Maul/Shock Wave WB Q's

[dragon457]

Maul/Shock Wave WB Q's

Ok, my Fishymancer's getting up in age, my gf and I have some single tree sorcs we play together with, so I've decided to make myself another solo character. I'm not exactly sure what to go with, but I had an idea, and a few questions for you guys/gals to to help me with.

I'm thinking of making a Maul/Shock Wave Werebear. I love the fact that WB's get tons of life, and have huge damage potential. But my first question is this; does Shock Wave's stun effect stay in effect even while you're attacking the creature? I mean, does it just stand there for X seconds while you pound on it, until it's dead or the stun timer expires? And secondly, what monsters CAN'T be stunned? I have the sneaking suspicion that bosses can't be stunned, but is there anything else?

I was also wondering about other skills. I know it's all subjective, but I'd love some imput on what I should max, or put other points into. I've already decided I'd max Lycanthropy, Maul, WB, and either Oak Sage or Heart of the Wolverine. But what about summons? One point in each? The last Druid I made was a Windy, and I liked him, but he couldn't handle Hell worth anything. So, working with WB's is a new expierence for me. Any other info any of you can think to tell me, give it to me. I hate getting to late NM/ early Hell only to find out that my build sucks.

 

[Summoned]

Well, the only creatures I know that can't ever be stunned would be the act bosses. Uniques/Superuniques, however, have a very high chance to resist stun, but given enough tries, you can stun them. For example, one shockwave will always stun Lister's minions, but Lister himself will usually not be stunned. If, however, you use shockwave about 10 times, it's very likely that even Lister gets that swirly thing above his head. Once stunned, they'll just stand there looking like idiots until you maul them to death or until the stun time runs out.

 

[BubbleTough]

The most typical WB build is maxed WB, Lycan, Maul, then OS/HoW depending on what you prefer. A lot of WB users go for HoW because WBs have significantly less AR than a WW, also they have a lot more life so the added life from OS wouldn't benefit them as much. More damage is always nice too. Extra points are usually spent pumping Shockwave to get it to a decent level, or Dire Wolves to increase the life of your Grizzly (assuming you have a Grizzly).

Here's the stats on Shockwave from Arreat Summit:

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 
Mana Cost: 7   
Damage 10-20 13-23 16-26 19-29 22-32 25-35 28-38 31-41 36-46 41-51 46-56 51-61 56-66 61-71 66-76 71-81 78-88 85-95 92-102 99-109 
Stun Length (Seconds) 1.6 2.2 2.8 3.4 4 4.6 5.2 5.8 6.4 7 7.6 8.2 8.8 9.4 10 10.6 11.2 11.8 12.4 13

The damage is pretty low so most Shockwave ONLY WB (for damage) operate much like casters, using lots of FCR and +skills. The Stun length is quite impressive even with few skillpoints however. Shockwave is the one-hit wonder for Maul Bears, giving them great crowd control. You also need to remember that Shockwave operates essentially how Multi-Shot works, the closer you click to you, the the wider the wave will be, the further you click away the finer it will be (or was it the other way around? :scratch: )

If all else fails, check out this site hosted by TheDragoon from the Druid Forums, it's a great site and has lots of great calculators for Druids.

http://students.washington.edu/akrinke/elementalist.html

 

[whomhead]

i don't think you can shock Frenzytaurs either.

 

[dragon457]

Thanks for the help guys. I figured act bosses couldn't be stunned, but wasn't sure about anything else.

I still don't know if I'm going to use a grizzly or not. I wouldn't have enough extra points to really beef him up, so I wouldn't want to waste points on him if he'd end up useless in Hell. I'm definately going for HoW, though. Thanks.

Edit: Oh, and I just though of another stupid Q; how do bows and x-bows work while in WB form? Do they use up arrows/bolts? Or do they behave like melee weapons? What's the skinny?

