so all of these other topics are great and all, but after getting up to act3 NM I have come to realize that the difficulties change the gameplay immensely.
In normal it was very easy to do the basic leap, ww, kill everything with a 2h.
Now in nightmare I've had to change my spec around to a more defensive build and use a shield for partying... BUT I couldn't come close to soloing balail at lvl 40 with sword and board, but put on a 2h and I kicked his ass...
anyways, post your success and insights for NIGHTMARE PVE here!!!!!
Last part of act 4 NM, level 50. Using a sword and shield, frenzy with the throwing axes rune. Leap, Stomp, war cry and call of the ancients. Owning. Some champions will simply KILL you.
Hey, Just got to nightmare, not sure how defensive I actually will have to get, but im trying to strike a good balance and just go at packs with a little caution. One thing I was having a hard time deciding on was whether to use HotA or Rend, but I figured I already had a couple AOE (cleave/Revenge) and would need something to deal with elite packs and champions.
This is my current build for Nightmare, as taken from another build site. This is a work of art. Whirlwind I personally find lackluster and should be shelved in favor of single target DPS after normal mode is complete. This build can optionally flop out Inspiring Presence for Blood Thirst as a passive if you need to. You probably should as you get to higher difficulties or mid-NM. Maniac is to be taken at the level it's available, and same with Insanity on WoTB.
Honestly, this build has worked so well for me I've got other people using and loving it. It does lack mobility but you don't need that as Hammer is your CC for big pulls. WoTB demolishes packs when you have a full Fury gauge and Hammer. Ideally you want to use Hammers or Axes with this build. Keep both shouts up 100% of the time. Dual Wield I'm finding works well, but I've heard a few friends liking it with a 2H axe or mace.
The basic premise is that you crit so much, and are self-buffed so hard you obliterate anything in your path. It has tight control, and doesn't need a shield to stay alive. It has not been Inferno tested, but who knows it might fly with a shield there just fine. It has all the single target DPS needed for hard bosses too.
Note: A gentleman named TheHaven invented this build, and it is called Maniac Frenzy. I take 0 credit, and only hope to see it proliferate.
It's been very successful for me thus far. I have swapped Frenzy with Bash/Clobber on occasion though. I DW, but I feel like I will have to go sword and board soon. I'm on Act 2 Nightmare. D:
No Fury build up to begin with. If you want to go hammer, better go with some fury-builder as opener. I would recommend Furious Charge with Stamina, perfect 1st skill to use. Just Charge into pack, use rage and hammer it to the end of Fury.
Also if u go 2h, change rune on hammer for the Thunderstrike. With charge and hammer spam creeps wont even move to attack you.
You drasticly lack hp regen here, go revenge but with Vengeance is Mine. This will help u ALOT many times.
To do ALOT and fast damage, change USELESS inspiration for godlike Brawler.
im lvl 44, near 45. When i hit it i will tell u how much dmg i can do with brawler. Without it, it's about 6k hits with hammer (crits) 4k opens with Charge and about 5-6 with revenge. Double the amount on wrath. 25% crit chance is enough. But i prefer WW with Wind Shear. Get some life steal on weapon and just WW till the end of times.
Realy, that build is fine. Fine untill they hit you. Make those changes and just dont let them attack you
Second thought, you could open with Charge, change Battle Rage for STOMP with wrenching, so Charge, hammer hammer, stomp, hammer. Should be like this. Doubt any1 can survive this with good 130dps 2h on nightmare
EDIT: with brawler i do about 900 to 1,3k WW crits, 5-7k revenge crits. Doubles on Wraith. 1,7k dps without brawler
Here is the finished level 60 of the build. The invigorate from war cry and the blood thirst should be more than enough for healing ultimately. I can see why the Revenge swap would increase healing, but it is a DPS loss for sure. The comment about missing a Fury generator - I don't think I really see your point there. Frenzy is a great generator if you're using 1H weapons. I can see it being slower with 2H weapons for sure though. It might even suck, but I go from what friends have said. Brawler I 100% agree with you there, I just don't have access to it yet st the time of posting. Same with Maniac and such.
After watching Inferno mode done by Method I can say without a doubt WW is going to have to go out the window. I am almost certain we will all be tanking in Inferno mode. I can see it now after watching. This being said, this build might not last for Inferno mode at all. Method killed Act 2 with a tanking build for the Barb in the group. It's pretty much just like an MMO on that mode. Everyone MUST play a role.
I'm 60 now, late Act 3 Hell. Can't use WW at all, the only thing that works well in group play is Seismic Slam with Strength from the Earth. I've also now started using Frenzy with Maniac instead of Cleave because you really need single target damage. Starting from Act 2 in Hell you just get two shot by everything, defensive passives or not. Luckily I have a monk in my group that tanks or it would be utterly impossible to play without going fully defensive with gear, gems, skills and passives.
All in all I don't really know what to think of Barb.
I can't even use WW in Nightmare. Even with a ground stomp into a WW, I'm getting slaughtered moments after. Even with blood funnel and revenge's vengeance is mine, it's still not enough to be efficient. I'm preferring seismic slam as well for dmg, but also for peels. I'll definitely use strength from earth as soon as I hit 48.
The build is terrible, how the hell do you even manage?
You use Ground Stomp with Wrenching Smash, yet you knock them back with Revenge, instead of using Revenge with Vengeance is Mine?!?
