The Other Shapeshifter: Maul Werebear Guide 2.7 - Topic

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Nov 18 2023 01:47pm

Introduction

This detailed guide focuses on Hardcore gameplay, skill allocation and gear. It describes only 2 -handed melee gameplay, it does not include blocker versions because that has been done before.

Class: shapeshifter

Goal: soloing Uber Tristram, that's the endgame, staying alive in general

Subclass: werebear, Mauler with a summons sideshow

Build: full vita (or close to it) tank with the highest possible damage output and good enough accuracy against bosses

List of abbreviations

AR: attack rating

CB: crushing blow

DS: deadly strike (criticals)

EIAS: external (not the weapon) increased attack speed

FHR: faster hit recovery

FPA: frame per attack (1 second is 24 frames)

FRW: faster run walk

HoW: Heart of the Wolverine

Meta: Metamorphosis runeword

Oak: Oak Sage

OW: open wounds

STR: strength

UT: Uber Tristram

WIAS: weapon IAS, the increased attack skill percentage on the weapon

Werebear versus werewolf

Fury wolves are a well-known quality and a more common breed. Why should anyone pick bear over a wolf instead? They look slow and sluggish, and have to click each opponent they kill.

- With apx. the same investment, a full Fury werewolf has 30-40% more raw damage. Maulers top out at apx. 90k DPS.

- The average Fury wolf has 4 frame average attack speed. The bear cannot be faster than 6 frames under any circumstances, and that has to be worked for.

- The wolf has instant attack speed, the Mauler bear needs some 15-22 hits to reach his target speed.

- The wolf has much better FHR values.

Albeit the werebear have some qualities that carry weight in a HC environment and especially in Uber Tristram.

- The Mauler needs a single maxed main attack. The Fury wolf may need maxed Feral Rage to stay focused on his priority target. The latter is a 7 FPA attack with less than half the power than Fury.

- Maul picks a single target, it does not waste hits on nearby critters. This can be important against bosses.

- The Mauler has an uninterruptible main attack. When locked on a target, there are no block or FHR animations whatsoever.

- The Mauler can stun-lock every monster except super uniques.

- The bear has very effective crowd-control in the form of Shockwave.

- A bear can have barb-like defense (up to 20k).

- With the same FRW settings, the bear actually moves faster (has larger steps).

- An additional layer to his defense, the Mauler always has some 20 spare skillpoints for boosting his summons. And they can be all present at the same time. Everything they take you don't have to, everything they dish out is for you.

Skill and statpoint allocation

This one is pretty straightforward, and there are no variations, regardless the gear. You will have - of course - max out the basics (Lycantrophy, Werebear, Maul), put a single pount to Shockwave. And you have to choose a summon spirit. This is where I went with HoW instead of Oak. Why?

- Because you can have 5-6k hitpoints without BO or Oak. With full inventory and endgame gear, it can be 9k or more. More HP is not needed.

- When Oak would make a difference, chances are it has been shot away already. While HoW has an effect all the time when it is active.

- While it doesn't seem much, HoW is a huge boost for the merc and summons. A HoW-supported, half-developed Dire Wolf or Grizzly can have 16-17K total AR. Emilio's damage goes up with 40%, his accuracy is almost doubled with HoW. With the glowing red spirit your minions actually contribute, not just punchbags anymore.

The rest, extra summons is the way to go. Fire claw is marginal without synergies and the speed is tied to a charged up Maul. Hunger has the same speed problem.

As for the statpoints, I won't make any mind-blowing revelations here: just enough STR and dexterity to carry your gear. Endgame builds are full-vita mostly.

Important: AR was always the Achilles-heel of the werebear. Unless you spend some 200 hardpoints for dexterity (because you are blocker build or something), you will need items that give massive AR. This means usually Angelics jewelry or Hsaru's set pieces. Metalgrid+Raven Frost combo work to an extent, but the result will be middling. Against a ilvl99 target, you need 20K+ to reach a 90%+hitrate. The primary goal here is land CBs on bosses. Against a lvl99 super unique, CB is the main source of your damage, and since you are not too fast, the attack is blockable, you must make the most out of your swings.

About 1500 base AR is that you should aim for here (this means Maxroll base that can be checked if you hover your cursor over the AR value on the character screen).

