hello once again. i dont yet have a guardian on ladder, but i'm already making plans for my second (better geared hopefully) character. i'm wanting this one to be able to tank well, kill single enemies easily (read: bosses), and be able to control decent sized groups of monsters in safety. these all add up to the character hopefully being able to handle uber trist in a one or two character party. i had originally planned on this character to be a barb, but after seeing in the 1.13 patch notes that werebears got a boost to life, defense, and damage, i decided to give one a try.
i have made many shape shifters and nearly all were fury woofs. my only attempt at a werebear was my very first character ever on D2. it was based on the guide that i got with the game "Tank Bear" or some such. he was awful as most people's first characters are. i've gotten a little more proficient with D2 since those days and now i tend to plan out where i'm going before i try to go there. to that end, i've been reading many guides to try and decide what path on the werebear road of life to chose. naturally i wound up at SSoG and The Mighty Kodiak (quick side note: there has rarely been a better guide writer).
one of the coolest things about SSoG's guides is that they are what they're supposed to be, guides. they're not walk-throughs telling you exactly what to use and do each step of the way. he "Guides" you through and you get to make all the cool, tough decisions for yourself. or with help from friends (hopefully).
with that in mind i'd like a bit of help. my questions:
1. will a Kodiak be able to fulfill my requirements? i'm pretty sure it will if i build it correctly
2. if yes, which of the variants would be the best to meet my requirements? i was thinking i'd go for the Pure Kodiak as it seems to be the one with the highest life and defensive skills. the maxed shock wave and hunger are what draws me to this one.
3. i was thinking about summons, specifically will a maxed sage survive worth a crap in trist? in regular game play? i want to be semi party friendly at least providing more life or damage/ar (HoW in particular looks the most appealing to me for what i want).
4. my last woof used an upped ribby and i'd go with it in a heartbeat for a SC Kodiak, but i am unsure if i'll be able to stack res enough without a shield for HC.
5. if not a ribby, what? SSoG stands by Azurewrath, but i'm not sure that'll be realistic to obtain in the time frame i'm wanting to complete my bear. shaeled PB? i dunno. getting resists, crushing blow, and fast attack speed up to snuff is going to be tough, but chosing ribby will make some of the other gear descisions easier. gear is easy enough for me to decide after the weapon has been chosen, i'm just not sure if i should risk two handed or go with a shield. i do realize (based on reading SSoG's guide) that a good blocking shield may get me killed too, so there's that also to consider.
i guess basically i'm wondering if anyone has had experience using a Kodiak on HC, where they were able to play, and what their results were.
ps. damned if i dont ramble on some times.
edit: wewt, i have tried more than a couple times to create threads in various places, i actually succeeded this time!
edit2: after more research, i've given up on the idea. unless someone can convince me that it works (please do). it seems like a lot of people complain about the low AR making it hard to hit. cant have that if i am running a character that is dependent upon hitting to stay alive. will have to give it more thought. i'd hate to have to resort to a smiter, but not needing AR is a big boon. they also dont fulfill my wish of having a crowd control skill.
*goes back to drawing board*|||I don't think a shield is critical on a bear with max shockwave. Normally monsters can't hit you anyway (except vs actbosses IIRC, don't know if there are other monsters that can't be stunned). Shockwave is an excellent crowd control skill that is easily capable of keeping you, merc and summons alive in area PvM. The max hunger is meant to tank actbosses specifically, since they won't be stunned. But that's a one vs one situation.
No real experience with the Kodiak, but I've done a Geddon bear (shockwave, armageddon, some fire claws, some fire synergies), so I've played with shockwave before.
AR problems are easily solved imho, get a Blessed Aim merc, and a good ammount of dex will get you there (you'll need dex for a lot of good 2hand weapons anyway). ITD will narrow down possible weapons to use, but will help you lots.
Since this build relies on leech to stay alive, I'm not shure going with fast hits for crushing blow and the like is the best option. The more damage you do the more you leech, so you want a good old-fashioned high physical damage weapon, deadly strike/critical strike, strenght, %ED,...
Fortitude in a high damage weapon comes into mind. There's only one bonus that's useless (damage taken to mana). It gives huge damage (300%ED, 20% deadly strike), a bit of fcr (I think it's enough for the first bp, helps your shockwave), and great life/defence bonusses (+200% defence, chilling armour adding another 115%, + to life, resist all). And then there's +50 to base AR (will get upped by skills and such) as a cherry on top. It really fits this particular build well imho.
Couple this with a high defence armour and the defence bonus from wearbear form and you'll be able to hit insane defence. Stone comes to mind, another treachery, or Enigma (as you've got a high %defence allready the +defence in numbers will net you more defence than adding another 100% defence). Chains of Honor would give you less defence, but more resists and other nice mods.
For a more budget approach you could use an insight pole and smoke runeword. Less defence and resists, but a high damage cheap and usable option.
Disclaimer: I'm not talking about uniques because I don't have access to the summit from work, and also because I find planning around runewords easire, as it's easier to get a runeword than getting a specific unique.|||eh, i've decided to go another route. the shield wouldnt be for defense but for resists. a good blocking shield is actually a bad idea (according to everything i've read) as bears have terrible block rates and you're apt to get block-locked and not be able to attack and leech.
fortitude is a terrible idea for a weapon on a bear as it has no IAS and would swing once a day, lol. being a new ladder, a Lo might be shooting too high anyway.
thanks for the input, but i am an AR freak and i dont think this build is the right one for me for what i want. i will build one at some point, but i'll probably try it out on SC NL since i have nearly everything i'd need. i could also play around and not worry about losing what i've gained if i die.|||I do not know if you have seen this thread.
"Town Dump"
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=590115
It is a build for a bear. It is the one I will be using for my Druid modified with 1 pt in a creeper to eat corpses.
Hope it is useful.|||Quote:
i've gotten a little more proficient with D2 since those days
Could have fooled me.
Tell me when you want to make the new character. I'll start HC with you (I could be a bow Paladin with Fanaticism - that would help your IAS and your AR). I thought I'd enjoy Ladder, (and I did, for the first 2 or 3 days), but it's the same crap as always (since none of you are ever on when I am). If we play as a group, HC should be cool.
I made a Town Dump bear on SC SP and it worked out great.|||yes i've read that guide before. it's nothing like what i want. it's a summoner with some bear skills.
@Arrow, i'll start it whenever i see you and my lag isnt too bad. today has been terrible for me. shupe was fine in the same game, it's just me.|||I'll come online now then. Actually, better in 30 mins, I have to eat. See you soon. I hope we can get this thing started today. Get Shupe to join us.|||cant, laggin too much and i have stuff to do.|||Zounds! Ok, maybe tonight or tomorrow then. Message me.
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