Keyrunner Concentrate Barb

[Arkardo]

Keyrunner Concentrate Barb

Hi all,

I have a lvl 84 Concentrator specializing in running the Countess and Nihlathak for keys. I was wondering if you could give me some tips or hints for better gear.

This is what I use now and why I use it or what I'm planning to change it to:

- Doombringer (planning to get either Grandfather or BoTD. Faster kills = more keys :smiley: )
- Pdiamanted Stormshield (just an excellent shield. Maybe I'll replace the Pdiamond with an IAS jewel since I have plenty resists anyway)
- Mage Plate Enigma (for Teleport of course. I put it in a Mage Plate, so I can interchange it with my Summonancer. It's a light plate as well, so no decreased speed)
- Arreat's Face (+4 to Increased Speed. Probably the best Barb helm anyway)
- Laying of Hands (IAS, Fire Resist doesn't hurt, either)
- Nightsmoke (50% DGTM; Teleporting takes a lot of mana and there's plenty of mana burn monsters around as well. Might upgrade this one for an extra row of slots)
- Ravenfrost (getting chilled increases time taken to run. Otherwise an excellent ring anyway)
- A silly resist all +ATR rare ring
- Rare amulet with 6ll, +50 Life, +38 Mana and some other minor mods (+ Mana for Teleport, nice mods anyway. Might get Highlords as replacements)

On switch:

- Spectral Shard (FCR and mana for Teleport. Planning to replace it with Wizardspike, which has basically the same stats, but with 75 prismatic resist)
- Gerke's Sanctuary (11 damage reduction against Tomb Vipers. 29 resist and 75% blocking as well. Sadly no faster blocking)

Using a 10/15 Barb Torch as well, with some + life, + max damage and ATR and some resist charms. I don't plan to get twinkeled here, since it just isn't necessary.

Any suggestions to improve my runs? :grin:

EDIT: I forgot about my Merc. I don't really use him, since he dies so often form Tomb Vipers. I've recently gambled a Tiara with 23 damage reduction. Would that help keeping him alive?

 

[obpjesus]

I don't have any equipment suggestions (I use an IK barb for my keyruns), but a strategic one: leap. You may already be using it, but I find it invaluable for summoner runs especially. Leap over monsters, leap around corners, there you go.

Also, if you memorize the several map patterns in the Halls of Pain, you can get to the third level quite quickly, either by teleporting or running. And, I don't know if this pans out in reality, but I try to keep turning left in the tower. I seem to be able to get downstairs faster that way.

 

[Arkardo]

I knew that, but thanks anyway! :smiley:

I don't run the Summoner, but I will as soon as my runs are getting so quick I get temp banned for it. :azn:

I mainly use Teleport, but I still occasionally use Leap, for example to get to the Countess or Nihlathak to split up the minions, so I can point them easily.

 

[Arkardo]

Oops, don't mean to bump, but I've forgotten to mention my boots: I'm using Goreriders for the Crushing Blow.

 

[-Tempus-]

the barb i use to run Nihl is an old lev 92 made in 1.10 he can run him in 8 player games in the time it takes the others to get down to fight the first or 2nd group of monsters in baal runs. he also uses all old items

Helm: Arreats (ias/ed jewel) or Guillaume (ias)
Plate: Gladiator's Bane (ias/resist poison jewel)
Belt: 1.08 String of ears (8% 15 15) or Tgods
Gloves: Bloodfist or LoH (also have Soul drainers and some nice crafted gloves)
Boots: Gore riders
Amulet: Highlords or a crafted +2barb teleport
Ring1: very old 7/6 resist all ring from pre lod days
Ring2: crafted 11%LL ring or Carrion Wind (or a dwarfstar with 15 MDR)
Shield: SS with -req/ed jewel
Weapon: 400%ed 45%ias magic sword made in 1.10 (605max dmg)
Switch: 2 echoing items

looks like junk to most but he can tank everything down there in full games....
he has low base str but dex to get max block
75% block
-50% phy dmg
100% ias for a good zerk/conc attack speed (main is still ww)
90% fhr
-50% poison duration
35 DR
35 MDR
cant be frozen
his might merc uses a pole that can cast amp

-tempus-

 

[Arkardo]

EDIT: I forgot about my Merc. I don't really use him, since he dies so often form Tomb Vipers. I've recently gambled a Tiara with 23 damage reduction. Would that help keeping him alive?

Does anyone have any idea or suggestions about this?

 

[Anti-Life]

better to give him more leech IMHO. somthing like a vamp gaze or eth CoT o even andies..

but thats just me...23 damge reduction isnt that good wen u loose alot of other mods

 

[sHeNJinGBiNg]

yah i agree tat vamp gaze is good for ur merc with the ll and dr. and i feel tat shaftstop would also be good to add to the dr. for weapon, maybe u can get an "insight" for ur merc as it provides meditation to regenerate ur mana so tat u can change some of ur own gear which u use to provide mana

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

Does anyone have any idea or suggestions about this?

