BvA build planning.

[Phyrexial]

BvA build planning.

This is reposted from the Barb forum, it didn't get any replies at all after a little over a day I believe. If this is against the rules or something, lockage I suppose.

I was doing some testing on SP again to see if I could arrange my stats on my new BvA barb so I could slap on a Fortitude and SS when the need arose. However, I'm find that even though I can put on the SS and Fort it won't stay if I die at which time the barb is unable to retrive the Arreat's, SS, Verdungos, and Grief Zerker. In order to correct this, I've had to increase the base str to 78 which allows for the Arreat's to be equipped without the aid of Enigma which in turn allows for the 133 str required for Stormshield.

78 Base
20 Anni
15 Drac's
----
113 total
20 Arreat's
----
133 total

This allows for all equipment to be worn including swapping out Enigma for Fort which should be the edge required to go toe to toe with mediocre BvBs. However, I was wondering if anyone here had any ideas to make more efficient use of stat points. The only other means I can think of to lessen the base str required and thus increase total life is to obtain a Barb hellfire torch but that is currently outside of my budget. Here are the two setups I'm trying to build a barb around:

BvC gear:
- Arreat's/CoA
- Enigma
- Dracul's
- Arachnid's
- Dual Ravens
- Highlord's
- Gores/Resist boots (no stats, using some triple res rare that I found)
- Grief Zerker + Beast Zerker

BvC stats:
- About 5500 life
- 18k AR with Demon Limb prebuff

BvB gear:
- Arreat's
- Fortitude
- Dracul's
- Verdungo's
- Angelic ring + Raven (dex was needed, results in 71% block)
- Angelic ammy
- Gores
- Grief Zerker + Stormshield

BvB stats:
- 6k life
- 21k ar with prebuff

So far the stat allocation goes as follows:
- 78 str
- 127 dex
- 340 vita
- base energy

Other criticisms besides stat allocation are welcomed. I'm not sure if it's worth it to lose some more life in order to get max block with dual angelics in the BvB setup. Currently the barb has 63% block and 27k ar with angelics and 71% block and 21k ar with angelic+raven. 27k yields 47% chance to hit a 30k same level char while 21k yields a 41% chance to hit the same barb.

If I decide to get max block with dual angelics, the BvB setup will drop to 5600 life but have 75% block and 28k ar and the BvC setup drops to 5300 life. This is accomplished by moving 30 stats from vita to dex.

In summary:
- How is the setup overall?
- Is that extra 5k ar needed for BvB? 21k ar vs 27k ar. I'll drop to 63% blocking which would require a good amount more dex to get max block.
- Is there a way to squeeze more life out of this build while still being versatile enough to go without Enigma in BvB duels?

 

[dkay]

id go with max block. the extra block is nessary for bvb.

your steup using angelic + max block should be best imo.



main advice i give to you:
think of the best bvb stats because in bvc mod, you can take out pretty much any char with 5k life. but obviously you have a little more than that which means your already off to a good start.

o ya... another item you should look at is guillames helm. i think its underrated for bvb.

 

[calibansfury]

78 Base
20 Anni
15 Drac's
----
113 total
20 Arreat's
----
133 total

Did you Hel the SS? The str req for it otherwise is 156, I think. I'd make sure that you never intend to dual wield with fort on either (possible to forget when swapping around gear), otherwise you wont be able to pick up your axes, both of which have a str req of 138.

Otherwise, I think it looks pretty solid. I'd definitely sacrifice the AR for max block with raven, or sacrifice life (this is the way I'd go) for max block and keep the high AR. Over 25K and you're going to punish most BvA's out there, who think they just have to armor up and ww constantly without thinking. Good AR+good tactics will compensate for a few hundred less life. You could compensate with buffing with bo helms, ammys, echoes, arachs and soj's/bk's. With your maxed shout that should run for 6 minutes or so, I think.

Good luck!

calibansfury
uswest ladder

 

[Phyrexial]

Okay, thanks for the tips. I'll drop some life for the dual angelic+max block setup.

@Dkay: Yeah, I've been thinking about Guilaume's. The DS and CB seem very nice, but I think I'd take a pretty serious hit to AR without Arreat's 20% AR boost along with the very nice +stats. I'll certainly do some testing though. Perhaps against another BvA that has lower def in the 10k range it will outweigh Arreat's but against a Max Shout build with around 29-30k def I'm probably going to need all the AR I can get.

@Caliban: With the current setup, my skill allocation is closer to a BvC's than a BvB's since I have a fullscreen radius Leap. If I level past 92 (the level of the SP test barb) then I'll drop extra points into Shout.

Also, the SS is socketed with a 40 ed/-15 req jewel on the test barb. I'll probably settle for a Hel or some other -15 req jewel with some secondary mod if I can find one. Either way, the str req will come to 133 str.

 

[luis19]

eld the ss, i think i compared the stats i'd lose with eld ss vs hel ss, and i think the eld gave a good amount more (a whiel ago so i dont remember).

cheap alternative to socket you're arreats with= 15max/9 strength. pretty cheap, bout 4 sojs, considering it gives nearly the same max dmg as a 40/9 jewel, just not the same min.

torch solution = find a torch, if its not a barb one, most people will swap.
use this forum, d2jsp, or dtrades with trusted members or with mods to swap torches.
if u need help killing the bosses, you know my sn/acct


angelics vs ravens. I'd suggest 1xraven and 1xangelic. CBF is usually not a problem, but after bvbing with a lowblock/def ww barb for a while, being slowed can hurt if someoen tele's and ww's right behind you (if they are high def/dmg bvb barb). you being slowed allows them to get more chances at hits, and since they will probably out damage you and have more defense/ar, you will usually end up taking alot more hits.

the AR difference isnt thta bad either.

if you do all that i listed, you should have significantly more life (bout 6k). This is basically what i did with my old bva barb that was able to rank me as one of the top bvb barbs on east via d2jsp, while being more effective vs casters due to mroe life and different skill distribution (leap).

 

[Phyrexial]

I was under the impression that WW speed wouldn't matter in BvB assuming the same weapon range.

Also, using a -15% req jewel in the SS saves 23 stat points in str. Using the Eld in the SS saves 17 stat points in dex. Perhaps there is something I'm missing. Although, more points would be saved by using a 9 str jewel in the Arreat's as opposed to a 15% ias one. I'll do that to squeeze out some more life.

As for the torch, I'll keep that in mind. This barb is going to be a work in progress for a very long time considering how lazy I am and how long it will take to get a nice inventory of charms.

 

['22'Souljah]

What about jah stormshield?

 

[luis19]

CBF will make you move slower in ww. which is bad becasue you will be in range of the other barb's ww for a longer period of time.

a bvb barb will almost always outdo you in damage, defense, ar, so you're only hope is to get near the same damage and hit and run with OW.
if another barb ww's in the same direction as you, nearly ontop of you, and you get frozen, he will have more time to land more hits (his chance to hit should be greater than yours).

thats really the only reason it matters, if you're bvb it usually doesnt matter.

 

[Phyrexial]

[QUOTE='22'Souljah]What about jah stormshield?[/QUOTE]
23 stats on a barb saved using a -reqs jewel = 92 life before BO
Jah run = 50 life

Also, I found this:

78 base
+ 15 Drac's
+ 20 Anni
= 113

The str req for Arreat's (which I will most likely be using in a BvB situation) is 118 normally. This means that again I will face not being able to pick up my gear if I die. So faced with dropping in another 5 str vs the second mod on the jewel which would be replaced with with -15% reqs, I think it would be better to go with the -req jewel in the Arreat's as well. This brings the Arreat's to a req of 101. If I went with an ed/9 str jewel and put in the extra 5 str, I would just end up with excess str I believe.

The str going into this build seems a bit higher than most other barbs but that would be due to no str on the boots I intend to use and the fact that Gores will be the boots of choice in BvB thus the flexibility higher base str provides. I also intend to make this build able to switch out armor as going into a BvB duel even against a mediocre BvB barb with Enigma seems like a bad idea. This is why I'm tweaking it so much to allow for armor swaps for Fort.

If I'm going about this all wrong, someone correct me.

 

[luis19]

btw, enigma is very effective in bvb if done right.
tele allows you to pick where and when to ww, and to telestomp which is one of the only ways to beat an equally gear/skilled OW bvber.

 

[Phyrexial]

Hmm... Well, I'd like to keep the option to use Fort open just incase. At least for my first time around with a barb. I just through together an Enigma only BvA and the difference is about 500 life so it can't be that bad.

 

[Bigrob]

luis: no, eld ss wont give u more stat to vita than a hel ss.

If u use eld ss, u still need 187 to max block at lvl 90.

203-187 = 16
156-133 = 23

from there u can figure that out. i would only eld'd ss if it's a bvber.

phyrexial: use guillmace against bvc or bva, use eth arreat in bvb. eth arreat will tend to be more effective than a 40/15 arreat. Those extra 200 def will become 1500~2000 after shout, with only 108 str.

i use enigma in bvb cuz most of them dont equip one and i can use widow on them. If i have to play fair, i use eth duress. Fort offers less def and the dmg cant really compare to duress after cb & ow.

One more thing in bvb, u can try 2x 40/-15req jewel 15dr coa + ss, which gives u max dr. You can use hasurs' set to net u more ar. I sometime use this setup when against extreme high def bvber, with this setup i net 40k ar after chant. Since most bvber now use fort instead of ebug stone, i hit them 71% of time with ww.

 

[Phyrexial]

I was under the impression that Grief/Fort outperformed Grief/Duress according to this thread:

http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=301690

As for the Eth Arreat's vs jeweled Arreats, that sounds like a good idea if I can get my hands on one. Forgot about the reduced str cost on eth items.

By the way, thanks for all the help guys.

 

[dkay]

good luck with your sexy guy.

oh one last thing.. ioono since i never stayed around long enough for grief but ive seen bvbers use fury. im guessing it works very well in some weird way. if your rich maybe an eth one would be crazy? but then again i dont know how things compare to grief anymore.

 

[Bigrob]

ebug fury will kill grief.

 

[De4dEyE]

Ebug, you mean the socket recipe thing? If so, last time I checked it doesn't work on weapons..

 

[Bigrob]

Ebug, you mean the socket recipe thing? If so, last time I checked it doesn't work on weapons..

ebug = eth zodded bugged.

it can only be done back in 09.

 

[luis19]

based on the way rik compared the damages, grief/fort does better.
however OW is hard to measure in effectiveness.

personally i like it better than straight damage.