04-11-2004, 10:45 PM
@ogot:
Heh, sorry that my previous reply was completely unhelpful and a bit arrogant; I was tired, and your question struck me as weird. However, I can certainly understand the perspective, as the game can get very difficult in an untwinked, non-cookie-cutter situation.
Looking at the design of your Werewolf...are you going for a Rabies build? One rather problematic feature of Rabid Wolves is that they can't really blossom without a significant point investment, meaning full points in Poison Creeper and Rabies. Even then, you'd want a lot of +skills to be really effective. Thus, early on, it would perhaps be better to rely on simple physical damage to get the job done: stash away the Magical Long Sword for now, and focus on finding (preferably) a Maul or Great Maul with enhanced damage and possibly IAS (Hratli should keep these in stock, I believe; else, gamble Mauls from Alkor). Use Feral Rage as your main attack, giving you both a damage increase and a bit of Life Leech.
What sort of mercenary are you using? At this point, I would probably recommend a Defiance Merc with fairly high def armor, as they're the most self-sufficient; if you're unable to take the damage monsters are dealing out, then it's good to have another tank by your side. I also generally have a point in Dire Wolves, a point in Carrion Vine, and a bunch of point in Oak Sage by now. If you can, you may want to at least make a trivial investment in the middle branch of the Summoning Tree, as they have a decent amount of life automatically and thus can help with tanking; also, in the end, you'll almost definitely want to pick a Spirit and max it out. Most Wolves go for Oak Sage; Heart of Wolverine is also a decent option for the more offensive-minded Wolf.
More levels always help, of course, but distribute your skill points carefully. I would hold off on investing any more points into Werewolf and Lycanthropy at the moment; they're high enough to last you for a little while. Instead, as I said above, see what you can do about fleshing out your Summoning Tree with the extra points you get, mainly in terms of picking a Spirit. Getting a Dire Wolf (eventually a Grizzly) and Carrion Vine is a matter of personal preference, but I highly recommend it.
Also look for items that give +Life, and make sure your Vitality stat gets some lovin'. With such a heavy investment in Lycanthropy, you should be able to tank most Act 3 monsters pretty well, so I'm not sure I can explain why these Thrashers are giving you so much trouble. Being able to take their hits, and also having more targets to spread the hits over (melee Mercenary, Dire Wolf) should help a lot.
Let me know if any of this works out, or if you need any more help. Apologies to everyone else for hijacking this thread. :)
Heh, sorry that my previous reply was completely unhelpful and a bit arrogant; I was tired, and your question struck me as weird. However, I can certainly understand the perspective, as the game can get very difficult in an untwinked, non-cookie-cutter situation.
Looking at the design of your Werewolf...are you going for a Rabies build? One rather problematic feature of Rabid Wolves is that they can't really blossom without a significant point investment, meaning full points in Poison Creeper and Rabies. Even then, you'd want a lot of +skills to be really effective. Thus, early on, it would perhaps be better to rely on simple physical damage to get the job done: stash away the Magical Long Sword for now, and focus on finding (preferably) a Maul or Great Maul with enhanced damage and possibly IAS (Hratli should keep these in stock, I believe; else, gamble Mauls from Alkor). Use Feral Rage as your main attack, giving you both a damage increase and a bit of Life Leech.
What sort of mercenary are you using? At this point, I would probably recommend a Defiance Merc with fairly high def armor, as they're the most self-sufficient; if you're unable to take the damage monsters are dealing out, then it's good to have another tank by your side. I also generally have a point in Dire Wolves, a point in Carrion Vine, and a bunch of point in Oak Sage by now. If you can, you may want to at least make a trivial investment in the middle branch of the Summoning Tree, as they have a decent amount of life automatically and thus can help with tanking; also, in the end, you'll almost definitely want to pick a Spirit and max it out. Most Wolves go for Oak Sage; Heart of Wolverine is also a decent option for the more offensive-minded Wolf.
More levels always help, of course, but distribute your skill points carefully. I would hold off on investing any more points into Werewolf and Lycanthropy at the moment; they're high enough to last you for a little while. Instead, as I said above, see what you can do about fleshing out your Summoning Tree with the extra points you get, mainly in terms of picking a Spirit. Getting a Dire Wolf (eventually a Grizzly) and Carrion Vine is a matter of personal preference, but I highly recommend it.
Also look for items that give +Life, and make sure your Vitality stat gets some lovin'. With such a heavy investment in Lycanthropy, you should be able to tank most Act 3 monsters pretty well, so I'm not sure I can explain why these Thrashers are giving you so much trouble. Being able to take their hits, and also having more targets to spread the hits over (melee Mercenary, Dire Wolf) should help a lot.
Let me know if any of this works out, or if you need any more help. Apologies to everyone else for hijacking this thread. :)
USEAST: Werewolf (94), Werebear (87), Hunter (85), Artimentalist (78), Meleementalist (76, ret.)
USEAST HCL: Huntermentalist (72), Werewolf (27)
Single Player HC: Werewolf (61, deceased), Werewolf (24)
USEAST HCL: Huntermentalist (72), Werewolf (27)
Single Player HC: Werewolf (61, deceased), Werewolf (24)