Build Planning - Page 3

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WhXVkT!dUT!ZccabZ

My first attempt at what my HC Barbarian will look like. Since I plan on getting to 10 ASAP so I can re-roll Hardcore, I've focused heavily on the defensive/utility skills and passives while still trying to maintain killing power. Since I know nothing about the game outside of what exists in the Beta, or how difficulty will scale after Normal mode, it's important to cover all my bases and take my time going through the game so I don't eat shit. Some explanations:

Frenzy (w/ Triumph Rune):

Just from playing around in the Beta, Frenzy was by far my favorite fury generator. It's possible this may change come release, but for now I'm planning on using Frenzy. Added the Triumph rune for an extra 8% heal HoT every time I kill something with my main fury generator, so I feel like this will be up 100% of the time. Will add an extra layer of protection against the burst damage that is so often the end of HC characters.

Whirlwind (w/ Volcanic Eruption Rune):

I loved WW in D2, and I'm hoping I get a similar feeling from WW in D3 but it's hard to know since we haven't been able to access the skill. But I need a fury sink, and WW seems as good as any. The addition of Volcanic Eruption will give me a non-physical damage source without having to rely on items, which will be handy for immunes or Iron Skin (assuming these mobs exist in D3 like they did in D2).

Leap (w/ Death from Above Rune):

There is just no beating the utility of Leap, especially for HC characters. I love using it in the Beta, and it's great for reaching certain areas, escaping from sticky situations, or getting into the thick of it. The only concern, for a HC character, is leaping into a group of mobs you've underestimated, and being stuck there. For that reason, I added the Death from Above rune, which gives me an extra 3 seconds to dispatch as many mobs as possible before they start wailing on me. Also helps if I use Leap to escape a situation like that, and am forced to land somewhere dangerous at low health, the stun will allow me to pop a potion/more cooldowns before I start taking more damage.

Revenge (w/ Vengeance is Mine Rune):

Revenge will depend a bunch on how it actually operates in game, but I like it on paper. Whenever it activates, I get to do decent AoE damage and heal myself in the process. The more damage I'm taking, the higher chance it will activate. With the rune, it will also generate a small amount of fury and heal for an increased amount. I may leave this out and put in Ignore Pain with the Mob Rule Rune instead, depends on how playtesting goes.

War Cry (w/ Invigorate Rune):

A good fury generator that also boosts Armor for my entire party? Hell yeah! With the rune to also give it a Battle Shout-esque effect with the extra HP and life regeneration, you can't pass this up for a HC Barbarian, it provides way too much utility.

Earthquake (w/ Chilling Earth Rune):

Another ability that seems really good on paper but will have to be tested. The AoE effect seems like it does a huge amount of damage, but the cooldown is prohibitive and the damage isn't done instantaneously. I added the Chilling Earth Rune so that I have a Cold ability (giving Physical/Fire/Cold options when dealing with immunes/resists), and the snare gives it some value as an OH SHIT button if I get swarmed and have no other options. On the surface, it seems like a great ability to deal with large packs of champions, or several groups of uniques close together.

It's not as loaded up on defensive cooldowns as it could be, but often the best way to minimize incoming damage is to be able to manage and dispatch all the monsters on screen as quickly as possible.

Man, haven't theorycrafted like this since my heyday of D2...so much fun.

This is my Vamp Barb Build ill explain my thought process behind it further down :D (This is for my HC group)
Edit:I am assuming that people using this would use gear the complimented the life steal such as life steal weapons and stuff like that.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WcRVkT!XdU!ZZbcac

Ok so my Though process behind this build with the barb was to maximize my effectiveness as a tank in HC without dieing

First Skill=Frenzy + Triumph
This is my main fury generating skill and an important life stealing skill. it does not directly steal life but it increases my attack speed increased increasing the rate at which damage can be done, fury can be generated and thus life can be stolen through use of other skills.

Second Skill=Rend + Bloodlust
This is the main life steal skill for the build it is an AOE life steal that returns 9% of damage done to each enemy so hitting a group of 10 mobs would return [life steal=9% of ((210%* Weapon damage)(#ofmobs))] so this would have the potential to heal a good amount of health and would be my primary healing/dmg dealer.

Defensive Skill=Ignore Pain + Ignorance is Bliss
With this this decreases my damage taken by 65% for 5 seconds the real reason for choosing this is the synergy with the earthquake skill and the Ignorance is Bliss Rune. Ignorance is Bliss allows me to have 5 seconds of 20% dmg as life steal
now with earthquake and 2000% weapon dmg this equates to [life steal/seconds=20% of ((2000%*Weapon damage((#ofmobs))/5]

Might Skill=Revenge + Provocation
This is another skill for life steal but its effects are random at best due to the random activation of it (30% chance to activate on hit) but when activated along with Ignore Pain and used with earthquake or any of my other life steal skills it gives me double digit life steal.

Tactics Skill=War Cry + Hardened Wrath
This is going to be constantly on my character and my party in HC mode Because of the 40% armor will allow me to take harder hits and be able to life steal the life lost back.

Rage Skill=Earthquake + Path of Fire
Reasons for choice were stated above in the Ignore pain description and is my burst life steal go to choice

Passives
Inspiring Presence:
this is more or less for my war cry shout because the 1% per second life regen is going to be minimal

Bloodthirst:
This just stacks upon the previous lifesteal of the other skills with a bonus 3%

Relentless:
This is basically to save my ass in HC is i start to die and in combination with Ignore Pain i reduce 105% dmg (which im hoping means invincible) and i am hoping to get out of some sticky situations with this the no fury requirement is also good in combination with the Frenzy Attack Speed Buff and the life steal of Rend to help me regen life while taking little to no dmg from mobs

This build is for an HC group with a support heal monk and other player builds designed for team synergy in HC mode i am not sure if it will work alone but i dont see why it couldnt, it seems self sustainable health wise. this may bea good choice for non-HC solo runs.

Theory Crafting by:
Zickoray, Archon, Pandablunt

Here's a build I'll be definitely trying, the perma- Wrath of the Beserker Barb. I think a lot of people have thought of making this but this is my take on it anyway.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WbSXiP!ZWY!cZbcYc

This build doesn't have a lot of survivability so it's probably not a good HC build, it's also probably quite gear dependant because it's of its focus on rage generation but should have excellent scaling with good gear.

Wrath of the Berserker: Thrive on Chaos

This is the what the whole build is based around, the awesome steroid skill Wrath of the Berserker (WotB). 10% CRIT 25% AS 20% Dodge and 20% MS. While this is up the Barb is a wrecking ball on speed, and one with 20% dodge as well. Normally this buff only lasts for 15s and has a 2min CD, but with the Thrive on Chaos rune effect it becomes a buff that lasts as long as you can feed it fury. The theory is that with all of your other skills geared towards feeding fury to WotB you can keep it up for as long as you're fighting enemies. Keep in mind with two mobility skills (leap/charge) as well as +20% MS you shouldn't have any troubles finding your enemies.

If you're about to go into a big fight and you know that will last 20 seconds or less, definitely swap this rune to Insanity, which causes WoTB to give +100% damage but only last 15 seconds. I don't think this needs much explanation, +100% damage should say it all.

Frenzy: Maniac

This is the main source of damage for any single target fights or high health small fights. 110% wep damage mightn't sound like much but with +75%/+25% AS, +15% dmg and +18% crit passive, it should suffice. All this attack speed is very helpful with fury generation as well.

Cleave: Reaping Swing

I have to say after playing the open beta for a few hours, trying every class, killing SK with 3 of them and getting my barb to level 13, the one ability that felt absolutely OP was cleave. 120% weapon dmg.... if you only hit one target. Needless to say if you ever only hit one target with cleave you're doing it wrong. It's no problem at all regularly hitting 3-5 mobs with cleave. Hitting 4 targets does 480% weapon damage on a skill with no cooldown and which generates fury. The rune Reaping Swing is chosen to aid fury generation. If fury generation is ok with the rune consider swapping this for Rupture against high amounts of low hp enemies or Broad Sweep against sturdier high hp enemies.

Furious Charge: Stamina
Leap: Death from Above

Most builds only advocate going one or the other with these skills but there are two main reasons I've gone with both for this build. Firstly and mainly any time out of combat is not what you want with this build, keeping WotB up is priority #1 and that's going to be impossible unless you've got enemies to wail on. Obviously there's still going to be sections of the game where that's impossible but with both Charge and Leap you should be able to minimize downtime as much as possible. Stamina is taken on Charge for more fury, and Death from Above is taken because honestly all the others seem to suck and stuns are always nice. Possibly swap Death from Above with Call of Arreat.

Battle Rage: Into the Fray

This skill is a fury spender but only 20/30s so it shouldn't be a problem to keep it up. 15% all damage 3% crit is a very solid buff, but mainly taken for the rune effect which with a high crit rate and attack speed like in this build should provide mountains of fury for WotB. If you're in a short fight and have WotB runned Insanity you should swap this rune as well to Marauder's Rage. Stacking damage bonuses... yummy!

Ruthless

Not much to say here, bread and butter damage passive. With all the increased crit chance this build has this is a no brainer.

The other two passives are much more up for debate. Some good candidates:

Boon of Bul-Kathos

30 seconds off KotB CD. This might be a bit of a waste considering we only have 1/3 of the skills this passive helps, but it could really come in handy between groups of mobs where you can't keep WotB up or are getting kited or stunned and it falls off.

Animosity

10% increased fury generated sounds quite weak to me but it is extra fury and the 20 extra fury cap could prove useful too.

Weapons Master

It's hard not to like this skill, a very decent dps boost. You can't go wrong with this, +%15 damage or 3 extra fury a hit either way it's going to be a big help.

Brawler

8 yards doesn't sound very far but 30% is a big damage increase. Possibly this could be abused by using only frenzy and no aoe skills to keep a few weak enemies attacking you constantly every where you go including bosses.