/==================================================\ | DIABLO 2:LOD THE FLAMING DRUID GUIDE | | For PC | | Written by Akai Akuma (joanroda@eresmas.com) | | Version 1.5 (92.0KB) | \==================================================/ TTTTTTTT HH HH EEEEEEE TT HH HH EE TT HHHHHHHH EEEEEEE TT HH HH EE TT HH HH EEEEEEE FFFFFFF LL A MM MM II NN NN GGGGGG FF LL AAA MMM MMM II NNN NN GG FFFFFFF LL AA AA MM MM MM II NN N NN GG GGGG FF LL AAAAAAA MM MM II NN NNN GG GG FF LLLLLLL AA AA MM MM II NN NN GGGGGG DDDDD RRRRR UU UU II DDDDD DD DD RR RR UU UU II DD DD DD DD RRRRR UU UU II DD DD DD DD RR RR UU UU II DD DD DDDDD RR RR UUUUU II DDDDD ======================= ---Table of Contents--- ======================= 1. Version History 2. Game Information 3. Introduction 4. Stats 5. Skills I. Elemental Skills II. Summoning Skills 6. Controversies I. Spirit Wolves vs. Dire Wolves vs. Grizzly II. Oak Sage vs. Heart of Wolverine vs. Spirit of Barbs III. Poison Creeper vs. Carrion Vine vs. Solar Creeper IV. Pure Flaming Druid vs. Mixed Flaming Druid V. The effectivity or not of Armaggedon 7. Synergies I. Synergies Bonus II. Possible Build-Ups III. My Druid 8. Strategies I. Hirelings II. Basic Strategies III. General Gameplay Comments 9. Equipment 10. Bosses Guide 11. Legal Stuff 12. Special Thanks ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 1. Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ver. 1.0 (05/28/04) - First version of the FAQ. Completed from section 1 to 7. Ver. 1.1 (06/11/04) - Sections 3, 5, 6 and 7 have been completed. Section 8 is now available, wow it takes me ages to complete it. Ver. 1.2 (07/01/04) - Gomen,gomen!! Sorry for the delay. Sections 6 and 8 has been revised, specially the strategies and section 10 is finally available. Ver. 1.3 (07/04/04) - General corrections, mainly spelling mistakes. I extended section 7 with my druid build up and equipment. Section 8 has been splited and completed with General Gameplay Comments. Ver. 1.4 (09/31/04) - Many corrections in nearly all sections: stats, equipment, controversies, gameplay and more. Ver. 1.5 (10/21/04) - Yes, it's me again. Some comments on sections 3 and 7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 2. Game Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Title: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Genre: Role Platforms: PC Players: 1-8 players Designed By: Blizzard North Published By: Blizzard Entertainment(NA), Sierra Entertainment(Europe) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 3. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is my 3rd FAQ, 3 in 1 year. :) I hope you'll enjoy it. Q: What is a Flaming Druid? A: As you can imagine a druid who uses basicaly fire skills. Q: Why should I create a Flaming Druid? A: Aesthetically, the werewolf and the werebear might be more attractive, but... who were the druids? The druids were religious leaders, philosophers, judges and many other things in the Celtic society. The common point between all of them is that they were in a perfect communion with the nature. As a result of this, it was said that they could communicate with animals and plants, but not convert into werewolves or werebears. According to these, the most pure druid would be a summoner druid, but it was said that they could control the weather also, so an elemental druid is also a sensible and suitable choice. Q: Which are the benefits of being a Flaming Druid? A: The main benefit is that we can defeat physical immune enemies easily, who are the nemesis of shape shifters and summoner druids. I've never run away from a combat, I could defeat anybody, maybe I need my time against some immunes but I can kill anybody. Who else can say the same? Some classes can't. Q: What about fire inmunes? A: Skills like Volcano, Molten Boulder and our hireling will deal them with an acceptable effectivity. Q: Why fire and not wind? A: Windy druids appear to be more desirable due to their Cyclone Armor which could add to you an extra defence of 1200 or more elemental damage, when it is fully sinergied(does this verb really exist?). But his main elemental attack Hurrricane(similar to Holy Freeze, the paladin skill but 3 times shorter in range terms than the maxed Holy freeze), this lack of range obliges you to approach dangerously to your enemies and the nearer you are to your enemies, the nearer you're to the death. They have another main atack Tornado, but surprisingly it's not elemental, it's physical, I know it cause I trained a windy druid too. Tornado is nice ranged attack, with a nice ammount of damage(around 3000). Tornado has no caster delay, so you can cast them constantly and it stuns your enemies and passes through them, so one tornado can hit many enemies. There is a con, it's precission is a crap, and you need time to aim correctly to your enemies, so you should need a tank hireling or strong summonings. Q: Sorry, but this built sounds really attractive to me... A: Maybe or maybe not, he's not an elemental caster that's why I prefer the Flaming Druid. Attacks like Fissure or Volcano give you the chance of attacking the enemies without being affected by the offensive auras and curses that some uniques use and not being affected by their novas while killing them. Q: Is a fire Druid comparable to a fire Sorceress? A: No. A pure fire Sorceress could do a fire damage of 7000-8000, while a pure fire druid could take only 2000-2500. Well, theoretically you can inflict more damage(8000) with Armageddon, when fully sinergied and without using spirits, anyway the precission is pityful, reducing the damage drastically. Q: How does the patch 1.10 affected on the Druid skills? A: Most of them have been improved which made the elemental Druid more attracting than the one on the previous version. Q: Is it possible to play in Act 5 in level Hell? A: Yes, but it's not easy. Choosing to be a Flaming Druid is a challenging option, but it's absolutely possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 4. Stats ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The best thing about being an Elemental Druid is that you don't need to spent many points into mana,because mana cost is nearly always constant. You should spent points this way: Two times this: One time this: Strength 1 Strength 1 Dexterity 1 Dexterity 2 Vitality 3 Vitality 2 Energy 0 Energy 1 In three levels the overall balance should be: Strength 3 Dexterity 4 Vitality 8 Energy 1 Strength is important due to our strategy(see section 8) and in order to use several nice armors and helms, and to use some weapons(Earth Shifter with +7 elemental skills, which needs 253 strength), if you are considering to wear Aldur, then 85 is enough, cause the +30 strength bonus from Aldur's mace. Dexterity is interesting also, and remember that if you use Heart of Wolverine our decent attack rating will be improved drastically. If you prefer using a shield, and want to have a decent block rate invest some points here to have 75% block rating. Vitality is crucial for not dying easily and to fight in melee without risking your life more than necessary, Novas, Corpse Explosions,... Energy, 50 is more than enough. Potions will do the rest, remember that your spells consume a little bit mana, most mana will be spent on re-summoning your wolves against bosses because they're not fully up-graded. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 5. Skills ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Due to my previous comments I will omit the Shape-shifting skills tree, to focus on the other two. All the values that appear here are from patch 1.10 and assuming that you only have one point in the pre-requisite skills. I. Elemental Skills =================== *Firestorm* Requirements : None, available from level 1 Description : Similar to the Firewall that Diablo uses, but a lot weaker and with a little range. Advantages : Ridiculous cost of mana, quite powerful at high levels due to the synergies. Disadvantages: Short range. Comments : Takes a considerable amount of energy, the problem is the range, anyway put some points(10) due to the synergies if you're planning to be a pure flaming druid, if not 1 point would be enough. This skill has been improved in 1.10 patch. Grade : B Level Average Fire Mana damage per second Cost 1 3-7 4 2 7-10 4 3 10-14 4 4 14-17 4 5 17-21 4 6 21-24 4 7 24-28 4 8 28-31 4 9 33-38 4 10 39-45 4 11 45-52 4 12 51-59 4 13 57-66 4 14 63-73 4 15 69-80 4 16 75-87 4 17 83-97 4 18 91-106 4 19 99-116 4 20 107-125 4 *Molten Boulder* Requirements : Level 6, Firestorm Description : A ball of fire which knocks your opponents and explodes when hits one of them Advantages : Low mana cost Disadvantages: Low damage Comments : Absolutely useless by itself, but it's nice to invest in it to improve the damage inflicted by Volcano. If it's not your case one point to access to better spells. If you like Firestorm, you can also invest some more points here due to the synergies. This skill has weakened in 1.10 patch. Grade : B- Level Average Fire Mana damage per second Cost 1 12-15 10 2 20-24 10.5 3 27-30 11 4 35-39 11.5 5 42-48 12 6 50-54 12.5 7 58-63 13 8 65-69 13.5 9 74-78 14 10 83-87 14.5 11 92-96 