IAS: Another special aspect about the wolf is that the only ias wich will affect your attack speed comes from you wepon. Ias from Glowes/Amulet and so on, will not affect your atack speed. So the facts that matters, from a phaseblade you will need 30 ias to reach the same speed as a Botd ba(60 ias), Tombreaver (cryptic axe) will need 90 ias. To reach 4 frame.

FRW: You cannot teleport while in wolf-form, therefore you need to have a decent run speed vs some characters (some come to you). Further down in the guide you will find a detailed list of items which will help you optimize your wolf versus every character in the game. Also, how to reach the frw you will need.

Fhr: You want either 42 or 86Fhr. *-67 With bramble *-42 without bramble (jalal’s 37 fhr+ 1x sc 5fhr/5allres(or AR))

Dr: You will want 50% dr when its needed, because your wolf wont get any defense bonuses.

Maxblock: Stat for maxblock with 1 Raven Frost (or dex/life/resi ring) –wielding a Grief phaseblade and a stormshield socked Jah.


Skilling/statting your wolf:


Skills to max:

Max Lycanthrophy.
Max Rabies
Max Fury
Max Poison Creeper
Max Oak
1 Raven
1 Sumonn Dire wolf
The rest in Werewolf

I is that easy.

–I’ve talked to some guys claiming that cyclone armor is worth the 2 skills, to survive a eventual hellfire torch as you morph to human, But seriously, I'd take the attack rating/damage from werewolf over cyclone any day of the week. It only style points, another thing to cast. Its not worth it.

Strenght; Well, don't be so eager to save points for vita. You will need the freedom to use alot of setups, thats the thing with the wolf. You will have to switch between alot of setups versus different opponents with different specifications and playing styles. Stat so that you are able to use Fortitude with Tombreaver and Jalal 9/9/8/7 socked. If you want to do that, you will have to find a shaper circlet with 20 base str aswell, socket it with the same jool as in Jalal, and woops you saved 29 str points to get into vita. You will also want to be able to use Bramble/Forti combined with Grief Pb/Stormshield.


Dex: Stat for maxblock with this gear:

Jalal 9987
Bramble
3/100 Amulet
1 Raven( or 15dex/5xlife/xx Resi ring)
1 Bk
Trang Oul Glowes
Bugbelt (or Verdungo)
Stormshield (jah)
Grief Pb
Gore’s or Aldurs
20 stat anni
20 stat torch

-The rest in vita
-Nothing in energy

The gear to make your puppy into a killing machine:

Helm’s
-Jalal’s socked 9dex/9str/8max/7fhr jool
-Frw cirklet 1-2 Dru/30frw/20str/Life/Resi (visionary mod(ar/lvl = porn)
-Coa xx/high dr (ber ber’d)

*
-Jalal socked with jool is strongly adviced, supplies you with 37 fhr 2 dru 2 shape aswell as 29 str 9 dex, ar bonus and 30 allres. Can't go wrong. (with the exception of some wicked pelts) this is rabieshelm no 1.

-Circlet. Frw is your answer to your opponents teleport, you need to be able to catch up to eat Especially important vs people with ranged attacks (soso’s /nec’s /bowies / psn javas-people who in general isn't interested in coming to you). If you get a 20+ str one, sock it with the same jool as Jalal’s, so you can stat after it.

-CoA. Allows you to use your Tombreaver for range/damage/speed vs eledruids while obtaining max dr.

**Armors:

Enigma: I prefer archon – This is your FRW armor, you will still be able to obtain about 12k fury damage with Tombreaver. 2 skills also boost your rabies. Do NOT stat after strength bonus from Enigma. You will need to be able to swich armors.

Bramble: Boosts your rabies damage immensly, other bonuses; 50 fhr/mass psn res/30 fire res and 5 to max cold res. This armor is a must! Sharkbite straps his on vs. every barb/smiter/ghostsin and psn java he meets. Make sure your Forti/Bramble is in the same req armor to avoid missplacing statpoints. The Thorns aura helps, dealing some(not much) returned damage to any melee attack on your 5 smaller brothers.

Forti: The fury armor, boosts your pure physical fury damage. Sharkbite straps this on vs java’s/hammerdins/zaelots/ and toe-to-toe fury duels. Anywhere you feel that pure damage > mobility.

*You will find your own way of combining these armors vs opponents, its all about balancing and finding the best setup to take advantage of your enemy's weakness.




