Build Guide
Skills
WW (Blood Funnel): This is your Main damage dealer through Waste-buffed dust devils. Blood Funnel is one of the best sources of healing in the game, and at present the only viable WW rune for high grift clears. Note that I would assign this to the right mouse button, but the skill calculator won't allow that.
Wrath of the Berserker (Insanity): This skill boosts your DPS in every possible way. Note that it's boost is now a separate multiplier, unlike earlier iterations of the game. This means that keeping 100% (or close) uptime on this skill is key in beating GRs.
Battle Rage (Bloodshed): Bloodshed is a massive AOE damage boost. Like AD, the monster who procs Bloodshed isn't harmed by its own proc, but this skill is the best Rage rune by a mile and cannot be taken from the build.
Threatening Shout (Demoralize): You could say this is the keystone to the build. Demoralize helps groups mobs and insures they attack you. This results in constant fury gen, and means you can drop the Weapon Master passive (thanks to Archael for pointing this out!). Against RGs who don't spawn adds, you may need to spam this for fury gen, but be very careful not to let your IP drop. For lower grifts or TX speed farming, you can use Falter. In groups, all WW Barbs should use Falter since it stacks.
Rend (Bloodbath): This skill slot is open to interpretation. Personally, I like Rend as it's free damage without eating Zodiac procs, and the extra bleed from Bloodbath doesn't hurt. However, it must be noted that most top clears switch this to War Cry (Impunity or Veteran's Warning depending on your Armor to Resist ratio), and Rending in dense mob packs can get you killed. The Mutilate rune can provide an additional debuff to mobs, and Ancient Spear (Harpoon) can help with grouping and pulls in group play. You can even go season 3 with this and use Call of the Ancients (Together as One or Duty to the Clan) for additional burst mitigation or temporary debuff, though this is not recommended as it heavily eats into Zodiac procs
Ignore Pain (Ignorance is Bliss): This skill mitigates damage, provides CC immunity, and offers a massive amount of healing. It's vital to keep this skill up and running at all times (hence why we wear the PoC), but if you're comfortable with the Unity as a safety net and don't mind the occasional lapse in coverage to spam TS or pop Wrath, or you have CDR to spare, you might swap PoC for Witching Hour or String of Ears for more DPS or mitigation respectively. When playing in groups, swap the rune to Mob Rules.
Passives are key to a winning build, so let's briefly go over those. Any of these are wonderful passives to get on a Hellfire amulet. Other acceptable HF passives include Relentless, Nerves of Steel, Bloodthirst, Tough as Nails, Weapon Master, and Brawler.
Weapon Master: Crucial for fury gen.
Rampage: This passive provides a fantastic boost to DPS and toughness through the rift, but won't offer much against the RG unless the boss spawns lots of adds (hello, Saxtris!).
Berserker Rage: Though this passive provides another solid DPS boost, you'll need dense rifts and careful use of Demoralize to benefit from this without Weapon Master.
Boon of Bul-Kathos: This, along with careful management of cooldowns and Zodiac procs, will insure you have perma-Wrath.
Gear
Rubies in armor pieces, diamond in helm. Stack physical and lightning resistance secondaries on as many gear pieces as possible. Other ideal secondaries include chance to stun on gloves, chance to freeze on belt and swords, chance to immobilize on boots, and chance to blind on pants.
Build Notes
To have both perma-IP and perma-Wrath, you'll need a minimum of 46% CDR. Note that this is before Gogok (if you're using that gem, and I only recommend that for Zodiac FnR). Technically, since you have Unity to cover your behind, you can get away with less CDR (and thus imperfect IP coverage), but you'll need to be much more careful about engaging dangerous elites. Taking less CDR -- say, rolling it off shoulders for Area Damage -- can open up a Vit slot on swords, or IAS slot on a ring, but it does make your character more fragile, so be careful.
To maximize your damage output with dust devils, you'll want to hit the 7 frames per tick breakpoint. This will be relatively easy if you have 14% IAS from gear, Bk swords, maxed IAS in paragon, and perma-Wrath. If you're unable to max out IAS in paragon but can hit the other requirements, you'll still be in the 7 frames per tick window, but you'll be further away from the next breakpoint. For more info on breakpoints, read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo3Barbarians/wiki/breakpoints
You should have + 40% physical dmg, +30% WW dmg, and +40% AD. If you have to give up Vit to get AD on swords or shoulders, drop WW dmg on helm for Vit. Area Damage is absolutely crucial on WW builds right now (2.3, Sept 2015); stack as much as you can without sacrificing too much toughness and life.
Which ring you choose to cube and which two you wear depends on what IAS requirements you're trying to meet, and which combination will give you the most damage output (again, plug it into d3barb.com). Generally, I prefer to wear the Unity for a little extra elite damage, but that's not make or break in this build.
Which amulet you prefer depends on what drops with better stats. A good Mara's cannot be underestimated, though I will take a very close Hellfire with an essential passive (Ruthless, Brawler, or Boon of BK). Eye of Elitch, on the other hand, provides a massive amount of damage reduction that this build, with its Unity and perma-IP combo, may not need.
Many top clears are using APDs to good effect. These are procced by some of your secondaries (stun and slow, for example), but also by your Templar's Charge provided he has enough CDR and IAS. Strongarms benefits from many of these same procs, but if APDs keeps War Cry off the bar, I'm sold. I realize Rend damage isn't good with one-handers, but it's free damage without cooldowns, and that's hard to pass up.
Speaking of Kormac, let's talk 2.3 follower meta. I haven't tinkered too much with them, but the Templar's fury gen and heals are still useful. The Scoundrel's damage boost is great, and if you're having trouble hitting the required breakpoint, the Enchantress's IAS buff could be make or break. For my money, I'm running Templar or Scoundrel with a 2.2 mindset -- Eu Jang Do with lightning damage, Freeze of Deflection, Ess of Johan, Wyrdward, and Unity, and Buriza for Mr. Sticky Fingers.
If you have a lot of CDR or feel comfortable managing cool downs, try swapping the belt to Witching Hour for a little more DPS. But be warned that this takes stones and maybe a fair amount of drinking. In fact, most belt choices in this game should be made under the influence. A good time is had the next day when you log in a see you've decided to wear that ancient Girdle of Giants because you don't know why. Why did you salvage your ancient BK swords? Oh, that's right, you were drunk.
How To Play
Pop Rage, pop Wrath, pop IP, and go to town. The trick is managing cooldowns and prioritizing IP and Wrath above TS. Generally, use TS only on elites or especially thick clusters of mobs to better group massive packs. Drop a rend on CoE's physical cycle (cold if you use Mutilate), and spin to win. As soon as the pack thins out, move forward until you find density. Pay close attention to the map locations in which you choose to engage, and try to aggro mobs into T-corridors or any spot where mobs can come at you from multiple directions. Maneuever your Templar into place, wait for his Ess to proc, move in, Rend, and spin.
In groups, apply Falter before just before your physical cycle on CoE. Coordinate with other WW Barbs to stack Falters and Mob Rules. If you're playing with HOTA barbs, act as the scout, moving forward to aggro mobs, spot pylons, and spear packs back to the other barbs.
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Posted Nov 15, 2015