Guide:Fury/Rabies Wolf v1.10, by Liquid Evil

Diablo II Strategy Guide Info:

[edit]

• Patch: v1.10
• Gametype: PvP
• Class: Druid
• Specialisation: Fury/Rabies Werewolf Druid
• Author: Liquid Evil

Icy Veins Fury Druid Build

Fury/Rabies Wolf

The world of dueling is a harsh and unforgiving one. This is usually a world sparsely populated by druids. However, it is my opinion that if you are heart-set on building a PvP druid, this particular build will deliver the best results at the cheapest price. Fury/Rabies Wolves work well because they deal in two forms of damage (physical and poison), have very large life pools, and have the best faster hit recovery of any class.

Stats

They are pretty standard PvP character stats. They focus on attaining 75% block, being able to weild all of your equipment combinations, and building a substancial amount of hit points.

• Strength: - Just enough to equip all of your gear (usually about ~150 hard points)
• Dexterity: - Enough for max block (usually about ~180 hard points)
• Vitality: - Everything you can spare (shoot for ~200 hard points)
• Energy: - None

Skills

There are basically two subvariants to a Fury/Rabies wolf: Life-based and Attack Rating-based. To see which one would best suit you, look at who you will be dueling. If you find yourself dueling more caster oriented characters, then the life-based variant will probably work more to your advantage. If you are planning on dueling more melee builds, then you might find the Attack Rating-based theme more to your liking.

Life based

• 1 Werewolf
• 20 Lycanthropy
• 20 Rabies
• 20 Poison Creeper
• 20 Fury
• 20 Oak (this gets maxed last)
• 1 Raven
• 1 Spirit Wolf
• 1 Feral Rage

Attack Rating based

• 20 Werewolf (this gets maxed last)
• 20 Lycanthropy
• 20 Rabies
• 20 Poison Creeper
• 20 Fury
• 1 Raven
• 1 Spirit Wolf
• 1 Feral Rage
• 1 Oak Sage

If you cannot decide between the variants or are unsure who you will be dueling, splitting points evenly between Oak Sage and Werewolf can help to combat all types of characters.

Formulas

Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints

• 00 - 7
• 09 - 6
• 20 - 5
• 42 - 4
• 86 - 3

To deal damage ourselves, we must make sure we are recovering from our opponent's attacks as quickly as possible. This isn't as hard as it sounds as werewolves have the best faster hit recovery in the game. Make sure you are hitting the 4 frame breakpoint with at least 42% FHR.

Equipment

HELMS

• Jalal's Mane- This helm has +skills, +resists, +strength, an attack rating boost, and 30% FHR. Socket it with a Shael for an immediate 4 frame FHR. If you can reach the breakpoint without the Shael, consider a Perfect Ruby or an added life boost.
• Cerebus' Bite- Comparable +skills, a nice attack rating boost, and a very nice 33% open wounds mod. If you can make up the FHR and resists you'll lose from Jalal's, then this is a nice alternative helm.
• Guillaume's Face- Deadly strike, crushing blow and +strength, and 30% FHR.

WEAPONS

One handed:

• "Oath" Cryptic Sword- Nice speed and damage for a runeword that is pound for pound, probably one of the best investments in the game. It also has a neat % chance to cast Bone Spirit for some minor added magic damage. It is only a range 2, but it hits at a 5 frame Fury.
• Ethereal Baranar's Star s/ Shael- Great AR boost, +stats, some decent elemental damage, and 5 frame Fury, what more could you want? You can use a non-ethereal one if you don't like replacing your primary weapon that will lose durability as you duel, just remember to socket it with a Shael to hit that breakpoint. The physical damage difference between the regular and the ethereal is 129-159 and 192-237 respectively.
• Razor's Edge s/Shael- 50% deadly strike, 50% open wounds, and -target defense makes for a deadly little tomahawk.

Two handed:

• Upgraded Ribcracker s/Shael- Nice damage, +dexterity, a whopping 50% FHR, very low requirements and crushing blow rolled into a 5 frame weapon. Excellent.
• Immortal Kings Stone Crusher s/Shael + Shael- Again, good damage and some crushing blow in a nice little package. 225 strength requirements are a little steep though.
• Windhammer s/Shael- The IK Stone Crusher's unique brother, though I like it better than its set counterpart. Better damage and crushing blow but it still comes with that steep 225 strength requirement.
• Buriza-Do Kyanon- Yes, I realize this is a crossbow, but in wereform it gets treated like a melee weapon. Scaling damage, minor cold damage, and +dexterity make for a cheap but decent weapon. The main drawback of this weapon is poor range.

