Just reached 125 with this build. The guide is really good. Some things that I learned:
1. For leveling, I got lucky with an early drop of
Big Bad
Big Bad
Wolf Head (4)
Defense: (39 - 44) to (54 - 62)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
2% Life stolen per Hit
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
(2 to 5)% to Strength
(2 to 5)% to Dexterity
+20 Life Regenerated per Second
(11 to 15)% Bonus to Defense
+1% to Experience Gained
Socketed (1)
Defense: (174 - 193) to (224 - 248)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 20
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
4% Life stolen per Hit
+(71 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
(10 to 13)% to Strength
(10 to 13)% to Dexterity
+30 Life Regenerated per Second
(16 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
+2% to Experience Gained
Socketed (2)
Defense: (443 - 487) to (540 - 594)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
6% Life stolen per Hit
+(91 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
(18 to 21)% to Strength
(18 to 21)% to Dexterity
+40 Life Regenerated per Second
(21 to 25)% Bonus to Defense
+2% to Experience Gained
Socketed (3)
Defense: (670 - 731) to (818 - 892)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
8% Life stolen per Hit
+(111 to 130)% Enhanced Defense
(22 to 25)% to Strength
(22 to 25)% to Dexterity
+50 Life Regenerated per Second
(26 to 30)% Bonus to Defense
+3% to Experience Gained
Socketed (4)
, which I wore and uptiered to level 4. Maybe it's not worth making this if it doesn't drop, but it was a very good item -- I'm pretty sure it's better than the Ko RW, with all the bonuses being at least decent. The extra leech was very nice, the bonus str made it possible to wear
Zealot Rush
Zealot Rush
Light Plated Boots (4)
Defense: (67 - 78) to (102 - 119)
Required Level: 6
Required Strength: 31
Item Level: 10
5% Attack Speed
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
(11 to 25)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(21 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
(3 to 5)% to Dexterity
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (1)
Defense: (248 - 281) to (338 - 384)
Required Level: 24
Required Strength: 62
Item Level: 36
10% Attack Speed
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
(41 to 55)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
(9 to 11)% to Dexterity
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (2)
Defense: (613 - 685) to (817 - 914)
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 218
Item Level: 51
20% Attack Speed
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
(71 to 85)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(61 to 80)% Enhanced Defense
(15 to 17)% to Dexterity
3% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (3)
Defense: (944 - 1044) to (1247 - 1378)
Required Level: 50
Required Strength: 436
Item Level: 85
30% Attack Speed
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
(86 to 100)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(81 to 100)% Enhanced Defense
(18 to 20)% to Dexterity
4% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)
early and get a ridiculous number of reanimates, and the fact that it wasn't a runeword meant I could put a ton of gems/runes in it to get whatever bonuses I needed most rather than having to craft jewels. Another decent early game TU is
Wormtongue
Wormtongue
Light Belt (4)
Defense: (53 - 58) to (71 - 78)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 26
Item Level: 1
(31 to 50)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 5-13 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(2 to 4)% Life stolen per Hit
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 15) to Dexterity
Socketed (1)
Defense: (214 - 231) to (259 - 279)
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 55
Item Level: 31
(71 to 90)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 19-50 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(8 to 10)% Life stolen per Hit
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (544 - 581) to (649 - 693)
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 192
Item Level: 51
(111 to 130)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 75-150 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(14 to 16)% Life stolen per Hit
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (801 - 851) to (946 - 1006)
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 384
Item Level: 77
(131 to 150)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 100-250 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(17 to 19)% Life stolen per Hit
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
for even more leech.
2. Magical (blue) sacred Flamen Staffs can randomly have high +sk. If you get one, you can put off crafting this item for a while.
3. Sometimes I would find myself suddenly healed to full HP. This puzzled me until I realized that when the bear buff heals "3% of max health per second," apparently that means 3% of the
bear's max health per second. The bear's health is enormous. Almost any fight can be changed from hopeless to an easy win if the bear just happens to get a timely hit.
4. With the physical build, everything was super smooth until I suddenly hit a wall at Hell Duriel, where I probably died 20 times before killing him. This seemed like a really bad omen, but after I got past that point, things got easier again for a while. As I progressed to 115, my kill speed kept going down. I made a mistake here: I was reluctant to transition to the elemental build, because when I equipped my (mediocre) craft, my damage went down in d2stats (and the LCS) even accounting for pierce. What I didn't fully understand was that once you respec to max Cascade and Heartseeker with 10 points each, you'll gain
massive amounts of bonus fire damage and the weapon's own stats aren't nearly as important. In retrospect I should have switched much earlier, even with a less-than-amazing craft.
5. A somewhat exploitative tip for Kabraxis: Lure him near the red portal, then go through it. On the other side, there is a column in the middle of the fire ring. The bear will hit the column repeatedly and eventually you will get the bear buff. As soon as you do, pop through the portal and just spam Heartseeker. Pop back out through the portal when the buff expires, or if you get a bit low, and wait for the buff again. Kabraxis is pretty doable for this character anyway, but if you're having trouble, this makes it easy.