Guardian YoungBull - Wolfbarb

[crawlingdeadman]

Hello again, everyone!

This one's been a while in the making so let's get right into it. After finding a pretty nice wolfhowl in an MP game and seeing how awesome Fred's is in many other MP games, I decided to finally try my hand at the legendary wolf barb. I had also been wanting a SAFE trav runner that wasn't a damn WW barb (screw those guys). Many PMs flew between FoE and I weighing pros and cons, but despite his advocating grief, I wanted to try two handed in particular I wanted to try out Tomb Reaver. My wolf is named YoungBull after a character in The Wheel of Time. I really, REALLY wanted him to be a giant maul user to fit the character, but wanted even more for him to live and not suck. So after trying Tomby and finding it lacking, I wound up with him using grief.

I rushed a barb to NM baal and leveled him w/o using any skills/stats to 79 (not recomended, it suuuucked) because I wanted to quest him through hell as a wolf. I wish there was some sort of progression for shifting skills on a barb, but you really do have to wait until 79, it must have been crappy before respecs, next time I'll quest/level him as something that works then respec. In any case, doing it this way saved me a token because I've since respeced him many times while tweaking his endgame gear. I'm finally satisfied, though I could see a future respec in the event of boredom.

YoungBull


Stats/Skills:

Spoiler

Name: YoungBullClass: Barbarian
Experience: 1764949759
Level: 91


Naked/Gear
Strength: 129/141
Dexterity: 103/156
Vitality: 308/322
Energy: 10/10
HP: 1427/1608
Mana: 100/140
Stamina: 465/485
Defense: 25/2378
AR: 500/8766


Fire: 201/161/101
Cold: 161/121/61
Lightning: 184/144/84
Poison: 148/108/48


MF: 0 Block: 19
GF: 0
FR/W: 35
FHR: 29
IAS: 40
FCR: 105


Bash: 0/0
Leap: 0/0
Double Swing: 0/0
Stun: 0/0
Double Throw: 0/0
Leap Attack: 0/0
Concentrate: 0/0
Frenzy: 0/0
Whirlwind: 0/0
Berserk: 0/0


Sword Mastery: 20/27
Axe Mastery: 0/0
Mace Mastery: 0/0
Pole Arm Mastery: 0/0
Throwing Mastery: 0/0
Spear Mastery: 0/0
Increased Stamina: 1/8
Iron Skin: 16/23
Increased Speed: 1/8
Natural Resistance: 20/27


Howl: 1/11
Find Potion: 1/11
Taunt: 0/0
Shout: 20/30
Find Item: 1/11
Battle Cry: 0/0
Battle Orders: 20/30
Grim Ward: 0/0
War Cry: 0/0
Battle Command: 1/11

Gear:

Spoiler

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 108
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x10f83e30
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
8% Life stolen per hit
+167% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 14%
Magic Damage Reduced by 14
+10 Maximum Durability


Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0xb6814227
Item Level: **
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
34% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15


Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 142
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0xe9f88287
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+164% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability


Doom Circle
Ring
Required Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0xb44dd825
Item Level: **
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Bonus to Attack Rating
+34 to Attack Rating
6% Mana stolen per hit
4% Life stolen per hit
Poison Resist +8%
+5 to Light Radius


Wolfhowl
Fury Visor
Defense: 342
Durability: 34 of 35
Required Level: 79
Required Strength: 129
Fingerprint: 0x2fe71281
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Warcry Skills (Barbarian Only)
+7% Faster Hit Recovery
+34 to Attack Rating
+6 to Feral Rage
+6 to Lycanthropy
+3 to Werewolf
+127% Enhanced Defense
+12 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+14 to Vitality
Level 15 Summon Dire Wolf (18/18 Charges)
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Tin Jewel of Truth


Tin Jewel of Truth
Jewel
Required Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0x733a6cfb
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7% Faster Hit Recovery
+34 to Attack Rating


Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x605eb38a
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+221 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen


Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 84
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xb537eb3d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%




Fortitude
Superior Archon Plate
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1663
Durability: 58 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0xfd448cee
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+214% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+113 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +30
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune


Crawlingdeadman's Grief
Phase Blade
EthTirLoMalRal
One Hand Damage: 31 - 35
Indestructible
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 136
Fingerprint: 0x7d0a8173
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+38% Increased Attack Speed
Damage +363
Ignore Target's Defense
-25% Target Defense
+170% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
-20% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+12 Life after each Kill
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Eth Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune




Silence
Superior Phase Blade
DolEldHelIstTirVex
One Hand Damage: 95 - 108
Indestructible
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 20
Required Dexterity: 109
Fingerprint: 0x81903412
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
209% Enhanced Damage
+2 to Attack Rating
+75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
11% Mana stolen per hit
Hit Blinds Target +33
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
All Resistances +75
+2 to Mana after each Kill
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -20%
6 Sockets (6 used)
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Eld Rune
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune


SWITCH:
Heart of the Oak
Scourge
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 4 - 120
Indestructible
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 115
Required Dexterity: 67
Fingerprint: 0x2dc6a092
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +32
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune


SaekoBusujima's Heart of the Oak
Flail
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 1 - 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x3a447a4d
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +40
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune

Merc:

Spoiler

Name: KasimRace: Desert Mercenary
Type: Off-Nightmare
Experience: 88775516
Level: 90
Dead?: false


Naked/Gear
Strength: 195/195
Dexterity: 157/157
HP: 1967/1967
Defense: 1444/3217
AR: 1970/1970


Fire: 184/144/84
Cold: 154/114/54
Lightning: 154/114/54
Poison: 154/114/54


The Gladiator's Bane
Wire Fleece
Defense: 1457
Durability: 135 of 135
Required Level: 85
Required Strength: 111
Fingerprint: 0x91fdf321
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
+192% Enhanced Defense
+50 Defense
Damage Reduced by 18
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Cannot Be Frozen
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
Attacker Takes Damage of 20
+103 Maximum Durability
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Jewel of Fervor


Steel Shade
Armet
Defense: 316
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 62
Required Strength: 109
Fingerprint: 0xb4fe3981
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
4% Mana stolen per hit
+111% Enhanced Defense
Replenish Life +13
Fire Resist +30%
+11 Fire Absorb
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ral Rune


The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 37 - 439
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 114
Required Dexterity: 89
Fingerprint: 0x1a009a51
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
212% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
Adds 4 - 44 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (34 Frames)
12% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune

Damage:
Since grief doesn't show properly on LCS, I had to use a damage Calc. I wound up with Final Damage of 3958 to 4145 (4051 avg). Here's the details if you care to look.

Spoiler

Charms:
+ 4 Max


Skills:
143% sword mastery (lvl 24)
095% feral rage (lvl 10)
=238%


Gear:
300% fort


Demons:
350% LoH
170% grief
=520%


Elemental:
5-30 fire (grief)
15-45 cold (RF)
1-30 light (HL)
1-25 light (charms)
= 22-130


Deadly Strike:
20% grief
34% HL
15% gores
=69%


Crit:
30% mastery


Crushing Blow:
15% gores


Weapondamage
394 to 398 (396 avg)

Noteable drops:
Hellforge
Unique SA
13max/ias jewel
Jeweler's Tiara

At 79, I really didn't know what to do with him until I could try out tomb reaver so I used one of my favorite sets for furywolves, IK. Naturally, it worked great on a barb. I even went so far as to try out the full set as a wolf after shifting. It was great fun to have a barb that was shifted, but was also shiny from the full set bonus. He did pretty decent normal attack damage what with all the full set bonuses, but I didn't like having to switch hats nor not having a "real" attack. I leveled and quested up to tomby and re geared around it. It is a fine weapon and I rather liked it, but (BUT!) grief exists and it is mighty fine. Fred was right (this thread helped convince me too). With tomby, I was killing, but not as fast as I wanted so I switched to grief and was very happy with the results. After fiddling with the other slot, I went with Silence in a PB mainly because I had it on hand. I never went with a shield, and really wish Druid Wolves could dual wield as well. Screw shields. It has loads of res, fhr, and even 2skills to up Feral rage and weapon mastery a bit. Bonus is that the annoying aspect of it for melee use, ctc flee, doesn't work off hand when not striking with the weapon. About the only thing I can think of trading it in for is phoenix, but then you're stuck with a crappy shield that doesnt block fast and redemption getting rid of corpses instead of horking them..

Future plans include running Trav forever and running around with Fred. Here's some action shots of us both.
Link. Link. Link. Link. Link. Link. Link. Link.

My thanks to Coju for running with me from ** - 90 when I forgot to include Find Item in a respec and a huge thanks to Fred for all the PMs and in game chatting about wolf barbs.

 

[redragon]

What you should do is name a character Mah'alleiner, then do Anya's quest with him, then have her personalise an end game Maul / Great Maul so it was named Mah'alleiner.

Even if you don't use Mah'alleiner, a screeny of YoungBull holding it with it's name would be v cool!

Oh and congrats

 

[zaphodbrx]

Nice guardian. Gratz!
Also, beast offhand. FTW!

Your last pic has something about Legend of Zelda.

 

[nulio]

It's a Link of Link ^^

Grats on the guardian!

 

[FredOfErik]

Finally

You know my thoughts on wolfbarbs (coolest build ever) already.

Thoughts:

Why all that strength? Dmg?

You really need a new ML ring.. Dual leech shouldn't even be needed with all that LL from feral.

Your calculated dmg (as we discussed yesterday) doesn't take account for DS/CS. If I added your amount of DS/CS to my calculations you'd get somewhere around 7k.

Silence is really cool off-hand. You know I swear to SS, but ofc the purpose of my char is somewhat different from yours. I wouldn't really worry as much about block as you do though - it really isn't that bad. Phoenix/Beast would probably be the optimal solution for trav running, but yeah, roonz.

Looking forward to more awesome wulf on wulf action! good times. next one will me a tyrael's

This has somewhat motivated me to do a new write-up of my own.

 

[crawlingdeadman]

What you should do is name a character Mah'alleiner, then do Anya's quest with him, then have her personalise an end game Maul / Great Maul so it was named Mah'alleiner.

Even if you don't use Mah'alleiner, a screeny of YoungBull holding it with it's name would be v cool!

Oh and congrats

Yeah, if/when I find a Zod, I was thinking about doing that to a Tmaul BotD, but it really isnt the best base weapon for a shapeshifter.

Nice guardian. Gratz!
Also, beast offhand. FTW!

Your last pic has something about Legend of Zelda.

Beast would be good. I have to make an Infinity first though. Heh, not only is it Link, it's Link's wolf form... see what I did there? A link in a wolfbarb thread to a picture of Link in wolf form.

Finally

You know my thoughts on wolfbarbs (coolest build ever) already.

Thoughts:

Why all that strength? Dmg?

You really need a new ML ring.. Dual leech shouldn't even be needed with all that LL from feral.

Your calculated dmg (as we discussed yesterday) doesn't take account for DS/CS. If I added your amount of DS/CS to my calculations you'd get somewhere around 7k.

Silence is really cool off-hand. You know I swear to SS, but ofc the purpose of my char is somewhat different from yours. I wouldn't really worry as much about block as you do though - it really isn't that bad. Phoenix/Beast would probably be the optimal solution for trav running, but yeah, roonz.

Looking forward to more awesome wulf on wulf action! good times. next one will me a tyrael's

This has somewhat motivated me to do a new write-up of my own.

Strength is exactly what I need for Wolfhowl. The rest is from Wolfhowl.

Yeah, I am too lazy to do the damage calc again, so I'm sticking with what I copied down.

Silence is golden.

All the best ML rings I have are in use. He doesnt need much so he gets that.

 

[coju]

I thought I was running with fred in those games ><
lol jkjk
it was fun running cs and wsk.
go get some runes .

 

[Maltatai]

The Wheel of the gamers mouse turn. Difficulty levels come and pass, leaving guardian threads that become legend. Legend fades to forum archives and even such are long forgotten when the difficulty level that gave rise to one legend comes again. In one thread, called Guardian YoungBull by some, a thread yet to be read, a thread long past, a wind rose in the cold north. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the mouse wheel of the gamer. But it was a beginning.

Southward the wind blew, passing the deserts of Aranoch. The desert was ruled by nomadic clans ruled mostly by hideous old women and wise guys, each more foul-tempered and unpleasant than the other. In the city of Lut Gholein, the smith and former knight Fara was attempting to form a watching order of female knights under the catchy name of Fara Dareis Mai.

North again the undecided wind turned, to a rocky patch of ground where a large man named Perrin woke up and tried to remember what had happened. He had been just about to make it when a bubble of evil of the dark one had reset the world to where he was at the beginning of his quests, just making everything worse. Twice it had happened, now. And where was his fine hammer? It seemed he had had to borrow Callandor, the crystal sword, from Rand al'Thor instead. Twice. It would no doubt cause Rand Grief. Best to keep his Silence about it. And there was something about this bird of some sort. Perrin distinctly remembered that bird being important. Perhaps he should do some bird watching to get his bearings in this new world. Could it be the fabled Wolfbarb dream? But in that case, where was Hopper?

