Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction
Druid FAQ
by Alessar (c) 2001

Version: 0.95A (almost final!). September 25, 2001
All commercial use and reproduction prohibited.

My apologies - I had updated this guide weeks ago and thought I had 
submitted the update. Apparently I had not.
I only have a few skills to complete, and I hope you will find this 
useful in choosing your strategy for playing the Druid. Feel free to send 
your comments to: alessar@ignmail.com. 


                               INTRODUCTION

The Druid

The new Druid character is incredibly popular, but I'm surprised to see 
that almost everyone who has something to say about the class focuses on 
the shape shifting abilities. I do not claim to be the world's greatest 
expert on Diablo 2, but I like reading other people's ideas about skills 
and abilities, and play strategies, and since there hasn't been much 
posted yet other than Werewolf-oriented strategies, I decided to do this 
general commentary on all of the Druid's abilities. 

Some statistical information is summarized here, and it is from 
Blizzard's official strategy website, Arreat Summit 
(http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/druid.shtml)


Difficulty

It's important to keep in mind that the game changes quite a bit as you
play in the three different difficulties. Monster hit points increase
immensely in Nightmare and Hell difficulties. A lot of strategies seem to
focus on maximizing your character for Hell difficulty, and I can 
understand why this is done. I think that sometimes, though, people forget
that there are 25-30 levels to play through in Normal difficulty first. 
It's easy to say, "only put 1 point in this skill, the higher level version
is much better so it's wasting precious points" but sometimes you need to 
put a second or third point into some lower level ability to get through 
the game. My recommendations about skill spending are mostly oriented 
toward long-term play, but don't feel bad if you need to buff up a mid-
level attack spell to get through. If you NEED to spend a point, it's 
never wasted.

Keep in mind that skills can actually go up to level 30, it's just that
you can only BUY up to level 20. The remaining potential points are only
achievable through items and shrines and such. Consequently, all my 
evaluations look at the skill's effect at levels 1 and 20. Some skills
"jump" in damage or effect at certain points (roughly every 6 levels). 
I provide a rough damage formula for skills, mostly focused on the mid-
levels, and they will probably not be as accurate for ratings above 20. 


Hoarding Skill Points

Let me emphasize that the Druid is one of the strongest classes in the 
game, especially on Normal difficulty. A handful of skills and a few 
pieces of good equipment will carry you far if you use them correctly. 
For this reason, I recommend saving skill points whenever you can. Try 
putting just 1 point in each skill you want and no more until you find 
you need it. This way you will have the most points available for higher 
level skills, and you will also have points in reserve for lower level 
skills if you find you need them. For instance, if three skills become 
available when you level, and you are planning to buy all of them, you 
should have enough points saved to do so, and it shouldn't be a problem 
to hoard like this until late in Act III at the very earliest. Also, if 
you have made a plan to focus on higher level skills, don't hesitate to 
buy the lower-level prerequisites as soon as they're available. I know of
people who planned to use Solar Creeper, so they never bought Poison 
Creeper and Carrion Vine until 30th level. If you're going to buy that
skill eventually, buy it when you can and get some use out of it! At low
levels, those "weaker" skills WILL be useful for a while. It's more of a
waste of points to buy them later to fill prerequisites than to buy them
earlier and get even a few levels of use out of them.




                                 DRUID SKILLS

                                  ~Elemental~

Most of the Druid elemental skills have casting delays, in fact, most of 
the earth/fire spells share a linked casting delay. The fire spells 
usually have a larger area of effect and higher base damage than the wind 
and ice spells. However, most of the wind/ice spells are not delayed. So 
it is a basic strategy to unleash a powerful earth/fire spell and then 
switch to a wind/ice spell for a few seconds and snipe at the targets. 
Additionally, most earth/fire spells require a solid floor to cast on, 
and are useless on water areas or open space (such as in the Arcane 
Sanctuary), though bridges are perfectly fine. Elemental can be played on 
its own or mixed with Summoning, but is completely incompatible with 
Shape Shifting as you cannot cast Elemental spells when in Werebear or 
Werewolf forms. I believe Druids are unique in having a skill in this 
group which requires every other skill on the entire tab as 
prerequisites. Druids have no ability to use lightning, and only two of 
the Air spells are actually ice damage, the others being physical. 
Further, their only poison capability is via a summoned minion. This 
limitation in diversity is one of the Druid's two major limitations, 
however, I don't believe it's an unbalanced limitation.

Some druids who wish to truly maximize their characters do make the 
decision to follow only one branch of the elemental tab or the other.
Personally, I couldn't stand the lack of diversity. However, if you
are going to go Ice only, you can in fact skip every fire skill on 
the tab. If you're going to specialize in fire, you'll still need to
take at least 1 point of every wind/ice skill so buy them as available.

Elemental skills can be mixed with summoning to great effect, or focused on 
solely. If you wish to play a pure Elementalist, it is essential you hoard 
points and spend more than one only in the most puissant abilities: Tornado, 
Cyclone Armor, Hurricane, Armageddon.


*Firestorm*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 4
Damage: approximately 3.5xlevel+(1-4).  Per second. Fire. 
     At Level One: 3-7. At Level Twenty: 89-92.
Area of Effect: 3 trails of fire spray outward in a narrow cone.
Comment: This is the druid's cheapest spell but I don't think that its 
ultimate damage amount makes it worth pursuing. The accuracy is pretty
weak but it does spray out nicely at all the things rushing at you. I 
only put 1 in and quickly moved on to Molten Boulder and other skills.
If anyone ever invested a lot of points and discovered the skill ramped
up in usefulness, please let me know.

*Molten Boulder*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starting at 10 at Level One, increasing approx 
.5/level to 20 at Level Nineteen
Damage: approximately 10xlevel+(1-6). Per second. Fire.
     At Level One: 11-16. At Level Twenty: 205-209. 
Area of Effect: Wide straight line, slowly moving outward.
Comment: Pushes target back (not the same as crude knockback; the boulder 
slowly and constantly pushes the target until it cannot). The boulder 
explodes at the end for a small radius which is helpful for inflicting 
extra/final fire damage on the target. Incredibly useful for holding 
dangerous foes at bay, and devastating in small confined tunnels. In 
insect tunnels, for instance, you can simply unleash a boulder and slowly 
walk after it. Everything in your path will likely be completely smashed 
before it gets to you; the fire trail is damaging too. Unfortunately, the 
boulder moves too slowly to be used on the really tough bosses, (Diablo 
moves FAST) and since the damage from a single point is high enough to
be useful through at least Acts I to III in normal, again only put 1 
point in and move on. Remember you have the skill though, it's great for
pushing nasties away from you if you have to flee. 

*Arctic Blast*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Increasing. Starts at 4, increases 1 point every few levels to 
cost19 at Level Twenty.
Damage: approximately 7xlevel+(1-8). Per second. Ice. Continuous.
     At Level One: 8-15. At Level Twenty: 133-140.
Area of Effect: Thick jet, starting at 5.6 yards and increasing slowly to 
12 yards at Level Twenty. Movable; can be used to "hose down" enemies.
Comment: slows down foes, deals fairly big damage... an excellent skill. 
The combination of freezing and a continuous skill allows it to be used 
on enemies with higher hit points, such as Normal bosses. It isn't as 
mana efficient as Hurricane, but I found it worth taking a few points 
in this to finish up Normal Difficulty. From late Act II until I hit 30th
level, this was probably my primary attack. And once I got Hurricane, I 
never used it again.

*Fissure*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 15 for 3.2 second sequence.
Damage: approximately 8xlevel+(1-10). Per second. Fire.
     At Level One: 15-25. At Level Twenty: 217-227.
Area of Effect: large open area, approximately a quarter of the screen. 
Damage spots appear randomly, but the area is fairly well saturated by
the end of the sequence. 
Comment: Casting this on the ground your foes are about to rush into is 
perfect; I often cast it on the ground right by me when 
I'm about to be swarmed.  It's also effective in confined spaces like 
bridges. It takes a bit of practice to place it effectively, but in 
earlier dungeons it should use useful. Once used in open spaces the 
effect is really appreciated. I found a single point to be quite 
effective all the way up to the Flayer Jungle, when I switched to 
Volcano. Fissure appears to do more damage than Volcano, but I believe 
that the Fissure damage is per second and the Volcano damage is per
hit.  

