Loca`ne
10-08-2004, 20:43
WW/Conc Barb Hybrid v1.5 final
Intro:
I: Description
II: Skills
III: Stats
IV: Equipment
V: Choke Points
VI: Hints & Tips
When I started this build I was starting from scratch in the realms.
And I was a total newb to v1.10, which I’m enjoying very much. With the
final version of this guide/build marks the 86th lvl of my barb. Playing
in any section of hell save for Chaos Sanctuary (Hell) where I only
venture if I’m giving a friend a rush. His speed and versatility in
killing is unparalleled in any of my other chars. My necro can go places he
cannot when dealing with IM however he lacks the speed that my barb has.
My sorc matches if not surpasses in speed but looses something in the
way of versatility going through limited areas with light and cold
immunities. My pally is a sore reminder that he’s a party char only as his
versatility and speed matches none of my other chars. Lastly this build
is more designed for a 2-handed pole arm or spear type barb, however
any axe/shield, sword/shield, dual axe, and dual sword barb can use this
build just as easily.
I) Description:
This build is more of a pvm build, pvpers are forewarned that though it
can be a good non-tele caster killer, you don’t want to go up against
much else. Also, this is designed more for a two-handed weapon than for
one-handed weapon/shield use. This is also more geared for non-ladder
so upgrading exceptionals to elites is not mentioned in this guide.
The great thing about this build is the points are spread out yes but
only to the areas that matter most. Cry's and offencive skills that you
will use undoubtedly every time you play. BO and Shout are the two
obvious notations but did you know that BCommands gets those synergies to
time? All three cries last over 2 minutes, way longer than the typical
Meph run takes for me. WW maxed, well no duh I use this skill the most.
Conc maxed, again the name stipulates that this is what the secondary
attack is. And man is it ever useful to keep you a live. Especially on
Meph runs, using this in conjuntion with Dracul's Grasp (unique
vampirebone gloves) giving 5% chance to cast lvl 10 Life Tap there by making
Meph "leechable".
What makes WW/Conc an advantage over pure Conc, WW, or WW/Zerk.
1: Pure WW, use up lots of mana in just one use. You run across
manaburns and PI's in hell enough for this to be a problem as you can't drink
blue pots mid ww. This is solved by using Conc while drinking a blue
when you run into the burners & Zerk on the PI/burners.
2: Pure Zerk, is a waste of points past 1. It's a one point wonder IMO.
I can take out most PI's, even boss's like Shenk when he sometimes gets
this mod, in about 1-4 hits depending. Plus it effectively makes your
defence 0.
3: Pure Conc is uninteruptable just like WW uses only 2 mana no matter
what the skill level AND it improves your Def for a short period.
However, alone it’s slow and methodical attacking only one apponent at a
time.
4: WW/Conc's overal killing efficiancy/versatility is unparalled by any
other char type I know. Sorcs even Archmagi's as I've heard tell of in
a previous reply, don't come up to BOTH of these that my build pulls
away with. He can kill ANYTHING in this game, given the right stratagem,
all completely SOLO even in players 8 pit runs. This build is my best
barb I've built to date. It is the ULTIMATE killing melee machine.
Pally's can't match his speed or versatility, Necros can't match his speed,
Sorcs can't match his versatility, Druids can't match his speed or
versatility. Iron-barbs, sure thier def. is high, they get hurt less but
there is a limit to how the def. and offence become self defficating.
What I mean is you go overboard on either side and you hurt the other too
much def. you lack in off. and your killing starts to hurt.
Titan-barbs, sure you hit for some serious damage, but you lack in def. and you
die too much. IMO this build is almost a perfect balance between the two.
PVM you will not find a quicker and more versatile barb for just strait
slaying. IMO ;P I'm not stating fact really cause I haven't test EVERY
build possibility, however, this is the fastest build I HAVE tested.
All that being said lets get down to business.
II) Skills:
Max these:
20 Battle Orders
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Concentrate
20 Whirlwind
Past 1 point:
10-19 Shout (this is your only real customization I give for skills)
One Point Wonders:
1 Natural Resistance
1 Taunt
1 Battle Command
1 Iron Skin
1 Increase Stamina
1 Increase Speed
1 Leap Attack
1 Berserk
Prereq's:
1 Howl
1 Bash
1 Leap
1 Stun
Allocating skill points:
For ease and playability try this, or you can always do it your own
way. Grabbing prereqs along the way max your mastery first. Get both WW
and Zerk as they become available to you, hopefully you’ll have 2 points
saved up when you reach lvl 30, if not then get them when point become
available. Once you’ve got all prereqs, mastery maxed and have both WW
and Zerk useable place points into WW until its past the penalties.
