wooginator
28-12-2008, 19:10
I recently thought up and built this build as my main magic finding character, and I was so happy with how he turned out I thought I should share him with the rest of you. Tired of having to use wimpy casters to do your magic finding, and the ridiculously expensive gear that it takes to make sorcs viable in all of hell? This is the build for you.
The telezerker is, as the name suggests, a teleporting berserker barb. For those of you who think berserkers are too easy to kill and a waste of time because of the total lack of defense, keep in mind that enigma (the focal piece of this character's gear) allows you to be pure vit, leaving you with upwards of 5k health once you have maxed bo. So don't sweat it. You won't die. The main theory behind this character is that, little known fact, Barbarians have the same fast cast rate breakpoints as sorceresses. Therefore, with the same amount of fcr, you can teleport as fast as they can.
The skill layout for this build is as follows:
20 points Howl
20 points Battle Orders
20 points Shout
20 points Berserk
1 point Find Item
As many as you need in Prerequesite skills, and then put the rest into the weapon mastery of your choice (I went with axe).
Now the explanation. Each of these skills comes in hand in its own unique way. Berserk is the main attack and your left click, because A: It does upwards of 1000% damage, B: very few monsters in the entire game are magic immune (I can only think of two), and C: It uses Howl as a synergy.
Howl is one of the most useful, and overlooked, skills in the game. With the telezerker, your main battle strategy is to teleport up to the boss (for instance, Andariel or Nihlathak), use Howl to scare way all of the minions, and then kill the boss with just a few hits. Howl is very handy because if there's one thing the telezerker does not do it's crowds. He can survive, but he takes a long time to kill them. One hit at a time, after all.
Battle orders is more or less self-explanatory. Without it you don't have the life to survive and you don't have the mana to teleport.
Shout is another synergy for Berserk. It isn't all that useful because Berserk drops your defense to zero regardless, but it keeps you pretty impervious to 80% or so of enemy attacks while you're teleporting.
Find item is a very useful little skill. With your + skill gear it ends up being about level 12 or 14, giving you roughly a 50% chance to find an item on a corpse. Using Find Item essentially gives you a re-drop. Use it on champions, unique monsters, anything you can really. You never know what you might find.
Next we have the gear. A lot of it is pretty flexible. There's really only one necessity, and that's the enigma. Here is the gear on my barb:
Arreat's Face socketed with a 15% increased attack speed jewel
Mage Plate Enigma
Last Wish Berserker Axe (Not cheap, I know. There are plenty of viable alternatives like an ethereal Breath of the Dying berserker axe, but this is the best for the magic find, the crushing blow, the might aura and the chance to cast fade.)
Stormshield socketed with a perfect diamond (resistances and physical damage reduction, both very useful given your total lack of defense)
Arachnid Mesh (for the +1 to all skills, yes, but mostly for the 20% faster cast rate, also very useful)
War Travelers (for the Magic Find as well as the great mods, +strength, +vitality and added damage)
Chance Guards (Magic Find and Gold Find)
1 Fast Cast Rate ring (Mine is 10% fcr, 2 strength, 89 mana and 9 all resistances)
Raven Frost (The dexterity is useful since you're pure vitality, the attack rating comes in handy, and most importantly the Cannot Be Frozen, which no melee character should be without)
Highlord's Wrath (Increased Attack Speed and +1 skills. 'Nuff said.)
10 to All Attributes, 13 to All Resistances Barb Torch
37% Magic Find Gheed's Fortune.
Alternate Weapon Set:
33% Spirit Monarch
Wizard Spike (or Dual Wizard Spikes if you want)
Mercenary: I use an Act 2 Blessed Aim mercenary because I was having some attack rating issues (only 5 or 6k) but if you don't have that problem I recommend a prayer merc. The must have is an insight polearm on him. This allows you to teleport endlessly. Also the meditation aura synergizes with the prayer and you get massive life regeneration. If you don't need attack rating or healing then feel free to get a might merc. More damage is always good.
Use your alternate set when you teleport. With that gear you have 113% faster cast rate, which puts you at the second to last breakpoint, meaning you can teleport as fast as most sorceresses. Not only that, but you have 75% in every resistance and roughly 50% physical damage reduction (43% if your Last Wish hasn't cast fade). This character can hit every boss in the game and rush just as well as a sorceress. Finally, a magic find and rush character for those of you who, like me, find casters boring. Enjoy! If you have any comments or questions feel free to ask.
The telezerker is, as the name suggests, a teleporting berserker barb. For those of you who think berserkers are too easy to kill and a waste of time because of the total lack of defense, keep in mind that enigma (the focal piece of this character's gear) allows you to be pure vit, leaving you with upwards of 5k health once you have maxed bo. So don't sweat it. You won't die. The main theory behind this character is that, little known fact, Barbarians have the same fast cast rate breakpoints as sorceresses. Therefore, with the same amount of fcr, you can teleport as fast as they can.
The skill layout for this build is as follows:
20 points Howl
20 points Battle Orders
20 points Shout
20 points Berserk
1 point Find Item
As many as you need in Prerequesite skills, and then put the rest into the weapon mastery of your choice (I went with axe).
Now the explanation. Each of these skills comes in hand in its own unique way. Berserk is the main attack and your left click, because A: It does upwards of 1000% damage, B: very few monsters in the entire game are magic immune (I can only think of two), and C: It uses Howl as a synergy.
Howl is one of the most useful, and overlooked, skills in the game. With the telezerker, your main battle strategy is to teleport up to the boss (for instance, Andariel or Nihlathak), use Howl to scare way all of the minions, and then kill the boss with just a few hits. Howl is very handy because if there's one thing the telezerker does not do it's crowds. He can survive, but he takes a long time to kill them. One hit at a time, after all.
Battle orders is more or less self-explanatory. Without it you don't have the life to survive and you don't have the mana to teleport.
Shout is another synergy for Berserk. It isn't all that useful because Berserk drops your defense to zero regardless, but it keeps you pretty impervious to 80% or so of enemy attacks while you're teleporting.
Find item is a very useful little skill. With your + skill gear it ends up being about level 12 or 14, giving you roughly a 50% chance to find an item on a corpse. Using Find Item essentially gives you a re-drop. Use it on champions, unique monsters, anything you can really. You never know what you might find.
Next we have the gear. A lot of it is pretty flexible. There's really only one necessity, and that's the enigma. Here is the gear on my barb:
Arreat's Face socketed with a 15% increased attack speed jewel
Mage Plate Enigma
Last Wish Berserker Axe (Not cheap, I know. There are plenty of viable alternatives like an ethereal Breath of the Dying berserker axe, but this is the best for the magic find, the crushing blow, the might aura and the chance to cast fade.)
Stormshield socketed with a perfect diamond (resistances and physical damage reduction, both very useful given your total lack of defense)
Arachnid Mesh (for the +1 to all skills, yes, but mostly for the 20% faster cast rate, also very useful)
War Travelers (for the Magic Find as well as the great mods, +strength, +vitality and added damage)
Chance Guards (Magic Find and Gold Find)
1 Fast Cast Rate ring (Mine is 10% fcr, 2 strength, 89 mana and 9 all resistances)
Raven Frost (The dexterity is useful since you're pure vitality, the attack rating comes in handy, and most importantly the Cannot Be Frozen, which no melee character should be without)
Highlord's Wrath (Increased Attack Speed and +1 skills. 'Nuff said.)
10 to All Attributes, 13 to All Resistances Barb Torch
37% Magic Find Gheed's Fortune.
Alternate Weapon Set:
33% Spirit Monarch
Wizard Spike (or Dual Wizard Spikes if you want)
Mercenary: I use an Act 2 Blessed Aim mercenary because I was having some attack rating issues (only 5 or 6k) but if you don't have that problem I recommend a prayer merc. The must have is an insight polearm on him. This allows you to teleport endlessly. Also the meditation aura synergizes with the prayer and you get massive life regeneration. If you don't need attack rating or healing then feel free to get a might merc. More damage is always good.
Use your alternate set when you teleport. With that gear you have 113% faster cast rate, which puts you at the second to last breakpoint, meaning you can teleport as fast as most sorceresses. Not only that, but you have 75% in every resistance and roughly 50% physical damage reduction (43% if your Last Wish hasn't cast fade). This character can hit every boss in the game and rush just as well as a sorceress. Finally, a magic find and rush character for those of you who, like me, find casters boring. Enjoy! If you have any comments or questions feel free to ask.