AuraBarb build

[drWho]

Hi,

I'm thinking of a new (or so I thought) build for barb that would maximize damage output using the auras provided by the rune items.

I'm currently thinking:
2x Beast - I read that beast stack so you have lvl 18 fana

Get Might Merc and equib him with: Pride, level 16-20 concentration.

Max WW, max Axe Mastery, 20 BO/Shout, 1 point for all the 1 skillers.

With all the bonuses from might + concenration + Beast, he should do some sizable damage? I haven't look into what the actual damage would be yet. But just wanted to get some opinion.

Thanks.

[inanefedaykin]

Dual beasts is sort of redundant. As has been stated before, grief/beast gives the best damage.

[Rius666]

For even more aura stacking you can throw on a Dream helm. That should add a little more elemental dmg to your arsenal. With that you would have 4 auras on you from Dream, Merc, Beast, Pride.

If you want even more aura stacking and dont really care about dmg then you could get a Phoenix shield for Redemption aura and a Dragon armor for holy fire aura. Not a very smart idea since dual wielding and armors like Fort/Duress are much better ideas in PvM but at least it gives you more auras :).

[foxfire]

or you could go with a beast/doom ba combo. more aura goodness and you can slow enemies to make them easy ww prey.

[drWho]

Thanks guy, but I want to be effective also :), it would be cool if all those extra auras add meaningful damage.

I'm thinking a bit different now:

Defiance Merc with Pride Concentration
Beast/Last wish for Might and Fanaticism

This should give me good defense, since I have no shield, and enough damage to make a point. Will this setup be good to kill tristram ubers? Not that I can get Last wish anytime soon.

Thanks.

[Rius666]

Thanks guy, but I want to be effective also :), it would be cool if all those extra auras add meaningful damage.

I'm thinking a bit different now:

Defiance Merc with Pride Concentration
Beast/Last wish for Might and Fanaticism

This should give me good defense, since I have no shield, and enough damage to make a point. Will this setup be good to kill tristram ubers? Not that I can get Last wish anytime soon.

Thanks.
That is a very viable and fun frenzy build. It will also do pretty well in uber trist but remember you absolutely cannot rely your merc's aura in uber trist since merc goes down in about 5 secs.

[drWho]

Coming along gathering my gear for this setup already. Still can't find 4 socket eth thresher though. I have one question, how much AR do one need to kill uber tristram? I maybe short on AR here, even with demon limb. will 1 angelic help? (1 amulet, 1 ring).

Here's my plan 4 the gear w/o angelic, as stated above:
Arreat
COH
Beast zerker/Last wish zerker
Metal grid
raven frost ring
wisp ring for lit absorb (maybe 1 more raven here?)
Tgod for further lit absorb and up lit resist
Gore boot

Just hope the above give me enough AR, I don't have anni or torch, so in the charms department, not much there.

Thanks.

[Lyrs]

Lvl 1 Battle Cry will cut down All monster Defenses by half. Very effective vrs bosses.

[drWho]

Lvl 1 Battle Cry will cut down All monster Defenses by half. Very effective vrs bosses.

Hi yes, that's true, but it will override lifetap, which is more important I thought toward killing the ubers.

[nickedoff]

..Take off one beast and he's still a regular, plain old whirlwind barb.

What you need is a Bramble armor, Harmony bow, Dream helmet and metalgrid. Revive a bunch of Venom Lords with the harmony bow, make an iron golem, and go dominate act 2 nightmare.

[drWho]

..Take off one beast and he's still a regular, plain old whirlwind barb.

What you need is a Bramble armor, Harmony bow, Dream helmet and metalgrid. Revive a bunch of Venom Lords with the harmony bow, make an iron golem, and go dominate act 2 nightmare.

Huh?

I just need/want/curious for some more information on the AR neccessary to successfully kill tristram ubers. I know for sure that lifetap is a must, so that mean I won't be getting any benefit from Battle cry.

[drWho]

Ok, just an update, lvl 65 now, with Beast and Last wish I am doing an average max of 2.5k damage, don't know if that's good or bad, but seem low compare to my hammerdin 8.8k damage. This is with out the merc concentration aura, since pride requires level 67 for merc. Once I hit 68, I'm just going to hire a defiance merc at level 67. I've already maxed Frenzy and Axe mastery. I'm still haven't decide to max DS or Taunt yet, probaly Taunt, since I will never use DS.

I plan to max Iron skin, together with one of the Frenzy synergy, or should I just max out all two Frenzy synergies for max damage? I don't care about BO or shout since I will have another Barb dedicated for that purpose.

Another thing I've been wondering... How can I keep my merc alive in ubers, let say I give him bug 3k def fortitude, gaze with um, and give him fade through Treachery armor? Will that be good enough to survive? He should have positive resist after meph conviction, have dr and good defense. I think that my goal now, tell me if it's realistic, is to keep both me and merc alive in tristram. Now given my Bo barb going to have at least level 40 BO/Shout. I could top it off with Obedience weapon which give more resist/defense/ and CB, together with enchant, this runeword is my favorite, cheap and lots of good bonus for merc.

Comments?

Thanks.

[inanefedaykin]

Max howl, scare away those pesky monsters in uber trist.

[drWho]

Max howl, scare away those pesky monsters in uber trist.

Probaly not a good idea. 1 in howl is good enough.

[drWho]

I may be talking to myself here, but anway, good to have log if anyone want to try this approach. I finally got my merc yesterday and, now my frenzy is doing 4k+ damage max average. I tried the frenzy control method (right click for frenzy) suggested in one my other thread, and it works wonderfully. Now I run into a problem, repair cost!!! I went through my 10 rals and a couple orts in one night game session yesterday. Repairing my superior COH cost 600k alone, each axe probaly 150-200k repair cost.

Now I know the value of indestructable mod.

Anyone now I am thinkig of way to reduce repair cost, cause using rune just won't cut it, I will not have/find enough runes to support this char.

So here's some of my idea, please let me know since I'm sure lots of you have experience with this.

- Repair in Act2, with quest, cost should be less
- Carry 2x Edge weapon: Reduces All Vendor Prices 15%!!! each, for a total of 30%
- Gheed fortune: 15%

Anything else? Any other item that would help solve my durability problem?

Thanks for your input.

[Ce Olba]

- Carry 2x Edge weapon: Reduces All Vendor Prices 15%!!! each, for a total of 30%
.

U cannot do this, Edge is a Missile Weapons only, meaning only Bows and Crossbows, and u cannot dual wield those.

[drWho]

U cannot do this, Edge is a Missile Weapons only, meaning only Bows and Crossbows, and u cannot dual wield those.

I just realized that now. I wonder if it work if I just equib two bows (one for each weapon switch). I was thinking about javalin as throwing weapon too on my first thought.

Thanks.

[nickedoff]

I wonder if the -cost on Edge works when it's on your merc too.
hmm.

[drWho]

I haven't tried yet, still need to find normal 3 socket bow that I can use given my low dex. But in the mean time I sold my sup dusk coh and will be making a new COH either with normal 500+ def archon (still need to find or trade for), or with 514 def normal Kraken shell which I have already. Which one should I use? The archon is lighter and has 60 durability, and the Kraken shell is hevier and has only 48 durability. Since the defense is going to be pretty much the same, if have both I will probaly go for archon but since I don't have archon, is Kraken shell a good alternative (look better, kinda important to me too). The repair should be much less, if repair isn't an issue the extra durability on archon is not such a big deal, but how is the run/walk issue? I have enough strength to use kraken also through arreat/Tgod/ and beast.

Thanks.