Then alternate or max Conc and WW as you see fit. Lastly max BO and let
the trickle of points you have coming to you in the later lvls go to
Shout.
III) Stats:
STR: No more than about 180-200 you really shouldn’t need more than
this.
DEX: No more than enough for minimum requirement for your weapon
VIT: Dump everything left over here. You should have over 300 points
into this once you reach lvl 99.
ENE: Do I really need to say it? No, but I’m going to anyway, NONE, no
points here. 0, nada, & zip.
Allocating stat points:
This is more on player preference. I however suggest you get your STR
to 60-70, then pump VIT to 50-60, switch back to STR to 100, back to VIT
to 100, finally start pumping DEX to 95 (max if you are using
polearms), after this point alternate as you like or as you need better eq
between STR and VIT. Max your STR at about 180-200 you shouldn’t need
anymore than that if you get the right eq to cover the minimums requirements.
If you are a sword shield barb you need to determine which shield you
are going to use and how much DEX you’ll have to have to achieve max
block at lvl 99 I do not cover that in this build.
IV) Equipment: All eq suggestions I give are for end game
only.
Like I said earlier, this can be left up to your imagination but I can
give you a few points in the right directions.
Weapon: 4 words, Breath of the Dieing. If you can’t ‘afford’ this then
my suggestion is to never leave rare’s alone, if you find a really
decent rare weapon hold onto it. Upgrading and socketing with runes to fill
in the ‘holes’ in most rares can really be a godsend.
EX of a decent rare weapon: this example is almost exactly like a
rare that dropped for me and I use on my pally
2xx% ED
40% IAS
7% ll
Prevent Monster Heal
Body
Runewords
Enigma
Jah + Ith + Ber
+2 To All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 To Teleport
+757 Defense
+ (0.75 Per Character Level) +1-74.25 To Strength (Based On Character
Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced By 8%
+14 Life After Each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+ (1 Per Character Level) +1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
(Based On Character Level)
Stone
Shael + Um + Pul + Lum
+60% Faster Hit Recovery
+220-260% Enhanced Defense
+300 Defense Vs. Missile
+16 To Strength
+16 To Vitality
+10 To Energy
All Resistances +15
Level 16 Molten Boulder (80 Charges)
Level 16 Clay Golem (16 Charges)
Unique
Skullder's Ire
Russet Armor
Defense: 634-732 (v.)(Base Def.: 225-243)
Required Level: 42
Required STR: 97
Durability: 90
+160-200% Enhanced Defense (v.)
Repairs 1 Durability In 5 Seconds
+ (1.25 Per/CLvL) 1-123 % MF (BoCLvL)
+1 To All Skill Levels
Magic Damage Reduced By 10
Helm
Unique
Areats Face is there really any other choice?
+2 To Barbarian Skills
+2 To Combat Skills
+150-200% Enhanced Defense
30% Faster Hit Recovery
+20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+3-6% Life Stolen Per Hit
+30% Resistance To All
Gloves
Unique
Steelrend
+(170-210) Defense
+(15-20) to Strength
+(30-60)% Enhanced Damage
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Draculs Grasp
+(90-120)% Enhanced Defense
(7-10)% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Open Wounds
5% Chance to cast level 10 Life Tap on striking
+(5-10) Life After Each Kill
+(10-15) to Strength
Belt
Unique
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
+(90-140)% Enhanced Defense
+(30-40) to Vitality
+(100-120) to Maximum Stamina
10% Faster Hit Recovery
Damage Reduced by (10-15)%
Replenish Life +(10 - 13) ((0.977 - 1.270) Life Per Second)
Nosferatu's Coil
+15 to Strength
+2 Mana after each kill
Slows Target by 10%
10% Life stolen per hit
+10% Increased Attack Speed
-3 to Light Radius
String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 102-113 (v.)(Base Def.: 29-34)
Required Level: 29
Required STR: 20
Durability: 22
16 Boxes
+150-180% Enhanced Defense (v.)
+15 Defense
6-8% Life Stolen Per Hit (v.)
Damage Reduced By 10-15% (v.)
Magic Damage Reduced 10-15 (v.)
Boots
Unique
Gore Rider
-25% Item Requirements
+15% Chance of Deadly Strike
30% Faster Run/Walk
+15% Chance of Crushing Blow
+10% Chance of Open Wounds
+160-200% Enhanced Defense
+10 Increased Durability
+20 Stamina
Ring1*
Unique
Bul Kathos Wedding Band
+0.5 Life per Clvl
+1 to All Skills
+3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit
+50 Stamina
Ring2*
Unique
Ravenfrost
Adds 15-45 Cold Damage, 4 seconds cold length
Cannot be Frozen
Absorbs 20% Cold Damage
+15-20 to Dexterity
+150-250 to Attack Rating
5% Chance of casting Slvl 5 Frost Nova When Struck
Ammy
Unique
Highlord's Wrath
+35% to Lightning Resist
Adds 1-30 Lightning Damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skills
+0.375% Chance of Deadly Strike per clvl
Attacker Takes 15 Lightning Damage
Crescent Moon
+11-15% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Magical Damage Taken Reduced by 10
+10% of damage taken goes to mana
-2 Light Radius
+45 to Mana
+3-6% Life Stolen Per Hit
Poor man's item substitutes:
As I'm finding, items are ... very hard to come by for the items poor
player. I use whatever I find basically but for those that don't like
just that then here are a few suggestions.
1: Gamble: max your stash gold and gamble on ammy’s & rings you’ll be
amazed at what you find sometimes, and beyond that you can use some of
them with trades.
2: Trade: gems, runes, and even some sets can be valuable to the right
person. Skill ammy’s some leech and res rings can be sought after so
never think that even though you don’t have a sorc that the +2 sorc ammy
you just gambled up or picked up off a monster’s drop is worthless to
you.
3: Rares: Here is something I’ve seen and been somewhat dumbfounded on.
The mods on some rares can be absolutely godly but it’s on a normal
item. Well with all the new recipies in 1.10 you’re going to find it
eventually but here it is laid out for you.
1 Ort Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal (Basic) Rare
Weapon = Exceptional Rare Weapon
The item type is upgraded.
1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal (Basic) Rare
Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
1 Fal Rune + 1 Um Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Exceptional Rare Weapon =
Elite Rare Weapon
The item type is upgraded.
1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor =
Elite Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
4: Charms: Again, something a lot of gamers overlook. Past mid to late
nm you’re going to find grand charms that are basicly worthless to you
as far as mods, however, crafting can produce some of the most sought
after charms, skillers. 1 gc + 3 pgems can produce these after a number
of tries.
Don’t be afraid to use your socketing quest either, sometimes it’s that
one rune that makes the difference between an item being useful and
your endgame weapon.
Playing this build & the choke points.
Per a request this section is an addition I hadn't thought of. I find
this build is very good for Meph, Shenk, Eldrich, Pindle, Council, Pit,
and Baal runs. Any vet of d2 and bnet will know these names and have
gone after them time and again. What it can’t do well is Countess runs,
which is a decent way to get runes, just not the high lvl and highly
sought after.
V) Choke Points:
Norm:
I found that I didn't have any real problems in normal with this build.
I didn't die once until I tried to solo Baal at lvl 31
Nightmare:
With the right equipment this area is a breeze, my suggestion to you is
find a friend willing to give you a quick rush and then fill in the
gaps after you’ve made it to hell.
Hell:
Here is were it starts to get fun. You shouldn’t have any real problems
past lvl 80 in this build playing around in hell. Problem areas will be
anywhere a spirit type will spawn, Act 2 arcane, canyon, & tombs. Act 5
world stone keep and throne. Another problem are the stygian dolls,
these things are considered non-leechable and they cause thorn damage or
returned damage %. They hurt if you ww through a group of them, possibly
deadly if your VIT isn’t up to snuff. Becareful in Durrence and avoid
those dolls if you are low on life, vita monsters can probably drink a
pot or two and slay a full group with a champ though.
Super Unique monsters with the following enhancement and immune
combinations can be a serious and sometimes deadly problem. Physical Immune
Mana Burn: in mobs these guys can and sometime will cause your death,
suggestion: carry one slot of blue pots to steadily increase your mana
instead of instantly filling it with a purple which will just be reduced
to 0 again on the next hit from them. Physical Immune Mana Burn Extra
Strong Extra Fast: yes these guys do spawn, yes I have died to them more
than once, suggestion: you have two options here, 1 run away a bit and
split up the mob and take them out one at a time, 2 run away, go around
avoid at all costs. Physical Immune, Magical Immune Only once have I
run across one of these… it has to be the most rare monster type I’ve
ever seen, and if you aren’t in a group, avoid it there is no way you can
take this thing out without making multiple trips to town to refill
your belt with pots.
