Chapter 2: Equipment

Animal Fur/Head Gear
Variables
+150-200% Enhanced Defensense
One of the most popular Druid items in d2 history finds its place at the top of the FC Druids list. This pelt will give you the most damage, is a major source of FHR, strength, and resistances. It will be one of the main helms you use in duels.

Socketing suggestions:
1) Shael rune for FHR.
2) Um rune for resists.
3) Fire Facet
4) Perfect Ruby for the 38 life that gets multiplied
5) Ber rune aka damage reduction
6) Cham rune for cannot be frozen.
Variables
+130-140% Enhanced Defense
60-120% Bonus to Attack Rating
+1-2 To Feral Rage (Druid Only)
+2-4 To Shape Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
This white pelt is another great helm, but more specialized for melee duels against high defense characters. Cerebus is not as useful if it does not have mods close to +120% AR and +4 shapeshifting skills.

Socketing Suggestions:
1) Shael rune for FHR
2) Ber aka damage reduction


in a 3 open socket Grey pelt with at least +3 to Fireclaws and any other useful mods
Delirium socketed into the right pelt can yield you an impressive +5 to your Fireclaws skill, however thats the only real benefits of this helm. Aside from the fact the right pelt is going to be hard to fine, no other mods will provide any usefull-ness in a duel. This helm falls victum to the fact that Jalal's and Cerebus are just so much better. The CTC Mindblast may look helpful, but since you already possess Shockwave and Maul it’s rather irrelevant.

Armor
in a 3 open socket non-heavy armor

Variables
+750-775 Defense
+ (0.75 Per Character Level) +0-74 To Strength (Based On Character Level)
The curse of the Enigma. It’s amazing how one single stat on a piece of armor can have such a huge impact and change the PvP community so drastically. Almost every build out there can find a use for this armor and the FC Druid is no different. The strength bonus is key if you choose to stat around your Enigma, affording you lots of extra points into vitality. The 45% FRW is huge for stacking FRW against Amazon’s, Sorceress etc. Everything on this armor is useful to you, the teleport is helpful even though you can not teleport when in Bear or Wolf form, but it can give you some versatility when un-shifted allowing you to almost become a semi-mage casting Fissure and/or Volcano.

Note: Stating around Enigma will boost your life by a few hundred points, but it will ultimately leave you stuck in the armor for every duel. Make a conscious choice before you start your character wether its better to go for more life or versatility



in a 4 open socket non-heavy armor
Sometimes perfered over the poplular Enigma is the Chains Of Honor runeword. If you don’t want to stat around Enigma and/or want give your self some versatility in terms of equipment, CoH would be a good second choice. The main reason for this armor is the massive resistance bonus it provides. If you’re having resistance problems, or want to stack a lot of resistance then this armor will solve that for you.



Variables
(81-100) life
+(12-20)% Fire Damage
- (12-20) % enemy Fire resist
The most traditional FC Druid armor is the Jewelers Plate of the Whale. While armors like Enigma and CoH can be used well in almost all situations the Jewelers plate of the Whale is more specialized for melee duels like Duress is, but instead of focusing on resist, crushing blow, open wounds and FHR the Jewelers Plate of the Whale offers massive boosts to your life and fire damage with the Firefacets you socket into it. Shop for these from hell Larzuk with your highest level character.

Note: Don't use Jewelers Bought of a website Archon Plate of the Whale.
in a 3 open socket non-heavy armor

Variables
+10-20% Enhanced Damage
+150-200% Enhanced Defense
This armor is perfect for a build that has no physical damage. Both the open wounds and crushing blow on this armor will add another element to your attack when facing someone who might try and stack some resistance against you. The 40% FHR is a nice added bonus to help you reach your break point and free up other equipment slots that might of been used for FHR.



Variables
+150-180% Enhanced Defense
+1-2 To All Skills
+ (0.5 Per Character Level) 0-49 To Vitality (Based On Character Level)
Damage Reduced By 10-15
High defense armor with 2+ to skills, something you can’t get from any armor that’s not Enigma or Chains of Honor. The + to vitality will not get multiplied by Lycanthropy, Oak Sage and Battle Orders. A good choice if you don’t have an Enigma/CoH or want to load up on FHR and free up some gear slots.

Socketing Suggestions:
1) Shael for FHR
2) Perfect Ruby for the 38 life that gets multiplied


Variables
+250-290% Enhanced Defense
This armor offers the most FHR on any item. With this you could hit your 86% BP easily or make the 152% BP in Bear form realistic. The Molten Boulder charges use to synergized Fireclaws prior to 1.11, but that has since been fixed.

Shields
Unless you’re a Paladin this is the best shield for any melee character. For a FC Druid its necessary if you want to survive in PvP. Easy shield to achieve max block on for a druid and your biggest source of damage reduction

Socketing suggestions:
1) Um rune or Perfect Diamond for resistances
2) Firefacet
3) Shael for faster blocking. Note: Due to the way blocking was re-done in a prior patch it is sometimes not necessary to Shael your Stormshield when using the 86 FHR break point.
4) -15req/resistance or other mods jewel to lower the strength requirement on Stormshield
5) Jah rune. The 5% increase in life on helms and armor wont get multiplied, but in a shield it add’s 50 to your life that will get multiplied.
This shield has the highest chance to block in the game. A much cheaper item to aquire if you can not obtain a Stormshield. This shield doesn't really offer anything other than an easy way to get max block, and you will have little to no DR.

Socketing suggestions:
1) Um rune or Perfect Diamond for resistances


Variables
+130-160% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +50-70
Socket it into a Hyperion, provided you have the needed strength of 127 to equip it. The Hyperion has the highest chance to block for any Druid at 44%. With Sanctuary it puts you at 64%, making max-block easily achievable. Sanctuary comes with a huge resist bonus, good for stacking resist. The Slow Missiles charges although considered bad mannered to some can be fun in public duels.
Variables
+180-220% Enhanced Defense
A good shield for one thing: Resists. The chance to block on this is lower than the Stormshield so you would have to spend more dexterity to get max block. This is best used if you lack a two handed weapon with range and want to try and stack resists in a situation where max block is not needed.

Socketing suggestions:
1) Um rune or Perfect Diamond for resistances.


Belts

Crafted Blood Belt(Tal, Perfect Ruby, Any Jewel, Magical Mithril Coil)
Open Wounds (5-10)%
(1-3)% Life Stolen Per Hit
+(10-20) To Life

an example of a very good crafted blood belt.

A crafted blood belt will always spawn with these 3 mods, but the higher the level of your character the greater the chances of spawning more/better mods. Most people will tell you that Verdungo's is the king of melee belts, but thats honestly all a sack of shit.
Although expensive and hard to obtain, a good crafted blood belt will give you more FHR than Verdungo's, more life that actually gets multiplied by Lycan, Oak sage and Battle Order bonuses, open wounds aka another element to your damage with potential for many more different mods. All for the cost of some DR that can be made up else where. For more info on crafting go to the The Arreat Summit
Variables
+90-140% Enhanced Defense
+30-40 To Vitality
Replenish Life +10-13
+100-120 Maximum Stamina
Damage Reduced By 10-15%
The Verdungo’s replaced the String Of Ears from 1.09 patch and it has almost become a standard belt for most melee characters. Even though the recommended DR is 43% for the FC Druid, there might be a few duels where that extra 7% actually becomes significant. If that time ever comes having a Verdungo's in stash might be a good alternative source of DR rather than wasting sockets on your shield or helm.
Other than the little bit of FHR this belt provides none of the other mods are that outstanding.




This is a good belt to keep in your stash to use in certain duels. The main reason being the cannot be frozen mod, this will free up a ring slot probably being used by a Raven Frost and allow you to use full angelic’s ring/amulet combo. The 66 to life is a giant plus for any shifter druid.
Variables
+160-200% Enhanced Defense
There’s nothing amazingly special about this Amazon belt for a Druid. It’s simply used for it’s added lighting resist and absorb against any kind of lighting attack. The 20 to strength is meaningless as you wont be using this as your main belt and the + to Vitality only turns into 40 hp. Keep one in stash.