*Cyclone Armor*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Increasing: 4+1/level, including Level One.
Damage Absorbed: 40 at Level One, +12/level
Area of Effect: Caster
Comment: It might seem at first glance that this skill is inferior to the 
Necromancer's bone armor, which is similar, as it "only" absorbs fire, 
cold, or lightning damage. However, the armor will last until it has 
encountered such damage, and can be incredibly useful if surprised while 
not wearing good resistance equipment. Actual usefulness will of course 
vary based on your equipment and play style. This skill would be really 
useful to shape shifters, but I don't think I'd waste a point buying 
Arctic Blast (the only prerequisite) just to have it. At least it 
persists until used, so if you do go that route you can cast it in town 
and then assume were form. If you find an item that bestows this skill, 
it would definitely be worth using it. Of all the low-level Elemental 
skills, this is probably the first one that high level characters use.

*Twister*
Level: Eighteen
Mana Cost: Fixed: 7
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air"). Stunning: 0.4 
seconds.
     At Level One: 6-8; steps up by 2 points per level (8-10, 10-12, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 66-68.
Area of Effect: Random. 1-5 Small tornados blast outward for each use. 
Comment: Not a highly damaging spell, and poor in confined spaces as the 
small whirlwinds will just go into the walls and be lost, Twister is 
great for quickly stunning large numbers of foes. Especially when those 
foes have just walked into the area of effect of a Fissure spell. With no 
casting delay, it's easy to literally barrage an oncoming horde of 
monsters, and then Fissure them while they're stunned. The damage it does
is truly trivial; don't invest points in it for that. The main benefit 
is the stunning, and that doesn't last too long either. Basically, Twister
will help Fissure remain effective a few more levels, and it's a fall-back
attack spell in case of a magic resistant creature, and that's all.

*Volcano*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 25
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Fire.
     At Level One: 15-20; steps up by 4 points per level (19-24, 23-28, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 155-160.
Area of Effect: Random but large. Similar to Fissure but with a definite 
center point from which the fire erupts. Damage can thus spray into non-
land areas if cast adjacent, which is great for the river-lurking demons 
in Act III.
Comment: I like this as a replacement for Fissure. The use is very 
similar but it seems to me that where you place the eruption point is 
more likely to get hit by the lava, so you can target it a little more. 
Fissure might still be better when used defensively. If you can cast the 
Volcano right under something, then it'll really cook it.

*Tornado*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Physical damage ("Air").
     At Level One: 25-35; steps up by 8 points per level (33-43, 41-51, 
etc.). At Level Twenty: 273-283.
Area of Effect: Single Target/pulse in straight line. 1 large tornado 
streaks out to hit foe, grazing all in path
Comment: Unlike Twister, Tornado doesn't stun (pity, really). However the 
damage is pretty solid and you can really crank out the Tornados. For 
some reason, it seems better to aim behind your foe and let the Tornado 
do more collateral damage. Tornado's damage makes it worth considering 
for a main attack spell, especially in higher difficulty games. Since 
it has a nice range, you can use this from a "safe" distance on Lightning 
heros, for instance.

*Hurricane*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Fixed: 30
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Ice.
     At Level One: 25-50; steps up by 7 points per level (initially) (32-57,
 39-64, etc.) At Level Twenty: 202-207
Area of Effect: 5.3 yard radius around caster. Mobile with caster.
Comment: Hurricane is an amazing skill. Once cast, for the next 10 seconds, 
all enemies which enter the area of effect are struck for ice damage. An easy 
use is to run around the edge of a group of foes so that they're all affected 
by the powerful freeze, and thus easy (well, easier...) pickings for your 
minions. One notable disadvantage Hurricane has is that it has a 6 second 
casting delay linked to several of the better earth/fire spells, so don't 
expect to freeze your foes and immediately follow up with a Volcano. On the 
other hand, it is possible to cast Armageddon just before Hurricane ends and 
for about 2 seconds, both skills could be active at once.

