Poison Creeper Patriarch [sp]
Author: alram |
Version: 1.08
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The poison creeper skill has many unique fun attributes, but was overlooked for a long time by many Diablo players due to its low damage. This guide contains two different builds which feature the poison creeper. I have beaten the game in single player with both of these builds. Both builds have many aspects in common. However, the strategy, tactics, and game play of each build are quite different and will provide you with hours of entertainment as you explore their possibilities. These builds require patience and skill to play. As you play them you'll develop the skills naturally.
In the first part of this report I will discuss the features, benefits and drawbacks of the poison creeper. In the second part of the report I will present the specifics of the 2 builds -- a volcano summoner and a shockbear. Many people on the Amazon Basin and Diabloii.net posted information and opinions about the poison creeper which is used in this report. Credit will be given to these individuals when quoted and at the end of the report. All of the information in the report is based on single player mode only; some of the recommendations may not be suitable for player vs. player or Multiplayer.
Poison Creeper -- a Much Maligned Skill
Vulnerability
The poison creeper travels underground. When it attacks it briefly comes above ground. While it is underground the vine is absolutely immune to any kind of attack whatsoever. Therefore the vine is vulnerable to physical and elemental damage only for a brief period of time, and so in spite of its low number of hit points it is often longer lived that you would otherwise expect. The creeper usually dies from a melee attack. I have seen it die from poison attack several times. I have seen it die from fire damage only once -- when it was in a room full of ghoul lords. Diablo's fire attacks have never had any effect on the vine. I have never seen it frozen -- not by Duriel, not by Izual, not by frozen creeper -- not by any one. It is great fun to watch Izual repeatedly cast a frost nova in a vain attempt to freeze the vine.
There is a downside to this phenomenon. Only once have I observed the poison creeper receiving any benefit from oak sage. Normally the poison creeper will not see the benefits of any of the druid auras.
The poison Mat
The poison creeper lays down a poisonous mat on the ground when it attacks a monster. This mat will deal damage to any non poison immune monster which moves on it. If the monster remains still while on the mat it will not receive damage. The poisonous mat will remain in place poisoning monsters even if the poison creeper itself has died. The duration of the mat increases as more skilled points are placed in the creeper. One vine is capable of laying down multiple mats prior to its death. The size of the mat also increases slightly as the number of skill points are increased.. If you repeatedly recast a vine in an appropriate location after it has dealt damage and formed a mat it will once again damage a monster and form a new mat. In this matter you can rapidly cover a large area of ground with poisonous mats should you wish.
The monsters which come back from the dead such as Carvers, etc. are poisoned virtually as soon as they are resurrected.
You can position your druid so that the monsters must cross the poisonous mat in order to attack him. If the mat is in a doorway, for example, all monsters which enter the room are poisoned. The poison creeper can be cast into a room full of monsters and take out the whole room single-handedly.
The poison mat works well with knockback or any other effect which causes monsters to move across the mat. Hence the mat works nicely with the grizzly's knockback ability.
The poison creeper will lay down a poisonous mat over water when it attacks a river watcher or in the air -- such as in the arcane sanctuary. However these mats are always of short duration only and do not deal any actual damage..
Mat duration by level as measured by Casperi
Level 1 -- 5 sec
Level 5 -- 10 sec
Level 10 -- 15 sec
Level 15 -- 20 sec
Level 20 -- 25 sec
The poison damage
Level 20 -- 84-86 poison damage over four seconds
Level 21 -- 90-92
Level 22 -- 96-98
Level 23 -- 102-103
Level 24 -- 108-109
Level 25 -- 114-116
Level 26 -- 119-121
Level 27 -- 126-127
Level 28 -- 131-133
When the vine poisons a monster it emits a characteristic sound.
The poison creeper will not attack a monster which is poison immune or a monster which already has been poisoned. Apparently then the poison creeper is more intelligent than a grizzly or ravens which deal only physical damage and which will in fact attack physical immunes.
The damage definitely does go off in bursts rather than in a gradual fashion. I have seen monsters which although they have turned green do not appear to be taking any poison damage whatsoever suddenly drop dead before my eyes.
The poison damage continues even when the monster is offscreen. In level two of the sewers below the Kurast Bazaar I was getting mobbed by an Unraveller unique boss and his Unraveller minions. I went up to level one of the sewers in order to regroup, and when I returned to level two of the sewers the Unraveller unique boss and his Unraveller minions were all dead.
Mana
The amount of mana necessary to cast the poison creeper does not change as additional skill points are invested. It only costs 8 mana -- inexpensive for what you get. Your mana bulb will not be drained. It is therefore painless and easy to recast the vine as needed for strategic purposes.
Movement
The AI is interesting. Instead of standing toe to toe with a monster the vine poisons a monster and then heads off at an angle causing the monster to chase the vine all around the screen. I have had Eldritch run right past me as he pursued the poison creeper. This can be unnerving because you get the sensation that the monster is heading for you and not the vine. If the monster should happen to kill the vine near you, of course you will be the next target.
When the screen is filled with monsters and minions then it is difficult to know exactly where the poison creeper is as it travels underground and is not readily seen on screen. The mini map is often very helpful in this regard.
The poison creeper will usually be quicker than the grizzly to head for an enemy target. However, the poison vine is not a fast mover. You will often find that it is more efficacious to cast the vine where you want it rather than to wait around and hope it goes in the right direction.
Miscellaneous
The poison creeper does not set off LEB.
The poison creeper has a reputation for creating lag. In single player mode I have never had any lag as a result of the poison creeper. The CPU on my computer runs at 600 MHz and I have a three-year-old graphics card; ravens have created serious lag problems for me when my character needs to run for an extended period of time. Of course it is entirely possible that the poison creeper creates lag problems in Multiplayer mode; however, I am not qualified to comment on this. I have read a post from Stickels who stated that after a lag all the monsters around him were dead -- killed by the poison creeper.
Poison Creeper -- the builds
Before I go into the details of the builds I would like to state that in no way whatsoever do I make the claim that my approach is the only correct way. Use my ideas as guidelines to help you come up with your own better version of a poison creeper druid. In fact when it comes to equipment I am sure that many of you will be able to do better than me because I do not have all of the superior equipment necessary to make the best build possible. For example I used Skin of the Viper Magi v 1.07 for my armor which is inferior to v 1.09 in that it does not give plus 1 to skills. But unfortunately I did not own any armor which gives plus 1 to skills when I played these druids.
In both of these builds throughout the normal level the poison creeper will be your primary killer and it will steamroll over almost anything.
On the nightmare level the poison creeper will significantly reduce the life and health of your monsters making it easy for your mercenary and grizzly to perform one-hit kills.
In hell the poison creeper will score an occasional kill in combination with ravens, but its primary uses are as follows:
1. Prevent monster healing.
2. Take some heat off of your grizzly so that it lives longer.
3. Provide an extra tank in areas where the monsters are widespread all over the screen.
4. Provide a source of light elemental damage.
Vanilla Mint (vine elemental) Build
This is basically an elemental summoner build which places emphasis on the poison creeper.
Once you get to hell most of the killing will be done by the grizzly and volcano.
Skill points
For both of these builds I am listing the skill point assignments which you will make in order to become a patriarch. Should you opt to continue playing your character after making patriarch then you should make your further skill point assignments based on your own assessment of your character's needs.
1. The summoning tree
Poison creeper -- 15 - 20
Initially all of your skill points should be invested in the poison creeper as it is your primary killing machine when on the normal difficulty level.
Ravens -- 1 They look cool and make a small contribution.
Spirit wolf -- 1 skill point as a prerequisite only. Once you have placed 15 to 20 points in the poison creeper then begin working on the rest of the summons tree. I like to fight Duriel using the poison creeper only. You may find this hairy and scary and prefer to have your one point in dire wolf' and ravens prior to entering Duriel's chamber.
Dire wolf -- 20
Grizzly -- 20
The question arises as to which skill to max first -- dire wolves or the grizzly. I place three points in dire wolves at the beginning so that I'll have three wolves until the grizzly comes along at level 30. At level 24 I begin working on volcano, and then I max the grizzly and volcano with only the occasional point here and there in dire wolves if I find myself having to recast the grizzly too often. Having as many points as possible in dire wolves is important when you get to the tough battle in hell with the Ancients. Prior to that I believe that it is more important for the grizzly to deal high damage rather than have a high life.
Heart of Wolverine -- 1
Oak sage -- 1
Most guides and reports which I have read choose to max one or both of the spirits. I was able to get both of the spirits to level 9 with + to skills equipment. That proved to be fully adequate. Be aware that if you to choose to place additional points in either of these skills that you will not receive additional benefit past level 20. Ideally you will be wearing equipment which provide you with + to skills. So calculate ahead of time how much + to skills you'll anticipate having and don't go over 20 total.
2. The elemental tree
Volcano -- 20
Invest 1 skill point in each of volcano's prerequisites. You'll find that firestorm is not terribly useful or effective, but molten boulder and fissure will definitely be useful. Don't be tempted to place additional points into molten boulder and fissure. A volcano will work a lot better.
Arctic blast -- 1
I actually had to use Arctic blast to kill Colenzo in hell. He spawned as immune to both fire and physical damage, and while my mercenary and minions fought his minions I used Arctic blast to kill Colenzo. However, I had invested the point in this skill solely as a prerequisite.
Cyclone armor -- 1
Cyclone armor is an essential skill. The druid is usually well out of the fray most of the time and during these times cyclone armor is not important. However, against monsters like Diablo and Baal and LEB cyclone armor is invaluable as it will keep you alive. You can certainly place more than one point in this skill, but I found one point adequate for my needs.
Stat points
When I made the poison creeper druid I was in uncharted territory and so initially I left many of my stat points unassigned as I was uncertain as to just what my strength and dexterity needs might be. In fact it was not until act two or three of hell that I finally committed all of my stat points. So you can certainly do the same.
Strength -- Only enough to wear the equipment you need. Probably 85-95 will be adequate.
Dexterity -- Do not place any points in dexterity unless you intend to equip a bow.
Energy -- Your goal here is to arrive at over 500 mana. (Over 600 mana is even better.) If you can do this without placing any points in energy then go for it. If you are unable to attain this amount of mana using only equipment than you might place as much as 35 points into energy. Usually this amount of mana is fully adequate for all your summoning and casting needs. There are a few battles, however, during which you will need to drink a potion. Fighting Lister and his gang in hell comes to mind.
Vitality -- The rest of your stat points go here.
Equipment
I have finished the game without having all of the uber equipment. I will make some specific recommendations/suggestions about equipment, but I feel that it is more important for you first to understand the needs of the character, and then find equipment which satisfies those needs. This is a better approach then memorizing a list of all the best possible equipment there is. If you already have all of the best possible equipment then you probably already know what you need. If you don't already own all of the uber equipment then you are likely to feel as though you absolutely must have it in order to play this build and that is not true.
Your equipment should focus on mana, plus to skills, and fast cast. When you have a choice between boosting your summoning skills or your elemental skills, go for an increase in your summoning skills as they are synergistic with one another and will provide you with the greatest benefit. Since your character will usually be in the rear and not in the front line of battle, defense and resistance are not as important. However when you meet up with an LEB his sparks will travel and so you should endeavor to have good solid resistance to lightning -- as close to 75 percent as possible. Before fighting Diablo make sure you adjust your equipment so that you have maximum fire resistance as it will make your battle with Diablo a lot easier.
Headgear -- Jalal's Mane is probably the best choice with the Harlequin's Crest coming in second. Any coronet or Druid's pelt which provides an ample boost to your summoning skills would also be a good choice.
Armor -- Skin of the Viper Magi for fast cast, resistances and + 1 to all skills is an excellent choice.
Shield -- Lidless Eye is the best as it gives you fast cast as well as + 1 to all skills.
Belt-- A crafted caster belt might be the best choice. Otherwise there are any number of belts which will provide a nice set of attributes such as Nightsmoke for mana and resistance.
Gloves -- Mage Fist for + 1 to fire skills and improved mana regeneration is the best choice I believe. The Frostburn Gauntlets
Boots -- Increased running speed is a nice attribute to have for those occasions when your druid stumbles into the front line of battle. There are a large number of magical, rare and unique boots which will provide increased running speed. Select your boots based on what other attributes your character requires such as lightning resistance.
Amulet -- Rare or magical amulets which gives a bonus to druid or summoning skills can be gambled for.
Rings -- Rare rings can come with a wide variety of different attributes. Use your rings to help make up for any deficits in your other equipment.