Why use Relentless as passiveif you're already trying to heal & stack armor, beating the point of going below that 20% HP?!
Here's my ACT 1 normal build, considering 2 x Mighty Weapons equipped, level 37 and 721 DPS with the Battle Rage on.
Leap in, ground stomp, walk back and seismic slam them, run back in and bash some, revenge and pick the rest off with whatever is available. Works perfectly.
Relentless, eh, it's good for kiting with siesmic slam in bad situations. I switch between relentless and a few others, but I meant to have ruthless in this build.
This build is not terrible at all. It actually works extremely well against elites, rares and champions.
Using WW just gets you killed fast against them.
I don't expect you to try it, although it's very good, but it works perfect for me and I never die. It's both an offensive and defensive build. I've tried all these on here, but most are terrible boring.
I fixed my build by changing out bash with frenzy, and it's so much easier now. I use Frenzy with the blade rune, Seismic Slam with the increased dmg and knockback on my mouse buttons. Leap with iron impact, Revenge with the increased heal, ground stomp, and war cry with the increased health and regen.
I was getting trucked before using WW, but now I'm able to stay in the fights with minimal kiting.
I am stacking str and vit, and using a pretty decent rare 2h. Some of the rare items I'm equipping now have resists on it too, so it's been helping against the random affixes.
In normal it was very easy to do the basic leap, ww, kill everything with a 2h.
Now in nightmare I've had to change my spec around to a more defensive build and use a shield for partying... BUT I couldn't come close to soloing balail at lvl 40 with sword and board, but put on a 2h and I kicked his ass...
anyways, post your success and insights for NIGHTMARE PVE here!!!!!
Act 2 now, switched to DW
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#bZXVYP!ZVY!ZZaaba
I guess in the end it will either work or won't, let me know what you guys think.
This is my current build for Nightmare, as taken from another build site. This is a work of art. Whirlwind I personally find lackluster and should be shelved in favor of single target DPS after normal mode is complete. This build can optionally flop out Inspiring Presence for Blood Thirst as a passive if you need to. You probably should as you get to higher difficulties or mid-NM. Maniac is to be taken at the level it's available, and same with Insanity on WoTB.
Honestly, this build has worked so well for me I've got other people using and loving it. It does lack mobility but you don't need that as Hammer is your CC for big pulls. WoTB demolishes packs when you have a full Fury gauge and Hammer. Ideally you want to use Hammers or Axes with this build. Keep both shouts up 100% of the time. Dual Wield I'm finding works well, but I've heard a few friends liking it with a 2H axe or mace.
The basic premise is that you crit so much, and are self-buffed so hard you obliterate anything in your path. It has tight control, and doesn't need a shield to stay alive. It has not been Inferno tested, but who knows it might fly with a shield there just fine. It has all the single target DPS needed for hard bosses too.
Note: A gentleman named TheHaven invented this build, and it is called Maniac Frenzy. I take 0 credit, and only hope to see it proliferate.
It's been very successful for me thus far. I have swapped Frenzy with Bash/Clobber on occasion though. I DW, but I feel like I will have to go sword and board soon. I'm on Act 2 Nightmare. D:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WZVikP!gYd!caZabZ
Here is the finished level 60 of the build. The invigorate from war cry and the blood thirst should be more than enough for healing ultimately. I can see why the Revenge swap would increase healing, but it is a DPS loss for sure. The comment about missing a Fury generator - I don't think I really see your point there. Frenzy is a great generator if you're using 1H weapons. I can see it being slower with 2H weapons for sure though. It might even suck, but I go from what friends have said. Brawler I 100% agree with you there, I just don't have access to it yet st the time of posting. Same with Maniac and such.
After watching Inferno mode done by Method I can say without a doubt WW is going to have to go out the window. I am almost certain we will all be tanking in Inferno mode. I can see it now after watching. This being said, this build might not last for Inferno mode at all. Method killed Act 2 with a tanking build for the Barb in the group. It's pretty much just like an MMO on that mode. Everyone MUST play a role.
I can't even use WW in Nightmare. Even with a ground stomp into a WW, I'm getting slaughtered moments after. Even with blood funnel and revenge's vengeance is mine, it's still not enough to be efficient. I'm preferring seismic slam as well for dmg, but also for peels. I'll definitely use strength from earth as soon as I hit 48.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#aeXYkV!dYU!ZaaZbY
Lot's of CC, damage and healing.
Why does everyone ignore Revenge? That skill is so overpowered and has saved me so many times. It becomes active quite a bit.
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8CBbeSAjVo
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4peeO3yzY
LOL -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJ_XT3oWtY
Leap in, ground stomp, walk back and seismic slam them, run back in and bash some, revenge and pick the rest off with whatever is available. Works perfectly.
Relentless, eh, it's good for kiting with siesmic slam in bad situations. I switch between relentless and a few others, but I meant to have ruthless in this build.
This build is not terrible at all. It actually works extremely well against elites, rares and champions.
Using WW just gets you killed fast against them.
I don't expect you to try it, although it's very good, but it works perfect for me and I never die. It's both an offensive and defensive build. I've tried all these on here, but most are terrible boring.
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8CBbeSAjVo
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4peeO3yzY
LOL -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJ_XT3oWtY
I was getting trucked before using WW, but now I'm able to stay in the fights with minimal kiting.
I am stacking str and vit, and using a pretty decent rare 2h. Some of the rare items I'm equipping now have resists on it too, so it's been helping against the random affixes.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile