I'll preface this by saying that it was journey playing through HC for the first time, on a build I knew nothing about. I quickly learned that I would need high defenses, so this build is focused around being safe, and then doing damage.
This is a resource you should use throughout your playthrough. I recommend starting as WereBear and then switching to WereWolf once you get the base gearset.
Select Druid → Werewolf → Standard Skill → Select Weapon → add Werewolf level. Reference this to see what breakpoint you can hit, as it increases damage quite a lot.
Leveling:
I've heard that the Raven set is great for leveling, and this build doesn't really use any set pieces. This may be a good alternative.
Summoner druid is also apparently good. I do not know much about either of these builds.
Normal -
Skills:
- 1pt Bear (More if you have high phys weapon)
- 1pt Lycanthropy (More if you want more health)
- 1pt Maul (Don't need this, the buff is helpful though)
- 1pt Firestorm
- 1pt Molten Boulder
- Max Fire Claws
Weapon: Make or find whatever weapon you can with the most IAS
Gear: Nothing is required here. Get Cannot Be Frozen, Run/Walk, Resistances, Flat dmg reduction, and leech or life/mana on kill.
Nightmare -
Skills: Same as Normal. Put points into Firestorm/Molten Boulder for damage, or Bear/Lycanthropy for survivability.
- 1pt Bear (More if you have high phys weapon)
- 1pt Lycanthropy (More if you want more health)
- 1pt Maul (Don't need this, the buff is helpful though)
- 1pt Firestorm
- 1pt Molten Boulder
- Max Fire Claws
Weapon: Make or find whatever weapon you can with the most IAS
Gear: Cannot be Frozen, Max your resistances!
Nightmare TZ Farming
Now the farming gear. There are a few items I needed to make this build start to click. This should be your baseline before heading into Hell, so farm NM Terror Zones until you have all/most of this gear.
I also recommend changing to Werewolf at this point, as you'll see a nice spike in damage. Be sure to calculate what IAS you need from here on out. You can freely add points to Werewolf or Lycanthropy as needed for IAS and life.
Skills:
- 1pt Werewolf (Use the IAS calc here to figure out what level you need to hit the breakpoint you want. Always aim for 7 frame attack)
- 1pt Lycanthropy (More if you want more health)
- 1pt Feral Rage (Don't need this, the buff is helpful though)
- Max Firestorm
- Max Molten Boulder
- Max Fire Claws
Stats:
- Strength - Enough to use gear
- Dexterity - Enough for Max block
- Vitality - Dump the rest
- Essential Gear:
- Weapon: Dimensional Blade - Blood Moon runeword → Upgrade to phase blade as soon as you can.
- Helm: Metamorphosis runeword - Any base will do, this will be your Cannot be Frozen item forever. This runeword is just too good to use anything else. Eventually, it can provide +14 to Fire claws.
- Shield: Stormshield - Use your first conversion orbs on this. slam 4 sockets into it as soon as you can, and fill it with Diamonds or Um runes.
- Armor: Enigma
- Mercenary - Infinity (Mancatcher preferably)
- Other Gear: This is the additional gear I used. There may be better options, but this is what I had available
- Gloves: Andariel's Claw set gloves - Provides IAS, FCR, and poison res
- Boots: Fill whatever Resists you need here, FRW is a plus
- Belt: Duskwreath - this belt is actually incredible. I used this until I found the final belt
- Amulet: Baal's Cryptic Amulet - +skills, MF → +2 skills when used with Diablo's Soulstone Ring
- Ring: Diablo's Soulstone Ring - +skills, life, %PDR, flat MDR - overall amazing ring → +2 skills when used with Baal's Cryptic Amulet
Charms:
- Fire Sunder
- Nightshare - FRW & Freeze Target
- Life GC's - you may end up with low life when getting max block. Some big life GC's coupled with points in Lycanthropy will provide a lot of extra health.
- Resist Charms - Fill your resists using any method possible.
By the time you have this gear or close to it, you should be demolishing P8 NM TZ's easily. Hell should be a breeze as well, so long as your resistances are capped.
Farming Hell - This should go pretty smoothly as long as you have the essential gear above. I'll put my base gearset, as well as some other options along the way. By the time you complete this gearset, you should be around 20-30k dmg with a good chunk of %Fire Pierce. With Torch, Anni, and some upgrades/facets, you'll quickly see damage spiking to 30, 40, or even 50k. Armageddon provides substantial chip damage, which helps with overall clear speed by allowing us to 1-shot more mobs more consistently.
