I have decided to begin leveling my Barb's paragon after the mob density buffs. I went for the 5 piece IK bonus as I believed it would contribute to generating enough fury for WW and what not, but after playing I've realized fury gen hasn't been an issue. I've been considering replacing some pieces with crafted ones.
Any suggestions where I should go with my gear set? Should I only stick with the 2 piece IK? Nat's 2 piece maybe? Here is my profile link:
2 and 3-piece IK is pretty standard. Almost nobody goes to 5 anymore because the set is way too defensive, plus Into the Fray typically makes the fury bonus irrelevant. Since this keeps coming up, I might as well write a general guide.......Done Here's what I'd generally recommend with each item in order by what I consider best to worst:
Helm: high-crit Mempo, IK helm (my recommendation), Andariel's Visage -- Good crit Mempos are way out of most people's price ranges and other Mempos aren't worth it imho. We don't usually need all that much attack speed and it's usually not worth optimizing for it until you are close to perfect on other stats.
Chest: IK or Tyreal's Might -- Usually IK. Tyreal's Might frees up a slot from needing movement speed, but it's a more expensive build overall. Crafted chests might deserve to be on the list as well, but I haven't put in the research to know for sure.
Shoulders: Crafted of Vit, Crafted of Strength (my recommendation) -- Of Vit has a higher max roll, but until the rest of your crafted slots are near perfect, you're better off with Strength.
Gloves: IK -- generally with crit damage, possibly with attack speed if you are exactly 8-9 IAS short of a certain (high) tornado breakpoint and can't get it elsewhere for some reason.
Bracers: Crafted of Strength, Lacuni's -- Usually crafted with crit chance and all resist. Lacuni's are available if you need the run speed but are not the recommended way to get it.
Belt: Witching hour, IK -- Usually WH, IK generally only if you can't get enough lifesteal or the 2-set IK bonus somewhere else for some reason, or if your build needs one of the barb skill bonuses.
Pants: Inna's, rare / Depth Diggers with very high strength and vit, all resist and 2 sockets -- Almost always Inna's, usually with vit, possibly with strength. The exception is if you are running Tyreal's Might, but that's a much more expensive setup.
Boots: Natalya's (with ring), Zunimassa's, Ice Climbers -- Almost never Ice Climbers, but you could go that way if you are getting 24% movement speed elsewhere or want to pay through the nose for a good pair with movement speed.
Rings: Natalya's (with boots), other rare / unique, cold damage SoJ -- Stat priority is roughly crit chance > crit damage / min-max damage > attack speed > all resist > strength / vit. Life on hit is useful if your DPS is below 100k and you aren't using WW, but otherwise it's generally best to rely on lifesteal from other sources.If you already have extremely high crit chance and crit damage from other sources or need the slow from the cold damage (and possibly the fury / stat bonus though not necessarily), SoJ is incredibly strong against elites though less strong against trash.
Amulet: Crafted of Strength -- Stat priority is roughly crit damage > crit chance > min-max damage > attack speed > all resist > vit. LoH is useful if your DPS is below 100k and you aren't using WW, but otherwise it's generally best to rely on lifesteal from other sources.
Weapons: varies by build -- Skorn, echoing fury, rare maces and three-hundredth spear top the list. Generally you want lifesteal, a socket and/or crit damage with other things being bonuses.
The following are more or less bare minimums for high MP farming:
400+ all resist
40k+ health
5000+ armor
10%+ melee damage reduction
5%+ lifesteal (you can get by on 3% most of the time, but sometimes that extra 2% helps a lot at higher MP)
24% movement speed (no more since it caps at 25%, possibly less though I think it's worthwhile to get 24%)
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...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
tanis0 if you play on American server could you add me Heaven#2189 I could use some help with gearing thank you!
I don't have much play time lately so I can't really commit to helping people in game. Feel free to ask any questions you have though or start your own thread for more focused advice. I checked your profile, but it doesn't look like your barb is 60 yet so there's not much I could recommend beyond what I've already posted here and in other threads in this forum.
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...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
With the above list of gear that you have outlined in mind, would you have any suggestions for what I should go after first/next? I'm currently doing ok in MP7, but would like to move up to MP10 with a WW build, but I find myself lacking. I know I need to boost my health, but I seem to be stuck with being unable to decide where to pick up more health.
Thanks for all the great advice Cantor. With your help and a lot of play testing I managed to come up with my current set which is a huge a improvement over my last. What I'm considering is getting the 2 piece Nat's at this point as it gives 7% crit, and dropping my Lacuni's for crafted bracers.
Hey all. I've been busy lately and didn't notice this thread got more responses. Also FYI, Cantor is a tile based on post count rather than a name, but it's a common mistake. Also, for the below, make sure you are using a calculator to test this stuff and not just relying on advice as I just don't have time to individually test pieces of gear for everyone. Check out d3rawr.com/d or d3up.com
With the above list of gear that you have outlined in mind, would you have any suggestions for what I should go after first/next? I'm currently doing ok in MP7, but would like to move up to MP10 with a WW build, but I find myself lacking. I know I need to boost my health, but I seem to be stuck with being unable to decide where to pick up more health.
