I was wondering what people thought about using a good Maximus http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/maximus with Sweeping Wind runed Fire Storm. That rune increases the radius of Sweeping Wind and changes the damage type to fire. Maximus can add up to 25% to fire damage.
A Helm of Command with +life%, Socket, Resist all, and +armor.
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A 1h weapon with perfect damage (Elemental Damage, Attack Speed, +50% damage), Life on Hit, Socket, Str
If this is really a serious thing though, you would want an item that could adapt to your build. If you wanted to someday stray from the sword and board to a big 2h weapon, you may want to shy away from things with block% or a 1h weapon. As of right now though, it seems like this is the strongest barb build so those are the items I would choose from.
Look at his offhand. He has 15% attack speed and 8% crit, so yes he factored in the quiver.
Maybe I am confused, but isn't the primary argument for using 2 1h xbows that you can get crit damage much higher? But in the spreadsheet it seems that you only give the hxbows 20% more crit damage (higher gems). The attack speed from items also confuses me as it doesn't seem to make sense that a bit 2h xbow would fire at the same speed as the hxbows.
Not sure if this can work at all and I have some questions on some rune effects as well. Input would be greatly appreciated. I am definitely going to run a monk first but my final build is up in the air.
Fists of Thunder - Bounding Light = I need to gain spirit somewhat quick and the skill says this is the fastest of them. I also dislike knockback and really like the chain lightning adding a bit of AoE damage. Some possible changes could be going Way of the Hundred Fists as a way to keep Sweeping Wind up and at max stacks. Also considered Crippling Wave to be more defensive. As of right now though, FoT seems like the strongest pick.
Tempest Rush - ??? = I chose this as a way to move to the next mobs faster and to do some minor AoE damage at the same time. I really don't know what rune to put in it.
Breath of Heaven - Blazing Wrath = This is one of the choices where I have a question on the rune. The wording says that it increases the damage of my ATTACKS, I will take a different rune if that damage does not add to my aura damage (Sweeping Wind, Mantra of Conviction).
Sweeping Wind - Blade Storm = This is one of the two continuous AoE damage effects (auras) that I run. I chose the rune to make the damage stronger. I would really like to keep this up as long as possible to save on spirit costs but I recognize that that isn't going to always be possible.
Cyclone Strike - ??? = I really like the AoE damage and pulling things closer to get them into my aura damage range. I don't know what to rune it with though. There are several runes that all look good to me.
Mantra of Conviction - Submission = The rune adds another damaging aura effect which is another reason I wanted to try this build. The question is if the damage listed on the rune will be increased by the Mantra of Convictions damage buff.
Passive skills;
Chant of Resonance - This is really cool to save on spirit costs and have a passive spirit regen but I still wonder how useful it will be. I wonder how often I will want to use the mantra every few seconds to just get the double bonus.
Seize the Initiative - This just seems like the monks strongest defensive passive. I almost always take this one.
Resolve - This one was questionable. Looking at the rest of the defensive skills I just want the one that will be best. If the aura damage continually triggers this then melee mobs will always be doing the less damage.
A major crux to this build will be how much damage will really be put out. If the damage output is very low from the auras then it may be better to just go a different way. If the damage ends up being strong, it seems like this could be a fast way to farm stuff.
If it is true that thorns will damage anything within a melee radius no matter the kind of attack the enemy uses, then skills that pull enemies close would be great. Leap Attack (Call of Arreat) to pull enemies closer. That way you can leap to a caster and pull others close enough for them to take damage.
I would probably put Provocation on the Revenge to make it proc more. You will need all the life you can get and that will help. Plus it will be more AoE damage.
There doesn't seem to be many builds here based on the pvp arena. I think it would be interesting to get some discussion going on what different skills would be used in pvp vs pvm.
I am focusing on stuns and slows and have a couple skills that pull the enemy in closer. I don't think big aoe attacks are going to be very useful in pvp as most of the time you are just going to have a single target. I don't have much in the way of mobility and that may be a mistake but I feel that the pulling makes up for it when trying to catch enemies. I would hope the barb wouldn't have to run from enemies.
