Slayer's Claw Upgrade for a Fanatic

[dgray62]

I just started a fanatic build (berserker/kindwayfarer), and I eventually want to get the Slayer's Claw for the nice upgrade to Energized when using frenzy. I wonder if it would be better to bind Slayer's Claw as a barbarian or paladin. The former gives +1 penetration when hit for 8 seconds (stackable to +3), while the latter gives 8 seconds of hostile effects suspension. At first glance, the extra penetration sounds best since I'm playing on PotD. However, I was wondering if the extra penetration from Slayer's Claw stacks with the +2 penetration from the Tenacious/Energized inspirations. If not, then the paladin perk would be better I think. Has anyone tested this? I find the stacking rules very complex, and have no idea if these boosts would stack or not.

[thelee]

it might require actual testing, but in general "automatic" bonuses from items are passive, so they stack with other sources, so it should stack. that being said, the proc chance is pretty low and the duration is pretty short so i wouldn't really lean on it to be very impactful in most fights.

there's also a hidden issue in that the axe is bugged and won't properly count carnage damage as raw damage for purposes of unlocking a soulbound level for the barbarian. it makes the process of unlocking much more tedious and requires you to use other mechanisms to get raw damage. not game-breaking, but definitely annoying.

 

i would personally bind to paladin. my thinking is that conditional short-duration PEN bonuses aren't too helpful because many fights in PotD you want more consistent answers for PEN and AR, whereas even just one or two procs of the hostile effect suspension can be a good boost to your survivability, and mess up enemy AI to boot.

[dgray62]

Thanks for the tip, thelee. I think I will bind it to my paladin; the hostile effects suspension does sound more useful, and it will be much easier to get 20 afflictions that dealing 1000 raw damage with carnage not counting.

[Elric Galad]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:05 AM, thelee said:

 

there's also a hidden issue in that the axe is bugged and won't properly count carnage damage as raw damage for purposes of unlocking a soulbound level for the barbarian. it makes the process of unlocking much more tedious and requires you to use other mechanisms to get raw damage. 

Fortunately, Axe modal is bleeding cuts so You have an easy source of raw damages.

[dgray62]

So bleeding cuts' raw damage counts toward the 1000 raw damage needed to upgrade the axe?

[elohinen]

On 7/27/2020 at 2:05 AM, thelee said:

there's also a hidden issue in that the axe is bugged and won't properly count carnage damage as raw damage for purposes of unlocking a soulbound level for the barbarian. it makes the process of unlocking much more tedious and requires you to use other mechanisms to get raw damage. not game-breaking, but definitely annoying.

Pardon the necro, but it's good that I found this. I unlocked this tier on the Slayer's Claw yesterday evening on my ravager and was dumbfounded to find the number not going up. I also forgot carnage damage is considered 'raw', so I was really scratching my head in regards to how exactly a barbarian is to achieve this.

Currently I'm using the animancer's energy blade in my offhand and coating my weapons with razorgill dust. The axe modal doesn't raise the count, not at least when playing on ps4; could just be bugged though, but I'm gonna have to make do without it. At least the SSS challenges are repeatable, so I won't running out of things to kill.