Witch Doctors don't want + Pickup Radius, they want + Circle of Life radius and/or + Grave Injustice radius. Which is exactly what I said. If they still wanted to combine them they could call it "+ Passive Skill Radius" or something. Those bonuses were only tied to pickup radius as a band-aid fix because Blizzard knew that nobody wanted the stat.
I can agree about Witch Doctors wanting those bonuses, but I personally LIKE Pickup Radius on ALL of my characters (when possible). I have noticed a difference in survivability and efficiency on my characters who have Pickup Radius and the ones who do not have it. Your Mileage May Vary, but I certainly do not desire a nerf on pickup radius!
I am most excited about some of the new Uniques that I saw the data-mined changes for. One of them was a ring that makes Ray Of Frost PIERCE! Things like that item are some of the reason that Diablo II has lasted for as long as it has - builds that are based on one specific item.
This is a guide to get started with a Softcore Barbarian that uses Weapon Throw as a main attack. I have been playing this build in some form or another now since around Patch 1.04. I will discuss Skills, Runes, Passives, and some gear choices.
I. Introduction to the Build Basics (Or, So Why Play A Weapon Throw Barb?)
There are several good reasons for players to try out a Weapon Throw Barb. One major reason is nostalgia for the Diablo II Weapon-Throw Barb player.Another main reason is because nearly *EVERY* Barb player has a 'Dual-Tornado' build in some stage or another. Heck, I played one myself for a while. Furthermore, the Weapon Throw Barb has a few tricks that no other 'kiting' build has. One is the 30% Damage Mitigation that Barbs and Monks get that the Wizard, Demon Hunter and Witch Doctor do not get. Finally, if the need to 'face-tank' arises, you know that you can do so with little difficulty, since the Barb is the class that should have the best armor numbers in the game, as the Armor stat is based on our primary stat, which is Strength.
II. Skillsand Runes
These are the skills and runes that my Weapon Throw Barb uses. I have experimented with other skills and runes, but these serve me very well.
Bash with Punish Rune.
First off, one of the main goals of a Weapon Throw Barb is to kill things from some distance. Bash helps this with the 20% chance to knockback. I chose the Punish rune because of the damage boost to the 'primary' attack, Weapon Throw. Of course, ALL of the skills you use for damage get this boost, and you need a way to build Fury for Weapon Throw. Thus, Bash with the Punish rune.
Weapon Throw with Riccochet Rune.
Since this is the attack that we will be using most of the time, we want to do as many hits as possible for as little fury as possible. Riccochet lets us hit up to 3 other targets within 20 yards of each other. That means we can use less Fury to do the most damage possible to more than one enemy.
Wrath of the Berserker with Thrive On Chaos Rune.
If you do not know it yet, Wrath of the Berserker is a great skill, since it not only BREAKS crowd control skills (should you get Jailed, Vortexed, Frozen), but while the skill is active, you are IMMUNE to those effects! I find that no matter my build with a Barb, I always use this skill once it becomes available. Thrive On Chaos is my favorite rune for WotB, since more fury gained = more time 'amped up'. And this build generates quite a lot of fury if you play it right. That, and there are other cool bonuses with WotB as well - Crit Chance 10%, Attack Speed 25%, Dodge Chance and Movement Speed 20%.
Battle Rage with Bloodshed Rune.
Battle Rage is a very important piece of this build, and you should try to keep it active at all times. It grants 3% Crit Chance and a 15% Damage buff. My current rune is Bloodshed, but this is one of the flexable parts of a Weapon Throw build. Bloodshed gives a 20% AOE damage burst when you Crit. My Crit Chance is 47% with my gear/passives/Battle Rage and the native 5% that all characters get. If I add in the Scoundrel with his 3% buff as well, that is a 50% chance to Crit. And if you remember from the Weapon Throw/Riccochet combo, that means that I get approximately 1-4 chances if the enemies are within 20 yards of each other. That, more or less, means that every Weapon Throw Crits 1X OR MORE. And that does not count the 10% Crit from WotB! So the AOE goes off like mad!
War Cry with Invigorate Rune.
This is another bit of Barb nostalgia for me. War Cry gives an Armor buff for you and your allies. I use the Invigorate rune for the HP boost. The rune choice here is also flexable, since some Barbs will want the All Resist rune instead.
Leap with Death From Above Rune.
Leap is a great skill for getting around, or re-positioning in a fight. It has a great rune for this build in Death From Above. 100% Chance for a 3-second stun. This is a great tactic to use for a small fury boost, and to Bash enemies where you land to re-fill your resource globe.
III. Passives
Ruthless.
5% Crit Chance and 50% Crit Damge. 'Nuff said.
Weapons Master.
No matter if you have or look to acquire my recommended weapons, Weapons Master gives some nice bonuses to your build. My Barb gets 2 of the 4 available bonuses - 10% Increased Attack Speed, and 10% Critical Chance.