*Armageddon*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: 35
Damage: Variable, Stepladders. Fire
     At Level One: 25-75; steps up by 15 or 20 points per level (40-90, 55-
105, etc.) At Level Twenty: 390-440
Area of Effect: Random meteors fall roughly in the Druid's wake
Comment: A very unusual spell, it takes the random aspect of the Druid's 
Elemental skills to the extreme. Like Hurricane, the best use of the skill is 
by running around (or perhaps in amidst) your foes. I'm not sure I like 
getting that close to foes, it's too easy to get hung up meleeing some tough 
creatures. Unlike Hurricane, you can't be guaranteed to get any of those 
foes. It strikes me the most useful way to use this is while fleeing from a 
boss :) Basically, Armageddon drops meteors about every half-second. So if 
you get next to a monster, pause for a split second and jog away, it should 
be hit. The meteors have a small "splash" effect so near-hits do cause damage 
even if it doesn't look like it. Of these two final Elemental skills I 
definitely prefer Hurricane because any meleeing I do get into with it is 
going to be with chilled or frozen creatures. Still, you will encounter 
creatures with Ice resistance or even immunity. And this is the most powerful 
fire skill a Druid can have, and the skill with the most potential damage.




                                  ~Summoning~

Druids have a variety of minions which they can call upon, but they can 
be categorized in 4 groups: Ravens, Nature Spirits, Vines, and Spirit 
Animals. Only one variety of each can be called upon at once, but in some 
cases multiples of that type can be used. For instance, a Druid may have 
up to 5 Spirit Wolves following him, but as soon as a single Dire Wolf is 
summoned, all the Spirit Wolves are dispelled as both are Spirit Animal 
types. The Druid minions, in general, are much tougher than those seen 
before. For instance, I had several Dire Wolves romping around in Act IV 
and not only were they living for quite a while, they were ripping into 
some fairly buff demons. 

Summoning mixes well with either Elemental or Shapeshifting. I have serious 
doubts about being able to play a pure summoner for one reason alone: act 
bosses. Bosses do extra damage to minions (I believe it was seven times 
normal in the previous patch, I think it might be down to five times now), 
and minions do reduced (about a quarter I think) damage to bosses. Now, it's 
true that my 500+ hp Grizzly bear one-shotted Blood Raven in Nightmare, and 
took out the Countess in two or three hits, but in normal difficulty, Diablo 
killed all my minions in a single wave of fire. If all your points are in 
minions, you'd better be in a multiplayer game when you hit the act bosses, 
or have truly potent equipment and a desire to melee with them.


*Raven*
Level: 1
Mana Cost: Fixed: 6 per bird
Damage: Variable, Level+(1-3); Uses: Level+11
Type: Raven (unique type)
Comment: Ravens are the most unique of all summoned minions. In a sense, 
they don't exist. They cannot be attacked, they cannot be killed. They 
are almost like floating damage. Unlike, for instance, skeletons, this 
means that no matter what Act of the game you are in, a raven will 
persist to deliver its payload, a few points of damage at a time. At 
first level, a single raven can attack 12 times for 2-4 points of damage, 
totaling 24-48 points of damage, for 6 mana. At 20th level, five ravens 
can attack 31 times for 21-23 damage, totaling 3255-3565, for 30 mana. On 
the downside, since ravens cannot be killed by melee attacks, monsters 
won't attack them, in other words, they won't draw fire from your 
character. Also, since they deliver damage via a melee attack-like action 
their attacks can sometimes be blocked (they usually do hit though); the 
upside is that they at least can get in the face of some monsters and slow 
them down. Since the number of ravens maxes at 5th level with 5, a typical 
user could deal 480-640 damage for 30 mana. A single point more leaps the 
damage range to 595-765.  Ravens, particularly coupled with the defensive 
powers of shapeshifting, could be a strategy in and of themselves. They 
are probably worth spending 5 points in even if you are not going to max 
out your skills in them.
     To test the possibility for this FAQ, I made a character who only 
put points into Ravens. With 15 levels of this skill, I must say that the 
ravens last a good long time and they have no problems killing anything 
in Act I. That includes Andariel, though I did have to run around the 
room for a bit and use potions while they were taking her on. Still, it 
left me free to throw Antidote and Rejuvenation potions onto my Rogue 
minion, keeping her alive. The downside is that the ravens' damage is 
delivered
in small doses. In Hell difficulty, for instance, monsters regenerate
enough to offset the ravens, so ultimately it's not viable (but it is fun :).
Final Recommendation: Try getting by with only 1 point in this skill. Five 
points won't seem like a waste anywhere in Normal, but it will in Nightmare.

*Poison Creeper*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed: 8
Damage: Approximately 3*level+(1-3) Contagious Poison over 4 seconds
Type: Vine
Comment: The creeper is a very weak minion, with distressingly low life 
totals even with several skill points in it. The poison damage it 
delivers is not very high, however, poison currently prevents monster 
heal. The creeper is actually inflicting "disease" but just as "air" is a 
euphemism for "normal physical damage," "disease" simply is poison that 
can be passed on to adjacent monsters. I have not found it to be 
particularly impressive with a single point, but at least it draws fire 
and inflicts a little extra damage. In the later acts, poison might be 
more useful, but since my character has a poisoned weapon, I just haven't 
had any inclination to return to using it. Again, it's a matter of 
playing style, but I do think the Creeper's hit point totals are way too 
low. The Creeper is useful for the first half of Act I in normal difficulty, 
so go ahead and use it then if you're planning to use the vines. (In fact, 
it's not a bad choice for your first skill point; mine pretty much emptied 
the Den of Evil by itself.) Its disease seems more contagious since patch 
1.09.  Note that if you don't want to bother with the vines, and they are 
somewhat weak, you can pass on all of them. 


*Oak Sage*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Variable: 14+level, including first
Effect: HP increasing aura: 25%+5%/level, including first
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Useful for free bonus HP as well as another target to draw 
heroes from your character. Like most minions, fairly easily killed but 
is much sturdier than the Poison Creeper. Compared to a Paladin's aura, 
the radius of the Oak Sage is quite high. Oak Sage combined with Werebear 
form can create a truly formidable "tank."


*Summon Spirit Wolf*
Level: Six
Mana cost: Fixed: 15 per wolf, max of 5 wolves
Damage: variable. 2-6 plus 1/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: These are probably the basic workhorses of summoned creatures 
for the druids. Each wolf starts with 35 life, and the first five skill 
levels each adds another summonable creature. Summon Spirit Wolf is a 
double-value skill. Each level of it adds a passive bonus to all Spirit 
Animals (including spirit wolves) which increases attack and defense %s. 
The bonus starts at +50% and increases 10% for each level thereafter. 
Consequently, if you place five points into this skill, whichever Spirit 
Animal you have active will have a 90% bonus to attack and defense! 
Therefore, I do recommend you put five points into this skill as soon as you 
can, unless you need to save points for other skills.

*Carrion Vine*
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed: 10
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore HP to the Druid. 
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (4% at Level One, 
reaching a max of 10% at Level Fifteen). Most of the benefit for putting 
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. I suspect the 
greatest use for this skill would be in fighting a Necromancer, as the 
devouring of corpses would hinder his ability to raise minions or use 
Corpse Explosion on you. I'm still evaluating the usefulness for a 
single-player game but I'm not impressed so far and neither are my 
friends who've commented on this FAQ. Sources seem to indicate that the 
health restored is based on your hit points, not the hit points of the 
creature consumed. Whatever the case, I think it's better to regard the vine 
as a source of post-combat healing, not something that will regenerate you 
mid-fight. Since the amount healed increases so little, I really think it's 
best to just put one point in this. The skill doesn't seem that efficient to 
me.

*Heart of the Wolverine*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 19+level, including first
Effect: Damage and Attack increasing aura: 13%+7%/level, including first, 
in increased damage; 18%+7%/level, including first, in increased attack 
rating.
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Wow! First, Heart of the Wolverine has many more hit points to 
start with than Oak Sage or the vines. It's much more durable. Its power 
is incredibly useful for yourself, your minions, and your party members. 
The extra hit points from Oak Sage were useful at lower levels, but now I 
think it's better to enhance the attack and kill your enemies quicker. 
Further, the bonus is a %, so the stronger your attack is, the more it 
will be enhanced. Werebears, Elementalists, and Summoners could probably 
benefit from the attack and damage boost and thus Heart of the Wolverine will 
likely be the spirit of choice for them. (Especially Elementalists and 
Summoners, as I would expect that Druids going those routes would have fewer 
points in their attack stats, and of course the only melee skills Druids can 
use *are* in Shape Shifting.) 

*Summon Dire Wolf*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Fixed: 20 per wolf, max of three wolves.
Damage: variable. 8-14 plus 2/level
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: Dire Wolves are definitely a good replacement for Spirit Wolves. 
Their innate attack damage is about double. Their base hit points alone 
are more than double that of Spirit Wolves. And like Summon Spirit Wolf, 
this skill also gives a passive benefit to all Spirit Animals. In this 
case, it's a hit point bonus, starting at 50% and increasing 10% per 
level after that. Thus with a single skill point in Summon Dire Wolf, 
your 35 hp Spirit Wolves will become 52 hp Spirit Wolves. With three 
points, 59 hp. You may wish to keep using Spirit Wolves until you have at 
least three skill points in Dire Wolves so that you go from five wolves to 
three and not five to one; losing 4 minions at once may be a little difficult 
to handle. Though you can only get three wolves, I would go ahead and put 
more points than that into Dire Wolf. Whichever of the three spirit animals 
you use, they can all benefit from extra hit points. (Though I use a bear, I 
actually have ten points in this skill, and five in bear.) Dire Wolves power 
up by eating corpses, which gives them a damage bonus for several seconds and 
clears the field up for you. 

*Solar Creeper*
Level: Twenty Four
Mana Cost: Variable: 13+ 1/level including first
Effect: Consumes corpses to restore MP to the Druid. 
Type: Vine
Comment: The percentage of life restored is quite small (2% at Level One, 
reaching a max of 6% at Level Twelve). Most of the benefit for putting 
more skill points in this minion is increased hit points. The druid has 
several skills to enhance his hit points and defenses, and no other way 
to increase mana recovery so the vine is potentially the most useful of 
the three, in that it can serve the double purpose of cleaning the field 
of corpses and restoring the caster's mana. Since the amount of mana 
regenerated increases so little, I really think it's best to just put one 
point in this. Like Carrion Vine, the skill is useful but inefficient. 

 
*Spirit of Barbs*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Variable: 24+level, including first
Effect: Return Damage aura: 50% at First Level, increasing 10% per level.
Type: Nature Sprit
Comment: Spirit of Barbs duplicates the effect of Thorns, however it's much 
weaker than the Paladin skill. Of course, the "aura" effect has about a 20 
yard radius at Level One and there's something to be said for that, at least 
in multiplayer games! In single player, especially for a Werewolf, it might 
be the most useful spirit. However, Werewolves could really benefit from 
extra hit points since they're getting into the thick of things, so Oak Sage 
might be preferable. The Spirit of Barbs (Hey Blizzard, have you never heard 
of "briars"?) does have higher HPs than Heart of the Wolverine, but I 
wouldn't base my decision on that. You might expect Spirit of Barbs to be 
useful to a Summoner with a lot of minions, but at 30th level my suspicion is 
that most Summoners will be accompanied by a Hireling, a Grizzly Bear, a 
Vine, and the spirit (admittedly, when things try to kill the vine and spirit 
they'll take a bit of damage so that's useful at least). However, I think it 
would be better to amp up the damage dealt by the real fighters, or give 
everything extra hit points. I would just completely pass on Spirit of Barbs.


