Druid 'Tank'

[Mookarr]

Hello. If anyone has read the Diablo II Ultimate Strategy Guide, it talks about having a 'Tank' Druid. The 'Tank' Druid section says that it has 900 hp at level 30. I thought this was quite impressive, so I have attempted this with the steps given in the book. So far i'm level 18, and when I transform into a WereBear, I have over 300 hp. This is quite good, however, the attack is not so great. In the book, it says you should not put any skill points into the Elemental Skill Tree, so I havent. But I have seen that the Druid I have made isnt all that good, for its attacks are slow, you can only really do much damage in the WereBear form, which has VERY slow attack. For anyone else that has made the 'Tank' Druid, once you reach level 30 and higher, is the Druid you have made any good?

[PureChaos]

Hmmmm. What you need is a high damage weapon. (Usually a 2h weapon of some kind that you get a good attack speed with.) And yes, that druid should do just fine. My advice is to indeed stay out of the elemental skill tree if your going to be a Shape-Shift centered druid, as you cannot use any Elemental skills (Excluding Armageddon) while Shape Shifted. Your main attack should be Maul, as it raises your damage quite a bit, and is the most affective Wear Bear attack for raw damage. You should also pick a Spirit. (2 best choices are Heart of the Oak for health, and Heart of Wolverine for Damage and Attack rating.) After that, skills can go wherever. You could get a carrion vine to replenish health, and maybe some Dire wolves. That build should be able to get you through the game if you find some nice gear.
Hope that helps, and good luck with your druid.

[FS_all_the_way]

I play a druid somewhat but i have never tried the tank aspect I am always the E.D. but yeah if you are interested in knowing the build, invo, and equipment reply.

[Necrofan]

I have read about a tank bear that uses the elemental tree and I made a tank that uses elemental tree.

Forgive me but I don't have the links to these builds but you can google them.

The one I read about is the fire claws bear. He maxes 2 and 1/2 fire skill synergies your choice (not armageddon), fire claws, and lycanthropy. Synergized deals like 11000 fire damage with the crappiest weapon.

The slow attack comes from your weapon iteslf. This website will help you calculate your best possible attack rates ( with phase blade, cutlass, and chu-ko-nu)

http://home.comcast.net/~thedragoon/wereformadvanced.html

The tank I made is hilarious. He is a polar bear.
Max hurricane,
15 points cyclone armore (hurricane duration)
10 points tornado (hurricane synergy) I revert to human recast and then revert to bear.

6 points grizzly

8 points werebear (dam)
8 points lycanthropy (def)
8 points maul (dam + stun)
1 point shocwave (1 point wonder stun)
1 point hunger (better than life tap + faster attack)

Gear:
chains of honor ancient armor (great PVM melee)

delerium antlers: + 2skills additional +2 hurricane crowd control like a mother****er.

sanctuary dragon shield for resists

weapon 1: doom crowbill for - enemy cold resist and slow enemies.

weapon 2: famine feral axe (fast attack plus hunger = 75% reduced physical damage but the elemental damage is not reduced.

Mine has like 3000 life

enough strength and dex for gear

rest in vitality

none in mana ( have manald heal + hunger + pots)

the bear is in hell act I now and he laughs at everyone. Plus doom freezes enemies even cold immunes (50% minus enemy cold resist)

Sorry for the lecture...

You need a fast high damage weapon, increased attack speed only helps on your weapon for a werebear. Off weapon increased attack speed is almost useless. You need at least 9-10 FPA (frames per attack) to make it worth while, anyhting faster just becomes funny IMO.

don't overlook elemental tree, maul only kicks in a little at a time and there are physical immunes which will ruin your day. Doing elemental + physical is a good balance.

[ipwnudie]

I have made a druid tank. i used the advice provided by the guide i got with the battle chest with a few alterations that i added in myself. when it comes to the werebear tank you must remember that this build is for taking a huge beating, the unfortunate trade off is that it doesnt deal as much damage. unless you have a really good 1h wep and sheild i highly recommend using the maul as the guide suggests. on my druid i have the complete Aldur's set (which has served me very well). this build (in my opinon) is best used in a large group of players that have very high damage and quick attack speed. if you stick with this build you will be very suprised to see just how much of a beating it can take.

[IPimpFatChicks]

Im thinkin of building one of these but curious what weapon seems most appropriate for a build like this. Something like ebotdz or beast or death or etc.