Suggestions for my ironman throw barb.
Hi everyone.
I'm building a PvM only barb just for fun and to try out some ideas I had. I normally only play glass cannon bowazons, but the lure of the barb's OP'd passives got me interested in making a throw barb based on bowazon principles. The barb has increased speed and natural ressit which give him so much freedom, I just had to try this.
Note that the following is not at all what you would expect for a barb build! He has no warcries whatsoever, for example. He also will have low life just like a glass cannon bowazon. Here is the plan:
-max out double throw, double swing for the damage synergy, and throwing mastery.
-max out increased speed (I know, I am crazy, but I want run/walk speed to be insane on this build. I am so bored and impatient with the game now that I want to fly through town in the quickest possible time. The goal might even be to reech the highest walk/run speed breakpoint without using frenzy).
-Most likely max out natural resist (I know, I am wasting points like crazy, but I LOVE passives.)
So maxing out these 5 uses up 100 points and I plan to go to about lev 88-90 to max them. The neat thing about this barb is he has no bo. I hate warcries because I don't like being interupted and having to rebuff all the time. I'd rather just max out passives. I am used to playing a zon with not a single point into vitality, so I don't feel like I need double health all the time from bo. Plus, I hate old cookie cutter bo, and I refuse to use it-end of story.
For stats, I am again borrowing the glass cannon principle of going for damage. Each level I put 4 points into str and only one point into vit. The only reason I put anything in vit at all is because the 4 life he gets per vit point is so useful for so few points. Too irresistable I guess. Also, I don't want him to be quite as frail as my bowazon.
Gear: This is where I need you suggestions.
Below is my journey so far with this build. To comment on what gear you suggest would help me reach the highest breakpoint for fastest possible run/walk, you can skip my progress story which ends at the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
My progress so far (for those who like a good story):
So far, I have him at lev 57. Things are going fine, but man, it was REALLY annoying having to go to town so much to refill on javalins! Btw, one of my core values is to be 100% independent for every chr I make and that means NO baal runs, NO help with ancients, NO rushes, and NO begging for items or help. I did play through act 2 nm with some people on USEast, but I did not get the quests so I went back and did it in a private game anyway.
I considered giving up on him early due to Blizzard creating such small stack sizes on throwing weapons. Luckily, there were ways around this. I started goging to town every few minutes to fill most of my inventory up with javalins, but later I switched to using throwing knives which have much greater stack size. I used my old zon ways: keeping every elemental damage charm I found to help out in the early levels, and gradually weening myself off them as I needed the space.
Life was getting pretty rough and it became a constant struggle to find ways of hitting things without any dex investment. This is one of those builds who is troublesome early on, but he will shine end game FOR SURE. I saved gems and put emeralds in armor to reach the dex req for better thowing items. Later, I found that this meager dex bonus was not enough to hit stuff well, so I started using and trading for diamonds for some quick AR bonus. There was a very annoying struggle for a while, but I got lucky on my normal forge and got 2 good diamonds (flawless).
Things started to suck pretty bad when I got my nm might merc. He would keep getting killed at the first mob. I got him some better gear and it seemed to help a lot, plus I had to tank for HIM for a while. We got through the tough times and now he is wearing a 3os artisan's armor with a life mod filled with 3 prubies for a total of 169 to life.
I learned I had to do a LOT of shopping to continually get higher damage throw weapons. I had high hopes for act 3 nm vendors, but they didn't have much good selection. Act 4 was a bit better, but not the damage I had hoped. I was at this point still using some throwing knife type of weapons with 'of butchery' mods on them from act 5 normal. It was discourageing doing all that work from act to act only to find one of vendors had like 1-2 throwing weapons for sale each time I visited. Finally, in act 5 nm, Malah had some really nice damage stuff. The problems have all gone away, and I'm wearing an artisan's armor with 3 perfect emeralds that also has a psn length reduction by 75% mod. My helm is just a 3os helm with 3 pdiamonds. Gems are wonderful things.