Weapon -- Perhaps the biggest equipment choice which faces you is whether or not to equip a bow. The advantage of a bow is that it provides you with an additional source of damage. Much of the time the druid himself is not actually engaged in combat, and it would be a simple matter for him to fire some shots with his bow. The disadvantage of a bow is that it requires you to invest stat points in dexterity and decreases the number of equipment slots which you can use to provide + to skills. Also you must address the question of maintaining an adequate attack rating. I choose to go with Islestrike, an ax, because it gives + 2 to all druid skills. Some elemental summoners prefer to use Earthshaker which gives + 3 to druid elemental skills, but as mentioned before I believe that it is more important/beneficial to boost your summoning skills rather than your elemental skills. Your character will not be engaging in melee fighting, so in the early game equip a weapon which provides some other desirable attribute such as mana or lightning resistance.
Mercenary
The choice of the correct mercenary is critical to success. The mercenary will be performing much of the monster killing and in single player mode especially needs to provide a versatile array of elemental damage in order to deal with the various monster immunities in hell. In my opinion the act 1 fire arrow rogue is the best choice with the equipment necessary to give her a + 3 to skills lightning hose. When I played this druid unfortunately my mercenary was woefully underequipped and if you can put better equipment on your mercenary you will have an easier time of it. Here is how I equipped mine.
Bow -- EndlessHail. This is the best bow which I owned at the time.
Headgear -- a rare circlet which adds 22-57 fire damage.
Armor -- Sparking Mail. I selected this armor because of the small amount of lightning damage and the lightning resistance which it adds.
Since you will be dealing a considerable amount of fire damage with your volcano, a possible alternative to the rogue mercenary might be an act three lightning mercenary, but this is only speculation on my part. I have not actually played an act three lightning mercenary.
Strategy
Once you get the poison creeper hang back and let the vine do the damage. Stay out of the fray. Recast the vine or other minions as needed. Cast your fire spells to make the killing quicker. Keep cyclone armor active all the time. While you are on normal level you might get complacent; that's how easy it is. But look out for frenzied moon lords on act 5; they require you to step up your rhythm.
The most important thing you have to do the throughout the game is to keep your minions in play at all times and keep the monsters occupied. Even against physical immunes cast your grizzly in their face and keep him there. He will pin down the monster making it easy for you to finish it off with your volcano, your mercenary, and your vine. At times you have to keep one eye on the upper left-hand corner of the screen to monitor your minions' life, another eye on the action, your third eye on the mini map, and your mind on your life and mana bulbs. Stay alert.
As you move along the terrain cast your poison creeper far ahead of you as a scout so that you don't get caught unawares. Of course you could cast the grizzly as a scout, but that is more mana intensive.
End of act Bosses
1. Andariel On normal she was killed by the poison creeper without any damage from my mercenary (who died) or me. You just have to run around keeping your distance until she is poisoned to death. Run her back and forth across the poisonous mat. On nightmare with help from the ravens she once again was killed by my poison creeper. Andariel in hell is easy.
2. Duriel Keep Duriel occupied with your minions and you should have no trouble with him. Keep away from him and keep your eye on your mana bulb. Travel to town if you need to in order to replenish your mana.
3. Mephisto Fighting Mephisto is like fighting Duriel except that it is easier to keep your distance or even put a wall between you and Mephisto.
4. Diablo On normal difficulty you can kill Diablo using only your poison creeper. Your mercenary will die and your bear will not survive the elemental attacks. The poison creeper will be unaffected by the elemental attacks. Remember one thing. Keep Diablo green. Toss in some fire damage when feasible. Make sure you have maximum fire resistance and keep your cyclone armor active. When you get to hell your grizzly will actually survive better, though not forever. Try to get the rhythm of keeping the grizzly alive, pinning Diablo down and casting volcano as much as possible. I actually had to kill Diablo twice in hell. The first time I killed him while he was offscreen and so I did not receive credit for the quest.
5. Baal On all three difficulty level the tentacles will tend to distract your minions. Feel free to recast them into more advantageous locations -- that is right next to Baal. When you fight him in hell once you have him pinned down with his life total dwindling, make sure you have volcano on your right click button locked onto him so that when he teleports the volcano will still be right under him.
The hell Ancients are going to be the most difficult battle you fight. Make sure you scatter full rejuvenation potions on the ground around the area. You will spend a lot of time running away and avoiding leap attacks, but again the secret of success will be to keep your grizzly alive so that he occupies the Ancients while you cast volcano in their midst. Cast the poison creeper into the fray as well in order to help your grizzly last longer. If you have the presence of mind and the time to do it then alternate casting of Oak Sage with Heart of Wolverine so as to bestow the benefits of both auras on your grizzly. If this is simply not feasible then use Oak Sage in order to keep your grizzly alive longer vs. the Ancients. Two out of the three Ancients I fought and killed were immune to fire with my volcano useless against them.
The first time I faced the ancients my character level was 60. I died several times. Finally I backed off and levelled up, pumping my vitality and the dire wolves. I suggest that you have your dire wolves at level 27 before facing the Ancients. When you face the Ancients on normal level you can actually kill all of them off with the poison creeper alone should you so choose. You simply have to run away and lead them across the poisonous mat. With a different poison creeper druid I once got killed by the nightmare Ancients due to lag caused by my ravens.
MorphMurph has suggested using 3 dire wolves to occupy the Ancients and pick them off one at a time. The wolves must be at a high skill point level with the Oak aura active. "Cast them while the ancients are transforming from stone so that they will target the wolf first and not you. make sure that you and your merc are next to the leaper so you avoid the 1hit kill."
Baal's minions in hell deserve some special mention. When you fight Bartuc and later Lister you will need to gradually retreat while you cast your grizzly, the vine, ravens and volcano in their faces.
The Poison Creeper Shockbear
This build was originally suggested to me by TheOther and I'm glad he did because it is a heck of a lot of fun to play. The shockbear is tougher and more versatile than the volcano summoner making him easier and perhaps more interesting to play. But the PvM shockbear is possibly more demanding in terms of equipment needs and reliance upon the mercenary. The shockwave skill provides powerful crowd control, and your werebear form enables you to be a formidable tank. When it suits you you can hit something, or when the occasion arise and things get too hot for you in the front lines you can retreat to the rear and play a more passive style. Since shockwave does physical damage only when you meet up with a physical immune monster you will have to rely upon your mercenary to kill it. Since monsters can spawn as both immune to physical damage as well as to some form of elemental damage your mercenary must be capable of providing a powerful source of at least two different types of elemental damage.
Skill points
1. The summoning tree
The recommendations for skilled point assignment in the summoning tree are very similar with only minor differences to those of the volcano summoner listed above.
Poison creeper -- 15 - 20
Initially all of your skill points should be invested in the poison creeper as it is your primary killing machine when on the normal difficulty level. When you find that the poison creeper is fully adequate for all of your monster killing needs then intersperse some points into your shapeshifting skills and do of a bit of melee fighting if it suits you.
Ravens -- 1 They look cool and make a small contribution.
Spirit wolf -- 1 skill point as a prerequisite only. Once you have placed 15 to 20 points in the poison creeper then begin working on the rest of the summons tree. I like to fight Duriel using the poison creeper only. You may find this hairy and scary and prefer to have your one point in dire wolf' and ravens prior to entering Duriel's chamber.
Dire wolf -- 20
Grizzly -- 20
The question arises as to which skill to max first -- dire wolves or the grizzly. I place three points in dire wolves at the beginning so that I'll have three wolves until the grizzly comes along at level 30. I max the grizzly with only the occasional point here and there in dire wolves if I find myself having to recast the grizzly too often. It is much easier to battle the Ancients in hell with the shockbear and you will not need the full 20 points in dire wolves before you get to the Mt. Arreat summit.
Heart of Wolverine -- 1
Oak sage -- 1
Most guides and reports which I have read choose to max one or both of the spirits. I was able to get both of the spirits to level 9 with + to skills equipment. That proved to be fully adequate. Be aware that if you to choose to place additional points in either of these skills that you will not receive additional benefit past level 20. Ideally you will be wearing equipment which provide you with + to skills. So calculate ahead of time how much + to skills you'll anticipate having and don't go over 20 total.
2. The shape shifting tree
Werewolf -- 1
Only one point should be invested in the skill as a prerequisite only.
Lycanthropy -- 1
This is an essential skill which adds life and extends the time during which you can remain in werebear form before shifting. Probably everyone who plays a melee werebear places as many points as possible in this skill. However, for a shockbear who is not going to do any melee fighting one point is fully adequate. Your equipment will of course provide additional + to skills.
Werebear -- 1
As you play you will remain in werebear form all of the time and will be recasting this skill periodically. Make it a habit at the end of every battle to shift back to be human form and then once again into werebear form.
Maul -- 1
Only one point should be invested in the skill as a prerequisite only.
Shockwave -- 10 or more.
There are several considerations to take into account when deciding how many points to invest in shockwave. Shockwave will be your source of crowd control. All monsters except for champions and bosses will be stunned by the shockwave when it hit them. The more points you invest in shockwave the longer the monsters will remain stunned.
a) Now since you are only investing one point into lycanthropy it is possible that during an especially long battle your werebear may shift back into human form. It would be nice if the monsters remain stunned during the time it takes you to shift from the human form back into werebear form.
b) It would also be nice if after stunning a group of monsters you have adequate time to cast at least two additional minions into the fray when needed.
c) Sometimes the monsters are strung out across the screen in front of you and you may have to cast at least three separate shockwaves in order to stun all of the monsters. You want the monsters who are hit by the first shockwave to remain stunned with time to spare after you get to the last group of monsters.
d) This consideration is a minor one. In nightmare you will actually be able to kill some monsters with shockwave rather easily. Occasionally even in hell it may be convenient for you to kill a monster by spamming shockwave, and it will be easier to do if you have more points in shockwave. But again this consideration is not terribly important.
e) Instead of spamming shockwave by keeping my finger depressed up on the mouse button I found that I preferred to click it every couple of seconds. This helps conserve mana and more rapid clicking is not necessary if you have an adequate number of skill points assigned to shockwave.
Stat points
Stat point assignment for the shockbear is identical to that of the volcano summoner. I reproduce it here for the convenience of the reader.
When I made the poison creeper druid I was in uncharted territory and so initially I left many of my stat points unassigned as I was uncertain as to just what my strength and dexterity needs might be. In fact it was not until act two or three of hell that I finally committed all of my stat points. So you can certainly do the same.
Strength -- Only enough to wear the equipment you need. Probably 85-95 will be adequate.
Dexterity -- Do not place any points in dexterity.
Energy -- Your goal here is to arrive at over 500 mana. If you can do this without placing any points in energy then go for it. If you have to place more than 5 points in energy then you had better make sure you can boost your life totals with your equipment.
Vitality -- The rest of your stat points go here. It is very important to have a high life total so that you will be a durable tank. When I beat Baal in hell my life total in the werebear form with the oak sage aura active was 2,873.
Equipment
I have finished the game without having all of the uber equipment. I will make some specific recommendations/suggestions about equipment, but I feel that it is more important for you first to understand the needs of the character, and then find equipment which satisfies those needs. This is a better approach then memorizing a list of all the best possible equipment there is. If you already have all of the best possible equipment then you probably already know what you need. If you don't already own all of the uber equipment then you are likely to feel as though you absolutely must have it in order to play this build and that is not true.
The equipment of the volcano summoner focuses on mana, plus to skills, and fast cast. The werebear also requires a high life total and at least 75% lightning resistance is practically mandatory. A high level of fire resistance is also recommended not only for fighting Diablo but also to keep yourself alive when fire enchanted bosses die. When you have a choice between boosting your summoning skills or your shape shifting skills, go for an increase in your summoning skills as they are synergistic with one another and will provide you with the greatest benefit.
Headgear -- Jalal's Mane is even a better choice for a shockbear then it is for the volcano summoner due to the + 2 to shape shifting skills which it grants. I used a Harlequin's Crest as I do not have Jalal's Mane. A coronet or Druid's pelt which provides an ample boost to your summoning skills would also be a good choice.
Armor -- Skin of the Viper Magi for fast cast, resistances and + 1 to all skills is an excellent choice.
Shield -- Lidless Eye is the best as it gives you fast cast as well as + 1 to all skills.
Belt-- I eventually settled on Trang Oul's belt which grants a life and mana bonus and the special attribute "cannot be frozen."