Worldstone keep: possibly the easiest and hardest area depending on
monster spawn type. If you get those horrible mages with the ability to
cast IM you’re better off running around them and getting to the next
level, the same goes for the Gloams (spirits), their attacks are
absolutely unstoppable and in large numbers it’s nothing less than a slaughter,
avoid them at all costs unless you have no choice in which I hope
you’re in a party with a few casters and a summoner necro (gives them more
targets to fire those horrid lightning attacks they have). The worst
combination I’ve seen with mobs are the IM mages and the spirits. First
you get IM’d effectively causing 0 possible leeching and the Gloams start
their attacks. Given the lack of the mages you could possible take out
the Gloams if you have enough leech and there are mobs of other
monsters that you can leech from. Also use Dracul’s Grasp for the 5% to cast
life tap on hit. This will save your life vs Gloams more often than not.
Another strategie someone suggested is Taunt and Howl used in the right
way can cause them to ‘ignore’ and attack you melee with their weak
attack instead of their lightning blast. Also Wisp Protector has been
suggested as another alternative with it’s absorbs.
VI) Hints & Tips
WW'ing in small triangle or square shapes continously can be
devistating through leechable mobs. Stick a demon limb in your enventory, (has
21-23 lvl enchange charges) use the enchant charge on any difficult runs.
This tremendously increases your AR and adds a decent amount of fire
damage. Keep an eye out for obsticals, sometimes WW get's hung up on
chests, walls other opjects protruding from the ground. Caught between a
rock and a hard place? Howl and then leap attack out of the mobs can be a
life saver.
Always have Conc on your left click and WW on your right click, make
quick keys for BC, Shout and BO (use them in that order so you come out
with a higher lvl of the latter two cries) and WW in the right click
menu. Make quick keys for COnc and Zerk in the left click menu. Make a
quick key for town portal as well to save you time and sometimes save your
life.
Make the "show ground items" key into space bar instead of Alt, it'll
save you from hitting that Windows Key sometimes. I hate that... :\
Gloams gettin you down? Taunt one and run a little ways away from thier
group, let him come to you and Conc him to death. Or, run past them
drinking a red pot or even a full juvy if they really hitting hard. There
is no shame in running.
Enigma can be a barb's best friend, but don't be afraid to use
something with high resistances and a bit of life. Upped Goldskins to Chaos
Armor can profice decent defence with +35 to all resistances. Small charms
with 7-10% to an individual resistance you are lacking on can be a help
as well. DR is never a bad thing, Gaze and or Shaftstop can help you
out through some ugly areas while trying to build your baba up.
It’s good to have a friend with you, someone you trust not to be grabby
to help you through the wp's and boss's, don't ever accept rushes for
forge or drops these are YOUR drops and the best the boss's will give
you, and you only get the forge 3 times(norm, nm, & hell) per character.
You WILL cry when you see that high lvl rune drop in hell and have to
give it up because someone gave you a rush for it.
BaBa's rules of thumb:
Never be ashamed to run, if it saves your life, gold and xp... why not?
Never go into a baal run without a full belt of reds and/or purples and
at least 1 line of blues.
lvl to 20, do cow runs upto 24, do ancients, do normal baal runs upto
lvl 45-50, nm baal runs upto 70-75, and the rest is up to you.
-
Thanks for reading my build.
All suggestions/comments/error fix's can be posted below or emailed and
I will accredit you for them if implemented.
-
v1.0 to v1.1 changes
Removed Delirium because it's not a viable helm to use for this build.
Unique boots changed to Gore Rider because Sprokets doesn't exist
anymore in 1.10. thx to Halciet for the correction.
How to play this build section, How to handle the tough spots section,
& Poor man's item substitute section. Suggested by WebDragon.
Thx to Fishmonger for pointing me to this area
www.battle.net/diablo2exp/.
Spell checked and grammar corrected thx to ms word ;)
First attempt at formating as well.
-
v1.1 to v1.2 changes
Name Changed: Friend told me this was more of a hybrid.
Formating fixed: v1.1 looked just horrid.
-
v1.2 to v1.3 changes
Battlecry & Warcry removed from prereq’s section as they were not
prereqs. Thanks to LeTHaL_BaNaNa for spotting this mistake.
-
v1.3 to v1.4 changes
Modified formatting, changed eq up a little.
Removed a large portion of stat suggestions.
Added hell choke point areas and help.
Cleaned up choke point area.
Added more to description (nearly direct pull from my comments on
rpgforum.com in reply to the shortened version of this guide).
-
v1.4 to 1.5 final changes
Fixed minor keying and formating errors.
Fixed name.
Added Intro.
Expanded Hint's & Tips.
