Barbarian Stats not so Comprehensive

[1jackrabbit]

New to PoE and I'm having a hard time figuring out which attributes are important for a barbarian.  It seems like there is a lot of conflicting information about stats on the forums because they all support different builds and play-styles.  Back in the day I would have just restarted a thousand times to try out all kinds of creations but I don't have the time or patience for that anymore.  So if you don't mind, a little help to get me started would be much appreciated.  This looks like a great game and I can't wait to dive in.

 

So far I think I'm set on a pale-elf two-handed offtank barbarian on hard difficulty. Good damage but not as squishy as a rogue or cipher and his AoE will help with the extra number of enemies.

 

I get that INT is important, but how much is too much?  I mean, I don't think putting another 1 or 2 points into INT is worth it just to catch that one extra enemy in carnage, right?  But where is the cut-off point?

 

What is better for survivability, CON or RES?  I've seen builds that dump CON in favor of RES but that just doesn't make sense.  Why go through all that trouble to negate the barbarian's weak deflection when you can just play to their strength and go more CON for a larger health and endurance pool?  But maybe I'm wrong.

 

MIG, DEX, or PER?  I've seen builds that will dump two and max one of these but they never say what play-style they are going for to support their logic.  Seems like MIG is the obvious answer but maybe landing hits with PER or hitting more with DEX is more advantageous.

 

I'm not really one for min/maxing, but which attribute can safely be lowered a bit?

[Elric Galad]

There are builds that favors RES (golden dragon) because the point of the build is to max Defl and Acc debuff. Read it. For other cases CON is indead better.

[1jackrabbit]

Right, but that build has you using a shield which I'd rather not do.  So if I'm not going for max deflection, do you think CON is a better way to go?

[Dr <3]

I like to have int 18 in my barbarians ( eventually 16 base +2 from items) since the aoe of carnage becomes huge enough to hit enemies that are BEHIND you, so you can hit literally everyone around you. And from lvl 11 with heart of fury you get even more reasons to hit as many enemies as possible ( every hit activate a separate carnage).

Constitition can be left at 10 since you will have plenty of health anyway in a few level.

 

Dex can be left at 10 top of dual wielding or even dumped.

 

But there are some nice guides around, take a look in them, they will explain in detail some mechanichs of the games and how and why build your char.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Dr <3

[George_Truman]

I don't think you can go wrong with split might and int, 10 in everything else. Might helps overcome the damage reduction on carnage attacks and boosts your savage defiance, and int gives better aoe as well as longer duration for your nice self buffs. Also the dankest weapon in the game (firebrand) benefits plenty from both, with a huge base damage that is boosted even more by solid might your carnage will do solid damage. 

[1jackrabbit]

Thanks Dr <3.  Okay, so INT is REALLY important.  Then would you say it's also worthwhile to increase PER so that carnage is hitting more?

[1jackrabbit]

Thanks George, so straight offense might be the way to go, and just to be clear, you're saying DON'T dump any stats?

[George_Truman]

If you go for a frontline build (no pike) then I wouldn't dump anything. If you go for a backline barbarian with tallgrass you can get away with dumping resolve i think but that didn't seem like the build you are looking for.  For front liners you really don't want to dump resolve imo not even because of the deflection (the deflection is big though) but because of the concentration (low concentration means getting interrupted = fewer swings and delayed actions). The barbarian isn't going to start super tanky but at levels 3 and 4 if you go savage defiance into stalwart defiance you will be pretty well set. In the early game I recommend giving him heavier armor, but as the game progresses and you get a bit beefier i recommend lightening the load for faster swings. 

[Boeroer]

For my usual barb I'd go for high MIG and INT, then PER, then CON, then DEX and then RES. High MIG and INT are benefical for a lot of stuff: self healing via Veteran's Recovery and Savage Defiance, buffs like Frenzy, then Carnage, Vengeful Defeat, Heart of Fury and stuff like that.

 

Since you can speed up your barbarian pretty nicely with Frenzy, Bloodlust and Blood Thirst and also dual wielding if you like, DEX isn't so important for me. With a Two Hander you want to have a bit more DEX than with two weapons.

 

If you have low RES you want more CON, if you have low CON you might want to put more points into RES.

High CON is very benefical for barbs because their already high base values for endurance and esp. health will lead to tremendous pools if they also get the bonus from CON. This is good when you rely on self heals with low deflection. Else your endurance will be ok but your health will be low after few fights.

