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Build Guide

Special thanks to FankRoseTV and Startawar 420 for teaching me to play this build. I am not the creator of the build and 16 seasons in I have no idea who to give author credit to. Whoever you are, wherever you are, thank you. The linked youtube video is Startawar420 clearing a gr 119 in season 15. I wanted this out there so new barbs would have a season 16 reference. Once the season of Grandeur is gone, passive RORG buff will be gone and magefist along with it. In Season 15, FrankroseTV completed a 121 with 2863 paragon, Startawar completed 119 with 2113 paragon and I completed a 110 with 1300 paragon. Soulnsane is a great barb I've not had the liberty to speak with--I don't speak french-- but he's completed a 121 in the EU. Sitting back and watching I've learned a lot from him also.

To see the build in action check out these Streams:

For NA

FrankRoseTV https://www.twitch.tv/frankrosetv

Startawar420 https://www.twitch.tv/startawar420

For EU

Soulnsane https://www.twitch.tv/souinsane

Frank and Start are great guys and willing to give advice. All the basic information is already out there. But there are intricate details that come from experience and since they have it, why not take a shortcut. That is after you've read https://us.battle.net/forums/en/d3/topic/20763976285.

Ideal Stats Summary

Numbers to shoot for when you're getting ready to go into the 100's. Can definitely get into 100 w/ less than ideal gear if the build is played properly

• 52.29%CDR minimum with Esoteric and 46% minimum with gogok
• 30% HOTA Damage--Helm and boots
• 60% Fire Damage--gloves, bracers, and neck
• 50+% Crit Chance(sheet)--remember hota gives 1% crit per 5 fury so there comes a point where more crit is a waste compared to gaining in other stats
• 90+% Area Damage--max on shoulders and max on one weapon will get you there. You don't realize how strong it is until it's used properly
• 500+% Crit Damage
• 20k+ Life Per Hit for sub 2k paragon in GR 110+
• Boon of the bul-kathos passive should be swapped with Nerves of Steel while learning the build and if you replace esoteric with gogok

Gems

• Emeralds in Weapons via Ramaladni's Gift
• Diamonds in helm, chest and legs (Rubies are fine for easier content but i'd advise a speed build in that case)

Cooldown Reduction Considerations

• Using Esoteric Alteration-- 50.29% cooldown reduction is minimum to have ignore pain up for every physical portion of Convention of Elements. Popping ignore pain 2 seconds into the physical portion of the ring gives you protection for 6 seconds of wall charging and 4 of HOTA with increased life per fury spent due to Ignorance is bliss. Ideally you get there by having max CDR on both weapons, shoulders, gloves and one ring. While learning the build more cooldown reduction makes the build more forgiving. Once you start pushing to your highest greater rift, its ideal that you be able to work with the minimum required cdr.
• About Gogok--Startawar used gogok up to 112 and I used gogok up to gr 103 before switching to esoteric alteration. WIth gogok, you can get away with 46% cdr but the higher gr and depending on your paragon wall charging will become very dangerous. Also ignore pain may come off cooldown sooner. i wouldn't recommend using it unless you're ready to wall charge. it takes roughly 6 seconds to get your stopping for directions--traveler's pledge/compass rose stacks-- to 100. 2 seconds of wall charging during physical and 4 seconds charging during cold gives you max damage at the start of the fire rotation of Convention of Elements.

Elemental Damage

• With the season of Grandeur you will be able to reach 60% Fire damage when combining the secondary effect of magefist, rolling fire damage on your neck and bracers.

Gear Considerations

• Ancient gear is desired everywhere, but only mandatory for Slander and LIttle Rogue. For gloves and bracers, item effects and the listed stat priority are more important than augmenting. This is especially true for the bracers as anything under 490%HOTA damage should be replaced as soon as possible. There comes a point at which strength on gear is more for survival than actual damage and is better served coming from paragon than gear. Ancient gear is the dream, but an afterthought to perfect stat priority.
• Remember Aquila Cuirass and Magefist effects can be gained from the cube. It may be easier to find a great Aquila that can serve double duty for a zbarb set.

Secondary Stats

• The more max fury secondaries you have on gear the more crit chance you have. It's a great secondary to have but not at the expense of primary stats.
• For the chest piece, the dream roll is str, vit, reduced damage secondaries>resist all or Life%, For the secondary options, prioritize reduced melee damage over reduced range damage. For primary stats, prioritize resist all over Life%.
• For all other pieces, i go for max fury where i can get it followed by physical resistance w over other elemental resistance. None of this is at the expense of primary stats.

Follower

• GR 105 and above use the enchantress. DO NOT EQUIP HER LEVEL 15 SKILL. Lvl 20 talent is whatever you want. I use missile ward because range damage is the bane of my existence. Erosion for level 25 and Focused mind for level 30.
• If you use the templar, DO NOT EQUIP HIS LEVEL 15 SKILL.
• Below GR 100 you can muscle your way through so it doesn't matter which follower you use. After that, it will become obvious the rate at which you build raekor stacks you will start to see your damage vary between the enchantress and templar.
• For gear Ess of Johan and Oculus Ring with near max damage increase are the essential. Everything else Max CDR. I stay away from other stun pieces because it slows down building density and i don't want anything considering my follower as a threat

Detailed Play Style Guide

• https://us.battle.net/forums/en/d3/topic/20763976285 To get the most out of the build you've got to read it. No real way around it. It will save you lots of "AHA" moments.

Quick Play Style breakdown

For the record this portion is a god awful oversimplification but may get you to 100

During the rift

• Use Battle Rage and Threatening Shout a lot. Battle Rage keeps Istvan's stacks at 5 and provides some healing via life per fury spent--Can be num locked but not mandatory
• Get to 80-100 raekor stacks.
• Gather lots of density with an elite pack or 3 near an ideal wall charge location---Density>Elites
• 2 seconds into the physical portion of your CoE Ring, pop ignore pain and wall charge
• As fire cycle begins, pop wrath of the berserker and spam HOTA--try to be hitting elites and group the density around the elite such that mobs funnel in as they die.
• As soon as the fire cycle ends stop spamming HOTA start generating stacks again.
• Note: With esoteric, you will spend at least 40 raekor stacks per fire window and you get two fire windows per WOTB. You will need at least 80 raekor stacks per wrath of the berserker. Starting out with 80 gives you some wiggle room in terms of overshooting until you learn to stop on time. It may be ideal to stop a second early on HOTA spam until you get a feel for generating stacks fast during Wrath of the Berserker. With gogok you will have a little more attack speed. If you happen to have attack speed on gloves or a ring you will surely spend more than 40 per fire cycle. WIth gogok i would go for 100 if possible. With nerves of steel passive you will have enough time to get to 100 stacks. WIth boon of the bul kathos it's a race to have at least 80 stacks before the fire cycle on CoE appears. WIth boon of the bul kathos and 50.29 cdr you will only have one fire cycle between wotb resets.

During the Rift Guardian

• Use battle rage enough to keep your istvan's stacks at 5. Cancel num lock on battle rage as it will drain your fury if you're not constantly casting furious charge.
• Get 100 raekor stacks. Fewer on easier content
• Try to position the boss so you can wall charge
• if you can't and you have 100 stacks, be prepared to just stand still and charge only enough to keep band of might active. Otherwise keep charging.
• Do the fire cycle rotation as normal and repeat till the guardian dies.
• Note: At higher gr's stricken stacks really come into play. Depending on how much time you have it may be beneficial to build up your stricken stacks before spending raekor stacks

Passives Considerations

• Boon of the Bul-Kathos is most effective on the rift guardian because it gives you more Wotb buffs to spend raekor stacks during. It may not be so useful during the trash portion of the rift because you will need to build up sufficient density to actually kill elites and keep up with the timer. Just because you have wotb up doesn't mean you should use it if you have hardly anything to kill. Nerves of steel may be the way to go in learning the build.

Final Thoughts

• Death is the worst, especially right when you've popped wrath of the berserker. When you die, all your raekor stacks are gone.
• Do not wall charge without ignore pain in high gr's and do not underestimate incoming damage when you have lots of density or hard hitting mob types. There will be times you need to keep defensive endless walk stacks up instead of the damage buff.
• Once you get high enough, all rifts cannot be completed. Some you will just have to leave due to mob type or map layout. What you can and can't do will come from experience--personal and watching others.
• The better you become at the build, the less important vit is. While learning you may want to put some paragon into vit to keep you above 600k hp. Season 15 once i was comfortable with surviving, i ran to 514k hp with no paragon in vit.
• If you can kill an elite group in one wotb, you're not at your max gr. There comes a point where you're essentially killing lesser mobs to keep up with the timer while dragging elites along and killing them to put you ahead of the timer. With no power pylon in sight it would be safe to reach the rift guardian with >2 minutes left. With power pylon and a decent amount of stricken stacks one Wotb use could be all you need.

Again I am not the creator of the build and i've definitely not mastered it. My apologies for any mistakes in the guide and they will be corrected as soon as i'm made aware. Good luck in Season 16 reaching your goals.