Anyway, critiques and criticisms?
Edit: Changed Seismic Slam into Leap Attack with a stun rune. Thanks Casanova for giving the idea of leaping to a stunned foe.
Would a +cold damage mod on your weapon count as slow or something else? It seems like it would be really too powerful if cold damage counted as slow when it slowed the enemy.
I don't know how common it is going to be that people opt for a big 2h weapon over dual-weilding. The Bul-Kathos set is rather nice looking on its face. But I was looking for skills that would take advantage of the higher max damage. At least I think that they are going to use that instead of DPS to detemine weapon damage skills. Would be utterly pointless to ever have a large slow weapon if they did that.
Now, at first, I was looking at Whirlwind as that does its damage per second so the actual weapon speed wouldn't seem to matter. That would favor a big slow, high max damage weapon. I just don't know if I like the cost being that steep and the damage still seems small compared to some other skills.
So with this initial build, I am trying the "max fury" style. Instead of using WW I am trying the free AOE skills Revenge and Overpower. I am also going to try Furious Charge as a way of getting out of tight spots and dealing some good damage.
There isn't a great item database yet, but I am going to assume there will be a high damage 2h sword for the purposes of Weapon Master. I also have a lot of damage mods. I don't know the proper formula but this is one plan. Frenzy (+20%) + Battle Rage (+30%) + Weapon Master (+15%) + Berserker Rage (+25%) and then activating Earthquake to get some massive damage ticking.
I was also torn between Boon of Bul-Kathos for faster earthquakes and Unforgiving for constant max fury. I don't really know how fast rage would degenerate or how soon it starts to degenerate after gaining fury.
Is there a way to change the thread title? Meant 2h Sword. :-/
that 2000% Weapon Damage on Earthquake is over 8 seconds though. So it is actually 250% WD per second. WW is still better damage and doesn't have that cooldown. The only way WW will keep that much damage is if the cost ticks at the same rate of the damage.
I am curious if WW would activate Weapon Master if you were wielding a mighty weapon. If it does, WW could become the new WotB as the skill people try to keep going perpetually.
Instead of Whirlwind, why not Earthquake? I do mine with a golden to reduce cost and cooldown. It doesn't say that it is channeled so if it is something you let go and it lasts 8 seconds while you can still beat on them, it seems a lot stronger against bosses as well.
A question I was wondering about. Do you go with a shield? I am sure there will come calculations of shield stats vs life leech and faster killing on a better weapon. Or maybe we will get lucky and they will release some fantastic 2-handed Mighty weapon that adds to defense as well.
Why don't you take crimson sacrifice ? Works like pierce of veil and you can eventually stack it dozens of times, it may even work with alabaster zombie charger, which would be totally OP ..
Crimson Sacrifice says "for every dog sacrificed" though, so I don't think that combo would work. It does add another dog though, if you have some other buffs.
I was messing with the skill calculator the other day trying really hard to make an ancient spear build. I loved the idea of the multiple grappling hook AS but didn't like the damage output potential. I also really like the rune that gains you a ton of life. I was wondering though, would it really be too imbalanced if you had could select the same skill in your lineup more than once but with different runes? What if the runes stacks the skill ability so that the skill did everything you had it runed for? Would a build with Weapon Throw be too powerful if it could have more than one rune in that skill?
Imagine this;
Ancient Spear - Rage Flip(Alabaster Rune) - Enemies hit with Ancient Spear will be tossed in the opposite direction and damage is increased to 110% weapon damage.
Ancient Spear - Skirmish(Golden Rune) - Increase fury gain to 29.
Ancient Spear - Siphon(Obsidian Rune) - Gain life equal to 400% damage done.
So whenever you throw your Ancient Spear, you do 110% weapon damage, push back enemies hit, gain 29 fury, and gain 400% life. Seems really silly, but maybe not as broken as some of the current real builds are with stacking damage buffs and such. It seems you can get similar results with different skills, it just takes a little more work than spamming one button, but can happen faster as this is on a cooldown.
