get a perfect etheral-edge and a Tyreal's :rolleyes: so I can maintain the 666% and have better armor (too bad it will never happen).

This makes 5 of the 7 classes to complete the game for me, so I should really look into finishing one of the 3 necros I have in NM (poison, bone and fishy) or one of my many Sins I always give up on (Nat's Ice Queen in A1 Hell, Wolverine themed in A1 Hell, various kickers/trappers in Normal), and stop wasting time making so many wacky themed Zealots and Sorc Runners. Especially since CoD: Modern Warfare 2 comes out in a couple weeks, and I won't be playing any Diablo for at least a few months. :whistling:


Thanks:
Super big thanks to Ohomemgrande for upgrading my Cerebus and Etheral-Edge a few weeks ago (as well as my Black Hades, but I found a near perfect one a couple days after he gave me his, which allowed me to hit the 666% with the Diamond jewels I had).

Colorless Green for being the only other person to make a RageWolf, 'cause I had nothing to research while building this guy except his Pat thread. Every guide on Wolves I've seen *might* mention FR, but it's usually to say it's a pre-req for Fury, and since you'll have it anyway, you can use it for some extra LL once in a while. CG's opinions on minion skill points was the guiding hand in my decision to max HoW.

Thanks again to everyone for reading, I know I write these rather... detailed. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by galtwish on Dec 7, 2018:

Patriach Chicago - Town Dump Werebear 1.12

AKA "Don't Believe Every Build That You See" AKA "Nat's Light Plate Is Sub-Par"

This was a slog. I went with the old Town Dump Werebear build, but without Chains of Honor or IK Soul Cage I lacked considerable power. Nat's Light Plate with a 15% res all jewel wasn't even close to workable. He really bogged down in Hell, so Duress went on and I invested an Ist in Delirium. This allowed me to go up to P3 for all of Hell without too much trouble. The wolves were all stars for crowd control and corpse disposal, and Raven proved it's worth as a one point wonder many times over. Getting the full synergy for the Wolves from Grizzly doesn't seem as important as max'ing Maul for AR & DMG at low player settings.

I try to stay away from using Treachery/Duress on every melee build (I don't have Fortitude, Chains of Honor, or Enigma) just like I try to use something other than my 1.07 Oath and Death swords for variety. After using Delirium, I have to add that to the list of "too easy"; man that thing is ridiculous. The Confuse area of effect would often be the whole screen. That said, watching Urdars smack each other into hit recovery was fun.

I finished this in 1.12 before upgrading to 1.14 so IM is no longer a concern, but I don't think that would have much effect. If I did it again, I wouldn't use this gear build. The elemental damage from 4 pieces of the IK set was laughable even on P1. Better weapons and armor abound after the 1.11 Runewords were added. If you are looking for a cheap and durable Werebear for a restart or a tournament, Fireclaws/Maul + Duress should cover your bases. The FHR on Duress was actually the biggest improvement, allowing me to get back closing the distance to missle monsters and leaching.


Chicago
Druid
Character level : 85

Strength 168
Energy 20
Dexterity 40
Vitality 267
Life 2757
Mana 304

No LCS info, not worth it. TL:DR = Huge life, weak damage.

Skills 20 Lycanthropy/Werebear/Maul/Dire Wolf, 5 in Grizzly, 1 in Shockwave and Heart of the Wolverine, wasted points getting to Hurricane because I wanted "The Windy City" to go with "Da Bears"

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 281
Durability: 20 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x5d7ff8e8
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
+184% Enhanced Defense
+13 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +45
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
Socketed with Scintillating Jewel of Carnage +13 DMG/15% resist

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xceb8335f
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +30
+2 to All Skill Levels

Bone Whorl
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x8a7e3df0
+26 to Mana
+120 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
4% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfe9c343c
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+200 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Immortal King's Stone Crusher
Ogre Maul
'ShaelShael'
Two-Hand Damage: 231 to 318
Required Strength: 225
Required Level: 76
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x77d0d772
+200% Enhanced Damage
80% Increased Attack Speed
200% Damage to Demons
350% Damage to Undead
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Indestructible

Immortal King's Detail
Immortal King's Pillar
Immortal King's Forge

Duress
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 996
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x68e0612f
+151% Enhanced Defense
+13% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain

Switch:
Fleshrender
Spirit Monarch

Spiritual Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xcea31fc8
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x48769e3e
+39 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Fine Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x53251bf7
+17 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage

Shimmering Grand Charm of Inertia
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x407c4e7e
All Resistances +14
7% Faster Run/Walk

Spiritual Grand Charm of Quality
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0x4156cc39
+2 to Maximum Damage
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Frost
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 93
Fingerprint: 0x15c4b98
Adds 1-2 cold damage over 1 seconds
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Fine Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0xb6f9fb03
+12 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x357288ae
+17 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
3% Faster Run/Walk

Fine Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0xbf97d020
+17 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage

Shimmering Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x278f7bbc
All Resistances +4

Steel Grand Charm of the Icicle
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0xdd0065c2
+130 to Attack Rating
Adds 2-4 cold damage over 1 seconds

"Might" Mercenary
Delirium
Tiara
'LemIstIo'
Defense: 304
Durability: 16 of 25
Required Level: 52
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x39999136
+10 to Vitality
+261 Defense
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
11% Chance to cast Level 18 Confuse on striking
6% Chance to cast Level 14 Mind Blast when struck
14% Chance to cast Level 13 Terror when struck
1% Chance to cast Level 50 Magic Shrine when struck
Level 17 Attract (60/60 Charges)

Treachery
Wyrmhide
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 373
Durability: 20 of 24
Required Strength: 84
Required Level: 50
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x5b3399fd
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 39 to 468
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 89
Required Strength: 114
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x59720fed
+232% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 0 seconds
15% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
20% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
 
Originally posted by Grape on Aug 7, 2015:

Patriarch Mitya - Fire Claws Bear Druid

Introduction

This is actually my first Mat/Pat thread ever (if we don't count my recent 99 thread..). I haven't bothered to post these earlier, but reading about other players characters is so fun, that I thought I should contribute as well.

This is a character I have wanted to make ever since I found Ethereal 3 socketed Tomb Reaver couple years back. Well, that stick is still unfinished - it needs another RjoF and a Zod... But these furry friends don't need such weapons to work really well. I expected this to be good, but I think it was even better than that! Very nice ride through the game. Key to success is not relying only on that fire damage, but adding some physical damage to the mix too.


Build


You can see the gear also in the video

Code:
Name:       Mitya
Class:      Druid
Experience: 1376699641
Level:      88

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   122/172
Dexterity:  79/103
Vitality:   200/200
Energy:     20/40
HP:         595/837
Mana:       194/234
Stamina:    346/366
Defense:    19/2156
AR:         365/17619

Fire:       206/166/106
Cold:       178/138/78
Lightning:  199/159/99
Poison:     178/138/78

MF:         62       Block:      10
GF:         45
FR/W:       51
FHR:        30
IAS:        165
FCR:        25

Raven: 0/0
Poison Creeper: 0/0
Oak Sage: 0/0
Summon Spirit Wolf: 0/0
Carrion Vine: 0/0
Heart of Wolverine: 0/0
Summon Dire Wolf: 0/0
Solar Creeper: 0/0
Spirit of Barbs: 0/0
Summon Grizzly: 0/0

Werewolf: 1/13
Lycanthropy: 1/13
Werebear: 1/13
Feral Rage: 1/13
Maul: 1/13
Rabies: 0/0
Fire Claws: 20/32
Hunger: 1/13
Shock Wave: 1/13
Fury: 0/0

