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Rabies Druid Guide

Last Updated: March 6th 2024

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The Rabies Druid primarily focuses on dealing Poison Damage and Damage Over Time (DOT), which is great for being able to attack and move on to other targets, adding a consistent flow of gameplay.

This build hyper-specializes in farming The Secret Cow Level which has high density of weak to Poison Damage Cows, making Rabies the Skill of choice for our beef farming machine!. Heart of Wolverine grants Attack Rating and some Physical Damage for Feral Rage, allowing you to deal with Immune to Poison enemies as well.  This build is fast moving, like playing a game of tag... as a Werewolf.

Ideal Standard Setup
Ideal Standard Setup

Rabies

Feral Rage

Werewolf

Heart of Wolverine

This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Druid Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.


Very Tanky ✔
Unique Playstyl
e ✔
Has High Survivability


Requires Niche Gear
Limited Farming Spots
Only Really Excels In End Game


Sunder Charm Setup

Patch 2.5 introduced a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Rotting Fissure, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.

Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup

Gear Changes

To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Poison Resistance as possible. Equip Jeweler's Monarch of Deflecting and Death's Web in your Weapon Swap. Use your Main Weapon Swap to apply Rabies then switch to your Secondary Weapon Swap to increase your damage.

Counteract the negative effect of Rotting Fissure with an Antidote Potion or Emerald Small Charms. Poison isn't a major threat unless you remain poisoned for a while....

Terror Zones

The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build on the Starter or Budget setup. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.

Best

The Secret Cow Level - High Density, No Immunities
Pit - Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
The Tower Cellar - No Immunities, Many Elite Groups, Countess

Worst

Tal Rasha's Tombs - Trash Mobility, Tanky enemies, High Physical Damage
Chaos Sanctuary - Tanky enemies, High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage
Burial Grounds + Crypt + Mausoleum - Low Density, Trash Mobility

Skills

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Werebear
(to proc Mark of the Bear from Metamorphosis)
2. Fury

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Rabies
2. Poison Creeper
3. Werewolf
4. Lycanthropy
5. Feral Rage

Optional:

  • Put 1 Point into summon grizzly.
  • Put 1 Point into shockwave.
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Damage

Utility

Attributes

Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!

Strength

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.

Dexterity

Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.

Vitality

Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.

Energy

Do not allocate any Stat Points into Energy. Mana costs are covered by “x% Mana Stolen per Hit” or “+x Mana after each Kill” on gear.

Essentials

Gear Options

Farming Spots

Mercenary

Playstyle

Breakpoints

Hardcore

Build Variants

Budget
Standard
Hardcore

Setup

The Budget Rabies Druid aims to have as much +x to rabies with Plague Bearer, and a Wisdom Totemic Mask which also provides Cannot Be Frozen.

Rhyme Bone Shield, and Rain Light Plate are great budget options for this build and greatly impact the build's performance.

Mercenary

We don't recommend using a Mercenary because he interrupts your control over the enemies' movement. If you don't want to part with your trusty follower, a Might Act 2 Mercenary is your best option on a budget. Insight Poleaxe, bulwark, and Smoke Leather Armor are well-rounded options to keep him alive as much as possible.

Skills

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Summon Spirit Wolf
3. Heart of Wolverine
4. Summon Dire Wolf
5. Summon Grizzly

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Rabies
2. Poison Creeper
3. Werewolf
4. Lycanthropy
5. Feral Rage

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Setup

Rabies Druid uses Bramble Dusk Shroud, and Trang-Oul's Claws to massively increase Poison Skill Damage.

With Metamorphosis Wolf Head, Plague Bearer, and Spirit Monarch you achieve the highest rabies Skill Level before swapping to Death's Web, and Jeweler's Monarch of Deflecting.

Mercenary

We don't recommend using a Mercenary because he interrupts your control over the enemies' movement.
Your Mercenary is a tank and a large source of your survivability and Damage. Equip him with Plague Phase Blade for a Cleansing Aura and a 20% Chance to cast Lower Resist when struck. This increases your Poison Damage and breaks some Immunities. Use Vampire Gaze and Shaftstop for a total of 50% Physical Damage Reduction keeping him alive for more Lower Resist casts.

Skills

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Werebear
(to proc Mark of the Bear from Metamorphosis)
2. Fury

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Rabies
2. Poison Creeper
3. Werewolf
4. Lycanthropy
5. Feral Rage

Optional: Put 1 Point into summon grizzly

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Setup

The Hardcore Fury Druid has lots of survivability including Physical Damage Reduction, over capped Resistances to counter enemy Conviction Aura, 75% Chance to Block and 86% Faster Hit Recovery. The biggest item changes are Stormshield and Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud. Use Summon Grizzly more often to check for dangerous situations and have him tank.

Mercenary

We don't recommend using a Mercenary because he interrupts your control over the enemies' movement.
Your Mercenary is a tank and a large source of your survivability and Damage. Equip him with Plague Phase Blade for a Cleansing Aura and a 20% Chance to cast Lower Resist when struck. This increases your Poison Damage and breaks some Immunities. Use Vampire Gaze and Shaftstop for a total of 50% Physical Damage Reduction keeping him alive for more Lower Resist casts.

Skills

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Summon Spirit Wolf
3. Summon Dire Wolf
4. Heart of Wolverine
5. Fury

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Rabies
2. Poison Creeper
3. Werewolf
4. Lycanthropy
5. Feral Rage
6. Summon Grizzly (Remaining Skill Points)

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Put enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear, Dexterity to reach 75% Chance to Block, and the remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Summary

  • Remember to consistently re cast your Heart of Wolverine, Oak Sage, and Summon Grizzly.
  • Keep Feral Rage stacks fully charged for maximum efficiency.
  • Attack with Rabies in a "tag you're it" style. Ideally monsters are clumped up for it to spread around. 
  • If you need more DPS then use Feral Rage and Fury for additional Physical Damage.
  • Use your Mercenary as an enticing piñata, making enemies group up and hit him to increase the chance of Lower Resist procs and deal with Poison Immunes.
  • Keep your Battle Command and Battle Orders up at all times.

I hope you enjoy this build and unique playstyle as much as I have in the past. Watching the Poison spread across cows is quite satisfying as they Moo at you. Enjoy biting and spreading Rabies to your enemies!

Good luck!

Credits

Updated and Reviewed by Teo1904
Original Author BTNeandertha1

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