15 12 101-105 15.5 13 109-114 16 14 118-123 16.5 15 127-132 17 16 136-141 17.5 17 146-150 18 18 156-159 18.5 19 166-171 19 20 176-180 19.5 *Artic Blast* Requirements : Level 6 Description : Ice version of Inferno. Advantages : We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Disadvantages: We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Comments : One point only to access to Armageddon. Grade : C *Fissure* Requirements : Level 12, Firestorm, Molten Boulder Description : Cast a fissure on the ground. Advantages : Low mana cost, really nice range. Disadvantages: Only 3.2 seconds, the casting delay is a bit long. Comments : My favourite attack, especially while attacking a group of enemies. Maximize it. This skill has been improved in 1.10 patch. Grade : A Level Average Fire Mana Damage Per Second Cost 1 16-28 15 2 23-34 15 3 30-41 15 4 36-48 15 5 43-54 15 6 50-61 15 7 57-68 15 8 63-75 15 9 77-88 15 10 90-101 15 11 104-115 15 12 117-128 15 13 131-142 15 14 144-155 15 15 157-169 15 16 171-182 15 17 189-200 15 18 207-218 15 19 225-236 15 20 243-254 15 *Cyclone Armor* Requirements : Level 12, Artic Blast Description : Armor that absorbs elemental damage. Advantages : You will attack from the distance, so you will receive mostly elemental damage. Really nice to absorb some of it. Disadvantages: It doesn't absorb physical damage. Comments : The only wind skill we are going to use, you can spend more than one point here(not more than 5, due to the synergies it will get a nice final result absorption. Grade : A- Level Damage Absorbed Mana Cost 1 40 5 2 52 6 3 64 7 4 76 8 5 88 9 6 100 10 7 112 11 8 124 12 9 136 13 10 148 14 11 160 15 12 172 16 13 184 17 14 196 18 15 208 19 16 220 20 17 232 21 18 244 22 19 256 23 20 268 24 *Twister* Requirements : Level 18, Artic Blast, Cyclone Armor Description : Creates a pitiful tornado. Advantages : We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Disadvantages: We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Comments : One point only to access to Armageddon and to improve the Cyclone Armor. Grade : D- *Volcano* Requirements : Level 24, Firestorm, Molten Boulder, Fissure Description : A volcano emerges from the earth to burn your enemies throwing fire balls. Advantages : If the enemy is still and you cast it over him then it takes a lot of damage. 50% of the damage is physical and the other 50% is fire damage. Disadvantages: Useless against several monsters. Comments : Maximize it due to the synergies with Fissure. This skill has been improved in 1.10 patch. Grade : B+ Level Fire/Physical Mana damage Cost 1 8-11/8-11 25 2 11-13/11-13 25 3 13-15/13-15 25 4 15-17/15-17 25 5 17-20/17-20 25 6 20-22/20-22 25 7 22-24/22-24 25 8 24-26/24-26 25 9 29-31/29-31 25 10 33-35/33-35 25 11 38-40/38-40 25 12 42-44/42-44 25 13 47-49/47-49 25 14 51-53/51-53 25 15 56-58/56-58 25 16 60-62/60-62 25 17 67-69/67-69 25 18 73-76/73-76 25 19 80-82/80-82 25 20 87-89/87-89 25 *Tornado* Requirements : Level 24, Artic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Twister Description : Similar to Twister, but more powerful. Advantages : We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Disadvantages: We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Comments : One point only to access to Armageddon and to improve the Cyclone Armor. Grade : D *Hurricane* Requirements : Level 30, Artic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado Description : A hurricane surrounds you and damages the monsters inside it with cold damage. Advantages : We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Disadvantages: We are Flaming Druids forget about it. Comments : One point only to access to Armageddon and to improve the Cyclone Armor. Grade : B- *Armageddon* Requirements : Level 30, Firestorm,Molten Boulder,Artic Blast,Fissure, Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado, Volcano, Hurricane Description : After an endless casting delay a rain of meteors will fall damaging the enemies around you. Advantages : High damage,sinergies on other fire skills. Espectacular Disadvantages: The accuracy is crappy, the problem is the same that with Hurricane you have to approach dangerously to your enemies without obtaining a big result. Comments : Put one point just for the synergies, if you put 20 points on Fissure, then Armageddon will last 50 seconds which is a lot for only 35 mana. As I explained in the Q&A section, it's possible to do nearly 8k damage with armaggedon due to sinergies and if you're a pure Fire druid(100 points spend in the fire tree). But this is theory, the harsh reality shows that the real damage is very low due to the deficient precission. This skill has been weakened drastically in 1.10 patch. Grade : C Level Average Fire Mana Duration Radius Damage Per Second Cost (seconds) (yards) 1 14-18 35 12 5.3 2 22-27 35 12 5.3 3 31-36 35 12 5.3 4 39-45 35 12 5.3 5 48-51 35 12 5.3 6 56-60 35 12 5.3 7 65-69 35 12 5.3 8 73-78 35 12 5.3 9 83-87 35 12 5.3 10 93-99 35 12 5.3 11 103-108 35 12 5.3 12 113-117 35 12 5.3 13 123-126 35 12 5.3 14 133-138 35 12 5.3 15 142-147 35 12 5.3 16 152-156 35 12 5.3 17 164-168 35 12 5.3 18 175-180 35 12 5.3 19 186-192 35 12 5.3 20 198-201 35 12 5.3 II. Summoning Skills ==================== This is an important tree for Mixed Flaming Druids, remember to spent some points here. *Raven* Requirements : None, available from level 1 Description : Summon ravens which blind your enemies. Advantages : Ravens don't die and low mana cost. Disadvantages: Pitiful damage on enemies Comments : One point is more than enough for the pre-requisites, the +skills objects will do the rest. 5 ravens are nice to distract your enemies. Grade : C+ Level Hits DMG Ravens Mana Cost 1 12 2-4 1 6 2 13 3-5 2 6 3 14 4-6 3 6 4 15 5-7 4 6 5 16 6-8 5 6 6 17 7-9 5 6 7 18 8-10 5 6 8 19 9-11 5 6 9 20 10-12 5 6 10 21 11-13 5 6 11 22 12-14 5 6 12 23 13-15 5 6 13 24 14-16 5 6 14 25 15-17 5 6 15 26 16-18 5 6 16 27 17-19 5 6 17 28 18-20 5 6 18 29 19-21 5 6 19 30 20-22 5 6 20 31 21-23 5 6 *Poison Creeper* Requirements : None, available from level 1 Description : Summons a vine that poisons enemies. Advantages : It can distract enemies and useful in Hell mode against enemies who are not resistant to poison. Disadvantages: Low HP, they last only a few seconds. Comments : One point is enough, but the + skills objects will make it an useful ally on Hell mode. The life of the vine has been improved in 1.10 patch. Grade : B- Level Life Poison Damage Mana Over 4 Seconds Cost 1 42-58 4-7 8 2 52-72 7-8 8 3 63-87 10-11 8 4 73-101 12-14 8 5 84-116 15-17 8 6 94-130 18-19 8 7 105-145 21-22 8 8 115-159 23-25 8 9 126-174 28-30 8 10 136-188 33-34 8 11 147-203 37-39 8 12 157-217 42-44 8 13 168-232 47-48 8 14 178-246 51-53 8 15 189-261 56-58 8 16 199-275 61-62 8 17 210-290 67-68 8 18 220-304 73-74 8 19 231-319 78-80 8 20 241-333 84-86 8 *Oak Sage* Requirements : Level 6 Description : Summons a spirit which increases your and your allies HP Advantages : More HP :), what else can I say? Disadvantages: High mana cost at high levels. Comments : Really nice for you and your allies, but you should chose between this skill and the Heart of the Wolverine. I will discuss about it later(see point 6). The life and the radius of the spirit has been improved in the 1.10 patch. Grade : A Level Life Life +% Mana Radius Cost (yards) 1 56-64 30 15 20 2 72-83 35 16 21.3 3 89-102 40 17 22.6 4 106-121 45 18 24 5 123-140 50 19 25.3 6 140-160 55 20 26.6 7 156-179 60 21 28 8 173-198 65 22 29.3 9 190-217 70 23 30.6 10 207-236 75 24 32 11 224-256 80 25 33.3 12 240-275 85 26 34.6 13 257-294 90 27 36 14 274-313 95 28 37.3 15 291-332 100 29 38.6 16 308-352 105 30 40 17 324-371 110 31 41.3 18 341-390 115 32 42.6 19 358-409 120 33 44 20 375-428 125 34 45.3 *Summon Spirit Wolf* Requirements : Level 6, Raven Description : You can summon 1 to 5 wolves to kill enemies. Advantages : 5 wolves are more than 3 wolves or 1 bear, so they can distract more enemies. Disadvantages: Low damage and crappy HP. Comments : This crappy wolves might be useful at low levels, what you really need are Dire Spirit Wolves. One point will be enough. The life and the attack rating of these wolves has been improved in the 1.10 patch, but the damage has been reduced a little bit. Grade : C+ Level Wolves Damage Attack Rating Defence Life Mana +% +% Cost 1 1 2-6 50 50 60-82 15 2 2 3-7 75 60 60-82 15 3 3 4-8 100 70 60-82 15 4 4 5-9 125 80 60-82 15 5 5 6-10 150 90 60-82 15 6 5 7-11 175 100 60-82 15 7 5 8-12 200 110 60-82 15 8 5 9-13 225 120 60-82 15 9 5 11-15 250 130 60-82 15 10 5 13-17 275 140 60-82 15 11 5 15-19 300 150 60-82 15 12 5 17-21 325 160 60-82 15 13 5 19-23 350 170 60-82 15 14 5 21-25 375 180 60-82 15 15 5 23-27 400 190 60-82 15 16 5 25-29 425 200 60-82 15 17 5 29-33 450 210 60-82 15 18 5 33-37 475 220 60-82 15 19 5 37-41 500 230 60-82 15 20 5 41-45 525 240 60-82 15 *Carrion Vine* Requirements : Level 12, Poison Creeper Description : Summons a vine which eats corpses in order to replenish you life. Advantages : Recovering energy is always positive. And devoured corpses can't be resurrected. Disadvantages: Low life, it's a pity that your hireling, allies and summonings aren't healed also. :( Comments : Really interesting, but one point is enough. The life of this vine has been improved in the 1.10 patch. Grade : A Level Life Heals % Mana Cost 1 80-110 4 10 2 100-137 5 10 3 120-165 6 10 4 140-192 6 10 5 160-220 7 10 6 180-247 7 10 7 200-275 8 10 8 220-302 8 10 9 240-330 8 10 10 260-357 9 10 11 280-385 9 10 12 300-412 9 10 13 320-440 9 10 14 340-467 9 10 15 360-495 10 10 16 380-522 10 10 17 400-550 10 10 18 420-577 10 10 19 440-605 10 10 20 460-632 10 10 *Heart Of Wolverine* Requirements : Level 18, Oak Sage Description : Summons a spirit that increases your and your allies attack rating and damage. Advantages : You can attack more accurately, and do more damage. Disadvantages: High mana cost at high levels. Comments : This spirit is quite useful, but I will discuss it later(see point 6). The life and the radius of the spirit has been improved in the 1.10 patch. Grade : A Level Life DMG Attack Rating Radius Mana +% +% (yards) Cost 1 128-144 20 25 20 20 2 160-180 27 32 21.3 21 3 192-216 34 39 22.6 22 4 224-252 41 46 24 23 5 256-288 48 53 25.3 24 6 288-324 55 60 26.6 25 7 320-360 62 67 28 26 8 352-396 69 74 29.3 27 9 384-432 76 81 30.6 28 10 416-468 83 88 32 29 11 448-504 90 95 33.3 30 12 480-540 97 102 34.6 31 13 512-576 104 109 36 32 14 544-612 111 116 37.3 33 15 576-648 118 123 38.6 34 16 608-684 125 130 40 35 17 640-720 132 137 41.3 36 18 672-756 139 144 42.6 37 19 704-792 146 151 44 38 20 736-828 153 158 45.3 39 *Summon Dire Wolf* Requirements : Level 18, Raven, Oak Sage, Summon Spirit Wolf Description : Summons 1 to 3 wolves to kill enemies. Advantages : 3 Wolves distract many enemies, acceptable damage and adds a bonus on %life on wolves and bears. They eat corpses also in order to recover their own HP, and remember a devoured corpse can be resurrected. Disadvantages: 3 wolves are less distraction than 5 wolves. They could be quite mana consuming if they die constantly at level Hell. Comments : I prefer my Dire wolves over any other summoning, but against uniques and bosses it's better to use the grizzly. I will discuss it later(see strategies in section 7). The life and the %added life of these wolves has been improved in the 1.10 patch, but the damage has been reduced a little bit. Grade : A Level Life Life Damage Wolves Mana +% Cost 1 147-195 50 7-12 1 20 2 171-227 75 9-14 2 20 3 196-260 100 11-16 3 20 4 220-292 125 13-18 3 20 5 245-325 150 15-20 3 20 6 269-357 175 17-22 3 20 7 294-390 200 19-24 3 20 8 318-422 225 21-26 3 20 9 343-455 250 24-29 3 20 10 367-487 275 27-32 3 20 11 392-520 300 30-35 3 20 12 416-552 325 33-38 3 20 13 441-585 350 36-41 3 20 14 465-617 375 39-44 3 20 15 490-650 400 42-47 3 20 16 514-682 425 45-50 3 20 17 539-715 450 51-56 3 20 18 563-747 475 57-62 3 20 19 588-780 500 63-68 3 20 20 612-812 525 69-74 3 20 *Solar Creeper* Requirements : Level 24, Poison Creeper, Carrion Vine Description : Summons a vine that devours corpses to regenerate your mana. Advantages : Mana regeneration.A devoured corpse couldn't resurrect. Disadvantages: Mana regenerates alone and several objects increase it. Comments : Carrion is more crucial, even Poison Creeper is more useful. Obviously a elemental druid spends lots of mana, but potions could solve it. Grade : C+ Level Life Heals Mana % Mana Cost 1 138-192 2 14 2 165-230 2 15 3 193-268 3 16 4 220-307 4 17 5 248-345 4 18 6 276-384 4 19 7 303-422 5 20 8 331-460 5 21 9 358-499 5 22 10 386-537 5 23 11 414-576 5 24 12 441-614 6 25 13 469-652 6 26 14 496-691 6 27 15 524-729 6 28 16 552-768 6 29 17 579-806 6 30 18 607-844 6 31 19 634-883 6 32 20 662-921 6 33 *Spirit Of Barbs* Requirements : Level 30, Oak Sage, Heart Of Wolverine Description : Similar to Thorns(Paladin aura), you summon a spirit that returns a percentage of the damage taken back to the enemy who attacks you, your allies or your summonings. Advantages : Returns a percentage of the damage taken. Disadvantages: High mana cost and a risky spirit for you. Comments : Only useful at very highs levels and only if you're using the grizzly, who can receive lots of damage. Don't waste any point here. The life, % Damage Returned and the radius of the spirit has been improved in the 1.10 patch. Grade : C- Level Life % Damage Mana Radius Returned Cost (yards) 1 200-226 50 25 20 2 250-282 70 26 21.3 3 300-339 90 27 22.6 4 350-395 110 28 24 5 400-452 130 29 25.3 6 450-508 150 30 26.6 7 500-565 170 31 28 8 550-621 190 32 29.3 9 600-678 210 33 30.6 10 650-734 230 34 32 11 700-791 250 35 33.3 12 750-847 270 36 34.6 13 800-904 290 37 36 14 850-960 310 38 37.3 15 900-1017 330 39 38.6 16 950-1073 350 40 40 17 1000-1130 370 41 41.3 18 1050-1186 390 42 42.6 19 1100-1243 410 43 44 20 1150-1299 430 44 45.3 *Summon Grizzly* Requirements : Level 30, Raven, oak Sage, Summon Spirit Wolf, Summon Dire Wolf Description : Summons a Grizzly that helps you. Advantages : High HP, high damage and adds damage to wolves. Disadvantages: 5 Spirit Wolves or 3 Dire Wolves distract more enemies than 1 bear. Against a group of enemies the grizzly will be massacred. Comments : As I explain in section 7, a Grizzly is a worth ally against uniques and bosses. But not against groups. I recommend to spent only one point here. Grade : B+ Level Damage Damage Life Mana +% Cost 1 37-75 25 825-1125 40 2 54-94 35 825-1125 40 3 72-116 45 825-1125 40 4 93-139 55 825-1125 40 5 115-165 65 825-1125 40 6 140-192 75 825-1125 40 7 166-222 85 825-1125 40 8 195-253 95 825-1125 40 9 235-297 105 825-1125 40 10 279-344 115 825-1125 40 11 326-393 125 825-1125 40 12 376-446 135 825-1125 40 13 428-502 145 825-1125 40 14 484-561 155 825-1125 40 15 543-622 165 825-1125 40 16 605-687 175 825-1125 40 17 684-769 185 825-1125 40 18 767-855 195 825-1125 40 19 854-945 205 825-1125 40 20 945-1039 215 825-1125 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 6. Controversies ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Spirit Wolves vs. Dire Wolves vs. Grizzly ============================================ As I said while commenting the skills, I prefer Dire Wolves over the other two because they are an acceptable number of wolves(3) with a high HP and damage. Use 1 Spirit Wolf in the beginning of the game just as a pre-requisite. Grizzly is OK when fighting against uniques and bosses or in parties, due to the number of players playing, but not playing solo against a groups of 20 enemies. Dire wolves are the choice, and they could recover energy from devouring the corpses of your enemies. The only but comes if you use the Carrion Vine or the Solar Creeper, because there won't be enough corpses for everybody. II. Oak Sage vs. Heart of Wolverine vs. Spirit of Barbs ======================================================= Spirit of Barbs is useful only for your summonings, because with the Dire Wolves maximized they will have a lot of life, so the enemies will receive more damage. If your summonings die you can summon more, but Great spirit in Normal and Nightmare, the problems come at Hell, considering that all monsters has 50% resistance to physical damage, its effectivtiy is drastically reduced and it's useless against physical immune enemies. Furthermore, I don't like this spirit because I don't get any bonus directly. The other 2 spirits give bonus for me and my allies. Oak Sage is a safer and conservative choice, your life increases drastically and the same for yours summonings, the more life they have, the more they last and the least you have to re-summon them, so more mana for spells. For 1-Player games I recommend this spirit, you will thank your extra life at Hell mode. The main con is its low HP. Heart of Wolverine increases your and your summonings attack rating and damage. This is the one I chose. There is no doubt that it's much more risky than the Oak Sage, your summonings has less life so they die easily which a considerable cost of mana, but on the contrary they do more damage, so their enemies die quicker. Your attack and damage is increased, so your close-range weapon attacks are much better. Remember, we're not a sorceress, neither a necromancer, we can fight as I explain it in the strategies(section 8). III. Poison Creeper vs. Carrion Vine vs. Solar Creeper ====================================================== There is a common problem with all the vines, their HP sucks. So they die constantly, it's up to you to re-summon them, but in the middle of a combat is better to re-summon your wolves and casting spells than the vine. If you run out of mana you can escape, if you run out of life you die. Is it clear? I hate the Solar Creeper, you can always use potions instead of summoning this vines and you don't spent too much mana. If you don't spend a point with it you can use it anywhere, which would be more useful. If you run out of HP potions and you are trying to create a town portal to exit from a combat, the Carrion Vine could be your saviour or at least enlarge your life. As I said before, it's a pity that it only recovers your HP and not the energy of your summonings. But that's all, don't rely too much on it. Poison Creeper is the right choice, at least my choice. The poison damage it inflicts is ridiculous, but it attacks your enemies so it's a distraction and could poison several enemies with one attack. The main con is that if it attacks the enemies they hit the vine and with one hit the vine dies. Don't re-summon it until the poison damage disappear on your enemies(they are green while poisoned). IV. Pure Flaming Druid vs. Mixed Flaming Druid ============================================== Variety is the spice of life! Like the idiom says I found much interesting to use multiple skills than only one. Why? Until you play in Hell level any choice of the druid skills tree you have done, would seem useful, but in Hell mode with lots of uniques immunes to nearly everything or plain creatures immunes to Fire oblige you to fight with your weapon against a group of enemies, which is quite dangerous. I chose the Mixed Flaming Druid playing in solo and I had problems due to this previous problem, so a Pure Flaming Druid might be really more proving. I preferred to take 1300 instead of 2500 damage in order to summon powerful Dire wolves. It's up to you, but I really recommend the Mixed Flaming Druid, unless you're planning to play in Hell mode only in a party. Ver.1.5 Comment: In the new ladder, I returned to my origins building many druids, Sumoners, Windy druids and I tried the Pure Flaming Druid, I really enjoyed him, he's not that bad. Give him a try. V. The effectivity or not of Armaggedon ======================================= For Armaggedon lovers: Theoretically, Armagedon could take 8k or more with a pure fire druid, but the problem is, as I said before, the precission. There is a way to take advantage of it, to be a melee caster: To cast Armaggedon and fight in close range but I find that, independently from the equipment you use, this is a suicide unless you spend a few points into shapeshifting to use skills like Fire Claws. Then we would be talking about another built, the Fire Claws druid, which is a extremely powerful druid, but I'm not going to talk about it here. A fire druid caster can use Armaggedon for the coolness factor, but you can't rely on it as you can on the rest of fire skills. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 7. Synergies ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The first decision is to maximize Firestorm or Fissure, but as I said before I preferred Fissure because it allowed me to cast it into another platform, for example in The Arcane Sanctuary it's quite useful. There is no choice for the Mixed Flaming Druid, maximize Fissure, because it will benefit Volcano, our second most used spell. Especially against bosses and unique while they are still and distracted by our summonings. I. Synergies Bonus ================== Firestorm Receives Bonuses From: Molten Boulder: +23% Fire Damage per Level Fissure: +23% Fire Damage per Level Molten Boulder Receives Bonuses From: Volcano: +10% Damage per Level Firestorm: +8% Fire Damage per Level Fissure Receives Bonuses From: Firestorm: +12% Fire Damage per Level Volcano: +12% Fire Damage per Level Volcano Receives Bonuses From: Molten Boulder: +12% Damage per Level Fissure: +12% Fire Damage per Level Armageddon: +12% Fire Damage per Level Armageddon Receives Bonuses From: Fissure: +2 Seconds per Level Firestorm: +14% Fire Damage per Level Molten Boulder: +14% Fire Damage per Level Volcano: +14% Fire Damage per Level Arctic Blast Receives Bonuses From: Hurricane: +15% Cold Damage per Level Cyclone Armor: +15% Cold Damage per Level Cyclone Armor Receives Bonuses From: Twister: +7% Damage per Level Tornado: +7% Damage per Level Hurricane: +7% Damage per Level Twister Receives Bonuses From: Tornado: +10% Damage per Level Hurricane: +10% Damage per Level Tornado Receives Bonuses From: Cyclone Armor: +9% Damage per Level Twister: +9% Damage per Level Hurricane: +9% Damage per Level Hurricane Receives Bonuses From: Cyclone Armor: +2 Seconds per Level Twister: +9% Damage per Level Tornado: +9% Damage per Level II. Possible Build-Ups(Possible SPOLIERS) ====================== To get the real level you need to finish each build-up to subtract 11 to the total of skill points used. Why 11? 1 skill point is given by Akara, another by Radament, 2 by Tyrael. Now multiply it by 3(levels of difficulty) and then add one level gain skills from level 2. Remember that when you kill ancients in each level you raise 1 level automatically. A) Pure Flaming Druid(110 skills=level 99) Firestorm 20 Molten Boulder 1-20 Artic Blast 1 Fissure 20 Cyclone Armor 1 Twister 1 Volcano 20 Tornado 1 Hurricane 1 Armageddon 1 Poison Creeper1 Oak Sage 1-20 Carrion Vine 1 Summon Spirit Wolf 1 Summon Dire Wolf 1 Summon Grizzly 1 Comments: In this case, the spirit you must choose is the Oak Sage. Firstly, spend points in Firestorm until you can invest in Fissure, when both maxed then go for Volcano and finally Moulten Boulder. It's up to you to max Oak Sage or Molten Boulder. Even though, Oak Sage is one of the last skills to max remember to activate it as soon as you can. A Grizzly with a nice merc should be enough for tanking, but your hireling will REALLY nice stuff. B) Mixed Flaming Druid(94 skills=level 83) Firestorm 1-20 Molten Boulder 1 Artic Blast 1 Fissure 20 Cyclone Armor 1 Twister 1 Volcano 20 Tornado 1 Hurricane 1 Armageddon 1 Raven 1 Poison Creeper 1 Oak Sage (20) Summon Spirit Wolf 1 Carrion Vine 1 Heart Of Wolverine (20) Summon Dire Wolf 20 Summon Grizzly 1 This is my choice, and it's quite viable in solo or multiplayer. The only doubt is to choose Oak Sage or Heart of Wolverine, I took the second. Your Fissure takes 763-799 which could be upgraded to 1100 with +skills objects. When completed, improve the Firestorm due to the sinergies with Fissure. I you found that using Armaggedon is a waste of points, you can avoid the wind tree and save 6 points to invest in them Moulten Boulder, to boost the phisycal damage of Volcano. III. My Druid ============= I play in the European Realm, my druids name is Druid_Gaiseric, he has level 90 right now and my skills are these: (In brackets important information) Firestorm 8 (580-676 fire dmg per second) Molten Boulder 1 (153-159 fire dmg per second) Artic Blast 1 (104-115 cold dmg per second) Fissure 20 (1844-1927 fire dmg) Cyclone Armor 1 (208 dmg) Twister 1 (40-43 cold dmg) Volcano 20 (188-190 physical dmg/601-630 fire dmg) Tornado 1 (173-191 cold dmg) Hurricane 1 (134-164 cold dmg) Armageddon 1 (283-297 fire dmg per second) Raven 1 (5 ravens/11 hits/9-11 dmg) Poison Creeper 1 (115-159 life/23-25 pison dmg) Oak Sage 1 (173-198 life/+65% life) Summon Spirit Wolf 1 (17-25 physical dmg/+225%Attack/+120%Defense) Carrion Vine 1 (220-302 life/heals 8% life) Heart Of Wolverine 20 (960-1080 life/+202% Damage/+207% Attack ) Summon Dire Wolf 20 (784-1040 life/235-255 physical dmg/+700%life) Summon Grizzly 1 (4400-6000 life/195-253 physical dmg/+95%Damage) I use Aldur's set, Seraph's Hymn amulet, Arachnid Mesh belt, Lidless Wall shield, 2 rare rings with high resistances and 3 elemental skiller charms. My current stats are: Strength 225 Dexterity 100 Vitality 165 Energy 50 As you can see, I didn't follow my suggestions with the stats. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 8. Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Hirelings ============= To have mercenary under your orders is a must. Think it over carefully, this decision will affect you in the future. A little comment affecting all hirelings, their resistances increase 1.5 each level, so at level 80 at Hell mode they will have more or less 50 resistance to all which is pretty high. Consequently, from level 50 and don't use objects which add resistances to your hirelings. A) Rogues Scouts Only useful during Act I(Normal), in Act 2 I strongly recommend to change your hireling. Rogue Scouts are ranged mercs armed with a bow which is cool, but most of their damage is physical and sometimes it adds Fire or Cold damage. Their speed throwing arrows is acceptable, but the damage they do is ridiculous unless you equip them properly. So, they take their time to kill an enemy so your minions or yourself will kill them, in consequence this hireling levels-up REALLY SLOWLY. I really encourage to use an act 1 hireling at least once in your life, it's really cool and fun, but equipt her properly Windforce (with a Hel rune)or a Widowmaker bows with a nice armor will be needed. I any case, this hireling doesn't fit to a Elemental druid, better for a summoner druid. A.I: Like Iron wolves, probably the smartest hireling. When she is hit she runs away so she dies a few times and consequently you don't need to revive her saving up money. (armor,helm,bow) Basic Equipment: Artic Furs and Arctic Horn from the Artic gear is a nice choice. An ethereal helm will do the rest. Advanced Equipment: Upgraded Shaftstop(with an Um rune), Vampire's Gaze helm and Widowmaker bow. Rating: 3/10 B) Desert Mercenaries You can hire them in act 2. These guys armed with a spear, are really good, but only the ones found in level Nightmare are really worth. Desert Mercenaries use Paladin auras, in Normal and Hell mode you can use these: Combat -> Prayer (Regenerates Life) Offensive -> Defiance (Increases Defence) Defensive -> Blessed Aim (Increases Attack Rating) In level