Hybrid Wolf Guide (V 1.1) Author: Electric Blue Version: 1.10 Page 1 Game Basics Frames | FPA | FHR | FBR | Chance to Block | Chance to Hit | Weapon Speed Modifier | Damage Reduced | Absorb | Deadly Strike | Crushing Blow | Open Wounds | Range General Shifter Druid Equipment DR | FHR | Attack Rating | Life | Life and Mana Leech | Open Wounds | Deadly Strike | Crushing Blow | Faster Run/Walk | Black and Red Weapons Magic Find Always Superdrop Main Skills  Fire Claws | Rabies | Rabies and Fire Claws Findings | Fury Stats Basic Stats | Advanced Stats | Advised Stats PvM and Low Level Weapons  Beginning of the Game | Mid-Game Weapons | Hell Pure Fury for PvM  Poison Creeper | Test Results on Poison Creeper Hybrids Fury/Fire Claws Hybrids | Fury/Rabies Hybrids | Fire Claws/Rabies Hybrids PvP Vs. Ranged and Casters | Vs. Melee Links Conclusion Well, it is 2004 and it has been 1 year since my 1.09 guide and now 1.10 is out. Much has changed since 1.09, and druids are no exceptions. In this guide, I aim to give information about dueler hybrids with emphasis on melee combat. With the 1.09 bugs removed, the builds are so powerful that one can solo P8 Baal with ease. One more reminder, druids are expensive to make, and difficult to play, so make sure you have enough 'resources' before you begin one. Good luck. Electric Blue The Wolf and The Bear In 1.09, the Shapeshifter usually followed one of the two paths; either a wolf or a bear and used oak or how. Although there were exceptions to this, like wolf and bear hybrids, or oak and how hybrids, this was the mainstream. With 1.1 and my understanding of it, the efficiency is not present at those paths anymore. My view angle changed significantly, and now I see 3 main paths for a Shapeshifter. Physical (Classical) shifter Poison shifter Fire shifter It is glad to see that 2 of the above can be chosen and mastered in one build. We will go through each path separately with an emphasis on the wolf and then combine them for effective use and taste. But before, comes the stats and general information. Game Basics Frames Before continuing on to technical information on druids, I felt i should give some information about how the game works. The game uses what we call a ‘frame’ as a unit of time.  1 second = 25 frames. So, whatever happens in the game, it can not take place in any duration other then integer numbers of frames. Example: You can cast a spell in 8 frames or 9 frames, you can not possibly cast it in 8,5 frames or so. FPA Frames per attack. This is used to measure the duration of any attack in the game, more precise then what is written on the weapon (i.e normal attack speed). The fastest possible melee attack in the game is 4 fpa, which means 6.25 attacks in 1 second. Both the wolf and bear can achieve 4fpa attacks. FHR Faster hit recovery. When you get damage at least 1/12 of your life, you are sent into a recovery animation that lasts some frames, and you can do nothing in that duration. Higher FHR= shorter stun. Shorter, better. Wolves can have the fastest hit recovery among other classes. Here are the accepted FHR breakpoints for the wolf.  % FHR        FRAMES Base 7 9 6 20 5 42 4 86 3 280 2 FBR Faster block rate. When you use a shield, you have the probability to block an incoming attack. And that blocking has some duration that you can not do anything else. So higher FBR=shorter blocks. Shorter, better. In 1.1, after a successful block, one can not block for a certain of time, so no more block-locks. Here are the FBR breakpoints for the wolf.  % FBR  Block Frames Base 9 7 8 15 7 27 6 48 5 86 4 Chance to Block Chance to Block. When you carry a shield, you can block incoming attacks, with a proportion. If you have %70 chance to block, for instance, you block theoretically %70 of the incoming attacks. The following formula gives your chance to block. %Block = (%Blocking of the shield * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2) Chance to Hit Chance to Hit. The formula is: 100 * AR / (AR + DR) * 2 * alvl / (alvl + dlvl) AR = Attack Rating alvl = Level of Attacker dlvl = Level of Defender DR = Defense Rating Upper and lower bounds for the chance is %95 and %5 Weapon Speed Modifier Every weapon has a base speed (one can check for base speeds in items sections of diablo2 sites). With suffixes or shael rune or IAS jewels, one can increase this to needed levels. There is a concept called WSM (Weapon Speed Modifier), to determine weapon speeds. It is basically taking the negative of the weapon base speed (listed in arreat summit), and adding the IAS on the weapon. The WSM information along with the weapon type is used to determine the attack speeds. For example feral axe has -15 base speed, having 1 shael (%20 IAS) annd 1 IAS jewel (%15 IAS) makes it  WSM=-(-15) +20+15 WSM=50  Damage Reduced Damage reduced items can decrease the amount of physical damage received in great amounts. %dr is a % decrease in damage. For instance you have %40 dr and received 1000 damage from an attack. You will receive 600 damage instead of 1000. Here is the formula that should help: ('damage'*(100-'%dr')/100) In 1.10, %dr is capped at 50. Apart from % dr, there is also is a plain dr property in items. It simple reduces the damage in indicated amounts. Absorb Absorb prevents some amount of damage and heals at the same amount. There are 2 types of absorb just like in dr. % and plain. Absorb can be for magical, fire, lightning, and cold damages. No absorb items for poison. The game first takes into account resists, then applies absorbs. For example, consider that one has 50 fire resist and %20 fire absorb and receives 1000 fire damage. The resistance reduces the damage to 500. Then %20 absorb absorbs %20 of the fire damage (100 in this case) and heals the character. So the damage received from the attack is 300. The %absorb seems to be capped at 40 in 1.10. And the effective plain absorb can't exceed the amount of damage received. Deadly Strike You have a % chance to do double damage. Statistically is an enhancement to your damage equal to your %DS. For example, if you make 1000 damage and have %50 DS, your effective damage is 1500. Crushing Blow This mod reduces the life of the enemy by a certain percentage. Very effective when fighting act bosses. Open Wounds This mod decreases the opponents life by a certain amount. Useful in PvP. Range Range of a weapon is a measure of how far it can hit. Melee ranges vary from 1 to 5. When shifted, druid preserves its weapon range except for bows and crossbows which become range 1. Ranges of weapons can be obtained from arreat summit. General Shifter Druid Equipment In this section, I will discuss the general mods and enhancements that a druid will require and the advised items for them. Also special type of items definitions are given links. DR For Melee Combat, %50 DR is a good advantage effectively doubling the life. If using 1h weapons, Stormshield Unique Monarch is a must and can be accompanied with a DR belt. Possible choices are String of Ears Unique Demonhide Sash (%15) and Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil (%15). Supplying DR from Helm is another option with Harlequin Crest Unique Shako (%10) or Vampire Gaze Unique Grim Helm (%20). Enigma Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer (%8) is another good option. If using a 2h weapon, Shaftstop Unique Mesh Armor (%30) is a very good option with the belts mentioned above. Again, the belts can be switched with helms.  FHR %86 FHR (3 frames) is really advisable in both PvP and PvM. More important if using 2h weapons and taking high damages. Good sources are: Bloodfist Unique Heavy Gloves (%30) Bramble Runeword on a 4 Socket Armor-RalOhmSurEth (%50) Stone Runeword on a 4 Socket Armor-ShaelUmPulLum (%60) Bladebuckle Unique Plated Belt (%30) Jalal's Mane Unique Totemic Mask (%30) Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm of the Orphan's Call Set (%30) Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil (%10) Charms (up to %12 each) Attack Rating Attack rating is an important factor in the C2H formula. It is an important factor in duels. Here are some good sources of Attack Rating: Fool's Prefix on Weapons (16.5 AR per lvl) Angelic Halo Set Ring of the Angelic Raiment Set (2 pieces) (12 AR per lvl per ring)*  Immortal King's Pillar Set War Boots of the Immortal King Set (110 AR) Hsarus' Iron Heel Set Chain Boots of the Hsarus' Defense Set (2 pieces) (10 AR per lvl) Master's Prefix on Weapons (201 - 250 AR) Sigon's Visor Set Great Helm of the Sigon's Complete Steel Set (2 pieces) (8 AR per lvl) Ravenfrost Unique Ring (150 - 250 AR) The Mahim-Oak Curio Unique Amulet (%10 bonus to AR) Metalgrid Unique Amulet (400 - 450 AR) Jalal's Mane Unique Totemic Mask (%20 bonus to AR) Cerebus' Bite Unique Blood Spirit (%60 - %120 bonus to AR) Small Charms (up to 36 AR) Grand Charms (up to 132 AR) Jewels (up to 100 AR) * Good for dueling combined with the amulet of the set. Life Life of a druid can be extremely high. But it doesn't happen by itself. Life from items help a lot. Magical Helms, Armor and amulets with the suffix 'The Whale' gives up to 100 life. Small charms with the suffix 'Vita' gives up to 20 life each.  As for Uniques, Sets and Rune words, Bloodfist Unique Heavy Gloves gives 40 life and The Waterwalk Unique Sharkskin Boots gives up to 65 life. Duriels Shell Unique Cuirass gives 1 life per lvl and Shaftstop Unique Mesh Armor gives 60 life. As for the sets, Aldur's Advance Set Battle Boots of the Aldur's Watchtower Set gives 50 life. Also Immortal King's Pillar Set War Boots of Immortal King Set gives 44 life. As for the Rune words, Call to Arms Rune word on a 5 Socket Weapon-AmnRalMalIstOhm gives Battle Command and Battle Orders skills for use by anyone. Druids are no exceptions. Also, Enigma Rune word on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer increases maximum life by %5. Life and Mana Leech I use Feral Rage Skill for ll, but for the sake of completeness, I will list some ll items. As for mana leech, you won't really need it. Also %damage goes to mana items works pretty well if needed. String of Ears Unique Demonhide Sash (%8) Bul Khatos' Unique ring (%5) Crafted Blood Rings and Amulets (up to %11) Vampire Gaze Unique Grim Helm (%8) Soul Drainer Unique Vambraces (%7) Carrion Wind Unique Ring (%9) Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves (%10 ll and %5 chance to cast lvl10 Life Tap) Venom Grip Unique Demonhide Gloves (%5) Open Wounds We don't have much choices here. Cerebus' Bite Unique Blood Spirit (%33) Gore Rider Unique War Boots (%10) Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves (%25) Swordback Hold Unique Spiked Shield (%50) Deadly Strike Deadly Strike is an important factor for improved damage, so it is essential. Good sources of DS are: Gore Riders Unique War Boots (%15) Highlord's Wrath Unique Amulet (about %30-35 at high levels) Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm of the Orphan's Call Set (%15) A Lo rune socketed into a weapon (%20)  Crushing Blow Again, not many options here. The weapons are not 7/4 fury weapons. Gore Riders Unique War Boots (%15) Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm of the Orphan's Call Set (%35) Venom Grip Unique Demonhide Gloves (%5) Ribcracker Unique Quarterstaff (%50) Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul of the Immortal King Set (up to %40) Windhammer Unique Ogre Maul (%50) Faster Run/Walk This helps with duels vs. casters and ranged opponents. Aldur's Advance Set Battle Boots of the Aldur's Watchtower Set (%40) Immortal King's Pillar Set War Boots of Immortal King Set (%40) Enigma Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer (%45) Cat's Eye Unique Amulet (%30) Charms (up to %7 each) Rare Circlets (%30) Black and Red Weapons Black (also referred as Rose) and Red Weapons are basically 6 socketed weapons (6 sockets preferably) socketed with Shael and Eth Runes. They are cheap and are very nice for elemental melee attacks at lower levels or in some cases where you don't have the godly items at higher level melee dueling. Common examples are done with 6 Socket Phase Blades, Giant Threshers and Berserker Axes. Either 4 shael + 2 Eth or 3 Shael + 3 Eth combos are used. Useful with Rabies and Fire Claws. A Black Weapon has 4 shaels and 2 eths, and a Red Weapon has 3 shaels and 3 Eths. Here is the Standard Attack Speeds of Black and Red Weapons.   Phase Blade Giant Thresher Berserker Axe Black 7 6 8 Red 8 8 9 Also note that Eth runes are in 1/2 effectiveness when used in PvP. No special reason for the name 'Black or Red Weapon'. Its just some term I used with them when I first played Diablo II LOD, and they actually became useful in 1.10. I have no claims about 'inventing' these items. The 'Black Weapons' are also referred as 'Rose Weapons'. Magic Find Magic finding has changed a lot in 1.10. There are now area levels and monster levels and drops are bound to them (if the result is not nerfing them). Some areas can generate any item in the game. Here is a list: Act Place 1 The Pit 1&2 1 Mausoleum 2 Maggot Layer 3 2 Ancient Tunnels 2 Sewers 2 3 Forgotten Temple 3 Ruined Fane 3 Disused Reliquary 4 River of Flame 4 Chaos Sanctuary 5 The Worldstone Keep 1&2&3 5 Throne of Destruction 5 The Worldstone Chamber The Champion and Unique monsters and their minions at these places have the capability to drop any item in the game. The Pit and Baal runs especially can be very rewarding. Act bosses have the best drops and superuniques have still very good drops. Baal is now lvl 99. When one player defeats a boss for the first time a 'superdrop' takes place. In this drop, the drop quality is at least 'rare'.  