hi,

i've decided to share this build to you all, i'm sure you've had a 'town druid' in a pvp game once during your duelling career but this build isn't for a town druid this is a build that utilises certain gear setups to ensure victory outside of town.
if you're in search of a build that can own all builds then unfortunately i wouldn't continue reading but for those who wish to try something different then this build is for you


pros :

insane life both in human/bear form
insane bear damage/life
summon stack when playing defensive only with a widowmaker & max how
takes advantage of fhr recovery rates with shockwave (mainly druid, necro, sorc & amazon with dodges)
very good team player (life/damage bonus)
163 faster cate rate setup to chase but also keep them stunned in place
ability to cast grizzly bear on opponent to force them into fhr (Raven also do this of course)


cons :

druid unfortunately has one of the worst fhr breakpoints in the game (apart from wolf of course)
smite/ww baba or assa, summon stack or any stun based character are hard opponents
characters with good fhr breakpoints (barb, assa & pala) don't really flinch from shockwave as much as druid, necro, sorc or amazon
high defence builds causes problems
players with life leech can gain life from hitting the bear (weird i thought!)


skill allocation :

20 grizzly bear
20 dire wolf
20 spirit wolf
20 oak sage
20 heart of the wolverine
1 werewolf (every last point should go into lycantrophy for more life in bear form or if you choose 1 point cyclone armor), 1 werebear, 1 maul & 1 shockwave (in pvp shockwave duration doesn't affect duels that's only in pvm)


stat allocation :

enough for gear after enigma
max block
rest into vitality
nothing


abbreviations :

grizzly stomp (cast summon grizzly on top of them)
tele stomp shockwave (teleport on them once grizzly bear has hit them, transform into werebear and shockwave)


gear setups

max damage setup :

2 druid 10 fhr 3 grizzly 2s pelt (other stats to look out for would be eth/repair 3 oak sage/heart of the wolverine life res, look for fhr or life or res if you need it since if you die how can your bear carry on mauling?)
enigma mp
mara/3 summon 100 life amulet/atma's (atma's used with weapon switch for widowmaker to gain insane damage for bear but also widowmaker damage)
beast axe (any axe really, a lower strength requirement ensures you have enough strength for the stormshield)
spirit monarch/stormshield (of course with this setup you'll be duelling either melee/slower casters get a 7 fhr 9 dex jewel for the stormshield)
x2 soj
arach/dungo (same as shield)
waterwalks 65 life
bloodfist (fhr and life, what more do you want from these awesome gloves?)
enough fhr for 99 with gc's in human form the rest summon lifers
life @ sc's
torch
anni


faster cast rate setup :

2 druid 20 cast 2s circlet/diadem (life & res)
hoto 40 @ (if you need more res then just use wizzy 7 fhr 15@ jewel) / perfect widowmaker on switch
enigma mp
spirit monarch 35 faster cast rate
to gloves
2 druid 18+ cast crafted amulet with life & res
x1 faster cast rate rings with life res & x1 soj
arach/crafted 10 faster cast rate faster hit recovery strength life res belt
waterwalk 65 life
enough fhr for 99 with gc's in human form the rest summon lifers
life @ sc's
torch
anni


defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup (you'll ask yourself wtf ? sometimes grizzly just cannot take certain players down (ww barb smiters, hammerdins etc) :

perfect widowmaker 40 ed 15 ias
3s tiara/diadem 45 ias 120 ed 100 life
atma's/highlord (switch to highlord after amp procs & repeat)
enigma mp
crafted knockback 20 ias gloves (look for crushing blow res etc)
crafted open wounds fhr mass life res belt
gores
x2 raven
x5 spirit wolves out and either oak/how. you can also use grizzly to cast on the character to force them into a slight knockback which open up an oportunity to tele stomp shockwave
use demonlimb to gain a bit of fire damage


duelling strategies :

vs sorc :