Jewelry
Rings:
Variables
+150-250 To Attack Rating
+15-20 To Dexterity
The standard ring in Melee dueling. Everyone has one and you should two. Huge amounts to your attack rating which is vital and the valuable “Cannot Be Frozen” mod.
Variables
3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit
Stolen from our Barbarian friends, this is a good ring to equip against characters when attack rating isn’t so much of a concern. With its +1 to all skills this will boost your damage and life nicely, but be aware that the + to life mod on this ring does not get multiplied by Lycanthropy and Battle Orders.
Set Bonus w/Angelic Wings
+(12 Per Character Level) 144-1188 Attacking Rating (Based on Character Level) (2 set items)
+10 Dexterity (2 items)
By it’s self the mods are nothing special, but when equipped with the Angelic’s Wings amulet this partial set will add massive amounts to your attack rating and 75 life which you know gets multiplied even higher.
Variables
Lightning Absorb 10-20%
There’s no reason to use this ring other than for the lighting absorb. The most common types of Sorceresses, Amazons and Trapper Assassins are usually of the lighting type.
Variables
Magic Damage Reduced By 12-15
There’s no reason to use this ring other than for the fire absorb.
Variables
6-9% Life Stolen Per Hit
+100-160 Defense Vs. Missile
This ring is a good idea to use against Fury/Rabies wolves, Poison Necromancers or Melee Assassins as their Poison can become very devastating very quickly. Stacking resist against such character builds is recommended.
Variables
Poison Resist +20-30%
Damage Reduced by 7-11
Like the Carrion Wind this ring is a good idea to use against Fury/Rabies wolves, Poison Necromancers or Melee Assassins as their Poison can become very devastating very quickly. Stacking resist against such character builds is recommended.


Amulets:


Variables
All Resistances +20-30
This amulet will effectively be your caster amulet. Plus to your skills for damage and lots of resistances.
Variables
+91-100 Life
This amulet replaced the Metalgrid for melee dueling. Reistances aren't needed in most melee duels so its best to go after as much raw damage and life as your can. This amulet will do that on all fronts.
Variables
+400-450 To Attack Rating
All Resistances +25-35
+300-350 Defense
Once a popular amulet amoung FC Druids it has since become almost obsolete. It's still useful for its AR and resist, but theres far better choices out there.
Set Bonus w/Angelic Halo Ring
+75 Life (2 Set Items)
By it’s self the mods are nothing special, but when equipped with the Angelic’s Halo ring this partial set will add massive amounts to your attack rating and 75 life which you well know gets multiplied even higher.
The Cats Eye is only useful for the extra FRW to chase down Sorceress and Amazons.
This amulet is used for one reason, the Poison resist. Fury/Rabies wolf, Poison Necromancers or Melee Assassins Poisons can become very devastating very quickly. Stacking resist against such character builds is really recommended.

Note: The CtC Amplify damage in PvP is often considered Bad Mannered, but it should be noted that Amplify Damage only affects Physical Damage and being an elemental damage dealing character, this wont give you any advantage in duels.
Variables
2% Chance To Cast Level 13-19 Meteor When Struck
The +2 to fire skills will boost everything from your Fireclaws to all its synergies, but the main reason for this amulet is the fire absorb. In good mannered duels, excessive amounts of absorb is looked down upon, but in a public duel game where some Fire Sorceress is naked killing everyone you may be tempted to throw one on.


Boots:


Variables
Fire Resist +40-50%
One of the best pair of boots for this build. It offer’s the maximum amount of FRW on a pair of boots while offering a huge life bonus. The added fire resist is a nice bonus as fire resist is harder to come by.
Variables
+10-15 To Vitality
+10-15 To Strength
+140-170% Enhanced Defense
For a Fireclaws Druid this may be your first or second choice of boots, or you may keep both Aldurs and Sandstorm trek in stash and use in different situations. The two best mods on here are the 20 FHR and the potential 70% poison resist. Only thing that brings this down is the FRW.



A very nice pair of boots for melee dueling high defense characters. High FRW and life, but the AR does not add any substantial amount to your AR.



The Goblin Toe is a good choice for an FC Druid if you want to focus more on Crushing Blow. You can find better sources of Crushing Blow else where though, but if you find your build needs more or you don’t have any this item will offer a huge chunk of that.




Variables
+160-200% Enhanced Defense
These boots would be used in the same fashion as the Goblin Toes would, except it offers a bit less crushing blow, but adds open wounds as well. A good option if you are lacking open wounds or crushing blow, but it is more than likely easier to get open wounds else where and you can get more crushing blow from Goblin Toes. The Deadly Strike will not up your damage in the least bit, so don’t consider that stat when deciding wether to use these boots or not.


Gloves:


Variables
+10-20% Enhanced Defense
One of best pieces of equipment on this character. A huge chunk of FHR which will help reach your break point a lot easier and free up so many other gear selections. A very nice +40 to your life which you know will get multiplied by Lycanthropy bonuses.




Variables
+20-30% Enhanced Defense
Another popular item for an FC Druid that a lot of people almost prefer the majority of the time. You would want to use these for no other reason other than adding even more damage to your Fireclaws attack. If you want to go out all on damage you would want to use these.


