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Feb 7 2014 05:15am
Dog Whisperer/Summoning Druid

Guide by Kelderic





Chapters

A.Introduction
B.Gear
C.Skills
D.Tactics

A. Introduction

Hello and welcome to my guide for the Ultimate Summoning druid...yes i said summoning druid. This is a build for those who want a harder choice of character and play and is also aimed at the more advanced diablo players who would like a challenge added to this game. Also I have not seen a guide for this and would like to be the first to do so for play!


B. Gear


Alright, for this will be all the gear you will need. I'll cut it into 2 simple sections the gear for druid and the gear for your merc lets get started.
This build does not have a budget version but ill do my best to include good contenders.


Weapons======================================================================


Beast
lvl 9 fanaticism with added 3 to bear and lycanthropy. Best weapon you could hope for on this build - the aura providing attack speed and damage for your summons and merc and the 3 to bear and lycanthrope is a nice boost to ur life and bear duration. (you will be putting 1 point to bear and
and will use bear transformation ill explain why later)


Hoto
With its 3 to skill and 40 to res this is a good honorable mention for beasts spot. also containing 30 fcr(faster cast rate for the beginners) allowing u to drop summons faster but fcr isn’t needed with this build basically a good summon stick is all it is.


Spirit
with it having 35fcr(perfect roll) and 2 to skills and some added vitality its a good temporary summon weapon but will become out powered very fast by your enemies only good for starting


Shields======================================================================


Spirit shield(Monarch)
This is the main shield you'll want for your druid with it giving 2 skill up to 35 fcr and tri res to poison ,cold ,and light and also throwing in some mana and vitality making it the best shield you can ask for in this situation a nice buff to summons and your transformation


Lidless
This would be a second choice with it giving 1 to all skills and 20 fcr with a nice mana boost socketed with an um can give u the added resistance you need.

(grab a wand or something with amplify damage charges for phys immune)
Helms======================================================================


Jalal's
This is the best helm to ever happen to a summon druid with it giving a plus 4 to shape shifter skills giving a giant boost to your life and plus 2 to all your summons with 30 resistance, some fhr, added strength, and energy .Making it the best helm you can get also socketed with an um for more powered resistance.


Bear pelt
The reason I say a bear pelt would be good as a secondary choice is because the stats vary on them, but, if u wanted a usable you would need one with res life str and 5 to bear.


Shako
This being the last choice with ti having 2 to all skills some added life 2 to attributes and 10% DR(damage reduction) and 50% magic find makes it a great temp helm for those who cant afford a jalals or bear pelt (jalals n shako bout the same price unless the jalals is perfect they are usually cheap).


Armor======================================================================


Coh(chains of honor)
This being our number one here today grants us 2 skills 20 strength 8% dr and a nice 65 boost to resistances and a extra added 25% mf making this the best armor you could want for your druid. The damage to undead and demons unfourtantly isn’t applied to ur summon and the 7 replenish doesn’t help all too much - just nice to have along with the 8ll(life leech)


Enigma
Providing 2 to all skills, up to 775 added def, teleport, 8% dr stacked with 15% damage taken going to mana. Also 5% maximum life makes for a nice runner up to coh. As well as provides magic find based on character level and strength on level like mf to break through strength gaps in gear with ease. Reason why I didn't throw this in first is it doesn’t provide res and teleport isn't needed on this build basically just good as mf armor and a lil life boost.


Rain(rune word):
This hand 2 socket rune word gives 2 to druids skillsand a chance to gain level 15 cyclone armor when being hit to help sorb elemental damages. Gives 30% light res and 15% damage taken goes to mana but over all this isn’t a permanent solution as u get 2 skills for your beast and bo from the other armor above.


Belts======================================================================


Arachnids
Being the best and ultimate belt u can get providing 1 to all your skills 20 fcr and 5% max mana is just what you need for this guy.


Dungos
Being our second best here for the damage reduction and nice vitality boost and other handy perks. Great belt to boost your life if needed until Arachs.


