Playing with Dolls

[dutes]

I'm playing an IK WW Barb and in NM act III I'm have all sorts of problems with dolls. First in the Flayer Dungeon I started having problems, but given the limited number of dolls I coped, barely. Now I'm into Meph's durance and the dolls are a serious problem for me, given you can't use potions in the middle of WW and despite having around 20% ll total and doing just shy of 1000-2000 physical damage I somehow can't leech fast enough to keep from dying when facing packs of dolls.
Any advice on how to deal with these highly dangerous critters?

Also another question, I don't have metalgrid and despite having twin ravenfrosts I'm finding that already my AR is starting to become to low, I'v not even finished NM and already my CTH is below 90%, I've heard that the angelic rings/amu combo is pretty good but would it be a better option than twin ravenfrosts?

[brokensvt]

You'll need one Ravenfrost for the CBF mod, otherwise you could certainly sub in Angelic Ring/Amulet. Your Damage is also way low, it seems it's time to start collecting every +max damage, +str, +ele damage charm you can get your hands on for a bit, then sub out for better as you go. The +damage/+str ones will help your leech.

That being said, your problem in NM is that fire enchanted monsters are bugged and do WAY more damage than they're supposed to, and I think this includes the dolls' explosion on death.

[Dadou]

Leap over or stun them and move along without killing them. Them and IM are your worst nightmare on Diablo. Avoid them at all cost. Don't even try to WW in hell with them nearby.
Or you can switch a range weapon but that's not my idea of an IK Barb.
I play HC only, and I learnt that one should never play the heroe when facing them. No shame in running, or you might turn into the Immoral King Baba that was not so Immortal...

I'm sorry but I don't agree with brokensvt : when WW i WANT to be frozen. You'll move way slower, but you'll spin at the same speed, which mean you'll deliver a lot more hits --> more dmg --> more life leech. Ravenfrost is very good for AR though but I correct this with a switch Demonlimb.

I trully love the CBF mod, just not with one single char : the WW baba.

[brokensvt]

If you're spinning too fast to deliver max damage over time, you didn't read up on your IAS breakpoints. Being frozen is the bane of ANY melee/physical ranged character. That is all.

[Dadou]

This has nothing to do with IAS breakpoint, this has to do with staying longer in range. Spin speed is the SAME, which means IAS breakpoint remains the same.
It's just that you'll be passing the mobs slower and deliver more hits over the same whirl. IF the BP is missed there, then it was missed as well when you were WWing without being frozen, and that means even more hits missed...
My point was way simpler than IAS breakpoint question. You'll find this hint in some other good WW builds.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Actually, doing 1k-2k physical damage in nightmare isn't THAT bad. You'll get by with that amount of damage. In Hell, you can reasonably expect your ww damage to be between 4k and 5k, depending on your charms set up. I wouldn't kill yourself getting max damage charms either. You aren't using your end game equipment yet (at least I assume you are not if you are only in act 3 NM). Both the damage and AR issues you are currently having will work themselves out. Every time you add an additional piece of the IK set on your character, you get a bump in AR. The total AR bump is +450, and that of course is multiplied by your WW AR and your mace mastery. You won't have AR problems once the set is complete.

As far as being chilled goes - yes - you still spin at the same speed regardless of whether or not you are chilled, but the speed at which your barb moves across the screen is slowed. So it is true that you will stay in range longer during whirling if you happen to be chilled. That having been said, there are just too many good mods on a Ravenfrost to ever consider trading it in. Plus, it's not like being chilled is that common of an occurance anyway. In fact, I don't even think it's that bad of an idea to go with two Ravenfrosts. Sure, the Angelic jewelry will give you more AR, but this is PvM, and dropping slightly under 90% hit rate until you get your end game equipment up isn't the end of the world.

[Noite Escura]

I found that WW away makes me escape from the explosions most of the time, while still scoring some hits on them. Off course I never do that when I have several Dolls on my face though...
Howl can be your friend here

[BlameGBush]

This has nothing to do with IAS breakpoint, this has to do with staying longer in range. Spin speed is the SAME, which means IAS breakpoint remains the same.
It's just that you'll be passing the mobs slower and deliver more hits over the same whirl. IF the BP is missed there, then it was missed as well when you were WWing without being frozen, and that means even more hits missed...
My point was way simpler than IAS breakpoint question. You'll find this hint in some other good WW builds.

this is only true of earlier patches. I believe by 1.09 (or maybe even earlier) they changed this so that chill and freeze affects WW IAS. I'm sure theres a good thread around here that talks about WW ias, if someone could bring it up

[Noite Escura]

I get the impression that being slowed doesn't affect WW IAS. At least it seems to me that I hit more and kill more when chilled. It is though a bit of unsafe, it makes you hit more but also cause you to get more hits. It is a pain when you're cursed mid-WW and it takes longer for the whirl sequence to end

[Damric]

I'm pretty sure chilling only affects total oias and not the weapon's ias, therefore no effect on attacks per frame. None of my PvM wwbabas ever needed cbf for this reason.

[AnimeCraze]

I would just howl and run. WWing through dolls is a request for premature death.

[inanefedaykin]

Knowing how to WW > frozen WWing
Staying in range when frozen? Try turning while in a whirl and hitting them again, nothing is making you go out of range.

[Dadou]

You can't turn while you WW, you can just wait to finish your straight line and then make another one. This is called the triangle when you do that shape around the herded critters.

[neumein]

Does PDR, %PDR or MDR work against the doll's death explosion? If it does, then a little bit of PDR could go a long way. If not, I suppose we're back at square one. Perhaps you could let your merc deal with them? I seem to recall that mercs don't receive the doll's death damage.

Hope it helps. :undecided: