OK so I finally have given into the majority - it is just too OP playing WW/HoTA with fast 1H's.

I really wanted to use a different build. HoTA only & also gave WW/Rend a good go but each had their own difficulty's on MP10.


I do need to tweak my build a bit. Have around 350M atm but could get more I suppose. I quite often die when starting a run and trying to get fury up to start battle rage by basic attacking.

Could of issues:
1. I only have 12% MS.
I could sink it all on maybe 5.5 CC prowlers with mix of low str/vit... but I dont gain any AR. About same damage as my crafts.
I could go Tyreals might but I lose 150 vit (going 3 OS as the random). Slightly more damage with DvE. I could hope for a nice Vit/CC craft bracer to counter.
I buck out on Ice Climber with MS. I will lose a lot of damage as STR can't roll high alongside MS.

2. I need another 80 or so AR as I think I'm sitting on 350.
I could go for another IK set to get 60AR bonus, I can't buy much for 300M though. CC/CD Gloves maybe with either vit/AR?
Swap out either unity rare ring or ammy for similar with AR - get bloody expensive though with same DPS.

I think personally I'd roll an amulet first. 5.5 CC is just too low. Maybe you'll get lucky on all resists?

You could get 18 more AR on your shoulders too. A good craft there could also land armor and life %.

Lacunis never seem like a good option for me. Same with Tyraels. I think big purchases could be some nice IK gloves for the 60 all res, and then maybe roll all res on them.

That, or maybe even consider some Zuni boots with AR. That 8% elemental could give you more DPS. Might be worth looking in to.

It all depends what you wanna do as a Barb..
Check my Battletag to get a glimpse of what I use. Mehsiah#1376

To start off, if your lvling, WW/Rend is by far the best. Most people argue that "Oh you need a Skorn or your a scrub" when in fact you really don't. Yes the huge dmg on a Skorn helps alot with the bleed but thats not my play style and never will be. HoTA imo is an "endgame" ability meant for people already P100 and farming DE's.

I believe you always want 24% MS at all times... I have 2 Pc Immortal with a AR around 500 at all times with 50k health. To start-up I use Bash instead of another offensive buff. More fury = better crits.

I just starting playing around with HOTA on my barb last night. It is rediculously OP, and I think I'll probably do a hybrid with it, Rend as Primary, Hota secondary. I'll be using full IK set and unforgiving too. Of course I'll be playing 4 barbs, so fury regen is key to being able to keep them all going.

@Mehsiah
I dont see a reason to have bash, I can't justify it at all. I can basic attack to get enough fury to battle rage then its I WW/HoTA the rest of the map. Why waste a skill spot?

I ran rend for a long time and it doesn't beat HoTA with or without skorn for me. Maybe now I have 1h's it'll be a bit better but HoTA is sweet, I like using thunderstrike sometimes too when running areas with annoying mobs.

I'm not rushing to 100, I already have a WD there. I want to play the barb and kill everything like a barb should :D

@nuhertz
Trust me, every 3rd flawless ruby I get I try craft another ammy, no luck yet. That's why I was interested in the one you had :P

When I'm buffed up I'm pretty sure my CC is at 80 anyway which is max for a barb. I'll double check tonight.

@ninjax The HOTA guide I was reading was saying 100 was max CC. I belive they are including the bonus you get for max fury though.

@nuhertz

Ive only taken the word of the infamous @ecocd

Critical Hit Chance is capped at 80% for Barbs and 90% under WotB so keep that in mind when you're gearing up given the +25% CC from HotA, +5% from Ruthless and +5% base CC. Meaning, you won't see any benefit above 45% CC on your gear. In my opinion, it's well worth getting as close to 45% as you can.

No doubt that he is right. God among men.

Posted by ninjax at 08/09/2013 09:33 AM

@Mehsiah
I dont see a reason to have bash, I can't justify it at all. I can basic attack to get enough fury to battle rage then its I WW/HoTA the rest of the map. Why waste a skill spot?

I ran rend for a long time and it doesn't beat HoTA with or without skorn for me. Maybe now I have 1h's it'll be a bit better but HoTA is sweet, I like using thunderstrike sometimes too when running areas with annoying mobs.

I'm not rushing to 100, I already have a WD there. I want to play the barb and kill everything like a barb should :D

It depends really what situation you are in. If your running VoA etc theres times where there are no mobs at all to get fury off of to keep WoTB up. Ive talked to other barbs about this and they say the same, the area semi-sucks to keep it up. I use a bash in that situation because Im already doing enough DPS where mobs melt, its all about mobility for me. Nonstop running ftw. Also with HoTA, every 5 Fury is a 1% CHC right? A full bubble is 25%. Without using a SoJ and 2 I handers, Ive seen alot of 1.2mil crits by punching em twice then going to town. Also I love 1 handers HoTA's, you look like a lumberjack on roids, haha.

I just transitioned my gear with pickup radius. Cost around 1 Bill. So now Im sitting at a 20 Radius. Im still 328k unbuffed/49k health/6300 armor/500 AR. Why get pickup radius? I simply like the stat and how it works. I hate running around picking up gold and with this my gold collected on account should skyrocket. I also tested it via Elites etc, the radius with picking up health globes is a BIG PLUS.

Posted by nuhertz at 08/09/2013 09:50 PM

No doubt that he is right. God among men.

Awwww, shucks. No, just a man with an insatiable desire to find ways to break things, a la Uber Crit Barb. I was trying to get infinite HotA and discovered it wasn't possible, sadly.

It's pretty easy to determine that CC can't get up to 100% even though the HotA CC bonus is invisible. It isn't very difficult for Barbs to get CC to 75+% display with gear and skills. The HotA CC bonus, as Mehsiah states, is at least 25%. In theory, then, you will crit 100% of the time. You will still see white numbers.

Soap box:
I discovered the Dodge bonuses suffer from severe diminishing returns, so there's no way to make a nigh-invincible hero, either. I used to be a big fan of Dodge, but with distance from the game now, I've come to feel that Dodge is nearly worthless at its current level. If you could push Dodge to 75-80% then you might be talking, especially with 35% blocking chance to cover the 20% of hits that do get through (damage mitigation on 87% of all hits). A legendary Cloak that grants a static 80% Dodge chance, but with a severe +damage take drawback (+100% damage taken or more) would be very interesting. Dodge bonuses should be at least doubled or they should be removed from the game entirely.