WW barb noob question

[tugg]

WW barb noob question

I am new to the game and have a level 31 dual-wield WW barb. I currently don't have any manaleech eq, and whirl sucks all of my char's mana tank dry in about 2 seconds. I figure that the best way to fix this issue is by improving manaleech, rather than boosting energy. My question is - what level of mana leech do most WW barbs need to keep whirling away, and what low-mid level items are good for that? I plan to add stealskull in a few levels, so that will be a start.... Thanks in advance for your help.
-Tugg

 

[Xalit]

While it doesn't hurt to have plenty of hard % points worth of leech (which can come from a variety of uniques: Manald Heal, Stealskull, etc, or from the weapon itself (or a weapon with a skull socketed into it), etc), there are several other factors to consider.

1. AR. If you don't hit much, you won't leech much. Plenty of rings provide a healthy bonus to AR - though I suspect AR wouldn't be a problem at level 31. Unless you have made fast progress though acts/difficulties.

2. Weapon speed. Generally speaking, fast weapons give you more chances to hit during one whirl. More chances to hit = more hits = more leech. There is information about required weapon speeds linked to in one of the stickied threads (its 'other essential information', or something like that). WW truly shines when you have very quick weapons, even if they aren't quite as damaging as other alternatives.

3. Damage. Simply put, 5% of 100 = 5. 5% of 1000 = 50. The more damage, the more leech.

If you equip a heavy hitting weapon (or two), you will probably find that 5% mana leech should be plenty enough the vast majority of the time - so long as you are hitting regularly. Quite often with my barbs I find it much easier to increase damage, speed and AR than to make room for extra leech %.

 

[Halciet]

It depends on how much damage you do, what your hit% is, what the enemy's leech resistance is, and your general skill with using whirlwind. High damage means it takes fewer hits to refill your ball, meaning you don't need quite as much. Most barbs generally have 7+%, either from BotD or something like a manald heal.

High accuracy and practice using whirlwind will mean you land more hits with it in general, which can make up for low leech and/or damage. I'd try and aim for at least 7% though.

-Hal

edit: beat to it

 

[Oversized_D2player]

While it may be frustrating at the moment, don't be too concerned about your mana in the long run. For now, and you may decide to keep it on anyway, get hold of a manald heal ring with decent leech%. You should be able to get a good one for some Pgems.
Long term... every level you character gains he gets 2 mana anyway and by the time you max out battle orders you will be getting a huge boost from that too.
My $0.02

 

[Hrus]

I would use some other skills before having hard hitting weapon and some mana leach.

U use 2 weapons? I think it is not the good idea. Better to use 1H and shield or 2H because hits alternates between the two weapons. (You do exactly the same number of hits as with 1H/shiled or 2H but 2H gives you more damage / shield gives you more safety)

EDIT : I am not a Whirlwind specialist, so someone correct me if I ma wrong.

 

[Halciet]

Actually, dual wielding with whirlwind nets you 50% more hit opportunities, and is generally considered better than a 2h weapon. A powerful 2h weapon can outweigh this, of course; it just depends on what you have to work with.

-Hal

 

[tugg]

Thanks everyone. I just started trading on the forums, and my eq currently is as follows:

Helm: Junk I bought
Gloves: Gloves I found with 21% MF - poor man's chancies
Body: Angelic
Amulet: Angelic
Rings: Angelic x2 (gives mad AR and 50% MF each due to set bonuses)
Belt: Goldwrap
Boots: Junk I found with a little MF
Weapons: Bloodletters x2 (have some LL and add to sword mastery and whirl, range 1 though - does anyone else use these?)

I would like to find a better bloodletter in the near-term (current ones are 1/2 and 2/4), but I think they're pretty solid damage for my level. I think my damage with charms and everything is about 90 - 210. So based on everyone's replies and my eq, I think that I probably hit hard enough and often enough to be able to whirl, but just having NO manaleech is killing me, and that I just need to save up for a stealskull and then things should get easier. Thanks everyone!
-Tugg
*mljqwerty