Frenzy MF Barbarian.

[BierWiser]

Frenzy MF Barbarian.

I am gonna be making an MF Barbarian after I get done with my dueler WW Barbarian.

Comment/Change ideas for stats and items.

Many item choices came from GreyGhost's ideas.

a. Helmet: Shako (Topaz'd).
b. Armor: Enigma (Dusk Shroud).
c. Weapon 1: Last Wish (Berserker Axe).
d. Weapon 2: Beast (Berserker Axe).
e. Ring 1: Ravenfrost.
f. Ring 2: BK Ring (5%).
g. Amulet: Eagle Torc Amulet (+2 Barbarian Skills/48% MF).
h. Boots: War Travelers.
i. Belt: String of Ears (8% Life Leech/15% Reduced Damage).
j. Gloves: Chance Guards/Laying of Hands (MF/Ubers).

c./d. Would Phase Blade be better? Though I haven't seen any Beast Phase Blades. I will have crushing blow, and mainly, I was just wondering if Phase Blades would really effect my damage or not.
g. If anyone has this amulet, I will give 3 SOJs for it. I traded off my other one. =)

Any other changes/ideas?

As for skills, those are a bit obvious, except one thing. My barbarian is pure Pvm. Should I go for max defense, 20 shout and other things, or max damage, 20 Taunt and other things. Remember I will have crushing blow.

 

[GreyGhost]

Would Phase Blade be better? Though I haven't seen any Beast Phase Blades. I will have crushing blow, and mainly, I was just wondering if Phase Blades would really effect my damage or not.

Beast is axe/hammer only; there are no beast phase blades. As far as damage, with crushing blow phase blades are a great choice and will give you many options for physical immunes, such as azurewrath and lawbringer. With Last Wish as your main weapon you will do great damage. I would use a fun second weapon (death, destruction, azurewrath) for different mods, but even 2x LW with extra Might and MF is great. The only thing missing is IAS, so your first swing might be a bit slow. Boost your attack rating (different weapon, blessed aim merc) to increase the chance that your first attack hits.

Since you can't use beast, I think LW and 40/15 Azurewrath would be a great choice. Just remember Az doesn't do great damage to anything other than undead. The advantage is that if you keep a weapon for physical immunes on the front, you dont have to carry a berzerk weapon on switch, so you can switch to dual-ist babas for mf, or warcry sticks for BO or anything else you think is useful.

Eagle Torc Amulet (+2 Barbarian Skills/48% MF)If anyone has this amulet, I will give 3 SOJs for it. I traded off my other one. =)

I have one. Its a viper torc. Incredibly rare and definitely not for sale. I wont say how I got it.:lipsrsealed:

Any other changes/ideas? Sould I go for max defense, 20 shout and other things, or max damage, 20 Taunt and other things.

Defense is not that big of an issue. Shout is useful, but you can make just as much of an argument for maxing berzerk. You can even max WW. Personally I chose shout, my def is about 9000. Its really up to you.

For synergies, you can split 10 pts in each in taunt and double swing since you will rarely use them. Remember to put 1 point in leap. Even with Enigma, there will be times when leap is useful, especially if your merc shatters corpses (less to hork), you can leave him somewhere and leap somewhere else.

Dungos is a better choice than string if you can afford it. With LW, dr and leech don't matter because of fade and life tap. I would opt for Vitality from Dungos, or even Nos Coil for nice attack mods or Goldwrap for MF. This is just from personal experience that once you fade/life tap, that stuff doesn't factor in.

The only thing I dread is the amplify damage curse. Since I can't block, it really hurts if I get hit. Luckily if you are faded it wont last too long. Otherwise, its very easy to clear different pits, cows, chaos and kill bosses. Lately I have been doing key runs to get to ubers again. Its great having the flexibility to go anywhere in the game and kill any monster, all with the same character.

One last thing: if you go with axes, remember to collect gold/gems/skulls/items along the way to pay for repairs. Make it a habit. They are expensive and when you are doing uber runs repairs get astronomical and I cannot understate the importance of having ort runes or some pskulls or something in your stash to sell when you need to make to repairs. If you use phase blades, this wont be an issue.

I love this build and I don't think I'll get tired of him anytime soon. Good luck!

See you on the realms.

GreyGhost

 

[BierWiser]

Yeah yeah I know how you got that Viper Torc Amulet. I will be working on getting one myself. I payed cheap the first time, I will try to pay cheap again. I am definitly gonna use Last Wish Phase Blade. What do you think would be best for a second weapon though, another Last Wish, Azurewrath, or Silence?