faster cast rate setup/defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

take advantage of a sorcs fhr breakpoints here, cast grizzly on the sorc is the best option. tele on them when the bear wacks them then transform into werebear and shockwave repeatedly but also cast grizzly if he dies, if they're defensive then play defensive also and widowmaker them


vs necro (pnb)

faster cast rate setup/defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

again take advantage of their fhr breakpoints with shockwave/grizzly stomp similar to a sorc if they play defensive you play defensive and widowmaker them. if they go offensive grizzly stomp, tele stomp shockwave and repeat


vs bowazon :

max damage setup

max block with oak sage out, always play offensive with these guys, grizzly stomp, tele stomp, shock wave & repeat


vs javazon :

faster cast rate setup/defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

depends if they're farcast or not. if they're not i just wouldn't get close to them because of charged strike. if they've got dodges then you can grizzly stomp, tele stomp and shockwave. if they haven't got dodges use your widowmaker without any summons out


vs hammerdin :

max damage setup

demonlimb your bear, shockwave won't really help here so play defensive grizzly stomp with beast out then switch to widowmaker to chip away at his life pool. high defence, max block and 50% dr is a problem for grizzly


vs windy :

faster cast rate setup

main problem is their summon stack and hurricane. any decent windy druid will have 5 summon spirit wolves and oak sage out at all times vs any melee character. use widow maker to kill their summons. normally duelling these guys if they teleport off they've gone to recast summons. take advantage of this and go offensive. use a beast here to speed up your grizzly due to being frozen with hurricane. if they're caught in your shockwave they're in trouble


vs trapper :

defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

stay away from them, one mindblast on your grizzly and he may as well be dead. i recommend staying back and running with 5 spirit wolves out. let them take the trap damage and resummon. if they go offensive which they will just go defensive. keep firing away with your widowmaker out


vs fury/rabies :

defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

similar to trapper. if they touch any of your summons with rabies you're fucked. if they're pure fury then use grizzly stomp and keep firing away with windowmaker. shockwave is pointless, who doesn't take advantage of 86 fhr (best fhr in the game at frame 3 for wolf druid?) they have alot of life so crushing blow is crucial. guillies, goblin toe, knockback crushing blow gloves will help you alot !


bowa/java hybrid :

max damage setup

not much chance here, can't get close because of charged strike. can't have widowmaker out because they'll just annihilate you with the bow. they can however get stuck in dodge lock. best method is grizzly stomp, tele stomp, shockwave and repeat but it's a hard duel because you have to get close for it to work. i have killed a few this way though


ww barb/assa :

max damage setup/defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup


i've put these two in the same criteria because they're similar both in the way they duel and my strategy for them. stay away from them. shockwave won't work here. grizzly will die in x1 ww pass. they're both offensive builds and will attempt to take you out quick. play defensive with summon stack and widowmaker with as much crushing blow/deadly strike/open wounds as possible. use atma's to amp them if you do notice they've stopped ww grizzly stomp. both are hard duels here


smiter :

defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

demonlimb your widowmaker on switch, keep x5 spirit wolves out but also grizzly stomp (will have to resummon x5 spirit wolves) main reason is to force him to block and you've got a split second to get a grizzly stomp on him. no point using shockwave here they'll just shrug it off. use heart of the wolverine and alot of crushing blow/deadly strike/open wounds to bring him down. i will note here also if they're foh/charge also always keep x5 spirit wolves out and keep teleporting to prevent an foh/charge hit on yourself


builds to avoid 100% :

summon necro (you just have zero chance here)


i think that's all, if i've missed anything out lmk

This post was edited by lawson on Jun 24 2016 06:29am

the most important technique seems to be the one you pretty much ignore, where you simply namelock teleport on someone with a grizzly and teleport off again, letting it hit once out of the blue. Thats where all the threat of a shaman came from. No dueler is ever going to let you complete a full second of transforming and starting a shockwave cast after a teleport on top of them without hitting you back or teleporting away, whereas a namelock teleport lets a bear hit them even if both players are holding down right click teleport. Of course, the shaman build was made to be more than a one trick pony and actually create the openings that let him pull drive-bys, whereas a pure summoner like this is incredibly predictable and exploitable and can't even fight 90% of builds, because you only have one way to damage them. And of course the 40 points in spirit wolves and dire wolves are sure well spent, and theres nothing quite like maxing out two spirits

if the only thing you can duel when dueling a buriza werewolf is to peck away at them with 100 damage guided arrows or throw rancid gas potions, its a pretty bad sign for your viability