ARMOR

• "Duress" Light Armor- Decent resists, 40% FHR, 15% crushing blow, and a juicy 33% chance of open wounds.
• "Lionheart" Light Armor- Nice life, resists, minor ED, and +stats. An oldie, but goodie.
• Duriel's Shell- Good resists, +15 strength, CBF, and scaling life. Decent.
• Toothrow- +10 strength, minor fire resist and 40% chance of open wounds. Duress' little brother.

BELTS

• Verdungo's Hearty Cord- 10-15% PDR, minor FHR, and a good life boost. The perfect belt.
• String of Ears- 10-15% PDR and some MDR, a good alternative if you can't afford a Verdungo's.
• Rare/crafted belt- Something with +life, resists, +stats, and FHR.

GLOVES

• Trang Oul's Claws- 25% Poison skill damage to increase your Rabies, a great set of cheap gloves.
• Bloodfist- 30% FHR and +life make these normal gloves good enough for end game.

BOOTS

• Gore Riders- The only pair of boots in the game with deadly strike, open wounds, and crushing blow mods. Tie all that to the 30% FRW they offer and you are looking at some darn nice boots.
• Aldur's Advance- Fire resists and +life on a pair of set boots that offer 40% FRW.
• Immortal King's Pillar- Just about like Aldur's with more of an emphasis on attack rating rather than resists. Another good option.

SHIELDS

• Stormshield- This is about the only shield I recommend. It has a much needed 35% PDR and great block rate. Get it. You can Shael it to hit the next blocking recovery breakpoint, ED jewel it for more Fury damage, or P. Diamond it for more resists.

RINGS

• Ravenfrost- Cold absorb, 15-20 dexterity, and a nice AR boost. What's not to love? Use at least one.
• Rare/crafted ring- Something with +life, +resists, and +stats. If you can't get a good one, use another Ravenfrost.

AMULETS

• Highlord's Wrath- +1 skills, some lightning resist, and scaling deadly strike. This will help your effective Fury damage.
• Cat's Eye- +25 dexterity and 30% FRW. If you are finding yourself running too slow, one of these might be the answer.
• Rare/magic/crafted- Anything with +skills, +resists, +life, and +stats should work fine.

CHARMS

• +1 Shapeshifting (Spiritual) Skill Grand Charms- They will boost your AR, your life, your Fury damage, and your Rabies damage. Get some.
• Steel Grand Charms- If your Attack Rating is poor, a few of these might be the answer.
• Small charms- Look for mods like +life, +FRW, +AR, and +resists. Maybe a FHR or two will be needed to hit a desired breakpoint.

General Strategy

It wasn't mentioned in the gear section, but I would advocate having Plague Bearer and a Sigons Shield (or Lidless Wall, or "Spirit") on your weapon switch. After you have infected someone with Rabies with your main gear, if you hit the 'w' key, the added +skills and increased Rabies damage of your switch will be taken into account and will hurt your infected opponent more. You only need to weapon switch for a moment before returning to your main gear to finish the rest of the duel.

For dueling melee opponents, make sure you have close to 50% PDR (and with Stormshield and Verdungos/SoE, you should), a decent attack rating (with Steel Grand Charms and, if allowed, a Demon Limb prebuff) and your 75% block. Walk, rather than run, whenever possible and pick and choose the best angles of attack. Smiters are terribly hard on werewolves and certain whirlwind barbs can be as well.

For dueling caster opponents, make sure you have an appropriate amount of resists in the right element(s) and a good deal of FRW. If you can't catch them, you can't kill them. If you can substitute a 2-hand weapon without losing out on resists, then do it.

Here are some goals to shoot for with your Fury/Rabies Werewolf:

• Max resists in Nightmare
• ~3K life
• ~3K max Fury damage (1 hand)
• ~25K Rabies damage
• ~10K Attack Rating
• ~40-50% Open Wounds
• ~30% Deadly Strike
• ~100% FRW
• ~42% FHR
• ~75% Block