I've got two inferno characters - an Archon wizard for solo play and a tank barbarian for act 3 farming (in a group with 2 demon hunters). I am not interested in damage at all, I just want to keep the two demon hunters save from all the bad guys. Many of the build discussions or inferno threads mix "tanking" and "DPS", but I'd like to keep these two aspects separated. I've got zero "% dmg to life" and only rely on LoH to be independent of my damage (as much as it is possible in D3).
Here are my stats:
oi48.tinypic.com/wb6waw.jpg (can't paste URLs because it's my first post - haha)
My passives are Nerves of Steel (atm switching equip from life% to vitality), Tough as Nails, and Relentless.
A usual fight looks like this: War Cry (Impunity), jump into the pack with Leap (Iron Impact), hit Ground Stomp (Wrenching Smash) and whenever possible Revenge (Provocation).
If anyone has any suggestion up to this point - great, otherwise I hope I'm on the right track. While I'm in general open to new ideas, the two main concerns where I'm really undecided are my primary active skill and the remaining 6th skill to add into my rotation.
Primary: I'm currently running around with Frenzy+Sidearm, but especially after realizing that Sidearm doesn't trigger LoH, it makes me wonder if I should switch to Cleave (with Reaping Swing or Gathering Storm). Would be great if some people who have lots of tanking experience could share their insights on that.
6th slot: I've used Threatening Shout (Falter or Demoralize) until now, but I've been thinking if I should try spamming Rend (Bloodlust) instead. Or maybe even replace Revenge with Rend, as it's getting nerfed in 1.05?
If you're going for this heavy tank spec and really don't care about damage at all, you need more defensive stats, ie Life Regen, pickup radius and +health to globes/pots (1.05 affix). The pickup radius is for globes and it serves mostly as your 'heal' to allies. Life regen is to keep you going when monsters are far apart and you can't hit anything. I know barbs are mobility freaks, but it helps, immensely.
Skills that slow/root are fundamental for this kind of playing style, so I agree with the Cleave suggestion.
To be honest, there is no aggro in this game, so its kind of hard to keep the focus on yourself. I've played a Monk with a DH friend and mobs would constantly just get away and lunge at him. I had Cyclone Strike to deal with it, so using Wrenching Smash is a good idea. Even so, you don't pull all mobs around you, I usually got like 6 or 7 at a time.
I'd recommend Ancient Spear with Harpoon or Grappling Hooks.
@Hellfrog and Bogok: I'll just give it a try tonight in a few test runs and see what works best for me. Haven't had a close look at Superstition yet, I always felt like Relentless is my live saver. According to the EHP calc, Tough as Nails adds 12.6% to my EHP, Nerves of Steel 21% and Superstition would add 25% versus ranged - what about dropping Touch as Nails? Or is that a no-go?
@luizdeh: Awesome advice, I kind of overlooked that pickup also applies to globes. My DH friends will love this, because picking up all the globes improves their DPS as well ;-) I'll follow on that. As for the life regen - it's on my list to get some, but it's really low priority, I'd like to focus on LoH. Tbh, I haven't been in too many situations where I'm "out of enemies" and low health. There's always another mob or two around the corner - Leap and hit and I'm back at full health in no time, thanks to LoH. And it's hard to simulate what ~2000 life regen would feel like, because it's so expensive... :-/ Maybe I'll get some cheap gear and try it out.
@Philippos: I'm not interested in PvP at all, thanks ;-)
Regarding the aggro issue: tanking ranged is close to impossible, yes; and mortar mobs will always shoot at the ranged DDs. But Wrenching Smash worked quite well so far; I'll try to play around with Demoralize and Ancient Spears tonight.
@Boss_Hogg: Nice build. So you swapped Ground Stomp completely with Demoralize, interesting. I'll give that a try, too :-)
@Boss_Hogg: Nice build. So you swapped Ground Stomp completely with Demoralize, interesting. I'll give that a try, too :-)
The 20% damage reduction does not suffer from Dim Returns, and becasue of it's low CD time, you can always pop it. Plus, I can't tell you how many times I've saved group members by taunting mobs off of them, even if the mechanic is "iffy" (blue and yellow packs do not always obey the taunt).
I would get rid of Ground Stomp. Let me explain my way of thinking here:
Change the Leap rune to Death From Above. The stun is powerful, and is very good at halting crowds attacking your teammates. Plus, it's a fairly reliable stun. Now that you have one, put on Demo, and you'll basically have at least 2 ways to stop mobs from messing with your group. Also, the Relentless passive is a very good choice (when at 20% life, damage is reduced by 50%, so that's like actually being at 40% life). If my math is fucked up there, sorry: I quit school when I was 8.
Regarding aggro/threat: Here are some nice facts about aggro in Diablo 3:
gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/67003/how-does-aggro-work-in-diablo-iii
After reading all of this, you'll probably realize that the "rules" are so messed up that it's more or less RNG in most of the situations. However, if you can "save" a teammate from dying by stunning and/or attracting a mob that's chasing him, it's good enough for tanking. My DH friends don't die that often (I can't do much about mortar or ranged groups).
Here are my stats:
oi48.tinypic.com/wb6waw.jpg (can't paste URLs because it's my first post - haha)
My passives are Nerves of Steel (atm switching equip from life% to vitality), Tough as Nails, and Relentless.
A usual fight looks like this: War Cry (Impunity), jump into the pack with Leap (Iron Impact), hit Ground Stomp (Wrenching Smash) and whenever possible Revenge (Provocation).
If anyone has any suggestion up to this point - great, otherwise I hope I'm on the right track. While I'm in general open to new ideas, the two main concerns where I'm really undecided are my primary active skill and the remaining 6th skill to add into my rotation.
Primary: I'm currently running around with Frenzy+Sidearm, but especially after realizing that Sidearm doesn't trigger LoH, it makes me wonder if I should switch to Cleave (with Reaping Swing or Gathering Storm). Would be great if some people who have lots of tanking experience could share their insights on that.
6th slot: I've used Threatening Shout (Falter or Demoralize) until now, but I've been thinking if I should try spamming Rend (Bloodlust) instead. Or maybe even replace Revenge with Rend, as it's getting nerfed in 1.05?
Skills that slow/root are fundamental for this kind of playing style, so I agree with the Cleave suggestion.
To be honest, there is no aggro in this game, so its kind of hard to keep the focus on yourself. I've played a Monk with a DH friend and mobs would constantly just get away and lunge at him. I had Cyclone Strike to deal with it, so using Wrenching Smash is a good idea. Even so, you don't pull all mobs around you, I usually got like 6 or 7 at a time.
I'd recommend Ancient Spear with Harpoon or Grappling Hooks.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#bVXgik!beV!YccYYc
@Hellfrog and Bogok: I'll just give it a try tonight in a few test runs and see what works best for me. Haven't had a close look at Superstition yet, I always felt like Relentless is my live saver. According to the EHP calc, Tough as Nails adds 12.6% to my EHP, Nerves of Steel 21% and Superstition would add 25% versus ranged - what about dropping Touch as Nails? Or is that a no-go?
@luizdeh: Awesome advice, I kind of overlooked that pickup also applies to globes. My DH friends will love this, because picking up all the globes improves their DPS as well ;-) I'll follow on that. As for the life regen - it's on my list to get some, but it's really low priority, I'd like to focus on LoH. Tbh, I haven't been in too many situations where I'm "out of enemies" and low health. There's always another mob or two around the corner - Leap and hit and I'm back at full health in no time, thanks to LoH. And it's hard to simulate what ~2000 life regen would feel like, because it's so expensive... :-/ Maybe I'll get some cheap gear and try it out.
@Philippos: I'm not interested in PvP at all, thanks ;-)
Regarding the aggro issue: tanking ranged is close to impossible, yes; and mortar mobs will always shoot at the ranged DDs. But Wrenching Smash worked quite well so far; I'll try to play around with Demoralize and Ancient Spears tonight.
@Boss_Hogg: Nice build. So you swapped Ground Stomp completely with Demoralize, interesting. I'll give that a try, too :-)
The 20% damage reduction does not suffer from Dim Returns, and becasue of it's low CD time, you can always pop it. Plus, I can't tell you how many times I've saved group members by taunting mobs off of them, even if the mechanic is "iffy" (blue and yellow packs do not always obey the taunt).
eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WVgkYX!bVU!acZcZa
Rend is so powerful... I think I'll stick to it.
Also, Cleave > Frenzy and Superstition > Relentless, I agree.
And now I have a problem... I'd like to use Demoralize and/or Ancient Spears. What to kick out???
Change the Leap rune to Death From Above. The stun is powerful, and is very good at halting crowds attacking your teammates. Plus, it's a fairly reliable stun. Now that you have one, put on Demo, and you'll basically have at least 2 ways to stop mobs from messing with your group. Also, the Relentless passive is a very good choice (when at 20% life, damage is reduced by 50%, so that's like actually being at 40% life). If my math is fucked up there, sorry: I quit school when I was 8.
How did you come to this conclusion!?
I have seen nothing even hint at aggro going to the highest DPSer.
I could hit something 10 times and my friend walks on screen and it aggros him and stays there the whole fight.
gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/67003/how-does-aggro-work-in-diablo-iii
After reading all of this, you'll probably realize that the "rules" are so messed up that it's more or less RNG in most of the situations. However, if you can "save" a teammate from dying by stunning and/or attracting a mob that's chasing him, it's good enough for tanking. My DH friends don't die that often (I can't do much about mortar or ranged groups).