help me improve my barb

[imusikfreek]

Hello everyone!
Well this is the stats for my level 87 frenzy barb:


Gear:
Helm: Arreats [+9 str, +9dex, +28ed jewel]
Ammy: Angelic
Rings: Angelic/Raven
Weapon 1: EBOTDZ [415%]
Weapon 2: EDeathZ [400%]
Switch: 2x WC Sticks
Armor: Fort
Glove: Dracul
Boots: Gore
Belt: Nos coil

Inv:
Torc
Anni
5x WC Gc
11x ar/life/max [random stats]

Life: 5841
Defense: 11620
Frenzy: 10k
Double Swing: 6.4k

Merc:
Act 2 Might Merc w/ pride, efort, andy

This barb is just made for pvm, key hunting, and killing mini ubers.
so please let me know how i can make him better!

Thank You!

[frenzy kujaku]

PvM:
1) No problem at all. Except against IM as usual.
2) Maybe slow to get to bosses. Try Engima+2xHoto for faster tp.
3) Problem with Immune physical as usual. Lacerators or anything that does elemental/magical damage on switch maybe useful.

Key hunting:
1) Except for D key hunting, the other two will take you some time to run there. An Enigma+2xHOTO on switch will be great for faster key hunting.
2) For D key hunting, Nature Peace will allow you to hunt 'peacefully' without CE blowing your life away.
3) Vipers in D key hunting will probably kill your merc. No merc survives their direct hits, no matter what gear you equip them with.

Mini ubers:

Duriel
1) Too slow on startup swing (7.5fpa). You will at most reach 5.5fpa even with frenzy. You may find it too slow for your liking. Duriel may not be fell as quickly as you like.
2) Life tap may not trigger as fast because you swing slowly and low % CtC on Dracs.

Lilith
1) Shouldn't be a problem if your lt triggers off fast enough. With your life, you should be able to last long before lt triggers.
2) Merc will die if tanking on your behalf against Lilith. No merc survives consecutive direct hits from Lilith.
3) Amp Dam from the flying witches is quite painful for a frenzy without DR. It's best not to attempt taking Lilith on with Amp Dam on you. Against the flying witches if you have amp dam on you, howl-taunt strategy may be useful to disperse them and draw them in/chase them one by one. Or simply howl and run past them. Or wear an Enigma+2xHoto for tp.

Izural:
1) Merc and you will die to IM if you are unlucky.
2) Otherwise, no problems against Izural.

As a side note, if you are intending to bring this barb to uberland:

Against ubers:
1) Not enough CB, 50% Death+ 15% Gore is not good to take down Baal fast enough. However, your OW from Dracs + Gore will be immensely helpful. A switch to Gullimare's face against Baal will enhance your attack ability. That works for Diablo as well.
2) I will switch Fort for COH and angelic for maras against Meph because your all resistance should be low with his conviction on you.
3) Again, your frenzy is 5.5fpa which I find too slow for my liking. Baal regenerates fast hence hitting him more and hard is always better. Changing to LOH and 15%IAS on helm will allow you to hit the last breakpoint. However, you will lose your lt from Dracs. If you are very rich, as you probably are judging from the perfect BOTD and Death, then go for LWZ and Beast on switch for the lt. Switch back once Lt is triggered. I would suspect that you may prefer Beast/LWz to BOTD/Death once you start using them.

Good job with the Frenzy build!

Cheers
Frenzy Kujaku

[jhtvman]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Death. As powerful as it is, it just slows down my frenzy acceleration too much for me to tolerate, even with a 15%ias jewel in my Arreat's and Laying of Hands equipped. For that reason, I keep Last Wish in my off hand. Apart from the Life Tap allowing me to ditch Dracs, Fade offers a nice resist bonus, and the might aura enhances the damage I get from my EBOTD. LW by itself only gives me a little over 3k damage, but a good EBOTD by itself will pack more than enough punch for most any PVM situation, and the Life Tap makes it easy to survive against the toughest of enemies like Uber Mephisto. Difference between me and you is that my frenzier is a sword barb, so my LW is indestructible. I'd probably hate to run back to town all the time to repair my LWZ, especially since zerkers have such crap durability.

