Interested in a party support barb (Bard)!
I have recently been interested in passive/support class builds whose main objective is to boost party effectiveness in any way possible rather than doing damage. I've already done a cleric pally and most of the other classes' support skills are purely self-beneficial so I was wondering if there are any guides to an all party support barb.
I've not really played a barb thoroughly but have begun a Singer so was able to play around with the skills. This type of build would seem like a great departure from the usual WW and Frenzy barbs you see all the time. I guess my take on this would go something like this:
20 - Taunt
20 - Shout
20 - Battle Orders
20 - Battle Cry
20 - Grim Ward
1 - Howl
1 - Find Potion
1 - Increased Speed
1 - Leap
1 - Find Item
1 - War Cry
1 - Battle Command
Strength - As much as needed for desired armor.
Dexterity - None, you won't be doing any damage.
Vitality - Everything!
Energy - None, you will have plenty of mana from equips later on.
Mostly this build is crowd control with group support skills. Increased Speed and Leap are the only self-beneficial skills and are used mainly to quickly get to enemies that need 'tweeking' or as a way to escape enemy crowds. At first, howl and find potion will rightly help in the beginning but will lose thier usefulness later as they are replaced with Find Item and Grim Ward.
At lvl 30, your routines should be to keep Battle Command active first of all, then Shout and BO as needed Cast Taunt on long-ranged, revivers, and fallen to stop their attacks and keep them in melee range. Find Potion/Find Item to keep a healthy supply of pots for all, Battle Cry as many melee enemies as possible. Howl/Grim Ward in case of overly large crowds of enemies swarming your party. War Cry to stun some of the tougher melee enemies.
Basically you'll be plenty busy keeping tabs on which auras are active, how to control the enemy situation, and pumping items out of bodies.
Any comments on this type of support build?
I have recently been interested in passive/support class builds whose main objective is to boost party effectiveness in any way possible rather than doing damage. I've already done a cleric pally and most of the other classes' support skills are purely self-beneficial so I was wondering if there are any guides to an all party support barb.
I've not really played a barb thoroughly but have begun a Singer so was able to play around with the skills. This type of build would seem like a great departure from the usual WW and Frenzy barbs you see all the time. I guess my take on this would go something like this:
20 - Taunt
20 - Shout
20 - Battle Orders
20 - Battle Cry
20 - Grim Ward
1 - Howl
1 - Find Potion
1 - Increased Speed
1 - Leap
1 - Find Item
1 - War Cry
1 - Battle Command
Strength - As much as needed for desired armor.
Dexterity - None, you won't be doing any damage.
Vitality - Everything!
Energy - None, you will have plenty of mana from equips later on.
Mostly this build is crowd control with group support skills. Increased Speed and Leap are the only self-beneficial skills and are used mainly to quickly get to enemies that need 'tweeking' or as a way to escape enemy crowds. At first, howl and find potion will rightly help in the beginning but will lose thier usefulness later as they are replaced with Find Item and Grim Ward.
At lvl 30, your routines should be to keep Battle Command active first of all, then Shout and BO as needed Cast Taunt on long-ranged, revivers, and fallen to stop their attacks and keep them in melee range. Find Potion/Find Item to keep a healthy supply of pots for all, Battle Cry as many melee enemies as possible. Howl/Grim Ward in case of overly large crowds of enemies swarming your party. War Cry to stun some of the tougher melee enemies.
Basically you'll be plenty busy keeping tabs on which auras are active, how to control the enemy situation, and pumping items out of bodies.
Any comments on this type of support build?