This blog entry will be used to discuss my wolf druid blueprint as well as answer questions regarding my thought process towards how I play/build them. If this interests you, the reader, by all means keep reading... otherwise stray away from here.
What is a Fraust?Simply put it is my lycan name... the rest of the details are not for discussion, for this blog is not about me personally...
What is a Scyanyde?Formerly under the guises of HxBelphegoRxH and HxScyanydExH in past 1.12 ladder seasons, Scyanyde would be considered my trophy wolf whom I've been piecing together for the past several years (sans the first three builds which were promptly given away whenever I would 'quit D2' and go into long hiatuses). Scyanyde has received much praise and gained the respect of duelers over time with his unique playstyle as well as proving that wolf druids are indeed viable in Team PK, whereas other sources would state otherwise. Scy is currently on his fourth 'life' and is far more unique when compared to the typical run-of-the-mill Rabies-Fury hybrids that somewhat frequented the dueling scenes (pub and private games). He will be the subject matter of this particular blog.
Why play a wolf druid?In any competitive game I would always tend to gravitate towards unorthodox and underrated/low tier characters/classes. I.E.: Venom from the Guilty Gear series, Doctor Doom from Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (he's practically broken in Ultimate in the right hands), Mewtwo from Super Smash Bros. Melee. This mindset would explain why I chose a wolf druid as my first dueler on Diablo II: LoD. It's fun but very challenging to master especially with how the dueling scene has evolved, with FPK characters being amongst the higher tier builds in the game currently. The melee branch of the dueling scene will not be addressed as I don't melee duel at all... did so once when Michael/MemnochTheDevil@jsp requested me to do so but I proceeded to drop after the hasty realization that Fury Druids will always be under Zealots in that regard... never again. That and I'm naturally an evasive player, so standing still gets quite annoying after a while.
Ok, so now that the introduction is out of the way what's the first order of business?Well we can discuss whatever to be honest... For instance I'll answer whatever questions anyone reading this would happen to have regarding the class in general. However I'll tend not to get into the numbers aspect of this, as I will be focusing on the actual blueprint as well as dueling strats and particular items. Speaking of particular items I'll go on ahead and start with the first one:
What is this Druid Valk you tend to mention once in a while?Well first let us compare the two:
Here is an '08 Valk helm -->
Now here's the Dudu Valk -->
As the reader can clearly see the Dudu Valk only differs from an '08 Valk in that it lacks +20 FHR, +10 FCR and is class-specific rather than giving +2 to All Skills. The upsides to it being the Visionary mod as well as the +17 to All Resistances. As far as right now the Dudu Valk can only be bested by either an '08 Valk or another Dudu Valk with either a different mod besides All Resistances that isn't Strength/Dexterity or +20 All Res (off the top of my head it may not be possible for such to spawn with Str/Dex, however 2 Open Sockets is most likely impossible on something like this). The Cham rune is a no-brainer as it allows me to hit a specialized 163 FCR swap for my own personal playstyle while maintaining CBF (Cannot Be Frozen).
Wait a minute, I thought wolf druids can't teleport? Why have FCR in the first place?Technically wolf druids cannot teleport whilst in wolf form (obviously), however by unshifting to human form you can then do so. The shifting frames give invulnerability as long as the initial 'casting' frames are not interrupted, so it is possible to unshift and then proceed to wsg if/when necessary to look for the proper gap to teleport for evasive maneuvers. While stomping a competent opponent is ill-advised, if one can manipulate certain aspects it can be made safe (moreso if you apply Team PK here and your teammates actually know what they're doing and/or cover you adequately... this is why I deem the Wolf/Sin and Wolf/Barb pairings as the best for this build for many reasons, but I'll get into the whole Team PK scenario another time). Please note that tele-stomping and attempting to Fury the opponent is nigh impossible "if they have more than one brain cell" as they will just wsg away, negating your attempt. Rabies and Feral Rage are the preferred choices for such a tactic...
Ideally you'll want to be hitting the 99% and 163% FCR framerates, depending on the matchup and for differing tactics. This will allow you to maintain a steady summon stack as well as having enough speed to move around when relying on purely FRW is not an option (again, Team PK comes to mind here especially if the opposing team is comprised of FPK classes... also to keep up with your own teammates and not to hinder their movement as a whole). Couple this with C/T and it becomes a hassle for certain opponents I.E.: forces Smite-based Paladins to do more work to catch you than vs. a normal hybrid wolf, generally gives you more evasive range. This also helps since inflicting Rabies puts the opponent on a timer and the fact that you have a high FCR swap makes it more problematic for them to offense you (this does not apply for all classes though, some tend to work better under pressure than others).
So what about the Dudu Valk, how does it help your build?It should be self-explanatory: +2 to Druid Skills is obvious, the 30 FRW to have acceptable speed when walking/wsg'ing, 20 FCR for summon stacks and teleport movement. The 10 FHR is a mandatory aspect of the build because, while wolf druids have that amazing TMC-esque framerate, the druids' Human form suffers from a pretty ugly set of frames. Since you'll be in human form during teleport evasion it's mandatory to be hitting 99% FHR at all times, hence all helms must have that particular mod or be forced to use a Shael rune to cover the lack of. Visionary mod is to ensure that tagging Rabies is made easier, despite that little flaw where the game runs a double hit check whenever calculating Rabies AR (once in Human form, once more in Wolf form). Visionary also makes it so you won't need to waste ring/amulet slots with Angelics', which I would deem a waste when compared to other possible options on this build. All Res is blatantly obvious...
What if you ever get an '08 Valk, would you replace the Dudu Valk then?Yes and no. Yes it would replace it because then I wouldn't need to use the 2x 12 FHR Shapeshift charms in my inventory and be able to gain more Life output. No because it's a cute as fuck helm and I have yet to see another like it with that many mods (I have a 2druid/30frw/20fcr/10fhr in the tomb... yes I use the term 'tomb' because the former term 'vault' has become VASTLY overused).
So that's it huh?For now yes, this post is already pretty tl:dr so I'll leave it at this and address other matters next time. Feel free to PM any inquiries and I'll see to it that I answer them, otherwise I'll just think aloud in my next post regarding another piece of Scy's blueprint amongst other things.
Chao. =^w^=
This post was edited by FrausT on Aug 29 2014 03:46pm