Cold Dot Werebear Druid Guide
Last Updated:July 9, 2024|Changelog
Welcome to the Cold DoT Werebear Druid Guide. This unstoppable Druid shapeshifts into its Werebear Form to brutally charge across the battlefield while surrounded by deadly Cold Damage Over Time Spells. Move fast around the map with Rampage and use Maul to cast Entangling Roots; a giant AoE that Immobilizes enemies in place and deals DoT Damage.
This build also has ways to proc Maelstroms while in Werebear Form. Use Roar for its amazing buffs and Swipe at the enemies to cast additional Spells. Thanks to the Wisened Claws Node, this Druid can weaponize Strength stacking. This is an incredibly tanky build that has access to tons of Health, Armour and Damage Reduction.
This setup doesn't require any Unique to function and performs great even without good gear. However, Items like Throne of Ambition, Aurora's Time Glass and Eterra's Path are amazing for the build.
Overall the Cold DoT Werebear is a powerful build capable of defeating all the content in the game. It's easy to play, clears Echoes super fast and is extremely tanky, therefore perfect for Hardcore. If you are looking for a solid beginner friendly build with a Cooldown based playstyle, this setup is perfect for you!
This article assumes you have a Level 70 Character.
Reach Level 70 with our Druid Leveling Guide.
If you are looking for a different playstyle, check all our Build Guides!
Skills
Werebear Form
This is a permanent Werebear Form build. You gain a new set of Skills and Mana is replaced by Rage while Transformed. This setup revolves around Wisened Claws to weaponize Strength, Ursine Storm to stack Maelstroms and Woodland Bear to cast Entangling Roots after using Maul.
- If you are running out of Rage, you can unspec Swipe and spec Spriggan Form instead. Utilize the Garden of Rage Node to turn your Summon Vines into Rage generators. Generate Vines by using Entangling Roots's Poisonous Seeds and Rampant Growth Nodes.
- Consider investing Points into Poisonous Seeds in Entangling Roots if you have Eterra's Path and Tears of the Forest to sustain Rage with ease.
- If you struggle with Rage sustain, take points out of Warcry's Whirlpool Node to spend less Rage by casting fewer Maelstroms when using it.
- You can spec Points into Warcry's Frost Claw Node if you are not fully utilizing Fury Strikes for single target DPS.
- Put more Points into Ursine Heart in Werebear Form to cap your Endurance if necessary.
Passives
Passives provide powerful effects that dictate the playstyle of a Class and its Masteries. Remember that you can allocate Passives on the first half of all Masteries regardless of the one you chose.
- Take all the Attunement, Strength, Melee Attack Speed and Cold Penetration.
- Rancour is crucial to avoid running out of Rage while in Werebear Form.
- Berserker, Ursine Strength, Boar Heart and Impervious provide insane Damage Reduction.
- Investing points into Natural Attunement helps cap Elemental Resistances.
- Thicket of Thorns allows you to proc Thorn Shield while in Werebear Form.
- Hideskin can turn any Druid into a tanky juggernaut.
- Harmonious Wisdom is great to cap Critical Strike Avoidance, especially for a build with 60+ Attunement.
- You can invest into Chitinous Plating if you need more Endurance to reach the 60% cap.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
This Druid wants to Roar on Cooldown, Rampage through the battlefield and group up big enemy packs before releasing Entangling Roots's giant AoE. Make sure you are familiar with enemy mechanics to know when to use your Support Skills to stay alive. Pay attention to their telegraphed attacks!
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Cast Roar for its buffs and to proc 4 Maelstroms.
- Rampage towards enemy packs.
- Use Maul to cast Entangling Roots.
- Cast Roar when it's available again.
- Maintain 6 stacks of Maelstrom to get Haste from Windswept and Frenzy from Windfury.
- Attack with Swipe to proc additional Maelstroms with Ursine Storm and to stack the Aspect of the Panther buff.
Mapping
- Rush to the objective with Rampage.
- Group mobs before using Maul to maximize the AoE from Entangling Roots.
- Attack big groups of enemies with Maul or Swipe to proc Primal Strength.