Here is a list of MF gear that is useful to druid at various levels. Gheed's Fortune Unique Grand Charm (up to %40) Tomb Reaver Unique Cryptic Axe (up to %80) Enigma Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer (%1 per lvl) Wisp Projector Unique Ring (up to %20) Harlequin Crest Unique Shako (%50) Stealskull Unique Casque (up to %50) Tarnhelm Unique Skull Cap (up to %50) Delirium Runeword on a 3 Socket Helm-LemIstIo (%25) Skullder's Ire Unique Russet Armor (%1.25 per lvl) Wealth Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-LemKoTir (%100) Tal Rasha's Guardianship Set Lacquered Plate of Tal Rasha's Wrappings Set (%88) A 4 Socket Armor with 4xTopaz (up to %96) Chance Guards Unique Chain Gloves (up to %40) Goldwrap Unique Heavy Belt (%30) War Traveler Unique Battle Boots (up to %50) Skull Collector Unique Rune Staff (%1 per lvl) Tancred's Weird Set Amulet of Tancred's Battlegear Set + 1 more item of the Set (%78) Nagelring Unique Ring (up to %30) IST Rune (%30 on weapons, %25 on other) Perfect Topaz on Armor and Helms (%24) Fortuitous Ring of Fortune Magic Ring (%40) Boot of Luck Magical Boot (%35) MF Small Charms (up to %7 each) Drop rates have been greatly improved. 210 MF in 1.10 has the same effect with 500 MF in 1.09 so all we need is about 200 mf. My choice of MF is the first four listed in the list, ie: Gheed's Fortune Unique Grand Charm (up to %40) Tomb Reaver Unique Cryptic Axe (up to %80) Enigma Rune word on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer (%1 per lvl) Wisp Projector Unique Ring (up to %20) This setup will give more then 200 mf and you will still be able to kill very fast and will not die. A Harlequin Crest Unique Shako (%50) can also be added to the list. Always Superdrop Can be achieved with 2 players one of which already defeated the boss and one of which has not. The player who defeated the boss opens a game, then the one who didn't defeat the boss joins the game. In the quests tab, it will say that the quest can't be completed in that game. This message is a kind of 'confirmation' for our situation. After confirming, if the player who didn't defeat the boss kills the boss, the drop is a superdrop, and the quest still remains undone. Rinse and repeat. Main Skills Fire Claws The last of the main attack skills in shifter druid's possession is fire claws. Fire class is a skill based fire damage attack. It has a %22 fire damage synergy bonus from each of Fire Storm, Molten Boulder, Fissure and Volcano skill point. The full investment takes 100 skill points but grants extreme fire damage. The attack speed is the same with the standard attack speed of fury so it can be deduced from the Fury Speed Table. The Fire Claws attack seems to be interruptible. More on Fire Claws findings here. To achieve 4 frame Fire Claws attack, one can shift into a bear instead of a wolf. For accurate speeds, check TheDragoon's Calculator linked at the end of the guide. For the Fire Claws path, a 1 point investment will enable the use of Shock Wave, which is the ultimate crowd control skill in the game. Also 1 point can also be put in hunger, but not suggested strongly since you will be stealing either from life or damage. For a Fire Claws bear, the Maul skill can also be used for stun along with Shock Wave and is very useful. Needs some practicing though. This guide focuses mainly on wolves, so the exploration of the bear side will be left to you. Fire Claws Equipment The damage of fire claws is dependant on skills, not weapon damage. So a fast weapon will work nicely with fire claws. A 5 framer such as a phase blade with at least 110 IAS socketed can be used to cause decent damage. The 5 frames is a 4 framer when shifted into a bear instead of a wolf. When bear and using Fire Claws, watch your mana. Here is a table with various skills and synergies and +% fire skill damage and resulting fire claws damage. Fire Claws Skill # of Synergy Skills +% Fire Skill Damage Fire Claws Damage (not exact) 20 0 0 250 20 20 0 1370 20 40 0 2500 30 40 0 5000 30 40 10 5400 30 60 10 7900 30 60 20 8600 38 60 20 13000 30 80 20 11400 38 80 20 17100 +% Fire Skill Damage Can be obtained from Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels with +% Fire Skill Damage (%5) and -% Enemy Fire Resistance (%5). Other equipment is to your taste, but Magnefist Unique Light Gauntlets is advisable due to its + to fire skills.  Stone Rune word on a 4 Socket Armor-ShaelUmPulLum gives Level 16 Molten Boulder Charges. This item can be used to save some skill points and increase life, but the Fire Claws damage will be considerably lower (One can only max Fire Storm and can't put any skill points on the synergies for the Level 16 Molten Boulder to work). Still a decent build because of the high life. The damage is not dependant on the damage of the weapon, so a fast weapon is advised. As far as I observed, Fire Claws is the fastest killer among the three paths in PvM. Rabies With 1.10, shifter druid gained 2 viable additional attacks, one of which is Rabies. Rabies is an attack enhanced with skill based poison damage that is only useble by the wolf. It has a certain duration on opponents, so it doesn't make all its damage instantly. Rabies can be harmless at the lower levels, but at higher levels, it can kill with 1 bite.  Rabies has only 1 synergy for its poison damage, a %18 increase in poison damage per skill spent in Poison Creeper. So it takes 40 skills to invest in rabies. But there is a certain item, the Carrion Wind Unique Ring that has level 21 Poison Creeper charges which gives 21 synergy points to Poison Creeper. With the use of the ring, investment of rabies takes only 20 skill points. Please note that Carrion Wind will not work if any point is spent on Poison Creeper. The poisoned opponent also delivers the poison to other opponents at close contact, so rabies can be used as a mass destruction skill. The poison effect of rabies can not be blocked. Rabies seems to be uninterruptible. More on rabies findings here. Unlike normal poisons, rabies kills. When you bite again the already bitten opponent before the duration of poison ends, the poison duration will not be reset and will complete its duration and end. So it does not effect the opponent in terms of poison damage. Rabies Attack Speed Attack speed of rabies can be calculated from the Fury Speed Table. 5 frame breakpoint of the standard attack=4 frame breakpoint of rabies.  frame breakpoint of the standard attack=5 frame breakpoint of rabies. 8 frame breakpoint of the standard attack=6 frame breakpoint of rabies. So a 6/4 fury weapon will attack at 5 frames with rabies. Rabies Equipment and Damage  In this path, poison is king. Any poison enhancing item increases the strength of the build significantly. These items are: Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels with +% poison skill damage (%5) and -% enemy poison resistance (%5)  Bramble Rune word on a 4 Socket Armor-RalOhmSurEth (%50 more poison skill damage) Trang Oul's Claws Set Heavy Bracers of the Trang Oul's Avatar Set (%25 more poison skill damage) Death's Web Unique Unearthed Wand (-%50 enemy poison resistance) Plague Bearer Unique Rune Sword (+5 to Rabies) At lvl 20 without synergies, rabies does about 900 damage over 11.6 seconds. With full synergies, rabies does about 4600 damage. Here is a Table with various skill levels and increased poison damage and resulting rabies damage. Rabies Skill % Increase to Poison Skill Damage Rabies Damage (not exact) Duration (seconds) 20 0 4600 11.6 22 0 5500 12.4 25 0 7700 13.6 25 25 9650 13.6 25 50 11600 13.6 30 0 12700 15.6 25 75 13700 13.6 35 0 19600 17.6 30 75 22200 15.6 35 75 34300 17.6 41 75 51500 20.0 42 75 54600 20.4 43 80 60000 20.8 42 100 62400 20.4 42 105 64000 20.4 43 100 66000 20.8 43 105 67800 20.8 Nice damage, isn't it? :) Also add the - % to enemy poison resistance factor into this. Not many can stand in front of this damage. Just bite and watch. There is an important issue regarding the damage of rabies called Rabies Damage Boost issue.  