Optimizing DW barbarian for damage

[Anghammarad]

Hello all,

I'm currently planning to revisit the PoE series and doing a complete playthrough. I've decided to play a dualwielding barbarian primarily optimized for damage and secondarily for crit effects etc applied through carnage. I'll be picking up Eder, Durance, Aloth, Hiravias and use the 6th slot to rotate between the remaining NPCs in order to complete their questlines.

I've been trying to gather as much information as possible regarding a build like this but it's hard to really say what stats, talents and abilities would be ideal. As for attributes I'm thinking high MIG/DEX/PER and 8-10-ish in the remaining stats. Please let me know if this is less than ideal for a barbarian of the type I have in mind. Seems like dual sabres is the way to go for damage with something optional to swap in when crushing damage or high DR is needed.

When it comes to talents and I'll list a few ones below that seem essential:

   Accurate Carnage
   WF: Soldier
   Savage/Stalwart Defiance
   TWS
   Frenzy/Greater Frenzy
   Vulnerable Attack
   Heart of Fury

Now for the remaining talents and abilities, would you pick any of the following ? Am I missing any essential ones ?

   Brute Force ?
   Threatening Presence ?
   Savage Attack ?
   Eye of the Storm ?
   Barbaric Shout ?
   Veteran's Recovery ?

Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated!

BR,

//O

Edited March 4, 2020 by Anghammarad
words

[Boeroer]

If you want to maximize tha damage of Heart of Fury you'll need higher INT. You'll also need a Ring of Searing Flames (or a wizard buddy).

• Accurate Carnage
  • it's good enough. Carnage gains +1 accuracya per character level and thus can reach better accuracy as your initial attack. Accurate Carnage shifts this break-even point 5 char levels down.
•    WF: Soldier
  • Ruffian is the WF for sabres. Sabres are a good pick - especially Bittercut because it ahs dual damage (corrode/slash) and gets +20% damage from Spirit of Decay. Other good ones for a dw setup: War Hammers. It's mostly about maximizing Heart of Fury damage because that has the biggest impact.
•    Savage/Stalwart Defiance
  • Savage Defiance is only needed if party is limited healing options. Stalwart Defiance oly if you want to tank a lot. 
•    TWS
  • yes
•    Frenzy/Greater Frenzy
  • Unless you are using fists (Novice's Suffering) I wouldn't pick Greater Frenzy. Frenzy itself is a no-brainer.
•    Vulnerable Attack
  • Very good for Heart of Fury - turn it off once HoF was executed
•    Heart of Fury
  • must-have
•    Brute Force ?
  • most of the time not worth the cost - unless you have hefty fortitude debuffing options in your party (wizard, druid etc.)
•    Threatening Presence
  • can be a death trap against enemy ciphers who have psychic backlash - you will get perma-stunned. So: watch out with that. You can't turn it off since it's a passive ability.
•    Savage Attack
  • I'd pick it at higher levels
•    Eye of the Storm
  • nope
•    Barbaric Shout
  • nope
•    Veteran's Recovery
  • good if picked early - not necessary with good healing options in party

Things that can be good for dw barbs:

• Bloodlust (stacks with Frenzy etc. and often triggers after 1 kill already)
• Blood Thirst: one of the best abilites of a Barb. Less impact for a dual wielder than for a two hander barb, but still great.
• One Stands Alone: great to have - especially for Heart of Fury
• Blooded: good option at higher levels (when half of your endurance pool is still enough to be safe)
• Thick Skinned: combine with Blunting Belt als thick armor: makes you a lot more sturdy
• Dragon Leap: very good for landing in the midst of a mob and triggering Heart of Fury right away.
• Apprentices Sneak Attack: if you use a weapon that causes prone or stun on crit or if you use Threatening Presence or have a wizard/cipher/druid in th party then it's a nice dmg addition
• Aspirant's Mark: if you have not many debuffing option in the party this is nice for a barb
• Interruptiong Blows: also works with Carnage and can be nice to perma-lock enemies if your PER is already high and you have a good interrupting weapon (e.g. The Vile Loner's Lance) and high attack speed and maybe even Mourning Gloves later on.

 

[Anghammarad]

Thank you kindly for the detailed feedback, Boeroer! Much appreciated! How would you distribute the attribute points for this particular build ?

BR,

//O

Edited March 6, 2020 by Anghammarad
words

[Boeroer]

For maximum HoF damage you want high INT (you want to reach as many enemies as possible), high MIG (maximize dmg per hit) and high PER (hit as well as possible and interrupt). DEX is not as important as for other builds because you'll be pretty fast with dual wielding, two handed style, Frenzy etc.  already and Heart of Fury will take care of most of the damage (if you position yourself well).

CON and RES are not that important. But note that a barbarian with dumped RES can get interrupted very easily and nothing is nore annoying as getting interrupted repeatedly while trying to execute Heart of Fury. So either have a Priest with Holy Meditation or don't drop RES too much.

A somewhat balanced apporach would be I guess:

MIG: 18
CON: 10
PER: 16
DEX: 08
INT: 18
RES: 08

But a few points here and there don't have a huge effect. It's just the general direction of stat distribution. You can easily shift some points here and there if it fits your character better without harming the general build idea.