Normal I will pick the offensive one, if you have the spirit Heart of Wolverine or will pick Defensive if you have the spirit Oak Sage. Forget about Combat, the % regenerated life is ridiculous. In Nightmare you could pick these ones: Combat -> Thorns (Similar to Spirit Of Barbs, it reflects damage taken) Offensive -> Might (Similar to Heart of Wolverine, increases damage) Defensive -> Holy Freeze(Adds cold damage to the enemy, and slows them) Holy Freeze is amazing, considering that a killed frozen enemy can't resurrect, it's his more attractive aura. Thorns is nice too, but I'll go for Holy Freeze. A.I: Like act V merc they're too brave, they attack without retreating and the result is obvious he dies a lot unless you give him potions constantly. Anyway, he's not the focus of all the attacks if you use summonings, which is an advantage respect other characters. (armor,helm,spear/polearm) Basic Equipment: Boneflesh to begin with, a nice helm and a rare spear which adds lots of elemental damage would be enough at this level. Advanced Equipment: Ethereal Reaper's Toll or ethereal Tomb Reaver A +800 defence armor(ethereal uniques if possible) Vampire's Gaze(nice leeching bonus) Rating: 5/10 (Normal&Hell) 10/10 (Nightmare) You casting fire spells, your summonings and your hireling with physical damage, his freezing aura and his poisoning weapon is something unmatchable. C) Ironwolves Available in act 3, until you hire an act 2 mercenary(Nightmare) the Ice Ironwolves will be your man, forget the Fire and the Lighting ones. He throws one ball of ice after another like machine gun, freezing COMPLETELY your enemies, not slowing them like the Holy Freezing merc. A.I: Like Rogues Scouts they know when to retreat and don't die easily. (armor,helm,sword&shield) Basic Equipment: Boneflesh to begin with, a nice helm and any sword because he's not going to use it, he only throw spells Wall of the Eyeless(increases cast rate) Advanced Equipment: Any sword or a sword that increases casting speed An armor which increases casting speed, like Skin of Vipermagi, Ormus Robes or Que-Hegan Andariel's Visage(poison damage also) Lidless Wall(increases cast rate) or a high defence shield Rating: 9/10 If the Desert Mercenaries are unmatchable, then... why do I use a Cold Ironwolf? Because I own a Treasure Hunter Ironwolf. Helm: Crown of the Thieves --> 100% Extra Gold Armor: Goldskin --> 100% Extra Gold or Wealth(Runeword)---> 300% Extra Gold and 100 % Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Sword: Blade of Ali Baba --> 2-247 % Extra Gold and 1-99 % Better Chance of Getting Magic Items socketed with two Ist runes Shield: Wall of the Eyeless I own Gheed's Fortune unique charm(110 % Extra Gold and 32 % Better Chance of Getting Magic Items) which bonuses are added to my Ironwolf. The results are: 100+100+212+110= 522% Extra Gold 85+32= 117% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items So every time he kills anybody, the chances of getting a unique/set item are higher and I earn lots and lots of money. This hireling is not a melee fighter so to use a pitiful armor(400 def) is something affordable. To build a Treasure Hunter with another hireling is at least a suicide considering that the damage inflicted by an Iron Wolf is independent from his equipment because he cast spells. Another hireling like act II and act V are melee fighters who barely survive at Hell mode using a really good armor. D) Barbarians Available in act 5, they are melee fighters like act 2 mercs but without their cool auras. Do I really need to say anything else? A.I: Err...the same that act II mercs. (armor,helm,one-handed sword/two-handed sword) Basic Equipment: Duriel Shell, a nice helm and Swordguard Advanced Equipment: The Grandfather A +800 defence armor(unique or set if possible) Andariel's Visage(poison damage also) Rating: 7/10 Barbarians are not bad, they endure better than any other hireling, they could inflect more damage than anyone else, but their extra-features (Bash and Stun), aren't as good as Desert Mercenaries auras or Ironwolves cold spells. As plain and simple as that. II. Basic Strategies ==================== *The strategy is simple: your minions distract and kill enemies while you cast Fissure over them. Hire a Desert Mercenarie or an Ironwolf, they will freeze your enemies or at least slow them, making much easier for your summonings to kill the enemies. When a group of enemies is reduced, you could collaborate killing frozen enemies. *The AI of your summonings is...a crap. They don't follow you constantly, so some times you will have to re-summon them if they are in the previous room. For example, in Catacombs. To avoid this, you can teleport. Teleport? How? You will need Naj's stave or Enigma. This is just optional, but teleport is quite useful, because when you teleport your summonings and merc are teleported with you and don't need to re-summon them. *Against uniques, who can't be frozen instead of using Fissure, use Volcano on them. Volcano is especially useful against Vampires, Zakarum Priests and Oblivion Knights who are immunes to cold at Hell level. *When fighting against bosses let the right button of the mouse pressed constantly over the boss, then you only have to press one shortkey or another in order to cast or summon or press a number to take a potion. *Until you get Aldur's set, I recommend having 2 columns of mana, 1 of full rejuvenation potions and 1 of HP. When you own Aldur, then 1 column of mana, 1 of full rejuvenation potions and 2 of HP. *As you will be re-summoning quite often in Hell mode, I recommend these shortkeys: F1 Summon Dire Wolf F2 Heart Of Wolverine F3 Fissure F4 Volcano F5 Carrion Vine F6 Poison Creeper F7 Raven F8 Armageddon This configuration is totally personal, but it worked great with me. *Druids were created to be shape-shifters and shape-shifting gives them more life, defence, attack and damage; the elemental spells and summonings were just a complement. But we aren't shape-sifters, we're original, it implies that elemental druids are more vulnerable to physic attacks. Be aware of that! You could and you must hit your enemies, but be cautious while attacking because your life will be reduced quickly in melee combats and if you're surrounded you're almost dead. The hit and run tactic is needed in your play. *To use some +175 Poison Damage Over 6 Seconds charms is a good idea, they occupy ridiculous space(1 or 2 slots) but the benefits are crucial against physic immunes. III. General Gameplay Comments ============================== *Playing solo is really challenging and fun, but in parties were enemies HP is increased you'll find that your spells and summons are useless at Hell mode. *Dueling is not a possibility for flaming druids, elemental druids can't win a duel. Duels are for melee characters or extremely powerful casters(sorceress) which is not our case. *My recommendation is to start Nightmare mode at level 50-55 and Hell mode at 70-75, this values are totally orientative depending on the equipment you use. You will reckon:"How can I get this level?" If you play online, then I recommend Baal runs, which is to say, to kill the uniques who dwell at the Throne of Destruction one time after another. This way you can earn lots and lots of EXP. If you play solo, it will take a loooong time. *Where to train: Level 1-15 Act1 and Andariel runs Level 15-20 Tomb Runs(Act 2) Level 20-25 Travincal Runs and Diablo runs Level 25-30 Cow runs *If you play a rush, a game where a high level character boosts you through 1 or more acts, or if you want to boost somebody I have some tips: 1) Give all wp's to your friend creating a tp near the wp. 2) Only complete necessary and really good bonus missions. Glossary: Ax-y --> Act x Mission y (X) --> In brackets the bonus obtained [X] --> Only necessary at a this level wp --> World portal tp --> Town portal Necessary Missions: A1-3, A1-6, A2-2, A2-4, A2-6, A3-6, A4-3, A5-5(+1 level up), A5-6 Bonus Missions: A1-1(+1 skill), A1-2(1 free Rogue Scout)[Normal], A1-4(random runes&money),A1-5(imbue one item) A2-1(+1 skill),A3-1(+20 life),A3-3(rare magical ring), A3-4(+5 attributes), A4-1(+2 skills),A4-2(runes and gems), A5-1(socket one item), A5-2(Tal,Ral&Ort runes), A5-3(+10 to all Resistances), A5-4(rename one item) Unnecessary Missions: A2-3, A2-5, A3-5 In unnecessary missions I would include: A1-2,A1-4,A3-3,A5-1,A5-2&A5-4 3) For mission A2-2, you only need the Horadric Cube in Normal, so in Hell and Nightmare you will only need the staff and the amulet. In mission A3-6, you only need Kalim's flail which is obtained by killing the Council. When you have it talk with Cain, and now your friend can give the wp8(the last one) without destroying the orbe, automaticaly the orbe will be destroyed without needing the rest of relics. 4) There are some wp than can't be used until you complete some missions Act I: all available Act II: wp7 only available when the staff is completed(A2-2) wp8 only available when completing A2-4 Act III: see point 3 Act IV: all available Act V: wp8 only available when completing A5-5 *Don't dare to ask me about any kind of bot or maphack, anyone who uses them will lose their soul, their honor and last but not least their account if Blizzard caught them. If you see anyone using them jot down their names and report them to Blizzard as I've done, I do and I will continue doing. Let's make the net a safer place!