Mandatory Literary Introduction
As when a Beare hath seiz'd her cruell clawes
Vppon the carkasse of some beast too weake,
Proudly stands ouer, and a while doth pause,
To heare the piteous beast pleading her plaintiffe cause.
Things you'll need for this build:
* A reasonably fast weapon.
* Some kind of Life Leech.
* Some kind of Mana Leech or an Insight Merc.
Things you'll want for this build:
* A source of Crushing Blow
* 54% Faster Hit Recovery
* PDR, MDR and %PDR (Physical Damage Reduction)
* 110% Increased Attack Speed Phase Blade (4 Shaels and 2 15% IAS jewels)
Skill Distribution:
20 Fire Claws
20 Volcano*
20 Firestorm*
20 Oak Sage**
10+ Lycanthrophy
1-5 Shock Wave
4 Pts in Pre-Reqs (Maul, Werewolf, Werebear, Molten Boulder)
(95 Skill points means you're done at level 84)
* Fire Claws has 4 possible Synergies. Volcano is great for rushing other people through easier difficulties. Firestorm is more effective than Molten Boulder, though MB would appeal more to Indiana Jones fans.
** Oak Sage can wait until you're ready to spend the skill points, though one point earlier on can be a life saver. By Hell difficulty, the Sage is immune to Physical, so just keep an eye out for archers and mages.
Stats:
Strength: Enough for gear (70-150)
Dexterity: Enough for gear (136 is req'd for a Phase Blade, 238 (� 10) for max block at level 85 with a Rhyme Shield)
Vitality: Everything else. (Get this to 75-100 before you put points elsewhere!)
Energy: Nada y pues nada.
Breakpoints
Faster Hit Recovery
13 Frames - 0%
12 Frames - 5%
11 Frames - 10%
10 Frames - 16%
9 Frames - 24%
8 Frames - 37%
7 Frames - 54%
6 Frames - 86%
5 Frames - 152%
Faster Block
12 Frames - 0%
11 Frames - 5%
10 Frames - 10%
9 Frames - 16%
8 Frames - 27%
7 Frames - 40%
6 Frames - 65%
Fire Claws Break Point Examples
Barnar's Star - 11 FPA (2.2 attacks per second)
Barnar's w/ Shael - 9 FPA (2.7 attacks per second)
Aldur's with 3 Shaels - 8 FPA (3.1 attacks per second)
Lightsabre - 9 FPA (2.7 attacks per second)
Lightsabre w/ Shael - 8 FPA (3.1 attacks per second)
6 Shael Phase Blade - 4 FPA (6.1 attacks per second)
Gear Guidelines:
Hibernation Options (I'm starving!)
If you're starting Untwinked, it won't matter much for this build. You're a bear and, like any good scavenger, you can get by on almost anything. Use rubies to up your life pool, and look for fast one handed weapons. Remember that actual weapon damage is irrelevant once you've got Fire Claws; your Fire damage will quickly dwarf any physical damage you might have on your weapon. Remember, speed is key.
* Socketable armors and helms with rubies or sapphires
* Gloves with Increased Attack Speed or Mana/Life Leech.
* Rings with Leech
* Amulets with Resistance, Life, etc.
* A Rhyme shield works great when/if you find a Shael, as it will provide the Cannot be Frozen mod and some Res and MF to boot.
* Boots with FRW can save your life!
Pick-a-Nick Basket Options (Smarter than the average bear!)
For the player who has amassed a few uniques and sets, this bear can really shine. Aldur's is a great option, with Shaels or IAS jewels in the mace, though you'll always be looking for that 6 socket Phase Blade.
* Smoke or Duress make great armors, requiring a Lum and Um, respectively.
* Jalal's is your best option for a helm, socket with your choice of jewel.
* A 6 socket Phase Blade with Shaels will hit 4 frames per attack.
* Moser's with Pdiamonds is a great option, as is a good, high-D Rhyme Shield.
* Some + Skills on switch for pre-buffing your bear form as well as your Oak Sage.
* As mentioned, Aldur's is a very good set for this build, but it won't hit that 6 attack per second goal. Great for leveling, but not end-game material.
Ravenous (Tonight we dine on man-flesh!)
This is a little out of my league, but if you're going all out, you should shoot for 4fpa with 50% CB and 50% DR with about 25-40 PDR and another 20-30 MDR.
* Verdungos / Tgods / String / etc.
* Duress / Other, better armors
* Dracul's
* Jalal's or a 3FC / 3Oak / 3Lyc, +2 Dru skills with other mods...
* Ravenfrost
* Dwarf Star / Res LL/ML Ring
* 2 Skill / 20 All Res / 20 Str / 20 Dex / LL/ML / PDR ammy.
* Stormshield
* Gore Riders / War Travs
* Spirit pre-buffs on switch
Mercenary Options
A2 Prayer or Blessed Aim Mercenary with an Insight Polearm.
Prayer Merc synergizes with Meddy. Expect to get back 30, or so, life per second when he's holding an Insight Polearm. Alternatively, Blessed Aim helps keep the AR up (if you've got difficulties) so that you aren't shooting blanks. A2 mercs make great tanks for times when you're staring down a FE foe, or you're just plain too lazy to make all the kills.
A3 Cold or Lightning Mercenary to deal with Immunes.
Haven't really ever tried this Merc with this build, but it's theoretically sound. Just make sure he's not spitting out the same type of damage you are. The major drawback is his inability to tank when you want to avoid the nasty stuff.
