HoW or Oak for Werewolf

[Vash]

My druid will use a shaeled IK Maul. Vamp gaze if I find one (ha, right, good luck). Shaftstop if I find one (again, good luck to me).

As Dragoon said in his druid guide, the +AR bonus of HoW is basically redundant. The 153% bonus to damage is nice to have...but will I need it if I'm using IK Maul?

The 125% to life from Oak Sage is nice to have as well. But again, do I really need it?

Discuss. NOW! :P

[WarBlade]

I never use Oak Sage on werewolves. Heart of Wolverine amps the damage and thus supports the leeching which consequently helps keep the life orb full. The AR also holds a werewolf steady on a 90% - 95% hit rate, which I'll also take over a rather pointless Oak Sage and the potential for Ar to drop into the 80's. :D

Physical Immunes are the only pain, but then Werewolves don't have too many options in handling those either and tend to avoid them if possible.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

And here's where I part from my esteemed colleague's opinion. Mind you, this is by far the most debated and debateable topic for wereforms in general; there is no right or wrong answer. ;)

I tend to use Oak Sage exclusively on Wuffs. This is due in no small part because of the life benefits given to all the party members (which I find more welcome than HoW, generally seen as a watered-down version of Might) and the fact that I enjoy having a wuff with 3k+ life. This is not to say I don't enjoy more damage! But then again, that's what an Act 2 Greizman is for. Alas, there are no Act 5 Barbarians that munch around bellowing Battle Orders et al... so I fill in the gaps where the gaps appear.

There is also the small "feature" dealing with Carrion Vine. Carrion Vine's percentage (going on other's research) heals it's percentage based on the Druid's life, not the life of the body consumed. Thus, a 3k life wuff having a slvl 9ish Carrion vine that provides 8% Life Steal will actually put 240 Life back into the wuff for every body popped. When dealing with areas that are "Crunchy Undead" and prevent your Life Steal from working, Carrion Vine can be your literal life-line.

*tips helm*

[TheDragoon]

The way I see it, Heart of Wolverine is a minimal increase in overall killing speed while Oak Sage is preparation for the worst. :) For my Werewolves, the +153% damage increase usually only means that my overall damage will increase by about 20%. The AR% bonus is basically unnecessary as I usually get about +400% attack rating bonus from the Werewolf Skill.

Instead of this, however, if I use Oak Sage then my life will jump by about 52% as opposed to not using it. Thus, if I would normally have 2000 life, I would now have 3000 life. This can go a LONG way toward making your character survive the nastiness that Diablo's/Baal's minions throw your way from time to time. MSLEB? That extra 1000 life means you'll last that much longer in melee against it, usually enough so you can get out of there without dying.

I build my characters to survive. Thus I like what Oak Sage brings to the already offensively loaded Werewolf.

[Rataxes]

For a Werewolf with 225 str and maxed (slvl 20) primary skills, Oak Sage will increase your total life by roughly 52%, provided you're not under the effect of BO or have items that add a % bonus to your max life.

Heart of the Wolverine will increase your total damage by approximately 24%, and your AR by 31%.

Now, the 24% increase in damage simply cannot be argued with. It's a fairly significant number, and at least in MP, there's no such thing as "too much damage". This relative damage increase does drop to a pretty meager 16% if you have a maxed Might Merc (which seems to be the most common type). Any other non-weapon-specific damage increase your druid might get, such as Conc aura or higher STR, will further lower the effect of the HoW. Still, even a mere 15% increase of your total damage is very much worthwhile.

The AR increase however, will most likely not do a bloody thing. Maxed Werewolf and Fury will give you +518% AR, enabling you to reach 3000-4000 AR without too much hassle. Now, AR beyond 3-4k isn't of much use. You've pretty much reached the Chance-to-hit roof by then, and the only way to increase your CTH after that is to minimize the level difference.

So the only real advantage that HoW gives you is, at most, a +24% increase in your total physical damage output.

Compare +24% damage to +52% Health, and see what you need the most. I play HC myself, and sheer life being not only the most reliable, but also the only real safety net we have, I would no doubt seize any oppurtunity to increase my life. Oak sage would be my choice that is, and all demands being equal, the one that gives the largest return. For a softcore wolf who's not the least concerned with safety and only wants pure killing power however, the HoW is better.

[Brista]

Heart of the Wolverine will increase your total damage by approximately 24%

24% seems a little high

A typical high level werewolf might have this:

damage is 100% + 423% (fury) + 225% (strength) plus approx 200% (Might merc) plus any non-weapon ed% (let's assume none) plus 153% HoW

With HoW: 1101%
Without HoW: 948%

As for to hit increases in AR are subject to sharp diminishing returns, the actual % will be very small

[Rataxes]

Did you actually read my post, or did you just look at the numbers? :)

[Baajikiil]

The 125% to life from Oak Sage is nice to have as well. But again, do I really need it?

As other have mentioned, it depends somewhat on if you play HC or SC. I play exclusively HC, and have seen very few HOW wolves, nor have I ever made one. Most of my druids use a might merc and Oak. The safety that 3-4K life affords is well worth the damage, in the face of desyncs and the occasional drop on B.net.

Also, my other characters(non druids/barbs) much prefer Oak to HOW, for the boost in life is a huge advantage for classes that normally have little over 1K life in Hell.

Another point is a big one IMO: HOW is hardly any benefit at all vs phys immune monsters. The AR is usually redundant, and the damage boost has no effect at all. On the contrary, Oak will allow you to spend more time whacking the monster with your elemental wand/baranars/fire claws/rabies before you need to rejuv/ again.

OTOH, if you play a lot of party realm games, most other druids will already have Oak. Using HOW can give you both the advantage of not duplicating auras.

PS: Argh, I actually made a rabies wolf once, big mistake. That one was a joke :)

[Brista]

*whistles innocently* ;)