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 9. Equipment ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I divided the equipment in 3 categories: Basic(1-30), Advanced(30-75) and God's(75 or above) equipment. After reading this equipment guide you will notice that the stuff don't boost the Faser Cast Rate, this is due to the unnecessity of it, because all fire spells hava a big delay. This section contains the ideal stuff you should use, I'm not saying it would be easy to find them, indeed it's really difficult. So use this guide as an orientation. PLEASE, DON'T ASK ME HOW TO FIND THIS ITEMS If you play on 1 player mode, lots and lots of luck and time. If you play in battle.net you can trade making more easy to get the Basic and the Advanced equipment, but not the God's equipment. To get the God's equipment is a question of time(months, years,centuries, milleniums). I) Basic Equipment(1 to 30 level) ================================= A1) Helm: Tarnhelm Defence: 8-11 (varies) Required Level: 15 Required Strength: 15 Durability: 18 +1 To All Skill Levels 25-50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Item (varies) 75% Extra Gold From Monsters A2) Helm: Peasant Crown War Hat Defense:108 Durability:20 Required Strength:20 Required Level:28 15% Faster walk/run +1 To all skill levels +100% Enhanced defence Replenish life +12 +20 To energy +20 To vitality Comments: Both helms are fantastic, Tarnhelm is a nice option until you can wear the Peasant Crown War Hat or a Shaman druid pelt (adds +1 skills to all druid skills, required level 30) B) Armor: Skin of the Vipermagi Defence: 279 (Base Defence: 111-126) Required Level: 29 Required Strength: 43 Durability: 24 +120% Enhanced Defence +1 To All Skills 30% Faster Cast Rate Magic Damage Reduced By 9-13 (varies) All Resistances +20-35 (varies) Comments: Resistances to all, +1 to all skills. The only con is the defence, but the faster cast rate is unmatchable, considering the delay all our spells have. C) Weapon: Hellplague One-Hand Damage: 5 To (32-34) (18.5-19.5 Avg) Required Level: 22 Required Strength: 55 Required Dexterity: 39 Durability: 44 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +70-80% Enhanced Damage(varies) +2 To Fire Skills Adds 25-75 Fire Damage Adds 28-56 Poison Damage Over 6 Seconds 5% Life Stolen Per Hit 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Comments: +2 To Fire Skills, Wow!!! What else can I say? It adds fire damage and poison also, getting a total of 58-163 damage D) Shield: Sigon's Guard Defense:24 Chance To Block:64% Durability:120 Required Strength:75 Required Level:18 Increase chance of blocking +1 to all skill levels Comments: +1 to all skills is fantastic. But apart from that you get a high percentage of blocking. If the defence sucks, then... why should I use it? The bonus you get from using it and the Sigon's Wrap are really good: 10% Life Stolen Per Hit This leeching bonus is quite useful for shape-shifters, but it's well worth for us too E) Belt: Sigon's Wrap Defense:8 Durability:24 Required Strength:60 Required Level:6 Fire resist +20% +20 To life Comments: Its defence sucks, but as before the bonus you get from using it with Sigon's Guard are amazing: + (2 Per Character Level) 2-198 To Defence (Based On Character Level) F1) Boots: Tearhaunch Defense:62 Durability:120 Required Strength:70 Required Level:29 +75% Enhanced Defence 20% Faster run/walk All resistance +10 +35 Defence +5 To dexterity +5 To strength +2 To Vigor (Paladin Only) Comments: Really nice for low level druids, the +10 to all resistances bonus rocks. Sigon's Sabot is a nice choice also: F2) Sigon's Sabot Defence: 12-15 (varies) Required Level: 6 Required Strength: 70 Durability: 24 Assassin Kick Damage: 10-20 20% Faster Run/Walk Cold Resist +40% Comments: +50 To Attack Rating (2 Items), +50% Better Chance To Find Magic Items (3 Items) and +100 to defence. Very useful, also. G) Gloves: Frostburn Gauntlets Defense:63 Durability:120 Required Strength:60 Required Level:29 +30 Defence +20% Enhanced defence 5% Enhanced damage Increase maximum mana 40% Add 1-6 to cold damage +30 Defence Comments: Average defence and lots of mana, quite useful for us who are casters H) Rings: The Stone Of Jordan Ring Required Level:29 +1 To all skill levels Increase maximum mana 25% Add 1-12 lightning damage +20 To mana Comments: Lots of mana and +1 to all skills, but there is a problem it's really difficult to find one. So use any rare ring that gives you resistances to many things. I) Amulet: The Eye of Etlich Required Level: 15 +1-5 To Light Radius (varies) +1 To All Skill Levels 3-7% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies) Adds (1-2) to (3-5) Cold Damage (varies) Cold Duration: 2-10 Seconds (varies)* +10-40 Defence vs. Missile (varies)* Comments: Again, at low levels The Eye of Etlich is the ideal choice, adding the leeching bonus to the one you get on from Sigon's Guard, you would get a final result of 13-17% Life Stolen Per Hit, but it's difficult to find it. So A Shaman's amulet(adds +1 to all skills, required level: 30) it's not a bad choice. II) Advanced Equipment(31 to 76 level) ====================================== At Hell level you're going to need high resistances, because -100 to all resistances are big handicap. So I recommend using high level sets. A) Aldur's Watchover(Helm,armor,boots and one handed mace) Maximum required level:76 +3 To Druid Skills +1 To Elemental Skills (Druid Only) +1 To Shape Shifting Skills (Druid Only) Total defence: 1092-1225 Cold Resist +90-100% Fire Resist +90-100% Lightning Resist +90-100% Poison Resist +50% +45 to ALL ATTRIBUTES!!!!! +150 to Life +150 to Mana +20 to Strength +15 to Dexterity 10% Life Stolen Per Hit 15% Mana Stolen Per Hit 50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items And many other bonus Comments: This set was designed for druids, it's the one I'm using right now. It's difficult to find something better and it's relatively easy to complete this set, there are only 4 items. The mace has 2-3 sockets and the helm 2, you could socket them with really nice runes, making this set unbeatable. To complete this set use these: i) Shield: Lidless Wall Defence: 271-347 (varies)(Base Defence: 50-150) Required Level: 41 Required Strength: 58 Chance to Block: 40% Durability: 40 Paladin Smite Damage: 14 To 20 +80-130% Enhanced Defence (varies) +1 To All Skills Increase Maximum Mana 10% 20% Faster Cast Rate +3-5 To Mana After Each Kill (varies) +10 To Energy +1 To Light Radius Comments: Increases your cast rate and your mana, it suits elemental druids fantastically. Furthermore, it adds +1 To All Skills. The only con is the chance of block(40%) but the benefits are really something. Socket it with a perfect diamond at act 5 to get +19 to all resistances. ii) Belt: Thundergod's Vigor Defence: 137-159 (varies)(Base Defence: 41-52) Required Level: 47 Required Strength: 110 Durability: 24 16 Boxes +160-200% Enhanced Defence (varies) Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage 5% Chance To Cast Level 7 Fist Of The Heavens When Struck +20 Lightning Absorb 10% To Maximum Lightning Resist +20 To Strength +20 To Vitality +3 To Lightning Fury (Amazon Only) +3 To Lightning Strike (Amazon Only) Comments: Thundergod's Vigor is the right choice which requires a low level. Probably, the best is that it also increases your Maximum Lightning Resist, which is the most damaging elemental damage. iii) Gloves: Magefist Defense: 24-25 (varies)(Base Defense: 9-11) Required Level: 23 Required Strength: 45 Durability: 18 +20-30% Enhanced Defense (varies) +10 Defense +1 To Fire Skills 20% Faster Cast Rate Regenerate Mana 25% Adds 1-6 Fire Damage Comments: At this rate you will have enough mana, so lest's increase our fire damage. iv) Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope Required Level: 67 +2 To All Skill Levels All Resistances +20-30 (varies) +5 To All Attributes Comments: Well, obviously this is the best amulet of the whole game by far. If you don't find it, Seraph's Hymn(+2 To All Skills) is a nice choice also. Don't get depressed if you can't find any of them, a Gaea's amulet(+3 Druid Elemental, required level: 60) is a more than acceptable possibility. v) Rings: The Stone of Jordan(described before) At this level you could aim for: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Ban Required Level: 58 +1 To All Skill Levels + (0.5 Per Character Level) 0-49 To Life (Based On Character Level) 3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies) +50 Maximum Stamina Comments: The leeching bonus makes it quite attractive, gives life and +1 To All Skill Levels. B) The Disciple(amulet,gloves,armor,belt and boots) Maximum required level:65 +3 To All Skills Total defence: 1056-1294 Cold Resist +83% Fire Resist +139% Lightning Resist +65% Poison Resist +100-115% +100 to Mana +20 to Strength +10 to Dexterity Half Freeze Duration And many other bonus Comments: It's