Barbarian Build

[Doxy]

Im still trying to find an optimal weapon set for my barb.

Currently torn between x2 Stilettos(fast+DR) and x2 Axes(0.5 crit mult). 

[Lasci]

I'm kind of torned between 2H and dual wield. What would be the pros/cons of 2H VS Dual wield and which would provide the highest Carnage damage ? It's kind of a big deal to me cause I want to focus on just one weapon spec.

 

Thought I'd ask here instead of starting another thread on this topic.

 

Thanks

 

If you absolutely, 100%, outright refuse to do both, go with the two-hander. The style feat lets you do 15% more damage and two-handers are better for piercing DR in general. I would still recommend having your second weapon set be a dual-wielding one for when you want to cleave through groups of enemies with low DR.

[Twinsen]

I have one more question. What is the main argument against a more balanced barbarian? Everyone seems to recommend a low constitution barbarian. What if someone wants to use the barbarian on the front line with a fighter companion?

 

What's the problem with these stats for example? Nothing is very high but at least it is not over-specialized.

 

Stats: 17 Might 16 constitution 13 dexterity 10 perception 12 intellect 10 resolve

[Lasci]

I have one more question. What is the main argument against a more balanced barbarian? Everyone seems to recommend a low constitution barbarian. What if someone wants to use the barbarian on the front line with a fighter companion?

 

What's the problem with these stats for example? Nothing is very high but at least it is not over-specialized.

 

Stats: 17 Might 16 constitution 13 dexterity 10 perception 12 intellect 10 resolve

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People are talking about purely min/maxed builds. Even if you're on PotD, optimizing things isn't necessary. The way that the game is designed, however, typically favors characters that focus purely on offense or defense instead of a hybrid of both.

 

That doesn't mean you can't build a hybrid and be effective, though.

[Dogma18]

Created a dual-weidling Coastal Aumaua Barbarian companion with these stats:

 

Might 21

Constitution 18

Dexterity 12

Perception 5

Intellect 12

Resolve 10

 

Basically, I'm building him based on roleplay i.e. Great strength and endurance, but heavy and not as fast, and also going in like a berserker without paying much attention to the situation, hence not caring if he gets hit.

 

Getting hit often with my Perception so low but I already assumed early game he's going to have a tough time. Gonna stick to this till mid game to provide more feedback if this build actually works long run.

 

Any thoughts of whether I should focus on upgrading my Frenzy or Carnage, or both? I also reckon that I'll have to resort to Talents and gear that gives me more deflection to balance things out?

 

Thanks!

[Twinsen]

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People are talking about purely min/maxed builds. Even if you're on PotD, optimizing things isn't necessary. The way that the game is designed, however, typically favors characters that focus purely on offense or defense instead of a hybrid of both.

 

That doesn't mean you can't build a hybrid and be effective, though.

 

 

I see! Thank you. I did not play a cRPG since Neverwinter Night's 2 so I am quite new at this even though I started playing with Baldur's Gate.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Twinsen

[Kelstrom]

Anyone tryied single 1h spear barbarian?

 

I am now in act 2 and the dps is insane. With the spear in one hand you get a 17 bonus on accuracy, which makes most of your swings hits and rarely a graze. Also i calculated the critical chance to be 20%. My first barb which is 2-hand has about 12.5%. I wish the developers can inplement hit chance in the UI.

 

Human, lvl 5 so far.

 

Might 20

Constitution 18

Dexterity 18

Perception 3

Intellect 15

Resolve 4

[Lasci]

Anyone tryied single 1h spear barbarian?

 

I am now in act 2 and the dps is insane. With the spear in one hand you get a 17 bonus on accuracy, which makes most of your swings hits and rarely a graze. Also i calculated the critical chance to be 20%. My first barb which is 2-hand has about 12.5%. I wish the developers can inplement hit chance in the UI.

 

Human, lvl 5 so far.

 

Might 20

Constitution 18

Dexterity 18

Perception 3

Intellect 15

Resolve 4

 

One-handed style is severely under appreciated here. You get about +20 accuracy from one-handing things and you almost always hit and often crit. Bosses typically have 65-75 accuracy later on, while standard mobs typically don't have much more than 50. +30 on a d100 is pretty nice.

[sabotagge]

 

two handed barb builds anyone?

Estocs if you want DR on your weapon or a pike something like Tall Grass will give you both reach and DR.

2h weapon style + vulnerable attack 

 

Just starting with PoE and I'm going with 2h carnage barbarian as my PC should I take Weapon Focus talents?(Since pike and estoc are in 2 different groups and I may want to change weapons on different places/enemies is going to be hard to get the benefits of picking one all the time)

[Eyonik]

I just noticed, Blooded was "nerfed" in 1.0.3 from 2x damage when under 50% Endurance to 1.25x damage. I doubt its still worth that much...

My Barbarian is very "fragile" and I don't want to keep her below 50% that often. Also the bonus only lasts as long as the barbarian is below 50% Endurance... the Human Fighting Spirit ability lasts for 28s (but only gives 1.15x damage).

 

And Brute Force... most enemies got much higher Fortitude than Deflection, I doubt its worth it, even with Threatening Presence. Its only usefull against Enemies like Ghosts and Spirits.

 

 

 

I wish the developers can inplement hit chance in the UI.

