PvP Whirlwinder

[Frozenmax]

My next project will be my first PvP character, a whirlwinder.
I read most of the guides, and know a bit about them, just wanted to get some opinions, mostly about my gear:

Arreat's
Verdungo
Steelrend
Gore riders
Ravenfrost
Angelic combo
Beast zerker
Grief zerker (I know I have to get at least 34 ias)
Enigma

I was wondering about the weapons mostly, is that the best combination? And can I survive without a shield?
If I decide to go cheap, is it possible with a fortitude armour instead of an enigma?
On switch I will probably have a 3/3 cta, to spare me one skillpoint on battle commands, and a +3 warcry weapon, both for prebuffing.
Please, advice would be welcome...

[morotsjos]

My next project will be my first PvP character, a whirlwinder.
I read most of the guides, and know a bit about them, just wanted to get some opinions, mostly about my gear:

Arreat's
Verdungo
Steelrend
Gore riders
Ravenfrost
Angelic combo
Beast zerker
Grief zerker (I know I have to get at least 34 ias)
Enigma

I was wondering about the weapons mostly, is that the best combination? And can I survive without a shield?
If I decide to go cheap, is it possible with a fortitude armour instead of an enigma?
On switch I will probably have a 3/3 cta, to spare me one skillpoint on battle commands, and a +3 warcry weapon, both for prebuffing.
Please, advice would be welcome...
Use highlords. The ar from angelics isn't needed except vs other wwbarbs and possibly some HIGHdef paladins depending on your charms.
DONT use rends, draculs is better in ALL duels.
Grief+beast is best, yes. Shield is ONLY needed vs other wwbarbs, and you wont kill any decent bvb-ers with a bva/bvc-build anyway so dont bother.
Enigma is necessary vs anything that teleports. Dont bother with fort, go base str/close to base str with enigma bp instead.

[Frozenmax]

Okay, I'll go without a shield then, without angelic combo, and without fortitude.
I'll get highlord's, another ravenfrost(?), and a breast plate enigma.

I need to calculate though if I can go base strenght...
Base is 30, plus 20 from anni, hopefully if I can get one..., plus about 65+ from enigma, is 115, which gives enough for dracul's, which gives 130, which gives enough for arreat's, which gives 150. That is more than enough for a berserker axe. I could even go with a bit lower anni then. Probably base dex too, because with ravenfrost and arreats I can equip the zerkers...
So that means everything into vitality...
55 starting life, +2 per level, +4 per vit. At level 90, 235 life from levelling and starting life. Level 91 gives 450 stat points, plus 35 from the Act 3 quest and anni. 485*4=1940. 235+1940=2175 base life.
Level 32 bo (6 switch weapon, 2 eni, 1 highlord, 2 arreat, 1 anni) gives 128% life, +5% from enigma. 2175*2.33=5068 life, without charms counted.

Gear:
Grief+beast zerker, enigma bp, highlords, arreats, dual ravenfrost, draculs, verdungo's, gore riders and an anni. Suggestions on other reasonably attainable charms?

Sorry if this looks like rambling, just making a quick reference for myself, and seeing if it's correct.

[morotsjos]

Okay, I'll go without a shield then, without angelic combo, and without fortitude.
I'll get highlord's, another ravenfrost(?), and a breast plate enigma.

I need to calculate though if I can go base strenght...
Base is 30, plus 20 from anni, hopefully if I can get one..., plus about 65+ from enigma, is 115, which gives enough for dracul's, which gives 130, which gives enough for arreat's, which gives 150. That is more than enough for a berserker axe. I could even go with a bit lower anni then. Probably base dex too, because with ravenfrost and arreats I can equip the zerkers...
So that means everything into vitality...
55 starting life, +2 per level, +4 per vit. At level 90, 235 life from levelling and starting life. Level 91 gives 450 stat points, plus 35 from the Act 3 quest and anni. 485*4=1940. 235+1940=2175 base life.
Level 32 bo (6 switch weapon, 2 eni, 1 highlord, 2 arreat, 1 anni) gives 128% life, +5% from enigma. 2175*2.33=5068 life, without charms counted.

Gear:
Grief+beast zerker, enigma bp, highlords, arreats, dual ravenfrost, draculs, verdungo's, gore riders and an anni. Suggestions on other reasonably attainable charms?

Sorry if this looks like rambling, just making a quick reference for myself, and seeing if it's correct.
You might need to add a few points in str unless you have perfect beast&anni, since you want to be able to wear CoA along with botd+beast.

[Frozenmax]

First of all, I won't be using botd, but grief and beast. With the beast I have, I need an anni charm with stats of 18 or higher to wear a crown of ages.
But why a Crown of Ages? Isn't arreat's much better?
At least I always thought so, and was told so...

[morotsjos]

First of all, I won't be using botd, but grief and beast. With the beast I have, I need an anni charm with stats of 18 or higher to wear a crown of ages.
But why a Crown of Ages? Isn't arreat's much better?
At least I always thought so, and was told so...
Sry, meant grief+beast ofc.
You have enough str to wear coa with botd, but not with grief, that was my point.
You WILL need coa vs druids & meleechars like smiters/zealots. Other than that, arreats is always better.