The sacrifice of having to use pgems is well worth it. At only level 57, I am getting 3-4 damage per str point I invest. This is going to really matter when I get 2 unique throw weapons later on. I really don't understand why in guides people often say to put in minimal str. Str really does add to your damage, but in slow and small ways. It takes a long term investment before you start seeing the greatness of it, just like dex with a glass cannon bowazon. Earning your damage little by little is classic role playing! It will all pay off in the end.
Of course, the challenge will be getting those 2 unique throw weapons. Sadly, I got a hel rune on my nm forge. I was hoping for a lem, pul or um so I could quickly trade it for any unique throw weapon. I will now have to wait until something nice drops. Btw, I am starting on ladder dirt poor with nothing to trade with. Plus, I like to use no mf.
So atm, I made it to nm ancients. Blizzard basically made them 'challenging' by just giving them a wad of health so I will have to spend maybe 40 minutes whittling those guys down. Running around in circles for 40 minutes repeating the same hit and run tactic is really boring, so I stoped playing there and I will have to get back to it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
So my gear set up for end game is undecided except for a few ideas here. I will likely get my paws on a CoA. Why? Because I can put it on my head, that's why! This will be my first chr in many years with enough str to actually wear one. I don't think I'll go with arreats or other recomended helms that add more skill points. Like my zon, skill points just won't add much damage to this guy. His maxed out passives will only have slight gains with bonus skills.
Armor: Unknown. Probably Tyreal's for the run speed (see below).
Boots: Gores I guess.
Rings: ravenfrost and something else. If I ever get Tyreals, it has cannot be frozen so I can wear whatever rings you guys suggest.
Belt: razortail for certain.
Gloves: undecided. Maybe rends. Or, maybe I will feel urged to to wear LoH like my zon always is.
Ammy: Idk. Probably cat's eye. I can use the dex anyway since I don't have any base dex.
Weapons: What would you suggest for this guy? I am kind of leaning toward the Lacerator for amp damage 30% of hits or w/e plus the warshrike that has 50% pierce. Then there's wraith flight IIRC correctly which does more damage in general but has boring mods. It's a tough call. Any suggestions on best weapons to use?
I want cat's eye because I will be going for the fastest run speed breakpoint. Sadly, cheesfest nigma has the best run speed on armor, and I REFUSE to wear that piece of trash. It has 45 FRW. Stealth rw has 25, but I prefer Tyreals (20 FRW) for those nice mods it has.
Here are some items I researched that add to FRW:
Lev 10 vigor on a rw bow (harmony IIRC, not sure): 36
Lev 20 increased speed: 43
Cat's Eye: 30
Valkyrie Wing: 30
Blinkbat's armor: 10
Hawkmail: 10
A rare barb circlet: 30
Tyreal's Might: 20
Mav's belt: 20
Nat's/Aldur's boot: 40
Rare boots w/ highest FRW: ?? (Idk, do you guys know?)
Nigma Tard Sauce: 45 (Thanks alot Blizzard. What the hell do they need the run speed for? They are teleing around everywhere skipping 99.9% of the huge game you designed, remember?)
So, I figgure I will have to fill much of his inventory with FRW scs. A lot of the gear up there is going to be unreasonable for him. He is going to be a powerhouse doing lots of damage. The bow is out of the question, I just put it there for completeness. Valkyrie's helm; no, I want CoA instead or a rare barb helm w/ 30% frw. For boots, it will be too hard to not wear gores, and those are not 40% FRW, but close enough I guess. Mav's belt; I want to wear this so bad, it even has mana leech, but razortail is too important because of its piercing attack. Unless I go with the two warshrike uniques that have 50% pierce which I guess is good enough. And Tyreal's will be my armor...in several months IF I ever build up enough loot to trade for one.
Reminder: I am NOT using any wc, not even one point in bo. There's no need. I like to not play sloppy. I'm never dueling anyway.
So with maxed out increased speed and a whole lot of FRW scs, I plan on doing good damage in hell with this build and at the same time have the highest run speed possible (without frenzy).
I'm looking into the d2 wiki atm...I just got reminded that heavy armor reduces speed by .40 yards/sec. Hmm....maybe it'll have to be ds fort or something instead of Tyreal's. Also, there are no diminishing returns on FRW from skills, so maxing increased speed may not be such a waste of skills after all, since run speed is what I'm seeking.