Two Questions.
1. Crushing blow will be the main damage source? No matter what the weapon damage is?
2. Crushing blow won't work against physical immunes will it. So then, I won't be doing much damage against physical immunes even if I use berserk.

I am gonna get taunt before double swing, taunt lowers their defense and damage.

 

[BierWiser]

One other thing I forgot. If I used Last Wish and Beast Berserker Axes, would they break more than once during an uber run or cow run?

Once again, what weapon choice, if I were to use indestructable swords, would be best? *With more information.

Azurewrath. Magic/Cold Damage, High Damage to Undead.
IAS = 30%, 45% with 40%/15%.

Silence. 75 All Resists (Fade would cover that problem though), 20% FHR, +2 All Skills, Mana Steal, and MF. Downside is, hits can cause a monster to flee.
IAS = 20%

There's always Last Wish, though.

Silence seems like a good choice with 2 to all skills and MF, the monsters running from you would get owned because when frenzied, you run faster than anything, so to be serious, I don't think there'd be much of a run.

 

[GreyGhost]

Crushing blow will be the main damage source? No matter what the weapon damage is?

I'm not sure what you mean. Crushing blow will be effective to lower enemy life and works against everything that can get physically hit, but plays the greatest factor against bosses and monsters that have a lot of life. Some monsters, like frenzytaurs, are neither undead nor demon (they're animals), so cb is great to chop them down quickly.

To be clear, you shouldn't rely completely on cb. Look for ways to increase your overall damage and you will kill everything faster.

Crushing blow won't work against physical immunes will it. So then, I won't be doing much damage against physical immunes even if I use berserk.

I'm not sure how cb figures into berzerk. I know that if your attack doesn't hit, then cb is moot. However, berzerk will still to hefty damage to PI based on magic damage bonus, and crushing blow may figure into that hit.

Regardless, a single PI boss council member will go down in 6-8 hits with 1-pt in berzerk and generally is not a problem (even with phase blades). Entire packs of frenzied wailing beasts or ghosts might be harder though.

One other thing I forgot. If I used Last Wish and Beast Berserker Axes, would they break more than once during an uber run or cow run?

It happens occasionally depending on the length of the battle. If its an 8-player game and you kill each monster individually, your weapons really take a beating.

Once again, what weapon choice, if I were to use indestructable swords, would be best? *With more information.

Personally I think the damage on Silence is low (200%). It was great in .08, and is still a solid weapon, but not as fancy or as much fun as some newer options. Last Wish really solves a lot of problems so you can look for creative weapon combos.

Another important thing is corpse shattering: It important to note that champions and superunique monsters generally don't shatter, unless they roll special mods for it, so you can still hork them. Regular uniques, like council members (not boss council members) can shatter. Just wanted to get it out of the way.

If you're not using axes, you cant get fanat from beast, so try to make up the difference. Phases are much faster than axes, so IAS is not such a big issue. I would look for some extra cb/ds/ow or a big attack rating boost. Here's some sword analysis:

Azurewrath: This is a fast and fun weapon to use. Undead have high physical resistance and can be a pain to deal with in large numbers, but Az makes them shrivel up quick. Drawbacks: It just doesn't do enough damage to other monsters to make it GG.

BoTD: If you can't see why this is good then I can't help you. Drawback: No ethereal phase blades. Low resale value.

Eternity: Fantastic 270-310% damage range. Even a low roll is okay. Crushing blow, slow target, replenish life/mana, cannot be frozen, magic find, and 8 revives to tank for you. Drawbacks: Also indestructible, so it really deserves an ethereal weapon for more damage. Plus a friend of mine one of these in an eth Col. Blade and said it sucked for some reason. But on paper it looks great.

Hand of Justice: I used a HoJ phase blade and it was great in pvm. Deadly strike, holy fire, etc. Drawbacks: freeze target, which will shatter corpses. :sad2:

Kingslayer: Great mods to supplement your damage, with nothing too fancy. 20% AR bonus, ds, cb, pvm, ow, -25% target def. A fantastic choice for pure physical frenzy damage.

Death: Really amazing mods and a nice AR boost. Made for frenzy. Drawbacks: Indestructible and needs ethereal weapon. Also glacial spike will shatter corpses.

Destruction: Casts great elemental damage to supplement your physical damage. Animations make the gameplay more fun. Ignore target defense, crushing blow, deadly strike, prevent monster heal and that little bit of mana leech that you need to keep swinging. No drawbacks or weaknesses here.

Fortitude: An unorthodox choice that will do great in PvM. 300% ed guaranteed, deadly strike, life, resistances, and cast rate to help you tele faster. You will get a hefty defense bonus too (200% plus chilling armor). Drawbacks: This is more a defensive melee weapon, frenzy should focus on offense.

Grief: You will do huge damage and poison really helps against PI's. No drawbacks here either.

Oath: Another fun weapon, level 16 HoW is appealing. Drawbacks: Really lacks power unless the weapon is ethereal. Damage range (210-340) is huge and rolling a low one would be a waste.

Phoenix: Will solve all of your mana problems. Drawbacks: Redemption aura dissolves corpses, so you have to hork as soon as you kill something. Quick! Hork it! Oops, too late. :sad2:

In my opinion the best choices from this list are Azurewrath, Kingslayer, Destruction, Fortitude and Grief. Mix and match any of those with LW to see which you think will be the best for your build.

Hopefully this will give a clearer picture of your choices and help you make a good decision. Make sure you have a clear plan for your build: What skills you will choose, what items you will use, and what your weaknesses will be. Then choose the weapons that will help you kill most efficiently.

Good luck!

 

[BierWiser]

Wow, that's a lot of choices, and I can see why. Thanks for taking the time to list all of them, and tell good information.

One last question, what do you use? Also, I might use ethereal BOTD Colossus Blade, doesn't have to be Phase Blade, even though that'd look cooler. If I use the BOTD as my main weapon, it can be the weapon for berserk.

Also, you say that amulet is incredibly rare? I got another one, second game trying to get it. =)

I paid 3 SOJs.

 

[GreyGhost]

Ebotd CB and LW CB would be great frenzy weapons. Be careful because I'm not sure if the CB from LW is calculated with frenzy if LW is on the second hand (right side; left hand). Regardless, CB's are great for damage and range and now you might want to consider Eternity as a weapon too.

I would like to make 1 of each of Fortitude, Eternity, and Destruction just to play around with and see which I like best. Fortitude is starting to look better and better to me. Expensive to repair, but if you decide not to max shout, having a Fort weapon will easily make up for the defense by giving 200% enhanced defense AND chilling armor. Then you can max berzerk and get the magic bonus, or max an extra synergy for more physical damage. Interesting twist.

For myself personally, I was using LW and Azurewrath phase blades at one point before I switched to axes. I wanted to use beast axe and get the little bit of extra damage/attack/speed. However with LW and Azurewrath I was ripping through undead which helped immensely in some areas.

As far as the Viper Torc, you got the exact same one? I know they're duped but I've seen a few variations with different names. I actually thought they were pretty rare. I'm happy to have one. Sorry that you paid so much when I paid so little -- I realize that I got a really great deal.

See you on the realms.

 

[BierWiser]

I think, finally, I am going with Last Wish and Azurewrath. Last Wish will do great damage to demons and other, while Azurewrath will take care of undead. As for physical immunes, berserk and the % of damage berserk gives to frenzy will cover that.

Are you sure Eternity is not a ladder runeword? I have never heard of one.

As for you using Last Wish and Azurewrath, did you do pretty good against other monsters? What were some problems you faced? I see you switched to axes, I will probably like the never breaking weapons, though.

Damn, as I read about item choices, they seem to get better. I'd have to say Destruction is probably better than Azurewrath. Along with doing magic damage, Destruction is a light show. Volcano, Molten Boulder, and Nova. Destruction seems like an obvious better choice than Eternity.

The Viper Torc, yes, it's the same one as the picture you showed. I hardly paid anything for it. As for when you traded it from me, I just asked for 2 SOJs. Me paying 3 is hardly any more. I just paid 3 in the first place, too, I didn't offer less.

 

[GreyGhost]

Eternity can be made on non-ladder, Destruction is ladder-only. Eternity and Destruction can both be fun. Cannot be frozen on Eternity opens up your ring slot for a BK or SOJ, basically letting you get +1 skill. Eternity might do more physical damage because of the ethereal factor, but Destruction gets a base 350% ed and all that elemental damage. The ONLY possible thing that might discourage someone from making Destruction is that its ladder-only and it needs one of the most expensive rune combinations possible (Vex + Lo + Ber + Jah).