Bossing
- Spam Swipe while you wait for Cooldowns to proc additional Maelstroms with Ursine Storm.
- Fully stack the Berserker buff from Roar/Warcry to gain high Attack Speed.
- Take advantage of all your defensive buffs and keep them active.
- Roar can save you from incoming Damage. Time it against dangerous telegraphed Boss attacks.
- If you are close to being out of Rage and out of danger, get out of your Werebear Form and cast it again while it goes off Cooldown.
- Cast Warcry before shapeshifting into Werebear Form and immediately follow with Roar to get 8 stacks of Maelstrom and benefit from Windswept and Windfury instantly when entering a new zone.
- Casting Entangling Roots through Woodland Bear bypasses the Overgrown Garden Cooldown.
- Maul is a leap and can be used to go over tiny walls and terrain gaps.
- Use Roar before using Maul for the Damage Immunity before engaging dangerous enemies.
Learn more about how to maximize your gameplay in the Build Scaling section of this guide.
Gear
Gearing in Last Epoch revolves around finding Items and then using the powerful Crafting System to enhance them. As long as an Item has Forging Potential left, players can upgrade or modify their Affixes up to Tier 5. However, the powerful Exalted Tier Affixes are drop only and can't be modified by players.
Using the correct Item Bases allows you to make use of their amazing Implicits, this is fundamental for gearing efficiently. Combine Implicits, Passives, Idols and Blessings to cap your Resistances and other defensive layers, while fitting as much Health related Affixes or Endurance Threshold into your gear as possible. Plan ahead for your next upgrades and consider the final Blessings of your build while gearing. Finish up by farming Uniques with Legendary Potential and Sealing Affixes into Exalted Items to unleash all of your build's power!
Here are the Stat Goals for this build:
- Capped Resistances
- Capped Critical Strike Avoidance
- Capped Endurance
- 3000 - 5000+ Health
- 1000 - 1500 Endurance Threshold
- 50% - 70%+ Armour
- 60+ Attunement
- 80+ Strength
- 800% - 1500%+ Increased Damage
- 35% - 65%+ Movement Speed
Gear Progression
Milestone 1
Aim for good Item Bases with two valuable T5 Affixes. The defensive rolls on T5 Suffixes are very important at this stage as they can easily cap all your Resistances when combined with Item Implicits, Idols, Blessings or Passives. Get a Staff with double T5 offensive Prefixes as soon as possible.
Milestone 2
Make sure your Critical Strike Avoidance is capped. Remember that Woven Flesh is always an option early on. It can be farmed by killing the Abomination in the Fall of the Outcast Monolith Timeline.
Milestone 3
Get at least 60 Attunement to double the Damage from Maelstrom's Turbulence Node. Fit as much Health into your gear as possible. Hybrid Health and Health are extremely valuable, but are hard to find early on. Use regular flat Health until you find them.
Milestone 4
Aim for T5 Level of Entangling Roots on your Helmet to invest extra Points on it. T1 Level of Warcry and Increased Cooldown Recovery Speed While Transformed are also great upgrades.
Milestone 5
While you look for this basic set of gear, start farming your Empowered Blessings and look for any Idols that can help you cap all your Resistances momentarily or increase your Damage output. Keep an eye for Large Nomad Idol with %Health Prefix and Critical Strike Avoidance for You and Your Minions or Elemental Resistance While Transformed Suffixes.
Milestone 1
Rush Grand Hunger of the Void for the sustain it provides. This is very important to smoothly play the build. If you have it, you can use Tome of Elements for the Elemental Leech until you get it.
Milestone 2
Get Chance to Apply Frailty on Hit to decrease the Damage enemies deal to you. This Ailment is really important and should always be kept in mind.
Milestone 3
When all your core Defenses are covered, start working on your Damage. Get Elemental Damage Over Time and Strength on your Prefixes to increase your DPS drastically. Melee Attack Speed is also amazing for this build to get more value out of the Ursine Storm Node. Remember to have at least 60 Attunement for Maelstrom.
Milestone 4
As you finish up your Empowered Blessings keep a decent Health pool, capped Resistances, Endurance and Critical Strike Avoidance. Your goal is to have items with 4 valuable T5 Affixes, also known as T20.
