Hey guys, I'm one of the die-hard barbarian fan from D2, and I'm thinking of rolling Barbarian as my first, and main character on May 15th.
I've been experimenting and theorycrafting for single target dps barb build (mostly for bosses), and this is what I've come up with. I really would appreciate comments, and thoughts for the build because for now, I am really leaning onto full-fury build for both boss and non-boss fights...
Active Spells
1. Frenzy with Smite rune
- Good single target dps with chance to stun. IMO possibily better than bash with stun rune since frenzy does add 75% attack speed. Because this build will focus on having full fury almost 100% of the time, frenzy will become the primary skill.
-Since Frenzy only deals 110% damage, you may want to consider Maniac for more damage if you feel the 20% stun is not needed.
2. Overpower with Killing Spree
- I opted for overpower instead of Revenge, mainly because well.. to activate revenge you need to get hit. Now, the numbers written in the tooltip says 15% and to me just on the paper, it seems like I would probably have more overpower procs than revenge especially during 1 on 1 boss fights (assuming boss will be hitting me since I am the melee). Also, because landing critical hits will reduce the overpower's cd by 1 second, it may be useful to get Killing Spree rune (+10% crit chance for 6 seconds) instead of other runes. It may be possible to switch to Revel rune (8% max life per enemy hit), but that may be more useful in aoe pack than boss fight. The other runes just didn't seem attractive enough to take into consideration for this build.
- Until I can actually play the game and have decent amount of experience on Revenge/Overpower, I feel like I will be swapping two skills or perhaps use them at the same time during normal/nm.
3. War Cry
- Classic shout from Diablo 2. May switch to different runes depending on the boss.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from physical source, then use Hardened wrath, or Invigorate.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from auto attack, then use Veteran's warning, or Hardened wrath, or Invigorate.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from elemental source, use Impunity.
4. Wrath of the Berserker
- Need I say more? This would be the main cooldown ability for this build. If using Thrive on Chaos rune, it may be beneficial to save other fury generating cooldowns until you cast first WotB to boost the length of WotB.
- The runes that seem appealing to me are Thrive on Chaos, Insanity, and Striding Giant. Of course, runes should be swapped depending on what kind of boss you're facing. It seems like ToC rune will be the cookie cutter here however...
- i.e. Insanity if the boss has the down times like in WoW raid bosses (although, I highly doubt this will be the case for D3, but I just had to put it down for completeness sake)
- i.e. Striding giant along with Veteran's Warning for Warcry against autoattack boss (not sure if the dodges will stack, because then you'd have 80% dodge)
- Because WotB has such a long cooldown, should use it only when you know you can pound on the boss without interruption for a while...
5. Battle Rage
- I really like this skill. Free damage and crit chance for 30 seconds seem very, very huge dps boost for me. IMO if using WotB with ToC rune, Battle Rage should be used with Into the Fray (duh!). Otherwise, use Marauder's Rage for more damage output.
6. Ignore Pain OR Ground Stomp
- Both skills have decent amount of cooldowns, and should be treated as an important cooldown skills. These two have pros and cons I believe, and thats why I havent fully decided which one to use over another.
- For Ignore Pain, you cannot overlook 65% damage reduction. Just like shield wall from WoW, it will be most beneficial to use it when you anticipate high damage output from the boss (i.e. aoe damage around the boss that you cannot interrupt, or when you see he has "empowered" autoattacks. An example I could think of is Icy Touch by Diablo in D2.. not sure if I got the spell name correct). Using runes such as Mob Rule will be most beneficial if you know the boss has the high aoe damage to mitigate damage for everyone in the party. Ignorance is Bliss rune is probably better in any other cases.
- Ground stomp is an active skill that guarantees an aoe stun. This IMO is very strong skill since there is not a lot of spells that grants 100% stun without rune. It can be very useful for bosses that have interruptable spell casts (i.e. Skeleton King in the beta, you could interrupt his skeleton summoning by using stun from bash or ground stomp). This spell would be very situational spell to use, and should only be used to interrupt spells/high channelling aoe damage if possible. As for runes, if using ToC rune for WotB, it "may" be helpful to use Foot of the Mountain for more fury gain. However, since you don't know if you will need to use ground stomp when you use WotB for sure, you may want to consider Deafening Crash or Wrenching Smash. Either of them seemed fine for me personally...
