Hows this for a GF/MF barb? [Archive] - Diablo 3 & Diablo 2 Forums

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Smackin

31-08-2007, 00:31

Aite so I've read alot of threads on GF barbs, their equips, and their tactics, but I'm still not too sure on which one to follow. I plan on building a barb strictly for trav runs(nm at first, eventually hell), and I plan on using a mix of GF/MF gear, while my merc will load up as much GF as possible without sacraficing too much killing power. My setup will probably be the following:

40 mf ik helm(2x lem)
Wealth AP
Goldwrap(eventually rare belt)
37 mf chancies(eventually 40, yeh I'm a perfectionist)
2x dwarf stars(eventually 2x ones with 15mfr)
nokozan's
infernostride
2x alibaba(2x lem each)
WC weps for prebuff
High res torch
High res anni
High GF/xx/15 gheeds
4x WC GCs(with GF eventually)
10gf SCs(with res eventually)

Merc(A2 Might):

300ed Eth Bonehew( 2x lem)
Cot(eventually eth upped, lem)
Wealth ebugged wirefleece

Skill layout:
20Leap(KB purposes, rendering monsters unable to attack)
Total of slvl26 Battle cry(-100% def)
Max shout
Max BO
Total slvl13 Nat res(60res)
Total slvl19 Find item(50%)
Pre-reqs
1pt wonders

Obviously I can rip through nm like a walk in the park, but what about hell? I know I wont die, but what about my merc? Is there anyway to prevent him from getting fried by hydras? Councils themselves will probably be cake, even if they spawn curse/fana/xtra strong, but if they spawn conviction, its gg for merc. Any suggestions/comments/criticism?

samithedood

31-08-2007, 04:10

can't comment on ur barb but i think ur merc will get ripped apart in trav with that setup mercs die fast in trav unless thay have alot of LL i think lifetap is the only way to keep them alive perhaps a wand on switch wud be your solution?

Smackin

31-08-2007, 04:26

Hmm, that could be a nice option, since i can BO with bo weps, then put on wand, LT the councils and then switch to alibabas. Now just gota shop a lvl5 LT charge wand with 97 charges.

BoooBooo

31-08-2007, 10:11

Smackin

31-08-2007, 10:34

Yeh I realized that my merc will probably still get fried by the hydras. I'll probably try to tank the hydras while my merc kills them. With 95 fire res on me, a lvl37 BO, lvl37 Shout, I should be able to take the hydras, and my merc should have sufficient life to last the run. I might switch out the wealth for a high res merc fort, and put a vex in the helm for max fire res. Eth 3s tombreaver is the hands down best GF merc weapon, until u realize that it has a 10% chance to reanimate, which makes FI useless, thus defeating the purpose of a GF barb.

Lexur

31-08-2007, 12:42

Without enigma your merc will get into trouble. What if he starts attacking a Phys immune... :sad2:

I dont think you need 95 fireresist with 2 dwarfstars..

I think this would be good merc gear:

botd eth warpike
eth CoT 'Lem' 150% GF
eth upped Goldskin 'Lem' 150% GF (and 35% allresist)

BoooBooo

31-08-2007, 20:35

Very nice, however I agree your merc is still gonna have his a** handed to him by mass hydras due to lack of resists, defence and life. Especially if one of the big bad council members casts conviction on you. The FR on the COT won't be enough.

Maybe a eth fort and a nice CV runeword or a eth 3 soc tomb reaver :cloud9:

I think your gonna be surprised on the dmg Hell council will dish out. Killing power is also important for effecient GF runs. Having to revive your Merc everytime will cut into that Gold accumulation.

Eth Tomb also has MF, plus throw a couple lems in there with a dmg/ed jewel. Reanimate is 10%, I hardly think it defeats the purpose of horking. Just throwing it out there. Or just go with a runeword CV.

ETH fort ftw! :thumbsup:

Smackin

31-08-2007, 21:06

Dang, seems my idea of letting the merc kill with GF gear isnt gonna be too viable. If thats the case I'm gonna have to slap on 2x 5lem runemasters and start frenzying the councils myself, losing ~600% gf.

