Barbarian/Shattered Pillar or Barbarian/Streetfighter?

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Hello. I was hoping to get some quick build feedback going into 1.1 as I'm trying to choose between two different multiclass options for a Berserker. I'm listing both options, along with my personal thoughts on each, below. This has come from a lot of brainstorming, talking to various people on the forums, and totally didn't consist of throwing darts at a dartboard (Because I rent, and I'm pretty sure my landlord wouldn't much appreciate me throwing darts at the wall). 

 

Berserker/Shattered Pillar (Ravager): This was my original go-to entering 1.1 - The monk changes hit the Shattered Pillar a lot less than any other Monk subclass, it didn't really benefit much from Turning Wheel being a Wound spending subclass as opposed to a Wound hoarding one, and the change to accruing wounds only on autoattack only really prevented chaining abilities ad infinitum, which is perfectly fair. Whenever a class has the capability to permanently stunlock everything, that's worth looking into. 

 

Pros - Offers really nice synergy with Rooting Pain, as well as an early way to purge the Confused status from the Berserker (Clarity of Agony/Enlightened Agony), several nice on-crit effects (Enervating Blows, Heartbeat Drumming, Swift Flurry). Flagellant's Path is a nice gap closing attack but it comes very late in the game.

 

Cons - Swift Strikes/Flurry doesn't stack with the action speed boost from Frenzy. A lot of other good Monk abilities are made somewhat redundant by the Barbarian (Thunderous Blows gives Penetration, but Berserker's Frenzy gives that too, PLUS armor). 

 

Berserker/Streetfighter (Marauder): This option was offered as an alternative to the Ravager. Essentially, the way I see it playing is that you'd want to keep Deflection fairly low (so enemies are more prone to attack you) and then use the extra Recovery Speed + afflictions from the Rogue to murder them in a violent haze of blood and body parts. Barbarian offers some armor boosting passives that can be taken to allow for this style of play. Assuming Veteran difficulty is properly tuned, I'd probably play this there first and then maybe bump up to PotD if I feel it's too easy. 

 

Pros - Rogue got a nice damage boost this patch, Streetfighter's bonuses for being flanked, as well as flanked AND bloodied, are both very nice for a melee fighter, Rogue offers many more options for afflictions than the Monk does and doesn't suffer from overspecialization (Most of Monks' attack powers target Fortitude). 

 

Cons - Lack of an early game way to purge Confusion on its own (Suppress Affliction from Xoti may work), Less defenses than a Fighter/Paladin so I can't monopolize on the Flanked + Bloodied benefits of Street Fighter as much, or Riposte (Which is a big part of those builds as I recall). Because Street Fighter takes a recovery time penalty when not flanked, I can't assassinate mages or ranged 'as' easily, especially if I'm wearing heavier armor.

 

Thoughts?

 

If I want to play around with a Streetfighter, would Berserker be a good multiclass choice or should I stick with Devoted/Unbroken or Bleak Walker? I could make any concept work in roleplay terms with the character I'm wanting to play. As a matter of fact, the 'living dangerously' philosophy of Street Fighter is perfectly in keeping with the concept I'm going for for my 'main playthrough' Watcher.

 

 

[Haplok]

I wouldn't worry about Frenzy Confusion much. There's Modwyr, there's Devil of Caroc Breastplate upgrade (provided your PoE1 flags include it in your game).  There are Priest spells. Aaaand my new StreetFighter may not even want to remove it. Since I plan to use Lord Darryn's Voulge which Distracts enemies - but when Confused also Allies - which means easy Flanked status all the time. So I really wouldn't worry about "assasinations". Plus its still a Rogue specialization and you can STILL backstab from stealth/after a smoke bomb, shadowing/shadowstep etc.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Haplok

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

I wouldn't worry about Frenzy Confusion much. There's Modwyr, there's Devil of Caroc Breastplate upgrade (provided your PoE1 flags include it in your game).  There are Priest spells. Aaaand my new StreetFighter may not even want to remove it. Since I plan to use Lord Darryn's Voulge which Distracts enemies - but when Confused also Allies - which means easy Flanked status all the time. So I really wouldn't worry about "assasinations". Plus its still a Rogue specialization and you can STILL backstab from stealth/after a smoke bomb, shadowing/shadowstep etc.