 

[NagisaFurukawa]

Nice character, and good luck with the runs ~

Really loving that circlet. Hope you find a use for it someday.

 

[FredOfErik]

Nice Maltatai!!

Another action shot: syncronized minion beating

 

[crawlingdeadman]

The Wheel of the gamers mouse turn. Difficulty levels come and pass, leaving guardian threads that become legend. Legend fades to forum archives and even such are long forgotten when the difficulty level that gave rise to one legend comes again. In one thread, called Guardian YoungBull by some, a thread yet to be read, a thread long past, a wind rose in the cold north. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the mouse wheel of the gamer. But it was a beginning.

Southward the wind blew, passing the deserts of Aranoch. The desert was ruled by nomadic clans ruled mostly by hideous old women and wise guys, each more foul-tempered and unpleasant than the other. In the city of Lut Gholein, the smith and former knight Fara was attempting to form a watching order of female knights under the catchy name of Fara Dareis Mai.

North again the undecided wind turned, to a rocky patch of ground where a large man named Perrin woke up and tried to remember what had happened. He had been just about to make it when a bubble of evil of the dark one had reset the world to where he was at the beginning of his quests, just making everything worse. Twice it had happened, now. And where was his fine hammer? It seemed he had had to borrow Callandor, the crystal sword, from Rand al'Thor instead. Twice. It would no doubt cause Rand Grief. Best to keep his Silence about it. And there was something about this bird of some sort. Perrin distinctly remembered that bird being important. Perhaps he should do some bird watching to get his bearings in this new world. Could it be the fabled Wolfbarb dream? But in that case, where was Hopper?

That was amazing! Post of the year nominee (if that's even a thing).

Nice Maltatai!!

Another action shot: syncronized minion beating

Nice! Have any others? I didn't tell you I was taking any, wondered if you were as impressed with us as I was .

 

[coju]

That was amazing! Post of the year nominee (if that's even a thing).

Really? There's one every year.

 

[FredOfErik]

That was amazing! Post of the year nominee (if that's even a thing).

Nice! Have any others? I didn't tell you I was taking any, wondered if you were as impressed with us as I was .

Same thing here took a few during one of the baal runs. Nothing particularly cool though: 1 2 3 4

Really? There's one every year.

Actually, no - there is best thread, no best post.

 

[zaphodbrx]

The Wheel of the gamers mouse turn. Difficulty levels come and pass, leaving guardian threads that become legend. Legend fades to forum archives and even such are long forgotten when the difficulty level that gave rise to one legend comes again. In one thread, called Guardian YoungBull by some, a thread yet to be read, a thread long past, a wind rose in the cold north. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the mouse wheel of the gamer. But it was a beginning.

Southward the wind blew, passing the deserts of Aranoch. The desert was ruled by nomadic clans ruled mostly by hideous old women and wise guys, each more foul-tempered and unpleasant than the other. In the city of Lut Gholein, the smith and former knight Fara was attempting to form a watching order of female knights under the catchy name of Fara Dareis Mai.

North again the undecided wind turned, to a rocky patch of ground where a large man named Perrin woke up and tried to remember what had happened. He had been just about to make it when a bubble of evil of the dark one had reset the world to where he was at the beginning of his quests, just making everything worse. Twice it had happened, now. And where was his fine hammer? It seemed he had had to borrow Callandor, the crystal sword, from Rand al'Thor instead. Twice. It would no doubt cause Rand Grief. Best to keep his Silence about it. And there was something about this bird of some sort. Perrin distinctly remembered that bird being important. Perhaps he should do some bird watching to get his bearings in this new world. Could it be the fabled Wolfbarb dream? But in that case, where was Hopper?

Best post ever +1!

 

[pharphis]

best thread? NO WAY, it's not even a singer.

Congrats, though.

 

[Dagaz]

Very nice!
I must say, Wolfbarb is my dream character and I will make one as soon (or, well, late) I find the elusive helmet.

 

[DaveW]

Sup CDM I recently deeded my 2nd WW Trav runner and after getting drunk remebered your posting here re: Wolfbarb and its uses as a Trav runner. Safe and efficient. Just some qns: do you have to de-shift to hork? What would be a less expensive off hand second weapon other than silence? I could cube up a vex but if there was something cheaper to go with that would be sweet. I have a Tomby. does that do ok in Trav runs? I see your merc is slightly different to the usu: Kira+Guardian Angel. How did he stand up in Travincal? And how do you position merc? Go down to Durance and back up again? How does that work? Thx in advance.