**Slicers, choppers and killingtools aka weapons!As mentioned I’ve tested various setups, and ended up with these as my favourites.

Grief Pb is my choice of 1-hand weapon.
(30 ias is enough 30-40 = the same speed) Try to get one with high damage. This supplies a higher average damage then the BotD, aswell as 20% Deadly strike and some other nice bonuses. The grief is by far the better weapon during head-to-head combat, punching some poor guys face in. BUT*. The pb has a range of only 2 while the BA has a range of 3, making it harder for you to hit for instance a well trained ww barb taking advantage of his range 3 whirls, keeping out of your range and still inflicting damage. That's why I’ve always got a BotD ba in my stash. Grab it when needed (sometimes I also use this vs. fleeing bowies who can match your frw). Grief for anything else where maxblock is needed.

Tombreaver, death on a pole.
This is a sick thing ladies and gentlemen. With up to 1035 maxdamage 4-frame attackspeed and a range of 4, aswell as up to 50 all resistinance, it makes it hard to ask for more. This is my weapon of choice vs. hammerdins/nec’s/java’s/ soso’s/ele druids/psn java’s and FoH'ers. All that doesn't require block is a potensial victim to the reaver.
-Take a look in my items-link to feast your eyes on mine.
*NB -MUST be socked with atleast 30 ias from jool’s.
--Feel free to grab a doom Ba vs BM Smiters. Full rabies setup.

**Glowes-Trang Oul’s when your main damage source leans towards rabies. Or when you want extra cold resist. (massive rabies boost)

-Bloodfists when you are more fury-based. (40 boable life, 5 min damage/30 fhr)
**Boots
Goreriders: -The best melee boots, no question about it. Fury-boots vs barbs and hammers.
Aldur’s: -Theese boots where made for running, and run is what they do, one of theese days theese boots are going to be strapped on a wolf who chews the head of you.
Resi boots: - Bitter Spurs/Storm Tracks/Carrion Nails and so on. Theese are needed vs. fohers/blizzers/orbers/javas.

**Shield
-Stormshield Jahed: -50 boable life is the most versatile bonus here. Since you will be using shitloads of different setups.(You might want to ber this if you choose to use a fhr/str/life belt)

**Joolery
-Amulet.
At the moment i got 3 amulets in my stash
-Highlord’s Vs hammerdins/ eledruids (you could get a Hl 08, but since I don't use unperms and dont got 15000 fg to spare I settle for a regular one.)
-Crafted 2 Skill/Frw/Life/Resist amulet.*
-3shape/100 life amu. –Vs. barbs/smiters
*At the moment I’m using a 2 druid 10 frw 55 life 20@ amulet vs most chars, those are quite hard to get a hold on to though, and can be very expensive. – I also have an Angelic set vs 25k+ defense chars.

-Rings
1x Ravenfrost
2x Crafted bloodrings (high life/resi/stats)
(The life on these rings ARE bo'able, and will give you a wicked boost to your life.)
1x Bk ring
(The life on these rings are not bo'able and doesn't give as much of a life boost as you would think. Allthough it boosts your skills and rabies damage)
1xBk 08 Well, if you can afford this ring, the 20 boable life will end up giving you more life then the life on lvl from the regular bk. So...- Get it:P
1x Dwarfstar Vs the scorching fireballs, firebears, fire ele druids or bugauradins. You can wry well manage without them tho, but until you get to be a pro dodger, use em to buy you some margin for error!
1x Wisp
It's quite easy when it comes to the rings, you’ll figure it out. Stat for maxblock with either 1 raven or statring 1x dex/life. Nothing wrong with statting after raven, since the dex/ar are welcome bonuses.



**Belts:
Bugbelt if you can afford it.
Verdungo is almost as good.
Fhr/Life/OW/Resi belt vs. chars you dont need the damage reduce against.

** The Switch! –explanation of the “switch trick”
The switch trick, sounds alot harder and more complicated than it is. What it means is: If you bite a person using the rabies skill with your Tombreaver, it will apply the damage that you see in the stat-window, depending on the skill level. Rabies works over 19.4 seconds .
So, lets say you got a hoto and a spirit on second weapon slot. When a person is infected with rabies and you switch to the hoto/spirit, your rabies damage will go up because it will get more skills added from hoto/spirit.
With me still? So when the person has been bitten with rabies it will keep on doing a certain amount of damage pr. second depending on the skill lvl/damage. Lets say he had the rabies for 3 seconds before you remembered to press “W” twice and swap to the items that gives more skills to rabies and back to the Tombreaver. What happens is that the rabies damage will keep on eating your opponent with the damage from the items on switch.


