Druid using Stormspire?

[toothlessrooster]

I am newly returned to D2, and have started a ww druid focussing on Fury. I am level 63, and am currently using a recently found hwanin's justice, and the speed of the weapon makes me very strong in the early hell areas. I can stun 3 or 4 guys, so i don't get hit too much. My question is, does stoprmspire exist, and is it something i should aim for? I like the damage, speed, and elemental it gives. If this is not a good goal, what is the accepted weapon?

Also, can werewolves benefit from shields?

Thanks,

Toothlessrooster.

[FenrisWulf]

Yes, Stormspire exists, and yes, it is a quite decent WW weapon. However, it's very rare, so you might have a spot of difficulty locating one of your own.

Good alternatives:
- The Immortal King's Stone Crusher (Set Ogre Maul): good damage, quite fast, and exceedingly common. The only real drawbacks are the high level and strength requirements.
- Ribcracker (Unique Quarterstaff): A very fast and very effective midlevel weapon. Better than Hwanin's Bill by a decent margin, and fully capable of taking you all the way through Hell.
- Messerschmidt's Reaver (Unique Champion Axe): Great damage, though a bit slower than the IK Maul.
- Buriza-do Kyanon (Unique Ballista): Amazons aren't the only ones that can benefit from the astounding overpoweredness of this weapon. Pump Dexterity for increased damage. You may get some flak from the purists out there, though; for some reason, they can't accept the fact that Weredruids can melee with ranged weapons. :P
- Cruel Elite 2-handed Weapon of Quickness: These are always useful, but rare.

Really, just check out TheDragoon's Guide, and most, if not all, of your questions will be answered.

Yes, Werewolves can block with shields. Benefit is a much stronger word than I would use :D; the added Resists that shields allow is nice, but usually a Wolf will be better off swinging away with a big 2-handed weapon.

[Albion Child]

DO NOT plug your ears when you hear someone tell you to use the less mainstream weapons. Ribcracker is incredibly fast, and though I've never use one on a wolf, I has a ribcracker bear once and normal attack looked like fury..I can only imagine how fast a wolf would swing this thing.

Buriza is hands down the best Wolfy weapon in the game. At least in my opinion. It's speed is unmatched and damage is awesome.

Despite my love for these 2 weapons. Besides what was already mentioned, bloodtree stump should be about as good as IK maul, Hellslayer has insane damage despite being rather slow (If you are going to use one, at least have the decency to shael it. Never seen a Cranium Basher...period. I would imagine it is in the same boat as hellslayer. Heavy but slow.

Baranar's Star Roxxors and you get to use a sheild too! This is definitely worth checking out.
I tried a Spire of Honor on a wolf before and I recomend not making my mistake. It is way too slow for it's damage. (Later I threw spire on a HC zealot who had been using Atlantean. He died abou 5 minutes later...I hate that spear)

What I would like to try is a Cruel Colossus Blade with 3 shaels in it (Thoiugh something prevents me from doing this until druid attack speeds are finally figured out.)

[FenrisWulf]

Originally posted by Albion Child
Buriza is hands down the best Wolfy weapon in the game. At least in my opinion. It's speed is unmatched and damage is awesome.

Speed unmatched? Except by a Shaeled/Fervent IK Maul or Shaeled Baranar's Star (well, one frame off, out of 28). And surpassed by little things like Giant Threshers of Quickness, or Great Polaxes of Quickness, or almost any other two-hander of Quickness, if appropriately socketed. And a significant amount of PvP 1-handed weapons, too. :P

Not saying that it's a bad weapon (I love it on my WB), but I find it a stretch to call it the best for the reasons that you listed.

And...hrm:

Originally posted by Albion Child
...bloodtree stump should be about as good as IK maul...

Er, besides the fact that it has 11 more frames in a full Fury animation (12/7/7/7/7 if Shaeled, vs. 9/5/5/5/5 on the IK Maul), nearly 100 less average damage, and no bonuses against Demons? Again, not a bad weapon, but really not in the same league at all.

And I think that TheDragoon did in fact determine how Druid attack speeds work, at least in practice. It may be that a Cruel Colossus Blade attacks at the same speed as the equivalent 1-handed swords (he thinks), so a Cruel Colossus Blade of Quickness with a few Shaels probably would be okay. Otherwise, though, they're pretty slow.

[Maximus]

Doesn't anyone here use Hellslayer? I use a Shaeled Hellslayer and im doing pretty good in Hell act2. It has V.Fast attack speed(5 or 6 Frame attack with fury i think) and decent Elemental damage. And the Fireball rrrrox. When i hit lvl 70 i will maybe get myself a Messerschidh's Reaver(Something like that :) ). Is it really far better than Hellslayer? is it worth shaeling? will it get me past a Breakpoint if i shael it?