Weapon Throw - Ricochet(Indigo Rune) - Angle the weapon to ricochet and hit up to 5 targets withing 20 yards of each other.
This one is simply just 2 stacked runes and it seems overpowered. Although it does cost fury, it can be spammed quickly. It is like a super powered chain lightning, hitting up to 5 targets for 368% weapon damage.
Imagine No Escape stacked on top of this.
Even if that is too powerful stacking the runes, I don't think it would be too powerful to allow different versions of the same skill. What if I want the Ancient Spear that gains life, and I also want the Ancient Spear that pulls enemies? Is it too much to have them colored based on the rune in them and to have both options in the same line-up?
I don't really know what it takes to go switch skills around, but it seems like people are just going to TP back to town right before a boss and change their line-up.
Anyway, it was a fun thought experiment. What do you all think?
Whirlwind has a rune that makes it fire damage and basically doubles how much it does. Given that, I think having an elemental attack may be a great hindrance in a lot of cases. There must be a lot of resistances in later difficulties.
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I was wondering what people thought about using a good Maximus http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/maximus with Sweeping Wind runed Fire Storm. That rune increases the radius of Sweeping Wind and changes the damage type to fire. Maximus can add up to 25% to fire damage.
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A 1h weapon with perfect damage (Elemental Damage, Attack Speed, +50% damage), Life on Hit, Socket, Str
If this is really a serious thing though, you would want an item that could adapt to your build. If you wanted to someday stray from the sword and board to a big 2h weapon, you may want to shy away from things with block% or a 1h weapon. As of right now though, it seems like this is the strongest barb build so those are the items I would choose from.
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Maybe I am confused, but isn't the primary argument for using 2 1h xbows that you can get crit damage much higher? But in the spreadsheet it seems that you only give the hxbows 20% more crit damage (higher gems). The attack speed from items also confuses me as it doesn't seem to make sense that a bit 2h xbow would fire at the same speed as the hxbows.
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#acXifk!cXZ!cabZac
Skills and runes;
Fists of Thunder - Bounding Light = I need to gain spirit somewhat quick and the skill says this is the fastest of them. I also dislike knockback and really like the chain lightning adding a bit of AoE damage. Some possible changes could be going Way of the Hundred Fists as a way to keep Sweeping Wind up and at max stacks. Also considered Crippling Wave to be more defensive. As of right now though, FoT seems like the strongest pick.
Tempest Rush - ??? = I chose this as a way to move to the next mobs faster and to do some minor AoE damage at the same time. I really don't know what rune to put in it.
Breath of Heaven - Blazing Wrath = This is one of the choices where I have a question on the rune. The wording says that it increases the damage of my ATTACKS, I will take a different rune if that damage does not add to my aura damage (Sweeping Wind, Mantra of Conviction).
Sweeping Wind - Blade Storm = This is one of the two continuous AoE damage effects (auras) that I run. I chose the rune to make the damage stronger. I would really like to keep this up as long as possible to save on spirit costs but I recognize that that isn't going to always be possible.
Cyclone Strike - ??? = I really like the AoE damage and pulling things closer to get them into my aura damage range. I don't know what to rune it with though. There are several runes that all look good to me.
Mantra of Conviction - Submission = The rune adds another damaging aura effect which is another reason I wanted to try this build. The question is if the damage listed on the rune will be increased by the Mantra of Convictions damage buff.
Passive skills;
Chant of Resonance - This is really cool to save on spirit costs and have a passive spirit regen but I still wonder how useful it will be. I wonder how often I will want to use the mantra every few seconds to just get the double bonus.
Seize the Initiative - This just seems like the monks strongest defensive passive. I almost always take this one.
Resolve - This one was questionable. Looking at the rest of the defensive skills I just want the one that will be best. If the aura damage continually triggers this then melee mobs will always be doing the less damage.
A major crux to this build will be how much damage will really be put out. If the damage output is very low from the auras then it may be better to just go a different way. If the damage ends up being strong, it seems like this could be a fast way to farm stuff.
