I’m sick of Ribcracker. (Regarding SS Druid 2.4)
To the Devs:
I get it. I agree with the BLUE POST, and believe you should stick to your guns with this change. I hope you buff the Wolf without reverting to old IAS calculations in 2.4.
To the players:
I am a loyal Wuf player, and play Diablo2 solely to play Wuf. (Truth be told, I reach for SORC first just to farm gear for my Wuf, but who doesn’t?)
My reason for agreeing with this change is this:
The Devs have already declared that they don’t intend for the SS Druid to become less viable, and intend for greater build diversity - which I believe is important for the Druid’s “Do-It-All” class identity. I think that all Druid players, like myself, must all stubbornly play this OBJECTIVELY sub-optimal class to prove some kind of point (like a statement on style? The anti-meta? To stick it to the man? I’m not really sure, but I know that I feel pride in not conforming, you know? I’m looking at you, PALADIN players)
Let me get down to the mechanics, and why the backend/bugged calculations on Live servers are actually detrimental to the SS Druid, and why RIBCRACKER being one of the only viable weapons on the Fury druid is actually a curse, and not a blessing.
- RIBCRACKER VIABILITY is a limiting consequence of the old Wuf mechanics, and not due to any mechanical exploitation, or discovery, or exploration. I’ll explain:
First, when you accept that BLOCKING (ie. using shields) is not viable in Wuf Form because:
(a) Wuf Form block animation is too long, and
(b) FURY is an interruptible ability, and can be interrupted by your own block animation,
Then you’ll realize that Wufs will actually suffer from BLOCKING damage. (Keep this in mind as I’ll circle back to how this affects Dexterity and Itemization later on.) This counterintuitive mechanic is actually GREAT, because attacking to stay alive is thrilling, and is a creative use of game mechanics, so I’m not rallying for faster block animations or anything. But there are problems that arise from this:
You’ll naturally conclude that Wufs should wield 2H weapons rather than ONE 1H weapon, because 2H weapons generally have higher stats, and since Druids can’t dual wield, they’d be leaving a whole item slot empty if they choose to wield a 1H weapon.
Now you’re staring down a short list of viable weapons that Wufs can choose from: 2H weapons. Then add to that fact that you get NO benefits from IAS on any other piece of gear thats not your weapon, (which is the mechanic that the Devs are trying to change in the PTR), and that short list of viable Wuf weapons gets even shorter. You’ll eventually end up only looking at THRESHER base weapons, including your Runewords, meaning that Wufs will only get to choose Polearm compatible Runewords, and if that Runeword just happens to have only like 20% IAS (ie, Crescent Moon), then, too bad. No other combination of gear will ever make a slow weapon viable, because IAS on anything else is useless.
And Unique weapons? If it’s not a Thresher base weapon, then it MUST have inherently high IAS on the weapon, ala, Windhammer (60% IAS), or RIBCRACKER (50% IAS). Even then, with either weapon, you HAVE to socket it with IAS, as in, Shael or Ruby Jewel of Fervor. That’s not really a choice, and don’t try to convince yourself that spending a precious Ruby Jewel on a weapon that no other class will use, to make a suboptimal class slightly less suboptimal, is actually a good idea.
So why do Druids always pick Ribcracker over Windhammer you ask?
FHR.
Wufs need 85 FHR to live, since we cannot block, and since Fury is an interruptible spell, you can NEVER stop attacking. Full gas, no brake. Since Ribcracker gives a whopping 50 FHR, you only need +35 FHR from your other gear/charms. Crushing Blow is important, obviously, but Windhammer has that too. What Windhammer doesn’t have is FHR, which is a boring stat to look for in a WEAPON. This is why Wufs play with GFace or Jalals for their precious 30 FHR that they need to live, and there goes your choice of Helms.
What about Tombreaver, you ask? In order for Tombreaver to be viable, it needs to have 3 sockets. And it’s no surprise what you must socket it with (it’s IAS.) And guess what, a 3os Tombreaver is one of the rarest items in the game, so it’s not really worth talking about, unless it completely breaks Wuf, which it doesn’t.
Now that we have the Weapon and helm choice narrowed down for the Wuf, let’s see what we can use:
Gloves: Laying of Hands (LoH)
Wuf players and even the guides will all agree that LoH is a solid choice for the Wuf, but it’s really annoying, considering that LoH has a +20% IAS stat that is completely useless, exclusively to the Wuf build. As in, an otherwise popular item that every other class across the board can fully utlize, the underpowered Wuf will only sub-optimally benefit. That’s plain unjust.
Which means that Dracul’s Grasp is really the only optimal choice for the Wuf, since none of its stats are wasted. And in my opinion, the only viable choice, since LifeLeech is almost mandatory, considering Block is not an option.
Speaking of sub-optimal gear, let’s talk about Highlord’s Wrath, Dexterity, and Angelics, and how they’re all related:
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Highlord’s Wrath for Wuf is viable, but under-utilized, considering that it gives +20% IAS to every other class BUT the SS Druid. This is frustrating, just like the +20% IAS on LoH exclusively excluding the SS Druid.
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Since BLOCKING is not an option for the Wuf, DEXTERITY becomes a suboptimal stat to increase, since you lose the Chance to Block synergy from Dex. And yet, you still need Attack Rating! There is no Wuf viable weapon with “Ignore Target’s Armor,” which is why Demon Limb (for Enchant AR) is often found in a Wuf Druid’s inventory. (By the way, having to switch around CTA and Demon Limb on your off hand gets old very fast.)
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So to supplement your lack of AR, a Wuf usually defaults to running Angelics Ammy and Ring. That is, if you don’t want to constantly switch around CTA for Demon Limb on your switch.
And the other ring slot? Raven Frost. Duh. No choice.
I won’t complain too much about this one though, since all other physical damage classes suffer the same problem, and is not a uniquely Druid issue.
Boots? Gore Rider. What else?
Similar to Raven Frost, Gore Rider taking away from item diversity in physical damage builds is not a unique problem to Druids, so I won’t complain too much about it here.
Oh and Chest piece? I guess you have a lot of choice here since ENIGMA (Teleport) is NOT USABLE in Wuf form. This is a blessing and a curse. This is a blessing in that Wufs aren’t forced to use Enigma, thus opening up a lot of other options. But let’s be honest, it’s a pretty awful thing to be the only build left out of Teleport when literally every other class can do it. What the F. Let us Leap, or something. Man, you have to run everywhere, but the Wuf can’t even run faster on 4 limbs than on 2.
All in all, I would say that I am okay with the Dev’s fixing the backend IAS calculation of SS Druid in 2.4, so long as they plan to tune-up the frontend of it simultaneously. In the community manager’s Blue Post, they acknowledge the same problems with the class as I have just outlined above, but didn’t know how to tune the IAS value of the Werewolf skill. I don’t care if it has to be +1000%. Just scale it up to match what it was before, but don’t hide what the calculation is. Hiding mechanics is never necessary.
I say just JACK UP the +IAS on the Werewolf ability, and let us SS Druids have at least one competitive season in the sun. I think we all deserve it.
Basically, what I want is to be able to hit as fast as 2.3 SS Druids, while using different weapons other than an upped Ribcracker. I’m sick of it and it’s not cool. Let me THWUMP things with an EARTHSHIFTER, and be just as effective.
Please, let’s not revert back to Ribcracker.
