Werebear

Transform into a werebear with unstoppable attacks.

Werebear is the Druid's level 6 Shape Shifting skill, with no prerequisite; it unlocks Maul. The table calls it "Wearbear". It is a self-buff that changes your form for a fixed time and gives the form's bonuses: damage of +55% at level 1 and +340% at level 20, defense of +40% and +230%, +75% life, and attacks that cannot be interrupted. Its duration is 40 seconds on its own and only Lycanthropy makes it longer.

The numbers

• Damage is Param1 (55, "Damage % baseline") plus Param2 (15) a level, applied as the damagepercent stat: +340% at level 20, +490% at level 30.
• Defense is Param3 (40) plus Param4 (10) a level, applied as skill_armor_percent: +230% at level 20.
• Max Life is a flat +75% (Param5) plus Lycanthropy's line; the evaluator cannot print it because it reads the other skill. Uninterruptible attack is Param6 = 100, a 100% chance, applied as skill_concentration.
• Duration is 1000 + Lycanthropy.ln12 frames: 40 seconds at every level of Werebear, plus whatever Lycanthropy adds.
• Casting delay is a flat 1 second (globaldelay 25 frames), shared with Werewolf. Mana is a flat 15.

The damage and defense lines read lvl, so +skills from items raise them; the duration and life lines read Lycanthropy's level, not Werebear's.

The Basin's page records the older values: in the 1.10–1.13 era the lines were 47 + 8 × slvl damage and 19 + 6 × slvl defense, 207% and 139% at level 20, so the current game's bear has noticeably more damage and defense.

How it works

Casting Werebear changes your form; the Basin says the transformation takes 16 frames, 0.64 second. The row's Param12 ("Allow Instant Direct Transformation") lets you cast it straight from wolf form. The damage is a percentage on your weapon damage, the same stat as Enhanced Damage from skills; the defense a percentage on your Defense Rating. The Basin states the uninterruptible attack for D2R: a bear attacking or casting is not put into hit recovery, see Hit Recovery and Stun.

While a bear you are restricted to the form's skills: the Basin lists Attack, Unsummon, scrolls and tomes, Werewolf, Werebear, Maul, Fire Claws, Hunger, Shock Wave, the Summoning skills, Armageddon and, since D2R patch 2.4, Cyclone Armor and Hurricane. Passives still work, buffs cast before shifting last until they expire, and pets summoned before shifting remain. A missile weapon is used as a melee weapon, and Fires Magic Arrows and Fires Explosive Arrows do not apply. A Druid werebear who takes lethal damage returns to human form with one life instead of dying; other classes using the Werebear oskill die.

The form's duration is 40 seconds with no Lycanthropy points; the Basin's page lists the mana as 0 when recast while already a bear.

Synergies and +skills

No synergies in the skill's own lines. Two of its stats are fed by Lycanthropy: the duration adds Lycanthropy's ln12 (its Param1 1000 + Param2 500 a level, in frames) and the life adds Lycanthropy's ln34 (its Param3 20 + Param4 5 a level); both read lvl. Werebear gives no synergy.

Against players

Werebear never touches a player by itself; its damage and defense ride on the attack you make, and a player's hit on another player is cut to 17% (difficultylevels.txt PlayerDamagePercentVSPlayer) before anything else, see Player versus Player. The Basin's page says nothing more about the form against players.

Build notes

• Every level is +15% damage and +10% defense with no cap and no diminishing, so hard points and +skills are worth the same here, unlike Werewolf's attack speed curve.
• The bear has no attack rating or attack speed bonus of its own; those come from Maul's charges and from gear.
• Life is a flat 75% plus Lycanthropy, three times the wolf's 25%, and the uninterruptible attack is a constant from the first point.