Fixed a few remaining errors.
Added a few things I wanted to say.
Intro:
I: Description
II: Skills
III: Stats
IV: Equipment
V: Choke Points
VI: Hints & Tips
When I started this build I was starting from scratch in the realms.
And I was a total newb to v1.10, which I’m enjoying very much. With the
final version of this guide/build marks the 86th lvl of my barb. Playing
in any section of hell save for Chaos Sanctuary (Hell) where I only
venture if I’m giving a friend a rush. His speed and versatility in
killing is unparalleled in any of my other chars. My necro can go places he
cannot when dealing with IM however he lacks the speed that my barb has.
My sorc matches if not surpasses in speed but looses something in the
way of versatility going through limited areas with light and cold
immunities. My pally is a sore reminder that he’s a party char only as his
versatility and speed matches none of my other chars. Lastly this build
is more designed for a 2-handed pole arm or spear type barb, however
any axe/shield, sword/shield, dual axe, and dual sword barb can use this
build just as easily.
I) Description:
This build is more of a pvm build, pvpers are forewarned that though it
can be a good non-tele caster killer, you don’t want to go up against
much else. Also, this is designed more for a two-handed weapon than for
one-handed weapon/shield use. This is also more geared for non-ladder
so upgrading exceptionals to elites is not mentioned in this guide.
The great thing about this build is the points are spread out yes but
only to the areas that matter most. Cry's and offencive skills that you
will use undoubtedly every time you play. BO and Shout are the two
obvious notations but did you know that BCommands gets those synergies to
time? All three cries last over 2 minutes, way longer than the typical
Meph run takes for me. WW maxed, well no duh I use this skill the most.
Conc maxed, again the name stipulates that this is what the secondary
attack is. And man is it ever useful to keep you a live. Especially on
Meph runs, using this in conjuntion with Dracul's Grasp (unique
vampirebone gloves) giving 5% chance to cast lvl 10 Life Tap there by making
Meph "leechable".
What makes WW/Conc an advantage over pure Conc, WW, or WW/Zerk.
1: Pure WW, use up lots of mana in just one use. You run across
manaburns and PI's in hell enough for this to be a problem as you can't drink
blue pots mid ww. This is solved by using Conc while drinking a blue
when you run into the burners & Zerk on the PI/burners.
2: Pure Zerk, is a waste of points past 1. It's a one point wonder IMO.
I can take out most PI's, even boss's like Shenk when he sometimes gets
this mod, in about 1-4 hits depending. Plus it effectively makes your
defence 0.
3: Pure Conc is uninteruptable just like WW uses only 2 mana no matter
what the skill level AND it improves your Def for a short period.
However, alone it’s slow and methodical attacking only one apponent at a
time.
4: WW/Conc's overal killing efficiancy/versatility is unparalled by any
other char type I know. Sorcs even Archmagi's as I've heard tell of in
a previous reply, don't come up to BOTH of these that my build pulls
away with. He can kill ANYTHING in this game, given the right stratagem,
all completely SOLO even in players 8 pit runs. This build is my best
barb I've built to date. It is the ULTIMATE killing melee machine.
Pally's can't match his speed or versatility, Necros can't match his speed,
Sorcs can't match his versatility, Druids can't match his speed or
versatility. Iron-barbs, sure thier def. is high, they get hurt less but
there is a limit to how the def. and offence become self defficating.
What I mean is you go overboard on either side and you hurt the other too
much def. you lack in off. and your killing starts to hurt.
Titan-barbs, sure you hit for some serious damage, but you lack in def. and you
die too much. IMO this build is almost a perfect balance between the two.
PVM you will not find a quicker and more versatile barb for just strait
slaying. IMO ;P I'm not stating fact really cause I haven't test EVERY
build possibility, however, this is the fastest build I HAVE tested.
All that being said lets get down to business.
II) Skills:
Max these:
20 Battle Orders
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Concentrate
20 Whirlwind
Past 1 point:
10-19 Shout (this is your only real customization I give for skills)
One Point Wonders:
1 Natural Resistance
1 Taunt
1 Battle Command
1 Iron Skin
1 Increase Stamina
1 Increase Speed
1 Leap Attack
1 Berserk
Prereq's:
1 Howl
1 Bash
1 Leap
1 Stun
Allocating skill points:
For ease and playability try this, or you can always do it your own
way. Grabbing prereqs along the way max your mastery first. Get both WW
and Zerk as they become available to you, hopefully you’ll have 2 points
saved up when you reach lvl 30, if not then get them when point become
available. Once you’ve got all prereqs, mastery maxed and have both WW
and Zerk useable place points into WW until its past the penalties.