not as astounding as Aldur's Watchtower, but it's is really good because it allows you to use a druid hat, which implies +2 to all skills and allows you to use 2-hands weapon i) Helm: Jalal's Mane Defence: 247-297 (varies)(Base Defence: 73-98) Defence: 73-98 Required Level: 42 Required Strength: 65 Durability: 20 (Druid Only) +150-200% Enhanced Defence (varies) 30% Faster Hit Recovery 20% Bonus To Attack Rating +2 To Druid Skill Levels All Resistances +30 +5 To Mana After Each Kill +20 To Strength +20 To Energy +2 To Shape Shifting Skills (Druid Only) Comments: All Resistances +30!!!, +2 To Druid Skill Levels and a high defence. This helm is a lovely choice. ii-1 hand ) Weapon: Dark Clan Crusher One-Hand Damage: 17 To 61 (39 Avg) Required Level: 34 Required Strength: 25 Durability: 24 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +195% Enhanced Damage +200% Damage To Demons +50% Damage To Undead +200 To Attack Rating Against Demons +20-25% Bonus To Attack Rating(varies) +15 Life After Each Demon Kill +2 To Druid Skill Levels Comments: The damage is pitiful, but +2 To Druid Skill Levels makes this weapon a sensible choice. And you can continue using the Lidless Wall shield. ii-2 hands) Weapon: Athena's Wrath Two-Hand Damage: (45-50) To (113-224) (79-137 Avg) Required Level: 42 Required Strength: 82 Required Dexterity: 82 Durability: 65 Base Weapon Speed: [-10] +150-180% Enhanced Damage (varies) + (1 Per Character Level) 1-99 To Maximum Damage (Based On Character Level) + (1 Per Character Level) 1-99 To Life (Based On Character Level) 30% Increased Attack Speed +1-3 To Druid Skill Levels (varies) +15 To Dexterity Comments: My former weapon. A scythe with +3 to Druid Skills is a bit risky, considering than you can't use a shield which is a must at Hell level. But I survived until I can use the complete Aldur's set. And a druid using a Hunter's Guise and a scythe looks really cool!!! You seem to be the devil who has been described like this way many times. iii) Rings: the same used in Aldur's set. C) If you can't find any of this sets, then I recommend using this armor: Skullder's Ire Defence: 634-732 (varies)(Base Defence: 225-243) Required Level: 42 Required Strength: 97 Durability: 90 +160-200% Enhanced Defence (varies) Repairs 1 Durability In 5 Seconds + (1.25 Per Character Level) 1-123 % Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level) +1 To All Skill Levels Magic Damage Reduced By 10 Comments: More than acceptable defence, +1 To All Skill Levels and extra vitality. Boots: Natalya's Soul Defence: 112-169 (varies)(Base Defence: 37-44) Required Level: 25 Required Strength: 65 Durability: 66 Assassin Kick Damage: 23-52 +75-125 Defence (varies) +40% Faster Run/Walk Heal Stamina Plus (0.25 Per Character Level) 0-24% (Based On Character Level) Cold Resist +15-25% (varies) Lightning Resist +15-25% (varies) Comments: Tearhaunch are one of the best boots due to their resistances, if you want to change them do it by Natalya's Soul which defence is high and their resistances also. The rest of items has been described in the previous sets. III) God's Equipment(75 to 99 level) ==================================== If you are really addicted to this game, these are the items you should aim for. Some of them are rune words and consequently it could take several months, years or centuries to complete this ideal equipment. A1) Helms: Ravenlore Defence: 343-390 (Base Defence: 103-155) Required Level: 74 Required Strength: 113 Durability: 20 (Druid Only) +120-150% Enhanced Defence (varies) +7 To Raven (Druid Only) +3 To Elemental Skills (Druid Only) +20-30 To Energy (varies) -10-20% To Enemy Fire Resistance (varies) All Resistances +15-25 (varies) Comments: A Gaea's pelt has also +3 To Elemental Skills, but the defence won't be that high. A real elemental druid must own it. A2) Helms: Delirium(runeword) 1% Chance To Cast Level 50 Delirium* (morph) When Struck 6% Chance To Cast Level 14 Mind Blast When Struck 14% Chance To Cast Level 13 Terror When Struck 11% Chance To Cast Level 18 Confuse On Striking +2 To All Skills +261 Defence +10 To Vitality 50% Extra Gold From Monsters 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Level 17 Attract (60 Charges) Comments: If you only get +2 To All Skills, why should I own this? Delirium morphs you into a Bone Fetish for a period of about 1 minute, it makes you look really cool!! B) Armor: Enigma(runeword) +2 To All Skills +45% Faster Run/Walk +1 To Teleport +750-775 Defence (varies) + (0.75 Per Character Level) +0-74 To Strength (Based On Character Level) Increase Maximum Life 5% Damage Reduced By 8% +14 Life After Each Kill 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana + (1 Per Character Level) +1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level) Comments: Err,... the only pity is that it hasn't any resistances, but you could solve it socketing any of your items with Um runes. Consider that the overall defence of your armor could be 1300- 1500, due to the 750-775 Defence bonus. C1) Weapon: Heart of the Oak(runeword) +3 To All Skills +40% Faster Cast Rate +75% Damage To Demons +100 To Attack Rating Against Demons Adds 3-14 Cold Damage, 3 sec. Duration (Normal) 7% Mana Stolen Per Hit +10 To Dexterity Replenish Life +20 Increase Maximum Mana 15% All Resistances +30-40 (varies) Level 4 Oak Sage (25 Charges) Level 14 Raven (60 Charges) +50% Damage To Undead Comments: +3 To All Skills and +30-40 to all resistances is something to consider, it could be socketed in a on-handed weapon allowing you to use a shield. Apart from that the name suits perfectly to a druid. C2) Weapon: Earth Shifter Two-Hand Damage: (115-132) To (630-720) (372.5-426 Avg) Required Level: 69 Required Strength: 253 Durability: 60 Base Weapon Speed: [20] +250-300% Enhanced Damage (varies) +50% Damage To Undead +7 To Elemental Skills (Druid Only) 25% Chance To Cast Level 14 Fissure On Striking 10% Increased Attack Speed 33% Chance of Crushing Blow 10% Faster Cast Rate Level 14 Volcano (30 charges) Comments: 7? Yes, you have read well. It adds +7 to elemental skills. It only has a con, you need 253 strength to use it. D) Shield: I continue recommending Lidless Wall if you are using a one-handed weapon. E) Belt: Arachnid Mesh Defence: 119-138 (varies)(Base Defence: 55-62) Required Level: 80 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 12 16 Boxes +90-120% Enhanced Defence (varies) Slows Target By 10% +1 To All Skills +20% Faster Cast Rate Increases Maximum Mana 5% Level 3 Venom (11 Charges) Comments: Like the Lidless Wall shield, this item is ideal for casters. F) Boots: Natalya's Soul Defense: 112-169 (varies)(Base Defense: 37-44) Required Level: 25 Required Strength: 65 Durability: 66 Assassin Kick Damage: 23-52 +75-125 Defense (varies) +40% Faster Run/Walk Heal Stamina Plus (0.25 Per Character Level) 0-24% (Based On Character Level) Cold Resist +15-25% (varies) Lightning Resist +15-25% (varies) Comments: Fast Run/Walk and high resistances. G) Gloves: Gloves: Magefist Defense: 24-25 (varies)(Base Defense: 9-11) Required Level: 23 Required Strength: 45 Durability: 18 +20-30% Enhanced Defense (varies) +10 Defense +1 To Fire Skills 20% Faster Cast Rate Regenerate Mana 25% Adds 1-6 Fire Damage Comments: At this rate you will have enough mana, so lest's increase our fire damage. H) Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope is still the best choice. I) Rings: The ones described on the Advanced Equipment section. IV. Charms ========== I recommend to own as more elemental skillers as possible, they're a must for us, the elemental druids. Some resistances charms is a good idea also. Unique charms: ************** Annihilus Required Level: 70 +1 To All Skills +10-20 To All Attributes (varies) All Resistances +10-20 (varies) +5-10% To Experience Gained (varies) Comments: Yes, it exists. But I've never saw it. It's only dropped from šber Diablo, a super Diablo that appears out of the blue on battle.net realms. Gheed's Fortune Required Level: 62 80-160% Extra Gold From Monsters (varies) Reduces All Vendor Prices 10-15% (varies) 20-40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (varies) (Ladder Only) Comments: I own it. It only appears at battle.net, it gives you more chances of getting more money and magic items, and remember that the nearer you're to magic items the nearer you are to uniques, sets or rare runes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 10. Bosses Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACT I ===== BLOOD RAVEN ----------- Firstly, kill all the monster that are outside the cementary, then go through the doors. This boss is annoying because she is always moving so it's difficult to hit her. The graveyard were she lays it's plenty of zombies also, but they're not a match for you; don't lose time killing them cause she revive them. Try to surround her in a corner with your wolves(in Normal you will only have one wolf) and finish her with Volcano or Fissure(Firestorm in Normal). Difficulty: 3/10 GRISWOLD -------- He is extremely slow but resistant also. Firstly, kill all the monsters around him, after that your summonings will distract him while you fry him with your