Hi everyone.
I'm building a PvM only barb just for fun and to try out some ideas I had. I normally only play glass cannon bowazons, but the lure of the barb's OP'd passives got me interested in making a throw barb based on bowazon principles. The barb has increased speed and natural ressit which give him so much freedom, I just had to try this.
Note that the following is not at all what you would expect for a barb build! He has no warcries whatsoever, for example. He also will have low life just like a glass cannon bowazon. Here is the plan:
-max out double throw, double swing for the damage synergy, and throwing mastery.
-max out increased speed (I know, I am crazy, but I want run/walk speed to be insane on this build. I am so bored and impatient with the game now that I want to fly through town in the quickest possible time. The goal might even be to reech the highest walk/run speed breakpoint without using frenzy).
-Most likely max out natural resist (I know, I am wasting points like crazy, but I LOVE passives.)
So maxing out these 5 uses up 100 points and I plan to go to about lev 88-90 to max them. The neat thing about this barb is he has no bo. I hate warcries because I don't like being interupted and having to rebuff all the time. I'd rather just max out passives. I am used to playing a zon with not a single point into vitality, so I don't feel like I need double health all the time from bo. Plus, I hate old cookie cutter bo, and I refuse to use it-end of story.
For stats, I am again borrowing the glass cannon principle of going for damage. Each level I put 4 points into str and only one point into vit. The only reason I put anything in vit at all is because the 4 life he gets per vit point is so useful for so few points. Too irresistable I guess. Also, I don't want him to be quite as frail as my bowazon.
Gear: This is where I need you suggestions.
Below is my journey so far with this build. To comment on what gear you suggest would help me reach the highest breakpoint for fastest possible run/walk, you can skip my progress story which ends at the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
My progress so far (for those who like a good story):
So far, I have him at lev 57. Things are going fine, but man, it was REALLY annoying having to go to town so much to refill on javalins! Btw, one of my core values is to be 100% independent for every chr I make and that means NO baal runs, NO help with ancients, NO rushes, and NO begging for items or help. I did play through act 2 nm with some people on USEast, but I did not get the quests so I went back and did it in a private game anyway.
I considered giving up on him early due to Blizzard creating such small stack sizes on throwing weapons. Luckily, there were ways around this. I started goging to town every few minutes to fill most of my inventory up with javalins, but later I switched to using throwing knives which have much greater stack size. I used my old zon ways: keeping every elemental damage charm I found to help out in the early levels, and gradually weening myself off them as I needed the space.
Life was getting pretty rough and it became a constant struggle to find ways of hitting things without any dex investment. This is one of those builds who is troublesome early on, but he will shine end game FOR SURE. I saved gems and put emeralds in armor to reach the dex req for better thowing items. Later, I found that this meager dex bonus was not enough to hit stuff well, so I started using and trading for diamonds for some quick AR bonus. There was a very annoying struggle for a while, but I got lucky on my normal forge and got 2 good diamonds (flawless).
Things started to suck pretty bad when I got my nm might merc. He would keep getting killed at the first mob. I got him some better gear and it seemed to help a lot, plus I had to tank for HIM for a while. We got through the tough times and now he is wearing a 3os artisan's armor with a life mod filled with 3 prubies for a total of 169 to life.
I learned I had to do a LOT of shopping to continually get higher damage throw weapons. I had high hopes for act 3 nm vendors, but they didn't have much good selection. Act 4 was a bit better, but not the damage I had hoped. I was at this point still using some throwing knife type of weapons with 'of butchery' mods on them from act 5 normal. It was discourageing doing all that work from act to act only to find one of vendors had like 1-2 throwing weapons for sale each time I visited. Finally, in act 5 nm, Malah had some really nice damage stuff. The problems have all gone away, and I'm wearing an artisan's armor with 3 perfect emeralds that also has a psn length reduction by 75% mod. My helm is just a 3os helm with 3 pdiamonds. Gems are wonderful things.
The sacrifice of having to use pgems is well worth it. At only level 57, I am getting 3-4 damage per str point I invest. This is going to really matter when I get 2 unique throw weapons later on. I really don't understand why in guides people often say to put in minimal str. Str really does add to your damage, but in slow and small ways. It takes a long term investment before you start seeing the greatness of it, just like dex with a glass cannon bowazon. Earning your damage little by little is classic role playing! It will all pay off in the end.