**Strategies.
Barbs

In general: Never run close to opponents using blockable attacks, this will lower your block to 25% instead of the very much needed 75%
BVC: Rabies and fury will both play an important role here. Strap on your bramble, TO gloves, 3shape/100 amulet and jalals. Choose your weapon after the barbs skill level, if he whirls stright over you, a grief will have a better effect. If he tri-whirls you and it's hard for you to get the first rabies-hit in, get your BotD. When the rabies is in, do the switch trick while walking away. Then switch back and unleash the fury. (Remember to recast oak)
BVA: Pretty much the same. Rabies can't be blocked so the shield will only prevent some of the furies. Rabies is your main source of damage, the bva is in most cases easier than the bvc since they pay dearly in damage for the MB. Feel free to put on angelic’s if the defense is a problem.
BVB: Angelic’s and rabies,A bvb usually lack resist, and so your rabies will take him down fast.
Luiciano Pavarotti’s (singers) Never met a good one. tombreaver/forti/jalal = dead Pavarotti.


Amazons
In general: Rabies has a faster animation and uninteruptable attack witch makes it easier to get a rabies-hit compared to fury on a running target.
Bowies: Enigma/ Frw Circ/ Aldurs/ Stormshield/ Botd ba/ Craft Frw amu(Cats eye/Hl 08 if you don't have one) – Frw is the key here, with frw gear I still reach about 3xk rabies damage. 1 rabies hit is enough. Namelock her, and switch between run/walk depending on if she got alot of arrows heading your way. Avoid obstacles on the map that will lock or slow you down. When you get a rabies in, keep chasing her. She will be forced to run until the rabies kills her. Rabies has a faster animation which makes it easier to get a rabies-hit, compared to fury on a running target.
Light Java’s: Forti/ Tombreaver/ Jalal’s or Cirk ( depending on frw needs)/ 1 wisp/ craft frw amu. Rabies her if she runs, fury her if she tries to CS you.
Psn Java’s: Hard duel, Bramble for the psn res, Frw gear for the rest of it, try to manouver your way to her w/o getting hit ofc. Get a rabies in and keep chasing her to finish her of. You might be forced to take your Enigma on, since these amas have a tendency to hit and run.




Sorcs

In general: Rabies penetrates Energyshield, and 1 bite will kill 98% of es sorcs in hell difficulty. Use tombreaver vs all sorcs. Aswell as Enigma and absrings if you really need it, most of the time I use 2 bloodcraft rings with mass life and allres.
Fb: Its not all about the frw guys, you have to trick the sorcs to expose themselves. Dodging Fb’s is quite easy, and it will piss them off enough after a while to come closer, get a rabieshit in and any ES soso is dead. When the soso is struck with rabies she will go crazy, trying to kill you before the rabies finishes her off. Just like a cow with mad cow disease she will charge you. Shift fury= win.
Orb: This can be a hell of a long duel, strap on all cold resis/frw. You will need atleast 1 raven, the constant orbs will kill your oak faster then you can say “fuck my oak is dead”. Same here, try to dodge as much as possible and charge her when you get an opportunity. There is a small cast-delay after each orb, so try to take advantage of that. All you need is 1 rabies.
Blizz: Same goes for the blizz, it will be hard getting enough cold resist. Atleast its easier to keep your oak. Be more agressive here. Don't namelock her, as she will surely lead you into her blizzards. Shift+fury now and then vs. all sorcs. You might be lucky and catch them in a miss tele. Always go for rabies-hit That will will stress every opponent making them more likely to make mistakes. Fatal mistakes.. woof.
Light: Same as vs fb really, lightning shoots slower, and lacks some range, this forces the sorc to get closer, which makes her an easy target. A nice trick to get the rabies in is to walk slowly away from her. This will make her have to tele closer to you. If you time it perfect, and switch to run and change direction towards her just as she teles towards you. You will have the ideal chance to put your claw in her mouth. Or whatever you want to put in there o.O


Paladin’s:

In general: remember, palas got the cleansing aura, that reduces your rabies durance.
Hammerdin: Forti/ Tombreaver/ Bloodfists/ Jalals(Or circ with AR/lvl)/ highlord. Damage/Ar/life is your priority here. Do not ever try to charge a hammerdin. At first he will try to telelock you, run as you shiftfury every 2 seconds, he will tele close to you and get hit by your fury. You’d be amazed. I've taken down shitloads of even tmc hammers. –Dsync hammers are worse tho, but same strategy counts here. Shift+fury will attack ANYTHING within your range, invisible or not. Do not try to rabies hammers. They got alot of allres. It's not worth the risk. When you must recast oak, wait until he just teleported and is casting hammers. That's your window for recasting. NB. Never give up. Since you are on the run while hitting, he will hit you with 1 hammer most of the time. Since you will shift to human before you die, you are able to recast wolf and be back in action still being able to tank 2 more hammers.
Smiter:This is a damn hard duel! These duels will make you recentful when it comes to smiters, they are close to impossible. Grab your botd ba, and full rabies/life/dr gear. Cast your 5 brothers and all summons. Do not end up in a toe-to-toe showdown! Walk away then turn around and try to get the rabies in. Your chance is to get the first rabies-hit. If you get the rabies in, do the switch trick and walk away. He will charge at you like a madman. Walk away as you cross your fingers that he wont trigger his 50% lifetap...(never recast wolfs after rabies is in, since these will be ideal for him to trigger lifetap).
Foher: Frw/Resi gear is what you're after here. He will foh then charge away, then repeat this until you are dead. Do not follow, make him come to you and try to get a rabies in to force him in to stay agressive. Remember; even if you have 1 life left as a wolf he will have to hit you 2 times to kill you since you always have to die in human form. Be ready to recast wolf and go at him the moment you realise that the next foh will shift you. Theese are hard duels aswell. But highly possible.


Assassins:

Trapper: Eni/forti depending on if the assa is offencive or defencive. You will need the eni if she is camping in a trapfield. Run around the trapfield and make her nervous. Try to get a rabies in if you can, this will, as mentioned, make her stressed and offencive, shift+fury once in a while. Do not try to tank her traps, 5 traps + mb will stunlock you. Always wait for the right moment. A nice trick is to rabies her shadowmaster, then go straight for her. This will maker her most likely to teleport away and catch the contagious rabies from her minion. This goes for all enemy summons.
Ghosts: Bramble/ bloodfists/jalal’s. Use maxblock. Try to get her away from the traps to prevent you from being stunned while fighting her whirls. Get an early rabies in(switch trick as always), and shift+fury. Circeling her trapfield is a nice way to get her to come after you, luring her away from the saftey of her stunners. Botd if she’s a god whirler/ grief if not. Never namelock and follow her during her whirls.
Kicker: this char will come to you, rabies then fury her. Same gear as vs the ghost. Grief is the best here since she will be right in you face.

Druids

Elemental: You will have to use Enigma to be able to use Coa berber/ combined with the Tombreaver, use Bloodfists and 1 raven. Highlords for Deadly strike. Pretty much the same as vs a hammerdin, dodge his tornados and shift+fury. Try to rabies his oak if you get the chance. He is most likely to try to tele close to you and spam nados. Most people don't know about the long range of the Tombreaver. If you get the first hit in, nothing can save him. These might be hard duels though. Duelling a decent mb eledruid is no walk in the park.
Shaper: Most shaper vs shaper duels people use fury because a rabies/rabies duel wouldn't be fun. So full damage/block/life/dr gear. Use grief, this will be a typical toe-to-toe duel. Results tend to be pretty random between two good wolfs. Depends how lucky you are with your block and your criticals.

Necromancers

Bone: Again: Full faster run walk setup, use trang gloves to boost rabies damage. Circle the nec and outrun his spirits. Try to get a rabies-hit in, though this is most likely to cost you some life. Also here it's possible to rabies the golem, and charge nec to get him poisoned during tele. These are pretty hard duels. If you meet a bm nec who decides to spam boneprison, and you find yourself unable to outrun em, then esc, rejoin and nk him until he cries blood.
Psn: They are forced to come too close. They tend to be easy to hit, if they got summons, just rabies one of them, if not a fury will do the job. Use your Bramble+ Tombreaver.
Sumonner: Rabies 1 of the summons and watch them die. You will want some fhr/frw for this duel.