High MIG and CON will lead to a great fortitude defense - and that's the most important defense in my opinion. 

 

You can dump RES if you're going the high CON road with self healing. Only problem will be interrupts when you get surrounded by mobs. Potion of Spirit Shield helps a lot as does Holy Meditation (from items or a priest).

 

You can also dump DEX if you're dual wielding and use Frenzy + Bloodlust. Especially for the nest ability of the barb, Heart of Fury, you need no DEX at all. 

 

But you don't need to. It's perfectly ok to leave the not so important stats at 10 and give the more important ones a 15 or so.

 

What is important and what not is also determined by your role in the party and your build idea. As you pointed out, the Golden Dragon is supposed to be a tank with a shield and therefore doesn't need a lot of CON. But he wants high RES to avoid damage. This is a special build though.

 

Normally I wouldn't put too many points into RES when I'm building a barb. Usually the offensive way is a lot of fun - and you can pair it pretty nicely with Veteran's Recovery, survial bonus for healing and any item that gives +25% to healing received. Also, a Girdle of Mortal Protection is good: it takes away 27% of the critical damage which is near to the damage an normal hit scores. This is very good if you have low deflection and receive a lot of crits. All in all your dps will be great while you will be sturdy as a fighter. This combo of good offense and good self healing is very effective.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Boeroer

[IamNOOB]

Might and int are the most important, I have opened another topic here, asking about the same thing. I am a barbarian fan , dating back from my Diablo II times.

But there is something else: even if you get the best stats and wapons on a barb this is not a sure win in all battles, I would even say that it is not crucial. The main idea of the game is to combo and to have a balanced team, to get others to buff and save your barb who is jumping in. I reached this conclusion based on help in the forum

[Boeroer]

That is totally right. A good party composition and good party "combos" (buffing accuracy before attacking, using CC effects and so on) is the key to an easy playthrough. Pure damage will not win battles for you. But it sure can be fun.

[Elric Galad]

Barbarians with high accuracy, interrupt and the right weapon set should be a decent recursive crowd controler, no ?

[1jackrabbit]

Wow, great stuff everyone.  Thanks so much.  My trepidation has definitely been quelled.

 

The big problem I was having was reading posts/builds saying "dump this stat to 3, max this one to 18" and thinking "that can only be viable for a particular play-style and if you already have the foreknowledge of how that will synergize with other party members. (I want to play with all the story companions.)  So Boeroer saying " It's perfectly ok to leave the not so important stats at 10 and give the more important ones a 15 or so." makes me feel a lot better about my ability to change my character's role to work better in the party as the game progresses.

 

I think I'll go high MIG and INT, then PER and CON, and leave DEX and RES at 10.  I'll play everything else by ear as I go; talents and skills wise.  I know you can always respec you party members if you want, but I don't think you can ever change your attributes so I'm glad I got this input.

[Boeroer]

That will work well. Minmaxing stats is not necessary because they are are not superimportant in this game anyway. Sure, 5 points more in a certain stat is good, but you will not gimp your character if you give him 13 MIG instead of 18. That's a nice thing about this game.

 

The difference between 18 DEX and 3 DEX or 18 CON and 3 CON is very noticable though.

 

And if you feel you could use more DEX and less MIG for example, just go to an inn and retrain a bit until you are pleased.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Min/Max strategies are for PotD only. Instead... Have fun with it. Try out the various combos this game has to offer. The 'best' builds are not needed outside of PotD. I like to bring a Shieldbearer along to fight beside my Conan.

[KDubya]

Min/Max strategies are for PotD only. Instead... Have fun with it. Try out the various combos this game has to offer. The 'best' builds are not needed outside of PotD. I like to bring a Shieldbearer along to fight beside my Conan.

 

 

I've always felt that min maxing stats can make PotD much harder by creating  serious weak points that can lead to difficulties. The early guides on Steam all had extreme min maxing, as if the author thought that unless it was min maxed it was not a build.

 

For me balanced stats - everything at ten - and then adding the rest to two or three stats that you want to emphasize is the way to go.

 

Perhaps solo PotD requires min maxing, but I've never gone for solo.

[Boeroer]

You don't need minmaxing at all, not even for solo PotD. But it can be fun and it can squeeze out a little bit more performance in those special areas you planned your build around. But it also leads to vulnerabilities. The trick is to work around those vulnerabilities while keeping the advantage of the maxed stats.

As I said: fun!

Edited January 20, 2017 by Boeroer