*Summon Grizzly*
Level: Thirty
Mana Cost: Fixed: 40 per bear, max of one.
Damage: variable. 37-75 and increases in an irregular progression (+12, +15, 
+17, +17, +19, etc). Damage at Level Twenty: 660-726
Type: Spirit Animal
Comment: The Grizzly is the Druid's ultimate companion. Regardless of whether 
you can tolerate having "only" one animal minion or not, you'll want at least 
a few points in this skill because the Grizzly grants a passive bonus to 
enhance the damage of whichever Spirit Animal you have active. (This is 
probably why the Grizzly's damage increases so oddly, it increases on its own 
plus its self-enhancing bonus increases.) Note that additional skill in 
Grizzly does not increase its life - only the passive bonus from Dire Wolves 
does that. Consequently, a Grizzly will have life of approximately 90% of all 
3 dire wolves added together. However, since it's all in one place, the 
Grizzly will be noticeably tougher than the wolves. The Grizzly also has 
special attacks - like a stunning shockwave.  If you prefer more targets, and 
especially if you are using Oak Sage, Dire Wolves may remain the choice for 
you. An Elementalist will probably prefer having the Grizzly "tank" for him. 
A summoner or a Shape Shifter could go either way.


                               ~Shape Shifting~

One of the most unusual skill sets of all Diablo characters, Shape 
Shifting allows a druid to take the form of a Were Wolf or Were Bear and 
deliver devastating hand to hand damage. The one major drawback to this 
entire tab is that no Elemental spell can be cast in were form. You can, 
however, summon. Consequently, some people may choose to play a pure 
Shape Shifter, or a Shape Shifter/Summoner, but mixing all three tabs is 
definitely wasteful. This absolute inability to combine Shape Shifting 
and Elemental is one of the druid's two greatest limitations.

Personally, this is the tab least interesting for me, and the most 
interesting for so many other people. Finishing this section up is a much 
lower priority, but I can give you one general piece of advice: Pick Wolf or 
Bear and stick with it. You will need to put at least 1 point into Werewolf 
to unlock Lycanthropy, which benefits either.


*Werewolf*
Level: One
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +35% Life bonus, 25% Stamina bonus, variable attack and attack 
speed bonus
Comment: The essential first skill of this tree. It is possible to start 
with Werebear at Sixth level, but a big mistake. Werewolf is the pre-
requisite to Lycanthropy, which is the passive/mastery skill for this 
entire tree. Werewolf form makes the caster faster, and increases attack 
some. 

*Lycanthropy*
Level: One
Mana Cost: None; passive skill
Effect: Life bonus +25%, +5%/level; Duration of Werewolf and Werebear are 
increased by 40 seconds, plus 20/level. 
Comment: The essential passive skill. You will want at least a few points 
in Lycanthropy so that your transformations persist a few minutes at 
least. Further, it adds hit points to you in both Werewolf and Werebear 
form.

*Werebear*
Level: Six
Mana Cost: Fixed at 15
Duration: 40 seconds
Effect: +100% Life bonus, variable damage and defense bonus
Comment: Werebear form will make you tough, hard to kill, and able to 
dish out a lot of damage. It may seem a bit slow and lumbering, but once 
you hit your foes, they'll feel it.  Basically focus on Werewolf if you 
want to make quicker attacks, and focus on Werebear if you want stronger 
attacks.

*Feral Rage*
(Werewolf form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Life Steal. Also increases 
walk/run.
Comment: The life steal % increases  in three stages, with each 
sequential hit (4%, 8%, 12% at first level). This is shown with a power-
up marker. Personally I found Maul to be more my taste; I didn't see much 
benefit from a single level of this ability.

*Maul*
(Werebear form only)
Level: Twelve
Mana Cost: Fixed at 3
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Increased attack and damage, adds: Stun.
Comment: Similar to the way that Feral Rage's life steal powers up, the 
damage bonus of this skill increases with each hit. At first level, for 
instance, it does +25%, then +50%, then +75% damage. (This has supposedly 
been adjusted in the latest patch to 20/40/60 but I've seen conflicting 
listings.) Add in the ability to stun for 1.7 seconds or more and it becomes 
deadly. I found Maul an incredibly easy way to kill Andariel.

*Fire Claws* (Werewolf or Werebear form only) (adds Fire damage)
*Rabies* (Werewolf form only) (adds Poison damage)
*Shockwave* (Werebear form only) (area of effect Stun)
*Hunger* (Life and Mana drain but reduced damage)
*Fury* (Werewolf form only) (multiple attack technique)
Forthcoming