Res belt
You cant get the to above belts find a belt that has good resistances and possible str or life both if u can find them. This will help u till u get one of the above.


Boots======================================================================


Treks
Can't go wrong here with treks with add poison res and up to 15 stats on vitality and strength and poison reduction time. These are great for a more solid res summon druid for the more ‘im worried I’m going to die type of players.
(via for the hardcore players)


War travelers
Also, another great choice giving you 25% frw (faster run and walk),40% slower stamina, drain 10 to both strength and vitality and giving up to 50% mf this is for more of the mf sided summon druid.


Tri Boots
Typical tri res boots with added mods would be nice here such as mf, strength ,frw, etc.


*note that there is no set boots for this build as the boots and gloves are the most interchangable parts of this character so u can get creative here with these.



Gloves======================================================================


Chance guards
Giving some nice gold find and up to 40%mf (depending on what ones u find its the changeable variable here in the items) - good for the mf sided summon druid


Trangs
Trang-oul gloves give a good 30% boost to cold resistance and 20% fcr for those wanting to drop summons faster also provide decent defense.


Fcr gloves
Another good choice would be some crafted gloves with res, fcr, life or strength to help with any gearing problems as told before do not worry about fcr it is not needed as much as u think.



Rings======================================================================


Bul Kanthos Wedding bands
Ah yes the all mighty bul kanthos this is our ultimate goal for a ring carrying with it 1 to all skills and life based on character lvl with a nice lil 50 boost to stamina the ll (life leech) is meaningless so u don’t need perfect kanthos any will do.


Stone of Jordan:
Who can forget the soj this as the obvious heavy hitting second choice give u 1 to all your skills along with a hefty boost to your mana for those feeling a little mana deprived or worried about it.


* These rings are interchangeable if u want more mana use soj. If u want the life, use bk either is fine but soj's or bk's are the only acceptable rings for this druid for the 1 to skills to boost your fanaticism aura and summons along with your bo.



Amulet======================================================================


Maras Kaleidoscope
2 to all skill 5 to attributes and up to 30 res this is the only amulet that u can use for this build seeing as the 2 to all ur skills covers ur summons and bear trans along with giving 2 to your bo and fanaticism of beast making it the best amulet for this build.

On Switch:(secondary weapon and shield)


Call to Arms
1 to all skills can give up to 6 battle command 6 battle orders and 4 battle cry. This weapon is the ultimate side arm for any build known in diablo 2 when your without a barb in your party this is also the best side for summon druids ill explain later in the tatic chapter as to why.


Spirit Shield(monarch)
Yes another spirit I wont repost the stats because, Im too lazy. The 2 to skills and fcr help boost your bo and cast it faster all there is to say as to why.


Inventory======================================================================


Yes I concluded the inventory in the gear chapter cause it is gear after all.


Here’s 2 setups one for soft-core and hardcore.


1.soft-core:
9x 45 life 1 druid summoning gc's annihilus small charm 20/20/10 Druid torch 20/20


10x 20 life 5 all res small charms


2.Hardcore


8x 45 life 1 druid summoning gc's Gheed's Fourtune( can substitute for a summon gc if u want) gc 40/15 annilius small charm 20/20/10(anywill do hc) druid torch 20/20(any will do) tome of town portal 9x 20 life 5 all res

*reason for the gheed's here is for those who want mf u can substitute it for a gc for more power.



Mercinary


Weapon(rune word):Pride
Gives up to level 20 Concentration aura gives a huge attack rating bonus up to 300% damage to demons based on character level
adds 50-280 light damage 3 to freeze target 10 vitality and gold from monsters. I can not stress how important this weapon is to your summons
with concentration they get a 20% chance of unirruptable attacks making your wolves able to tank hits and keep going with a nice damage bonus and also
your merc can now freeze targets making them sit there and take damage and your merc is capable of killing a few physical immunes... a few but not all
You will have to simply walk past some physical immunes.


