03-29-2003, 04:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-29-2003, 04:38 PM by TheDragoon.)
I've often found that the ability to kill much more quickly with a two-handed weapon often overshadows the need for a shield, even if you want to build a "tank." Shockwave and the +% defense associated with the Werebear skill are powerful enough to basically shut down any non-boss monsters you encounter. For those boss monsters, just a minor level of life leech or liberal use of Hunger easily makes up for the use of a shield. Keep in mind that if you want to have a shield's blocking percent high, you will likely need to invest ability points in dexterity that might otherwise go toward vitality and keeping yourself alive.
Now, you compare a PvM tank druid to a PvP Druid and I find this to actually be a bad comparison. In PvP play, you basically assume that the other player will be using a shield and a high blocking percentage. When you are confronted with someone who will only allow 75% of your attacks through, you need to be a bit more defensive since your hits (which will leech back life via Hunger or Life Leech) will connect much less often. However, for most of PvM play, you are confronted with monsters who have little or no blocking capability. In this situation, leeched life will be less sporadic than if blocking is used and so you are not threatened by the bad luck of having multiple attacks blocked in a row, resulting in no leeched life to sustain yourself.
Most important, however, is that Shockwave is MUCH more effective than against other players since the duration of the stun is at its full value (though not the listed value, chock that up as another display bug). In this situation, you can happily wail on the monsters without fear of reprisal. When this happens, the main threat is that the stun will wear out before you kill the monsters. To minimize this threat, a larger, faster weapon (a Two-Handed Axe, Staff, Maul or Polearm, in particular) can be wielded to tear through the monsters more quickly.
In all honesty, I believe Shockwave to be the most powerful PvM skill in the game. It can single-handedly disable every monster within range for several seconds, allowing you to knock them down. If you want a super-powerful tank, build a Werebear with maxed out Shockwave and huge resistances. In my opinion, using Oak Sage is somewhat unnecessary since, if you play the Werebear correctly, nothing save the occasional ranged attacker should even touch you. :) It's not as if Werebears don't already have a ton of life from the Werebear and Lycanthropy bonuses. However, if your main choice of Oak Sage is to help out your fellow party members, in case they get themselves mobbed just off your screen, it would be a good choice. In other cases, I would, personally, use Heart of the Wolverine to boost attack ratings and damage to all physical attacks (again, ending battle more quickly).
If you have any other questions, feel free to check out my Werebear guide and, if it doesn't cover your question, don't hesitate to ask. B)
EDIT: It just occurred to me that I referred to multiple "You"s in this post. Early on, I was addressing Swirly, later I was talking to Albion Child. I also noticed that Albion Child said that his weapon will be Ribcracker which is a very effective defensive weapon for PvM, perhaps even as effective as using a shield.
Now, as for a comparison between a Druid's Shockwave and the Barbarian Warcry, I would have to say that I prefer Shockwave. The longer duration of stun means you can get in several additional attacks before having to use Shockwave again. Now, I might be mistaken, but in my experience, the range on Shockwave also seems to be a bit greater than Warcry, which can help out, too, as you can often hit every monster in a group with a single Shockwave while Warcry may only hit the first couple monsters in the group. In addition, Werebears will tend to get more life than a Barbarian and so would tend to be a better tank, in most cases. Also, Hunger can be a life-saver in most situations and can also help you to take down LEB's with little difficulty.
Now, you compare a PvM tank druid to a PvP Druid and I find this to actually be a bad comparison. In PvP play, you basically assume that the other player will be using a shield and a high blocking percentage. When you are confronted with someone who will only allow 75% of your attacks through, you need to be a bit more defensive since your hits (which will leech back life via Hunger or Life Leech) will connect much less often. However, for most of PvM play, you are confronted with monsters who have little or no blocking capability. In this situation, leeched life will be less sporadic than if blocking is used and so you are not threatened by the bad luck of having multiple attacks blocked in a row, resulting in no leeched life to sustain yourself.
Most important, however, is that Shockwave is MUCH more effective than against other players since the duration of the stun is at its full value (though not the listed value, chock that up as another display bug). In this situation, you can happily wail on the monsters without fear of reprisal. When this happens, the main threat is that the stun will wear out before you kill the monsters. To minimize this threat, a larger, faster weapon (a Two-Handed Axe, Staff, Maul or Polearm, in particular) can be wielded to tear through the monsters more quickly.
In all honesty, I believe Shockwave to be the most powerful PvM skill in the game. It can single-handedly disable every monster within range for several seconds, allowing you to knock them down. If you want a super-powerful tank, build a Werebear with maxed out Shockwave and huge resistances. In my opinion, using Oak Sage is somewhat unnecessary since, if you play the Werebear correctly, nothing save the occasional ranged attacker should even touch you. :) It's not as if Werebears don't already have a ton of life from the Werebear and Lycanthropy bonuses. However, if your main choice of Oak Sage is to help out your fellow party members, in case they get themselves mobbed just off your screen, it would be a good choice. In other cases, I would, personally, use Heart of the Wolverine to boost attack ratings and damage to all physical attacks (again, ending battle more quickly).
If you have any other questions, feel free to check out my Werebear guide and, if it doesn't cover your question, don't hesitate to ask. B)
EDIT: It just occurred to me that I referred to multiple "You"s in this post. Early on, I was addressing Swirly, later I was talking to Albion Child. I also noticed that Albion Child said that his weapon will be Ribcracker which is a very effective defensive weapon for PvM, perhaps even as effective as using a shield.
Now, as for a comparison between a Druid's Shockwave and the Barbarian Warcry, I would have to say that I prefer Shockwave. The longer duration of stun means you can get in several additional attacks before having to use Shockwave again. Now, I might be mistaken, but in my experience, the range on Shockwave also seems to be a bit greater than Warcry, which can help out, too, as you can often hit every monster in a group with a single Shockwave while Warcry may only hit the first couple monsters in the group. In addition, Werebears will tend to get more life than a Barbarian and so would tend to be a better tank, in most cases. Also, Hunger can be a life-saver in most situations and can also help you to take down LEB's with little difficulty.
-TheDragoon