Then alternate or max Conc and WW as you see fit. Lastly max BO and let
the trickle of points you have coming to you in the later lvls go to
Shout.
III) Stats:
STR: No more than about 180-200 you really shouldn’t need more than
this.
DEX: No more than enough for minimum requirement for your weapon
VIT: Dump everything left over here. You should have over 300 points
into this once you reach lvl 99.
ENE: Do I really need to say it? No, but I’m going to anyway, NONE, no
points here. 0, nada, & zip.
Allocating stat points:
This is more on player preference. I however suggest you get your STR
to 60-70, then pump VIT to 50-60, switch back to STR to 100, back to VIT
to 100, finally start pumping DEX to 95 (max if you are using
polearms), after this point alternate as you like or as you need better eq
between STR and VIT. Max your STR at about 180-200 you shouldn’t need
anymore than that if you get the right eq to cover the minimums requirements.
If you are a sword shield barb you need to determine which shield you
are going to use and how much DEX you’ll have to have to achieve max
block at lvl 99 I do not cover that in this build.
IV) Equipment: All eq suggestions I give are for end game
only.
Like I said earlier, this can be left up to your imagination but I can
give you a few points in the right directions.
Weapon: 4 words, Breath of the Dieing. If you can’t ‘afford’ this then
my suggestion is to never leave rare’s alone, if you find a really
decent rare weapon hold onto it. Upgrading and socketing with runes to fill
in the ‘holes’ in most rares can really be a godsend.
EX of a decent rare weapon: this example is almost exactly like a
rare that dropped for me and I use on my pally
2xx% ED
40% IAS
7% ll
Prevent Monster Heal
Body
Runewords
Enigma
Jah + Ith + Ber
+2 To All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 To Teleport
+757 Defense
+ (0.75 Per Character Level) +1-74.25 To Strength (Based On Character
Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced By 8%
+14 Life After Each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+ (1 Per Character Level) +1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
(Based On Character Level)
Stone
Shael + Um + Pul + Lum
+60% Faster Hit Recovery
+220-260% Enhanced Defense
+300 Defense Vs. Missile
+16 To Strength
+16 To Vitality
+10 To Energy
All Resistances +15
Level 16 Molten Boulder (80 Charges)
Level 16 Clay Golem (16 Charges)
Unique
Skullder's Ire
Russet Armor
Defense: 634-732 (v.)(Base Def.: 225-243)
Required Level: 42
Required STR: 97
Durability: 90
+160-200% Enhanced Defense (v.)
Repairs 1 Durability In 5 Seconds
+ (1.25 Per/CLvL) 1-123 % MF (BoCLvL)
+1 To All Skill Levels
Magic Damage Reduced By 10
Helm
Unique
Areats Face is there really any other choice?
+2 To Barbarian Skills
+2 To Combat Skills
+150-200% Enhanced Defense
30% Faster Hit Recovery
+20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+3-6% Life Stolen Per Hit
+30% Resistance To All
Gloves
Unique
Steelrend
+(170-210) Defense
+(15-20) to Strength
+(30-60)% Enhanced Damage
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Draculs Grasp
+(90-120)% Enhanced Defense
(7-10)% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Open Wounds
5% Chance to cast level 10 Life Tap on striking
+(5-10) Life After Each Kill
+(10-15) to Strength
Belt
Unique
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
+(90-140)% Enhanced Defense
+(30-40) to Vitality
+(100-120) to Maximum Stamina
10% Faster Hit Recovery
Damage Reduced by (10-15)%
Replenish Life +(10 - 13) ((0.977 - 1.270) Life Per Second)
Nosferatu's Coil
+15 to Strength
+2 Mana after each kill
Slows Target by 10%
10% Life stolen per hit
+10% Increased Attack Speed
-3 to Light Radius
String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 102-113 (v.)(Base Def.: 29-34)
Required Level: 29
Required STR: 20
Durability: 22
16 Boxes
+150-180% Enhanced Defense (v.)
+15 Defense
6-8% Life Stolen Per Hit (v.)
Damage Reduced By 10-15% (v.)
Magic Damage Reduced 10-15 (v.)
