General Max DPS Build for Frenzy

[Opiation]

Hey all,

I'm sure this question has been asked before in various forms, but I wanted to specifically ask this for Frenzy build in general PvE use, rather than in specific uses like Ubertrist or dueling.

I have a gear set up in mind (long term thinking here -- I only started two weeks ago, and have just a few of these pieces right now) and would love to hear criticisms. I'm running a standard Frenzy barb skill build that resembles Spankeh's set up.

2x Grief PB
Enigma for farming, Fortitude for Ubertrist or anything actually hard
Highlord's
Verdungo's (Or String of Ears?)
Ravenfrost
Dual Leech ring
Steelrend
Gore Riders
Arreat's Face
Resist Charms

Any suggestions or criticisms? What is this build missing?

[scollin]

Laying of hands over Steelrends easily for PvM. I prefer string of ears to verdungo's but to each his own. Gores/Highlords are no brainers, and your armor choices are good. Guillaumes could be used over arreats but i prefer arreats myself.

The only question left is griefs... They give the highest damage output, but if you can afford it Grief/LW is probably better. It gives all the crushing blow that will make bosses incredibly quick (griefs are slower than you would think on bosses since ITD doesnt work), provides life tap so you barely need life leech, and fade covers your resists. The might aura will help a lot too, especially when not using fortitude. And if you ever go into ubertrist theres no contest.

With that said, Griefs do just as much damage, more to most enemies. The only problem is that your other gear will have to be more safety oriented to use them. Either option will work. In general i recommend the griefs because LW is absurdly expensive for a minor at best uptick in performance.

[Opiation]

Thanks for the reply and advice, Scollin. Some follow up questions:

1) I've seen many people focus on Laying of Hands as their gloves of choice. As a newcomer, I looked them up and said, "that's it?" I obviously am missing something. The stats on steelrend (crushing +straight ED) look so tempting to me.

I assume the reason LoH are preferred is their 350% damage against demons. My gut response to that is "that's great, but it's only against demons, and I don't like feeling specialized against a particular enemy."

Can you fill me in here on what I'm missing? Is it that the late game mobs are mostly demons? Is it something else entirely?

2) Is it absurd to try for two Griefs now, and then hope to build a LW before Diablo 3 comes out? I honestly don't know what to expect three+ months from now. Let's start here: I've been playing this game for 1.5 weeks and I'm currently level 85 on my first character with several end game items. I am quite aware that 85 in 2 weeks is nothing for veteran players, but I've literally never played a game like Diablo, so many of you have over a decade worth of experience on me here. I'm quite good at games generally and learn very quickly -- quickly enough to come here.

This amounts to 4 or so hours of play a day. Given that pace, is it even reasonable at all to expect to build my way to this gear? How lucky will I have to be? Or should I assume that I may never be able to afford a last wish even if I play hours a day for 6 months?

Thanks again for your help -- and to anyone else willing to pitch in!

[omgwtfbbqpwned]

1) If you're running bosses, it's gg. If not, you can stick with Steelrends if you want, since the STR also translates into more %ED/Life. Also, at least ~33% of the game's monsters are demons, maybe more.

2) Are you on the new ladder or NL or what? If you're on NL it should be quite easy at 4 hours a day.

[hubb]

Forum ate my post :(

TLDR of it: If you feel you need Arreat's and ctc Life Tap then that's okay, but I do fine with just 8% leech on a ring. Tele into the middle of a pack, fire off a War Cry, decrepify procs and 3 seconds later you're off to the next pack

[Opiation]

1) If you're running bosses, it's gg. If not, you can stick with Steelrends if you want, since the STR also translates into more %ED/Life. Also, at least ~33% of the game's monsters are demons, maybe more.

2) Are you on the new ladder or NL or what? If you're on NL it should be quite easy at 4 hours a day.

I'm on the new ladder. And thanks for the tips; I may end up having an "area clearing" gear that has steelrends + fortify, with a "boss clearing" gear that has LoH and enigma.

Of course, that all assumes that I can magically achieve that gear before 1) the season ends, or 2) D3 comes out. I'll just try and see how close I get.

Hubb: Thanks for the input -- I actually already have a dual leech ring with 8% LL on it, so I may try that out. But I don't see where I expected to put Life Tap on my gear; can you point that out?

[hubb]

Well, I was thinking along the lines of Grief/Grief/G-face versus Grief/LW/whatever. I'm just saying that as long as you make good use of your war cries then you don't need a whole lot of leech or LT.

IMO once you've got Enigma then you're better off using it all the time. When you get your merc's decrep casted on what you're attacking it's a huge increase in damage, and playing/teleporting like I described above is really the only way to do that consistently.

[Opiation]

My gut response to that build, hubb, is "where are the resists?" I thought I was already low when I had Arreat's instead of Guillaumes.

I can imagine not needing resists for area clearing, because you can produce enough dps that you kill things so fast that they do little damage to you.

But I sort of assume you'll want some resists for the harder bosses in hell and certainly in ubertrist. Is that wrong? Can you, for example, solo ubertrist with that build?`Thanks again for all the advice everyone.

[hubb]

No, then you'd prebuff with Treachery (or use LW) and use something like Fort or Chains of Honor. And T-gods.

You'd still definitely want maxed fire and light resists for general playing. With a Torch, natural res and an Um in the helm you're at about 15 all res, add Highlord's and LoH and a couple of resist charms and the important ones are where they need to be

[Opiation]

Thanks a ton for all the info hubb. Would you be willing to post or PM me your ideal gear setup and skill build? Thanks in advance!