Build Guide
*NOTE* This build DOES NOT require any set pieces, only Lightning Elemental Damage buffers! *NOTE*
Don't like to read? Watch a detailed walkthrough on the build below!
Video timestamps (so you can skip to where ever you want to!)
0:38 - Gear talk
8:05 - Proves how Lightning Damage beats sheet DPS
10:02 - The Build
14:52 - Paragon Level Distribution
T.O.C.
Gear
The Build
Paragon Level Distribution
Follower(Templar)
Gear
Armor Type Equipment
Helm: Andariel’s Visage
Armor Type Equipment
Helm: Andariel’s Visage
This is THE best and only helm for Lightning Barbarians, it’s the only helm that has the chance of rolling extra lightning damage, besides a Monk helmet! The rolls you see on the picture, are the ones you should be aiming for on your helmet!
Amulet: Legendary Amulet/Rare Amulet
Luckily, rare amulets are still pretty amazing! The only thing a legendary amulet has going for it, is that it can roll 700+ Main statand 20% Elemental Damage! The rolls you see on the picture, are the ones you should be aiming for on your Amulet!
Bracers: Legendary Bracers/Rare Bracers
Just like the amulets, rare bracers have the same potential to roll the stats you see on this picture, though I believe rare bracers are only capable of rolling 15% max extra lightning damage! The rolls you see on the picture, are the rolls you should be aiming for on your bracers!
Belt: Thundergod’s Vigor
This is the only belt you can find that provides extra lightning damage! So it’s a no brainer that this would be incredibly amazing when building a Lightning Barbarian! I sadly haven’t been able to find one of these nor have I found the new The Witching Hour, I would love to be able to test them up against each other!
Rings: Stone of Jordan/Rare Ring
If you're DUAL WIELDING, these are the exact rolls you should be looking for on your rare rings! If you are using a 2Handed Weapon, you should reroll Average Damage, into Attack Speed! Your Stone of Jordan, should have extra lightning damage and crit chance!
Other than the items mentioned above, I believe that there are no other ARMOR type equipment, that can roll extra lightning damage, so the remaining ARMOR type gear pieces are pretty straight forward, apart from 2 unique pieces, which I will go over before the remaining armor slots!
Other than the items mentioned above, I believe that there are no other ARMOR type equipment, that can roll extra lightning damage, so the remaining ARMOR type gear pieces are pretty straight forward, apart from 2 unique pieces, which I will go over before the remaining armor slots!
Pants: Pox Faulds
These pants are AMAZING for any type of Whirlwind Barbarian! The unique affix, is pretty much a lesser gas cloud from Ghom’s “Fart Cloud” attack, which ticks for an incredible amount of weapon damager per second!
Boots: Firewalkers
Boots: Firewalkers
These boots are also a great addition for a Whirlwind Barbarian! Leaving a fire trail, that ticks for a lot of damager per second, pretty much like the Pox Faulds unique ability, just buffs your damage output to the skies!
Chest: Legendary Chest/Rare Chest
You don’t really need Raekor’s Heart as your chest piece (especially not the one on the picture!) You mainly just want these rolls on your Chest Armor: Strength, Vitality, All Resistance and 3 sockets! The only reason why I myself am using that Raekor’s Heart is due to its 2 piece set bonus!
Shoulders: Legendery Shoulders/Rare Shoulders
These rolls are pretty much exactly what you want on your shoulders! Luckily, even rare shoulders can roll similar to the ones seen on the picture!
Gloves: Legendary Gloves/Rare Gloves
Rare gloves can also roll similar to the rolls you see on the picture! You really want your gloves to look like these!
Weaponry
The absolute best dualwielding combination you can use for as a Lightning Barbarian is this:
Dual wield: Thunderfury + Shard of Hate
The unique affixes on the weapons above, are just CRAZY, if you are able to achieve both these amazing weapons, you'll see lightning EVERYWHERE dealing heavy damage to anything that attempts to come near you! With these, you can without a doubt, call yourself a God of Thunder!
There are also 2 other 1handed weapons for Lightning Barbarians, which you can use to replace either the Thunderfury or the Shard of hate with, heck even dual wielding these other weapons would be sick!
Other 1Handers: Odyn Son and Fulminator
Even though the Odyn Son and Fulminator's unique affixes aren't as strong as the Thunderfury nor the Shard of Hate's, they still deal a substantial amount damage!
If you are more into using a big bad 2Handed Weapon, you should definitley look for this one:
2Handed Weapon: Schaefer's Hammer
Sadly, I wasn't able to locate any pictures of the level 70 version of Schaefer's Hammer, I am quite certain that it can rollway greater weapon damage!