Boots
Unique
Gore Rider
-25% Item Requirements
+15% Chance of Deadly Strike
30% Faster Run/Walk
+15% Chance of Crushing Blow
+10% Chance of Open Wounds
+160-200% Enhanced Defense
+10 Increased Durability
+20 Stamina
Ring1*
Unique
Bul Kathos Wedding Band
+0.5 Life per Clvl
+1 to All Skills
+3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit
+50 Stamina
Ring2*
Unique
Ravenfrost
Adds 15-45 Cold Damage, 4 seconds cold length
Cannot be Frozen
Absorbs 20% Cold Damage
+15-20 to Dexterity
+150-250 to Attack Rating
5% Chance of casting Slvl 5 Frost Nova When Struck
Ammy
Unique
Highlord's Wrath
+35% to Lightning Resist
Adds 1-30 Lightning Damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skills
+0.375% Chance of Deadly Strike per clvl
Attacker Takes 15 Lightning Damage
Crescent Moon
+11-15% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Magical Damage Taken Reduced by 10
+10% of damage taken goes to mana
-2 Light Radius
+45 to Mana
+3-6% Life Stolen Per Hit
Poor man's item substitutes:
As I'm finding, items are ... very hard to come by for the items poor
player. I use whatever I find basically but for those that don't like
just that then here are a few suggestions.
1: Gamble: max your stash gold and gamble on ammy’s & rings you’ll be
amazed at what you find sometimes, and beyond that you can use some of
them with trades.
2: Trade: gems, runes, and even some sets can be valuable to the right
person. Skill ammy’s some leech and res rings can be sought after so
never think that even though you don’t have a sorc that the +2 sorc ammy
you just gambled up or picked up off a monster’s drop is worthless to
you.
3: Rares: Here is something I’ve seen and been somewhat dumbfounded on.
The mods on some rares can be absolutely godly but it’s on a normal
item. Well with all the new recipies in 1.10 you’re going to find it
eventually but here it is laid out for you.
1 Ort Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal (Basic) Rare
Weapon = Exceptional Rare Weapon
The item type is upgraded.
1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal (Basic) Rare
Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
1 Fal Rune + 1 Um Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Exceptional Rare Weapon =
Elite Rare Weapon
The item type is upgraded.
1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor =
Elite Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
4: Charms: Again, something a lot of gamers overlook. Past mid to late
nm you’re going to find grand charms that are basicly worthless to you
as far as mods, however, crafting can produce some of the most sought
after charms, skillers. 1 gc + 3 pgems can produce these after a number
of tries.
Don’t be afraid to use your socketing quest either, sometimes it’s that
one rune that makes the difference between an item being useful and
your endgame weapon.
Playing this build & the choke points.
Per a request this section is an addition I hadn't thought of. I find
this build is very good for Meph, Shenk, Eldrich, Pindle, Council, Pit,
and Baal runs. Any vet of d2 and bnet will know these names and have
gone after them time and again. What it can’t do well is Countess runs,
which is a decent way to get runes, just not the high lvl and highly
sought after.
V) Choke Points:
Norm:
I found that I didn't have any real problems in normal with this build.
I didn't die once until I tried to solo Baal at lvl 31
Nightmare:
With the right equipment this area is a breeze, my suggestion to you is
find a friend willing to give you a quick rush and then fill in the
gaps after you’ve made it to hell.
Hell:
Here is were it starts to get fun. You shouldn’t have any real problems
past lvl 80 in this build playing around in hell. Problem areas will be
anywhere a spirit type will spawn, Act 2 arcane, canyon, & tombs. Act 5
world stone keep and throne. Another problem are the stygian dolls,
these things are considered non-leechable and they cause thorn damage or
returned damage %. They hurt if you ww through a group of them, possibly
deadly if your VIT isn’t up to snuff. Becareful in Durrence and avoid
those dolls if you are low on life, vita monsters can probably drink a
pot or two and slay a full group with a champ though.
Super Unique monsters with the following enhancement and immune
combinations can be a serious and sometimes deadly problem. Physical Immune
Mana Burn: in mobs these guys can and sometime will cause your death,
suggestion: carry one slot of blue pots to steadily increase your mana
instead of instantly filling it with a purple which will just be reduced
to 0 again on the next hit from them. Physical Immune Mana Burn Extra
Strong Extra Fast: yes these guys do spawn, yes I have died to them more
than once, suggestion: you have two options here, 1 run away a bit and
split up the mob and take them out one at a time, 2 run away, go around
avoid at all costs. Physical Immune, Magical Immune Only once have I
run across one of these… it has to be the most rare monster type I’ve
ever seen, and if you aren’t in a group, avoid it there is no way you can
take this thing out without making multiple trips to town to refill
your belt with pots.
Worldstone keep: possibly the easiest and hardest area depending on
monster spawn type. If you get those horrible mages with the ability to
cast IM you’re better off running around them and getting to the next
level, the same goes for the Gloams (spirits), their attacks are
absolutely unstoppable and in large numbers it’s nothing less than a slaughter,
avoid them at all costs unless you have no choice in which I hope
you’re in a party with a few casters and a summoner necro (gives them more
targets to fire those horrid lightning attacks they have). The worst
combination I’ve seen with mobs are the IM mages and the spirits. First
you get IM’d effectively causing 0 possible leeching and the Gloams start
their attacks. Given the lack of the mages you could possible take out
the Gloams if you have enough leech and there are mobs of other
monsters that you can leech from. Also use Dracul’s Grasp for the 5% to cast
life tap on hit. This will save your life vs Gloams more often than not.
Another strategie someone suggested is Taunt and Howl used in the right
way can cause them to ‘ignore’ and attack you melee with their weak
attack instead of their lightning blast. Also Wisp Protector has been
suggested as another alternative with it’s absorbs.
VI) Hints & Tips
WW'ing in small triangle or square shapes continously can be
devistating through leechable mobs. Stick a demon limb in your enventory, (has
21-23 lvl enchange charges) use the enchant charge on any difficult runs.
This tremendously increases your AR and adds a decent amount of fire
damage. Keep an eye out for obsticals, sometimes WW get's hung up on
chests, walls other opjects protruding from the ground. Caught between a
rock and a hard place? Howl and then leap attack out of the mobs can be a
life saver.
Always have Conc on your left click and WW on your right click, make
quick keys for BC, Shout and BO (use them in that order so you come out
with a higher lvl of the latter two cries) and WW in the right click
menu. Make quick keys for COnc and Zerk in the left click menu. Make a
quick key for town portal as well to save you time and sometimes save your
life.
Make the "show ground items" key into space bar instead of Alt, it'll
save you from hitting that Windows Key sometimes. I hate that... :\
Gloams gettin you down? Taunt one and run a little ways away from thier
group, let him come to you and Conc him to death. Or, run past them
drinking a red pot or even a full juvy if they really hitting hard. There
is no shame in running.
Enigma can be a barb's best friend, but don't be afraid to use
something with high resistances and a bit of life. Upped Goldskins to Chaos
Armor can profice decent defence with +35 to all resistances. Small charms
with 7-10% to an individual resistance you are lacking on can be a help
as well. DR is never a bad thing, Gaze and or Shaftstop can help you
out through some ugly areas while trying to build your baba up.
It’s good to have a friend with you, someone you trust not to be grabby
to help you through the wp's and boss's, don't ever accept rushes for
forge or drops these are YOUR drops and the best the boss's will give
you, and you only get the forge 3 times(norm, nm, & hell) per character.
You WILL cry when you see that high lvl rune drop in hell and have to
give it up because someone gave you a rush for it.
BaBa's rules of thumb:
Never be ashamed to run, if it saves your life, gold and xp... why not?
Never go into a baal run without a full belt of reds and/or purples and
at least 1 line of blues.
lvl to 20, do cow runs upto 24, do ancients, do normal baal runs upto
lvl 45-50, nm baal runs upto 70-75, and the rest is up to you.
-
Thanks for reading my build.
All suggestions/comments/error fix's can be posted below or emailed and
I will accredit you for them if implemented.
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v1.0 to v1.1 changes
Removed Delirium because it's not a viable helm to use for this build.
Unique boots changed to Gore Rider because Sprokets doesn't exist
anymore in 1.10. thx to Halciet for the correction.
How to play this build section, How to handle the tough spots section,
& Poor man's item substitute section. Suggested by WebDragon.
Thx to Fishmonger for pointing me to this area
www.battle.net/diablo2exp/.
Spell checked and grammar corrected thx to ms word ;)
First attempt at formating as well.
-
v1.1 to v1.2 changes
Name Changed: Friend told me this was more of a hybrid.
Formating fixed: v1.1 looked just horrid.
-
v1.2 to v1.3 changes
Battlecry & Warcry removed from prereq’s section as they were not
prereqs. Thanks to LeTHaL_BaNaNa for spotting this mistake.
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v1.3 to v1.4 changes
Modified formatting, changed eq up a little.
Removed a large portion of stat suggestions.
Added hell choke point areas and help.
Cleaned up choke point area.
Added more to description (nearly direct pull from my comments on
rpgforum.com in reply to the shortened version of this guide).
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v1.4 to 1.5 final changes
Fixed minor keying and formating errors.
Fixed name.
Added Intro.
Expanded Hint's & Tips.
Fixed a few remaining errors.
Added a few things I wanted to say.