If you're going to key run, Enigma is a must. The trouble with the key hunting spots is that they're full of physical immune enemies that as a barb, you're going to have a hell of a time killing. Teleport removes that particular issue by letting you skip past every enemy and get straight to killing the bosses.

Since you're already Life Tapping with the Dracs, there's really no need for a Nosferatu's life leech. Just go with a Verdungo's and enjoy the big vita bonus as well as the nice damage reduction.

Consider switching the current jewel in your Arreat's with a 15/40, but otherwise, your setup is good. Definitely keep those Angelics on. I've tried a bunch of alternatives like 2x Ravens/Metalgrid, or Highlord's/BK, but I always keep coming back to Angelics because that AR bonus is just too good to pass up. Nice life bonuses too.

[imusikfreek]

PvM:
1) No problem at all. Except against IM as usual.
2) Maybe slow to get to bosses. Try Engima+2xHoto for faster tp.
3) Problem with Immune physical as usual. Lacerators or anything that does elemental/magical damage on switch maybe useful.

Key hunting:
1) Except for D key hunting, the other two will take you some time to run there. An Enigma+2xHOTO on switch will be great for faster key hunting.
2) For D key hunting, Nature Peace will allow you to hunt 'peacefully' without CE blowing your life away.
3) Vipers in D key hunting will probably kill your merc. No merc survives their direct hits, no matter what gear you equip them with.

Mini ubers:

Duriel
1) Too slow on startup swing (7.5fpa). You will at most reach 5.5fpa even with frenzy. You may find it too slow for your liking. Duriel may not be fell as quickly as you like.
2) Life tap may not trigger as fast because you swing slowly and low % CtC on Dracs.

Lilith
1) Shouldn't be a problem if your lt triggers off fast enough. With your life, you should be able to last long before lt triggers.
2) Merc will die if tanking on your behalf against Lilith. No merc survives consecutive direct hits from Lilith.
3) Amp Dam from the flying witches is quite painful for a frenzy without DR. It's best not to attempt taking Lilith on with Amp Dam on you. Against the flying witches if you have amp dam on you, howl-taunt strategy may be useful to disperse them and draw them in/chase them one by one. Or simply howl and run past them. Or wear an Enigma+2xHoto for tp.

Izural:
1) Merc and you will die to IM if you are unlucky.
2) Otherwise, no problems against Izural.

As a side note, if you are intending to bring this barb to uberland:

Against ubers:
1) Not enough CB, 50% Death+ 15% Gore is not good to take down Baal fast enough. However, your OW from Dracs + Gore will be immensely helpful. A switch to Gullimare's face against Baal will enhance your attack ability. That works for Diablo as well.
2) I will switch Fort for COH and angelic for maras against Meph because your all resistance should be low with his conviction on you.
3) Again, your frenzy is 5.5fpa which I find too slow for my liking. Baal regenerates fast hence hitting him more and hard is always better. Changing to LOH and 15%IAS on helm will allow you to hit the last breakpoint. However, you will lose your lt from Dracs. If you are very rich, as you probably are judging from the perfect BOTD and Death, then go for LWZ and Beast on switch for the lt. Switch back once Lt is triggered. I would suspect that you may prefer Beast/LWz to BOTD/Death once you start using them.

Good job with the Frenzy build!

Cheers
Frenzy Kujaku

Cool! Thanks a buch! How do you suggest I make it faster???
Do I use last wish like the other guy said???
Can you give me suggestions on what I should upgrade like weapon or merc etc...?

[The Avenged]

for my general pvm i use
2x topaz ikhelm
nigma
botdDimblade
LWPB
gold wrap
chancies
war travs
metal grid
35% ring
19-160 raven
lemlem/istist ali's

25X 7%mf sc's torch and anni

Merc
guilles
poopy1500 def efort
perfect e tombreaver LO'LO'LO

for ubers
switch ik 4 arreats
chancies 4 Loh
traves 4 gores
gold wrap 4 t-gods
nigma 4 CoH
35% ring 4 natures(dkey)/dual leach/ar/str/life/light rez(ubers)