Rabies Damage Boost Rabies has a nice trick concerning the +% Poison Skill Damage and -% Enemy Poison Resistance. After an opponent is infected with rabies, if the equipment is switched to a higher +% Poison Skill Damage and -% Enemy Poison Resistance equipment (called the Poison Skill Damage Gear), the remaining damage is calculated according to that higher damage equipment, and if switched to a lower +% Poison Skill Damage and -% Enemy Poison Resistance equipment, that will not reduce the damage. So the higher one is used when there is a weapon switch or equipment change. Usually, high damage rabies setups are 1h setups, and it can be harder to hit the enemy with it, so hitting with range 5 and switching will be more effective. The most damage can be achieved via an infection by Plague Bearer Unique Rune Sword then switching to a 4 Socketed Shield + 6 Socketed Weapon, + 10x Poison Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels. In some cases, The 6 Socketed Weapon can be changed with a Death's Web Unique Unearthed Wand depending on the resistances of the enemy. Again, for the Poison Skill Damage Gear to work, switching to it and back will also work, you don't need to switch and stay with that. This tactic is extremely useful. Mastering in PvP will take some time though, first trying in PvM is advised. Rabies and Fire Claws Findings There is a discussion going on with both attacks about their unblockability and uninterruptibility. I made some tests about the issue and here I give my findings. The test opponent was a druid in human form. Rabies Uninterruptible. Against exact amounts of defence, hits less when there is more chance to block at the opponent. No blocking animation though. Some attacks show blocking animation, but those blocked attacks actually infect the opponent (even though I see the blocking animation). Fire Claws Interruptible. Against exact amounts of defence, hits less when there is more chance to block at the opponent. No blocking animation though. Conclusion According to these findings, I must conclude that the attacks are both blockable, but I think they were meant to be unblockable. So, with a new patch, maybe we will have our attacks unblockable. Also I conclude that, rabies is uninterruptible and fire claws is interruptible. Fury Fury is the main attack of a pre-1.10 wolf. It makes multiple attacks with greatly increased damage and attack rating. It is still viable in 1.10, but as always, needs good equipment.  Level 4 and above fury attacks 5 times. The first attack is of standard duration, and the rest 4 are quicker fury attacks. For example, a 7/4 fury means that the standard attack is 7 frames, and the following 4 fury attacks are 4 frames long. Shift + Fury will aim automatically at targets in range. Fury can be a very fast attack having a very high damage. The attack speed is only determined by the weapon at high speeds. Here is a recap of fury speeds. WEAPON TYPE 9/5 WSM 8/5 WSM 7/4 WSM 6/4 WSM 5/4 WSM 1h swords, knives, axes 60 75 95 115 140 2h mauls, polearms, axes, staves 45 55 75 90 115 2h bows 40 50 70 80 105 2h crossbows 70 85 105 125 155 2h spears 95 110       2h swords 60 75 95 115 140 TheDragoon has a nice calculator for Druid attack speeds. The link can be found at the links section. Fury has no synergies, so investing in fury will take 20 points. The weapon is the most important equipment of a fury wolf. High-End Fury Weapons The weapon is the most important equipment of a fury druid. So, special attention is needed when choosing the weapon. First, we will have a recap of 1.09 fury weapons. 1.09 fury weapons are still viable in 1.10 In patch 1.09, it was possible to cube magical swords with 3 sockets. That way, nice 7/4 fury swords could be made, like the godly cruel cryptic sword of quickness with 3xED/IAS jewels. If you have one, they are still very powerful in 1.10. The ultimate fury weapon in 1.09 was the ethereal cruel feral axe of quickness with zod/shael which gives 7/4 fury. Extremely hard to obtain, but addicting. Also for a 1 hander and range 3, a socketed berserker axe with 95 IAS and as much as possible ED was very popular among good fury druids also giving 7/4 fury. One last example from 1.09 is the Cruel Giant Thresher of Quickness with 2x Shael. This weapon is a 6/4 fury weapon with range 5. What has changed in 1.10? The desirable speed is still at least 7/4 fury for PvP. Unfortunately, no rune word is good for druids. As for uniques, only 1 weapon is viable: the Tomb Reaver Cryptic Axe. 2 shaels makes it 6/4, and also it has a decent damage. The ultimate version is an Ethereal Tomb Reaver with 2x Shael and a Zod. For the sets, Griswold's Redemption Set Caduceus of the Griswold's Legacy Set sockected with 3 ED/IAS and Lo does well. Lo can be changed with an Eth also. The new rare rules makes it possible to obtain godly weapons of 1.09 300 ED, 40 IAS, 2 sockets and improves them with addition of Fools prefix (lots of AR), Master's prefix (Additional ED and AR) or Self Repair (useful for ethereal ones). The ultimate 1h fury weapon in terms of damage will be an Ethereal Rare Dimensional Blade with Cruel, Quickness, Fool's or Master's and mechanics affixes, upgraded to a Phase Blade (unfortunately, range 2). When upgraded, we have an indestructible weapon that is ethereal. Cruels + Fool's + 2x ED/IAS jewel does more then 250 average damage with 7/4 Fury. If you don't need AR, then the average damage significantly increases. The rares and magical weapons are extremely hard to obtain, so if you come by one, stick to it. Here is an example of a rare 7/4 1h weapon. Too sad that fury druids are still very expensive to make as you may have guessed by now. Stats Basic Stats Below is the least must stats for any build. Strength: Just enough to equip your gear. Dexterity: Enough for %75 block if going 1h Energy: None Advanced Stats The rest of the points may be put into either of the three possibilities (strength, dexterity or vitality) according to your playing style.  Strength Strength increases your physical melee power. So, your fury damage is effected by strength.  You may not wish to put any additional points into strength if you are a Fire Claws/Rabies hybrid.  If you are to go for Fury as your main attack, you may think of going full strength. Dexterity  Points into dexterity increases your attack rating. In some cases you may wish to invest more on attack rating instead of vitality especially against if you are to duel against high defense opponents.  Vitality Points into vitality increases your life. The increase in life is not very much, but it can be vital. Any spare point goes here.  Advised Stats Strength: Just enough to equip your gear. Dexterity: Enough for %75 block if going 1h, or at least 100 Vitality: Rest Energy: None PvM and Low Level Weapons  Before I start, I should imply that with the term 'low level' i imply the ease to find, not the level requirements. These weapons are differentiated by their speeds, they are at best 8 framers with standard attacks. So, a BotD Ethereal Giant Thresher is also in this category :) We will go 1 by 1 while leveling our wolf. Beginning of the Game The Horadric Staff This staff is the absolute best choice for starting druid. One needs to be level 4 to use it (because of strength requirements. Very fast levelling till level 15-20. After level 20, you may switch between the following weapons till you get about 40. The General's Tan Do Li Ga Unique Flail One-Hand Damage: 2 To (56-58) (29-30 Avg) Required Level: 21 Required Strength: 41 Required Dexterity: 35 Durability: 30 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +50-60% Enhanced Damage (varies) +50% Damage To Undead Adds 1-20 Damage 20% Increased Attack Speed 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Slows Target By 50% +25 Defense Steeldriver Unique Great Maul Two-Hand Damage: (95-133) To (145-203) (120-168 Avg) Required Level: 29 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 60 Base Weapon Speed: [20] +150-250% Enhanced Damage (varies) +50% Damage To Undead 40% Increased Attack Speed Requirements -50% Heal Stamina plus 25% Bonesnap Unique Maul Two-Hand Damage: (90-120) To (129-172) (109.5-146 Avg) Required Level: 24 Required Strength: 69 Durability: 60 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +200-300% Enhanced Damage (varies) +100% Damage To Undead 40% chance of Crushing Blow Cold Resist +30% Fire Resist +30% Mid-Game Weapons Now you are about level 40. The weapons listed are useful fury weapons. They will make your way to level 77. Ribcracker Unique Quarterstaff + Shael Rune Two-Hand Damage: (54-62) To (143-169) (98.5-115.5 Avg) Required Level: 31 Required Strength: 25 Durability: 130 Base Weapon Speed: [0] +200-300% Enhanced Damage (varies) Adds 30-65 Damage +50% Damage To Undead 50% Chance Of Crushing Blow 50% Increased Attack Speed 50% Faster Hit Recovery +100% Enhanced Defense +100 Defense +15 To Dexterity Buriza-Do Kyanon Unique Ballista + Shael Rune Two-Hand Damage: (82-99) To (139-412) (110.5-255.5 Avg) Required Level: 41 Required Strength: 110 Required Dexterity: 80 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +150-200% Enhanced Damage (varies) + (2.5 Per Character Level) 2-247 To Maximum Damage (Based On Character Level) Adds 32-196 Cold Damage - 8 Second Duration Piercing Attack (100) Freezes Target +3 +75-150 Defense (varies) +35 to Dexterity 80% Increased Attack Speed These 2 weapons are really what you need when leveling. And when you get about 50, just upgrade them. Especially Ribcracker becomes insane. Please note that Ribcracker also has a nice hitting sound. Addictive. After level 77, I assume you are ready for hell and have more funds, for more items, check the MF section. Hell 2h Here is a list of good hell weapons and I rated them on a 3 grade scale. I graded them on an average killing power, and bonuses they supply. Some of them you will find viable in melee also, like the BotD Ethereal Great Poleaxe. I strictly advise you to go 2h to actually kill something. The rune words may be written on different type of weapons also, these are just suggestions. 3 Breadth of the Dying on an Ethereal 6 Socket Great Poleaxe or Giant Thresher-VexHelElEldZodEth  50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Poison Nova When You Kill An Enemy Indestructible +60% Increased Attack Speed +350-400% Enhanced Damage (varies) +200% Damage To Undead -25% Target Defense +50 To Attack Rating +50 To Attack Rating Against Undead 7% Mana Stolen Per Hit 12-15% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies) Prevent Monster Heal +30 To All Attributes +1 To Light Radius Requirements -20% 3 Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul of the Immortal King Set + 2 Shaels  Damage: 231 To 318 (274.5 Avg) Required Level: 76 Required Strength: 225 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +200% Enhanced Damage +200% Damage To Demons +250% Damage To Undead 40% Increased Attack Speed Indestructible 35-40% Chance Of Crushing Blow (varies) Socketed (2) Adds 211-397 Fire Damage (2 items) Adds 7-477 Lightning Damage (3 Items) Adds 127-364 Cold Damage, 6 sec. Duration (Normal) (4 Items) +204 Poison Damage Over 6 Seconds (5 Items) Use this item with other parts of the Immortal King Set and you will have a very strong build. 3 Ribcracker Unique Stalagmite + Shael Rune Two-Hand Damage: (255-330) To (386-493) (320.5-411.5 Avg) Required Level: 56 Required Strength: 63, Required Dexterity: 35 Durability: 130 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +200-300% Enhanced Damage (varies) Adds 30-65 Damage +50% Damage To Undead 50% Chance Of Crushing Blow 50% Increased Attack Speed 50% Faster Hit Recovery +100% Enhanced Defense +100 Defense +15 To Dexterity Did I mention that I love the hitting sounds of this abomination? 3 Doom Runeword on a 5 Socket Giant Thresher-HelOhmUmLoCham 5% Chance To Cast Level 18 Volcano On Striking Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped +2 To All Skills +45% Increased Attack Speed +330-370% Enhanced Damage (varies) -(40-60)% To Enemy Cold Resistance (varies)) 20% Deadly Strike 25% Chance of Open Wounds Prevent Monster Heal Freezes Target +3 Requirements -20%  One more nasty weapon 2 Bonehew Unique Ogre Axe + 2 Shaels Two-Hand Damage: (103-117) To (536-609) (319.5-363 Avg) Required Level: 64 Required Strength: 195 Required Dexterity: 75 Durability: 50 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +270-320% Enhanced Damage (varies) Level 14 Corpse Explosion (30 charges) Prevent Monster Heal 30% Increased Attack Speed 50% Chance To Cast Level 16 Bone Spear On Striking Socketed (2) 2 Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul of the Immortal King Set + 2 Shaels Damage: 231 To 318 (274.5 Avg) Required Level: 76 Required Strength: 225 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +200% Enhanced Damage +200% Damage To Demons +250% Damage To Undead 40% Increased Attack Speed Indestructible 35-40% Chance Of Crushing Blow (varies) Socketed (2) 2 Windhammer Unique Ogre Maul + Shael Two-Hand Damage: (215-254) To (296-349) (255.5-301.5 Avg) Required Level: 68 Required Strength: 225 Durability: 60 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +180-230% Enhanced Damage (varies) 50% Chance of Crushing Blow 60% Increased Attack Speed 33% Chance To Cast Level 22 Twister On Striking +50% Damage To Undead 2 Ethereal Edge Unique Silver-Edged Axe + Shael Two-Hand Damage: (232-260) To (412-461) (322-360.5 Avg) Required Level: 74 Required Strength: 156 Required Dexterity: 55 Weapon Speed: [0] +150-180% Enhanced Damage (varies) +150-200% Damage To Demons (varies) +270-350 To Attack Rating (varies) +25% Increased Attack Speed +10-12 Fire Absorb (varies) +5-10 Life After Each Demon Kill (varies) Indestructible Ethereal (Cannot Be Repaired) 1 Stormspire Unique Giant Thresher + Shael Two-Hand Damage: (100-140) To (285-399) (192.5-269.5 Avg) Required Level: 70 Required Strength: 188 Required Dexterity: 140 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] 150-250% Enhanced Damage (varies) Adds 1-237 Lightning Damage 2% Chance To Cast Level 20 Charged Bolt When Struck 5% Chance To Cast Level 5 Chain Lightning When Struck 30% Increased Attack Speed Lightning Resist +50% +10 To Strength Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 27 Indestructible 1h Here is a list of uniques that I find somewhat viable in hell. Try them at your own risk. I don't PvM 1h in hell. There are much more at least 9/5 uniques than listed here. One can check in the Items Section. Stormlash Unique Scourge + Shael One-Hand Damage: (10-12) To (272-320) (141-166 Avg) Required Level: 82 Required Strength: 125 Required Dexterity: 77 Durability: 65 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +240-300% Enhanced Damage (varies) +50% Damage To Undead Adds 1-473 Lightning Damage +30% Increased Attack Speed +33% Chance of Crushing Blow 20% Chance To Cast Level 18 Tornado On Striking 15% Chance To Cast Level 10 Static Field On Striking +3-9 Lightning Absorb (varies) Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 30 Death Cleaver Unique Berserker Axe + Shael One-Hand Damage: (79-91) To (234-269) (156.5-180 Avg) Required Level: 70 Required Strength: 138 Required Dexterity: 59 Durability: 26 Weapon Speed: [0] +230-280% Enhanced Damage (varies) +40% Increased Attack Speed -33% Target Defense 66% Deadly Strike +6-9 Life After Each Kill (varies) Razor's Edge Unique Tomahawk + Shael One-Hand Damage: (90-107) To (159-188) (124.5-147.5 Avg) Required Level: 67 Required Strength: 125 Required Dexterity: 67 Durability: 28 Weapon Speed: [0] +175-225% Enhanced Damage (varies) +40% Increased Attack Speed -33% Target Defense 50% Deadly Strike 50% Chance of Open Wounds Azurewrath Unique Phase Blade + Shael One-Hand Damage: (102-114) To (115-129) (108.5-121.5 Avg) Required Level: 85 Required Strength: 25 Required Dexterity: 136 Base Weapon Speed: [-30] +230-270% Enhanced Damage (varies) +30% Increased Attack Speed Adds 250-500 Magic Damage Adds 250-500 Cold Damage, 10 sec. Duration (Normal) +1 To All Skills +5-10 To All Attributes (varies) Level 10-13 Sanctuary Aura When Equipped (varies) Indestructible +3 To Light Radius Pure Fury for PvM  In 1.10 it is possible to play with pure physical damage instead of going hybrid. Pure fury + MF setups are used for this case. The weapon switch is important. There are two critical weapons for the switch: The Reaper's Toll Unique Thresher + Shael Two-Hand Damage: (34-40) To (408-479) (221-259.5 Avg) Required Level: 75 Required Strength: 114 Required Dexterity: 89 Durability: 65 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +190-240% Enhanced Damage (varies) Ignore Target's Defense Adds 4-44 Cold Damage 11-15% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies) 33% Deadly Strike 33% Chance To Cast Level 1 Decrepify On Striking Requirements -25% Lacerator Unique Winged Axe Throw Damage: (17-21) To (150-186) (83.5-103.5 Avg) One-Hand Damage: (27-34) To (140-173) (83.5-103.5 Avg) Required Level: 68 Required Strength: 96 Required Dexterity: 122 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] Max Stack: (180) +150-210% Enhanced Damage (varies) +30% Increased Attack Speed 33% Chance of Open Wounds Prevent Monster Heal Hit Causes Monster To Flee 50% 33% Chance To Cast Level 3 Amplify Damage On Striking Replenishes Quantity [1 in 4 sec.] Both weapons have % 33 chance to negate physical immunities in most cases. Carrying one of these on switch will help the pure fury druid a lot. Here is the basic skill distribution: Lycanthropy 20 Werewolf 20 Fury 20 Spirit* 20 Raven 1 Spirit can be either Oak Sage or Heart of Wolverine. This requires 83 skill points. There are 27 more points available. One very good way to use them is to max Poison Creeper. In spite of the common knowledge, Poison Creeper is a nasty creature. Here is some information on PC's wonders. Note that Poison Creeper should be maxed first if determined, since he can kill pretty fast in normal and nightmare difficulties. Cast him in front of you and wait for him to attack groups of monsters and make them walk over the mats, or cast him directly on a group of monsters. He and his mat is effective vs. groups of monsters, not vs. a single monster.  Remaining 7 points is up to you, but there are two good alternatives: One is to use them for some meat shield in form of Spirit Wolves, Dire Wolves or Grizzly Bear would be the best choice. The other is to increase points in Ravens. They can blind enemies! Poison Creeper Poison Creeper is a nasty creature whose effectiveness increases as the monsters around him increases. He is a nice mass destruction tool. When you cast him, he usually travels near you, taking trips to monster packs sometimes. He acts in a way that usually monsters move away from you. When he attacks, he leaves back a poison mat that will infect monsters walking on it.  When attacking multiple monsters, his damage and the damage of the mat is much higher then when attacking a single target. The damage is also higher when multiple monsters walk on a single mat. See the creeper tests section for some numbers. At high damage rates, some monsters like Devilkrins go crazy and try to escape the mat. As for the duration, when infecting a single opponent the duration is 4 seconds. When infecting multiple opponents, the poison last till the mat wears off or till the monsters leave the mat and 4 seconds pass over. Players can't hit the creeper. Poison Creeper PvP dmg is slightly less then 1/4 of its listed damage. Poison Creeper is not effected from +%Poison Skill Damage and -% Enemy Poison Resistance. Prebuffing preserves his mat duration and damage. Increasing skill points in the creeper doesn't increase poison mat radius, increasing number of monsters increase it. In fact, the creeper tries to produce one mat for each monster. With every infection, the creeper produces a new mat even there is a mat laying on the ground, and they will deliver damage separately. The poison mats have some sweet spots where more damage is dealt. Below is a table for Poison Creeper. Creeper Level Listed Base Damage Over 4 Seconds Duration of Poison Mat (Seconds) Life 20 85 25 287 25 116 30 350 30 151 35 412 35 188 40 475 40 225 45 537 45 263 50 600 50 300 55 662 Test Results on Poison Creeper Test Conditions Normal Difficulty Players with huge life 0 resists  Poison Creeper vs. One Player Poison Creeper Level Damage Dealt to a Single Player 50 71-72 20 17-21 Against a single player, increasing number of mats has no effect. Poison Creeper vs. 2 Players Against multiple opponents, the damage increases considerably. # of Mats Poison Creeper Level Damage in Seconds Damage/Sec 1 20 900/19 47.3 2 20 1000/10 100 3 20 1000/6 166.6         1 50 5900/32 184.3 2 50 5900/16 369 3 50 5900/10 590 4 50 5900/8 737.5 8 50 5900/5 1180 As one can see, the damage per mat is about 10 times the listed damage in the game and the damage increases linearly with the number of mats. Hybrids It is time to choose the paths for the shifter druid. We will have 2 of the 