The chance to hit depends on the enemies Deflection (and Fortitude if you got Brute Force)... so you could only show the crit chance against enemies with X deflection. But its easy to calculate: Since you need to get a "roll" > 100 to score a crit and the dice is a d100 you need to have higher Accuracy than the enemy has Deflection. For every point of Accuracy above the enemies Deflection (or Fortitude if its lower and you got Brute Force) you get 1% crit chance. E.g. 60 Accuracy, 40 Enemy Deflection = 20% Crit Chance. Edited April 5, 2015 by Eyonik

[tnc]

Brute Force/Threatening Presence is totally worth it because the other choices you get in those levels are awful imo. (one gives minor DR(the worst ability barb has by far) and another 'one stands alone' which is also awful because you should never engage that many enemies in the first place if you are an offensive Barb! you'll go down in no time) Also you're wrong on fortitude being higher most of the time, and sickened is active on enemies ALL the time so it's almost like a permanent accuracy buff. You should test it, check the combat logs and also the debuff on enemy. They are always sickened and i see on combat log my attack is made against fortitude around %80 of time. After i got those two my crit rate went skyrocketing...

[Lasci]

 

 

two handed barb builds anyone?

Estocs if you want DR on your weapon or a pike something like Tall Grass will give you both reach and DR.

2h weapon style + vulnerable attack 

 

Just starting with PoE and I'm going with 2h carnage barbarian as my PC should I take Weapon Focus talents?(Since pike and estoc are in 2 different groups and I may want to change weapons on different places/enemies is going to be hard to get the benefits of picking one all the time)

 

 

I don't love taking weapon focus if I'm going to take a weapon style. It's a bit limiting and your best weapon might not always in the weapon group you choose. +6 accuracy is pretty nice, but you can easily get away without it.

[Exoduss]

How do you play barbarian properly ? Mine always dies either from CC or after Fury ends she drops dead , what armors to use ( no armor? light? heavy ? is reduction important for barb ?) what weapon2  hander or dual wield ? trough 2 playtroughs barb and rogue are classes giving me most pain because of how glitchy character moving etc is my melee dpsers seems to be not that usefull 

[tnc]

You need a strong tank with high cc and engagement limit. Send him first wait for enemy to take position while buffing/starting aoe damage spells with your casters. Then send in your melee dps most fights they won't get hit once if your positioning is good. Also i think a priest is really good for your melee crazy buffs on later levels you can start the fight with like +20 deflection buff. Theres especially a nice buff that both increases your accuracy/might AND decreases the enemy's by large amounts. It's level 4 spell i believe. Early game melee dps seem weak that's how it's designed. Too bad people get the wrong idea like rogue or barbs are weak classes. It's quite the opposite especially after you reach act 2.

 

Early on armors really suck but later you can find good armors with low recovery like %15-%20-%25. There are unique light/medium armors that both provide good protection and don't decrease your attack speed much. Enchant them further and you're set.

 

As for weapons two handed weapons are better against high DR targets. Also good for carnage because you hit harder and bypass the DR. For example there's a really good estoc in the game that is top quality and also gives you attack speed. Two handed swords are also good.

 

Two weapon fighting works better on low dr targets because you can attack really fast with the two weapon talent, but less damage per hit.

Edited April 5, 2015 by tnc

[PIP-Clownboy]

Brute Force/Threatening Presence is totally worth it because the other choices you get in those levels are awful imo. (one gives minor DR(the worst ability barb has by far) and another 'one stands alone' which is also awful because you should never engage that many enemies in the first place if you are an offensive Barb! you'll go down in no time) Also you're wrong on fortitude being higher most of the time, and sickened is active on enemies ALL the time so it's almost like a permanent accuracy buff. You should test it, check the combat logs and also the debuff on enemy. They are always sickened and i see on combat log my attack is made against fortitude around %80 of time. After i got those two my crit rate went skyrocketing...

 

Also, spreading weakened is fairly easy to do with Priests/Wizards/Druids, which lowers fort to gross levels. 

 

 

Im still trying to find an optimal weapon set for my barb.

Currently torn between x2 Stilettos(fast+DR) and x2 Axes(0.5 crit mult). 

 

Starcaller + anything

Edited April 5, 2015 by PIP-Clownboy

[tnc]

 

Brute Force/Threatening Presence is totally worth it because the other choices you get in those levels are awful imo. (one gives minor DR(the worst ability barb has by far) and another 'one stands alone' which is also awful because you should never engage that many enemies in the first place if you are an offensive Barb! you'll go down in no time) Also you're wrong on fortitude being higher most of the time, and sickened is active on enemies ALL the time so it's almost like a permanent accuracy buff. You should test it, check the combat logs and also the debuff on enemy. They are always sickened and i see on combat log my attack is made against fortitude around %80 of time. After i got those two my crit rate went skyrocketing...

 

Also, spreading weakened is fairly easy to do with Priests/Wizards/Druids, which lowers fort to gross levels. 

 

 

You're right weakened decreases fortitude even further. I think if an enemy has lower fortitude than deflection, if you apply these debuffs it might even be a %100 critiical hit chance, or maybe a really high chance. Priest has a per encounter weaken effect btw, it's an upgrade to an ability. You don't even need to waste your spells if you go that way! And oh, decreasing fortitude will also help many other abilities and spells hit! For example wizard level 6 spell 'gaze of adragan' that petrifies aoe and attacks fortitude, possibly the best spell in the game!

Edited April 5, 2015 by tnc