The Build
Weapon Throw - Mighty Throw
You might think of Weapon Throw as being an odd choice, since this build wraps around Whirlwind mostly, yet Weapon Throw actually provides as much Fury Generation as Bash does, not to mention it also deals with those PESKY GHOSTS that flies into inaccessible areas! You're also able to turn the Weapon Throw damage, into Lightning Damage with skill rune: Mighty Throw. Thus making your Shard of Hate proc like crazy! Blizzard has also announced that, Mighty Throw's damage will increase from 210% to 270% in the new upcoming patch!
Whirlwind - Wind Shear
You can't do a Whirlwind Barbarian without Whirlwind! The Wind Shear rune is just amazing, not only does it let you spin FOREVER, it also synergizes with extra lightning damage from your items!
Ignore Pain - Ignorance is Bliss
Ignore Pain is a skill that I fell completely in love with, during the release of RoS! It provides great survivability, and with the Ignorance is Bliss rune, you'll be able to heal yourself back up to full in seconds!
Sprint - Marathon
Sprint is only in here because I felt I had enough survivability, if you feel like you lack survivability, even with Ignore Pain, you can easily exchange Sprint with Ground Stomp - Wrenching Smash, to get that extra crowd control!
Avalanche - Glacier/Lahar
Avalanche is an AMAZING damage dealer! The reason why I personally use Glacier, is because of my Shard of Hate! It's also great for additional crowd control! Though if you don't have a Shard of Hate and you aren't in the need of more crowd control, using the Lahar rune, would be a great idea!
Hammer of The Ancients - Thunderstrike
HotA is incredible for dealing with elite packs! The crit numbers you can achieve with this skill is INSANE! Also, if you use the Thunderstrike rune, all your extra lightning damage from your gear, is going to beef if up! If you use it to last hit creatures with, it also provides a 2 second AoE stun, which gives this build even more crowd control! It even procs the Shard of Hate weapon aswell!
Passive Skill (1) - Rampage
Rampage is by far one of the best passives in the Barbarians arsenal! It works even better in a group, as you recieve stacks from whatever your friends kill aswell! Which makes it so incredibly easy to keep your Rampage stack up on 25, and recieve that 25% delicious Strength bonus!
Passive Skill (2) - Ruthless
Ruthless is definitley a very strong passive! When ever you get monsters under that 30% health, and the 40% extra damage kicks in, you just MELT them in seconds!
Passive Skill (3) - Unforgiving
Great passive! It synergizes really well with the Wind Shear rune on Whirlwind! You will NEVER stop spinning!
Passive Skill (4) - Superstition
In my opinion, this is a must have on a Whirlwind Barbarian! It's just too incredible! This passive, has been saving me from certain death by fire chains, molten, plague and A LOT of other non-physical damage sources! It even has a chance to give fury whenever you are hit by all that stuff!
Paragon Distribution!
Core
One of the most amazing things Paragon points can be spent on, is to MAXIMIZE your movementspeed! I suggest you do that as fast as possible, REMEMBER THE MOVEMENTSPEED CAP IN DIABLO 3 IS 25%!! After this, just put any remaining points into Strength!
Offense
Here, I go for Critical Hit Damage first, then I prioritize Attack Speed and then Critical Hit Chance! The reason why I pick Attack Speed over Critical Hit Chance, is because I want to hit the 1.66 Attacks Per Second with BOTH my weapons, to effectively gain 17 Whirlwind damage ticks! - If you are lucky enough to have attack speed rolls + socket and main stat on your weapons, you can prioritize Critical Hit Chance over Attack Speed for sure!
Defense
Prioritize All Resistance into Life and finally into Life Regeneration. Some have said that Armor actually out tanks All Resistance, which in my case is definitley not true. I have tried putting 50 Points in the Armor increase over All Resistance, and I really didn't enjoy those results!
Utility
Here you definitley want to max out Area Damage! It's incredibly awesome, and helps you deal an extra % of your damage in an extra AoE attack pretty much! Next, I go for Resource Cost Reduction! Though, if you are using Life Gain Per Fury Spent, I don't recommend prioritizing it over Life on Hit or Gold Find! Simply because lower Resource Cost, makes you gain less Life per spell you use!
Follower (Templar)
Skill Set
I've build my Templar as supportive as possible! He sure has saved my sorry butt a couple of times! Also, Thunderfury is probably THE best weapon for your Templar, as it procs the 1-3m damage from it's lightning!
Finally The guide is complete! I hope you guys could use at least some of the content! May great legendary drops come your way!
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