Skills:
- 1pt Werewolf (Use the IAS calc here to figure out what level you need to hit the breakpoint you want. Always aim for 7 frame attack)
- 1pt Lycanthropy (More if you want more health)
- 1pt Feral Rage (Don't need this, the buff is helpful though)
- Max Firestorm
- Max Molten Boulder
- Max Fire Claws
- Max Armageddon - Helps with screen clear
- (Optional) 5pt Summon Dire Wolf - Helps to cleanup with minor AoE
- (Optional) 1pt Summon Grizzly - Pretty tanky
Stats:
- Strength - Enough to use gear
- Dexterity - Enough for Max block
- Vitality - Dump the rest
Breakpoints & Upgrades -
- Aim for 7 frame attack using the IAS calc above. Use Ring/Glove upgrades to achieve 7frame attack.
- Aim for 40/60 FCR breakpoints in Wolf form. 60FCR feels very good if you can get it.
- YOU MUST HAVE MAX BLOCK IF PLAYING HARDCORE
Gear: Try to fit in some Leech or Life on kill with corrupts or upgrades
- Weapon: Phase Blade → Blood Moon runeword → +10% Ele dmg/10% Ele pierce Corruption → 5x +4%Fire dmg/4%Fire pierce Upgrades
- Pick up every phase blade base you can and corrupt it. This base will serve you until you can hit a crafted weapon. At level ~18 Werewolf, this weapon alone provides 8 frame attack.
- Swap: x/6/x Call To Arms
- Helm: Metamorphosis → +x Fire claws Base
- Shield: Stormshield Monarch → 5x Block Chance Upgrade → 4 socket and fill with Diamond/Um runes
- Armor: There are 3 options for armor depending on where you are
- Enigma - Stock standard armor → Teleport → FRW → +skills → Strength
- Brimstone Hearth Russet Armor → +2 Fire skills, -20 Fire Pierce → 3os and fill with Um runes
- Heaven's Treasure Archon Plate → MF Armor → 5x MF Upgrades → 4os and fill with Um runes
- Gloves: You have a few options here depending on what you want/need
- Burning Soul War Gauntlets → %Fire Dmg/%Fire Pierce → Fire res
- Crafted +1 IAS/FCR/CB Gloves - I recommend crafting these anyways as they will be helpful for Ubers later. These will be better to use for breakpoints until you have better gear.
- Belt: Few options here as well
- Duskwreath → FCR/FHR/35 All Res - This belt is honestly amazing and helps us hit 45fcr breakpoint
- Dreadfury → +1 Druid, %Fire dmg, IAS, +2 random skill(Fire claws/Lycanthropy would be best here)
- Boots: Hooves of Satan Demonhide Boots → 30% FCR and %Fire Dmg - These boots are essential for QoL teleporting speeds
- Amulet: Baal's Cryptic Amulet → +skills, MF → +2 skills when used with Diablo's Soulstone Ring
- Ring: Diablo's Soulstone Ring → +skills, life, %PDR, flat MDR - overall amazing ring → +2 skills when used with Baal's Cryptic Amulet
- Ring: Ter'Angreal Ring → +skills, IAS, FCR, Strength
Charms:
- Crafted Fire Sunder
- Web of Wyrd → %Block chance → PDR → %Life
- Nightshade → FRW → Freezes Target
- Ogre King's Bowl → Life/Mana Leech
- Life & Death → +skills, MF
- +1 Crafted GC's
- %Fire Dmg LC
- %Fire Pierce LC
- +Fire Claws LC
- All resist charms
A2 Merc Equip: Might Aura → This merc is mainly here for the conviction aura, we won't be relying on him to be a killing machine
- Weapon: Eth Mancatcher → Infinity
- Helm: Cure (highest def base)
- Armor: Tarrasque Hide → 4os, fill with whatever is needed
- Gloves: Dracul's Grasp for life tap
- Belt: Kashya's Ward Mirthril Coil - %PDR, %MDR, Cold/Light/Fire Absorb
- Boots: Stallion Hooves - FRW → Max dmg → CB → DS
- Amulet: The Cats Eye - FRW → IAS
- Ring: Chiad's Halo → Life leech, IAS, Holy freeze
- Ring: Raven Frost → CBF
Best Possible Gear - Still working on it, updates to come
Ubers - COMING SOON