Passives
1. Berserker Rage
- You've guessed it. What would full fury barb build be without this passive?
2. Ruthlessness
- Very strong offensive passive. I believe this is the only spell/passive that grants +crit damage in the game so far (please correct me if I'm wrong). Also gives you more crit chance to help reduce Overpower cooldowns, and more fury gained from Battle Rage with Into the Fray.
3. Free slot
- This spot would purely depend on the boss you're fighting. If the boss is mainly physical damage dealer, then you may want to consider using Nerves of Steel for more armor. If the boss is mainly elemental damage, try Superstition.
- Personally, I would go against Juggernaut. It does offer 20% reduction in CC, however the 15% maximum life recovery is not 100% proc. It may be 20%, 10%, 5%, 25%, or even 50%. Without knowing how often it can proc, I'm not sure if it would be useful to have if the boss rarely use stuns/fear/immobilize/charm. This also doesn't include slow... I feel like this would be good passive to have for AOE clearing, where you know there will be multiple mobs that can CC you directly. Maybe it will be useful if the boss uses stuns/fear/charm/immobilize quite often.
- You could also consider, Brawler for maximum dps, and Inspiring Presence for small heal it grants.
For this build, IMO either dualhand mighty weapon, or 1 hand weapon + shield would be the ideal since Frenzy will be the main source of damage. Some Pros and Cons for this build:
Pros
- Doesn't require much skill... just pay attention to what the boss is doing to cast appropriate cooldowns.
- COULD provide high dps output with Zerker rage, but we will have to see in the actual game.
- No need to worry about fury management, and could swap Frenzy for Cleave to use this build for aoe damage.
- All in all, this build gives you +18% crit chance without WotB. With WotB, that is 28% without items. This alone could keep building up fury (from Battle Rage) and reducing Overpower cd to maximize the use for both Overpower and WotB.
Cons
- Could be very boring
- Lacks fury dump. Fury spenders can provide utility, as well as nice aoe damage.
- Only one, or no defensive skill/runes if you don't count War Cry.
- Lacks mobility (i.e. Leap, Charge, Sprint)
- Again, could be boring. But I had so much fun just hacking through mobs and skeleton king by using similar build in beta, so I think it'll be fun for some people at least
Again, sorry for the long post. I really would appreciate comments, and thoughts for the build! Let me know if I made any mistakes, or if you could suggest change for better build.
Some of the bosses will require you to aoe so you may want to see if overpower being your only aoe ability will be enough to handle that situation. Also, if this is an inferno build remember that hacking through a group of mobs with 1 aoe ability with a cd and no constant form of lifeleach may require you to run in and out of combat popping pots or waiting till overpower is back up to regen health. You have ignore pain too but that's got a 30sec cd. just my 2cents. the beta didn't really require much health regen i think i used 1 pot the whole time. But hell and inferno will require alot more hp regen and survivability.
Some of the bosses will require you to aoe so you may want to see if overpower being your only aoe ability will be enough to handle that situation. Also, if this is an inferno build remember that hacking through a group of mobs with 1 aoe ability with a cd and no constant form of lifeleach may require you to run in and out of combat popping pots or waiting till overpower is back up to regen health. You have ignore pain too but that's got a 30sec cd. just my 2cents. the beta didn't really require much health regen i think i used 1 pot the whole time. But hell and inferno will require alot more hp regen and survivability.
I agree. Not enough defensive abilities for Inferno, and only one AOE skill will make combat very difficult and a pain in the a$$.
I have a question about the viability of this build.
Does generating fury while at full fury count as you generating fury for the use of Wrath of the Berserker? Because if not your build might flop as it is. If it does the build might be pretty fun.
yea I do mention runes should be swapped depending on boss that you encounter. I personally am leaning more towards Insanity for 100% damage buff because even with enough fury regeneration, I think maximum timer you could get on WotB is around +5-8 seconds maybe? Guess we'll have to see in the actual game for that.. How would you guys set up ToC build then? the thoughts went through this build was to a) build fury to max then use WotB c) use Warcry (+30 fury) + ground stomp or threatening shout if you decided to carry those over ignore pain d) use overpower (+10 crit chance, total of 28% crit from skills) e) keep pounding on the boss for +15 fury each time you crit along with +3 from each frenzy.
And this is only for bosses specifically where you don't require much aoe compared to trashes. And because we're able to swap skills/runes anytime we want, I only have few Core skills/passives, while others can be swapped for what is needed depending on situations..
I do agree about inferno issue though. Having 1 or 2 defensive skills may not have been enough, and this build relies heavily on getting items with life leech. That's why I wanted to ask community here for feedbacks and recommendations if possible
and @ MrSalt, I do believe the fury generation after max fury counts toward WotB judging from what tooltip says. IF not, then I would most likely run Insanity rune on WotB.
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I've been experimenting and theorycrafting for single target dps barb build (mostly for bosses), and this is what I've come up with. I really would appreciate comments, and thoughts for the build because for now, I am really leaning onto full-fury build for both boss and non-boss fights...
http://us.battle.net...kPiR!cZb!YZccYb
**WARNING WALL OF POST INC***
Active Spells
1. Frenzy with Smite rune
- Good single target dps with chance to stun. IMO possibily better than bash with stun rune since frenzy does add 75% attack speed. Because this build will focus on having full fury almost 100% of the time, frenzy will become the primary skill.
-Since Frenzy only deals 110% damage, you may want to consider Maniac for more damage if you feel the 20% stun is not needed.
2. Overpower with Killing Spree
- I opted for overpower instead of Revenge, mainly because well.. to activate revenge you need to get hit. Now, the numbers written in the tooltip says 15% and to me just on the paper, it seems like I would probably have more overpower procs than revenge especially during 1 on 1 boss fights (assuming boss will be hitting me since I am the melee). Also, because landing critical hits will reduce the overpower's cd by 1 second, it may be useful to get Killing Spree rune (+10% crit chance for 6 seconds) instead of other runes. It may be possible to switch to Revel rune (8% max life per enemy hit), but that may be more useful in aoe pack than boss fight. The other runes just didn't seem attractive enough to take into consideration for this build.
- Until I can actually play the game and have decent amount of experience on Revenge/Overpower, I feel like I will be swapping two skills or perhaps use them at the same time during normal/nm.
3. War Cry
- Classic shout from Diablo 2. May switch to different runes depending on the boss.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from physical source, then use Hardened wrath, or Invigorate.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from auto attack, then use Veteran's warning, or Hardened wrath, or Invigorate.
- i.e. if the boss's main damage is from elemental source, use Impunity.
4. Wrath of the Berserker
- Need I say more? This would be the main cooldown ability for this build. If using Thrive on Chaos rune, it may be beneficial to save other fury generating cooldowns until you cast first WotB to boost the length of WotB.
- The runes that seem appealing to me are Thrive on Chaos, Insanity, and Striding Giant. Of course, runes should be swapped depending on what kind of boss you're facing. It seems like ToC rune will be the cookie cutter here however...
- i.e. Insanity if the boss has the down times like in WoW raid bosses (although, I highly doubt this will be the case for D3, but I just had to put it down for completeness sake)
- i.e. Striding giant along with Veteran's Warning for Warcry against autoattack boss (not sure if the dodges will stack, because then you'd have 80% dodge)
- Because WotB has such a long cooldown, should use it only when you know you can pound on the boss without interruption for a while...
5. Battle Rage
- I really like this skill. Free damage and crit chance for 30 seconds seem very, very huge dps boost for me. IMO if using WotB with ToC rune, Battle Rage should be used with Into the Fray (duh!). Otherwise, use Marauder's Rage for more damage output.
6. Ignore Pain OR Ground Stomp
- Both skills have decent amount of cooldowns, and should be treated as an important cooldown skills. These two have pros and cons I believe, and thats why I havent fully decided which one to use over another.
- For Ignore Pain, you cannot overlook 65% damage reduction. Just like shield wall from WoW, it will be most beneficial to use it when you anticipate high damage output from the boss (i.e. aoe damage around the boss that you cannot interrupt, or when you see he has "empowered" autoattacks. An example I could think of is Icy Touch by Diablo in D2.. not sure if I got the spell name correct). Using runes such as Mob Rule will be most beneficial if you know the boss has the high aoe damage to mitigate damage for everyone in the party. Ignorance is Bliss rune is probably better in any other cases.