This post was edited by Goomshill on Jun 24 2016 08:06am

it's incredibly risky to name lock with this build and i wouldn't recommend it to be honest. this method of teleporting grizzly stomping then transforming into werebear with shockwave takes some getting used to but once you've perfected it it's brilliant. my damage with guided was 1k after heart of wolverine, add amp damage deadly strike and you've got a chance of 4k unblockable damage coming through which definitely did the trick along with a fast volley of guided arrows

i don't think you've personally made this build, a shaman build yes but not this particular build

This post was edited by lawson on Jun 24 2016 08:33am

nice

how do you think I designed the shaman? I played pure summoners in 1.09 and early 1.10 and saw their strengths and weaknesses. I played fire druids too. Actually I'm pretty sure I played literally every imaginable build at some point
Grizzly is fairly unique as a skill in that you can literally namelock teleport and hold teleport to get off them again and deliver a large damage hit, something you can't do with other attack skills (no teleport away) or other summons (pathetic damage)
This aspect is the #1 strength of a summoner in competitive pvp whether you're a pure summoner or ramen noodle or whatever. Not "asking the enemy to remain immobile for 30 frames to cast 3 incredibly slow skills in a row on them"

But if you are a pure summoner, its far more suicidal, because the enemy will always expect it. A hammerdin can just charge around in a small circle spamming hammers and he's immortal against you because if you try to telestomp, you die, if you try to summon a bear on him, it dies, you try to spam bears on him and pray, he teles on you and you die. A pure summoner is broadcasting to the enemy "I have no attack other than getting directly on top of you", and everyone from trappers to fire sorcs to ww barbs to necros can punish that. Precisely why the threat of a fissure or volcano lighting under their ass creates opportunities to strike with a bear you can't do on a pure summoner. Trying to bleed people out with a 0 damage 0 poison 1/2 open wounds widowmaker isn't exactly a convincing alternative.

Cons: dies to every single build on d2

i forgot to factor in deadly strike with widowmaker so there's a chance of 4k unblockable damage

read my strategies vs opponents i've explained them all

for example :

vs hammerdin :

max damage setup

demonlimb your bear, shockwave won't really help here so play defensive grizzly stomp with beast out then switch to widowmaker to chip away at his life pool. high defence, max block and 50% dr is a problem for grizzly. basically vs hammer my setup would mostly be widowmaker with high open wounds/crushing blow & deadly strike


vs trapper :

defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

stay away from them, one mindblast on your grizzly and he may as well be dead. i recommend staying back and running with 5 spirit wolves out. let them take the trap damage and resummon. if they go offensive which they will just go defensive. keep firing away with your widowmaker out


vs sorc :

faster cast rate setup/defensive widowmaker build with summon stack setup

take advantage of a sorcs fhr breakpoints here, cast grizzly on the sorc is the best option. tele on them when the bear wacks them then transform into werebear and shockwave repeatedly but also cast grizzly if he dies, if they're defensive then play defensive also and widowmaker them


i've explained as much as i could and i've personally duelled all of these builds and sorcs are probably the easiest to kill with 163/99 setup. another way i would duel certain characters would be to chase them and randomly teleport in an area and if they entered my shockwave area which they did they would be stuck in fhr lock and my grizzly would finnish them off.

i also explained if you where in search of a build that owned every character then this build isn't for you. but make no mistake this build works a treat and it surprises a lot of opponents

This post was edited by lawson on Jun 24 2016 08:54am

disagreed 100%

i was actually inspired from this video a couple of years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gkBvYkz6LE

and i decided to make my own. have made x2 so far since and this one i added my own twist to it