 

[pesot]

Thanks for the help guys. I figured act bosses couldn't be stunned, but wasn't sure about anything else.

I still don't know if I'm going to use a grizzly or not. I wouldn't have enough extra points to really beef him up, so I wouldn't want to waste points on him if he'd end up useless in Hell. I'm definately going for HoW, though. Thanks.

Edit: Oh, and I just though of another stupid Q; how do bows and x-bows work while in WB form? Do they use up arrows/bolts? Or do they behave like melee weapons? What's the skinny?

a few pts in grizzly is just a waste unless your using Oak. he'll die too quickly and will only serve as minor distraction. you need to get him a good amount of life if you want him to tank (in hell that is). but his stun and knockback attack could benefit you, combined with a high level ShockW.

bow/x-bow are use as melee weaps in wereform. with the range of 1. u need bolts/arrow but u won't use it. so you'll have yourself a nice indistructable weapon. :yep:

now my Q;
back in 1.09, SW duration was lower than stated, did they fixed that?

 

[Mordalles]

Yes, now atlast i can put my wearbear guardian experience to use.

I've just recently guardianed a wearbear whose main attack was shockwave and armageddon.

The monsters keep being stunned until the length runs out, doesn't matter if you hit them or not.

The following monsters cant be stunned with shock wave.(i hope i remember all of them):

Act bosses.
Super uniques and unique monster.
Frozen horrors in act 5.
Champion packs. (you know, those with blue name like ghost, possessed)
Ancients.

However, items with %stun on them works on some of the above.

A few tips, don't max shockwave, its not necessary, just put around 5 points in it, then you can just keep restunning them, hit them, stun them, etc.

The closer you click to yourself, the wider the stun effect. further away = narrower effect.

 

[Dodgydave]

Thanks for the help guys. I figured act bosses couldn't be stunned, but wasn't sure about anything else.

I still don't know if I'm going to use a grizzly or not. I wouldn't have enough extra points to really beef him up, so I wouldn't want to waste points on him if he'd end up useless in Hell. I'm definately going for HoW, though. Thanks.

Edit: Oh, and I just though of another stupid Q; how do bows and x-bows work while in WB form? Do they use up arrows/bolts? Or do they behave like melee weapons? What's the skinny?

If you want your Grizzly to have decent life then put 1 point in him and teh rest in Dire Wolf (I think thats the right wolf). Points in Dire Wolf synergise the grizzly by giving him more life while putting points in grizzly increases his damage. Since he'll be more use to you as a tank than a killing machine I'd say forget his damage and get his life up.

In WB form Bows/x-bows work like melee weapons in that your bear walks up and hits baddies with his claws - he certainly doesn't spit arrows/bolts out his mouth (though that would be kinda cool!). Since he's wacking them with his great big mits I would assume it isn't using up missiles though as always I stand to be corrected.

 

[simeonb]

Bows/X-bows don't use arrows/bolts when you're transformed, but you do have to carry them and so lose out on using a shield.

I have found that the biggest problem when a WB is attack speed - you don't have time to get your attack in before you're hit or (with horrible things like the Imps in Act 5) the buggers run away. However, my SC WB found a Buriza-Do Kyanon and boy did that solve the problem! :lol:

Good luck with the build :thumbsup: . It certainly sounds a reasonable one to take to Hell and back.

 

[Icebird]

The two biggest issues for Werebears are weapon speed, and AR.

Some suggestions for weapons include Ribcracker (normal then upgraded), IK Stone Crusher, Windhammer, Bonehew and Tomb Reaver (preferably with 3 sockets all filled with Shaels).

Getting enough AR is also a big issue for werebears. As Bubble mentioned, they have much fewer AR increasing options than wolves. I used Oak Sage as my spirit of choice (it was an MP character and everyone likes the big boost to life), so it wasn't until I used a Blessed Aim merc *and* the Angelic Ring / Ammy combo that I got my AR up to a nice comfortable level.

Chris