Yeah, it will reduce the bugged damage from Tomb Vipers by around 75%.

I use an IK whirlwinder for my Nihl runs. I namelock Leap Attack Nihl, then switch to Concentrate to whack him dead while tanking all his minions. I then clear up using WW. No fear of CE, because I'm not making any corpses.

I have 3 Sol runes in the IK Helm and Armor. That's 21 PDR. The bugged Viper poison does ~30 damage per frame. 21 PDR, combined with 20% DR on IK set reduces it to around 7-8 damage per frame. In other words, it works out to approximately 75% damage reduction against the bugged poison.

I don't bother with a merc. If he's not dying to the Tomb Vipers, he's getting left behind on the way there and dying. Another thing is he'll be killing Nihl's minions. That is a very bad thing, as it lets Nihl use CE on you and make the runs more risky.

Do a search on Nihl runs. You'll find that there are only 3 different maps for the Halls of Pain (from the wp), and there's a pattern in te Halls of Vaught where Nihlathak is in relation to the Champions (opposite), Evil Urn and the empty path.

 

[soul killer]

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=415467
Scroll down and youll see the floor plans for Halls of Pain and Vaught

 

[Arkardo]

Thank you for the hints, all.

I still haven't decided what to do yet, but I think I will not bother with my Merc.

Instead, I intend to get a Highlords and socket my Stormshield with an IAS jewel. On switch I now have a Wizardspike, so I no longer need Gerke's Sanctuary for resist. Instead of this, I will use a shield socketed with four Sol runes.

So, I use Wizardspike and the Sol'd shield to get to Nihlathak and the Countess. To kill them, I (still) use a Doombringer and a Stormshield (with IAS). I think I'll socket my Arreat's with a Sol, as well.

With this, the "Damage Taken Goes to Mana" becomes a bit pointless, so I'll replace my Nightsmoke with some other belt.

BTW, does anyone know if damage reduction by % is calculated before damage reduction by a fixed amount?

EDIT: what would be a good shield to socket the Sol's in? It appears that a Ward would be the best choice, or isn't it? I've overspent in strength a little, so requirements are no problem.

 

[Arkardo]

I've just reached lvl 85 and I now have a skillpoint left. So far, I've devided them like this:

20 Concentrate
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
20 Sword Mastery
3 Natural Resists
1 Iron Skin
1 Berserk
1 Leap Attack
1 Battle Command
1 Taunt
1 Battle Cry
And some prerequists of course.

Should I continue increasing Natural Resist (that would give +2 all resist)? Or should I put the next points in Iron Skin? Or something else?

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

You could put remaining points into Bash for a little more damage, or Iron Skin. But I'd go with Bash, personally. A Concentrator's biggest woe is his severe lack of damage.

Natural Resist has diminishing returns, so it wont always be +2 resist per point. At higher levels you'll need 2 or 3 points to get just 1 more resist. That's why most ppl say 1 point is enough, with +skills (at least 5 with torch+anni+bc).

 

[Arkardo]

Ah, Bash. How come I didn't think of that? Thank you very much for the tip.

I know the bonus to the resists are not fixed, it's just that another point would give me +2. But I'll go with the Bash idea anyway. :smiley:

 

[Halciet]

Ah, Bash. How come I didn't think of that? Thank you very much for the tip.

I know the bonus to the resists are not fixed, it's just that another point would give me +2. But I'll go with the Bash idea anyway. :smiley:

I would suggest AGAINST going with Bash, as even with 20 points, it requires a ridiculously nice weapon and charm set-up to get even seven hundred extra damage out of it.

Bash looks so much better on paper

-Hal

 

[sHeNJinGBiNg]

ermmm i tink he meant bash as a synergy to increase dmg of concentrate, not as a main skill. or did u mean tat it's better to put the point in berserk to add magic dmg?

 

[Arkardo]

Well, since I almost only do keyruns with this Barb, I rarely need to deal with PI's, so more points in Berserk are unnecessary, in my opinion.

BTW, considering the bugged Vipers, an Ironpel would be a better armor for my Merc than Shaftstop, right?

 

[Arkardo]

Would there be interest in a guide for keyrunning with a Concentrate Barbarian? I've already started on one, but I'd figured that there might not be enough interest for it to make it worthwhile to finish it.

Btw, where can I find the attack speed and cast rate breakpoints for Barbarians?

 

[jakotaco]

Would there be interest in a guide for keyrunning with a Concentrate Barbarian? I've already started on one, but I'd figured that there might not be enough interest for it to make it worthwhile to finish it.

Btw, where can I find the attack speed and cast rate breakpoints for Barbarians?

for fcr see the strategy compendium, links in the statistics FAQ if you need.
For attack speed breakpoints you can try the so called german calculator. http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english :flowers: