PVP / PK barb SETUP ?

[zigo]

PVP / PK barb SETUP ?

hi there .. ive just got back into D2:LOD and alot has changed ..

i was going to make a good old PK barb. Ive been looking around at what people are saying to do in skills,stats and equiptment, and i cant push myself the understand any of it..

im reading alot of CONC barbs and no WW. ? what happened to whirlwind barbs.. and what makes a CONC barb better for PK. Also that arretts over-rules vamp gaze as a helm . ?

please tell me if this is a good setup for barb.

-vamp gaze - 40/15 max
or arretts with ber rune .
-enigma (archon)
-400% ed BOTD
-chaos noose
-string of ears
-storm shield - umm rune
-gore riders
-steelrend
-raven frost, carrion

please give a good feedback .. i wont to make a VERY good PK barb.. and if you could please explain why CONC is now the better style barb ?

thank your very much.

 

[Halciet]

It's not that it's better, it's just that it's now actually viable. Conc got that great BO damage synergy, while whirlwind got absolutely none. Similarly, monster HP was upped and leech was lowered, so it became a bit harder to keep whirlwind supplied with mana; the build became much more gear intensive than before. As such, conc rose in popularity.

Whirlwind is still a great skill, it just takes a lot better equipment to get it to work effectively. Similarly, if you want to do cross-class pvp to any great success, whirl is about your only choice, since Conc barbs do not fare as well as pvp/pk characters. I'm not sure where you heard that.

As for your gear, there are a few items that need to be replaced. Amulet needs to be highlord's, and you should ditch the vamp gaze; ed/max or ed/min jewels in armor, helms, and shields are bugged so they don't apply the appropriate bonuses, and arreat's is just the superior helm overall. Likewise dracul's make much better gloves if you plan to pvp/pk thanks to the ton of open wounds on them and the lifetap. String is still a fine belt, though many people use Verdungo's now.

-Hal

 

[zigo]

quote "Similarly, if you want to do cross-class pvp to any great success, whirl is about your only choice, since Conc barbs do not fare as well as pvp/pk characters."

im making a 100% PK char.. so by that you mean go full WW right .. or do a bit of both .. if so whats CONC built for is PVP/PK is the main thing on D2, why is it the mroe preferd build over max WW ? ..

and as for the armours .. i was thinking arretts (ber rune) to make up for the DR you get with a vamp.

ss ill still go UMM RUNE unless you have a better idea.. please fill me in.

your advice is helping alot. thanks

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Against Melee:

Helm: Eth'd Zod or Up'd 40/9 Arreat's
Armor: Eth'd Zod Arkaine's or 40/9 Eth'd Carapace
Weapon: Eth'd BotD BA or Fury BA
Shield: 40/9 Stormshield
Belts: Verdungo's
Gloves: Dracul's
Boots: Up'd Gores
Amulet: Angelic's
Ring: Angelic's
Ring: Angelic's
Charms: Annihilis, 39x max/ar/life small charms

Against Caster:

Helm: 40/9 Arreat's or 2x 40/9 CoA
Armor: Enigma
Weapon: Eth'd BotD BA
Weapon 2: Beast or Eth'd BotD BA or Shael'd Wizardspike
Belts: Arachnid's
Gloves: Trang's
Boots: Gores
Ring: Ravenfrost
Ring: Ravenfrost or Bul Katho's
Amulet: Highlord's or Mara's
Charms: Annihilis, 30x max/ar/life small charms and 9x 20/5 small charms

 

[zigo]

barb using a BATTLE AXE .. wtf

please explain

and whats with rings and ammy ?

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

BA = Berserker Axe, best weapon for a WW Barb.

Angelic's give mass AR, over 2000 at high levels. You will absolutely need AR to hit anything in with decent defense in melee duels. Example, my WW without Angelics; 15K AR, with them; 30K.

Ravenfrost has good AR and saves you some stat points in Dex, therefore increasing your life if you chose to go that route. Bul Katho's gives skills and life, Highlord's gives skills and rougly 33% DS and Mara's for it's skills, stats and resistances.

 

[zigo]

ill have to get a bit more feed back on BA or Sword .. until i make my decision.
but you make a point

including those rings .. as i wont melle before caster PK ..

what are base STR. and DEX .. what should i get them to before pumping all of it into VITALITY . as that is the only other thing i know.

str base -
dex base -

and anything else u can add would be ****ing OWNZOR

AND what is a 40/9 ?

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Collususs Blade and Berserker Axe are the two most popular BotDs around and are both range 3, CB looks a lot better but has less damage.

Base strength: 30
Base dexterity: 20

Using an Enigma under 50 Strength, you will not need to pump anything in Strength nor Dexterity and you'll have the freedom to just pump Vitality.

If you are going caster like you said, consider a 2 handed weapon as well.