With LW and Az, the main problem I ran up against was the low pure physical damage, which is what frenzy relies on. This is why people (*ahem* Spankeh) say eth BOTD and Death CB's are the best for frenzy, because they have the highest physical damage. They are not good for mf however.

Basically LW and Az combo has mediocre damage and kill speed. You will really suffer against cows or frenzytaurs, which are neither undead or demons and have lots of life. The plus is that with life tap and phase blades, you will never die or need repairs. Also I can see Azurewrath being very useful against Ubers to knock back all those minions and fight Baal's PI summons. Also in key runs there are tons of undead. Putting one point in berzerk will help against undead but having a weapon like azurewrath lets you kill the PI ghosts even when they swarm and mana burn you.

My experience was that I made a hybrid frenzy barb that could use both axes and swords. I used an ebotdz, LWz and Az. Out of these three, I would usually wield ebotdz and LWz, and only pulled out Az against undead. Ebotdz's damage was so much greater that there was no comparison really. Eventually I ditched the hybrid because I thought the extra pure physical damage from axes was just better for frenzy than anything else. Still, Az was handy to have around if I needed it, because now with my axe setup I have to avoid those PI ghost packs because they just take too long to kill.

As you can see, its a complicated choice and it has its advantages and drawbacks. If you decide against phase blades, just go with Ebotd and LW CB's. Then use berzerk with your ebotd like you said. This is a good setup, it just wont kill large PI packs very quickly. But cows and pit runs and everything else will be easy with a Ebotd CB.

 

[BierWiser]

Yeah as I read your last post, I decided on using Last Wish Phase Blade and EBOTD Colossus Blade. Hopefully I will still get crushing blow from the Last Wish with it on secondary. Thanks for this long conversation, that nobody else has seemed to "jump" into.

 

[Spankeh]

yeah, straight up ebotdz and edeathz or ebotdcb and edeathcb give max damage, but since your mf'ing ill forgive you.

LWpb just does bugger all damage, but:
1) the might aura helps botd pretty well
2) crushing blow is good at 70%
3) pb are super fast, so youl hit final bp

So your using LWpb just for the %mf?

I've noticed when using dual colossal blades (one being ebotd) you need so much ias to hit last bp, and its giving me the sh!ts
I need to add 20% ias from LoH, then a 39|15ias jwl in my arreats, and then 10%ias for nosfarus coil belt.
So going pb will help u avoid it

Anyway, Greyghost has u covered, was why i didnt reply earlier

 

[levitikus]

just wondering what was more important.. surviving deep into the late acts or pure magic finding.. With a change in a few items you can have a wicked Mf % .. The dual isted (upped) babas could be decent killers and give you a total 300 mf at lvl 90 in weapons alone... use dual 30% nagels chancies, goldwrap, 40% gheeds, your nigma/ shako and the torc ammy. a few 7% sc's you will have 700+ mf. Barbs are pretty good survivors on their own especially nigma barbs with a decent BO, so getting some more MF wouldnt hurt much then again not too much is needed in terms on unique find %. But have on switch maybe some more effective killing weapons/ LW ebotdcb or Just switch back to all the gear you mentioned above when you feel you dont need all this mf. I had a weak barb with all found items such as viper magi and IK helm and some half strong uniques last all throughout hell difficult with no prob.. Not sure if you were going pure mf or Smooth killing machine with some MF capabilities. Because you can have an insane MF tele/runner.

 

[wildbillboy]

The duel Ali Babas are great for the switch to when the boss gets low on life but it can be hard to hit with them and slow to kill, I have found that for a poor person like myself that rather than ISTing them, a ETH/PUL adds the -25% Def/Demon kill factor and speeds this right up. At high levels the AB's adds enough MF on its own.

 

[GreyGhost]

Okay one at a time ...

Last Wish (whether a zerker, phase or colossus blade) is the key weapon in this build because of fade and life tap. Not having to worry about leech, damage reduction or resistances (3 important melee mods) lets you stack a lot more MF on a barb. The extra MF and might aura are added bonuses. With the fade/life tap/crushing blow mods, its clear that LW is made to kill ubers, and will let you go anywhere in the game relatively safely.

I agree that CBs are slow. If you're accustomed to phase blades then CBs will take some getting used to. Especially with Ebotd CB on the main hand, your first swing will be slow and it can get annoying. I have never like wielding two different swords. It just looks wierd (I'm big on style points). You might want to consider a LW CB. The repairs are not THAT expensive, and the extra damage might make up for it. This was another reason I chose axes: good average damage, decent speed, and the beast runeword to make attacks swings faster. I like to do the extra damage because I MF in full games a lot of the time. If you kill stuff in single player or in empty games, you can use low damage and still get by okay.

As far as MF builds go, quick kills are nice, but you should stack at least 300% MF, if not more. I like Barbs over Necros or Sorcs because they are more durable and can survive in the later stages of hell. I know a bunch of people are thinking, "my level 89 Hammerdin/BlizzBaller/Fishymancer can clear all of hell in .035 seconds!," but thats not the point. A lot of common problems, like life/mana, resistances, defense, are solved by using a Barb. This lets you open up more item slots for MF or stronger gear, depending on what you need. Plus with physical damage and 1-point in berzerk, you can kill everything, so no more worrying about "immunes." If you see a shiny monster, go kill it.

A lot of people ask if its better to concentrate on clearing one area or roaming around the game. In my opinion, if you only run one area, you limit yourself as to what you can find. Certain monsters only drop from set TC's so if you're looking for a BK armor, meph will never drop it, no matter how many times you kill him.

I like to mix things up, clearing The Pit, Masoleum/Crypt, Andy, Maggot Lair 3, Ancient Tunnels, Lower Kurast, Travincal, Meph, Hephastos, River, Chaos, Shenk, Eldritch, Nihlathak, Pindle, Glacial Trail, Drifter Cavern, WSK and Baal. It sounds like a lot, but a good MF Barb can clear it all, and even hork the champions and uniques for more drops. Glacial Trail has a super-unique (bonesaw breaker) and a sparkly chest. Inside Glacial trail is the Drifter Cavern pit, which is not only level 87, but has a few boss/champion packs and another sparkly chest that is rigged to drop anything. Try clearing these areas with a Blizz Sorc -- It takes forever. But a MF Frenzyier can do pretty fast, clean and easy.

I want to be clear, even with my "perfect" setup, I don't always find crazy loot. It takes time. The game is based on probabilities, so you just have to keep playing. I usually join games with a few people already in there, to increase the overall number of drops. If they're dueling, I can take my time and clear everything. If they're Baaling or Chaosing, I usually clear a couple of the smaller areas and move to the next game.

As far as MF, weapons, and killing, I think a good balance is the most important factor. You don't want to be killing storm with 4% MF, its pointless. But you don't want to stack 700% MF and kill 1 fallen every 12 minutes either. Remember that after 300% MF there are diminishing returns, so 300-400% is the number to aim for. After that, you can focus on attack rating and IAS, which are important for frenzy. Then look for increased defense to help keep you alive.

As for item switching with Dual Ali-Babas and all that, I abandoned that stuff long ago. Trying to take the last sliver of life from a boss by using Babas can be extremely time-consuming. I'm not sure its really worth it either, since the diminishing returns cause a major drop-off. Better to just kill the monster, hork it if u can, and move on. Using Ali-Baba on switch to hork corpses is a different matter, and might actually be useful. If you can afford it and don't need a PI killer on switch, go for it.

The items I am focused on finding are not really ViperMagi and BK Helm. That stuff if good if you're starting out, but this build is really about killing the major bosses and finding those super-rare items that only drop in level 87 areas. If you want to clear the later parts of Act 5 hell, you need to throw away those Nagelrings and Goldwraps. You should stack MF where you can, but keep important battle mods also. Vitality from Dungos is much better than Goldwrap's 30% MF, and CBF from Raven is more important than 30% MF from Nagel. If you're already at 300-350%, that extra 60% from Goldwrap/Nagel won't help you as much as CBF and Vitality.

Remember that the point of this build is to be able to go anywhere, including pits, cows, bosses, key runs, and ubers. The MF is just to keep things interesting along the way. By switching a few items around, (Shako for Arreats, Enigma for CoH), Ubers are a pushover.

I hope this is helpful info. Keep the questions coming if you got 'em.

Good luck!

 

[Failkan]

I'm working on an MF frenzybarb, too, and I'm noticing that the damage on maces, at least in nightmare, is much better than the 1haxes or swords I've found. it's been a while since I played, though, and I'm not even back into hell. how does mace/axe/sword damage stack up with elite weapons? is it worth putting LW into a mace instead?

edit: I see from looking at purediablo.com that 1h elite maces can't have 6 sockets anyway, so pointless question!

 

[GreyGhost]

Maces are a good choice depending on what you want to do. The best maces available IMO are Schaeffers hammer and Stormlash. Dual eth stormlashes are a fast GG frenzy combo. Not great for MF though.

Axes and swords tend to have greater range, although scourges also have a range of 3. Overall, berzerker axes have better range, higher sockets (6), and better average damage. Scourges have higher weapon speed and get the 50% undead damage bonus, but can only roll 5 sockets.

I have found axes to be the best overall weapon for frenzy, at least for this build.

You can find comprehensive weapon comparisons here.

 

[Croup]

Here's more of a theory question as I'm already locked into my current Frenzy build:

Would a build using dual up'd Ribcrackers work? You can't use a mastery so your AR/damage/CS would suffer some, but the damage and speed is just insane.

 

[BierWiser]

Damn, many different choices, well, sorta. But a lot of changing my mind and contradicting.

Last Wish Berserker Axe + Beast Berserker Axe if I don't have to repair too much. I know costs are low, but I will be helping with Ubers sometimes and doing cow runs. I might just use this combination anyways. MF'ers are rich, moneywise.

Do your's break often? If it's not enough to be annoying, this is my choice. I like Beast, and in the first place, it seemed like the obvious choice.

Last Wish Phase Blade + Breath of the Dying Phase Blade if I will still do good damage against all monsters. This is for looks, btw.

Last Wish Phase Blade + Breath of the Dying Ethereal Colossus Blade if I will still hit fast enough to do good all-around.

Does the skill Increased Speed help with Frenzy like it does with Whirlwind?

How many SOJs is a Last Wish Berserker Axe with 68% Crushing blow or higher on NL?

 

[GreyGhost]

Croup, Ribcrackers are 2-handed staves; you can't Frenzy with them. They're great for Fury druids though.

Also, Mace Mastery will work with all staffs, including ribcracker. Try making an ethereal BoTD Archon Staff. Amazing damage range. Still can't frenzy with it, though. :sad2:

 

[GreyGhost]

Do your's break often?

I'm not going to lie to you and say my axes don't lose durability. But I usually repair whenever I visit town, so it doesn't get too expensive. I never wait until my durability gets to zero because what if I don't have the gold to fix it? Fully repairing both weapons can cost around 600-700k. If you make a habit of picking up gold or selling wands, orbs, (high value items), etc, you'll be fine. I always keep at least 1 million gold, a few pskulls or 2 orts on me.

If you are strapped for cash, make some baal runs or chaos runs. You will XP, you might find good stuff, and you can sell all the crap you find until you're back above 1 mil.

As I said before, if its an 8-player game the monsters will have a lot more life. You kill everything one-by-one usually, so if you kill everything by yourself (instead of with a party) then your weapons will lose durability quickly. Its just the price you pay to be GG, but you get used to dealing with it. What the hell else are you gonna use gold for anyway?

Last Wish Phase Blade + Breath of the Dying Phase Blade if I will still do good damage against all monsters. This is for looks, btw.

Yes it is very damaging combo and you will not have any problems. You will own most monsters and look stylish doing it. Physical immunes will take a few seconds longer.

Last Wish Phase Blade + Breath of the Dying Ethereal Colossus Blade if I will still hit fast enough to do good all-around.

The damage will be nice but it will be slower on the first swing or two. It will take some getting used to after using phase blades. Personally I would commit to 1 type of weapon (phase, cb, or zerker axe)

Does the skill Increased Speed help with Frenzy like it does with Whirlwind?

AFAIK, the Increased Speed skill (i think that's what you're talking about) does not factor into frenzy.

For frenzy, IAS on the main hand is measured first, then base weapon speeds for both weapons, then off-weapon IAS. IAS on the second weapon is not factored in. Remember to put in your faster weapon first as your main weapon (right hand / left side), then put in your slower weapon on the off-hand. Off-weapon IAS from LoH or Highlords will help you and they will get you to the last bp with phase blades or if you're using beast.

How many SOJs is a Last Wish Berserker Axe with 68% Crushing blow or higher on NL?

I have no idea, as you know I tend to just point and shoot when it comes to trading. Trade values forum.

I don't want to encourage anyone to copy my build exactly (who needs an evil twin?), but again I want to say that I experimented with a lot of weapons before I chose Beast and LW zerkers. Ebotd has many advantages and does more damage, but Beast and LW compliment eachother so well that I strongly believe its the best combo for this build.

But its okay if you don't take my advice. Everyone needs to do what they think is best and most fun.

Good Luck!

~Grey_Ghost