Armor======================================================================


Bramble(rune word)
Gives up to level 21 thorns 50% fhr(faster hit recovery) +300 def 5% maximum cold resistance 30% fire resistance 100% poison resistance
+13 to life after each kill making your merc a walk damage reflector for your party if your a more defensive player.


Fortitude(runeword)
Bringing in 300% enhanced damage 200% enhanced defense for your armor up to 30 resistance 20% chance to get level 15 chilling armor on strike
life based on character level and 12% damage taken goes to mana. This beast of a rune word makes your merc stacked and ready for action


Helm Andariel's Visage
Giving 2 to all skills 8%ll 20% increased attack speed 25 strength 70% poison resistance and 10% maximum fire resistance and a 15% to cast a level
15 poison nova when struck lets your merc take care of light work fast. This is the only appropriate helm for your merc with the 2 skills u can have
added to prides concentration and brambles thorns if u choose bramble.


* Either armor here is respectable both are great for this build on your mercenary but as for practical play in soft-core use the fortitude in
Hardcore play use bramble or either of your choice its preference, really.



C. The Skills

ok for skills this simple
------------------------------




(ravens will max out at lvl 92 as listed in the guide I didn’t hit 92 yet)

20 summon spirit wolves
20 summon dire wolf
20 summon grizzly bear
20 summon oak sage
20 summon ravens
1 werewolf
1lycanthropye
1 were bear

Skills are that simple enough ill explain.

First off max out summon spirit wolves for the attack rating bonus four your summon dire wolves those are the main force of your arsenal here. You will use them 99% of the time in battle by maxing out spirit wolves you maximize their ar allowing they to hit almost every time they attack.

This also is the same for your grizzly bear and as big and bureky he is without maxing spirit wolves he almost never hits .Maxing out grizzly bear in turn greatly powers up your dire wolves.

When you are fully geared - your wolves will hit around 1.8-1.2k in damage and with bo 1.9k-2.1k if you don’t think that’s powerful at all when your dire wolves eat a corpse they double their power yes DOUBLE meaning now they hit for now when bo'ed a whopping 3.6-4k and with you and mercs auras even more grizzly bear will top out at around 5.7-5.9k and then u have to take auras into calculation.

Also what’s with the raven's what not poison creeper for one the poison creeper is absolutely god awful. He’s is the worst summon in the druids spell book
even for a rabies druid he isn’t that useful only for a meat shield and buffing the damage of rabies.

The ravens are much godlier then people think. ravens can curse opponents on striking them that blind's and lowers the def and atk of the opponent also
when ur fully lvled and geared your ravens will hit for 43-45 when boed 45-47 and say hits 54 this is how many times they hit not how many they take before dying. Yes one hit from a raven hits 56 times in your mind your probably saying holy fuck that’s a lot.

Then think u will have not 1 but 5 feathery spiritual friends so lets do some math gentlemen and Ladies 45 x 56=2520 and 47 x 56=2632 now we take these 2 and times them by 5. 2520 x 5=12,600 and 2632 x 5= 13,160 this means with all 5 ravens are attacking 1 enemy they are doing up to 12,600-13,150 damage on top of a curse for blind and lower def and atk holy fucking awesome right this is compared to poison creepers max of something like 80 something poison damage over several seconds.

Now oak y oak over spirit of the wolverine? Simple oak sage boosts the life of your entire party by a large amount and you already covered the attack rating and damage of your summons with your gear and synergies so there’s no need for this spirit and if properly stated you will over shoot 7k life while transformed into bear also your wolves get a giant life boost ad your bear will hit well over 20k life easily.

Next why do I use bear and not were wolf easy question bear provides the life and defense for you as the summon and u don't need an attack rating boost because you will not be attacking anything. If u followed my guide your merc and summon will be enough to handle the minions of hell and you can sit back and enjoy its rewards.

(if u choose to level past 92 you can drop your extra points to lycanthropye for extra life and duration or were bear for life and defense either is fine)

D. Tactics


These tactics are for hell mode - they will be the same for every mode

Do not summon your wolves with your beast instead summon them with your cta and spirit switch this is called Bo summoning it gives your summons 2 extra lvls u have 1 higher with cta and 1 more from your bo use it to summon them and bo them then switch back to your beast and transform to bear simple enough.

Here’s how u play this druid the dire wolves are ur main force use them until you hit your main boss diablo meph etc then drop your bear the bear is your boss killer he can handle them the only problems ull have is ancients since they run around like chickens with their head cut off.
Use your wolves to finish off the weak too and then drop your bear on the last one and let your merc n bear work him over.

Credits: Kelderic guide writing

Drmullet Guide personalization
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Feb 7 2014 08:29am
cool an original build.. but how fast does it kill hell baal for example?
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Feb 7 2014 08:32am
tl;amp can't spawn on wands.
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Feb 8 2014 02:21am
did not no amp charges cant bet gotten on a wand and hell baal shouldnt take to long depending on the spam of his ice wave round 2-3 minutes if he contiously spams
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Feb 8 2014 05:32am
faith > beast

hotw > oak

if u want to go offensive and really do some dmg.

thats what I am currently playing in hc

gloves would be better loodfists for life/fhr or some with res maybe?

Also in my setup I dont go for so mane +skills and help my summons myself too, by using bow.
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Feb 9 2014 03:07am
theres a reason u want so many plus skills by maximizing your summons u wont need to fight they can do all the work and ull top out at lvl 17 fanata compared to faithes lvl 15 fanata
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Feb 9 2014 03:08am
and oak over wolverine cause it keeps your summons alive a lot longer and they dont need the extra ar only thing wolverine is good for is tha tlil damage boost and thats not even that great
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Feb 9 2014 07:30am
well, I guess you are right, recasting a bear who has 6k hp costs way too much mana, or casting wolves who have ober 1k hp already..

can you also please give me link to the website where u got the idea that +skills increase fana lvl on your beast :)

also, I know they have insane dmg and they are extremely useful, but still... why max raven?

This post was edited by koeraokse on Feb 9 2014 07:30am
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Apr 4 2014 09:34pm
After building this char twice, and walking the entire game with it ( ZERO teleporting ) along side the OP. i have come to two conclusions. 1.) the only downfall of this build is it cant fight any physical immune without tweaking build. 2.) Its a fuckin blast to play, watching the dire wolves devour demons is great, and they do a surprising amount of dmg.

I went ahead and made a few tweaks to my gear, skills, and inventory. mine is as follows:

Helm: jalals (ber)
Ammy: P maras
Weapon: P beastZ
Shield: Spirit monarch
Armor: P COH dusk shroud
Boots: hsarus
Belt: hsarus
Gloves: Wizspikes
Rings: (2) 5ll BKrings

Inventory
(9) 28-38 Life/ Summon GC's
(8) 36ar/20life Sc's
(1) 5fhr/5res sc

Skills
15+-raven
20-Spirit wolves
20-Dire wolves
20-Bear
20- Oak
1-lycan
1-bear
1-wolf
1-maul
1-shockwave

I chose to put a skill into maul and shockwave because i like to do dmg too. with the addition of hsarus my AR jump from 800- 5000 with my ar charms included. Though i dont have much AR, its enough to at least defend myself in sticky situation i found myself in when using arachs and war travelers. On top of that i find shockwave REALLY helps with crowd control, specifically in tight areas, like the catacombs, and maggot lair, it really gives the wolves a chance to do a ton of dmg without taking any in return.

as for the gear i chose to use Wizspikes because the resistances and FCR, i found the MF and goldfind on the Chances to be good only for "lazy play" and fixing your beast Z haha, the added mana/ and mana Regen is nice too. i also chose to ditch the 20life/5res SC's because with the wizspikes the extra resistances are pointless, as this char isnt a PVP build stacking res that high would be ludicrous. so with the added AR from the Sc's i gain the same ammount of life, but can deal some blows myself.
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Jul 3 2014 08:21pm
that a boy todd shows n excellent example i also found that putting dracs in place of chance guards keeps ur summons alive to just anotehr thought for u guys
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