EDIT: Before i got Hellslayer i used Athena's Wrath scythe. It has V.Fast speed and 15 to Dex. It does really good damage in Nitemare but is kinda useless in Hell. Very good choise for a mid-level Druid i think :) :)

[FenrisWulf]

The actual speed of a Shaeled Hellslayer would be 12/7/7/7/7 Fury (which you interpret as: a 12 frame initial hit, followed by four subsequent hits that each take 7 frames), which, to me, is rather slow. That's the main reason why I don't use Hellslayer: because I've grown accustomed to the great speed that is found on weapons like the IK Maul or Baranar's Star (both 9/5/5/5/5). You'll find that a lot of people over many forums (well, my forum, at least) are rather anti-Hellslayer, but I'm starting to think that such sentiments are more in reaction to the overwhelming number of people on BNet who are blinded by the nice maximum damage of Hellslayer, and flat out refuse to consider variables such as weapon speed, or damage over time, than in response to the actual benefits of Hellslayer. Anyhow, it's a good weapon, but I just don't like it very much.

Messerschmidt's Reaver is, in fact, a lot better than Hellslayer, from a very objective point of view. It deals only slightly less damage, and goes significantly faster when socketed appropriately (10/6/6/6/6). Either Shael, or Jewel of Fervor, if you're looking to pass that breakpoint.

Speed stuff courtesy of TheDragoon's Werewolf Guide

[Maximus]

The actual speed of a Shaeled Hellslayer would be 12/7/7/7/7 Fury (which you interpret as: a 12 frame initial hit, followed by four subsequent hits that each take 7 frames), which, to me, is rather slow. That's the main reason why I don't use Hellslayer: because I've grown accustomed to the great speed that is found on weapons like the IK Maul or Baranar's Star (both 9/5/5/5/5). You'll find that a lot of people over many forums (well, my forum, at least) are rather anti-Hellslayer, but I'm starting to think that such sentiments are more in reaction to the overwhelming number of people on BNet who are blinded by the nice maximum damage of Hellslayer, and flat out refuse to consider variables such as weapon speed, or damage over time, than in response to the actual benefits of Hellslayer. Anyhow, it's a good weapon, but I just don't like it very much.

Messerschmidt's Reaver is, in fact, a lot better than Hellslayer, from a very objective point of view. It deals only slightly less damage, and goes significantly faster when socketed appropriately (10/6/6/6/6). Either Shael, or Jewel of Fervor, if you're looking to pass that breakpoint.

Speed stuff courtesy of TheDragoon's Werewolf Guide

Aww man....am i really that slow? Oh well, just one more lvl and i can use The Messerschmidt's Reaver. Im sure somone who doesn't give a damn about attack speed will trade it for my hellslayer and a tarnhelm or something :) :) :)

[deaths-revenge]

Wait, are you guys talking about pvm or pvp? ;) if your talking about pvp then you guys don't stand a chance :lol: , if you need a good weapon but you aren't too rich, get a bstar and shael it, or get a shaeled bstar, i think it's the third fastest druid weapon (legit wise) :blink:

[Maximus]

Im mostly PvM.
Fenriswulf, i have Death's sash and The gloves. The gloves give me 30IAS. That's 50 total with shael from Hellslayer . Will that get me past 10/6/6/6/6 Breakpoint? or should i still get Messerschmidt's Reaver??

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Other Increased Attack Speed (OIAS) functions differently on wereform druids than with other characters. For the most part, it's useless. Well, perhaps not useless... on slower weapons it can help hit breakpoints, but on faster weapons, it's nearly redundant.

Wereforms benefit most from having IAS on the weapon itself (WIAS or Weapon Increased Attack Speed).

I'd take Fenris up on his suggestion and read TheDragoon's Werewolf guide.

*tips helm*

[Maximus]

Other Increased Attack Speed (OIAS) functions differently on wereform druids than with other characters.  For the most part, it's useless.  Well, perhaps not useless... on slower weapons it can help hit breakpoints, but on faster weapons, it's nearly redundant.

Wereforms benefit most from having IAS on the weapon itself (WIAS or Weapon Increased Attack Speed).

I'd take Fenris up on his suggestion and read TheDragoon's Werewolf guide.

*tips helm*

Damn, i didn't Notice the link until now. Thanks a lot for the help, i guess i will throw my Death's gloves away and leave the sash(Cannot be frozen B) )...