A 40/9 is a jewel with 40% Enhanced Damage/+9 to Strenght (improves damage) or +9 to Dexterity (improves Block and AR)

 

[zigo]

melee before caster .. as in i wont to have perfect melee first ..

when i say base i didnt mean what u start with .. sorry i should of explained ..

what should i pump STR and DEX to .. as in

str-15
dex-170

as examples .. how much stat points should i put on them before i stop, and let the armours do the rest . ?

and what armour is the carapace. ? im looking every where for it but cant find it .. and i thought the enigma archon would always overrule armours u didnt even mention it for melee . valor ? still ? explain

[email protected] u can add me if u wont .. it would be alot easier.

thanks

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

In melee, defense > everything else. If you cannot get hit, you will not lose. Archon Enigma has 1.2K def., Eth'd Valor has 2.2K with plus to skills and Vitality and Eth'd Carapace (it's a unique Shadow Plate) has 2.5K and an extra socket since it has a repair mod.

Enigma is NO GOOD for serious melee.

What you pump is up to you, depending on what type of equipment you want to wear. My WW has a base of about 110 or so str. with 130 or so dex. Use the Blocking formula to calculate how much dex. you'll need for max block. I can't remember it off by heart but if you look on battle.net, you'll find it.

Edit: 700 posts. :buddies:

 

[zigo]

how much do these eth valors sell for .. and are they hard to get .. getting a ZOD rune is easy ??

and how much are the zoded .?

because there is no DR in armour .. the high DEF makes up for it ? yes

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

In USEast Non Ladder, Zod goes for around 4 SoJs.

Archon Enigma = 2-3 Zods
Eth'd Carapace = 7-15 Zods
Eth'd Valor = 7-15 Zods

Yes, there are expensive but again if you really want to be the best there are even better items out there for WW Barbarians which will cost you a hundred times more. (I'm not even kidding, I've seen 'Glitched' Arreat's and 'Glitched' Valors go for over 150 Zods, they are what the top WW Barbs use.)

No, the high defense does not make up for it. Stormshield = 35%, Verdungo's = 15%. 50% is the max you can have.

 

[zigo]

thanks .. i got everything pretty low down now ..

is this correct ..

20-ww
20-bo
20-shout
1-natural res
1-iron skin

????

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

20 Axe or Sword Mastery (Whichever weapon you want to use)
20 Battle Orders
20 Shout
20 Iron Skin
20 Whirlwind
1 Battle Commands.
1 Natural Resists (optional)
1 in pre-reqs.

Should be done at around level 95 or so.

 

[zigo]

thanks man .. youve been a GREAT help ..

[email protected] .. i would like to talk to u more ..

xzigox is my d2 account also .. thank you very much .

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Glad to help out.

I know nothing about Barbs compare to what some other people here that actually play decent Barbs; (ex. Halciet, rikstaker, Garbad_the_Weak, ReVolution, dumbpig and a whole lot more) so if you need to have some seriously talk about Barbs and whatnot, those are the people to talk to. However, you can PM me with whatever questions you need and I'll do my best to help you out.

 

[Mehatesmaphack]

in 1.10 casters have become dominant. So, if i were you i'd focus on barb vs casters. melee vs melee is rather dull. also you might wanna use fcr rings with good mods for anti caster. thegreatdivorce is right about berzerker axe being better than cb. You can hit the last ww break point with botd berzerker axe but not cb and it does more damage. The only thing good about the cb is it looks better.

 

[rikstaker]

You can hit the last ww break point with botd berzerker axe but not cb.

Sigh..

Rik :strong:

 

[Halciet]

Yes, the CB hits the last whirlwind breakpoint. However, as EVERYONE here knows, I'm am the posterboy for axes, and I fully support the berserker axe as the best 1h weapon in the game; there's no denying a solid fact. Thus, since there's no instance in pvp where you won't be using a 1h weapon (weapon/shield in melee, weapon/weapon in caster), there's no better weapon for you than the berserker axe.

To post what I normally say, since our search function is MIA:

-Berserker axes have the best 1h damage/speed ratio of all weapons; the base speed of 0 makes them much more effective for "normal" swing attacks like Conc, Bash, Stun, and Berserk.

-Berserker axes have lower requirements than CBs, saving you stat points.

-Berserker axes hit the max 1h weapon/sword range at 3

-Berserker axes can get 6 sockets and can be used in ALL of the good runewords (BotD, Beast, Cresent Moon, Doom, etc).

-Axes are the only weapon that can be used in the blood recipe

-Axes have what can be considered the best 1h unique weapon in Death Cleaver. Similarly, they have other great uniques like Butcher's Pupil, Razor's Edge, and Rune Master.

Stat, skill, and equipment wise, Divorce's advice is perfect. For stats, you get str to use your heaviest item (which will probably be in the 81+ range, depending on your annihilus), dex for max block with items (which will be 112-152+, depending on if you want to have max block without ravenfrosts and what kind of annihilus you have), and everything else into vitality.

I also wanted to point out that an ethereal Duress armor can be godly in pvp.

-Hal