Base AR counts the most, items with +percentage bonus to AR won't help much if the base is too low to work with. Unlike the wolf (which can have 3) bear has 2 skill sources for AR, the attack skill and HoW. Items and charms with added attack rating have an apx. a 8X multiplier for your AR. If you have reached your target FPA for Maul, it may be sensible to invest some into to AR/Life GCs.

Attention: Maxroll calculations miss to add the attack skill percentage to the base AR. If you want to get a real value, you have to multiply your base AR with 6X (this represents a Maul attack skill level with 600% AR bonus) and add this to the AR value they give to you as total. But this applies to all kind of melee there.

The average base-dex Mauler with HoW and with 9 SS GCs and Angelics/Hsarus has apx. total 16k AR. With Demon Limb enchant he reaches apx. 19k.

As you will see, the best bosskiller weapons do not have -25% target defense and prevent monster heal mods. That further emphasizes the importance of accuracy.

Maul weapon considerations

I don't have the full picture of the background mechanics. My experience: +10 base speed weapons (like a Stalagmite) have a very hard time to reach 7 FPA, unless they are supported with the skill IAS Metamorphosis runeword provides. With Metamorphosis, either they will need high weapon IAS (30+) or IAS armor (Hustle or Treachery) to reach the desired speed. Without Metamorphosis, it's unlikely they will make 7 FPA even with IAS armor and high WIAS.

A -10 base weapon without any WIAS can be faster than a +10 base with high WIAS and with the same EIAS support gear. With Metamorphosis skill IAS on, this looks reversed, -10 bases without WIAS can be more difficult to max out speedwise than a +10 base with high WIAS. On the other hand, fast bases still react better to WIAS than slower bases.

As a rule of thumb, if you want to avoid using low def IAS armors, and your weapon has low or no WIAS whatsoever, you must stick to -10 or 0 base speed items. The higher your Maul skill is, the lower IAS you will need from items for the same target FPA (+2 skills equals about 10 IAS) and vice versa.

I'm sorry if this sounds too complicated. The short version: if you want to go for the fastest possible speed (which is 6 frame), that would be a high WIAS weapon in a -10 base , AND Metamorphosis in +3 Maul Pelt, AND a fair amount of shapeshifting skillers (with still some room left to pick up things).

The two main contenders here: eBOTD Champion Axe or Giant Tresher with all the above, but without IAS armor, and eDeath Champion with all that AND with IAS armor.

But if your fast -10 base weapon has no WIAS, or has high WIAS but in slow, +10 base, you will probably better off with a more balanced, 7 FPA setup. With a +10 weapon the fastest possible 6 frame attack is feasible in some extreme cases only (see the IK endgame bear or Tomb Reaver setups).

The best weapons for a Mauler

With all that considered, the top 5 list of Werebear endgame weapons is the following. A "hard" weapon means, that you will need a +3 Maul staff mod Meta pelt, about 6 shapeshifting skillers (level 38-40 Maul), and probably some EIAS to achieve the target frames below. "Easy" weapons won't need +8 Maul Pelt, but very likely they will need the rest.

In terms of raw DPS and crushing blow percentage:

1. eDeath Champion or Silver-Edged axe (hard 7 FPA, hard 6 with IAS armor for CA only)

What is the best Death base for a Mauler?

We will use the concept character "The Ravager V2" below to demonstrate the differences, exact same settings: Mark of the Bear, 30 EIAS, lvl39 Maul (not full inventory), no overcharge, Duress armor.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/k8016ctk

Champion Axe (124 str): 70k DPS with 7 frame attack, 90% CB

10 FPA start, 8 FPA at 11 hits, 7 frame attack at 18 hits

If we replace the Duress armor with Treachery, we get a 80k DPS-75% CB with a 6 frame attack. the rest of the weapon bases will remain at 7 FPA.

Silver-Edged Axe (123 str): 79k DPS with 7 frame attack, 90% CB

11 FPA start, 8 FPA at 14 hits, 7 FPA at 21 hits,

With Treachery: 77k DPS with 7 frame attack

Decapitator (142 str): 75k DPS with 8 frame attack, 90% CB

12 FPA start, 8 FPA at 17 hits

With Treachery: 84k DPS with 7 frame attack

Decapitator Death without IAS armor is capable of 7 FPA attack and 87k DPS, but it will need at least 40 EIAS and an extra skill for that. Something has to be trashed for it, HP, FHR and/or resists. And up until 22 hits (7 frame with lvl40 Maul and 40 EIAS), the DPS is just about 74K. So the difference is not that much in practice.

For the fastest speed-up and CB-landing, Champion Axe the best, but Silver-Edged is still a very good all-arounder.

Glorious Axe (122 str): 73k DPS with 8 frame attack, 90% CB

12 FPA start, 8 FPA at 17 hits

With Treachery: 83k DPS with 7 frame attack

2. Eth Ribracker Stalagmite (easy 7 FPA, hard 6 FPA with IAS armor)

How fast is eth Ribracker compared to the Deaths?

If we use the "Iron Bear V2" setup below, for 40 EIAS and lvl 39 Maul, the formula is like this:

62k DPS (Fortitude) with 7 frame attack, 85% CB

10 FPA start, 8 FPA at 11 hits, 7 FPA at 18 hits - exactly the same speed as Champion Axe, but with 10 more EIAS. The latter is not a problem because a Ribcracker bear doesn't need Bloodfist and Duress armor for CB and FHR.

Will full inventory (lvl42 Maul) and + 4 skills switch, it is possible to overcharge Fortitude+Ribcracker to 6 FPA and 75K DPS.

With Treachery: 63k DPS with 6 frame attack, 85% CB.

3. BOTDs in that order: Great Poleaxe (very easy 7, hard 6 with 40 EIAS), Thunder Maul (hard 7 FPA), Champion Axe (hard 6, or easy 6 with 30 EIAS), Glorious Axe (easy 7), Archon Staff (easy 7)

Note: although BOTD Thunder Maul looks terrific on the character screen, with a 8 Maul meta helm and 10 EIAS it still needs at least lvl38 maul to make an 7 FPA attack. Most players won't have that level, and a 8 FPA TM is not really better than a 7 FPA Glorious Axe or Archon Staff (already 7 at lvl30). With the same gear GPA is a terrific 7 at lvl24.

A common misconception that you will need the same amount of hits for your max damage as your Maul level. The Maul level is not the same as the hits required! Let's say, a level 40 Maul represents 23 stacks of charges. I actually counted this. This means that with BOTD GA you will need 23 hits for your max damage. The IAS BP is breached earlier, at 18 hits.

The lower Maul level required for a certain target FPA also means that the faster base weapon with the same total IAS will reach the IAS breakpoint with less hits. A BOTD GA with Meta helm and 10 EIAS (Bloodfist) reaches 7 FPA at 18 hits, TM needs 22 hits for the same, GPA is there at only 15 hits. CA is friggin' fast (by werebear standards). It is never slower than 9, already at 7 at 12, and can go for 6 at 22 hits.

Using TM means 500-600 HP minus as well. but if you have the tools for it, this may be a fair deal for some 20-25% higher raw DPS (72-75K without Fortitude because you may well need CoH for the required skill level).

Albeit a Meta+40EIAS GPA setup can do the same with 6 FPA attack, 50 less statpoints, longer reach. Pound-by-pound Great Poleaxe is the better weapon.

Example: The Longpaw V2

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/bl013q2u

4. Eth Reaper's Toll (hard 7 FPA, or hard 6 with IAS armor )

5. Eth Tomb Reaver (easy 7, or hard 6 with IAS armor)

+1. And the weird one out: IK Maul (set minus helm) with the right stuff (hard 6 FPA).

The overcharge trick

If you are planning to play a Mauler, chances are you will be spending a lot of time with this up-to-date IAS calculator:

https://warren1001.github.io/IAS_Calculator/

In some cases, you might need just a few extra skillpoints to reach the desired IAS frame. If nothing else, you can do the following: if your gear on W has some extra skills, after you reached the top speed and damage with the main weapon, you can land a few hits with the B weapon, and then switch back to the main. The active charges will remain correspondent with the higher Maul level, and until the charges wear off, the higher IAS value keeps being applied to your main weapon.

With the overcharge trick you also gain extra damage. If I do that, I normally use a +5 skill Mang Song staff, but if someone wants to do this with style, and has the STR for it, an Islestrike axe and Spirit Monarch can add +5 Maul skill too.

Gear setups

There are three main categories here:

1. Budget (for general playthrough, leveling, DC-killing, miniubers, UT only with support)

2. Expensive without Meta pelt (solo UT-capable with high CB weapon)

3. Endgame with Metapelt (easy solo UT with high CB weapon), Mark of the Bear is active.

The 54 FHR breakpoint is maintained in every case. After you are locked on a target, you won't need any FHR anymore, but until then it's still good to have a healthy amount.

1.1 The Ghostbeast: 7FPA, 55% CB, 30k+ DPS

Quirks: needs a dual-leech ring and 75 EIAS at least. Pretty tough fella, but doesn't have the power for soloing in high player count or for UT yet.

Will need a standard Reapers merc to handle PIs, but that applies to the rest except the IK setups.

Other important weakness is the low def.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/hk01actf

With Ribracker:

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/kf01acua

1.2 The Immortal Bear: 7 FPA, 40%CB, 28k+ nominal DPS

Quirks: can handle PIs alone. Stronger than it looks, against two-third of the target populaton it has some 40% extra DPS. Average def.

Needs a fairly high amount of STR.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/lq01bcr1

1.4 The Berserker: 7 FPA, 15% CB, 41k+ DPS

Quirks: albeit a bit more on the pricy side, tough as nails without a single HR involved.

Raw damage, good defense and DR. Not really a bosskiller though.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/uy01ictr

2.1 The Longpaw: 7 FPA, 30% CB, 52k+ DPS

Quirks: fast, safe and convenient. Average def.

BOTD GPA is 7 FPA-capable weapon without Meta helm, but you will still need 35 EIAS.

Can be disappointing against bosses though.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/qb01ac50

2.2 The Ravager: 7 FPA, 65% CB, 51k+ DPS

Quirks: takes advantage of the faster weapon base and replaces Jalal's with Gulli helm. It's a very good all-arounder.

The runeword base is elusive. It takes extra dex, but works the same with Giant Tresher base.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/y501bcau

2.3 The Iron Bear: 8 FPA, 100% CB, 43k+ DPS

Quirks: Ribcracker-based build, slow, but mean. Stands out with high def.

If someone has a Beast fana around, this one will tear down everything with 6 FPA attack in a very short order.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/xe01ec3n

2.4 The Giantslayer: 7 FPA, 85% CB, 70k+ DPS

Quirks: the first build with Death runeword. It has endgame damage, but the only source of DR is from Fade.

Low def, no OW. Will make fast kills, but get ready with some potions.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/s401bczm

3.1 The Immortal Bear V2: 6 FPA, 65% CB, 43k+ nominal DPS

Quirks: a good all-arounder, has no major vices, but does not stand out much either. Against demons and undead the weapon has comparable damage to a 7 frame eth Ribracker. Very safe with 45% DR.

It lacks AR a bit though. Good melee rings and the jewelry will be expensive.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/ia01bcpg

3.2. The Graverobber: 6 FPA, 40% CB, 62k+ DPS

Quirks: BOTD-like damage, It is certainly fast, both in moving and attack.

Low def and leech. It has MF, but that's about it.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/an01zo5l

3.3 The Ravager V2: 6-7FPA, 40-90% CB, 60-70k+ DPS - that's my main

If the gear and inventory are not perfect, that' because this is an actual character, not just a concept. He is a proven Uber-killer, no BO or lifetap required.

Quirks: it's an universal setup, weapon can be either a BOTD CA/GA/GPA or a Death CA. Or even Ribracker, and it can wear Laying of Hands gloves and Strings belt instead. Also 7 frame eTomb Reaver-compatible.

That dual-leech craft ring is a heritage of the Ribracker era. A single high LL one (9-11%) would be optimal.

If you are using a BOTD Great Poleaxe with this setup and a normal inventory, an overcharged GPA can actually reach a 6 frame attack (lvl44 Maul)! BOTD Champion Axe reaches 6 frame attack without overcharge (lvl38 Maul).

Weaknesses: low def and OW. Death RWs get to speed, eventually, but they are "lazy" weapons. The helm and weapons bases may be very hard to get.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/1a01kho6

A different but roughly equivalent setup with eDeath Silver-Edged Axe (84k+ DPS with 90% CB)

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/k8016ctk

Quirks: better def and raw damage, has good open wounds. Runeword weapon base is easier to get.