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I would probably put Provocation on the Revenge to make it proc more. You will need all the life you can get and that will help. Plus it will be more AoE damage.
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Here is my draft build.
http://eu.battle.net...XVkP!ZTf!baYbbZ
I am focusing on stuns and slows and have a couple skills that pull the enemy in closer. I don't think big aoe attacks are going to be very useful in pvp as most of the time you are just going to have a single target. I don't have much in the way of mobility and that may be a mistake but I feel that the pulling makes up for it when trying to catch enemies. I would hope the barb wouldn't have to run from enemies.
Anyway, critiques and criticisms?
Edit: Changed Seismic Slam into Leap Attack with a stun rune. Thanks Casanova for giving the idea of leaping to a stunned foe.
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Now, at first, I was looking at Whirlwind as that does its damage per second so the actual weapon speed wouldn't seem to matter. That would favor a big slow, high max damage weapon. I just don't know if I like the cost being that steep and the damage still seems small compared to some other skills.
So with this initial build, I am trying the "max fury" style. Instead of using WW I am trying the free AOE skills Revenge and Overpower. I am also going to try Furious Charge as a way of getting out of tight spots and dealing some good damage.
Take a look and tell me what you think.
http://us.battle.net...eRgU!YXh!ZaYcba
There isn't a great item database yet, but I am going to assume there will be a high damage 2h sword for the purposes of Weapon Master. I also have a lot of damage mods. I don't know the proper formula but this is one plan. Frenzy (+20%) + Battle Rage (+30%) + Weapon Master (+15%) + Berserker Rage (+25%) and then activating Earthquake to get some massive damage ticking.
I was also torn between Boon of Bul-Kathos for faster earthquakes and Unforgiving for constant max fury. I don't really know how fast rage would degenerate or how soon it starts to degenerate after gaining fury.
Is there a way to change the thread title? Meant 2h Sword. :-/
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Here is my fast build I did in 5 mins.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#fgYXib!cdh!ZZZbbb
A question I was wondering about. Do you go with a shield? I am sure there will come calculations of shield stats vs life leech and faster killing on a better weapon. Or maybe we will get lucky and they will release some fantastic 2-handed Mighty weapon that adds to defense as well.
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Crimson Sacrifice says "for every dog sacrificed" though, so I don't think that combo would work. It does add another dog though, if you have some other buffs.
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Imagine this;
Ancient Spear - Rage Flip(Alabaster Rune) - Enemies hit with Ancient Spear will be tossed in the opposite direction and damage is increased to 110% weapon damage.
Ancient Spear - Skirmish(Golden Rune) - Increase fury gain to 29.
Ancient Spear - Siphon(Obsidian Rune) - Gain life equal to 400% damage done.
So whenever you throw your Ancient Spear, you do 110% weapon damage, push back enemies hit, gain 29 fury, and gain 400% life. Seems really silly, but maybe not as broken as some of the current real builds are with stacking damage buffs and such. It seems you can get similar results with different skills, it just takes a little more work than spamming one button, but can happen faster as this is on a cooldown.
Weapon Throw - Mighty Throw(Crimson Rune) - Increase throw weapon damage to 368% weapon damage.
Weapon Throw - Ricochet(Indigo Rune) - Angle the weapon to ricochet and hit up to 5 targets withing 20 yards of each other.
This one is simply just 2 stacked runes and it seems overpowered. Although it does cost fury, it can be spammed quickly. It is like a super powered chain lightning, hitting up to 5 targets for 368% weapon damage.
Imagine No Escape stacked on top of this.
Even if that is too powerful stacking the runes, I don't think it would be too powerful to allow different versions of the same skill. What if I want the Ancient Spear that gains life, and I also want the Ancient Spear that pulls enemies? Is it too much to have them colored based on the rune in them and to have both options in the same line-up?
I don't really know what it takes to go switch skills around, but it seems like people are just going to TP back to town right before a boss and change their line-up.
Anyway, it was a fun thought experiment. What do you all think?
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