hc conc barb- weapon problems

[MrZip]

Hello everybody. Here's a little backstory- I switched to hc a few months ago and this conc barb was one of my first chars, but I only got up to lvl 20 before I grew tired of him and shelved him for a while. Now I'm coming back to him. I had started him out with mace mastery because one of my friends gave me a baranars star just as I was starting out but now, after making some other chars, I have a bit more wealth and can afford something better. The question is what?

I've never played a conc barb before so please excuse my ignorance. The only thing i'd like to limit suggestions/advice to is 1handers. I really want to use a shield.


(do maces, morning stars and flails count as hammers?)

oath in an eth scourge?
can beast be made in a scourge or is it only two handed mace weapons?
eternity in an eth scourge?
can doom be made in a scourge or is it only two handed mace weapons?
famine in a scourge(if possible) or a legendary mallet?
hand of justice in a scourge/legendary mallet?
phoenix in a scourge/legendary mallet?
baranars star? (already have)
eth demon limb? (already have)
horizon's tornado? (already have)

What would you recommend and why? Remember I'm in hc, so survivability > dmg for the most part. i.e. the holy freeze on doom, the slow target on eternity and the redemption aura on phoenix are worth a bit more to me than they would be in sc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

-zip

[PhatTrumpet]

Only War Hammer, Maul, and Great Maul (and their exceptional and elite cousins) count as hammers. Check the bottom of the Arreat Summit runewords page to see a description for Maces (their categories are mutually exclusive, so Hammer excludes anything considered a Mace).

'Oath' in an eth Scourge is a nasty little beast. If you can make one, by all means, do.

'Beast' cannot be made in a Scourge, so in your case where you're trying to go with Mace Mastery your only options are Ogre Maul and Thunder Maul because the only other hammer-type weapon (Legendary Mallet) cannot get 5 sockets (not that I'm suggesting you actually do that).

'Eternity' lacks speed, but yes, you could make it in a Scourge.

'Doom', see explananation for 'Beast'.

'Famine' in a Legendary Mallet is actually an interesting idea, but you'd still need plenty of IAS on the rest of your gear to make it useable.

'HoJ' would work, but I wouldn't recommend it.

'Pheonix', see above.

Bstar is not something you should consider if you can afford the runewords already mentioned.

Eth Demon Limb, see above.

Horizon's Tornado, see above.


So your three main options are eth 'Oath' Scourge, 'Famine' Legendary Mallet (only if you can make up for the slow speed with the rest of your gear), and Stormlash. Stormlash would probably be my pick because it's got CB and ctc Static. 'Oath' comes in second for its ridiculous raw damage and speed. 'Famine', like I said, might be an interesting experiment, but I think it's better suited to an Avenger than a Conc Barb.

As for those secondary effects you mentioned:
If you think you need Holy Freeze, get a HF Merc.
If you think you need to slow targets, get a HF Merc (see a pattern here?).
If you think you need Redemption, make a 'Pheonix' shield.

[MrZip]

Awesome! Thanks for the reply. I was already leaning toward 'Oath' in an Eth Scourge (However, I assume finding a 4os Eth Scourge will be quite a challenge.) I do think Stormlash would be a great choice, the only problem is that it requires lvl 82, whereas I would be able to use an 'Oath' scourge at 57.

What are your thoughts on SS vs. 'Phoenix' shield? Now that I'm thinking about it I guess it boils down to the Damage Reduction and the %Block on the SS. Is it worth it for PvM? (I will be going for Max Block)

[PhatTrumpet]

You will not likely attain max block with a 'Pheonix' Shield, so your best option is definitely SS.