Worse HP, resists, leech and DR though. Requires two expensive melee rings to shine.

3.4 The Iron Bear V2: 7 FPA, 85% CB, 63k+ DPS

Quirks: doesn't have the DPS of the Ravager, but comes with much higher defense. Faster charge-up than Death and rapid Shockwave spamming.

The gear is a easier to collect. Can do without a +3Maul Meta.

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/sa01rcpa/URL]

Merc for a Mauler

Again, no sudden revelations here, the Might/Reaper's Decrepify combination is still the strongest possible support for a melee chars like this.

The approach is a bit different here though. Since you cannot protect and place your hireling with teleport, he has to be somewhat self-sufficient. Emilio won't have much HP either, so when is fighting his own battles somewhere, he will get into hit recovery a lot. The FHR BPs of A2 merc are atrocious, you have to stick to 42 FHR at least, 60 is even better.

So, instead of putting a fridge-sized armor on him, we focus on speed (faster decrepify delivery), FHR, DR, and anti-curse/anti-poision qualities. The breakpoints for 10 and 9 frame Tresher or Hyperion Spear Jab are 42 and 75. Treachery alone solves the 10 frame BP and does everything except defense.

The A2 merc with Reaper's (ED/FHR jewel in weapon) in the aforementioned links is probably the most cost-effective. There are stronger combinations, but this one is modular. You can swap the helm for a Cure or Ground, Rockstopper, Coa, or Shael-ed Gaze without changing the target IAS and FHR breakpoints. The default setup with Bulwark works nicely 99% of the time. Sometimes I change the helm for Cure in Baalruns (if no one else has one), and Ground for Uber Mephisto.

This merc makes through Uber Tristram 2 of 3. Granted you will have to heal him (more than yourself), but if he survives Mephisto, he does an admirable job against the rest. With HoW and Demon Limb enchant your merc will have apx. 15K AR (Ignore Target's Defense does work on normal monsters only), which can be sufficient to hit even iLvl99s and to cast Decrepify on them. At least I saw him doing that several times.

There is one major variation, if your bear self-wields Reaper's. In that case you can equip your merc with Prideruneword. The IAS BP is maintained, but you will have to stick with Bulwark or Gaze (life leech!) for the head.

Other merc weapons for a self-wield Reaper's druid: Obedience Tresher (same IAS setup, -25% target def, self-enchant, 24k DPS+ 40% CB, maxed resists without Fade, can have Cham-ed Gaze), Eth Arioc (ED/FHR jewel, 9 frame Jab, up to 35k+ DPS!) and eBOTD Ghost Spear (9 frame jab, 31k+DPS, huge leech, great in Chaos Sanctuary). With eBOTD Ghost Spear your merc may wear Shael-Cham COA (for 60 FHR BP and CBF).

Some safety considerations in Uber Tristram

It's always a fight. But if you stick to several prudent rules, there is no reason to not get out alive.

There are some pre-buffs you shouldn't skip. 1. enchant yourself and the merc with Demon Limb. 2. pre-fade yourself on the River of Flame like any char. 3. Equip the merc with a Kira or Ground Helm, these should help him to survive Mephisto. 4. Let the merc Fade himself and activate his aura.

If you are done with these, you are set to enter. DO NOT summon anything in the town just yet, the pets may attract unwanted attention to the red portal. After you enter, run to a safe corner, and then release ALL summons of yours.

From that on it's pretty straightforward. Engage the Prime Evils one-by-one, lure them out to the usual killboxes, Mephisto first and foremost. Mephisto and Diablo will go down pretty fast. After you lock on any of them, you just have to hold left click and occasionally heal yourself or the merc. Don't re-summon anything during the kill, but release the full zoo again after each main kill.

Baal is a bit more tricky though. He is not dangerous but annoying. He will probably your second foe. If possible, engage him charged up because at full speed (or close to it) his Decrepify curse will slow you down with 1 frame only. Otherwise it's just muscle.

About charging up. You won't need that much against Mephisto, but after him chances are there will be enough critters around to maintain your attack speed. If you find a lone physical immune, great, you can keep punching it for charges. It doesn't matter if you don't actually hurt the PI, hitting is enough to pump your green ball.

This post was edited by Minstrelboy on Nov 20 2023 04:37pm