The Legit, PVP, Desynch Wolf Barb

[peterpaulrubens]

Hello everyone,
A recent thread on another forum about a PVP werewolf using a Harmony, as well as my new FRW calculator (http://dpw.bounceme.net/frw_calc.html) got me thinking a lot about skill-based FRW as a substitute for using an Enigma in PVP. Mainly because, I'm never gonna own an Enigma as I play legit... no duped runes for me.

So what I was thinking was: a barb, with points'o'plenty in Increased Speed, shifted into werewolf form via Wolfhowl, and then using a Harmony bow with a 4xShael Griz Caddy on switch. I'd be wearing my legit Fortitude so my damage will be solid enough. I also have a legit HOTO that I can prebuff with, but those are the ONLY high-rune (Ist+) runewords I'll have access to. I can afford lower runewords (Duress etc.) though.

The basic goals of this build are:
1) pubby duels. It's not gonna fare well vs. the elite private duelers nor be much help in team duels. Not worried about that though. Those are circles of dueling that I'll never have the gear for.
2) competitive. I'll win some, I'll lose some. Hopefully I won't lose 'em all, and when I do lose I won't get completely blown out. I'm not looking to OWN but I don't wanna be an embarassment either.
3) vs. all. I don't wanna be limited to melee-only or caster-only duels. It'd be nice to duel anyone who wants a piece of me, even if i may not be exceptional against them. This is the heart of my dilemma... can I catch good teleporters?

Skills would probably look like:
20 Battle Orders (natch)
20 Shout (no reason not to)
20 Mace Mastery
10+ Increased Speed (diminishing returns hurt... not sure how many go here)
5+ Nat Resist (again, diminishing returns)
10+ Iron Skin (no diminishing returns, but worthless vs. casters)

Primary weapon would be a Harmony bow... probably a Blade Bow (for the speed)... ideally a Cho-Ko-Nu, but I seriously doubt if i can track one of those down..
Weapon switch would almost certainly be a 4xShael Griz caddy as everything else just seems too slow. I probably don't have access to anything in between a Griz caddy and a DC.

I'll probably use crafted KB gloves ... with low-level Feral Rage as my primary attack, it'll take me a bit to kill people... however with my speed, once I hit 'em i should be able to knockback-lock them and be fast enough to hit 'em again right away. And once i get a charge or two of Feral Rage, I won't even need to switch back to the Harmony ... or I can switch back and be SILLY fast.

The advantages I see are:
1) really fast FRW. somewhere around 11 yards/sec, or roughly the same speed as a paladin charging with low level Vigor. In other words, FAAAAAAST.
2) Massive life, as all wolf barbs have.
3) High defense, as all wolf barbs have.
4) Pretty solid AR if I'm using a weapon I have Mastery points in. Werewolf adds a shload and Feral Rage adds a splash too.
5) Potential knockback lock of opponents.
6) Potential desynch of opponents. In fact, probable, although how badly it desynchs is uncertain. More than pallies charging, less than pallies charging with max Vigor on.

The disadvantages are:
1) No teleport. I never had any, so it's not really a disadvantage of the build per se, but it's still more or less considered a huge liability in PVP.
2) No ranged attack.
3) Low damage on my melee attack. Can be partially offset by my Fortitude. Still not gonna be great as I won't have the Grief/BOTD that most meleers use.
4) No real "tactics" to speak of. "Let me guess... you're gonna run up and try to hit me?" "uhh... yep..be a doll and stand still for me, will ya?"

So my questions to ally'all are:
1) WILL IT WORK? Can I catch teleporters? Or am I just wasting my time?
2) Max block or no. I'll have the STR for a monarch as I want to be able to prebuff with Spirit and at least wear Stormshield for the DR. The question is whether to pump DEX for blocking... since I'll be doing so much running i'm not sure that's a good idea as my block will be crap while running.
3) Charm choice. I'm thinking half barb mastery charms, half max/AR/life charms, with some FRW charms thrown in. +life charms will REALLY pump my life from BO and Lycanthropy. Anni and barb torch are givens.
5) Gear to get extra FRW. I'm thinking IK boots + Cats Eye will have to do it for FRW on gear, with FRW charms comprising the rest. Nothing else really gets me much FRW while still having other good mods (Stealth armor? Mav's belt? No thanks). Gores may replace the IK boots... a little CB and OW may be more beneficial than an extra 10% FRW.
6) Anything I've overlooked.....


Whaddya think?

[mischa]

dude sounds awesome ^_^ i'm hopin it would work.. i'm going to make a concentrate barb maxing bo, shout, concentrate and mace mastery and put one point into each of whatever's left that's useful and the points i have left i'll up iron skin.. i've been looking for a build that just basically hits people ya know? instead of all these crazy attacks you see in every day pvp... anyway i think i might try and make a combination of your build and my build using wolfhowl and such... hmm think that'd work as well? i think it'd be a great combo yours and mine
oh yeah and i'll be using an upped ribcracker.. very nice haha

[the boss]

1) You'll probably have hard time if they don't try to go after you(most likely they will).
2) You need to max block regardless of running around a lot or not, because you are gonna vs. all classes include melee and casters, so just put enough to max block please(unless you specify which melee or casters you'll be dueling)
3)Stick some mastery gcs and war cry gcs, they boost life, damage, resists, etc.
5)For FRW, I'd just use charms to help to boost the R/W, so stick with mara's ammy instead of cat's eye please, you need the stats on it.
6)For equipment, hoto and fort both require dupe high runes to make...so basically you've just broke the pure legit code...

For equipment wolfbarb, heres what i'd use(probably not gonna be legit excuse me though...):
Wolfhowl with ed jewel, shael rune, or 15% resists jewel.
Enigma bp/mp or Fortitude dusk
Mara's ammy
Raven frost/Bk or Raven again
Dungoes
Crafted gloves or BLoodfist upped(your choice)
Gores
Harmony bow on switch(wanted)
Griz weapon 4xshael with Ss(Um/Pdiamond/ed jewel/shael/eld, etc many choices)

Backup gears are...
Doom warspike(to REALLY slow caster down)
T-god's belt
Nokazon ammy
Hoto flail
Sanctuary troll nest(resists if needed)
Bk ring
Angelics combo(melee)
Duress armor(if needed, maybe not)

Charms are
Mastery Gcs with life or frw(wanted) or fhr
War cry Gcs with life or frw(wanted) or fhr
Anni
Torch(barb)

I dunno man, I really hope any of this did help you in anyways...I hope someone else can fix some of these problems too, Goodluck.

[Ce Olba]

6)For equipment, hoto and fort both require dupe high runes to make...so basically you've just broke the pure legit code...


How can u know that he hasn't found those himself?

[morotsjos]

How can u know that he hasn't found those himself?
Or transmuted, it's ladder after all =)

Anyway, peterpaulrubens, I suggest you check out the wolf-barb guide by drake if you haven't already. Some people claim that feral rage alone gives enough desynch to catch casters, just charge it up on some monsters or w/e. The whole idea is interesting...

[peterpaulrubens]

6)For equipment, hoto and fort both require dupe high runes to make...so basically you've just broke the pure legit code...


that's fairly insulting. The Lo rune dropped and the Vex in the HOTO was cubed (Gul from random monster in WSK, Gul from Hellforge).
So please, no more "advice" about Dooms and Enigmas. Not gonna happen.

@morotsjos: I've read the wolf-barb guide bu Zero-unit, don't know where the one by drake is.

I still think a Harmony is necessary... the monsters eventually get killed in a duel game, and the problem is getting that first hit. I think if i can catch any non-blocking caster, i can get knockback/FHR lock and then it's over for them. Casters with max block might be a bit more challenging, but those are relatively few.

[[exile]]

Zer0-Unit = Dr@ke. His account name is Zer0-Unit, but he signs his posts as Dr@ke (I think that's how he typed it?).

As for morostjos' comment about Feral Rage possibly desynching alone, I doubt it's possible. Othe FRW sources are necessary. My old WolfBarb had Feral Rage and some 30%FRW boots and never desynched once. Although he did kill quickly without having to.

If you're not happy with Griswold's Caduceus, you can also try a Shael'd Azurewrath. The Cold and Magic damage help a bit.

[peterpaulrubens]

']Zer0-Unit = Dr@ke. His account name is Zer0-Unit, but he signs his posts as Dr@ke (I think that's how he typed it?).

As for morostjos' comment about Feral Rage possibly desynching alone, I doubt it's possible. Othe FRW sources are necessary. My old WolfBarb had Feral Rage and some 30%FRW boots and never desynched once. Although he did kill quickly without having to.

If you're not happy with Griswold's Caduceus, you can also try a Shael'd Azurewrath. The Cold and Magic damage help a bit.

Good to know that drake = ZeroUnit. Thanks.

I doubt it's possible to desynch with only Feral Rage. I imagine that's desynching with plenty of item-based FRW and a reasonably high level of Increased Speed.

As far as the Azurewrath, if i'm using Dragoon's calc correctly that gets me a 6-frame attack. That puts most people's hit recovery time underneath my attack time. I think I'll be better off with the 4-frame attack. This whole build is based on speed and i think i'd be foolish to ignore that.

Thanks for the input though.

[the boss]

that's fairly insulting. The Lo rune dropped and the Vex in the HOTO was cubed (Gul from random monster in WSK, Gul from Hellforge).
So please, no more "advice" about Dooms and Enigmas. Not gonna happen.

@morotsjos: I've read the wolf-barb guide bu Zero-unit, don't know where the one by drake is.

I still think a Harmony is necessary... the monsters eventually get killed in a duel game, and the problem is getting that first hit. I think if i can catch any non-blocking caster, i can get knockback/FHR lock and then it's over for them. Casters with max block might be a bit more challenging, but those are relatively few.

Excuse me, I've not noticed this about the Gul cube recipe on ladder, excuse my language sir, take back my words on that.