Gavel of pain for gf barb?

[lumpor]

I recently bought a gavel of pain for my gf barb to have on switch, but then I noticed the huge strength req (169). I have to hel it, but that would require both a hel and a socket quest, so I want to make sure that it's worth using. It would triple damage vs council members, and break ismail at the times when he's immune to phys. But there are only 3 charges which last 29 seconds, and what if the merc as usual dozes off when I've casted amp so the charge is wasted, and what if he kills a council member before I've switched back, and I don't get the effects from the ali babas? Also, I think the charges cost 16k gold each.

It seems quite unfexible to me, but it sure would increase damage alot. Triple damage vs non-immunes and 20% damage vs immunes, but it seems annoying to use. I can't try it out yet since I may sacrifice a socket quest and hel only to realize it's not worth using.

[happysmacks]

lumpor you want me to be honest....

i have made a couple of MF/GF barbs and the most effect way ive found to kill the council is with my merc using insight and me spamming war cry and battle cry!
it is so effective its unreal.

the best way is just to lure a couple out at a time War Cry so the minions just stand stunned, then battle cry so thier defense drops then spam War cry a bit more!
an act2 might merc really does knock them down quick and half of them cant even move so you rarely get hit and your merc doesnt lose health either!

i know sometimes one of the dudes can be PI but he really isnt worth wasting strength points on so you can kill him.... and honestly so far i have run the trav maybe 40times and hes only been PI like 2/3 times.

Aslong as you resistances are high and you health is even higher running the council really is easy with the BC & WC combo!

i would honestly say dont waste points in strength or socketing the gravelpit for 1dude who doesnt often spawn with PI... with a few tweaks to ur barb you could be killing the council in literrally 1min 30secs! and the beauty is BC & WC only need 1point on each ;)

BUT this is only my opinion from what i have experinced with maybe 3different GF barb builds and so far BY FAR using BC&WC instead of leap and stuff is way way better!

and to be honest im only using insight because im too lazy to buy mana potions ;) so maybe even using a reaper toll or something else with combo of mana pots to help spam WC is even better than what im doing now... but i think i get mf with insight also ;)..

just a thought tho!

goodluck

[lumpor]

I've already made many runs with my goldleaper. You don't really need high fire res for hydras, the mdr on the dwarf stars makes you invincible already.

Amp doesn't only help against PI. It also TRIPLES damage vs the council. My merc already kills them kinda fast (about 1,5-2 minutes) but I wish it could be even faster, and tripling damage is quite much faster it seems

Also, my merc doesn't use insight and I've never taken a mana potion when doing runs, even vs mana burners

[drake]

happysmaks, all your godly experience is moot if you havent tried what lumpor is talking about, and it doesnt seem like you have since you're just making blind guesses.

and to answer lumpor's "should i use gavel" question, my answer is HELL YEAH.

its ridiculously effective, it will cut down your runs' time in half if not more (no joke), not to mention solve the PI problem and boost your merc's leech/survivability tremendously. if you're on east ladder i'll gladly show you. otherwise, hel it (136 str), equip a bunch of str charms and try it out i guess. last season my gf barb was done (~90ish str) when i had this idea, and it made me rebuild him even though he was level 90+... thats how good it is.

i understand your apprehensions though, but:

1. almost all the time, the charges last long enough for the merc to kill everything that has been amp'd (with a barb that has teleport charges that is)

2. they have a very wide radius, so much that i basically never use all 3 charges in a run, and quite often just one when they're all bunched up instead of in two groups. so if you wish, its possible to do two runs without repairing most of the time. personally i always go to act 4 after every run anyway since i dont want to walk through the whole kurast docks. in act 4 the repair guy is basically right next to you, so why not repair gavel and sell him crap for more gold at the same time.

3. costs 10-11k to repair a charge, not 16k, but they're worth that tenfold in added killing speed.

4. who gives a **** about the strength happysmacks... sure its ~50 less vit but you're still a base dex barb that leaps around... i dont even remember the last time i died. same goes for losing +6 bo/shout from warcry sticks.

5. your merc may pop a monster before you've switched back to babas but switching is pretty much instantenous in this game so i doubt it happens (hard to tell). even if it does, its still worth using it, big time.

the only problem in using gavel (besides the lower life which isnt even a problem) is that casting amp gives every council member the time to cast one hydra before you start leaping. BUT, as you've noticed, hydras pretty much do nothing to a gf barb even without max fire res. as for the merc, well amp triples his dmg and therefore his leech, so he'll easily be able to cope with those "extra" hydras.

i'm gonna go time a few runs just to prove how effective it is (merc using botd war pike, eth fort and cham'd andys)

[lumpor]

Hmm, my GF barb is 89, and only has 121 str now including his +str. 3 levels more, or I could get an anni, or I could upgrade my torch from 15 stat to 20 stat. At max, it'll take me 3 levels, which although is tedious, will also give me extra gf and mf from ali babas, and also increase my chances of getting ilvl 90 amulets when gambling. I hate levelling, but I guess its worth it.

[drake]

takes about 30-40 seconds to run trav from the moment i tele near them to when they're all dead.

[happysmacks]

yeah i know what your saying lumpor about the amp dmg, and sure if you want to cut your run time down then i guess why not.

and drake.... as i dont use leap i more vitality i have the better and my GF/MF barb is actually very very effective against the council hense why i said what i did to lumpor.... the reason why it is very very effect is because i dont use duped Enigmas and BOTD so i have to use what i find which at the moment is 2x alibabas, wealth, goldwrap, chancegaurds, IK Helm and some crap nagels... whilst my merc wears insight, tal armour and tal mask!

and with this equipment that is very poor my runs are still very effective!
of course your runs are going to be very quick and effective coz you have no doubt all the duped high end gear?... im sure if i could afford BOTD for my merc i would equip that ;)

[stephan]

I don't see how not using Leap gives you more vitality.

Leaping barbs are easier than WC barbs. No duped gear needed either, you are not stuck with an Insight/Mana potting to keep your WC going and you have longer range stun.

[happysmacks]

BUT this is only my opinion from what i have experinced with maybe 3different GF barb builds and so far BY FAR using BC&WC instead of leap and stuff is way way better!

and to be honest im only using insight because im too lazy to buy mana potions ;) so maybe even using a reaper toll or something else with combo of mana pots to help spam WC is even better than what im doing now... but i think i get mf with insight also ;)..

just a thought tho!

goodluck

ouch! :banghead: