nice guide
would like to see hger ingame

nice guide and vid

Cheers--feel free to pm me if u play East NL



Thanks boyo.

You should try out spirit and a 102 fcr build or at least a 65 fcr build. Also have tried out a fleshripper?

Did you just watch the video? I didn't show the Beast/Spirit swap on there because they're a given and the stats don't really matter (except maybe the magic sorb on the spirit).
The intention is to always tele with your Beast/Spirit out so you have 65 Fcr. Teleing with a claw/shield out would make the shifting sequence very complicated. 102 Fcr would be great, and you could definitely devise a swap for it, but I don't have the stash space and I haven't found it necessary. I might try it at some point though for kicks. Cheers

Fleshripper's a great weapon but it has a few disadvantages that keep it from being viable for this build:
1) It's going to be incredibly slow even with a Shael. For a weapon to hit 4-frame attack on a Bearsin, the WIAS - WSM has to be >= 70 (but <= 125 ); so a Runic/Gt (WSM = -30) with 40ias hits 4-Frames. A "Shael" Fleshripper would hit 6 frames. (break for 5 is WIAS - WSM >= 51).

2) Your only skill-based source of AR and (physical) damage is claw mastery, so you lose all of that if you don't use a claw.

This post was edited by Slippaz on Apr 3 2012 05:16pm

iso this stickied

Thanks for the help homie
Threw a new example video together and got it put in Post #1. The video isn't to show off the kills--just to provide an example of how the build functions.

This post was edited by Slippaz on Apr 4 2012 06:44pm

A "Brief" Update

Huge credit goes to shorty1500 for brainstorming with me and coming up with a method for making this char more effective vs barbs and hammerdins. I should also give a shoutout to radarlove for patiently giving me countless practice duels on his barb.

Since I wrote this guide I’ve adopted a new strategy vs classes where the Bear’s range just won’t cut it…and this char has officially become a Hybrid Bear/Bowsin. As cracked out as that may sound, a Widowmaker with Venom and high Deadly Strike/Open Wounds has the power to make this char into a surprisingly effective ranged character. Making stash-room for this swap is a little tricky, but it’s well worth it.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Widowmaker (Um’d) – GA, DS, some added OW…this bow is a beast.
• Kb/Dex gloves (Mine are 20/kb/str/dex, but you don’t actually need IAS to hit 9-frame guided arrow); Clegaws would also work here, but since you lose Shadows, you won’t have enough dex to wear a non-Hel’d Widow without respeccing.
• Fcr/Dex/Life/Mana Ring – Gives you the rest of the dex to meet Widow’s requirements and allows you to hit 105Fcr with spirit/hoto
• Hoto – 3 Skills to up your venom damage, massive rep life, increased mana, and most importantly 40fcr
• Gores – These boots are amazing and that’s all there is to say about it.

The rest of the gear remains the same: Nigma/Circlet/Raven/Highlord’s/OW belt.


What you gain (Besides Guided Arrow):

• 105Fcr -- By using Hoto + an Fcr ring, you are now able to tele/mb at 105fcr on your casting swap. This makes a huge difference when you are trying to gain position and is well worth sacrificing a (now relatively useless) Raven. I should add that, with the addition of this setup, a 35Fcr spirit is now a must.
• 45OW/81DS – With this setup, you’ll be crit’ing nearly every hit and procing OW almost every other arrow. This is enough OW in my opinion, because this swap should (obviously) be played at a distance. With your Venom/DS/Ow, you’ll be surprised at how good your damage is.

How to use your advantages:
The biggest flaw in this swap is the inability to use Fade. Well…it’s not an inability, but I’ll tell you right now that 12-Frame guided arrow is very likely to drive you insane. Burst of Speed is the only way we can really get our attack speed to where we want it, and this means that you’ll be playing with 8%DR. With her bow swap, my sin has ~3.9k life…this isn’t bad, but you will die fast if you end up taking WW’s to the face. God help you if you get hit by more than one hammer. I should add that, when I play this, I actually use a combination of BoS and Fade. I flash Fade on for approaches (when I need to refresh an opponent’s swirlies or want to lay some traps to create chaos) and then throw on BoS when I’m ready to pull out the Widow. That being said, you’re still at 8%DR a majority of the duel, and I wouldn’t recommend using both buffs until you’re very comfortable with this swap. If you have practice doing it vs zons in Bearform (see above) then you have a big head start.

So what do we do? We use our speed. With Hoto boosting it, Burst of Speed gives me 60%Frw with one point invested. This means that with Nigma/Gores/BoS we’re going to have 135%Frw—definitely enough to compete. (Too bad BoS isn’t bugged to sync like charge :P) Run south vs Hammerdin stomps and pop a couple GA’s off or be ready with a mind blast and you’ll find yourself with the upper hand. We can also tele @ 105Fcr, allowing us to close in for some trapping/Mb’s while retaining the ability to create distance in an instant vs barbs—sync whirls are this swap’s greatest weakness, so that distance is absolutely critical.

I just wanted to add these new thoughts on the build in case anyone actually ever wanted to make one of these The bow swap takes a lot of energy/focus to play (even more, I’d say, than the Bear swap), but is definitely worth having around for the situations when you find yourself not facing casters. Bear is always my go-to setup, and this is still, primarily, a vs caster char, but the versatility you gain from having a solid ranged attack really deepens the build. Cheers

nice how many ppl commented on this obvious april fool ^

Thanks lol

Incidentally, I typo'd the FCR in the above (bow) post. Obviously the break's 102 and not 105, so a Spirit with 32 or higher FCR is necessary. Was thinking about my barb