Bear Barb

[Kyl]

Bear Barb:-

I am attempting a build i have only ever heard of. This is a rough guess of what would work, i am positive it will.

Skills;
20 axe mastery
20 battle orders
20 battle cry
20 shout
1 battle command
1 iron skin
1 natural resistences
1 increased stamina
1 increased speed
1 leap attack
Leftovers pump into natural resistences

Gear;
Perf demonhorn's edge 3/3/3
Perf edmg beastz 285%
Perf edef and res ap fort 215%/30, or 160-60 ap will work
Stormshield monarch
Perf edmg steelrends 60%
Perf edef gores 200%
Angelics ring and ammy with perf raven
Switch to dual 6bo cta

Invent;
Perf barb torch or perf druid torch (bonuses, yes?), either is fine, both providing same amount of life and edmg, thought barb torch may give slightly more dmg with 3 to axe mast
Perf annihulus
3 x masteries gcs w/ life
3 x warcry gcs w/ life
3 x shapeshifting gcs w/ life (this would give bonuses to werebear, right?)
10 x 3frw scs with any other mods

Strategy; The pvp strategy is quite simple, BO, BCmd and Shout yourself, Battle Cry your opponent if you can get in and out in time (you really don't have to worry bout maxing this if you're not fond of it, i am though), switch out to beastz and ss, transform and slaughter them. Simple.

Note; A substitute for Battle Cry is either BCmd, Natural res or increased speed.

Verdict;
This is an experiment character that i've not seen before. I have only heard of, and i haven't found any builds or guides around so i thought i'd make one. It is PURELY pvp, using werebear from beast to gain a LOT of life, edmg and edef. The only thing it lacks is resistences. By the time you have mediocre resistences you will have to be around lvl 88. with the speed this character will move and the damage it will do it will be an imperviable dueler. Though it may have a lack of IAS... but nevertheless the damage and AR will be fine enough to one-hit anything that comes withing range. And i am aware there are similar builds with ebotdz and wolfhowl...

by Ant /w *rhk on USEast

P.S: Could someone give me a heads up weather summon gcs add to werebear on a beast ... or wc gcs add to BO and BC on a cta, i'm not quite sure.

[batuchka]

Well its just sheer coincidence that i shared my findings on this build (pure PvM) recently here:

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=524235

1) Druid Torches, D sum GCs SS GCs all do not boost werebear, grizzly or lyncantrophy for that matter, only stuff with +all skills Mass life could be had with WC lifers or some nice 20life/xx scs

2) You're better off using
a) 3 BO/3 Iron skin/3 shout Barb Delerium
b) Wolfhowl for lyncantropy bonus
c) Arreats after shifting

3) For PvP beast+steelreands+gores may have a lot of crushing blow (if that was your intention) but OW and DS works far better for PvP

4) BeastZ - 7fpa at best, Grief PB - 6fpa, Shael Horizon Tornado/Crainte Vomir Legend Sword, Oath/BOTD PB - 5fpa, 100ias Griz Caddy - 4fpa :P

5) I can't help you on PvP tactics with this build because i was purely PvM but the only time i was out of fur mode was when i was at CS (Iron Maiden) and if there was a pesky PI i just had to kill (beserk) AR would be a problem for you i predict in PvP even with angelic..maybe demonlimb prebuff?

6) CTA - Barbs are capped @ +3 BO for CTA so why not prebuff werebear with a HOTO or Spirit broad sword in other hand? If prebuffing BO/Shout a simple pair of echoing weapons would do ^^

Cheers and hope u do manage to pull this off in PvP :D Kudos on a different and cool idea (in my opinion :P)

[Kyl]

Gah, i thought it was quite unique, i even googled it :( oh well :P
does it work very well at pvm? I was sure it would struggle there against big mobs. And does it have nice resistences? Thanks for the positive feedback too :D

[batuchka]

Well the blessed aim merc idea solved my AR problems (w/o use of angelic combo) in PvM and my barb helm delerium really shines in crowd control vs big mobs (chance to cast confuse curse on striking) and when faced with an act boss they are life tapped (dracs) cos these guys are immune confuse which works really nicely :P Well with natural resistance, um SS, barb torch and an anni resistances aren't an issue really ^^ Also have a COH Dusk in stash as well :P

[Kyl]

Ah ok, yeah i was thinking CoH originally but fort is dominant in the damage related field. Merc is BM so i'll go raven/angelics, should help hey? What's your overall opinion? Think it will do well?

[Kyl]

Oh and SS may be the way to go, but how bout a 4os monarch with 4 40-15ias jewels in it?

[batuchka]

Yes forumites did suggest angelic combo and its possible to hit 9k+ AR with them but for PvM i wanted that xtra deadly and +skills from highlords and BK. Perhaps stock up on max/ar charms? Ya Fort >> COH in PvP No go on the 4* 40/15ias monarch as this shield has bad block, no dr and ias outside weapon only helps to a certain degree.

p.s You could confirm your exact AR with those equations in that linked guide of mine ^^