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Yes, I like more legendary loot and I'm getting more as a result of the change. The math doesn't lie here.

Out of 500 shards, rolling gloves, I'm consistently getting 0-6 legendary items. Usually 2-4. Quite nice. I don't care at all about the mats lost. Rift guardians make up for it and frankly, I have 1500 of each mat on hand at all times with seasonal crafting needs for 2 characters.

Anyone know if the Star Icon and text for Ramaladni's Gift was fixed in yesterday's patch? I haven't seen one of these drop in over a week, which also makes me believe I haven't been seeing them



Thanks!

I certainly disagree regarding Crusaders, having played both Barb and Crusader extensively.

Of the 9 Legendary Crusader Shields, only Hallowed Bulwark and Sublime Conviction have no real use in an optimized T6 level build. Akarat's Awakening is questionable.

3 of the 4 Legendary Fails are viable in T6+ builds. 1 of the 3 other 2 weapons are solid for combat (I expect Cam's Rebuttal will be in a future patch).

The 1 Hand weapons aren't that useful for end game, but at least 50% performed well in leveling builds and a few in T6 builds before 2H weapons blew them out of the water.

The main issue that is that we have 3 armor sets which influence our builds and maybe 1-2 weapons/Shields. Tops.

For example: Why do we even have the ability to use a shield with no perks for using one in the form of ability modifying items?

For example: What 2h weapon are barbs eagerly trying to farm because it enhances WW, Hammer of the Ancients, etc that is impactful and game changing in competition with VileCharge or Leapquake?

Any idea why Barbs have so little ability modifying gear compared to the other classes. Seems like nearly every Crusader weapon and shield does some ability morphing trick to expand build options.

Part of the reason barbs are struggling outside of Charge spam is lack of these items. Blizzard should address this I think, no?

Just test it and see for yourself. Super easy thing to test ingame

Quote from MeatHeadMikhail

If you're talking about your seasonal barb and saying you have bis gear, think again. Nowhere NEAR bis. Second, you don't dw with eq. That's your #1 problem. Fix those then we'll talk about the rest (yes dh is strong right now, we all know this).

I agree. Lots of incorrect assumptions in this thread. EQ massively benefits from a slow, 2H weapon. Definitely don't see what I could consider optimized gear, but do see a lot of dramatic exclamation.
Let's work in math, documentation, etc to work out the issues and be constructive Barb Team!

I would also add the following:

Yes, greater rift design is part of the issue (really with the random Conduit shrines, Blizzard?).

Electrified design is just as much of the issue in T6 as it is GR35... it's also a matter of gear scaling and party composition. The rest of the easy to avoid with ranged combat magic damage affixes compound the issue. I'm happy to struggle as a melee class (it's that way in all games), but when I see two of the three melee classes doing much better over all, it's clear that Barbs need some tuning.

Core issue is that to survive we must give up more damage than other melee classes as I see it.

I completely agree with the need for diversity and support that. I don't want my Barbarians to play like a Crusader. Wrath doesn't need to be the same as Akarat's, but it does need to be adjusted to bring Barbs up to a more level playing field and make each of the runes more useful with recent changes to the game in 2.1. Wrath is our bread and butter "steroid" and a huge benefit to nearly any build. But, it's lacking by today's standards.

Basically, Crusaders have a 100% up time steroid that gives them damage, sustain, and defense. Barbs do not. As a result, Barbs currently must commit more skills to survivability at a greater penalty to damage output.

Obviously, reworking Wrath and maybe another skill or two could be helpful to Barbarians to overcome this deficiency.

Regarding Block... I did not realize that!! I thought after the 1.06 patch, magic damage was not longer blocked. As one of the original few Barbs who defeated Diablo pre-Inferno nerf, I'm a bit ashamed I didn't fully understand the full scope of Blocking.

Too bad it is so hard to justify shield usage. I really wish our Block related passive was stronger. It would be awesome to make up for some of the loss of damage somehow.

I've been playing a Seasonal Crusader alongside my Seasonal Barb and have really noticed how much the Crusader class feels polished and refined compared to Barb. They have solutions to problems like Electrified, Single Target Damage vs AOE Damage balance and more for most viable GR30+ builds with a few viable ability and passive swaps that don't significantly hurt damage output.

If Wrath of the Berserker was more in line with Akarat's Champion, Barbs would have a lot less of an issue with Electrified, for example.

