Finished Hell with Rabies. Unique play pattern with some interesting ways to build it. Some of my thoughts on the skill itself.
Started on my Hell playthroughs with different builds, just wanted to set this one aside because I had a lot to say on it. I'm hoping to give insights to players that haven't tried it before, and hope to hear from those who've had more experience with it (or any poison builds really).
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Rabies is a feast or famine kind of style (pun intended)--when it works, it feels like the best skill in the game. When it's slightly off, it feels like you flushed 40 skill points down the toilet and pray your bunk Fury build takes over. And when playing through, it happens quite often. Act1 is rough because you just don't have enough density or too many environmental obstacles. Act2 and Act4 are rough due to immunities, and Act5 is a crap shoot. Oddly, Chaos Sanctuary, Worldstone Keep and Chamber (and Cows!) were surprisingly easy using Rabies--and that's not nothing. Credit where credit is due.
Was it fun? The fact that the build felt very unique for a "melee" build... Yeah! It was interesting that you play melee like a caster where you tag once and run away. Let mobs chase you and infect more enemies--No other build feels like this in the game, and it was so satisfying to see a whole mob just flair up and eventually drop dead--when it worked of course. More often than not though, I'm re-applying the rabies once or twice while standing my ground using summons and Feral Rage.
Specs after beating Baal (Lvl 79)
20 Rabies
20 Poison Creeper
16 Wearwolf
11 Oak Sage
10 Lycanthropy
8 Fury
1 Feral Rage
1 Raven
1 Spirit Wold
1 Dire Wolf
1 Grizzly
Gear was nothing great (except the Plague Bearer which I was over the moon when I found it in NM)
Shield-Splendor
Gloves- Sigon's Gauntlests
Belt-Sigons's Belt
Boots - Horazon's Legacy dropped sometime pretty late in the playthrough
Rings- rare rings with attack rating, life and mana leech
Amulet - +1 to Druid skills rare ammy
Helm - +2 to druid skills rare helm
Armor - I found a Mal rune so I made Rain
Main Hand - Pleague Bearer with Shael Rune
Weapon Swap - Mania (Feral Ax) for the Burst of Speed and when I'm using Fury
Merc: Act5 Frenzy using Lawbringer and Cresent Moon.
Played on P3 until Act5 where I played mostly on P1. Chamber I bumped it back up to P3.
Pros:
- When it's good, it's great. And it's great in some of the hardest and best farming spots in the game. Especially Shenk and Cows.
- It's a small investment of 40 points. So there's MANY ways to play the build depending on how you like to play, what gear you have, or what time you're willing to spend on more levels.
- It's very unique--no other build in the game plays like this and it's a bit of an oddball. A melee build that hits and runs? Sorry, but Hammers and Singer are 100% caster builds in my eyes. Rabies is the real hybrid melee/caster as you have to interact with the mobs, and even after you get a bite, the next interactions aren't as deterministic as just spamming your main skill again.
Cons:
- Off the bat--where this build works is very narrow. You need: 1)non-poison immune enemies 2)dense mobs 3)areas without environmental obstacles.
- Damage is quite slow. It will get there and is the only poison damage that kills...but you have to be patient. Or swap to other forms of damage in Fury, Fire Claws, Elemental Skills, or Summons.
- I honestly don't think I could function without my merc. He held his own and almost never died. But when he did, my survivability and damage went out the window quick.
- The contagion timer isn't long enough--hence the skill is fighting itself on how it works. This is why the skill isn't a clear and easy fix as "shorten the time on the poison damage over time." From my experience, I often never had the time to kite enemies to new ones spreading the contagion. Or ideally I apply Rabies once, then switch to some other form of damage like Fury, but the timer wears off before I kill most of the mob. So now I'm running around trying to get more bites in.
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My opinionated suggestions on how to fix the skill?
The build could use some sort of poison mastery--not in the sense of the Sorceress who has an actual mastery skill. And if anyone should get a poison mastery skill it should be the Necro!
But Rabies is a hard skill to fix. It doesn't do enough damage...it's poison timer isn't long enough...this is why item's like Death's Web are the best in slot, " -*% Enemy Poison Resistance". That stat is so important for this build! What it does: Increase the poison damage AND increase the poison length timer, BUT calculates the damage over time BEFORE adding in the extra time. I'm just thinking how the devs are being more creative using hard points in skills, why not say Poison Creeper with hard points 16-20 get "-1% Enemy Poison Resistance". Max of 5%. Same as a Facet. It also helps Poison Creeper falling off hard after normal difficulty. Maybe do the same thing to Rabies if the build is still lacking. Just an untested idea at the moment.
Anyway, just like every other build I've played in D2R--super fun time and wouldn't take it back. The overall sell to this build is that it is very unique if you want something fresh. Is it good?...ehhh, It has moments in some of the harder parts of the game where it really shines. But it's funny that in some of the easier parts of the game it's like I can't wipe my own butt...and I had a Plague Bearer!!
Love to hear other experiences with this build, class, or other poison builds. Any ways you think the shapeshifters or poison builds could use some love in D2R?
-Cheers