The thing I don't get is that people claim Barbs are so good at farming because they have WotB and Earthquake, but these are both 90 second cooldowns. As a Monk, I burn down elites in about 15-20 seconds using Blind + Mantra, and Blind has a 15 second cooldown, same as Breath of Heaven that's keeping me alive, Serenity with a 20 second CD enables me to facetank almost all elites, even molten arcane fire chains as long as I can nuke them down fast enough. That means I can have 100% strength even if I face an elite pack directly after my first, which a barb won't due to the cooldowns.
Yes, I am biased because I don't play a barb, but that a class would be good simply because they have strong long cooldowns is beyond me.
I farm with a Monk as well, and have fun doing it. But I have seen Barbs do faster runs than me, with similar to lesser gear.
Small workaround on the CDs, for instance? Earthquake for one pack, WotB for another, CD problem resolved, kill time still crazy fast. Also, Barb CDs do heavy burst damage, Monk CDs keep you alive so you can continue doing damage.
Opinions are predicated on personal experience and observation. From personal experience, Monks can farm fast and easy, nothing is a major concern. From observation, Barbs can do what we do, but a little bit faster because of insane burst damage. Its not like i'm saying Barbs are super duper faster omfg op MFers.
I used to farm with my wizard. Then I gave a 2H barb a shot. Just wow. Anyone who says differently hasn't played a 2H barb. DH and Wiz can clear out trash faster - no question. But when it comes to killing elites it's a blatant no contest. You have Frenzy 5 stacked with maniac for +20%. Pop WotB for +100% damage on top of that with +10% chance to crit (you should be geared for crit already - so most likely rocking 40+% crit at this point) then throw down EQ. There is no pack of elites in act 1-3 that will last longer than maybe 5 seconds. You're getting hurt? Toss on Ignore Pain w/ Ignorance is Bliss and you're invincible while that EQ is shaking. Then just wander on to the next pack.
I'll be shocked if Blizzard doesn't nerf some aspect of this build down the road. It feels incredibly cheap and completely negates the need for Revenge and LoH. The gearing is typically less expensive than a traditional sword and board barb - but I'd wager that's going to change quickly as this build becomes more prolific.
I'm making full Act 1 runs (or maybe 70% clearance) with my Barbarian (who isn't exactly geared with top notch stuff) with the Sprint build in around 2 hours. So I'd say Barb (but we don't even know all possible builds, etc.)
It's almost 30-40 minutes faster than my Wizard.
My female Monk with +movespeed boots and Fleet Foot can do it in the same time as my Wiz. But her gear is crap while my Wiz is slightly better (kills stuff almost instantly compared to the Monk).
My DH can do that in 60-70 minutes (1 bag of loot per 10 min), that makes me really want to know what other people mean by 'best farmer' when choosing Barb. Although 2h EQ Berserker sure sounds nice.
Im not gonna lie and not a single person will disagree with me who has played it. soloing a fast affix mob or invul minions is impossible as a WD. 100% impossible. i have never seen anyone kill a fast affix mob in inferno as a WD. we just cant do it.
Barbarian. 300% MF (with 5 stacks) and I can do an Act I farm run in ~30 minutes with one hand and minimal concentration. So I eat meals and watch things on my other monitor while doing Act I and only picking up ilvl 63 weapons and ilvl 61+ armor. Can even tab over to chat programs or Reddit while my Barb runs a little ways.
I chose barb, because of the shear speed of sprint/WW build.
That being said, WD can cheaply get some absolutely insane amounts of MF, while keeping their dps good enough to absolutely annihilate any elites in seconds other than say plagued/extra health or plagued/shielding, due to the fact that of all the MF weapons, WD has the only one (Manajuma's with a whopping ~34% mf) that can give a decent amount of dps as well. Add to that the fact that spirit visage basically gives them a second life, which really helps cut down on downtime/repair bills for those tough affix combos (I'm looking at you vortex/reflects damage/arcane/fire chains).
But really, every class is good at farming, just need to find the right build and good mf gear. So, as others have said, it all comes down to what you enjoy most
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Nerd: When you say it, you best say it with awe,
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
Im not gonna lie and not a single person will disagree with me who has played it. soloing a fast affix mob or invul minions is impossible as a WD. 100% impossible. i have never seen anyone kill a fast affix mob in inferno as a WD. we just cant do it.
I can most definitely disagree, I've killed both using the splinters build, the rain of toads tank build, and the poison summoner build. They can be annoying, I agree, but they're totally killable, just need some decent gear and the right build. Grasp, zombie wall, hex, fetish army (with ambush), spirit walk, and of course, splinters. I find that build with some decent gear can handle any affix combo.
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Nerd: When you say it, you best say it with awe,
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
Burned out Warcraft addict turned Diablo III addict.
formerly 3/8 H DS10, YAY CASUALIZATION!
WotB + EQ makes for a fun time while watching two elite packs worth of health bars drain out.
I farm with a Monk as well, and have fun doing it. But I have seen Barbs do faster runs than me, with similar to lesser gear.
Small workaround on the CDs, for instance? Earthquake for one pack, WotB for another, CD problem resolved, kill time still crazy fast. Also, Barb CDs do heavy burst damage, Monk CDs keep you alive so you can continue doing damage.
Opinions are predicated on personal experience and observation. From personal experience, Monks can farm fast and easy, nothing is a major concern. From observation, Barbs can do what we do, but a little bit faster because of insane burst damage. Its not like i'm saying Barbs are super duper faster omfg op MFers.
I'll be shocked if Blizzard doesn't nerf some aspect of this build down the road. It feels incredibly cheap and completely negates the need for Revenge and LoH. The gearing is typically less expensive than a traditional sword and board barb - but I'd wager that's going to change quickly as this build becomes more prolific.
It's almost 30-40 minutes faster than my Wizard.
My female Monk with +movespeed boots and Fleet Foot can do it in the same time as my Wiz. But her gear is crap while my Wiz is slightly better (kills stuff almost instantly compared to the Monk).
Its tornado Barbs and not even close. Tank wiz probably second.
A level 50 could farm Act 1 if they could get in. Saying you are awesome at farming Act 1 is like saying you win at LFR in WoW.
That being said, WD can cheaply get some absolutely insane amounts of MF, while keeping their dps good enough to absolutely annihilate any elites in seconds other than say plagued/extra health or plagued/shielding, due to the fact that of all the MF weapons, WD has the only one (Manajuma's with a whopping ~34% mf) that can give a decent amount of dps as well. Add to that the fact that spirit visage basically gives them a second life, which really helps cut down on downtime/repair bills for those tough affix combos (I'm looking at you vortex/reflects damage/arcane/fire chains).
But really, every class is good at farming, just need to find the right build and good mf gear. So, as others have said, it all comes down to what you enjoy most
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
I can most definitely disagree, I've killed both using the splinters build, the rain of toads tank build, and the poison summoner build. They can be annoying, I agree, but they're totally killable, just need some decent gear and the right build. Grasp, zombie wall, hex, fetish army (with ambush), spirit walk, and of course, splinters. I find that build with some decent gear can handle any affix combo.
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
I thought all the wiz have switched to tank builds? Its so much easier to play.