Increased attack speed hurts against Electrified. But, it helps with Fury production, life on hit, and damage output. So, some core adjustments need to be made to Wrath to balance it with the new 2.1 game play.

Possible Solve for base ability:

-Add flat damage % increase (25 or 30%)
-Lower attack speed increase to maybe 10 or 15% or remove all together and balance otherwise (perhaps make attack speed mod the new Arreat's Wail)
-Retain Crit increase or adjust slightly to balance
-Add Fury per hit increase or generation
-Change Dodge%? Isn't melee damage the least of our worries and dodge fairly week? Some form of base healing or armor/resist would be better.

Rune Status:

Arreat's Wail - useless in current state. Needs a complete redesign as this damage output on a 120second cooldown is pathetic. Attack speed increase for those that still want it?
Insanity - great as is, so maybe the base dmg is 30% and you get 50% with insanity still?
Slaughter - okay or maybe a minor tweak needed
Striding Giant - Excellent as is I think
Thrive on Chaos - Untested, seems unnecessary and weak compared to Insanity. A 30% dmg increase for the base ability would make this more attractive. Possible death immunity to help Hardcore players?

The 120 second Cooldown of Wrath is not in line with Akarat's Champion at all. It's quite easy to get 100% up-time of Akarat's. To even get 75% Wrath up-time we also have to select the Boon passive AND stack a lot of cooldown reduction.

I would also say that Block needs a notable revamp as it is totally useless against magic and should not be.

Love to see more of the communities constructive thoughts shared. Blizzard does listen!

Greetings fellow Barbs!

I'm sure many of you have had the pleasure of leaping or charging into an electrified pack only to effectively lose all 443,274 of your hitpoints seemingly "instantly". For the last few days, I've been fearfully dancing around these mobs, killing them with great caution, cursing them all the while.

Let's discuss Electrified and our successes/failures here in terms of T6 since that is the easiest standard to measure and one which everyone drives toward.

In terms of T6 and without Xephirian Amulet, some things to consider/comment on:

Do you feel Electrified needs a change? If so, what change?

Do you feel Electrified is detrimental to pet users' game-play experience?

Do you feel Electrified is detrimental to melee classes' game-play experience?

Have you been successful as a barbarian tackling head-on Electrified packs?

If so...

1) What Toughness level allowed you to survive direct contact (or impact as it often may be with leap/charge) with a T6 Electrified Pack?

2) What was your lightning resist in this scenario?

3) What was your approximate hit points?

COTA is perfectly useable in T6--don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I did a T6 clear with COTA last night using a Rend build as fast or faster than I could with an optimized Leapquake build. Same is true for HOTA or Seismic.

Not once did the Ancients die and they crit in the 10's of millions per hit (I've seen 22 million hits without any significant snapshot with Insanity up).

I tested this last night and it was enjoyable. Feels in-line with WD and Crusaders and new Monks and maybe a little better than Leapquake even. I like the gameplay style more. Thanks to all who contributed.

Quote from Kshatriya

any1 tried this with a lightning setup? ww plus Ik set? Reakors still feels kinda clunky tbh.

Lightning doesn't really make sense as Rend is a physical ability. You need to stack Physical damage to take full advantage of Rend.

Are you just leaping or are you leaping on creatures?

I'm seeing some pretty inaccurate information posted here.

1) Barbs have not been "nerfed into the ground". We haven't been buffed while other classes have. Wizards and Monks are in the same boat. I still have absolutely no problem doing T6 end game groups or solo with my barb using any of the 3 common set builds (IK, Earth, or Raekors). Yes, it not as easy as doing it on my WD.

2) Two handed weapons are viable and do have a place. Maximus is one of the best examples. It actually works very well with a Seismic Slam build due to the high damage and slower attack speed. It also works well with Leapquake. The same is true when used appropriately for The Furnace. Mannercookie and several other testers have proven and documented this.

3) Two-Handers are universally weakened compared to dual-wielding due to the issue with Crit Hit Damage and stat balance. There are many ways to fix this broken mechanic of the game and unfortunately Blizzard has elected not to take any of them to date. Perhaps in 2.1 or a later date. That said, if you have very good 2h weapon, it will compete with and in some cases outshine a dual-wield setup where attack speed doesn't matter and top-end damage does.