----------------------------------------------------------------------- Diablo 2- Lord of Destruction Werewolf Guide Version: 1.1 FAQ started: 6/24/03 Last Update: 7/01/03 Albert Cho E-mail: kpboy777@yahoo.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- --Table of Contents-- --------------------- 1. What this guide will cover 2. Version History 3. Disclaimer 4. Sites that can use this guide 5. Stats 6. Skills 7. Recommended Equipment 8. Charms 9. Role of this Barbarian 10. Basic Strategies 11. Credits 12. E-mail Policy ----------------------------------- ---1. What this guide will cover--- ----------------------------------- This guide will cover on how to make your werewolf efficiently enough that it can go through hell solo and be able to wipe out monsters quickly and efficiently. This is not a guide on how to duel, but how to make your druid so that it can kill hard monsters/bosses. Druids are one of the hardest characters to make, because they can die very quickly and are not very good at crowd controlling. It will cover the equipment you should use and some basic strategies. ---------------------- --2. Version History-- ---------------------- Version 1.1 (7/01/03)- Finished the stats, skills and regular equipment section today. Will finish the rest of the guide soon. Version 1.0 (6/24/03)- Started this guide. It shouldn't take me too long so bear with me. I started the stats and skills section today and will probably finish it tomorrow. ----------------- --3. Disclaimer-- ----------------- This FAQ is not in anyway affiliated with Blizzard. This FAQ is copyright 2002-2003 Albert Cho and can not be used on your site unless you have my permission. If you want to post this FAQ on your website then send me an e-mail telling me specific information. (URL etc.) I will probably say yes 99% of the time if asked. This FAQ shall not be changed in anyway. If you decide to post on your site without my permission legal action will take place. ------------------------------------ --4. Sites that can use this guide-- ------------------------------------ These are the only sites that are allowed to post my guide on their site. If this guide is on another site e-mail me their url. www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseekers.com ------------ --5. Stats-- ------------ Any character in order to be effective need the right amount of stat points in each area so they will be efficient. I mean what good is a melee druid when he put most of his stats into energy. So to avoid this problem, this section will cover the essential stats for a Werewolf Druid. The stat points listed below should be the desired stats at around level 80. Strength: 300 Dexterity: 200+ (Just need enough to have 75% chance to block) Vitality: The rest here Energy: Leave at base Remember these stats are counting item bonuses that you will receive. So remember to put points into each area after you equip all your ideal equipment. The 300 strength points will greatly boost your damage and you only need enough dexterity to have 75% block. Vitality is a necessity so the rest of the points should be invested there. NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT USING A SHIELD THEN A WEREWOLF DRUID WILL ONLY NEED ENOUGH DEXTERITY TO EQUIP ALL YOUR ITEMS, BECAUSE THEY GET A HUGE BONUS TO DEXTERITY FROM THEIR SKILLS. ------------- --6. Skills-- ------------- Werewolf druids will need to max certain skills to be able to kill efficiently and this section will cover what skills are useless and what skills are worth investing in. Shapeshifting: Werewolf-20 or 1 depending if you need AR. Lycanthropy- 20 Feral Rage- 3 Fury- 20 Prerequisites- 1 Summoning: Oak Sage- 20 or 1 for prerequisite Heart of the Wolverine- 20 or not at all Dire Wolves- 10 or 1 for prerequisite Grizzly Bear- 10 or 1 for prerequisite Carrion Vine- 1 items will do rest Prerequisite- 3 Elemental: None If you need AR then add points into Werewolf, but if you have a sufficient amount then just add enough points to have decent AR. Lycanthropy must be maxed, because it will give huge life bonuses and the time duration will be longer. Feral Rage should be charged with a few quick hits for extra leech and then switch to Fury. Fury has to be maxed for huge damage bonuses along with AR bonuses. In the summoning branch either max Oak Sage or Heart of the Wolverine. I would max Oak Sage because the life bonuses are too good to pass up. You will also need some meat shields so either max Dire Wolves or Grizzly. I would add points into Dire Wolves because the 3 wolves are very good at distracting. Carrion Vine is a nice summon because they will replenish your health by a percent. This can be life saving. Any remaining points should go into summoning to max your summons more durable. Invest points into Grizzly to raise damage to your summons or Dire Wolves to raise HP. Your choice. ---------------------------- --7. Recommended Equipment-- ---------------------------- I will have 2 sets of equipment and one is for people that have much wealth to spare and are willing to pay whatever it takes to get the best items, and the other set are for people that can afford basic druid werewolf equipment. Regular Equipment: Weapon: The most important item the druid will use. There are many ideal relatively cheap equipment that a werewolf druid can use. I will list some of the weapons here. 2 hand weapons: Immortal King Maul: This maul has very nice speed and the damage is very nice. With fury your druid will attack quickly and efficiently. The mods on the weapon is not bad, but its not the best. This maul is also very cheap and you could probably get one for some chipped gems. (Note you should either socket it with a shael to enhance speed or if you have enough ias then socket it with a nice ed jewel for greater damage. Cruel Colossus Blade: You should get a 3 socket one and put in 2 shael runes so your speed will be very fast. The third slot should be either an eth or a nice ed jewel. (Eth may not be necessary because this character is not a PvP character. Hellslayer: Very high damaging axe. It has great mods that add bonuses to strength and life. It also have some fire damage I believe. Damage rises as you level up. The bad side to this weapon is that its very slow and you might be frustrated at your speed. A shael rune is necessary if you want to use this weapon. However, if you get enough ias this weapon is awesome. 1 hand weapons: Lightsabre: Fast, has decent one hand damage. It also has lots of magic damage. The mods are great and it will take care of your mana leech. The downside is that the damage is still a bit too low in hell difficulty especially if there are more then 4 people in the room. I suggest socketing it with a nice ed jewel or shael to make it faster. Baranars Star: One of the best one hand weapons in the game. It has decent physical damage, but what makes this weapon shine is its elemental damage. It will take down immune to physical monsters easily and every druid should have this weapon as backup in case they run into one. Socket with shael to make it faster, because it's a bit slow. Cruel Zerker Axe: This axe might be a little more expensive then the previous items, but it's a great weapon. Socket with shael runes and ed jewels for great damage and speed. The downside is that repair costs are steep. Armor: There are many types of armor that would help out the druid and I will list some of them below. Shaftstop: Basic armor that gives great damage reduction to help your druid live longer. It also adds some defense and +60 to life. Socket with an ias jewel or an ed/ias jewel to help out your speed. Griswald's Armor: This armor has a strength bonus and has 3 empty sockets for your pleasure. It also has high defense for an armor. I suggest socketing it with 3 ias jewels. 4 socket armor: Get a 4 socket armor with decent defense and put in 4 ias jewels for great speed. This will help out fury greatly. Gloves: Gloves may not seem important, but they will help out greatly. Immortal Kings Gloves: If you use this along with the maul you will get a partial set bonus along with the gloves +20 to strength/dexterity. The downside is that it has no ias. Venomgrip: Has crushing blow bonuses and some poison damage along with 5% life leech. Not a bad choice. Crafted gloves: Should have 20% ias mod along with some strength/dex/life mods. Might be a bit hard to get however. Boots: Boots will help you run faster and add some important mods. War Travelers: This great boot has some awesome mods. You will get a 15-25 damage mod that will end up raising your damage in the hundreds, because it raises your weapon's damage not your overall damage. There is also strength, life and even some mf on it. Gore Riders: Very nice boots for some deadly strike, crushing blow. It still lacks the mods of war travelers however. Belt: The belt is an important item to hold your potions and can add some great mods. String of Ears: The ideal choice for a belt. If perfect it will have 8% life leech and 15% damage reduce. These are great mods. I don't recommend any other belt. Rings: Rings will add life leech along with some other bonuses such as resistance. Rare ring: If you need mana leech then I suggest getting a dual leech ring that has some life, strength, dex bonuses. Crafted ring: Crafted ring that should have at least 8% life leech. Other mods on the ring will help greatly. Shield: Not required if you are going to use a 2 handed weapon. Stormshield: Hands down this is the shield you want. It has great defense, damage reduction, great cold and lightning resistance and has a great block rate. What more do you want? Amulet: Get an amulet that has +druid skills with decent mods or life leech. Helm: Vampire Gaze: Great helm that can have up to 20% damage reduction and it even has dual leech. It's a great helm that will help keep you alive. Unique Druid helm: Sorry forgot the name, but this helm has +to skills along with high strength and dexterity bonuses. The mods are awesome and well worth it. Ideal Weapon Equipment combos: Lightsabre/Baranars Star Stormshield Unique Druid Helm Shaftstop Rare Amulet String of Ears War Travelers Crafted Gloves 1 Life leech Ring 1 dual leech ring IK Maul Vampire Gaze Shaftstop Rare Amulet String of Ears Gore Riders IK Maul 2 Life leech rings --------------- --11. Credits-- --------------- 1. I credit myself for making this guide. 2. I credit Blizzard for making such a fantastic game. 3. I credit gamefaqs for hosting this guide 4. I credit neoseekers for hosting this guide --------------------- --12. E-mail Policy-- --------------------- If you want to e-mail me and give me feedback or a tip about my site then please free to go ahead. People that are rude while criticizing me will have their e-mail address blocked. If you have questions about the game then feel free to go ahead and e-mail as long as this guide doesn't cover it. E-mail Address- kpboy777@yahoo.com Copyright 2002-2003 Albert Cho