Gloves -- I started out with Mage Fist, but as I did not need the + 1 to fire skills I eventually settled on Trang Oul's gloves which when worn in combination with the belt still gave me a boost to my mana regeneration.
Boots -- Increased running speed is always a nice attribute to have. I used Natalya's boots to get some lightning resistance as well. Select your boots based on what other attributes your character requires.
Amulet -- Rare or magical amulets which gives a bonus to druid or summoning skills can be gambled for.
Rings -- Rare rings can come with a wide variety of different attributes. Use your rings to help make up for any deficits in your other equipment. I ended up using a Dwarf Star for the life, fire absorbtion, and magic damage reduction as well as a magical ring which gave me five points in energy and 120 mana.
Weapon -- At times you may be tempted to get in some melee hits. After all the monsters are standing right in front of you stunned and vulnerable and unable to hit you back. The problem here is twofold. First of all if you use Islestrike for the + 2 to skills your attack will be very slow. Secondly your attack rating will be low and you will miss a great deal. An obvious solution would be to use a fast weapon which has the special ability "ignore target defense" and which does not require any investment in dexterity. Guess what! Such a weapon exists -- Spineripper, a unique dagger. Of course, the damage which Spineripper deals is not terribly huge. Nothing in life is perfect. An alternative consideration for a weapon which might be useful on the weapon switch is Hexfire. Hexfire also has the special ability "ignore target defense" and in addition provides an extra boost to your fire resistance. It does have a modest requirement in dexterity. So you would need to decide whether you want to adjust your equipment set up to provide enough dexterity for Hexfire. Be aware that if you use a weapon which has "ignore target defense" that this special ability does not work against champions and bosses.
Mercenary
The choice of the correct mercenary is critical to success. In hell the mercenary will be performing all of the significant elemental damage. Don't use an act three mercenary; when you encounter a PI in hell which is also immune to your Iron Wolf's form of elemental damage it will take an excessively long time to make the kill using the poison creeper alone. A fire arrow rogue mercenary which can deal lightning damage is the only possibility here. Give her the equipment for a lightning hose --+ 3 to skills. Additionally the must make sure that she has the maximum possible resistance to lightning so that she stays alive. I equipped my mercenary with the following items:
Sazabi's basinet--+ 1 to skills with fire and lightning resistance.
Cliffkiller bow--+ 2 to bow skills with high physical damage and knockback.
Skin of the Viper Magi with an Ort rune-- elemental resistance(in version 1.09 + 1 to skills as well)
I wish I had had the Cliffkiller bow when I played the volcano summoner as I would have had a much easier time.
Strategy
Once you get the poison creeper let the vine do the killing. Early on some melee fighting in the werebear form will work. Stop the melee fighting if you find yourself having to consume too many potions and having too many close calls. Recast the vine or other minions as needed. Particularly once you have the shockwave skill and adequate mana to cast it repeatedly stay out in the front of your minions, stun the monsters, and keep them stunned while your mercenary and your minions do the killing. There might be some occasions when the battle gets too hot and heavy and you need to retreat to the back from where you will repeatedly recast the grizzly and the vine until you have worn your enemy down. On some occasions however if you find that this solution is not working it might actually be better to go right up front and tank in spot of the apparent ferocity of the battle. Remain in the werebear form at all times. Keep your minions in play at all times. Use your grizzly to pin down monsters which you cannot stun. Stay alert. As you move along the terrain cast your poison creeper far ahead of you as a scout so that you don't get caught unawares. The hell ancients were not hard. The end of act Bosses can be tanked including Diablo and Baal. On the whole you will have a much easier time with them than you will have with the volcano
summoner.
Credits
Many people contributed information and feedback in their posts which has gone into this report.
I'd like to give special mention to TheOther AKA Fiddler are on the Roof for his enthusiastic support and his posting of my preliminary report on diabloii.net.
Fenris Wolf for his observations, suggestions, and questions.
MorphMurph for his quoted suggestions on fighting the hell Ancients with the volcano summoner.
Stickels for his enthusiasm and innovative spirit.
Mother Of Daemons for translating the preliminary report into Czech.
Casperi for his observations on the poisonous mat.
Deadpan for his astute and creative additions. He has an excellent creative Multiplayer build which utilizes the poison creeper
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