Thank you very much for any possible help and your time in reading this.
I see you got help already for the health, but I notice your crit chance is a bit low. I'd pick up an IK helm to boost it if it were me which also provides more melee reduction. I'd probably also swap either the pants or boots to pick up the extra run speed, and eventually both when you can craft some bracers and swap out the Lacunis.
I have 200 mil to spend to improve my barb, can survive in mp10 but don't have the dps to farm it effectively, any tips on upgrades, currently I farm mp5.
As above, I'd swap the mempo for IK to pick up the crit and melee reduction. This would also let you drop the IK belt for WH if you can get the lifesteal on your weapons or passive. You're a bit of a budget build though, so you might consider swapping some pieces around. If you are running Tyreal's Might, you have the choice to make about whether to grab run speed from boots or pants. Nat's is a great way to go and probably my preference and this means high-stat defensive pants, but this is a more expensive option than IK chest / inna's pants for similar benefit.
Also, your IAS doesn't make much sense unless it's for the axe. For the mace, iirc the breakpoints for a +.23 EF are at 17ish and 35ish IAS and you have 27%. If it makes sense for the axe, more power to you, but it may be worth looking into if you are going to value IAS for a WW build.
Thanks for all the great advice Cantor. With your help and a lot of play testing I managed to come up with my current set which is a huge a improvement over my last. What I'm considering is getting the 2 piece Nat's at this point as it gives 7% crit, and dropping my Lacuni's for crafted bracers.
Thanks again for all the suggestions; I'm open to any more.
free0rda
I see you already went with the Nat's, and that was probably a good choice. As you get the cash, it's probably worth trying to pick up crit or min-max damage on the ring, but you may want to compare that in a calculator before laying out the cash.
BTW, it looks like the gear is definitely coming together for you. I might try to pick up an IK helm with resist all if you can afford it and if you feel your defense could be better. If you need a bit more health, you can swap some of the gems.
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...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
Cheers for the help, tbh the gear I have is just made of bits and bobs that I bought without knowing much about the class, just watching budget videos, or bits that dropped naturally for me, like both of my rings.
With the drop in rmah gold im going to be buying 200 mils worth, so am happy to switch things around wherever seems best. I bought the mempo and as gloves because I'd seen a video saying to aim for 2.5 aps for a ww barb, not sure if this is ideal for my budget range, otherwise i'd have bought an ik helm.
Ideally I was thinking of going with an IK chest, as that seems to work out cheaper overall as well as providing much more defence.
Regarding IAS and WW builds with EF: You can't rely on sheet DPS regarding IAS because RltW tornadoes have breakpoints which the sheet DPS does not account for. So basically, you have three reasonable options imho, though the first and third are the best in my opinion.
First, you can ignore IAS altogether (you still may get some from places like Inna's) and focus on other sources of damage, which specifically is crit chance > crit damage > min-max damage > strength. In my opinion, this is the way to go for budget builds if you don't want to do much research as it gives high DPS for less effort.
The second option is to focus on IAS to hit a specific breakpoint, but this requires research to know where they are and it must be calculated separately for each hand, though you can short-cut it if you use a non-IAS mace and a non-IAS EF together since this way the attacks per second on your character sheet (while TOC is up) is correct for both weapons. The general stat allocation in this school of thought is something like crit chance > IAS / crit damage > min-max damage > strength while making sure to hit the IAS tornado breakpoint you want for each hand. In general, this will mean a lower overall damage output, but more procs of ItF for slightly smoother runs. I personally don't think this is the best way to go.
The third option is the middle ground and the best option imho. In this case, you basically go for option 1 while still paying attention to IAS. In other words, you might pick one (probably not more) item with IAS rather than another with something like crit damage because you've done the research to know it will get you to the next breakpoint. At low gear levels, this probably puts you between 16-18 IAS assuming mace + EF, and how much you need for the breakpoint depends on how high your EF bonus is. At high gear levels, you start doing things like buying +5% crit chance mempos which probably gets you to the 33-36ish IAS breakpoint depending on EF bonus. Going for more than that is probably not worth it as the next breakpoint requires too much sacrifice imho.
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FYI, for anyone looking for a barb set on a small budget, Epheria's list is a good way to go, though I wouldn't avoid elites even if you have to turn down the MP a bit since the essences can help budget builds a lot. As you improve gear or if you have more cash / essences up front, you can replace the pants with Inna's and the bracers with crafted of strength, and/or the chest for IK, the gloves for crit damage IK and the belt with WH (though this requires you get the lifesteal from Skorn or the Bloodthirst passive). Both of these swaps allow you to maintain the same IAS through Inna's in the first case and WH in the second. Also, I'd suggest spending the least money you can reasonably get away with on shoulders, amulet and bracers as they are all strong candidates for barbs to craft once you get some essences.
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...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
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I have decided to begin leveling my Barb's paragon after the mob density buffs. I went for the 5 piece IK bonus as I believed it would contribute to generating enough fury for WW and what not, but after playing I've realized fury gen hasn't been an issue. I've been considering replacing some pieces with crafted ones.
Any suggestions where I should go with my gear set? Should I only stick with the 2 piece IK? Nat's 2 piece maybe? Here is my profile link:
http://us.battle.net...88/hero/4334119
Thanks in advance,
free0rda
I don't have much play time lately so I can't really commit to helping people in game. Feel free to ask any questions you have though or start your own thread for more focused advice. I checked your profile, but it doesn't look like your barb is 60 yet so there's not much I could recommend beyond what I've already posted here and in other threads in this forum.
With the above list of gear that you have outlined in mind, would you have any suggestions for what I should go after first/next? I'm currently doing ok in MP7, but would like to move up to MP10 with a WW build, but I find myself lacking. I know I need to boost my health, but I seem to be stuck with being unable to decide where to pick up more health.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Swordsman-1159/hero/589466
Thank you very much for any possible help and your time in reading this.
Wow. Thank you. I can't believe I've forgotten to do that for 2 days now. It came with the exp gem. Thank you good sir.
Here's my Barb now :
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/confon-1788/hero/4334119
Thanks again for all the suggestions; I'm open to any more.
free0rda
I see you got help already for the health, but I notice your crit chance is a bit low. I'd pick up an IK helm to boost it if it were me which also provides more melee reduction. I'd probably also swap either the pants or boots to pick up the extra run speed, and eventually both when you can craft some bracers and swap out the Lacunis.
As above, I'd swap the mempo for IK to pick up the crit and melee reduction. This would also let you drop the IK belt for WH if you can get the lifesteal on your weapons or passive. You're a bit of a budget build though, so you might consider swapping some pieces around. If you are running Tyreal's Might, you have the choice to make about whether to grab run speed from boots or pants. Nat's is a great way to go and probably my preference and this means high-stat defensive pants, but this is a more expensive option than IK chest / inna's pants for similar benefit.
Also, your IAS doesn't make much sense unless it's for the axe. For the mace, iirc the breakpoints for a +.23 EF are at 17ish and 35ish IAS and you have 27%. If it makes sense for the axe, more power to you, but it may be worth looking into if you are going to value IAS for a WW build.
I see you already went with the Nat's, and that was probably a good choice. As you get the cash, it's probably worth trying to pick up crit or min-max damage on the ring, but you may want to compare that in a calculator before laying out the cash.
BTW, it looks like the gear is definitely coming together for you. I might try to pick up an IK helm with resist all if you can afford it and if you feel your defense could be better. If you need a bit more health, you can swap some of the gems.
Regarding IAS and WW builds with EF: You can't rely on sheet DPS regarding IAS because RltW tornadoes have breakpoints which the sheet DPS does not account for. So basically, you have three reasonable options imho, though the first and third are the best in my opinion.
First, you can ignore IAS altogether (you still may get some from places like Inna's) and focus on other sources of damage, which specifically is crit chance > crit damage > min-max damage > strength. In my opinion, this is the way to go for budget builds if you don't want to do much research as it gives high DPS for less effort.
The second option is to focus on IAS to hit a specific breakpoint, but this requires research to know where they are and it must be calculated separately for each hand, though you can short-cut it if you use a non-IAS mace and a non-IAS EF together since this way the attacks per second on your character sheet (while TOC is up) is correct for both weapons. The general stat allocation in this school of thought is something like crit chance > IAS / crit damage > min-max damage > strength while making sure to hit the IAS tornado breakpoint you want for each hand. In general, this will mean a lower overall damage output, but more procs of ItF for slightly smoother runs. I personally don't think this is the best way to go.
The third option is the middle ground and the best option imho. In this case, you basically go for option 1 while still paying attention to IAS. In other words, you might pick one (probably not more) item with IAS rather than another with something like crit damage because you've done the research to know it will get you to the next breakpoint. At low gear levels, this probably puts you between 16-18 IAS assuming mace + EF, and how much you need for the breakpoint depends on how high your EF bonus is. At high gear levels, you start doing things like buying +5% crit chance mempos which probably gets you to the 33-36ish IAS breakpoint depending on EF bonus. Going for more than that is probably not worth it as the next breakpoint requires too much sacrifice imho.
-------------
FYI, for anyone looking for a barb set on a small budget, Epheria's list is a good way to go, though I wouldn't avoid elites even if you have to turn down the MP a bit since the essences can help budget builds a lot. As you improve gear or if you have more cash / essences up front, you can replace the pants with Inna's and the bracers with crafted of strength, and/or the chest for IK, the gloves for crit damage IK and the belt with WH (though this requires you get the lifesteal from Skorn or the Bloodthirst passive). Both of these swaps allow you to maintain the same IAS through Inna's in the first case and WH in the second. Also, I'd suggest spending the least money you can reasonably get away with on shoulders, amulet and bracers as they are all strong candidates for barbs to craft once you get some essences.