 

Isn't the Devil of Caroc breastplate useless now? Or is that another example of people overreacting? 

[ErlKing]

It was easy to trigger Flanked by firecrackers, but it was nerfed (1 second duration for firecrackers), also it seems to be resisted often.

 

You can try to use Chill Fog with perception resistance gear.

 

PoTD is broken right now (probably due bugs), I fought enemies with 75 accuracy vs my 25 deflect on start, almost each hit is crit and interrupt. Only way to win fights is cheese game elements - make enemies stuck in narrow spaces, lure them by small amounts and so on.

[Verde]

Barb/Street seems like an awesome build. I actually thought about running one but went BlackJacket/Street instead.

 

The boosts to Bloodied for a Maurauder are substantial.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

Barb/Street seems like an awesome build. I actually thought about running one but went BlackJacket/Street instead.

 

The boosts to Bloodied for a Maurauder are substantial.

 

Plus it has a really nice kind of "To the pain!" aesthetic that I like. 

[Boeroer]

If you have a priest with Barring Death's Door in the party or a Shield bearer with Lay on Hands then a Berserker/Streetfighter is pretty cool. After the "he can't go down" phase you have to heal though - so timing is crucial.

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

So it definitely seems like people are in favor of Berserker/Street Fighter over Berserker/Shattered Pillar. 

 

I'll be creating a more in-depth build discussion thread later.

[Verde]

Looking forward to it!

[Bugged Wolf Companion]

I havent tested it yet but the price question is if if you get wounds by triggering rooting pain / Carnage in 1.1 (i guess no?) if so then shattered pillars

 

Otherwise you should consider Drugged up Nalpazca/Berserker or Helwalker/Berserker for really hefty damage dealers without being too conditional.

[zendingo]

I've played both and I am not a fan of either. There's some unfortunate anti-synergy with the Marauder build you outlined. As a character that wants to be flanked, One Stands Alone looks really appealing for the 20% extra damage, but the requires + 1 to be flanked makes it so you practically never get the bonus of the streetfighter. And not getting it is even worse since you get a penalty whenever you don't (which was most of the time, at least for me). I tried using the firecrackers but it never worked and would be a pain even if it did.

 

I ended up making a ranged streetfighter with devoted and dual blunderbuss with powder burns and it works really great. Fighter makes up for the accuracy malus and the pen from devoted and penetrating strike is great for the blunderbuss and you always have the streetfighter bonus with no fuss. He had double the damage and kills of my ravager.

[Verde]

Why not ignore One Stands Alone? There is a Blooded perk for +25% damage.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Verde

[Cyrus_Blackfeather]

I havent tested it yet but the price question is if if you get wounds by triggering rooting pain / Carnage in 1.1 (i guess no?) if so then shattered pillars

 

Otherwise you should consider Drugged up Nalpazca/Berserker or Helwalker/Berserker for really hefty damage dealers without being too conditional.

 

I've considered Helwalker/Berserker too. 

[zendingo]

Why not ignore One Stands Alone? There is a Blooded perk for +25% damage.

Yes I agree. I guess my comment was more about it being a shame the abilities work against each other, thus preventing you from taking an otherwise good ability.

[Haplok]

 

I wouldn't worry about Frenzy Confusion much. There's Modwyr, there's Devil of Caroc Breastplate upgrade (provided your PoE1 flags include it in your game).  There are Priest spells. Aaaand my new StreetFighter may not even want to remove it. Since I plan to use Lord Darryn's Voulge which Distracts enemies - but when Confused also Allies - which means easy Flanked status all the time. So I really wouldn't worry about "assasinations". Plus its still a Rogue specialization and you can STILL backstab from stealth/after a smoke bomb, shadowing/shadowstep etc.

 

Isn't the Devil of Caroc breastplate useless now? Or is that another example of people overreacting? 

 

Still sounds very good to me. Better then any other armor in fact. Has good AR, the Recovery penalty is still reduced, the bonus Power Pool is awesome (particularly for multiclass characters).

I think it lost the other Resistance upgrades, but the Intellect one was left?

 

Will probably skip the nerfed heal on crit though.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Haplok