Of course, the challenge will be getting those 2 unique throw weapons. Sadly, I got a hel rune on my nm forge. I was hoping for a lem, pul or um so I could quickly trade it for any unique throw weapon. I will now have to wait until something nice drops. Btw, I am starting on ladder dirt poor with nothing to trade with. Plus, I like to use no mf.
So atm, I made it to nm ancients. Blizzard basically made them 'challenging' by just giving them a wad of health so I will have to spend maybe 40 minutes whittling those guys down. Running around in circles for 40 minutes repeating the same hit and run tactic is really boring, so I stoped playing there and I will have to get back to it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
So my gear set up for end game is undecided except for a few ideas here. I will likely get my paws on a CoA. Why? Because I can put it on my head, that's why! This will be my first chr in many years with enough str to actually wear one. I don't think I'll go with arreats or other recomended helms that add more skill points. Like my zon, skill points just won't add much damage to this guy. His maxed out passives will only have slight gains with bonus skills.
Armor: Unknown. Probably Tyreal's for the run speed (see below).
Boots: Gores I guess.
Rings: ravenfrost and something else. If I ever get Tyreals, it has cannot be frozen so I can wear whatever rings you guys suggest.
Belt: razortail for certain.
Gloves: undecided. Maybe rends. Or, maybe I will feel urged to to wear LoH like my zon always is.
Ammy: Idk. Probably cat's eye. I can use the dex anyway since I don't have any base dex.
Weapons: What would you suggest for this guy? I am kind of leaning toward the Lacerator for amp damage 30% of hits or w/e plus the warshrike that has 50% pierce. Then there's wraith flight IIRC correctly which does more damage in general but has boring mods. It's a tough call. Any suggestions on best weapons to use?
I want cat's eye because I will be going for the fastest run speed breakpoint. Sadly, cheesfest nigma has the best run speed on armor, and I REFUSE to wear that piece of trash. It has 45 FRW. Stealth rw has 25, but I prefer Tyreals (20 FRW) for those nice mods it has.
Here are some items I researched that add to FRW:
Lev 10 vigor on a rw bow (harmony IIRC, not sure): 36
Lev 20 increased speed: 43
Cat's Eye: 30
Valkyrie Wing: 30
Blinkbat's armor: 10
Hawkmail: 10
A rare barb circlet: 30
Tyreal's Might: 20
Mav's belt: 20
Nat's/Aldur's boot: 40
Rare boots w/ highest FRW: ?? (Idk, do you guys know?)
Nigma Tard Sauce: 45 (Thanks alot Blizzard. What the hell do they need the run speed for? They are teleing around everywhere skipping 99.9% of the huge game you designed, remember?)
So, I figgure I will have to fill much of his inventory with FRW scs. A lot of the gear up there is going to be unreasonable for him. He is going to be a powerhouse doing lots of damage. The bow is out of the question, I just put it there for completeness. Valkyrie's helm; no, I want CoA instead or a rare barb helm w/ 30% frw. For boots, it will be too hard to not wear gores, and those are not 40% FRW, but close enough I guess. Mav's belt; I want to wear this so bad, it even has mana leech, but razortail is too important because of its piercing attack. Unless I go with the two warshrike uniques that have 50% pierce which I guess is good enough. And Tyreal's will be my armor...in several months IF I ever build up enough loot to trade for one.
Reminder: I am NOT using any wc, not even one point in bo. There's no need. I like to not play sloppy. I'm never dueling anyway.
So with maxed out increased speed and a whole lot of FRW scs, I plan on doing good damage in hell with this build and at the same time have the highest run speed possible (without frenzy).
I'm looking into the d2 wiki atm...I just got reminded that heavy armor reduces speed by .40 yards/sec. Hmm....maybe it'll have to be ds fort or something instead of Tyreal's. Also, there are no diminishing returns on FRW from skills, so maxing increased speed may not be such a waste of skills after all, since run speed is what I'm seeking.
Last edited:
Google