spells. Difficulty: 2/10 THE COUNTESS ------------ Kill her army first, attract them then kill them one by one. Finally, face the countess, the same as always send you summonings to distract her and cast Fissure or Volcano over her. Try to avoid her pitiful Firewall. An easy one also. =) Difficulty: 3/10 THE SMITH --------- Let me introduce you Griswold's older brother. Slower and tougher than him, as always the same tactic summonings and spells. Difficulty: 3.5/10 ANDARIEL --------- Wow, this one is hard. Her poison attack is deathly. Firstly, clear the zone, once you open the door of her sanctuary kill the monsters which dwell before the columns to not request Andariel's attention. When the battle is clear go for her. Remember, summon and re-summon because her poisonous attacks will kill your wolves really quickly. Be prepared to run if run out of mana, because she is deadly but if you cast spells from the distance you could kill her without problems, considering that she is vulnerable to Fire spells, so let's start the barbeque. Difficulty: 6.5/10 ACT II ====== RADAMENT -------- His breath stinks!! :P He's as poisonous as Andariel was and can resurrect his army of skeletons so summon your wolves near him and fry him to kill him quickly, because when he dies his army dies. Difficulty: 5.5/10 COLD WORM THE BURROWER ---------------------- His minions are all over the room throwing poison everywhere, summon your wolves and cast Fissure, really useful in this case. Once his minions are dead he will be an easy pray he can't attack. Difficulty: 3.5/10 THE SUMMONER ------------ His cold spells are really something, try to avoid them and destroy him, his low HP will be his doom. Summon your wolves in his platform and then cast Volcano over him. Difficulty: 3.5/10 DURIEL ------ He has Holy Freeze and lots and lots of HP. In Normal, he will be a challenge(no in Hell and Nightmare) because your spells aren't strong enough and your summons will die quickly. So then? Re-summon eternally and cast Fissure when possible, it's probably the longest combat for the Flaming Druid but absolutely possible to kill him. Be fully provided of mana potions, you'll need them. Difficulty: 8/10 ACT III ======= COUNCIL MEMBERS --------------- Fight them one by one, they will be an easy prey for your summons, hireling and spells. If you fight against more than one at a time it will be hard. Difficulty: 6.5/10 MEPHISTO -------- Firstly, clear the zone. Then summon your wolves over him and fry him with Fissure. Without doubt the weakest of the 3 Great Devils, but be cautious because if all of your summonings are killed he could cast Blizzard or even better Lightning over you, I can assure that he can kill you with one of these. Difficulty: 4.5/10 ACT IV ====== IZUAL ----- Clear the area and the face him, don't get to close he can cast a freezing Nova like Mephisto, so as always the same strategy. Summon and fry. This one is an easy one. Difficulty: 4/10 HEPHASTO THE ARMORER -------------------- He looks like a tough enemy, but he's a piece of cake. Lower HP than Izual, burn him into ashes. Difficulty: 2.5/10 LORD DE SEIS/GRAND VIZIER OF CHAOS/INFECTOR OF SOULS ---------------------------------------------------- This ones are uniques, not bosses but I find necessary to talk about them due to their difficulty. The guardians of the temple of Diablo. They're tough and are always helped by a considerable army. Firstly try to kill their army and then go for the boss. The Vizier is probably the easiest, then come Lord de Seis with his fucking curses, he's really dangerous his spells weaken your summonings. Take care with the Infector he and all his army are really strong, I'll try living them for the final when the whole area is clear to be able escape easily. Try to attract a few of them and kill them like the Council. Difficulty: 7/10 6/10 7.5/10 DIABLO ------ Big D is in my opinion one of the toughest bosses at the same level that Baal. With him the hireling is useless, Diablo's Lightning Inferno is deathly(50% physical damage, 50% Lightning damage) try to avoid it. His Flame Circle is vicious because your spirit will die with 1 or 2 of them which implies a considering amount of mana when maxed. His Cold Touch damages critically your summonings. The main strategy is the same as always: summon and re-summon your wolves when they die, cast Fissure over Diablo one time after another and be careful with his Lightning Inferno. Remember to open a safe Town Portal before beginning the combat. In Nightmare and Hell, it will be a extremely long combat which requires many potions but it's a relatively easy combat. In Normal, when your summonings and spells aren't enough powerful you could suffer to beat him but it's absolutely possible to kill Big D. Difficulty: 9/10 ACT V ===== SHENK THE OVERSEER ------------------ A strong enemy who mainly bases its strength on his suicide army, get rid of them attracting them and when the whole army is defeated finish him with the usual strategy. Summonings and Fissure. Difficulty: 5/10 NIHLATHAK --------- I really hate this boy. We could be considered ranged players when casting spells but his teletransport makes his Arctic Blast a dangerous menace for us. But this is not the worst, he can summon monsters and when they are dead, he casts Corpse Explosion, but not the usual one. He casts the one which appeared in DIABLO II(not the expansion) were this skill was extremely overpowered depending on your equipment one touch could imply your dead, so don't get near any dead corpse. The strategy as always is summonings and Fissure. Difficulty: 8/10 TALIC, MADAWC & KORLIC ---------------------- The famous Ancients, their fame is not a fake. They use respectively Whirlwind, Shout, Double Throw and Leap Attack. In Nightmare and Hell mode, they receive immunities and extra abilities like most uniques, this could make them a tough burden. If their immunities are too much for you then open a Town Portal and recast the ancients again, their abilities will change. What makes this combat really tough is without doubt that you can not run away, when you open a Town Portal the Ancients disappear and you have to fight against them with full HP. So try to fight one-by-one them, I'm not saying this is going to be easy, because they move all the time, but remember summon and cast Fissure, if you can surround any of the Ancients cast Volcano over him. Difficulty: 9.5/10 BAAL UNIQUES: COLENZO, ACHMEL, BARTUC, VENTAR & LISTER ------------------------------------------------------ They are uniques(not bosses), but I find that a piece of advice will be appreciated. Colenzo is a shaman, he and his minions are pitiful you will crush them so badly. Achmel and his poison skeleton mages are not bad, but they will be an easy prey for you. Bartuc and his army are tough, try to fight them one-by-one like you already did with the Council. Let Bartuc for the final he's a tough guy, but alone he's not that dangerous. The same strategy with Ventar and his army. Lister and his friends are a nightmare, to kill one of them alone is difficult cause their hits makes you dizzy, so don't let them surround you because it will hurt too much. Difficulty: 4/10 5.5/10 7/10 8/10 9/10 BAAL ---- Finally, the Lord of Destruction. His melee attacks aren't dangerous but we are not melee fighters and this disadvantage makes this combat the hardest one. He can cast Mana Rift, a beam which consume lots of mana, but the worst is the Hoarfrost, an ice arrow than freezes and pushes you and your summonings. Try to surround him with your summonings, then cast Fissure over him, when this happens he tends to teletransport anywhere and create a clone of himself. Apparently, they're the equal, but the clone has lower defence and his HP decreases faster, so leave him a go for the real Baal. This combat is hard not only because of the tons of mana potions you're going to use, his clone and his spells specially the Hoarfrost will kill your summonings faster than you can imagine, be especially cautious with getting surrounded by Baal and the clone, a double Hoarfrost will drain your HP dramatically. Difficulty: 10/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 11. Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This document is Copyright 2004 Joan Roda. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Feel free to distribute or post as long as you don't change my name or try to make any money off of it, okay? Letting me know about it would be appreciated too. (joanroda@eresmas.com) This FAQ is exclusive to the following websites: GameFAQS http://www.gamefaqs.com/ DLH.net http://dlh.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * 12. Special Thanks ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To Konstantin Inozemtsev, Levent Tekbas and Christopher Yao among others for their comments, critics, suggestions or just questions which have helped this FAQ to grow in contents and quality. To Blizzard for creating this fantastic game. To Battle.net for all the useful information posted at The Arreat Summit To CJayC for posting it in his marvellous website. To me for writing this FAQ. To you for reading it.