Is Perception really that good?

[Eyonik]

I'm starting a new game with a Babarian Mainchar on PotD. Everywhere I read that Perception should be around 14. But most that it gives me are 4 points of accuracy. I know that acc is important but you get 3 points per level and there are so many items and buffs that increase you acc. So those 4 attribute points seem to be better invested in stats that give percentage bonusses.

[ottffsse]

It's important if you want to interrupt stuff which barbarians can be very good at. And it helps early game.

 

Something like this is probably optimal:

 

Might min 14 generally, but does not have to be more really, can be as low as 12 or flat if using estocs

Con 12-16 range is best, 12 with good cc in the party, 16 for more laid back approach

Dex: the more the better

Perception: not less than 10 but really around 16 and above is awesome if you can get it that high with items and buffs

Int: min 15 starting, 17+ recommended, most important Stat, along with dex

Resolve: dump it but no lower than 7, anything lower than 7 and you are getting into really dangerous territory where you'll be constantly interrupted in melee.

Edited February 20, 2016 by ottffsse

[Raven Darkholme]

Barbarian should max PE, before it got buffed barbarians complained about low accuracy.

[limaxophobiacq]

Depends on what other classes are in the party. If you're playing with a priest and a paladin and are running around with +16 accuracy or more and 15% graze to hit you're perfectly fine with 10 perception. Depending on what weapons you are using perception can be more for the interrupts than for the accuracy though.

[Dastion]

Is it ACTUALLY good, or is that just Perception?

 

(jokes aside, the other posts summed it up well)

[Boeroer]

As ottffsse pointed out, it's not only aout ACC but also about interrupt chance. And that is hard to buff besides this one talent "Interrupting Blows". There are some items that give a bonus to interrupt value, but they are few.

 

Another way to enable interrupts is to lower the concentration of foes. That is doable by lowering RES. But again there are not too many afflictions or abilites/spells that do this.

 

A barbarian can interrupt in an AoE which can be a very powerful CC effect because there's no special defense against it and nobody is immune to it. Things really start to get interesing if you combine a high interrupt value with debuffing concentration of the enemies in an AoE and hitting fast with a weapon that has a high interrupt duration (and does good damage or has an on hit/on crit effect, but that's only a nice bonus). Some say that Mosquito is the best interrupting weapon for a barb because it's fast, has a high interrupt duration of 0.75 secs, has +5 ACC and is also draining. Others like Mabec's Morning Star because it not only causes 1 second interrupts but also stuns on crit and does good damage - but it's rather slow. I like the VIle Loner's Lance best because it causes -5 on all defenses on hit, has a long interrupt duration of 1 sec and is not too slow. It's kind of in between Mosquito and Mabec's Morning Star.

 

Then there's this new Poleaxe that has a -30 concentration aura... but whatever weapon: with a Interrupt build I would always max PER. That means orlan from the White That Wends with Lilith's Shawl.  

[Mocker22]

As pointed out there are a lot of ways to buff per but I'd say always take a lot. Crits are always advantageous and you need high per to crit frequently. Barbs can make great use of weapons that proc, such as prone on crit.

[Boeroer]

Or interrupting in an AoE. Few people know that interrupts also work with grazes - so carnage's lower ACC is not a big problem compared to on-crit-effects. Best thing is to combine both.

[Mocker22]

Working on a barb that's going to use Vile Loner and the new SB dagger atm. I want to see how much AoE dmg can be achieved with that dagger and carnage. Really unsure of my stat spread though. I was thinking something like....

 

M-14

C-8

D-14

P-18

I-17

R-7

 

I'll have to be careful but barbs naturally large health pool should help offset the con I think. Its also going to be quite a melee heavy group so he shouldn't get pounded too bad. I don't like the Might but I figure there are a lot of might boosts in the game. and Per and int are too valuable for a build that wants to interrupt in an aoe. Any suggestions though?

[rheingold]

Has anyone had experience with the soulbound shield and vile loners lance? As far as I know the shield can be bound to a barbarian. Really interested to know if bash works with carnage? It would seem a pretty good pairing.

[Boeroer]

As far as I know bash doesn't work with carnage. But I may be wrong.

[rheingold]

Ah pity, still I think I'm going to give it a go. I like spears but I really can't bring myself to dual wield them - it looks a bit silly.... But a barbarian using a spear and shield well that's cool, and hopefully effective.

[Boeroer]

It really looks weird, that's true.

[PugPug]

What about Cipher? I really don't like missing, especially with spells. So I started my Cipher at 19 Per 19 Int, the rest 10.