Entering hell, single pass untwinked Frenzy, any advice?

[duck]

A couple of thoughts. On the Lem I see two choices Delirium and Voice of Reason. You should have all the runes that you need for VoR, while you need an Ist for Delirium. VoR also gives you can't be frozen. I tried VoR on my Frenzier, and I think its better than Crescent moon. However, Oath is better, but you may never find the runes.

I also vote for Duress over treachery. For me Fade never seemed to get cast when I really needed it. Plus the added cold damage works with VoR. Of course you are going to have to do more with your lightning immunity than just the +15 you get from Duress.

VoR sounds cool. It's a weapon that I've never used before (since it's terrible online PvP). The CBF mod is most attractive to me. The cold damage though would mean less horking, which I think is helpful for single pass. Unfortunately I do not have a spare Ko lying around yet, so it will have to wait.

I see you suggesting Delirium twice. Am I right to say that the draw of it is the CtC Terror/MB/Confuse? Is it that much of a CC upgrade over my current Decrep/Howl/Battle Cry? I don't have an Ist though, so again I will hold on to my Lem for now.

Seems like the consensus is to not make Crescent Moon. I will not make it then.

Duress is attractive to me, primarily for the CB+FHR. Plus it's another runeword that I hardly ever used in the past online. I seem to be managing Fade procs well on both merc and me though, so I will hold on for now. Gonna go a bit more greedy with the 4 PTopaz armour for as long as possible while praying for Oath runes/base to drop!

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Seeing as you have a Lem, “Passion” is usually used for the Berserk and Zeal, but it actually has decent ED (160-210), some IAS, and bonus to AR. If an elite 4os sword drops, it could be worth considering if nothing better comes along?

 

[LouB]

Of the four CTC spells the only one that I find useful is confuse for its crowd control. It has a huge area affect (15 yards) and lasts a long time so basically the whole screen is filled with monsters fighting each other instead of attacking you. It will over write Decrepify, but when Decrepify procs again it is in a much smaller area and those outside that area are still confused. Very helpful with ranged attackers. I usually put it on my merc which can be a problem because of a bug (maybe fixed in D2R) with the Act 2 mercs. The bug is that when the 1% ctc Delirium is cast while the merc is in the process of jabbing the game quits, which can be very frustrating.

 

[duck]

Just slain Duriel! What a grind A2 was. There were just way too many Mummies and Skellies that get non stop revived by Unravellers. Thankfully I had Lawbringer with me. Can't imagine clearing this Act on P8 with my lack of damage and lifesteal against most enemies.

Sadly despite the long time spent in A2, I did not receive game changing drops. There were 2 noticeable ones though that perked me up a bit. My first ever self found Gheed's and Headstriker.



Headstriker's base damage is certainly an upgrade over my Vile Husk. I am more concerned over the range though. Also, my CTH and sometimes kill speed seem to be better with Vile Husk. Does the + ED/AR against Undead apply to both my weapons? What are your thoughts? Given that I am in A3 now with way lesser Undead, I might just put Headstriker on main and Vile Husk off hand, with Lawbringer in stash against PIs.

I think I will still hold off making VoR/Duress until I feel a desperate need for upgrade.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Very nice drops! I wonder if you have any Lums and Puls to upgrade? Headstriker can be an insanely damaging sword if upgraded. At level 86, it would do something like 92 to 218 damage, but with 100%+ DS, it's actually double, of course: 184 to 436. But the CTC amp on Vile Husk is still very nice, making it an option to upgrade as well if you get a Pul. You're definitely getting some nice options. I haven't used Vile Husk on a character, but I'm guessing Amp damage makes for a more aggressive playstyle while the Decrep from Lawbringer is probably a bit slower but safer, and a bit better against Act bosses.

 

[duck]

Very nice drops! I wonder if you have any Lums and Puls to upgrade? Headstriker can be an insanely damaging sword if upgraded. At level 86, it would do something like 92 to 218 damage, but with 100%+ DS, it's actually double, of course: 184 to 436. But the CTC amp on Vile Husk is still very nice, making it an option to upgrade as well if you get a Pul. You're definitely getting some nice options. I haven't used Vile Husk on a character, but I'm guessing Amp damage makes for a more aggressive playstyle while the Decrep from Lawbringer is probably a bit slower but safer, and a bit better against Act bosses.

Unfortunately no Pul yet. If I were to upgrade, most likely it would be Headstriker because it has to be my main weap right due to the shorter range. Mainly Headstriker/Vile with possible switch to Headstriker/Law.

Any idea on my AR question?

 

[AntiRush]

Any idea on my AR question?

ED/AR (and the demon or undead specific versions) will only apply to the weapon that has the mods, not both.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

One issue with Lawbringer on a single pass untwinked char is that if it makes the kill, I'm fairly certain you can't hork the corpse because of Slain Monsters Rest In Peace mod. It's typically not an issue bc barbs are wielding something like Grief+ Lawbringer because Grief almost always makes the kill, but not sure if you'd notice it happening at all if the main hand is less damaging.

 

[LouB]

As much as I like Lawbringer, I think you would be better with Headstriker/Vile Husk combo for most of Act 3. The area where Lawbringer would shine is in the Durance to keep those Stygian dolls away from you as they are undead.

As AntiRush said the +%ED to the undead only applies to hits made by Lawbringer. For all you want to know about Dual weapons check out this Amazon Basin link AB dual weapons

 

[duck]

Thanks for the clarification! Really strange that Decrep seemed to proc more when I equipped Vile instead of Headstriker haha.

I am aware about Lawbringer's slain monster effect. It is annoying, but I tried my best to finish kills using berserk as much as possible. Lawbringer definitely felt necessary for A2, but I can see why I can drop it in stash as backup for PI for the other acts.

Time to start Act3 tonight!

 

[duck]

Hi all. Just gonna pop by here for a quick update.

I'm still not done with A3 yet. Currently I am at Kurast Bazaar. So far no great drops for my barb. Basically just a Goldstrike Arch and Aldurs.

But of course I wouldn't have posted if I didn't have a cool thing to share.

First, I noticed that my luck with helms were poor and I had nothing for my merc to use. He had no source of life steal. Then I recalled that I could actually craft helms. Armets were difficult to gamble, so I just crafted ~5. Best of the bunch was this.



Would be cool if I get better mods, but I was quite pleased with 2socs. Threw in 2 Topaz since I didn't know what else to put.

Best part of this week's gameplay though was a nice upgrade to my merc's weapon. I found an ethereal Thresher, lucked with 4 soc cube roll, and again with near perfect %ED



This is the first time I have reached so far in SP with a melee character. I don't even feel like I'm struggling that much which is surprising. Just wanna all who have helped me so far.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Awesome! Your thread actually inspired me to start my own Frenzy barb in HC, though not restricting myself to single pass. That's a really nice Insight, and cool helm as well!

 

[BullHorn]

Really cool playthrough! I've recently done an untwinked Frenzy Barb playthrough too, managed to grind to level 80+ without even completing Act 4 Hell. By far the slowest playthrough I've ever had, untwinked melee Barb really is a pain!

 

[duck]

Well time for another update, albeit nothing interesting sadly.

I am done with Act 3 and first part of Act 4. Generally, there were no struggles at P8. Bit by bit, my Frenzy Barb hacked his way through.

Unfortunately, Meph dropped absolutely nothing worthy. Rest of Act 3 as well. A Sandstorm Trek dropped. It's a nice boot to have, but I prefer my 35FR/30CR/25MF rare boots since it grants me maxed resist along with Treachery.




The biggest issue now is my lack of damage. I'm actually feeling it right now with Act 4 enemies taking a little longer to die. It's still bearable though, especially since Angelic Ring finally dropped and I can use the combo to boost my CTH (65% to 85% now!).

Unfortunately, I do not have a Pul yet, so I can't upgrade either my Headstriker or Vile Husk. I only have 1 Lem too, and no Ko. So there's no way I can cube runes too. I still have an Um though, which I'm still leaning towards Duress over Crescent Moon. VoR is also possible.

