Wots yer build?

[Painman]

Finished NM with the Wizard, and now I've taken both her and the DH into the first bit of Hell. It's definitely a bit tougher here.

Wizard

I haven't changed very much; just pumped up some defenses. Sorta the cookie cutter Blizz/Hydra kite build as it turns out, with a couple twists. I still love Chain Lightning. I think it may be an undervalued skill, though I don't know how it fares in Inferno. But it's insta-hit, crits fairly often, and it's great for blowing up the environment too.


Demon Hunter

Basically, slow it down, keep it slowed down, kill it. If it gets too close, make distance. She does good damage, but is definitely more fragile than the Wizard.

Both characters are at the cemetery in Act 1. Might farm stuff there for a little while. Not particularly easy right now, but I'm still using mostly NM gear on both.

[Aconite]

Here's my DH, who has now completed hell and is parked for a while (pending my wizard reaching level 60, and perhaps the 1.0.3 patch going live as well). She's done a bit of Inferno Act 1 (currently heading through the cathedral to the SK).

Fairly standard I guess. I used Frost Arrow and Ball Lightning runes until Nether Tentacles unlocked, and messed around a bit with Rapid Fire early on, but settled with the core of this build during Nightmare. Standard kiting approach, really.

I did switch over to bola shot and impale with stun for some of the boss fights (Rakanoth (sp), I'm looking at you!), but generally kept this build as is.

I used Ferrets for a while, to gather a little more gold, but the hatred regen from the bat is more useful when questing. Vault rune is like that because my discipline was used purely for smoke screen (extended duration and movement speed passive meant I could get out of trouble).

Companion was a Templar with heals and charge/stun.

I'm curious to see how my wizard (note that the build isn't yet finalised) will compare. He's going for a pure arcane damage approach (magic missile and orb, with arcane hydra), with the passive that slows on arcane damage once it unlocks (he's only level 40 at the moment).

[SnickerSnack]

Wizard

I don't think Cold Blooded is helping you much. You'd be better off with Paralysis or Galvanizing Ward, methinks. Also, I'm pretty sure the LCS uses the bonus from Magic Weapon twice, so the damage you see on your character screen is quite a bit higher than the actual value. That may have been fixed by now, though.




On topic: Here's my wizard.

[Painman]

Blizz is still offering me a good deal of offensive punch in act 1 Hell, so as long as it + CL can wipe most stuff out fast I'm inclined to hold onto CB. I realize that the tactic probably isn't going to last much longer for this Wiz; been thinking about going full Arcane on her as well.

I know about the DPS disply bug with Force weapon... the character's actual DPS right now is somewhere around the 4.5K mark I reckon. The DH is actually doing just about the same amount atm.

Anyway, I told myself I'd park these characters after finishing NM but I had to see what Hell action was like. As soon as I hit the reply button, I'm gonna get started on a Barb. I need some melee action. I'll try out the Monk a bit later.

[SnickerSnack]

I've been playing a barbarian centered on Weapon Throw: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dki!ZWf!bZZZZZ

The build works based on stacking crit chance to take advantage of the passive No Escape, which, among other things, makes critical hits with Weapon Throw generate fury. If your crit chance is high enough, you should be able to spam Weapon Throw indefinitely, though the skill description is vague, saying "Critical Hits with Weapon Throw have a chance to return 14 Fury." (emphasis is mine).

I've stacked crit chance up to 25.5% (28.5% with Battle Rage, which stays on all the time due to high crit chance ) and I can spam Weapon Throw pretty well. Individuals are dealt with with Frenzy and anything >2 gets Weapon Throw. I start by casting Battle Rage and one or more of my fury generators (Leap, Ancient Spear, War Cry), then spamming Weapon Throw until I'm out of fury or the group is small enough to clean up with Frenzy. I usually save Leap for the end in case I need to use it to regroup.

There are changes that I will make as I go along. The barb is level 37 right now and I'm not using Weapon Master since I don't have a decent low level axe, though maybe I can craft one. I haven't tested whether the Sidearm rune for Frenzy works with No Escape. I also don't know if the fury gained from No Escape gets the bonus from Animosity.

The main problem with the build is that it's a bit boring spamming the same skill over and over, but I just try to look at it as a long range Cleave. I'm also not using any of the skills in the Rage category, and those are a lot of fun.

Edit: Also, I know that this will not be even close to inferno viable and probably not even hell viable due to the lack of healing.

@Pijus: Well, that'll limit my fury generating, but I'll try it out. He's now at level 38, so I'll replace Ancient Spear with Sprint with Run Like the Wind or Marathon.

[Pijus]

@Snicker: Try sprint with run like the wind. I know I've been mentioning it every chance I get, but it really is good. Especially with your build. Throw a few axes, run away, throw a few more, run away. Also recommend trying Battle rage with the rune that makes you generate fury on crits.

[Painman]

Snicker, I did finally swap out CB for Galvanizing Ward on the Wizard. The 256 extra regen is definitely helpful.

Here's my 54 Barb: Linky

Currrently parked. Aside from Bloodthirst and War Cry/Invigorate, there's no life steal and not enough regen to mention.

I am in love with Cleave/Rupture. I also enjoy whirling. But there's not a lot of synergy between the 2 skills.

Been thinking about going with a non fury-consuming build once I hit 55 and get Unforgiving, then combining it with Berserker Rage. Is such a thing viable for Inferno? Could use some pointers.

[SnickerSnack]

Snicker, I did finally swap out CB for Galvanizing Ward on the Wizard. The 256 extra regen is definitely helpful.

It sure is. I think my wizard has about 900 life per second right now from Galvanizing Ward and items.

Been thinking about going with a non fury-consuming build once I hit 55 and get Unforgiving, then combining it with Berserker Rage. Is such a thing viable for Inferno? Could use some pointers.

So your main attacks would be fury generators, right? If so, Unforgiving would be a waste of a passive; you'll already have full fury most of the time.

[Painman]

So your main attacks would be fury generators, right? If so, Unforgiving would be a waste of a passive; you'll already have full fury most of the time.

I'm more of a slow and plodding adventurer. D3 Barb playstyle seems to force you into running around looking for pack after pack, and I just... screw that. I like my own pace. I spend a lot of time with an empty Fury bulb. The system gets on my nerves. That's why I'd like to try to bypass it entirely.

I wouldn't be averse to having maybe one skill that used Fury, like Weapon Throw. Having a ranged attack is always handy. Having it always ready is even handier.

[BaronScarpia]

[QUOTE=SnickerSnack;8367679
Edit: Also, I know that this will not be even close to inferno viable and probably not even hell viable due to the lack of healing.
[/QUOTE]

If you have a lot of critical damage as well, maybe you can have a viable inferno barbarian. I'm almost sure you can run act 4 hell very safely if you gear up as a tank (high vit + high all res + high armor). Maybe you'll need to drop a passive for a defensive one (tough as nails/nerves of steel) and have a source of stun/ignore pain replacing the ancient spear.