- Ground stomp is an active skill that guarantees an aoe stun. This IMO is very strong skill since there is not a lot of spells that grants 100% stun without rune. It can be very useful for bosses that have interruptable spell casts (i.e. Skeleton King in the beta, you could interrupt his skeleton summoning by using stun from bash or ground stomp). This spell would be very situational spell to use, and should only be used to interrupt spells/high channelling aoe damage if possible. As for runes, if using ToC rune for WotB, it "may" be helpful to use Foot of the Mountain for more fury gain. However, since you don't know if you will need to use ground stomp when you use WotB for sure, you may want to consider Deafening Crash or Wrenching Smash. Either of them seemed fine for me personally...
Passives
1. Berserker Rage
- You've guessed it. What would full fury barb build be without this passive?
2. Ruthlessness
- Very strong offensive passive. I believe this is the only spell/passive that grants +crit damage in the game so far (please correct me if I'm wrong). Also gives you more crit chance to help reduce Overpower cooldowns, and more fury gained from Battle Rage with Into the Fray.
3. Free slot
- This spot would purely depend on the boss you're fighting. If the boss is mainly physical damage dealer, then you may want to consider using Nerves of Steel for more armor. If the boss is mainly elemental damage, try Superstition.
- Personally, I would go against Juggernaut. It does offer 20% reduction in CC, however the 15% maximum life recovery is not 100% proc. It may be 20%, 10%, 5%, 25%, or even 50%. Without knowing how often it can proc, I'm not sure if it would be useful to have if the boss rarely use stuns/fear/immobilize/charm. This also doesn't include slow... I feel like this would be good passive to have for AOE clearing, where you know there will be multiple mobs that can CC you directly. Maybe it will be useful if the boss uses stuns/fear/charm/immobilize quite often.
- You could also consider, Brawler for maximum dps, and Inspiring Presence for small heal it grants.
For this build, IMO either dualhand mighty weapon, or 1 hand weapon + shield would be the ideal since Frenzy will be the main source of damage. Some Pros and Cons for this build:
Pros
- Doesn't require much skill... just pay attention to what the boss is doing to cast appropriate cooldowns.
- COULD provide high dps output with Zerker rage, but we will have to see in the actual game.
- No need to worry about fury management, and could swap Frenzy for Cleave to use this build for aoe damage.
- All in all, this build gives you +18% crit chance without WotB. With WotB, that is 28% without items. This alone could keep building up fury (from Battle Rage) and reducing Overpower cd to maximize the use for both Overpower and WotB.
Cons
- Could be very boring
- Lacks fury dump. Fury spenders can provide utility, as well as nice aoe damage.
- Only one, or no defensive skill/runes if you don't count War Cry.
- Lacks mobility (i.e. Leap, Charge, Sprint)
- Again, could be boring. But I had so much fun just hacking through mobs and skeleton king by using similar build in beta, so I think it'll be fun for some people at least
TL; DR - full fury build for boss fights with situational swap in runes/1 passive/1 active spell http://us.battle.net...kPiR!cZb!YZccYb
Again, sorry for the long post. I really would appreciate comments, and thoughts for the build! Let me know if I made any mistakes, or if you could suggest change for better build.
I agree. Not enough defensive abilities for Inferno, and only one AOE skill will make combat very difficult and a pain in the a$$.
Does generating fury while at full fury count as you generating fury for the use of Wrath of the Berserker? Because if not your build might flop as it is. If it does the build might be pretty fun.
And this is only for bosses specifically where you don't require much aoe compared to trashes. And because we're able to swap skills/runes anytime we want, I only have few Core skills/passives, while others can be swapped for what is needed depending on situations..
I do agree about inferno issue though. Having 1 or 2 defensive skills may not have been enough, and this build relies heavily on getting items with life leech. That's why I wanted to ask community here for feedbacks and recommendations if possible
and @ MrSalt, I do believe the fury generation after max fury counts toward WotB judging from what tooltip says. IF not, then I would most likely run Insanity rune on WotB.