WW/Sprint Barbs and 1.0.4 Fire Walkers

[Volpula]

Hey, I just read the new Legendary Updates Blog and learned that legendary Fire Walkers boots will leave fire on the ground behing you, just like the sorcerer fromd d2 did. I do not know the damage scale or how effective it would be but I think it is going to be like a must-have item if it turns out to be very useful.

If things end up like I think it is going to make WW/Sprint builds even more interesting. So what do you think?

[aerial]

I think run like the wind rune will get nerfed, so in the end this setup even with boots, will be less powerful than it is now.

[Karth]

Hey, I just read the new Legendary Updates Blog and learned that legendary Fire Walkers boots will leave fire on the ground behing you, just like the sorcerer fromd d2 did. I do not know the damage scale or how effective it would be but I think it is going to be like a must-have item if it turns out to be very useful.

If things end up like I think it is going to make WW/Sprint builds even more interesting. So what do you think?

I started drooling immediately when I read about them. Did more of it after watching things actually dying from it in the video. Of course, it remains to be seen how powerful the effect actually is.

I think run like the wind rune will get nerfed, so in the end this setup even with boots, will be less powerful than it is now.

I'm not so sanguine about this. They mentioned nothing about nerfing builds and everything about buffing them; they seem to think it is time to start bringing other builds up to par with the best that are currently available, instead of beating them all down to the same low point. Either way, assuming the actual proc coefficients of run like the wind aren't nerfed (the build could survive a damage decrease, but not, I think, a significant proc coefficient decrease) these boots still seem like they'll be an interesting new toy in the whirlwind/sprint barb's toolbox. Or the furious charge toolbox. Or that of any build that moves around amongst enemies a lot; my monk might even like a pair.

[aerial]

I wonder what they had to do, to buff other builds to match the tornado dps, fury generation and healing via loh. We are talking here about disgustingly overpowered stuff, that is better even than bugged builds with god mode (wizard bug), or current permafreeze/diamondskin recast crit mass wizard. Because it (sprint barb) can't die, it doesn't care about crowd control stats, and it deals most dps of all characters in the game (multiple tornados, up to 10 hits per second, 20% weapon damage each). Oh and it travels through the map without enemy collision, at 70-80% movement speed, constantly.
If they don't nerf it (heavily), I think it will remain most played and most efficient farming build. And that would be a bad thing. I would love to have some more choices.
There is stuff that needs a buff for sure, but we can't deny there are ridiculously overpowered skills that still need a nerf. Balancing should be done in both directions, buffing everything to level of most powerful skill is not the solution.

[Karth]

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't consider the differences in builds to be irreconcilable without a nerf, nor do I consider the efficacy of critical mass and ww/sprint builds to be out of line with what should be expected from end-game gear and good builds. Other builds should instead be brought up to this kind of standard, each in their own particular way, or the game redesigned such that the capabilities of cm and ww/sprint builds (skipping trash and such) do not make them superior in efficiency to builds that cannot do the same.

[Sentarius]

WW/Sprint is a good build, but it isn't massively OP. It requires all your skill slots and pretty good gear.

That said, if ANYTHING is going to be nerfed, I think it won't be skills or proc rates, but LoH itself.

[aerial]

WW/Sprint is a good build, but it isn't massively OP. It requires all your skill slots and pretty good gear.

That said, if ANYTHING is going to be nerfed, I think it won't be skills or proc rates, but LoH itself.

It really depends what you consider as overpowered. Some people only consider builds that work too well without good items. That is true, and I agree with that.
But if you look at the lategame, and very good items, if something is much better than anything else, there is something wrong there as well. It is currently most powerful build in the game, it farms definitely fastest of all characters and builds, and nothing is even close to it. Even wizard, with teleport that resets its cooldown, and immortality from skills (can permanently freeze elites, recasts 21k absorb diamind skin multiple times per second, that allows you to focus more on dps stats than barb), stands no chance to sprint barb. And we are talking here about big difference, not few % slower, it is 50% slower or more (comparing full a3 clear without deaths, all elitepacks).
If you compare it to d2, current sprint barb is better than hammerdin, because of the difference to second and third "best" farming build. As I said before, if you compare all characters in the game, all builds, sprint barb with good items wins in 3 areas: most dps, fastest map travel, and best survival. On top of that it is consistent, no nasty crowd control combo on elites will ever bother you, because you are permanently immune to it with thrive on chaos.
And even when it comes to gear, people tend to say it is very expensive. It is actually cheaper, if you build it with mf, because unlike other classes, barb doesn't need any stats on items, different than basics (primary stat, vitality, resists, crit chance, attack speed, crit bonus). You need some moderate crit chance (rest comes from skills), dont need max mana, unlike wizards or demon hunters, no arcane power per crit, max ap, max discipline, all that extra stuff, that make getting good item WITH mf so hard to get. In the end, it turns that it is much easier to gear up barb with decent stats and mf, that shreds act3 inferno under one hour (all elites, not even close to die).

I just don't see how other builds could be buffed to that level, you would have to triple damage on some skills and it would still suck compared to sprint barb.

[magicrectangle]

I wonder what they had to do, to buff other builds to match the tornado dps, fury generation and healing via loh. We are talking here about disgustingly overpowered stuff, that is better even than bugged builds with god mode (wizard bug), or current permafreeze/diamondskin recast crit mass wizard. Because it (sprint barb) can't die, it doesn't care about crowd control stats, and it deals most dps of all characters in the game (multiple tornados, up to 10 hits per second, 20% weapon damage each). Oh and it travels through the map without enemy collision, at 70-80% movement speed, constantly.
If they don't nerf it (heavily), I think it will remain most played and most efficient farming build. And that would be a bad thing. I would love to have some more choices.
There is stuff that needs a buff for sure, but we can't deny there are ridiculously overpowered skills that still need a nerf. Balancing should be done in both directions, buffing everything to level of most powerful skill is not the solution.

Uh, have you played the build? It certainly can die (in fact, it is much more likely to die than some other builds), and the damage isn't that amazing. The movement speed and CC immunity are awesome - and why everybody plays it - not the damage. Straight up frenzy build will kill elites faster (and has an easier time with ranged elites), but it won't move between them nearly as fast, which is why nobody uses it anymore.

I'm not saying the build isn't powerful, or even overpowered, but not because of its damage output or its survivability, those are the least of its features.

[VagrantKing]

Back to the subject of the new legendaries... I really like the Maximus 2-hand option that summons a chained minion that gives you 'fire chains'. If you combined that with Firewalkers, that give you 'molten' ...

[powpowboom]

oh man ...after reading the blog, i can't wait for the patch. It definitely makes the game interesting again

@aerial: I really hope that they dont nerf WW/nado builds. Anyone that has played this build enough times through act 3/4 will know that it isn't perfectly OP'ed. This build is succeptible to wallers/jailers/molten/poison etc.

And the biggest headache i have with this build is when you run out of fury...