Wolfbarbs-The ultimate guide (Revised verson)

Hey all, Zero here. Glad to see that even times later, people try out this build. Sadly though, I had quited D2 unannounced a long time ago. Even if I want to come back, there's nothing left. Anyways, I still do check the forums every now and then, but I haven't been an active part of it. Most of my D2 knowledge has kind of faded, I'm not even up to date, so I'm not much help anymore lol.
I thought I'de pop back on to say my greetings and show that I'm somewhat alive though.

Dr@kE~
 
ok so i just started to play again, got lucky old friend was on and gave me a few good things, was snooping around the forums guides and saw this guide that intrested me alot, now i want to know if this build is viable in pvm hell, i got wolfhelm, ss shield, eth botd CB, Mp nigma, soj, and war travs, he is currently lvl 48 havent spent any skill points yet so if this build is not viable in pvm hell let me know so i can creat another type of barb.
 
yes its very viable in hell, or even immortal in pvm if build correct. you have to replace this ebotd cb with grief pb with 31+ ias/azurewrath/griswold mace 4 shael(or4x15ias-ed jewel). enigma is good for prebuff or some crazy run/walk speeds. change war travelers for gore riders
 
I have read this guide a long time ago, but only recently started to build a wolfybarb. While lvling is quite a pain from 1-79, Im already 3/4 there at 66 now. I have been twinking around with some equipment and was wondering if anyone played such a character recently could offer some advise before I jumped in to shop for the items.

I realised its a tradeoff between "higher shifting level" and "more damage" or "more DR/vit". Im asking this because "Gris Caddy+Fort" is probably the fastest and offers some decent ED, but thats at the expense of a +2 all skills from the armour(arkaines/enigma/coh/etc). Also, if I were to use arachnids for the additional +1, I would lose the dr/vit on dungoes. In pvm and also pvp, its actually quite a hassle to be switching equipment every few minutes, so Im hoping that is not really necessary.

So whats a decent balance between the different shifting levels that is still "healthy"? I now have a 6wolf/6lycan wolfhowl so that gives:
6 wolfhowl
1 battlecommand
2 maras
6 hotos
1 annihilus

a total of 16wolf/16lycan. This is what I can forsee myself using in the near future, excluding the armour/belt/rings. I'm just wondering if investing(I don't have em yet) in sojs/BK and swapping armour/belt is worth the additional 5 more points into it.


Overall, its a really great guide written a long time ago and yet still 90% viable now!
 
additional prebuffing with mara/seraph, arach, coh/enigma/arky, soj/bk is worth it only if you gonna do some pvp. for pvm does not matter.

i have some of this just for pvp and show of.
 
Prebuffing mate :D

The standard quick buff for a wolfbarb in my exp is always:

Wolfhowl
Highlords (if you use it)
2x Hoto's (ANY res... for the love of God dont go and get 2x 40's just to use them for a buff...)
Anni
BO's

The longer way is:

Wolfhowl
2x Hoto's
Seraphs/Mara's
2x SoJ's/BK's
Arach
CoH/Enigma/Arkain 1.10+
Anni
BO's

First one gets you a max of a lvl 15 wolf/lycan, second one gets you a lvl 21 wolf/lycan. Most of the time the quicker first buff is all you'll need, especially pvm wise. The second option is more for dueling (assuming buffing is allowed).

-BLoke :smug:
 
Yes, I'm referring to general pvm, at least until lvl90 before I wanna try some pvp. I also understand the notion of prebuffing, was just wondering at the differences between a lvl15 shift vs lvl20 shift.

And yup, I use +31/32 HOTO which I downgraded from a +38. BC/BO/Shout has never been so fast/funny :laugh:...

Can't wait till I get to lvl 79, or even 85 for azurewrath(I just love this weapon):wink3:
 
Ya the lvl differences wont matter much in pvm, and glad to hear that your excited to get you wolfbaba off the ground :thumbsup:

Best of luck!
 
Hmm...alright, I've hit 85, and found it kinda slow lvling beyond that. I'm almost getting little-no kills in runs with the big time casters around doing 10k damage while i do 1.6k max. Not that thats much of an issue, so I just tried some pvping. My rates are like 10:1 against my favour :tongue:.

My equip are:
wolfhowl
low maras
4sheal gris/ low hotos
fort
dracs
15% string of ears
dwarfstar+raven
gores
stash filled with some mid quality +max/ar/lifer gcs/lcs/scs

Sorcs are generally no problem, and bow zons get into a stun lock when they attempt to engage me in close range. FC javazons are quite a pain. Smiters are kinda unbeatable. Trappers are hard too.

Should I lvl till 90 before I attempt again? After shifting I do 1-1.6k feral rage, 12.6kAR, 24.5kdef, 5.8klife. I think Im short in fhr and AR? Can anyone tell me what are the fhr breakapoints for a wolfbarb are?