Milestone 5
If you find Tears of the Forest and are struggling with Rage sustain, consider replacing Swipe with Spriggan Form instead. You can utilize the Garden of Rage Node to turn your Summon Vines into Rage generators. Generate Vines by using Entangling Roots's Poisonous Seeds and Rampant Growth Nodes. This results in way less Damage but more QoL.
Milestone 1
Upgrade your T20 set up with Exalted items, high value Sealed Affixes or ideally both. Obtain the Affixes included in the Planner, but prioritize the indicated Item Bases for their Implicits. Make sure to Seal highly efficient low tier Affixes. Ward and Ailment Cleansing on Potion Use is a must have for Belts.
Milestone 2
Aurora's Time Glass is a great addition to this build for extra survivability. Switch to an Ivory Ring for its Necrotic Resistance Implicit and a smoother gear transition into this Unique.
Milestone 3
Farm Throne of Ambition in The Stolen Lance Empowered Monolith Timeline. It's a rare drop from God Hunter Argentus so it might take a few tries to drop.
Milestone 4
Get all your Large Nomad Idol with %Health Prefix and Critical Strike Avoidance for You and Your Minions or Elemental Resistance While Transformed Suffixes. Keep stacking as much Health, Strength and Elemental Damage Over Time on your gear as you can while having 60 Attunement.
Milestone 1
Keep upgrading your gear with Exalted Items with Sealed Affixes. Get every stat in the right place and in the correct Item Base. Min/Maxing your gear in Last Epoch can be pushed to the extreme as Items with multiple Exalted Affixes are technically possible.
Milestone 2
Get as close to perfect rolls for all your Empowered Blessings and find all your desired Idols with the best in slot Prefixes and Suffixes.
Milestone 3
Eterra's Path has amazing stats for this build. If you manage to get it with multiple Legendary Potential it's an incredible addition to the setup.
Milestone 4
Continue farming Uniques with the maximum Legendary Potential you can find. Remember that some Unique Items are extremely hard to get with multiple Legendary Potential. Good luck with the chase!
Learn the basics for crafting gear with our Beginner Crafting Guide.
Check our Unique Item & Set Farming Guide and learn how to get them!
Want to know more about Legendary Items? Check our Legendary Guide!
Blessings
Completing a Timeline in the Monolith of Fate lets you choose one of several randomized Blessings from its unique pool. Their benefits are permanent and persist even outside of the Monolith of Fate.
Empowered Blessings are a fundamental part of all builds, so getting the correct ones for each is key.
The sooner you reach Empowered Monolith, the faster you can start farming your desired Blessings!
Normal Blessings are not important as they are eventually replaced by Empowered Blessings. However they can still be a great source of Resistances, Critical Strike Avoidance or Life Leech for your build early on.
Pick up these Normal Blessings on your way to Empowered:
- Echo of Solarum
- Hunger of the Void
- Bastion of Divinity
- Survival of Might
- Persistance of Will
- Protection of Heorot
- Resolve of Grael
- Rage of Winter
- Heart of the Caldera
- Embers of Immortality
- Body of Obsidian
Note: Don't target farm Normal Blessings. Get to Empowered Monolith as fast as you can.
Reaching Empowered Monolith unlocks all the level 100 Timelines and the ability to farm Empowered Blessings. Unlike Normal Blessings, these need to be farmed until you get the desired ones for your build. It is extremely important to get this set up as fast as possible to free up affix slots on your gear. Remember, the more value you get from your Blessings, the easier it is to craft efficient gear!
These are the core Combat Empowered Blessings for this build:
- Start with Grand Hunger of the Void for the sustain it provides.
- Continue with Grand Persistance of Will.
- Once your core Defenses are sorted, grab Grand Rage of Winter for a huge DPS boost.
- Farm the best rolled Grand Body of Obsidian you can get. It grants an insane amount of Flat Armour that helps increase the survivability of the build and synergises greatly with all the Strength the build sacks and Throne of Ambition while Bossing. Grand Embers of Immortality can also be good but is not as efficient for Min/Maxing.
- Finish up by farming Grand Might of the Sea TItan for additional Cold Damage. You can also pick Grand Rhythm of the Tide for the extra source of sustain or Grand Bastion of Divinity if you need the Lightning Resistance.
These Empowered Blessings are flexible and depend on your current needs and goals.
These are valuable Empowered Drop Rate Blessings for this build:
- Grand Sight of the Outcasts is valuable to help you find Large Nomad Idol with %Health Prefix and Critical Strike Avoidance for You and Your Minions or Elemental Resistance While Transformed Suffixes. Once you find all your Idols, you can switch to the Grand Winds of Fortune and focus on Uniques instead.
- Grand Chill of Death helps you find more Exalted Staffs.
- Lastly take Grand Arrogance of Argentus to increase your chances of finding a Helmet with Exalted Level of Entangling Roots. You can also farm Grand Vision of the Aurora or Grand Right of Conquest, depending on what type of Unique you are looking for.
Learn how to farm Blessings fast with our Advanced Monolith Strategies.
Idols
Idols grant your character bonuses when equipped in the dedicated Idol Container. Unlock all the slots of your Idol Container by completing the Campaign and some of its Side Quests. Remember that some Idols are Class specific and you won't be able to equip them with other non-compatible Classes.
These are the Idols recommended for this build:
- Find 4 Large Nomad Idol with %Health Prefix. For the Suffixes aim for 3 with Critical Strike Avoidance for You and Your Minions and 1 with Elemental Resistance While Transformed.
- You also want 2 Stout Lagonian Idols with %Health. Look for flat Health Suffix or Resistances that need to be capped.
- Get a Throne of Ambition. You can farm it in The Stolen Lance Empowered Monolith Timeline. It's a rare drop from God Hunter Argentus.
- Health
- %Health
- Vitality
- Armour
- Elemental Resistance
- Fire Resistance
- Lightning Resistance
- Void Resistance
- Physical Resistance
- Poison Resistance
- Increased Aspect Of The Boar Effect
- Cold and Lightning Damage
- Damage Over Time While Transformed
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Idol Slots.
Learn how to be efficient with Idols with our Advanced Idols Setups Guide.
Build Scaling
This Druid uses permanent Werebear Form to unleash Entangling Roots and Maelstroms for Damage. Both abilities are Cold Damage Over Time Spells that scale with the same stats. This build also has great survivability thanks to the multiple defensive layers it can take advantage of.
- Adaptive Spell Damage: With Entangling Roots's 200% Added Damage Effectiveness per second on its DoT component and the Damage Multipliers it has access to, you want to stack as much Flat Damage as possible. Maelstrom has 60% Added Damage Effectiveness per second and you can have multiple at the same time. Thanks to the Wisened Claws Node inside of Werebear Form, you gain 1 Adaptive Spell Damage per point of Strength while Transformed.
- Strength: This build gains 1 Adaptive Spell Damage per point while in Werebear Form. Additionally it grants 4% Armour per point, which adds a nice defensive layer for the build.
- Melee Attack Speed: The faster you attack with Swipe the more Maelstroms you proc with Ursine Storm and Ailments you apply. Roar's Berserker buff grants up to 60% Melee Attack Speed thanks to Warcry's Fury Strikes Node.
- Elemental Damage Over Time: This powerful Prefix has some of the highest numerical values of any offensive Affix in the game. This is a priority when it comes to scaling this build and its main source of Increased Damage.
- Throne of Ambition: Provides an insane DPS boost while fighting Bosses.
- Attunement: Entangling Roots and Maelstrom gain 4% Damage per point of Attunement. Get at least 60 Attunement to double the Damage from Maelstrom's Turbulence Node.
- Level of Entangling Roots: Get this Prefix on your Helmet to invest extra Points into Noxious Grasp and Lethal Spines.
- Level of Warcry: Allows you to invest Points into Frost Claw for more increased Cold Damage.
- Cold Penetration: Causes enemies to take More Cold Damage. Mainly obtained through Passives for this build. Combining Shamanic Infusion, Primordial Resonance and Piercing Gale grants 42% total Cold Penetration.