To Block or Not to Block.
The age old question. I've been on both sides of this debate, and I currently run with 50% Block. When you're blocking you're not attacking. Block can be great for power walking through projectiles, and works great earlier on (before you get big, strong and fast). But, ultimately, it slows you down, reducing how quickly you tear through opponents during runs. Enough for the Phase Blade should be enough for a block that won't get in the way too often.
Things to watch out for.
NM Council and everything else FE
Geleb's FE will kill you dead in NM, no matter how much life you have. Remember that you revert to human from Bear form before you die... with 1 measley Life. Act accordingly.
Staying in Bear Form
Earlier on, your Bear form can be your biggest enemy. An untimely switch back to human form can leave you in a real pickle. Whenever you get a chance, recast Were Bear.
How to approach Fire Immunes
Speed and CB are your best friends in situations like these; so is your merc. With a 4 Frame attack, they'll take about 10 times longer to kill... with a 7 Frame, this can mean hours. Let your merc do the job or just keep walking! You're a huge bear! You've got plenty of better things to be doing!
Know when to run!
Keep an eye on those curses. Being Amped isn't a bother, but Being Amped when your foes have Blessed Aim can really hurt. If you're looking at a whole pack of Fire Immunes, and you've got a sizeable life pool, just keep moving... they'll stop following you eventually.
What this build is good for:
Completing the game solo untwinked? Yes. Running Pindle/Shenk/Thresh/Eldritch/WSK/Countess/Baal? Yes. Party Play? Yes (but watch those FELEs). Being a rescue tank? Yes. Helping lower level characters get through tough spots? Yes. Looking really badass while slapping more often than Bobby Brown? Yes.
What this build is bad for:
Running Council/Nihlathak/Summoner/Meph/Diablo. Killing large groups in seconds. Soloing the game quickly. Not being a kick-*** bear.|||Very nice guide dude, well written and informative; answered my only question of the viability of Aldur's set on a FC druid in HC! (I'll make that Summoner Druid with it instead!)|||Thanks dude! I started a FC druid a few days ago and i've been saving ~15 skill points of which i have no idea to put in either oak or lycan.
Would just like to add that you can give your merc weapons like Bonehew or Reapers Toll and a ll helmet and he'll take care of those FE immune baddies very well, even FE/PI's if the merc uses reapers.
On switch i use a grim wand with lvl 3 lower res charges and it helps a ton vs bosses.
Just a thought :smiley:|||nice 1 zinc and a good read to hope there are more to come maybe updates|||Thanks guys.
I just wanted to put it out there in case anyone ever had questions.
I left out a lot of stuff which is, in some cases, obvious, but I found it was getting a little long-winded. I tried to leave it as open-ended as possible, while still covering some of the more important aspects of the build.
In terms of Merc weapons... whatever works! I use the Insight because I was unable to find a good source of Mana Leech, but anything is viable as long as you can keep your blue bulb full. SW can be mana intensive when spammed (plus it doesn't leech), so keep that in mind! You'd also hate to be unable to switch back to Bear form if you morph while fighting a back of mana burners.
One thing I overlooked is playstyle. Basically, you run untill you find a pack. If the pack is big, you turn around and walk backwards a few paces so that they make a group. You Shockwave them and then pick your targets. If the pack is smaller, don't waste any time with SW; clobber them! If they're FI, SW 'em a bit and see if they're worth your time (Uniques, Champions, Ghost types for Runes).
EDIT: (For Mr. Kaxe) Aldur's can work. I soloed Baal with most of Aldur's set the first time down, and once you've got the full thing, you're a pretty tough cookie (+30-50 most Attributes, +3 skills, and about +100% res all for 4 items is sweet). I just find that it doesn't really exploit the killing power of Fire Claws. You could keep the Phase Blade on switch, but then you lose the set bonus that makes Aldur's worthwhile. If you're going to use any of Aldur's, hang on to the boots, as they're hard to top, even for end-game. Ultimately, once you've tasted the 4 frame FC you'll want to build around that Phase Blade and it's killing power.|||something to note, sages are PI in nm but not hell...
great guide tho
<3 bears, nice poem too lol|||Nice guide I've got a question.
Why did you pump Oak Sage over Lycanthropy?
I know they essentially give the same life boost, except Oak Sage likes to go get hit by stuff and he doesn't improve your shifted time at all.|||MrKaxe, I have a 6sock PB in stash somewhere if you want it.|||Mmmm...when I decide to make him I will take you up on that...might be a while tho but thx!|||Quote:
Nice guide
I've got a question.
Why did you pump Oak Sage over Lycanthropy?
I know they essentially give the same life boost, except Oak Sage likes to go get hit by stuff and he doesn't improve your shifted time at all.
All Wearforms I have done I have always maxed both but in this build you need the synergies so you need to cut something, which you have, but I have the same question now that it has been mentioned.
If you max Lyc, you get 5% life each point in it
Increasing Oak you get 5%
But Doesnt Oak increase what you have while under Lyc so any % gained from Lyc is then boosted again under Oak?
Now, with not knowing the build 100%, I suppose if there is some time where you are a caster and not in wear form then the max Oak and less Lyc may make sense, but frankly I personally dont see a reason not to be in form as the build is a Fire Claw Mauler. Sure your other skills are maxed and work also, but your claws rock, dont have IM issues...etc
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