[Bigrob]

i recommend dracul over steelrend.

less str requirement, add str, ow. (which means provide more dmg)

[Frozenmax]

I'll take dracul's, and I'd need a bit more str for CoA, maybe I could make up for that 20 str or so with some charms, so I could switch between CoA/Arreats.

[morotsjos]

I'll take dracul's, and I'd need a bit more str for CoA, maybe I could make up for that 20 str or so with some charms, so I could switch between CoA/Arreats.
Just add the 5-10 points in str so you can wear it all the time.
As I said, if you have perfect draculs/beast/anni you wont have to add any points.

[Herald of Doom]

I put 10 in strenght and 5 in dex. This still gives plenty of vita points, and it makes it a whooole lot easier to equip everything without worrying :)

HoD

[Frozenmax]

I won't spend any stat points, other than in vita. This will be my first pvp build, and it will be a perfect one :p I don't care how long it's going to take me, or how much it will cost, but I will get the means to go no str no dex build.
It might be a bit harder, but hey, there has to be a challengen somehwere :lol:

[morotsjos]

I won't spend any stat points, other than in vita. This will be my first pvp build, and it will be a perfect one :p I don't care how long it's going to take me, or how much it will cost, but I will get the means to go no str no dex build.
It might be a bit harder, but hey, there has to be a challengen somehwere :lol:
You'll need 20 stat anni, 40 str beast, 15 str draculs and ~lvl 93-94 to be able to wear coa =)
Good luck with the build, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. And you dont really need coa in that many duels, so you can either just use arreats until you get perfect gear, or switch in botd instead of grief...

[Frozenmax]

I will not spend stats other than vitality! Gaah! :lol:
I guess I will just use arreats then, untill I get the perfect gear, or I could us some life/str sc's to make up for the str I still need for the CoA.

[morotsjos]

I guess I will just use arreats then, untill I get the perfect gear, or I could us some life/str sc's to make up for the str I still need for the CoA.
Make sure to do that =)

[Frozenmax]

Thanks for the advice morotsjos, your guide on d2jsp forums was very helpful too.
However, I still don't know what to do, if I shall go BvA or BvC.
With no block, BvA isn't that viable is it?
And if I go BvA, should I just follow the skills in your guide?
Aka, WW, mastery, bo, leap max, 1 berserk, 1 other masteries. This will need 92 skill points, or level 81. What to spend my points in after that?

[morotsjos]

Thanks for the advice morotsjos, your guide on d2jsp forums was very helpful too.
However, I still don't know what to do, if I shall go BvA or BvC.
With no block, BvA isn't that viable is it?
And if I go BvA, should I just follow the skills in your guide?
Aka, WW, mastery, bo, leap max, 1 berserk, 1 other masteries. This will need 92 skill points, or level 81. What to spend my points in after that?
That guide is horribly old and I take no responsibility of it anymore ^^

You need block vs other wwbarbs. Simple as that. Personally I dont like to sacrifice 1.5-2k life just to be able to duel some barbs.

After that I suggest you divide your pointes between inc speed and natural res. Max leap isn't necessary, just get ~lvl 22-25. I like max though, its fun to annoy people with it =)

[Frozenmax]

Hehe, lol. I will go no block then, not even a shield in stash, and will probably still max out leap. I'll shoot for level 92, which gives me 11 points to divide into nat res and incr speed, after their initial first point.
Btw, shouldn't I use arachnid instead of verdungo? Or switch according to opponent?

[Bigrob]

Hehe, lol. I will go no block then, not even a shield in stash, and will probably still max out leap. I'll shoot for level 92, which gives me 11 points to divide into nat res and incr speed, after their initial first point.
Btw, shouldn't I use arachnid instead of verdungo? Or switch according to opponent?

switch according opponent.

In general, max block > max vita. Cuz u want to be prepare to face any kind of builds, UNLESS u only duel caster. Beside, u can kill most casters with block if ur skilled.

[Frozenmax]

But if I'm skilled, I also can beat almost anything withOUT a shield.
And I just like shieldless more, and all vita.
The only problem I will have without a shield, I guess, are other barbs, if they do have a shield. If they dual-wield too, it's even.

Without a shield I just have to become good at the DoD.
Btw, what is the best way to practice and become good at the DoD?
Just whirling around act bosses in pvm, in triangles or what?

[Bigrob]

But if I'm skilled, I also can beat almost anything withOUT a shield.
And I just like shieldless more, and all vita.
The only problem I will have without a shield, I guess, are other barbs, if they do have a shield. If they dual-wield too, it's even.

Without a shield I just have to become good at the DoD.
Btw, what is the best way to practice and become good at the DoD?
Just whirling around act bosses in pvm, in triangles or what?

yes, it's true. But without a shield, u wont be able to take on any ww barb with shield.

[thee]

I recommend you not to use any strength or dexterity at all. "Why?" you might ask. Well simply because you have an annihulus (18 or higher). Thus you have 48 strength without anything which means you can equip a light plate enigma (best choice, requires 41 strength) with 15ed & 15md in the best case. The weapons you have chosen to equip are beast and grief, allright I agree. But just in case you should wear extra gear including botd, doom, cleglaw's princers (the gloves that give 25% slow target + knockback which are excellent for smiters (including holy freeze from doom), thus you need not wear CoA) + draculs (best choice), 2x Ravens on 20 dex + 2x rare rings (10fcr/20str/dex/res/life/mana - whatever you can find, but the fcr & str should be present) + angelic combo, spiderweb (verdungo), goreriders are best choice for boots. On the other hand you have chosen a cta 3/3 + 3wc weapon. I recommend 2x Hoto because with cta you loose two skill levels for shout in order to gain just 1 for battle orders (a little more life isn't bad but I think more defense is the better choice here). 2x hoto are perfect for fcr, when you tele to baal runs. Your inventory should be filled with 3/20/20 small charms or - if you can find - warcries skillers with 50 life (which require 97 level). If you follow these instructions and fill your stash with the extra gear I asure you that no hero would be able to kill you except a barbarian like you but with fortitude, because ww-er with enigma should be no match with your extra gear ;) P.S. Wear a stormshield if you are so eager to face other barbs, but I tell you that if you see a fortitude ww-er with nice equipment just don't fight him, otherwise this build is the one universal build that can beat every other hero. And don't bother trying to find small charms with strength & life at the same time, because such do not exist :) you can find with strength & other things or with life & other things, but the two simply do not participate together and you do not need them. As for Leap - 1 point max!

[Clicktoseename]

Using shield vs ranged is better? Dual welding is the best choise vs monsters?
Most players recommend 2 Botd. Isnt that good?

[Ce Olba]

Using shield vs ranged is better? Dual welding is the best choise vs monsters?
Most players recommend 2 Botd. Isnt that good?

You do not _need_ a shield versus ranged melee attacks (aka arrows), but a shield helps yes. As for other ranged attacks (spells), no, shield doesn't do a thing.

Dual wielding is very effective in PvM, however most people seem to be supporting big 2-handers for PvM.

2 BotDs do _low_ damage compared to Grief+Beast. The lowest Grief (34/340) does more damage over time than a perfect (415%/15%) EBotdZ. Beast just powers up the Grief, thus making it way superior.

I recommend you not to use any strength or dexterity at all. "Why?" you might ask. Well simply because you have an annihulus (18 or higher). Thus you have 48 strength without anything which means you can equip a light plate enigma (best choice, requires 41 strength) with 15ed & 15md in the best case.

First, note the age of the topic. Second, yes, pure vitality is the best, but _only_ if you duel _only_ in public games. For private games, whatever custom amount>pure vitality.

The weapons you have chosen to equip are beast and grief, allright I agree. But just in case you should wear extra gear including botd, doom,

Having a EBotdZ in stash is rather stupid, as you will only use it versus Windies, and even then Grief is superior due to more damage = more leeched.

thus you need not wear CoA)

Go duel some real Windies with no CoA please. You will get your *** handed in half-an-instant.

+ 2x rare rings (10fcr/20str/dex/res/life/mana - whatever you can find, but the fcr & str should be present)

Hell no. Fcr->Mana->allres->life->stats, in that order.

goreriders are best choice for boots.

Ever seen any decent triple resistance boots with stats and frw? Those put Goreriders to _shame_ in pub games, unless you got 20/11s.

I recommend 2x Hoto because with cta you loose two skill levels for shout in order to gain just 1 for battle orders (a little more life isn't bad but I think more defense is the better choice here). 2x hoto are perfect for fcr, when you tele to baal runs.

2x Hotos is just plain dumb. Either Hoto+CtA or Dual Dooms.

Your inventory should be filled with 3/20/20 small charms or - if you can find - warcries skillers with 50 life (which require 97 level).

WC sks with 50 life are literally impossible to spawn. Heck, if there's even 10 _plain_ 50 life GCs, that's wonderful. IIRC the 50 life can only spawn from DC, which drops only Annihilus.

Also, you want to have 33x 32020s and 4x fhr/resi scs to get the optimal effect. However, some people like to use a few life/mana scs to get more mana to their angelic-setups.

As for Leap - 1 point max!

I see, you're making a BvB here huh? You will _not_ kill _any_ _half-decent_ casters with 1 point Leap. Leap is one of the key things when building a BvA/BvC or a barbarian that plans to stand a chance versus non-ep casters.

I suggest that you do some research on things. And please, do not rise _old_ topics that have been _dead_ for a long time. Such as this one.

[Clicktoseename]

The most recomended weapons in WWbarb guides is: Botds, Doom and Beast i think. But Beast doesnt leech. I dont really know what weapon i shall get...

[arbing]

if you play pvm use whatever..... you will be able to solo anyways...
if you play pvp, use grief/beast combo most of the time and i perfer 2x doom on switch.