Still trying to find an angellic ammy to swap the maras, but im getting PKed so often its no fun swapping in and out equipment. everytime i shift.
 
you are preaty low on life as i can see. mine wolf is in range 9k, higher ar want hurt you but it is not needed for casters/zons
 
hmm...care to share how our setups are different? I guess either your stashs filled with life charms, or that your using enigma for str glitch? I have already been extremely careful in str placement, and found ~75 to be the minimum I can bear to wear everything comfortably, be it AP fort, GA, arkaines(which I have yet to obtain). And this is with the use of 20stat torch, annihilus, and 15str dracs. Dex is just enough for max block at lvl 85.

Then again, even with 9k life, I think it would only improve my chances a little. Any idea how much fhr is optimal? Thinking of shealing my wolfhowl and getting some fhr scs, just have no idea what numbers to shoot for as the links in the guide have been dead for quite some time...

Ive also just met a few other wolfbarbs, and against them gris caddy really helps because they were using much slower and higher damage weapons.
 
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wolfbarb uses werewolf brakepoints:

0 fhr - 7 frame
9 fhr - 6 frame
20 fhr - 5 frame
42 fhr - 4 frame
86 fhr - 3 frame
200 fhr - 2 frame

i achieved 42 % with shael in helm, verdungo and 12 fhr max/ar gc.
i recomend changing string for verdungo.
 
Since he is pvm, i think the string is far more beneficial than dungo, since really the only 2 things that make dungo the belt of choice is the high vita and the dr. String has dr, as well as mdr (not that useful but hey) as well as life leech (though really... the wolfbarb has a rediculous amount as is lol). Though personally id rather have a rare belt with 24 fhr/stats/resist for pvm and if its strictly melee id even choose a well crafted blood.
 
NewForumBloke said:
Since he is pvm, i think the string is far more beneficial than dungo, since really the only 2 things that make dungo the belt of choice is the high vita and the dr. String has dr, as well as mdr (not that useful but hey) as well as life leech (though really... the wolfbarb has a rediculous amount as is lol). Though personally id rather have a rare belt with 24 fhr/stats/resist for pvm and if its strictly melee id even choose a well crafted blood.
Click to expand...

I haven't been on here in a while, but wolfbarbs are like the worst pvm character in the game. It litteraly takes my barb forever to kill shenks group. They really only shine in pvp. I never liked the gris caddy either, it really gimps damage. Grief PB is the way to go!

edit: My barb hit about 7.5 k life, 20k+ ar, 20k+ def, max block, a crap load of frw, lol. Quite godly, but if I were to remake, I'd go with swords over anything else. When I equipped a greif pb, my attack was incredibly fast and strong. I currently use grief zerker and it's slow, but it has good range and hits hard as hell.

There's too many ways to make wolves.



 
Its not a pvm god like casters can be, but even a mediocurly equiped wolfbaba will survive easily. I wouldnt say a wolfbaba's pvm skills are in quick powerful kills, but in his survivability to tank.

As for the whole weapon bit, its just one of those topics that will never end. But i will say a grief zerker is a terrible weapon for a wolfbaba (as is pretty much any axe for a wolfbaba imo, theyre just too slow even ebotd ones dont shine all THAT well). The reason i pick griz for mine is becuase i have mine built as a pure melee fighting wolfbaba, i rarely venture out into pubs. Really, it comes down to preference and who your going to duel.

-BLoke :smug:
 
NewForumBloke said:
Its not a pvm god like casters can be, but even a mediocurly equiped wolfbaba will survive easily. I wouldnt say a wolfbaba's pvm skills are in quick powerful kills, but in his survivability to tank.

As for the whole weapon bit, its just one of those topics that will never end. But i will say a grief zerker is a terrible weapon for a wolfbaba (as is pretty much any axe for a wolfbaba imo, theyre just too slow even ebotd ones dont shine all THAT well). The reason i pick griz for mine is becuase i have mine built as a pure melee fighting wolfbaba, i rarely venture out into pubs. Really, it comes down to preference and who your going to duel.

-BLoke :smug:
Click to expand...

In that case I still like grief pb over a gris caddy. Haven't tried any 2 handed weaps out, but I find having a stormshield is needed to survive in duels.



 
? Griz caddy is a one handed weapon... SS is standard in all my wolfbaba's.

And imho a 2 hander is best used on a fury where the dmg and range can really be utilized, but if you can make use of it on casters and feel comfortable with it, by all means all you wolfbaba's out there, use it!

-BLoke :smug:
 
Re: Wolfbarbs-The ultimate guide (Revised verson)

i have been reading from other locations that a wolfbarb can reach a 3 frame attack with feral rage.

in a nutshell you need a phaseblade with 100-120ias

also i found out that u can equip a second weapon, and with feral rage, the second weapon is not used, but it can use the passive effects from the weapon (+skills, auras... etc)

i am in the process of building one of these... end game gear will be this

weapon 1 120ias phaseblade, phoenix on second wepon
weapon 2, beast and Demon Limb (for prebuffs)

helm: wolf howl
armor: enigma
boots: gores
belt: verndungos / string of ears (damage reduction)
ammy: maras
gloves: dracs
rings: natures peace\ravenfrost (need to swap out natures peace as its not needed with phoenix)
torch
anni

my build will vary a bit too,

20 sword mastery
20 battle orders
20 shout
1 battle command
1 howl (prereq)
1 Stamina
8 Speed
1 leap
20 Iron skin
 
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