3 main attacks at our disposal, namely Fury, Rabies and Fire Claws. All information needed for the builds is given in their sections, and it is to your taste which two you will choose. Here are some key points for the possible builds: Fury + Rabies can have extremely high AR and Life because it requires only 40 points and we can further invest in Werewolf, Lycantrophy, and Oak Sage. Fury + Fire Claws is a state of unsatisfied thirst directed to enemies for the druid. Both are attacks at extreme speeds. Fire Claws will need about 80 points, so not as much life as Fury + Rabies. The amount of skills dedicated to fire can be altered to taste and to balance the style of playing. My build had 20 Fury and 80 points in fire. Fire Claws can also be used as a Bear. Fire Claws + Rabies somewhere between the two, but still has low life compared to Fury + Rabies. Earns 1 point compared to Fury + Fire Claws because of the lack of the point in Fury. This was the most devastating combination in PvM that I observed, and very few monsters are immune to both. Fire Claws can also be used as a Bear.  All three can solo p8 Hell Baal at Higher levels (Fury+Rabies can do at comparebly lower levels.) Key Points: Whatever build, try to get a balanced damage between damage types.  Get as much as +Shapeshifting Skills Charms.  Get as much as +Life Charms.  For elemental attacks, get as much as +% skill damage.  For Fury, get DS.  Get Open Wounds especially for PvP. Get Crushing Blow.  Put 1 point in Ravens if possible.  Fury/Fire Claws Hybrids Fury/Fire Claws Hybrids will be referred as FF throughout this text. There are several types of this hybrid depending on your style of playing. We will examine one by one. Also, a features table is added, that one can use as a benchmark. Please note that the data does not belong to the best build possible. Rage Shifter Lycanthropy 20 Raven 1 Fury 20 Oak Sage 20 Fire Claws 20 Fire Claws Synergies Rest This type of hybrid has high life and usually plays very offensively. They mostly use Fury to kill. Here is a features table of a good build. Can get higher Fire Claws damage by using Stone Rune word on a 4 Socket Armor-ShaelUmPulLum. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 7000 2h Fury Damage (Counting in Deadly Strike) 9000 Fire Claws Damage 8000 Resists 50 Build Completed at Level 93 Glass Shifter Lycanthropy 20 Raven 1 Fury 20 Fire Claws 20 Fire Claws Synergies Rest This type of hybrid has a lower life compared to a normal type, but has higher Fire Claws damage. Also, their resists are better. They use Fury and Fire Claws interchangeably, according to resists of the opponent. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 5000 2h Fury Damage (Counting in Deadly Strike) 9000 Fire Claws Damage 11000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 99 Fire Wolf Lycanthropy 1 Raven 1 Fury 20 Fire Claws 20 Fire Claws Synergies Rest This type of build depends heavily on Fire Claws and uses Fury on fire immunes. They have low life compared to other FF types, but they kill at extreme speed. They require some absorb in addition to max resists. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 3500 2h Fury Damage (Counting in Deadly Strike) 9000 Fire Claws Damage 15000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 99 These builds are at the edges from the point of skill allocation. One can make a good mixture between them. As one can see, Fire Claws damage is traded for life in different FF builds. One can choose the one that fits to his/her style of playing. Fury/Rabies Hybrids Fury/Rabies Hybrids will be referred as FR throughout this text. These hybrids are among the best duelers in the game. They don't require high levels to be completed. There are basically two types here, those using Carrion Wind Unique Ring and those who don't. We will examine each build. A features table is also added, that one can use as a benchmark. Please note that the data does not belong to the best build possible. FR builds first try to bite with Rabies, then finish off with Fury if they want a fast kill or run away if there is no poison immune monster. They mostly make use of PSDG. Carrion Wolf Lycanthropy 20 Raven 1 Fury 20 Oak Sage 20 Rabies 20 This type uses the Synergies from the Carrion wind Unique Ring. They put their spare points usually in Werewolf skill for the extra AR. The build is complete by level 69. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 8000 2h Fury Damage (Counting in Deadly Strike) 9000 Rabies Damage 60000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 71 Rabid Wolf Poison Creeper 20 Lycanthropy 20 Raven 1 Fury 20 Oak Sage 20 Rabies 20 This type gets its synergies from hard skill points. Some people consider the synergies from charged items as a bug and don't use that feature. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 8000 2h Fury Damage (Counting in Deadly Strike) 9000 Rabies Damage 58000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 91 These builds are at the edges from the point of skill allocation. One can make a good mixture between them. FR hybrids can be completed before level 99 and they are really powerful both in PvP and PvM. Fire Claws/Rabies Hybrids Fire Claws/Rabies Hybrids will be referred as FcR throughout this text. FcR hybrids are the most successful ones in PvM, especially in solo Baal and Diablo runs. There are two basic types of this hybrid depending on your style of playing. We will examine one by one. Also, a features table is added, that one can use as a benchmark. Please note that the data does not belong to the best build possible. StoneWind Wolf Lycanthropy 20 Raven 1 Rabies 20 Oak Sage 20 Fire Claws 20 Firestorm 20 This type of hybrid wears a Stone Rune word on a 4 Socket Armor-ShaelUmPulLum and a carrion wind for their synergies. The points saved from synergies are spent on life, so this build has a high life. Both skills are equally developed. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 7000 Rabies Damage 38000 Fire Claws Damage 7000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 93 Glass Fire Lycanthropy 1 Raven 1 Rabies 20 Fire Claws 20 Fire Claws Synergies Rest This type of hybrid has low life but very high Fire Claws damage. They use Fire Claws mainly, and rabies as a secondary skill. Mainly, Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves are used for life leech. They require some absorb in addition to resists. Here is a features table of a good build. Life 3500 Rabies Damage 35000 Fire Claws Damage 14000 Resists 75 Build Completed at Level 99 These builds are at the edges from the point of skill allocation. One can make a good mixture between them. Only the StoneWind Wolf can be completed before level 99, and he is among the fastest killers in PvM. PvP Vs. Ranged and Casters Take on as much as FRW, and aim for 1 hit kill. If have rabies, use it. Hit with rabies and run away switching to Poison Skill Damage Gear. It will do the job. If not, use fury. Both attacks should be with a range 5 weapon. If you have enough FRW (about the same speed with the opponent), this will not be very difficult. Don't use