Goldfinding with some Gambling on the side

**krischan** · 09-06-2005, 20:43

Sorry to dig up this thread again, but it seemed to contain a lot of useful information. Unfortunately most of the links point to threads which don't exist anymore (possibly because of the most recent forum crash), even when I replace the host name.

I already know which equipment to use and where to go, but should I use a WW, Frenzy or Conc barb ? I will probably use a Frenzy barb because I already have an IK whirler and Frenzy is just so much fun. Any objections ?

Oh yes, to what extent do I have to fear the fire enchantment one of the nightmare councils have ? I heard it got reduced in normal and hell only, but not in nightmare...

**Ax2Grind** · 09-06-2005, 21:43

Originally Posted by krischan

Sorry to dig up this thread again, but it seemed to contain a lot of useful information. Unfortunately most of the links point to threads which don't exist anymore (possibly because of the most recent forum crash), even when I replace the host name.

I already know which equipment to use and where to go, but should I use a WW, Frenzy or Conc barb ? I will probably use a Frenzy barb because I already have an IK whirler and Frenzy is just so much fun. Any objections ?

Oh yes, to what extent do I have to fear the fire enchantment one of the nightmare councils have ? I heard it got reduced in normal and hell only, but not in nightmare...

Replace only the number after the "=" symbol in your address bar when viewing this thread with the thread number you want to view. I viewed "Gambling: Circlet vs Coronet?" to make sure (last post informs everyone about the difference in sockets of circlets/coronets and tiaras/diadems).

Usually when going for gold or uniques I use the dual-handed attack builds. Frenzy is my monster damage/speed build I'll use for massive MF: run down to Mephisto, hack him to a sliver, portal out, switch all the gear for you and your merc, then let him get the kill after casting Lower Resist. My Double Swinger will use Trang-Oul's fire setup, with dual Flamebellows, and fill my stash with GF gear so I don't have to worry about items too much. Even with two lowest absorbs that's still 40%, so it's a breeze on either council, but he shines against average little enemies. Doesn't help much when you switch to gold-finding weapons, but you don't need to run around with 4,000% all the time, either.

All of these builds use Iron Wolves for maximum gear. My standard Frenzy build uses Cold Wolf, which is ideal for Taunt and slowing down Mephisto, for example. The Fire Wolf is great for knockback with the Double Thrower and Lightning Wolves face the least immunes, more helpful for a Double Swinger that doesn't have as much damage capability. If he gets the last hit then it's that much more gold, but don't sit there taking damage waiting just to get a few thousand more.

**sorcyone** · 10-06-2005, 00:33

A few points :

IK helm has 37% GF not 40.

Magic Circlets can have 230% GF Artisans Circlet of Wealth (I have a 3os circlet with 27%MF with 3 Ist gives 102%MF - a pity it's eth).

80% GF amulets can be rare, magic or crafted.

I wouldn't bother to count GF on merc since it doesn't help with horking, and it's not worth waiting for him to make the final kills in the best GF area - Travincal council.

With good GF you can easily get well over 10,000,000 in an hour but you will have to stop and gamble every 10 minutes.

**krischan** · 10-06-2005, 09:10

I accidentally crossposted this into the barb forum as well (see there for an explanation) and I asked the people to refer to here instead. To join the two threads with what I can do, this is what has been posted there so far:

Originally Posted by Diehard

Originally Posted by krischan

To what extent do I have to fear the fire enchantment of one of the council bosses

In Hell, my frenzier does just fine against fire enchanted bosses. I have max fire resist, but no absorb. I assume you'll be using at least one Dwarfstar ring, which, combined with resists, should give you a high level of protection against Geleb's fiery death blast.

Fine, I will use a frenzy barb then

Dwarfstars give you absorb, of course, so that is probably enough for a BOed barb to survive the explosion.

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Regarding the links: Of course I know how to extract the links from the posting and replace the host name, so that's not the problem

The threads were found (i.e. the URLs were OK), but they were empty which lead me to the conclusion that some crash in the past is the reason. Anyway, I admit that just checked the first three of them because fixing the links was a little annoying.

I agree that giving GF items to the merc isn't worth it. He won't kill much anyway and waiting for him to let him kill the enemies seems to be a waste of time.

**Ax2Grind** · 10-06-2005, 09:56

Originally Posted by krischan

Fine, I will use a frenzy barb then

Dwarfstars give you absorb, of course, so that is probably enough for a BOed barb to survive the explosion.

My pure Axe Frenzier doesn't use Battle Orders, just high leech and decent life (and the smarts to get out of a jam, of course). You want to make sure you can not only survive the bomb but any other effects he carries along (cold-enchanted and cursed, for example) as well as being tagged a few times afterward by his super-unique buddies while in such a state. I never go anywhere without eight or more full rejuvenation potions, now, just in case. Then again, I haven't played this character past normal this season, I may have underestimated hell difficulty since last I did.

**krischan** · 10-06-2005, 10:15

I guess BO will help a lot to level him in hell mode. On the other hand, I will probably have to save a few skill points to have L9 Find Item. A goldfind barb gets far less skill bonuses, so a lot of skills have to stay at L1 (and are probably good enough at that level for nightmare).

**Ax2Grind** · 10-06-2005, 12:06

Originally Posted by krischan

I guess BO will help a lot to level him in hell mode. On the other hand, I will probably have to save a few skill points to have L9 Find Item. A goldfind barb gets far less skill bonuses, so a lot of skills have to stay at L1 (and are probably good enough at that level for nightmare).

Maybe, if I set up enough time after I finish inventory, we can get a bunch of us together and start horking our/their guts out. The more people in the game, the more (gold) drops.

**-Tempus-** · 10-06-2005, 16:58

there have been maybe 10 or more new goldfind threads started since i last updated the links in this thread, when i have more time i'll add all the new ones.

the old links or dead ones are do to forum resets, crashes and other things like that. its too bad, some of the best ones went back many yrs.

i've said in other threads that i dont like frenzy for a GF/MF barb. you need 2 very good weapons with speed/dmg. Cant be Frozen is often needed (and cold dmg isnt good for a build that uses the FI skill. frenzy can take way too many skill points vs other builds to get good dmg. where a ww barb can go max mastery,ww,bo,FI and be done, a conc barb could go 1or20mastery, max bo, max conc, max FI. after that both builds are done at ~80 but you still have a lot of points that could be used in other skills depending on how you want to finsh the char.
shout: for def and zerk dmg
zerk: for phy imms (or main attack) works very well vs high council
NR: if you dont have charms/items to get max in hell
warcry: 1 point min but if your main attack is conc, zerk, frezny or you let your merc kill then more here works.

i've said before that to get the max goldfind you need to use an act3 merc, since i dont like their killing power i always go with a might merc. their aura helps the barb kill when using a mf/gf setup and the merc can solo the high council.

the merc on my main gf barb uses a 12%LL 150%gf CoT, eth wealth, sup eth passion pole. but when i run nm i give him an eth 6 lem pole. thats +900% gf, its very easy for a merc to kill nm high council and with nice items they can solo hell high council too.

there are many ways to play a goldfind barb. weapons, attacks, to use a merc or not, to max fi or not, to use more killing power items vs higher gf items. for most of them the best item to use would be LoH for its 350% dmg to demons. since my merc does the killing even in hell i dont use those gloves often but i do keep them in my stash. as i was lev'ing my merc i also used arreats, jewelers/whale plate, sword all socketed with ed/goldfind jewels, sharp/greed charms. that gives a ton more dmg but isnt needed when you do runs in solo-small games.

krischan: take a look at my thread where i show how much gold i get from first kill (merc) using max FI skill on dead and how much gold i get from cash items. i think its goldfind 1.09vs1.10 a gf barb gets the most gold by using the FI skill on the dead. read up on zero drop

-Tempus-

**krischan** · 10-06-2005, 19:47

Thanks for all the replies so far. And the mentioned thread works after replacing the host name

The point of a GF barb is having as much GF as possible, as long as it's reasonable, and I guess two LemLem Ali Babas are just what he needs (no shield can beat that weapon with respect to GF) and that should be good enough for nightmare councils. Therefore it doesn't matter if I use WW or Frenzy with respect to weapons. With Frenzy I have more control over which monsters I actually attack. I prefer to do the job myself instead of watching my merc do it while wearing GF items that would not enable me to kill the enemies. That's why I will probably concentrate on nm councils.

Anyway, my GF barb is L9 atm, soI haven't done anything that would make him go the WW or Frenzy path (I just decided for sword mastery) and today I will concentrate on getting leveling gear, I guess, as well as reading through a few threads. I like doing things a little slower.