- Grand Rage of Winter: Use Swipe to apply 10 stacks of Cold Resistance Shred to your targets. 10 stacks increase the Cold Damage enemies take by 50%. This Blessing plays a big part on your single target DPS, so make sure you roll it nicely (45%+) and as early as possible.
- Immobilize: Entangling Roots Immobilizes enemies in place when they get hit by it. The duration of the Immobilize can be extended with the Entrapped Node.
- Roar: Grants a brief Damage Immunity thanks to Warcry's Juggernaut Node.
- Berserker: Provides 25% Damage Reduction when you are below 35% of your total Health. This Passive has insane synergy with Hideskin and Endurance.
- Endurance: A defensive mechanic that allows you to take up to 60% less Damage while below a certain Health threshold. Thanks to Hideskin your base Endurance Threshold is 30% of your total Health.
- Ursine Strength: Grants 16% Damage Reduction against Nearby enemies.
- Aspect of the Boar: Combining Boar Heart with Porcine Constitution grants it 30% Damage Reduction. Proc it with Swipe and Maul thanks to Primal Strength.
- Impervious: This setup can afford 3 points in this powerful Passive. The Damage Reduction its stacks provide are really handy when fighting isolated Bosses. The stacks can easily be sustained by spamming Swipe.
- Armour Mitigation: This setup can get insanely high Armour. Combine the Armour from your Item Implicits, Grand Body of Obsidian Blessing, Thorn Shield stacks and all the Strength this build has to reach 50% to 70%+ Mitigation. Thanks to Throne of Ambition this Mitigation increases to 80%+ while Bossing. This is huge on top of all the other defensive layers the build has.
- Health: This build can stack a huge Health pool that can surpass the 5000 mark. Health is very effective when combined with all the other defensive layers the Druid has access to. Primalist has access to Large Nomad Idols with %Health; not all Classes have access to these amazing Idols!
- Spell Leech: Grand Hunger of the Void provides decent Leech for the build. Entangling Roots has some built in Leech thanks to the Reclamation Node.
- Chill and Slow: Are Ailments that greatly reduce the Action and Movement Speed of your enemies. They are must haves on most builds, especially once you reach hard content with insane speed modifiers.
- Frailty: This Ailment reduces the Damage dealt by enemies by 6% for 4 seconds. Stacks 3 times.
- Ward and Ailment Cleansing on Potion Use: Cleanse all Ailments on Potion use.
- Aurora's Time Glass: This powerful Unique can save you from dangerous situations. Make sure its internal CD is ready before you engage your enemies.
Our Damage Explained Article covers all you need to know to scale Damage.
Learn all you need to know to scale Defense with our Defense Explained Article.
Loot Filter
Loot Filters are critical in Last Epoch. Making sure you highlight all the related valuable Item Bases, Affixes, Uniques and Idols is crucial to ensure your character's progression. As your gear gets better, remember to hide the rules that are no longer useful to avoid screen clutter.
Here is the Endgame Loot Filter for this build:
Learn how to load and make Filters with our Loot Filter Guide.
Video Guide
Summary
This unstoppable Werebear Form build brutally charges across the battlefield with Rampage and uses Maul to cast Entangling Roots. Overall this Druid is an amazing setup capable of completing all the content in the game. It has insane AoE, great survivability and is one of the fastest mappers in the game.
- Use Maul to cast Entangling Roots.
- Cast Roar and attack with Swipe to cast additional Maelstroms while in Werebear Form.
- Maintain 6 stacks of Maelstrom to get Haste from Windswept and Frenzy from Windfury.
- Get at least 60 Attunement to double the Damage from Maelstrom's Turbulence Node.
- Weaponize Strength stacking thanks to the Wisened Claws Node inside Werebear Form.
- Berserker, Ursine Strength, Boar Heart and Impervious provide insane Damage Reduction.
- While they are not mandatory, Throne of Ambition, Aurora's Time Glass and Eterra's Path are great Uniques that you want to get to scale the build to its full potential.
Credits
Written by Lizard_IRL.
Reviewed by McFluffin.