Crafted Blood Gloves(Nef+Perfect Ruby+Any Jewel+Vampirebone Gloves)
Open Wounds (5-10)%
(1-3)% Life Stolen Per Hit
+(10-20) To Life
A pair of crafted blood gloves will always spawn with these mods, but the higher the level of your character the greater the chances of spawning more/better mods. The best possible pair of gloves would be one with 10 crushing blow, as much life as possible and various other mods such as resist. The idea behind these is to add more crushing blow to your attack while adding more life and resists. For more info on crafting go here: The Arreat Summit
Variables
+170-210 Defense
+30-60% Enhanced Damage
+15-20 To Strength
If you don’t want to craft a pair of blood gloves, or can’t get the desirable mods you want then these could of an option solely for the Crushing Blow mod. The enhanced damage is meaningless to a Fireclaws Druid and these gloves have a very high strength requirement.


One Handed Weapons:

 Jewelers Phaseblade of Quickness
Mods
40% Increased attack speed
50% Increased chance of scaring any Paladin
4 Open Sockets
Style
Legends say it exists out there somewhere, it's Yellowish glow being so bright you could see it from miles and miles away, even in the harshest of winter storms. Others say it's nothing more than a myth being carried down in 7+ years of diablo 2 history. The rumors that come with this blade say it has 4 open sockets with an inherit 40% increased attack speed. Socketing this master sword with 2 more Shaels and two jewels with 15%IAS/15% All res or 15%IAS/AR would make this sword so fearsome any smiter would save and exit at the first sight of it.


Now for something more realistic, the normal 6 socketed Phaseblade
Mods
6 Open sockets
Any other and more realistic choice for a weapon would be any Phase Blade with six open sockets. In these sockets you will put 6 shael's or 4 shaels and 2 15%IAS jewels in it. For the extremely rich and lucky people 2 15%ias/15 Resist or 15%ias/AR jewels

Note: In order to achieve your 4-frame attack in Werebear form or 5-frame attack in Werewolf form, you must get at least 110ias from your Phase Blade. Using the same socketing in a Crystal Sword or a Dimensional Blade will not yield you the same speed as the base speed’s of both these weapons are slower than that of the Phase Blade. Off weapon IAS will not help you get you the desired speed either.


Two Handed Weapons:

 6 Open Socket Giant Thresher/Grim Scythe/War Scythe

Giant Thresher: 188 Strength
Grim Scythe: 140 Strength
War Scythe: 80 Strength
Use one of these two handed weapons for their speed and range 5. Socketing this you have several options.
6 Shaels: 4-Frames in Bear form and 5-Frames in Wolf form. Cheap way to get your desired speed.
6 15ias/15resist jewels: 5-Frames in Bear form, 6-Frames in Wolf Form. Expensive, but a potential for 90 resist all. 6-Frames in Wolf form might be too slow so consider socketing it with 3 shaels and 3 15ias/15resist jewels. Or just stick to Bear form when wielding this weapon as this is mainly a caster weapon
The 3 Polerarms were chosen because they were all range 5, capable of 6 sockets and had a base speed of -10 that's needed to reach desired speed.


Pre-buff Items:


Variables
+250-290% Enhanced Damage
+2-6 To Battle Command
+1-6 To Battle Orders
+1-4 To Battle Cry
Should you come across one you will use this to pre-buff your character before duels for more life. Battle Command boosts all your skill levels by one point for a duration, while Battle Order’s boosts your life, mana and stamina. Like Lycanthropy, Battle Order’s works in the same way, multiplying your life from certain items. Items like Jah runes socketed in helms or armors, Fortitude and Bul-Kathos ring do not receive this life bonuses.




Variables
+25-35% Faster Cast Rate
+89-112 To Mana
+3-8 Magic Absorb
Tthis would go with your Call To Arms for its added +2 to all skills, boosting your Battle Orders and Lycanthropy when shifting into Bear form.

Note: The best possible choice for a spirit shield is a 4 socket monarch. The strength requirement is high (156), but it’s still the shield with the lowest strength requirement that comes with 4 open sockets.




Variables
+80-130% Enhanced Defense
+3-5 To Mana After Each Kill
Another option to use instead of a Spirit shield as the strength requirement is significantly lower than a Monarch and it's not ladder only like the Spirit runeword. This shield how ever only add’s +1 to all skills.


Guide & Website created by rated aka superjayson@USEast