Druid Wolf Monk

[Irongutz2000]

Ok so I finally hit completionist and am posting my final build for ppl to look at etc.

Azreal Human 18 druid/ 2 monk Wolf form

15 str
12 dex
15 con
8 int
18 wis
8 chars

Level ups into wis

Skills: concentration , balance, umd, and w/e else u want

feats
Toughness
Maximize
Past life: monk
Past life: wizard
Completionist
Evo focus
Power attack
Stuning fist
Quicken
Natural fighting X 2


enchanments:

Max cold
natures warrior line
some healing and elec enchanments
toughness enchanments etc.


Open for suggestions or changes

[brlftz]

looks good so far...how will you play it? what gear do you have planned?

[Munkenmo]

feats
Toughness
Maximize
Past life: monk
Past life: wizard
Completionist
Evo focus
Power attack
Stuning fist
Quicken
Natural fighting X 2

No improved crit, or third natural fighting feat.

I'd definately consider going 17/2/1 wizard as you get the bonus feat + the stacking spell power boosts

1 fighter would also net you a bonus feat.

[Irongutz2000]

No improved crit, or third natural fighting feat.

I'd definately consider going 17/2/1 wizard as you get the bonus feat + the stacking spell power boosts

1 fighter would also net you a bonus feat.

I do have IMP crit blunt, I cannot edit original post for somereason, wizzie could be interesting. And as much as I would like to take nat fighting 3 theres no room and am not dropping anything




As far as play style, will be in wolf form, using handwraps. Will have 4.5 weapon damage with normal ML 20 wraps, and a twist. So play style will be , throw earthquake, thorw ice strom or w/e else I want, the go in stun and kill. Around mid 50's evo dc will flatten most EE quests.

Gear is a whole nother subject, and won't fully know until I cap him ( lvl 13 now) Thinking blue scale and helm though....

[AzB]

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a build that's very, very similar. Other than not having the active pl feats and having cleave and inproved crit bludgeon instead, they're practically identical. Starting stats, 2 levels of monk, etc. He is half elf with a rogue dilly, and the rogue dilly enhancements, so he gets something like 9d6 on a sneak attack.

And it works well as a hybrid melee/caster. For single mobs, FoD or a DoT like greater creeping cold, then wade in and melee in wolf form. Using handwraps or staves, depending on need. I've been using Adamantine handwraps with frost and good added in the augments, and various thaumatury staves if I'm going to be doing more casting.

But as I moved into 18+ and on into epic levels, the melee damage is just pathetic. It was useful at level 16, but now it barely makes a dent in the mobs, and forget the red names. I end up casting more than melee, and this toon is not built for that.

My casting damage is not bad considering this is not a primary caster. Lightning does ~500 with a failed save, FoD is iffy but works on things that have a poor save and normal level trash.

In wolf form, the weapon damage doesn't mean anything, so a weapon with higher base damage doesn't help. I recently picked up that Monk staff in Eveningstar with the Villager commendations, and it has a very high base damage for a q-staff. So now, my wolf melee specced druid does significantly more damage in human form with a q-staff than it does in wolf form with any weapon. Yes, the wolf attacks faster, but I'm looking at base damage per swing here, and in any event, he still takes the training dummy down faster in human form with that q-staff than he does in wolf form. With the staff, he's averaging just under 100hp a swing, and in wolf mode it's right around 40. With crits about 4 or 5x the base) If I could get the wolf anywhere near 100hp a swing, it would be a lot more useful, especially with fatal harrier.

I'm new to the melee druid (I have another toon that's a pure caster spec druid) and I'm thinking there's something very wrong here. Am I missing something? (Forest for the trees seems a good metaphor for a druid)

It's not a big deal as he is a TR, but I'm liking this toon a whole lot otherwise and could definitely see making druid his final life or maybe another toon. He is incredibly versatile, able to fill any holes in a party lineup easily, if not perfectly. And he's really, really hard to kill. I think he died maybe 4 times to level 22, and that's pretty good for me as I'm not the greatest player. And that makes him easy to solo as well, although the sp pool is a little low sometimes. (not an insurmountable problem at all)

Does anyone have any ideas? With my melee toons, the weapons selection for each level/quest etc was very important and could make or break the dps, but with the druid the damage is not related to the weapon at all in wolf form, so that's not going to be the solution.

Thanks for any ideas!

[Irongutz2000]

Does anyone have any ideas? With my melee toons, the weapons selection for each level/quest etc was very important and could make or break the dps, but with the druid the damage is not related to the weapon at all in wolf form, so that's not going to be the solution.

Thanks for any ideas!

Wolf form dps can be increased in raising ur double strike, monk die step increases add to the base damage when using handwraps. So a druid wolf monk with epic wraps will have 2d10, monk past life feat is another 0.5 and so onn....Just r stuck using wraps. Also heard the club builds in dreadnaught r fun as well in wolf.

Dot and use ur spells to....they have my fav dot in the game and earth quake is amazing.

[Munkenmo]

And as much as I would like to take nat fighting 3 theres no room and am not dropping anything

dropping to 17 druid from 18 druid only loses you 1 level 8, and 1 level 9 spell slot, plus 1 caster level for your cure based spells.
you'd still get

lvl 8 : heal, howl, earthquake
lvl 9 : snowslide, mass renegerate.


I personally don't see the point in holding onto an 18th druid level. 1 Wizard will net you room for the third natural fighting feat, and your elemental spells will better off with the extra spell power you'll gain.

[HatsuharuZ]

So you don't need Bluff for wolf form?