Fire Claws against casters since there won't be much chance to hit the opponent. Dream Equipment for Rabies Enigma Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer Cat's Eye Unique Amulet Carrion Wind Unique Ring Range 5 5 or 4 framer weapon 6 socket weapon and 4 socket shield on switch all socketed with Poison Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels Trang Oul's Claws Set Heavy Bracers of the Trang Oul's Avatar Set Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus +2x Poison Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels or Rare Circlet with Druid Skills, Life, Faster Run Walk Aldur's Advance Set Battle Boots of the Aldur's Watchtower Set Wisp Projector Unique Ring or Raven Frost Unique Ring, according to the damage of opponent Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil Dream Equipment for Fury Enigma Rune word on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer Cat's Eye Unique Amulet Range 5 6/4 Fury Weapon with High Damage Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil Vampire Gaze Unique Grim Helm + Ber Rune Aldur's Advance Set Battle Boots of the Aldur's Watchtower Set Wisp Projector Unique Ring or Raven Frost Unique Ring, according to the damage of opponent Vs. Melee 2h Melee This type of melee druid takes advantage of range 5 and if using fury, delivers more damage. The aim is to hit the opponent while in motion and before the opponent is able to hit back. It is more dangerous than 1h melee, but makes the job done usually quicker. Rabies users should bite and switch to Poison Skill Damage Gear if they have one at switch. Hitting and running is a good tactic to win. Try not to be caught while moving. The rest will be easy. Dream Equipment for Fury Highlord's Wrath Unique Amulet Gore Riders Unique War Boots Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus, Cerebus' Bite Unique Blood Spirit or Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm of the Orphan's Call Set Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves or Bloodfist Unique Heavy Gloves Range 5 6/4 Fury Weapon with High Damage Shaftstop Unique Mesh Armor Raven Frost Unique Ring and Blood Crafted Ring with high life Dream Equipment for Fire Claws Communal Amulet of The Whale Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus 5 framer Weapon or 6 framer Fool's Weapon (High AR) Shaftstop Unique Mesh Armor Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves or Magnefist Unique Light Gauntlets Raven Frost Unique Ring Dream Equipment for Rabies Carrion Wind Unique Ring and Raven Frost Unique Ring Trang Oul's Claws Set Heavy Bracers of the Trang Oul's Avatar Set Bramble Runeword on a 4 Socket Armor-RalOhmSurEth or Shaftstop Unique Mesh Armor Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus Communal Amulet of The Whale Range 5 4 framer Weapon or 5 framer Fool's Weapon (High AR) 6 socket weapon and 4 socket shield on switch all socketed with Poison Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil 1h Melee This type of melee fighter depends on the block rate of the shield and fury user usually kills slower compared to 2h fighters. The extra sockets may be used for supplying additional damage to Rabies or Fire Claws with the use of appropriate Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels. 1h is usually more powerful Fire Claws.  Rabies will take about 3k life and if the resists are just enough for max, it will take more then 5k life. So after biting with rabies, it is a good idea to switch to a DR setup and tank attacks while delivering additional damage. Also, a Poison Skill Damage Gear may work nice on the switch. With Fire Claws, about 700 life will be demanded (if the opponent has 75 fire resist) at 5 frames , or at 4 frames if shifted into a bear. Dream Equipment for Fury Highlord's Wrath Unique Amulet Stormshield Unique Monarch Gore Riders Unique War Boots Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus, Cerebus' Bite Unique Blood Spirit or Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm of the Orphan's Call Set Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves or Bloodfist Unique Heavy Gloves A 7/4 fury weapon Enigma Runeword on a 3 Socket Armor-JahIthBer Raven Frost Unique Ring Dream Equipment for Rabies Head Hunter's Glory Unique Troll Nest* + 3x Poison Rainbow Facet, or Jeweller's Shield of Deflection + 4x Poison Rainbow Facet A 7 framer club with +2 to Druid Skills, or a 4 framer weapon 6 socket weapon and 4 socket shield on switch all socketed with Poison Rainbow Facet Unique Jewels Bramble Runeword on a 4 Socket Armor-RalOhmSurEth Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus Communal Amulet of The Whale Carrion Wind Unique Ring and Raven Frost Unique Ring Immortal King's Pillar Set War Boots of Immortal King Set Trang Oul's Claws Set Heavy Bracers of the Trang Oul's Avatar Set Dream Equipment for Fire Claws Head Hunter's Glory Unique Troll Nest* + 3x Fire Rainbow Facet or Jeweller's Shield of Deflection + 4x Fire Rainbow Facet A 5 framer weapon (Phase Blade + 110 IAS inserted) Communal Dream Spirit of The Colossus Communal Amulet of The Whale Bul Khatos' Unique Ring and Raven Frost Unique Ring Immortal King's Pillar Set War Boots of Immortal King Set Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves or Magnefist Unique Light Gauntlets Stormshield Unique Monarch Verdungo's Hearty Cord Unique Mithril Coil As you may have noticed, there are similarities in builds and tactics. This enables the integration of any 2 of the setups counted above and enables to make effective use of them together. There is no best type of build in 1.10 shifter druids, and it is the players taste to choose and adapt to the playing styles of the builds.  *Head Hunter's Glory Unique Troll Nest is for some strategic duels especially with druids of similar type. You may or may not wish to have %75 block rate with it. As an example, here is the screenshots of my Fury + Rabies PvP build. A reminder on Rabies For the Poison Skill Damage Gear to work, switching to it and back will also work, you don't need to switch and stay with that. Also, if your main armor is not Bramble Ru Links Arreat Summit Druid Forum of DiabloII.Net The DiabloII.Net Facts and Formulae Archive My 1.09 Wolf Guide TheDragoon's Wereform Attack Speeds Site Nobbie's 1.10 Magic Find Guide Tommi Gustafsson's Hit Recovery and Block Speed Guide Kaz's Flaming Rabies Guide (Spesific Guide on Fire Claws/Rabies Hybrid) Conclusion 1.10 has come and the bugs of the druid is corrected. This enabled the druids to increase their lives considerably. The addition of 2 more attacks to the wolf made the shifter playing more fun and diverse.  In this guide, I examined all 3 paths and commented on them. Also gave information about PvM and magic finding for shifters.  I hope this helps to improve yourself with the shifter druid style of playing.  For any feedback, mailto:welett@yahoo.com Have Fun. Electric Blue Accompanying Images can be located on Page 2..> 0 Please log in to post... Please log in. Use your Diii.net Forum account. Username: Remember me? 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