Barbarian Dragoons

[Dimmu Borgir]

Barbarian Dragoons

Alright, off an on, ever since I've been playing Diablo II, I have been trying to create a Leap/Leap Attack PvM Dragoon build, to no avail.

Leap and Leap Attack maxed out gives Leap Attack a damage synergy boost of something like 800% added damage. So damage is not a problem.

The problem is crowd control. Now, I have an idea but I'm not sure if it would work, so maybe you all could help me out.

Some items cast novas upon impact, if I remember correctly Breath of the Dying can cast Poison Nova 50%(?) of the time. So I was thinking of making a BotD 2-Hand weapon for that.

My goal here is to make that nova cast 100% of the time. Is there any way to make a nova cast 100% of the time on striking, no matter the nova? Like if I'm using two pieces of equipment that grant nova on striking, does the % chance to cast stack?

Also, say if I end up with 100% Poison Nova or something, if I have a charm or something that grants +To Poison Skill Damage, will it add to the nova damage even though the Barb doesn't technically have that skill?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To clarify: ANY NOVA, just as long as I can get it to 100%.

 

[MrGoth]

Nova is great when rushing threw normal and vrs small critters in nightmare, but its not really that good.

I would suggest this guide, but it appears that the link is dead. Maybe keep an eye on it, its by far the best {and most ammusing} guide i've ever read.

For crowd control, try that heafty leap skill you just sank 20 points in. Its worth it.

And also, dont forget to hold down alt when leapattacking at your feet, this lets you target anything right next to you for spam leap attacking.

 

[Dimmu Borgir]

Yeah, Leap is a great skill but it just sucks not being able to kill more than one enemy at a time. So here's what I've thought of.

Just checked and BotD casts Lv.20 Poison Nova when you KILL an enemy. So the best bet here I think is to use a 2-hand weapon to maximize the damage output of Leap Attack, which makes sure you kill that enemy on your first strike. This will set off your nova which in this theory guide should be your main source of damage. Its only 50% of the time though which sucks.

But anyway, on top of this, Bramble gives +100% Poison Skill damage. And you can stack a bunch of poison damage small charms, maybe some equipment with poison mods on them, an Arreats with a Poison Rainbow Facet... In theory you should be getting good damage with that nova.

As for strategy I was thinking to target the weakest enemy in any given crowd, that way you have the best chance to kill on first strike and the nova will plow throw the rest of your foes.

I'll experiment some more with it, I'm not saying it's the best build out there but I think it will be fun.