Best MFing Barb

[tallon]

What do you feel would be the best build for an MF barb? With this stuff in mind, of course:

1 You have -no- good items beyond the following: wartravs, ali baba, DemonHorn's Edge, wizardspike, and 454 defense armor with 4 p topaz.
2 You'd like him to be able to solo hell baal
3 You'd like to have a decent amount of MF(more the better)

4 You'd like him to eventually be able to solor hell baal in 8 player games (after you get good equipment, that is)
5 You'd like to do all this at a fast pace

I really like barb's, so I'm 99% set on using a barb to do this. I think he'd be the very survivable against Hell Baal with no equipment compared to other classes (sorc with no resist? = dead, etc. atleast a barb has lots of life and can increase his resists). I'm reading through all these guides on the sticky thread, but have yet to notice any MF specific guides... which is why I'm asking here.

Edit: As a side note, I'm wanting this char to primarily take on baal, but I figure (and want that) he'd be able to take on any boss/super uniques quickly. If he can do more than that, great! I plan on making this char lvl 99, so the more utility the better. I figure making him specialized for boss killing would make him too slow at mass killing to be usefull there... unless he uses whirlwind.

-tallon

[[exile]]

I'd suggest the use of Tomb Reaver -- it provides decent damage, resists, MF, and some other pretty cool mods. Otherwise, Cranebeak isn't necessarily bad either though boss killing may be a problem.

Concentrate is a much slower but much safer skill. Whirlwind will kill faster but may also get you killed faster if you're not careful. Personally, I go with Whirlwind because faster killing means faster MFing. Generally speaking, one-point Concentrate (as a prerequisite for Whirlwind anyways) is good enough for Boss killing.

Click here (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=323251) for a post I once wrote about a Tomb Reaver-centered build.

Good luck!

[tallon]

So, you're saying a pole-WW barb would be great to go at baal without all that great equipment, and would be really good end game once I can actually get the tomb reaver? (Note: i have *no* way to get one at the moment. it'd definately be long after i start mfing that I get one)

And is Concentration that great? I was thinking WW with Berserk secondary (and primary for boss killing). I wasn't originally thinking of a pole barb because berserk needs really fast weapons to be of *best* use. But I guess if WW is the primary attack skill then that won't be an issue.

For the polebarb you have, can he solo baal easily? What about soloing baal with more than one person in the game? (how many players can be in the game for him to still solo baal reliably?)

I'm not so caught up on the weapon having MF (of course, it's better). As long as it kills well, and he has a good amount of MF elsewhere, I'd be happy. And the tomb reaver certainly looks fun, different, yet efficient.

I guess the big question is: Assuming I can't have access to those good items, what is better to MF with (overall, and specifically for boses such as baal): Poles/axes/maces/swords/etc. These would have to be low level uniques or common items/rares, since that's All I currently have access to. Though, a pole barb with the reaver certainly looks fun. It would also eliminate the need for a shield, heh...

-tallon

[[exile]]

I strongly advise against Berserk as a secondary attack because it effectively reduces your defense to 0. Viability of most MF chars isn't as good as it could be otherwise so any defense you can accumulate will be a great help.

My polebarb isn't actually complete, he's got a couple levels before he can wear Tomb Reaver (level req 84 :o). However, by the time he puts it on, I expect him to survive relatively easily. Games with more than one player will make killing slower but you shouldn't be dying too much more often if at all. Just make sure to get sufficient life leech.

There's no "best" option but if you're playing with what you find then I'd suggest either swords or axes. They drop fairly commonly and allow you to wear a shield. As far as viability is concerned, a shield can be your best friend.

Cheap but good options include (but are definitely not limited to) Butcher's Pupil, Headstriker, Razor's Edge, Gimmershred, Plague Bearer, Lacerator, and several others. Look for a balance between speed and damage, especially when WWing (the German Speed Calculator is stickied in the Guides thread at the top of the main Barb forum page).

I generally don't suggest shieldless unless the rest of your gear is sufficient to make up for lower resists and defense.

Good luck!

[tallon]

I guess one option would be to keep my skills free that would've been placed in a mastery until I get a weapon that's good enough... :)

Thx for your help,

-tallon