Dis Skillz

31-08-2007, 21:59

You can do goldfind runs by letting your merc kill them just fine. You CANNOT just rush into the entire pack at once and expect everything to be ok. What I have usually done is build a normal WW barb (Max WW,BO, Shout, partial Mastery, rest into Find Item) in order to do regular playing and goldfinding as well. 1 pt wonders would include: Berserk, War Cry, Battle Cry.

Your merc could have an Insight if he wishes if u do a lot of War Cries, or a Reapers Toll would be nice for the decrepify proc if you so wish. I have not tried putting a Wealth on my merc yet, so I cannot attest to that.

When going against the council, try doing several things: Taunt the non unique council members 1 or 2 at a time (whatever number you feel comfortable with) instead of running into the large group. Taunting them at a distance makes them run into you and your merc, at which point you can either stun them in place with War Cry, OR: Leap them into a wall or obstacle. Against the Unique council members, Leap is a better choice since War Cry will tend not to stun them. Don't be afraid to use Battle Cry against them as well to decrease their damage+defense.

The reason that I make a standard WW barb (besides regular playing) is to help out in case one of them spawns physically immune, where i switch to my regular beat-stick and berserk him to death.

Hope my experiences has helped out a bit. I can detail it further with exact gear if you like, and I am always looking out for new ideas or tweaks to my current GF barb.

deadbeater

03-09-2007, 05:34

Pshaw i use a throw barb with Lacerators. I hork on switch using lem/lem Ali Babas.

I also have on:
95 gf crown of thieves
perfect Chancies
dual Dwarf Stars
Goldwrap with 80 gf
Wealth in a mage plate
Rare shoes with 80gf.
7 grand charms with 35 or more gf.
6 10gf small charms.
1 21gf large charm.

My merc has on:
91gf Crown of Thieves(life leech!l),
a spirit forge (plan for duress later) and
lem/amn bonehew as weapon.

He can kill in Hell just fine once he has on duress.

Da warrior

03-09-2007, 12:14

ditch wealth, and use enigma for teleport, its much easier to tele ur merc to kill the monster. also for ur merc, use fort instead of wtever u wanna use. and get the most damage wep for ur merc. my merc did 13k damage with aura.
also try to find a rare 3socket gf% with skills barb helm. it out-money and skill ik helm anyday.
use 2 hotos on switch for bo and fast teleporting.
ull have no problem with this set up. i recommmend ebotd high damage wep, it has high ll%, even without leap, ur merc will kill easily

Corrupted

03-09-2007, 23:42

Aiming for merc to get all the kills is simply inefficiency.
You don't need enigma to position your merc, just walk into the durance and back up. Toss some tanking gear (Kira's + Treachery in my case) and a Reaper's Toll on him for a great improvement in killing speed. If you find your killing speed too slow you may go for Laying of Hands as gloves and/or Fortitude as armour. Switch Nokozan's with Metalgrid if you need AR or Highlord's if you don't. IK Helm isn't bad but I'd rather have the LL from CoT and slightly less GF%.
Whirlwind owns, Runemasters don't. If you want a cheap and powerful weapon Oath will do the job for you.

Smackin

05-09-2007, 00:35

Finally got my barb's merc to put on his bonehew, I must say, he can whoop hell trav without much problems, and the returns are SO MUCH BETTER then nm runs. Hell is the only way to really get rich, since it gives me nearly 3x the gold in one run than nm runs. Also, hell travs can drop much higher class items, which again=35k a piece:grin:. Another thing to mention, my setup on my barb and my merc is actually very viable in hell. Even with full GF/MF gear on my merc(12LL CoT, Wealth ebugged fleece, 2lem eth bonehew), he can survive due to my BO and shout, and the fact that I use battle cry to lower the council's dmg and leap to further KB'ig them, rendering them useless and unable to gang my merc. All I need is some more GF tweaking and I can make an upwards of 1mil per run.

BoooBooo

05-09-2007, 02:05

Well were there's a will there's a way.

gj :thumbsup:

Corrupted

05-09-2007, 10:08

BASHFUL BABA

05-09-2007, 17:47

Off-topic, but what do you do with the gold? Like what and how do you gamble, assuming that's what you do with it?