Firestorm: 20/23
Molten Boulder: 20/23
Arctic Blast: 0/0
Fissure: 20/23
Cyclone Armor: 0/0
Twister: 0/0
Volcano: 12/15
Tornado: 0/0
Armageddon: 0/0
Hurricane: 0/0

Spiritual Grand Charm of Dexterity
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x8571cd2b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+4 to Dexterity

Spiritual Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xb46453cf
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
32% Extra Gold from Monsters

Spiritual Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xc33e3aac
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
13% Extra Gold from Monsters

Spiritual Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xdc112538
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+4 to Strength

Sapphire Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x8ff42af5
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Cold Resist +11%

Sapphire Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xa9f28c8
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Cold Resist +11%

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0xcfb151e8
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0xe257f8e6
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+14 to Life
All Resistances +4

Shimmering Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xdf7f82d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
All Resistances +5

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x50768abd
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Maximum Damage
+13 to Attack Rating

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x174b1c3b
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+14 to Life
All Resistances +4

Shimmering Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x6170c05c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
All Resistances +5

Spiritual Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x494df303
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+17 to Life

Coral Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x87bac2d2
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Lightning Resist +8%

Emerald Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xbc788f47
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Poison Resist +11%

Spiritual Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xa4c93e0f
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+4 to Strength

Shimmering Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x92c99569
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17 to Life
All Resistances +4

Tome of Identify
Fingerprint: 0xb4b71eaa
Item Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Emerald Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x6956b7f6
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Poison Resist +11%

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0xc321a5a
Item Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 293
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x9a59a1f9
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+15% Increased Attack Speed
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+196% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
All Resistances +30
+5 to Mana after each Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Jewel of Fervor

Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xdcf6cb28
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x9dec6f47
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
33% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15

Fortitude
Dusk Shroud
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1389
Durability: 14 of 20
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0x89ea143b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+121 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +26
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Bitter Knot
Ring
Required Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0x6dc15878
Item Level: 97
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+112 to Attack Rating
4% Mana stolen per hit
4% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Strength
+40 to Life

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x9e850aa7
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+229 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Nosferatu's Coil
Vampirefang Belt
Defense: 58
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 51
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xe1b27f0d
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Increased Attack Speed
7% Life stolen per hit
Slows Target by 10%
+15 to Strength
+2 to Mana after each Kill
-3 to Light Radius

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 159
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0xd81bb9a2
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+196% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 87
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x74d1c6e1
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%


Spiritual Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x84d37adb
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+6 to Strength

Call to Arms
Superior Crystal Sword
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 19 - 57
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x5367fe4c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
285% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+5 to Battle Command
+6 to Battle Orders
+3 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 145
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xb1197d4c
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+32% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+106 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+4 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tomb Reaver
Cryptic Axe
Two Hand Damage: 135 - 618
Durability: 30 of 65
Required Level: 84
Required Strength: 165
Required Dexterity: 103
Fingerprint: 0x74d14f47
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+100% Increased Attack Speed
312% Enhanced Damage
+206% Damage to Undead
+254 to Attack Rating against Undead
All Resistances +48
10% Reanimate as: Returned
+12 Life after each Kill
62% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+4 to Light Radius
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune

Mercenary:

Name:       Neeraj
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Off-Nightmare
Experience: 82717756
Level:      88
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   191/191
Dexterity:  154/154
HP:         1887/1986
Defense:    1387/4816
AR:         1946/1946

Fire:       178/138/78
Cold:       178/138/78
Lightning:  178/138/78
Poison:    178/138/78

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 25 of 40
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xc267103f
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 6 - 22 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
8% Mana stolen per hit
7% Life stolen per hit
+100% Enhanced Defense
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Damage Reduced by 19%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15

Fortitude
Scarab Husk
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3177
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbd9cf828
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+99 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +26
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Infinity
Thresher
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 75 - 890
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 142
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x7ef4d07f
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
322% Enhanced Damage
-47% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+44 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

So it's full FC + synergies build. Would be finished at character level 96. If I were HC I'd have maybe got me a Grizzly Bear too, and probably more points ins Lycanthropy/Werebear (whichever benefits more).

Ended up with 94 unused stat points. Could've been put to strength for more physical dmg or vitality for some bigger life pool. If I run some area for fun with this in the future I might stat them according what I feel is needed. And if that "Grape's Big Stick of Hurtiness" ever gets finished, I would for sure take this character for a couple of runs somewhere with it.

Was originally running with skillers + all 3frw/add SCs but I swapped some Life/Res instead during the Hell Act 2. Mercenary was carrying that Gaze since he could. Didn't remember to change it, but he worked well carrying that aura and staying alive mostly. Conviction is crazy good for this character, no need to worry about AR, and that fire damage really hurts convicted monsters, it broke more fire immunities than I thought it would.


Journey


Normal was a 100% rush through as quick I could. Acts 1-2 /players 8, acts 3-4 /players 1. Started with some Envy jools set + Death's gloves and belt. Then Stealth, full inventory of 7FRW GCs and 1.07 Raven Claw took care of everything until Act 5, where I made a few Eldritch runs until I could put some nice melee gear on. Nightmare with players 8 was a total breeze. I used Ribcracker as my weapon. It rocks. Most important skill was probably Shock Wave. It's stunning capacities stunned me, heh! You can see it in the pictures if you're unfamiliar with that skill.

At the beginning of Hell, I first made some visits to Pit until I could equip my perfect upgraded Eth Ribcracker. Mitya had the honor to be the first character to use that stick from the God named Zod. It rocked as well. I leveled to 84 in Mausoleum, until I could equip that Tomb Reaver. I chose Mausoleum not because of the no immunities aspect, but because Pits at /p8 was really too dangerous with those archer packs.

All of the Hell was played on /P8 besides areas in Act II that has those Beetles. Little did I remember how those hurt at higher player settings. Even with 80 lightning resists. It was probably because my relatively low life and no MDR in build. I should've muled Thundergod's on, but I was so pissed of these beetles, that I preferred to kill them on /p3 iirc. I got insta-killed in Rocky Waste because I rushed to a pack of those and whooops, after couple Shock Waves and one fiery slap I was down. I was drinking juvs like mad, but no help. After they did it to me the second time I learnt the lesson :D

Act 3 was the easiest by far, and the most fun as well. This is not always the case for me. Four was not bad, but a little slow with those high life fire immune Mega Demons in every single area. The real struggle was with the Infector of Souls. After seeing the first FI/PI monster in Act 4 I thought about bringing Reaper's to my stash, just in case, but I didn't. And of course that big dumb ass was FI/PI. I remembered wrong when I thought I could park him. I ended up shopping for a CtC Amplify Damage weapon which finally got the thing down (well of course I always switched back to TR when Infector got amp'd).

Final act was surprisingly easy; I had quite easy monster spawns I guess. And this build is just so good. Hardest battles were somewhere in WSK levels and Throne with double or triple boss packs. Had some close calls, but survived without dying. Baal's Minions were a joke with Shock Wave. Lister & gang took a while but didn't do anything to us. Baal wasn't hard but simply took a little while.


Hell Ancients video & some screenshots



1585725567434.png

Enoying the third Act :p

1585725556300.png

First PI/FI. There were no others besides Infector and this, but I didn't do full clears. This one was left behind... Izual was about to follow soon, and was one of the quickest I must have done at /P8. Crushing Blow shines.

1585725547974.png

River of Flame action. Hephasto was really tame by the way.

1585725534342.png

Mitya meets the Infector of Souls...

1585725523997.png

Weapon that saved me from S&E. The Battle was Epic :D

1585725514306.png

Picture tells it all: we are unhurt and uncursed and Lister and his buddies are stunned. Lamest /P8 melee fight ever versus Baal's minions.

1585725505604.png

Baal drop. Essences were actually needed, as I don't really run Hell Baal. (I have a lightning sorc for that if needed though). Otherwise drops were not that great, highest rune was maybe Fal, Hell forge was Hel... Found a Stormshield from Mausoleum, and a 6 dex Fletcher's GC, which was kind of nice I think.

1585725496683.png

Final LCS. I wonder how good the damage would be after last synergy maxed, and weapon changed to an ethereal version + maybe changing it into full titan build... :)


Last words

I can recommend this for PvM with a warm heart. There were no places I didn't enjoy this beast. Well, maybe those Beetles in Act II got a little on my nerves, but knowing they could've been taken care of is enough for me. In the future I will maybe run with this here and there, waiting for some super luck striking, but it isn't really optional for running any area if optimizing for experience/MF/runes etc.

I have already many more builds in the paper and one in the making, so you can wait more of these threads from me now. I may even finish some old chars and do a quick Pat/Mat for those too. Only time will tell. I'm exping my Javazon in the Pit from 96 to 97, so that will definitely get some time off from fresh characters ;(

Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are really welcome!
 
Originally posted by humbuggerer on Aug 12, 2011:

Patriarch Roscoe - Rabies/Fury Druid

This character is based on bcoe's Ninox_Rufa, and furthermore borrows some of his gear.

Name: Roscoe
Class: Druid
Experience: 781143425
Level: 81


Strength: 141
Dexterity: 136
Vitality: 261
Energy: 40
Life: 2421 (wolf form)
Mana: 236
Defense: 2098
AR: 7206

Resistances:
Fire: 31
Cold: 40
Lightning: 75
Poison: 73

Skills:
Summoning:
Raven: 1/5
Poison Creeper: 20/24
Oak Sage: 1/5
Summon Spirit Wolf: 1/5
Summon Dire Wolf: 1/5
Summon Grizzly: 3/7

Shapeshifting:
Werewolf: 1/13
Lycanthropy: 20/32
Feral Rage: 1/13
Rabies: 20/32
Fury: 20/32

Gear:
Lacerator
Head Hunter's Glory (+13/-13 in poison facets)
swap: 'Grief' phase blade / Lance Guard
Jalal's Mane (s/ 5/5 poison facet -- loaner from bcoe)
'Bramble' AP (+50% psd -- loaner from bcoe)
Trang's claws
Gore rider
IK Detail
Blood necklace rare amulet (+2 skills, 13@, 34 LR)
Skull circle rare ring (78 AR, 7 ll, 30 LR)
Raven frost (20/247)

6x SS skillers
other random charms

Code:
Grief
Phase Blade
EthTirLoMalRal
One Hand Damage: 31 - 35
Indestructible
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 136
Fingerprint: 0x969635e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+39% Increased Attack Speed
Damage +372
Ignore Target's Defense
-25% Target Defense
+151% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
-25% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+12 Life after each Kill
5 Sockets (5 used)

Lacerator
Winged Axe
Throw Damage: 18 - 158
One Hand Damage: 29 - 147
Quantity: 180
Required Level: 68
Required Strength: 96
Required Dexterity: 122
Fingerprint: 0xd1d0c774
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 3 Amplify Damage on striking
+30% Increased Attack Speed
164% Enhanced Damage
33% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 50%
Replenishes quantity

Roscoe's Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 257
Durability: 14 of 20
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x8c1e05d0
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage
+160% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
All Resistances +30
+5 to Mana after each Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Bramble
Archon Plate
RalOhmSurEth
Defense: 799
Durability: 33 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0xb91f0812
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 21 Thorns Aura When Equipped
+50% Faster Hit Recovery
+50% to Poison Skill Damage
+300 Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Regenerate Mana 15%
+5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Fire Resist +30%
Poison Resist +100%
+13 Life after each Kill
Level 13 Spirit of Barbs (33/33 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)

Head Hunter's Glory
Troll Nest
Defense: 563
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 61 of 74
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0xd8839639
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
300% Chance to cast level 153 Death Sentry when you Die
Adds 110 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (150 Frames)
-13% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+13% to Poison Skill Damage
+392 Defense
+347 Defense vs. Missile
Fire Resist +30%
Poison Resist +34%
+7 Life after each Kill
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet
Socketed: Rainbow Facet
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Lance Guard
Barbed Shield
Defense: 139
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 51 of 55
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x120c408a
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Deadly Strike
+77% Enhanced Defense
+50 to Life
Attacker Takes Damage of 47
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 74
Durability: 10 of 16
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x6894b13d
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+25% to Poison Skill Damage
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%

Immortal King's Detail
War Belt
Defense: 89
Durability: 14 of 24
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0x2ebc8870
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+36 Defense
+25 to Strength
Lightning Resist +31%
Fire Resist +28%

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 143
Durability: 25 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0x3dcae585
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+165% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability

Blood Necklace
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xa1410b94
Item Level: 92
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+4 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +13
Lightning Resist +34%

Skull Circle
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x2fa4b9af
Item Level: 91
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+78 to Attack Rating
7% Life stolen per hit
+6 to Strength
+16 to Mana
Lightning Resist +30%

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x7c17b6fe
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+247 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Pretty basic rabies/fury druid, and my first druid ever. I was very happy with the lacerator, as the HCMTF helps assuage the druid's total lack of crowd control, and the constant amping is really nice as well. Though the attack speed is pretty slow, it isnt horrible. Gameplay is pretty obvious: attack things and run away. Its a druid, so theres not much else to do. If I did it over, I might even go for a more "pure" rabies druid and sink points into grizzly. But that would mostly have been for style points.:scratchchin:

Id like to thank bcoe again for loaning me his sweet 'bramble' and allowing me to spend months finishing these three characters, my poison trio (including Yuri the daggermancer and ex-girlfriend the venomous furysin).

obligatory screenie

Thanks for reading. :)
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by IronCrown on Jun 4, 2007:

Patted my wolf!

Patriarch Umbankwa

Werewolf Druid
Lvl 81

- LCS & SS skill tree -

Damage
Fury : 2876 - 4777
Feral : 2040 - 3615

Attack Rating
Fury : 11306
Feral : 11943

Stats
Strength - 163 (228)
Dex - 80 (121)
Vit - 271 (Life - 2433)
En - 21 (Mana - 271)

Skills
20 - Lycanthropy
20 - Werewolf
20 - Feral (4-116 life steal)
20 - Fury
10 - HoW

1 - Each of the prereq - Oak Sage & Rabies


Equipment
Jalals
Skin of Vipermagi - 35res all
IK maul - 39%CB (2x shaels in sockets)
IK boots, Belt, gloves
Raven Frost - 18dex, 224AR
Carrion wind

Amulet
Grim Collar
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xea0b7173
Adds 1-4 fire damage
78% Extra Gold from Monsters
10% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
10% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Weapon switch (For + skill prebuff on shift)
Fleshrender
Sigon Shield

Resists in Hell
23 - Fire
-5 - Cold
63 - Lightning
50 - Poison

Merc - A2 Might
Tals Crest
Shaftstop
The Reapers Toll (shael'ed)

Helforge drops
NM - hell
Hell - ist

Charms - +life & Ar charms. Some resists.

Well, here he is. Was great fun to play, especially from when he could equip his end game gear (read maul). Very good killing speed in hell, even on P3. (Although I did go p1 for the last 3 acts.)

He struggled in early hell, but after upgrading to an Act2 might merc(wielding the reapers) he seldom died. Decrep was great for dealing with physical immunes as well.

I decided to max feral rage. Made for a great secondary attack especially against mana burn monsters, as fury does not revert to normal attack. As stated, the life steal went up to 116% when fully charged. An awesome tank that could take a punch.

I really wanted to use a Cerebrus bite, for the x-tra skills to feral, but had to settle for the Jalals to get the resists up.

If I make a shifter again, I will go without a spirit. HoW helped with the damage and Ar, but died instantly on contact with a melee monster group. Maybe he would be better once maxed but I doubt it.

In Ws-K 2 he encountered 6 boss-packs of those exploding boars. No drops from them.

Thanks for reading

IC
 
Originally posted by @J-Dog on Feb 15, 2020:

J-Dog, BurningLoins - Flaming Mauler

Patriarch BurningLoins - Flaming Mauler

After finding a Gris Caddy during the OBP tournament and reading this guide I was inspired. I fired up a Flaming Mauler called Burning Loins.

LCS with charged up Maul, Blessed Aim aura and no spirit (because the didn't really stay alive):
1585728395760.png

I ran with Spirit Monarch and Soul Drainers for a while but ended up with Tiamat's and also Dracul's so there's over investment in Strength. I did end up using dual spirits as prebuff though. Maul damage when fully charged is at 1650.

Items:
Jalal's (200% ed - swag)
Vipermagi upped to Wyrmhide (35 allres / 120ed - more swag)
Tiamat's
Gris Caddy with 4 Shael runes
Verdungo's
Aldur's
Dracul's
Ravenfrost
Angelic combo

Merc:
Insight Thresher (non eth)
Treachery
Andariel's Visage

Skills:

5 (16,19)Lycantrophy
5 (16,19) Werebear
6 (16) Maul
20 (30) Fireclaws
1 (11) Hunger
1 (11) Shockwave
2 pre-reqs
------
1 (4,8) Grizzly
1 (4,8) HoW
4 pre-reqs
------
20 Firestorm
1 Molten Boulder
20 Fissure
7 Volcano

Prebuffing with dual Spirits offered level 19 Lycantrophy and Werebear and level 8 summons. Skill tree ended up looking a little messy but that's fine.

Normal, players 8:
Heavily twinked with Jewel's of Envy, Sigons and some damage charms. Should've used Khalim's flail but I didn't have one so had to use slower weapons instead. At level 31 Ribcracker came into picture and I think BurningLoins was smacking away in Chaos Sanctuary at this point. Swapped to Burrito at level 41. Moved to Nightmare at level 42 with Jalal's on his face.

Nightmare, players 3-8:
Players 8 up until Baal runs when killing slowed down a bit too much for my taste. Again I don't know why I didn't use a faster weapon than Burrito. I mean it's fine but Fireclaws is best enjoyed with weapon that possesses blazing speed. 6 Shael Great Axe would've been a better choice. Moved to Hell at level 75 with end game gear including Gris Caddy which changed the game at level 66.

Hell, players 1:
Started Hell with Infinity merc but quickly swapped to Cresent Moon eth Thresher. Why would I do that? I felt dirty, that's why. Ever since I made Infinity I've been swapping it between characters which is fine but it started feeling lame. Even though Infinity is a solution to two of the biggest challenges for a Flaming Mauler: Fire Immunes and attack rating, I decided that this bear had to find a way to slap those demons and undead without the luxury of Conviction aura.

I chose Blessed Aim merc to boost attack rating and the reasoning behind Cresent Moon was that the Static Field would offer AoE with fast attack speed when wore with Treachery. I wasn't impressed. When I reached Act 5 I finally swapped to Insight merc which made the gameplay much more relaxed when combined with Dracul's. I thought I had finally found a good use for Soul Drainers and while the Dual leech, -defense on hit and Weaken are nice they couldn't compete with Life Tap.

Gris Caddy is a great weapon but I would like to try this build with Tomb Reaver which unfortunately I don't have yet. Gris caddy has low physical damage so killing fire immunes with high life is a bit slow and also leeching is a problem. Mana leech isn't really an issue but the low life leech is.

Drops:

BurningLoins had decent luck. Here's what he found:
1585728368408.png

Summary:

Bear slaps combined with the sound of a Caduceus is fun, fire immunes with big life pools are annoying and Shockwave is op.

Cheers.
 
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