In any case, I will probably hold my decision until I see what rune I get from Hellforge. Currently at River of Flame, so I will update again in a little bit. Fingers crossed!

[Edit]



Rune god need to give me a Pul or Lo now....

[Edit 2]

Stock take on my rune situation.

1 Mal
1 Um
1 Lem
3 Lum
2 Io
5 Hel

Seems like I still have no options to upgrade my weapons. Oh well.

 

[AntiRush]

With the low damage weapons you have currently, Duress will give you an appreciable increase in killing speed. Even only 15% crushing blow will be quite noticeable. I would definitely go for it.

 

[duck]

Finally continued on this journey after a short break. Last I stop was after forge. Defeated Diablo with ease, but terrible drops from him.

Currently just saved Anya. From then to now, there has not been any noticeable drops to upgrade my gear. Best was an IK maul I think. I still don't feel a strong need to change my gear yet, so my hoarded runes can wait.

It's actually quite surreal to make it so far on /p8 single pass melee char. I never thought it was possible. A little more to go I guess! Still praying for a Lo/Pul then I can finish the run with a dream weapon!

 

[duck]

It's been an interesting progress since saving Anya. I cleared Glacial Trails/Drifter Cavern a Tal Rasha mask dropped! It's definitely an upgrade for either my barb (currently using PTopaz IK Helm) or merc (crafted Armet 3LL/6DS/39Life/2Ptopaz). But since I don't have much difficulty surviving yet, I'd just keep it in stash till maybe Ancients.

I then decided to kill Nith and stop playing D2 for a while in lieu of the upcoming festive holidays in my country. The run was very uneventful and tiring because nith's temples are so big to clear. Nith himself was fairly easy. Just needed to watch my HP with the constant CE. As I was about to end the run, I began clicking on the remaining Tombs left unopened and look who decided to pop up



This is my first ever self found high rune that's not from LK. Pretty stoked! Though a quick look at the runewords available and I'm pretty sure I sadly have no upgrades available. Only Fury looks viable but I don't recall having a Gul lying round...

Oh well. My wishlist now is either a Pul (Oath), Lo (Grief) or Gul (Fury) before I beat the game. Fingers crossed.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Wow... crazy rune luck for single pass playthrough of the game! Too bad it's not of immediate use, but looks like you're killing it anyway.

 

[duck]

I have finally beaten the game!!! This is my first ever single pass /P8 melee char that I completed. I'm pretty sure I started circa Jan 2020, took many long breaks with this char and now 3 years later it is done! Pretty decent drops by Baal too!

Several thoughts:

1. Single pass /P8 melee chars are really difficult to play because you're so dependent on item drops. I finished the game using 4 main weapons: Vile Tusk, Headstriker, Lawbringer and Strength. My damage output was slow but steady. Thankfully the merc's there to help out.​

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2. Lack of AOE attacks made this run exceptionally long. Vile Mothers, Maggots and A2 non stop skeletons were no threat, but took forever to clear. At least Frenzy hits fast. Imagined if I was a Berserker or Avenger.​

​

3. Not sure if I should be considered lucky or unlucky, but I only managed to obtained the Angelic Ring/Ammy combo only in hell A4. It improved my CTH by so much. Without it, A5 may have been much harder or impossible lol​

​

Notable items that I found are:

1. Jah
2. Mal
3. Um
4. Gheeds
5. Lightning/18Life GC
6. PnB GC
7. 14 Life/11LR SC
8. String of Ears
9. Full IK except Armour
10. Tal Helm
11. LoH
12. 4soc/45Res STarge

Thank you to everyone here who have posted your advices. Really appreciate it. Might just finish up Hell Cows and retire him. Time to make a new thread for Fury Druid advice!

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

What a fun journey! Glad to see you made it all the way through. Single-pass, p8 is crazy. I bet certain parts took quite a bit of hacking and slashing, but it's nice to see it can be done!