Polearm barb viability?

[richyboy]

Hello, i am looking into making a 2handed ww barb that would use the following items.He would be both pvm and pvp

Umed arreats face
Botd great poleaxe
Enigma?fortitude?im a little confused as to which i should use(both are dusk shrouds)
angelic rings+amulet
verdungo's belt
dracul's?steelrends?
goreriders
anni charm+an assortment of ar/life/poison damage charms

Anyway, i am looking for feedback on how 2handed ww barbs fare in both pvm & pvp, gear suggestions and any tricks/tactics one would use to make best use of this barb. Anyone who has experience or knowledge regarding polearm barbs please dont hesitate to give me feedback.

thanks

[|WhoGivesAFlyingPig|]

try using double botds and see how it works instead of pole arms... i dont know any that are anygood.. then again i might be wrong :\ write me back and tell me how it goes.



|WhoGivesAFlyingPig| I Dont -.-

[kakarot]

PvM: this is your best option! slap a ebotd ghost spear or gpa, build a titan and you can clear hell difficulty with ease(maybe except cs(the ease part:) ))

PvP: dual wielders are superior in dueling due to flexibility(2xaxes/axe+shield/axe+wizzy) even tho pole does greater dmg if your whirls are short(beast+botd beat pole in longer whirls dmg-wise)

however, even if u make a axebarb(which i advise), you'll proly need a botd pole in stash for grief paly's

gl, kakaroto

[richyboy]

This barb would be at a grave disadvantage against melee due to the lack of a shield, would it be prudent of me to opt for a second barb for pvp using a botd zerker/ss setup?

[kakarot]

This barb would be at a grave disadvantage against melee due to the lack of a shield, would it be prudent of me to opt for a second barb for pvp using a botd zerker/ss setup?

well shield is necesary when up against another ww barb, with other chars dual wielding is superior(well in most duels anyhow, this is an issue that many ppl disagree but this is my opinion )

kakaroto

[The_Bastard]

I Had a Robopike once... sooooo much damage, muhaha!

they own PvM dude!

[lokigodzz]

hmm last ladder i had pvm pole arm that was awsome.don't know about pvp though :(

his gear was as follows
ebotdgpa
coh
arreats
dracs
raven
duel leech ring
verds
gores

he was awsome for a ww baba in pvm

[richyboy]

Here's the problem, i want this barb to be more for pvp then pvm. From the current responses it sounds very good for pvm, but somewhat lacklustre for pvp. Should i got for a axe+shield barb if i want to focus on dueling?

thanks for the current feedback

[Olio]

It appears that spears are a better choice than polearms. Ghost spear hits the fastest frames and war pike is the most damaging weapon. Both work great in PvP due to their huge range. The biggest thing you lose is the flexibility of random things that can be tossed into the offhand (beast, doom, shield). Since you're shieldless you make a vita build. Realize that your tactics vs melees will involve utilizing your range and hoping that it makes up for your lack of blocking. This isn't going to be the best bvb build.

Ebotd runs on %ED percentage so the higher the base weapon damage the more damage you will do total. This means that since the two handers did almost 2x the damage of zerk axe then you would actually be doing that much more damage. However now that there is the grief runeword things might not be so good for spear users. Grief adds fixxed damage rather than a multiplier meaning that a two hander with grief isn't going to be that much better than a one hander (if you could actually build it). The current best setup is probably grief zerker + (beast, ss, doom). I'm not certain what you have to do to get the IAS correct for that weapon choice though. You can also do grief in lower requirement swords if you want to plan your gear out with that in mind.

Olio

[TheKbob]

I Had a Robopike once... sooooo much damage, muhaha!

they own PvM dude!

I had a Robo GP, GS and Tmaul back in 1.09. 1.10 killed those 1337 barbs... I had zod bugged eth jewelers kraken shell of stability... stupid me traded that thing :mad:

[TurinTurambar]

I Had a Robopike once... sooooo much damage, muhaha!

they own PvM dude!

What did a robopike / poleaxe look like? I know they were awasome but I forgot what they did look like. Is it still possible to make one and would that be useful?

[sk8brdnick]

I'm working on one right now and he is coming out well. EBOTD great poleaxe or ethereal tombreaver are probably your best options. The EBOTD great poleaxe can be equipped with base or nearly base stats. I've had pretty good luck with him so far considering he has no charms and 150 unassigned stats.

Honestly the EBOTD/beast zerker user is probably stronger, but everyone uses them. I've been having a lot of fun with my polebarb. I'm still working on figuring out how to beat hammerdins, necs and windies but lets face it, that's the challenge for pretty much ever class. Considering he's no where near fully outfitted and I'm still inexperienced with barbs, my success so far suggests polebarbs have a huge amount of potential.

[rikstaker]

It appears that spears are a better choice than polearms. Ghost spear hits the fastest frames and war pike is the most damaging weapon.
Olio

A minor objection from me.Ghost spear has the same avg dmg as a great poleaxe & a col.blade 2handed.All are lwbp.Polearms(gpa) is considered better than Ghost spear due to its much lower dexterity requirement,which can only mean more life.Whats sad is warpike cant get to lwbp with botd,though its possible on a 2 socket rare with quickness mod.

Others are valid points.You are right,grief has made 2handers a bit less worthwile as it gives 1handers, 2hander like dmg(high minimum).But still 2handers are the best allround option in pvm due to the range,mf possibility & they are cheaper to build.

On to pvp: I did a study (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=286462&page=2&pp=10)(post 15 & 16) once comparing dmg of 2handers & dualwield in pvp environment(vs melee) & 2handers came out on top in terms of dmg,but that was before the days of grief.But I still feel they can be a good option vs those now-beefed up smiters,as out ranging them can be a life saving tactic.Cant say for sure unless I try it myself,How about you kak & where is that wussy Dahmer?

Razgriz

[kakarot]

On to pvp: I did a study (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=286462&page=2&pp=10)(post 15 & 16) once comparing dmg of 2handers & dualwield in pvp environment(vs melee) & 2handers came out on top in terms of dmg,but that was before the days of grief.But I still feel they can be a good option vs those now-beefed up smiters,as out ranging them can be a life saving tactic.Cant say for sure unless I try it myself,How about you kak & where is that wussy Dahmer?

Razgriz

well, i tried it but either my skills vis-a-vis using range advantage are awfull(probably the cause) or it just doesn't make that big of a difference. charge closes the distance pretty fast :(

anyways my BvB doll is done(still need the charms tho), and it does pretty well, can't wait to w00p yo 4$$! :)

i started with a BvC and i'll pour all my wealth into him(btw grief+beast you recon?)! :D

kaks