No Escape.
10% Bonus to Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear, if you choose to use it. Also, when you Crit with Weapon Throw, you have a chance to return 14 Fury. This helps keep your Fury bulb full even with the weapons flying.
IV. 'Necessary Gear'
There are a few integral pieces to this build. One is the Immortal King's Tribal Binding with the Weapon Throw Fury Reduced by X. Mine has 4, but you can go with whatever you can find/afford. Right now on the Americas Gold Auction House, there are IK Belts with 4 Fury Reduced going for under 50K buyout.
Another important piece is The Three Hundredth Spear. Look for one that has the highest Damage Bonus to Weapon Throw. If you are on a budget, forego the Socketed versions until you can afford one. The DPS will hopefully be around 900 or so, and those are going for around 50K as well.
The final piece that I find most beneficial is the Echoing Fury mace. This is for the Chance to Fear enemies. This means that you can keep enemies at a distance even easier. They are going for about 50K with no socket for around 950 DPS.
The rest of your Barb gear will likely focus on Offensive Pieces and Defensive Pieces. Offensive Pieces are Bracers, Gloves and Jewlery. Defensive Pieces are Helm, Boots, Chest, Pants and Shoulders.
The things I would look for on Offensive Pieces are Average Damage (on Jewlery), Strength, Attack Speed, Crit Chance and Crit Damage. There are 'reasonable' prices for 2 out of 3 of those stats on Gloves and Jewlery (200K or so). Bracers are a bit of personal choice, in my opinion. Some popular Legendaries (that have some higher prices) are Lacuni Prowlers or Strongarm Bracers.
Defensive Piece stats are (in some order of importance) Strength, Vitality, All Resist, Armor, Sockets and Physical Resist. If you can get some Pickup Radius, you are in luck. If you are using The Three Hundredth Spear, Movement Speed on your boots is optional. This means that you might find some rare boots with other good mods like higher Strength, Globe/Potion Bonus or Pickup Radius.
V. Final Thoughts.
This build is a lot of fun to play for me, and I hope that you enjoy it as well. It is quite different from the current Build of the Moment, and has some serious survivability. I initially got some of my ideas from a Hardcore player when working on skills and gear. .
Thank you for reading my guide, and happy hunting!
This is my 'Rocketeer Noveaux' build - my original 'Rocketeer' was based on the old Skill/Rune system. I decided to go with a few different skills than the original build - like the Chakram, and a different set of Passive skills. I think this build is more plausible for PVE, hopefully I will be able to find out soon!
I think, personally, that there might be 'ladder seasons' like in Diablo II. I doubt that the 'best' items will remain AS VALUABLE because of this idea. Therefore, we may get more playtime, more RMAH transactions, and 'Ladder-Only' items like Diablo II. I look forward to these possible mechanics, but I hope desperately that there is a SET TIME for a 'ladder season', unlike the seemingly 'when we feel like it' in Diablo II.
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I can agree about Witch Doctors wanting those bonuses, but I personally LIKE Pickup Radius on ALL of my characters (when possible). I have noticed a difference in survivability and efficiency on my characters who have Pickup Radius and the ones who do not have it. Your Mileage May Vary, but I certainly do not desire a nerf on pickup radius!
This is a guide to get started with a Softcore Barbarian that uses Weapon Throw as a main attack. I have been playing this build in some form or another now since around Patch 1.04. I will discuss Skills, Runes, Passives, and some gear choices.
I. Introduction to the Build Basics (Or, So Why Play A Weapon Throw Barb?)
There are several good reasons for players to try out a Weapon Throw Barb. One major reason is nostalgia for the Diablo II Weapon-Throw Barb player.Another main reason is because nearly *EVERY* Barb player has a 'Dual-Tornado' build in some stage or another. Heck, I played one myself for a while. Furthermore, the Weapon Throw Barb has a few tricks that no other 'kiting' build has. One is the 30% Damage Mitigation that Barbs and Monks get that the Wizard, Demon Hunter and Witch Doctor do not get. Finally, if the need to 'face-tank' arises, you know that you can do so with little difficulty, since the Barb is the class that should have the best armor numbers in the game, as the Armor stat is based on our primary stat, which is Strength.
II. Skills and Runes
These are the skills and runes that my Weapon Throw Barb uses. I have experimented with other skills and runes, but these serve me very well.
Bash with Punish Rune.
First off, one of the main goals of a Weapon Throw Barb is to kill things from some distance. Bash helps this with the 20% chance to knockback. I chose the Punish rune because of the damage boost to the 'primary' attack, Weapon Throw. Of course, ALL of the skills you use for damage get this boost, and you need a way to build Fury for Weapon Throw. Thus, Bash with the Punish rune.
Weapon Throw with Riccochet Rune.
Since this is the attack that we will be using most of the time, we want to do as many hits as possible for as little fury as possible. Riccochet lets us hit up to 3 other targets within 20 yards of each other. That means we can use less Fury to do the most damage possible to more than one enemy.
Wrath of the Berserker with Thrive On Chaos Rune.
If you do not know it yet, Wrath of the Berserker is a great skill, since it not only BREAKS crowd control skills (should you get Jailed, Vortexed, Frozen), but while the skill is active, you are IMMUNE to those effects! I find that no matter my build with a Barb, I always use this skill once it becomes available. Thrive On Chaos is my favorite rune for WotB, since more fury gained = more time 'amped up'. And this build generates quite a lot of fury if you play it right. That, and there are other cool bonuses with WotB as well - Crit Chance 10%, Attack Speed 25%, Dodge Chance and Movement Speed 20%.
Battle Rage with Bloodshed Rune.
Battle Rage is a very important piece of this build, and you should try to keep it active at all times. It grants 3% Crit Chance and a 15% Damage buff. My current rune is Bloodshed, but this is one of the flexable parts of a Weapon Throw build. Bloodshed gives a 20% AOE damage burst when you Crit. My Crit Chance is 47% with my gear/passives/Battle Rage and the native 5% that all characters get. If I add in the Scoundrel with his 3% buff as well, that is a 50% chance to Crit. And if you remember from the Weapon Throw/Riccochet combo, that means that I get approximately 1-4 chances if the enemies are within 20 yards of each other. That, more or less, means that every Weapon Throw Crits 1X OR MORE. And that does not count the 10% Crit from WotB! So the AOE goes off like mad!
War Cry with Invigorate Rune.
This is another bit of Barb nostalgia for me. War Cry gives an Armor buff for you and your allies. I use the Invigorate rune for the HP boost. The rune choice here is also flexable, since some Barbs will want the All Resist rune instead.
Leap with Death From Above Rune.
Leap is a great skill for getting around, or re-positioning in a fight. It has a great rune for this build in Death From Above. 100% Chance for a 3-second stun. This is a great tactic to use for a small fury boost, and to Bash enemies where you land to re-fill your resource globe.
III. Passives
Ruthless.
5% Crit Chance and 50% Crit Damge. 'Nuff said.
Weapons Master.
No matter if you have or look to acquire my recommended weapons, Weapons Master gives some nice bonuses to your build. My Barb gets 2 of the 4 available bonuses - 10% Increased Attack Speed, and 10% Critical Chance.
No Escape.
10% Bonus to Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear, if you choose to use it. Also, when you Crit with Weapon Throw, you have a chance to return 14 Fury. This helps keep your Fury bulb full even with the weapons flying.
IV. 'Necessary Gear'
There are a few integral pieces to this build. One is the Immortal King's Tribal Binding with the Weapon Throw Fury Reduced by X. Mine has 4, but you can go with whatever you can find/afford. Right now on the Americas Gold Auction House, there are IK Belts with 4 Fury Reduced going for under 50K buyout.
Another important piece is The Three Hundredth Spear. Look for one that has the highest Damage Bonus to Weapon Throw. If you are on a budget, forego the Socketed versions until you can afford one. The DPS will hopefully be around 900 or so, and those are going for around 50K as well.
The final piece that I find most beneficial is the Echoing Fury mace. This is for the Chance to Fear enemies. This means that you can keep enemies at a distance even easier. They are going for about 50K with no socket for around 950 DPS.
The rest of your Barb gear will likely focus on Offensive Pieces and Defensive Pieces. Offensive Pieces are Bracers, Gloves and Jewlery. Defensive Pieces are Helm, Boots, Chest, Pants and Shoulders.
The things I would look for on Offensive Pieces are Average Damage (on Jewlery), Strength, Attack Speed, Crit Chance and Crit Damage. There are 'reasonable' prices for 2 out of 3 of those stats on Gloves and Jewlery (200K or so). Bracers are a bit of personal choice, in my opinion. Some popular Legendaries (that have some higher prices) are Lacuni Prowlers or Strongarm Bracers.
Defensive Piece stats are (in some order of importance) Strength, Vitality, All Resist, Armor, Sockets and Physical Resist. If you can get some Pickup Radius, you are in luck. If you are using The Three Hundredth Spear, Movement Speed on your boots is optional. This means that you might find some rare boots with other good mods like higher Strength, Globe/Potion Bonus or Pickup Radius.
V. Final Thoughts.
This build is a lot of fun to play for me, and I hope that you enjoy it as well. It is quite different from the current Build of the Moment, and has some serious survivability. I initially got some of my ideas from a Hardcore player when working on skills and gear. .
Thank you for reading my guide, and happy hunting!
Sandpapertiger
This is my 'Rocketeer Noveaux' build - my original 'Rocketeer' was based on the old Skill/Rune system. I decided to go with a few different skills than the original build - like the Chakram, and a different set of Passive skills. I think this build is more plausible for PVE, hopefully I will be able to find out soon!