Ax2Grind

05-09-2007, 18:51

Battle Cry: I was told that, much like Conviction, it can't reduce defense to zero, let alone into negatives. That might be wrong, though, but even so the advantage in BC is reducing damage from enemies. Only when not using high-end skills does a high-end BC give a noticeable attack benefit, and against Might/Fanaticism/Extra Strong monsters all it does is act to negate the additional damage. The unmistakable superiority comes against possessed monsters, which can't be targets of curses: they're affected by BC since it isn't targeted and I believe it better than Cloak of Shadows, which acts as a curse, as well.

War Cry: much like Smite, this works on all non-boss monsters the first time. Champs and higher require multiple attacks to initiate, and each time is separate, hence to keep them stunned you must continue to cast (and cross your fingers). The advantage over Leap is that it doesn't knock them away, allowing anyone meleeing to do so safely. Since you're talking about maxing Shout, Battle Orders, and Battle Cry, as well as having decent Howl/Taunt for control and Find Potion/Item for wealth, a loudmouth (Cryer/Singer hybrid) appears to be ideal for letting the mercenary get the kills. Remember, a stunned council member can't cast Hydra, and only three of them won't be stunned on the first try. Also, lightning enchanted monsters tend to make leaping around somewhat dangerous, while finding a safe position to WC from is much easier.

As for the merc getting the last shot, that's always been a bonus - not the rule - for numbers of kills, not quality. If your target is Mephisto, you want the higher Better Item number you can get, whittle him down, then let the merc finish him off while adding his own BI (I'm aware of the diminishing returns). If you treat the high council the same way, you definitely need protection, and I don't think Leap protects nearly as much as WC.

Corrupted

05-09-2007, 20:01

Off-topic, but what do you do with the gold? Like what and how do you gamble, assuming that's what you do with it?

Gamble. In my case only circlets and coronets due to bad luck with amulets.

Damric

06-09-2007, 00:49

I think your ethy bonehew will work great, but put 2x Amn runes. Also don't put wealth on the merc. Try Duress or Treachery. You don't really need gf on the merc since he still counts your gf.

Smackin

06-09-2007, 02:20

@corrupted-yes my runs take longer, but its also safer because I wont get a temp IP ban after making 5 1min games.
@Ax2Grind-interesting information u got there. I chose not to use warcry on my barb because it's not as effective as leap. Leap grants 100% KB within large area, while warcry stuns for only a couple seconds in a small area, and it doesnt even stun superuniques/champions 100%.
@damric-The added GF from 2x lem and wealth on my merc gives me an additional 450% gf when he kills the monsters. Yes, u DO need GF on ur merc since when he makes the kill, his GF is added on top of urs, giving u a huge boost(~650%). treachery and duress is not even require as the only thing ur merc needs is a healthy 75 fire res and leech, and CoT takes care of that with ease. Im surprised that my build actually works quite well in trav. once u BC the councils, leap makes the rest of the run a walk in the park. Just watch as ur merc picks them out one by one while they're getting KB'ed by ur leap.

Ax2Grind

06-09-2007, 05:50

Well, one minute council runs means more monsters in other areas can be hit. Why would anyone doing gold/magic runs skip Eldritch, Shenk, Bone Ash, Fire Eye, and so on?

As for Leap versus War Cry, I think it's a matter of taste, practice, and real life mentality. Your build appears to have 19 points taken out of WC and put into Leap when compared to mine, which just means you're a drummer (percussionist) who likes to stomp his feet to the beat, while I'm a singer (vocalist) who likes to scream at the top of my lungs... but we're both in the same band. ;)

Smackin

06-09-2007, 06:17

Hehe, yeh I just like to stomp the crap outta the councils. Btw my build was strictly for trav, as my merc will probably get fried in other areas.

-Tempus-

12-09-2007, 12:45

if you let your merc get list hit then using taunt, warcry, battlecry helps them. even if its only 1 point base.

fast runs are nice but i for one like to id most of what drops. +6 skill wands, helms, orbs and so on are hard to pass up.

-Tempus-

Lucky_Seven

17-09-2007, 22:09

Skills:
20 native points in Find item is a must, even if is only 1% more you want all you can get.
More then 1 point in leap is a waste IMHO KB works with only 1 point.
I use the rest of points in War Cry for extra time in stunt.

About items:

This build have a free teleport in Durance entrance(just run to there ignoring the rest of the monsters), no use for enigma, just get in durance, return to trav and start jumping, let you merc kill the monsters, for extra help stop near monsters your merc is slashing for a WC / BC, start jumping again, if there is a PI use jump to get him away from your merc, use find item collect gold get nice items and repeat for another 500k of Gold(thats average, with bad luck i get only 300k gold with a perfect run I can get a million).

I like to use a Gold Find amulet you can get 80 Extra Gold in there and extra fire absorb is useless ( I have less then 75 to fire resist and with two dwarf rings I can get all the hit from hydras without problem)

Best Boots are rare you can get 80 extra gold with nice mods

Best Belt is rare too 80 extra gold with some juicy mods (STR/res/life/...)

My merc this ladder is using a eth bonehew with amn amn/eth Gladiators Bane/ CoT and kills the monsters without problems and without dying.

About doing yourself the kills:

Last season my barb was a WW barb with Grief+Last Wish Bersekers as a backup plan that I never used, this ladder I didn't spend points in offensive skills cause I like my merc doing the kill, that way I use only Gold Find items.

About Gambling:

My barb is level 92 thats the minimum level for amulet gambling(100% chance to get +2skills amulet), before 92 I advice the gambling of Circlets and Rings.
GG Gold Find Barbs.
Another good thing is using your Gold Miner to gamble.

Good Luck.
GG Gold Find barbs

Corrupted

18-09-2007, 13:33

[...]About Gambling:

My barb is level 92 thats the minimum level for amulet gambling(100% chance to get +2skills amulet), before 92 I advice the gambling of Circlets and Rings.
GG Gold Find Barbs.
Another good thing is using your Gold Miner to gamble.

Good Luck.
GG Gold Find barbs

Incorrect. The minimum level to have a chance of getting +2 skills on an amulet is 86 and the chance is maximized at 95.
Circlets reach the ability at 83 and is maximized at 92.
Tiaras and Coronets are slightly lower, I don't have the exact numbers right here but I can find them when I get home.

The Cow King

18-09-2007, 14:44

Skills:
20 native points in Find item is a must, even if is only 1% more you want all you can get.
More then 1 point in leap is a waste IMHO KB works with only 1 point.
I use the rest of points in War Cry for extra time in stunt.

20 points in find item is a waste, not a must

Maxed leap helps heaps because it keeps everything in hit recovery animation on the entire screen + beyond. Lvl one leap means you have to go right next to that nasty lightning enchanced council boss + the minions outside your leap range will constantly heal the councilor your merc is pounding <- very verry annoying with stone skin

I have ~2600 GF on me atm... usually gold is ~200k (I only do nm) and good runs give ~500k (without picking items).

chien

18-09-2007, 19:31

20 in FI is not a waste if you ask Tempus :) I guess, it is about person preference and plus skill items you have. If you have lots of WC skillers/anni/torch, you might only need few actually points in FI.

Chien

Lucky_Seven

21-09-2007, 14:22

Incorrect. The minimum level to have a chance of getting +2 skills on an amulet is 86 and the chance is maximized at 95.
Circlets reach the ability at 83 and is maximized at 92.
Tiaras and Coronets are slightly lower, I don't have the exact numbers right here but I can find them when I get home.

Thanks for the correction with 92 CLv I have 70% chance that ring is iLv 90 (and could get +2skil)l.

I do Hell runs and I don't need extra leap (my level is 7 with extra skills from amulet/Torch/anni)But I like all the extra chance of Find Items I can get. FI Level 19 is a waste over level 18 cause you have the same 50% chance. Level 21 gives you 1% more chance of FI's. my total FI is 53% and I'm happy about it.

To me Hell Runs are much better 650-700k gold average, 1mill in good runs.

Like Chien said it is about person preference.

Cheers