Hal's 1.10 Conc Build Guide (Updated Edition)

[Halciet]

Hal's 1.10 Conc Build Guide (Updated Edition)

Here is a link to the latest version of the guide, which I have uploaded onto the UNC CH servers so that I can easily access it to make alterations and updates without having to hassle the moderators and administrators when something needs to be changed. You can still find an older version of it archived in the strategy compendium of the main site.

Please post any questions, comments, corrections, or suggestions here in this thread.

Thanks!

-Hal

 

[bigballerpaul]

Yay! High five to Hal for actually getting his guide back up. Now if only he were a mod, he could sticky it himself...

But since that won't happen, we could all be cool and congradulate him immensely for being on top of things not only with a real 1.10 guide, but actually updating it, responding to its readers posts, AND getting it back up after the January Thread Massacre. Maybe that would keep this post at the top of the forum....

 

[Daedin]

Thanks for the Guide, Hal

I'm building my first conc barb... just to test IK set.

 

[Zarfol]

In the boots section under either low-level/mid level (probably more of a low level boot), you should add the Cow king's set boots.

They are really nice in normal/nightmare with the +20 dex (let's you focus on vitality/strength earlier on), the magic find, and the 25-35 fire damage.

actually, when the whole set is combined, it isn't actually that bad, because you get 30% ias and 100 more magic find. The problem is that the stupid hat is a lvl 28 req, and by level 34 or so you should get better items.

BUT you can use the cow set AND sigons gloves/belt for another 30% plus 10% life leech. If you can get these two sets together, war hammers are very good because they do very high damage.

 

[LongScar]

Hey Hal, just one thought about gear/dclone, if you carry a natures peace in stash the pmh on it can be really handy for fighting dclone. I wouldn't recommend it for consistent use, but the small size makes it very easy to carry on a continuous basis. Ok make that two thoughts, dracs makes taking dclone easier yet, the lifetap can save potions and merc, but i wouldn't recommend carrying them special for him. An item with life tap charges also works.

Also a question/thought on r/w speed and enigma. Enigma gives 45% fr/w and gores give another 30%, one point in increased speed will make approximately another 30% after +skills gear (assuming good gear). That makes 105% with no charms. 105% gives 2.44 more yards/s. Now if you put enigma in a sacred armour instead of archon the 5% penalty takes you to 100% fr/w wich is 2.40 yards/s. So you could gain 76 base defence with a perfect sacred over a perf archon (not superior, that would widen gap slightly). Of course Sacred needs 232 strength, which may be a problem on it's own. (If you had the str charms, enigma adds approx 50-70 str at good levels so you could equip charms, equip armour, then unequip charms, not sure about corpse popping then). Anyway i was just wondering if the defence would be worth sacrificing .04yards/s assuming you can make str requirments. Oh also a fr/w table might be nice in the guide. Diabloii.nets table is at http://purediablo.com/items/modifiers/fastrw.shtml

Edit:

Ok thought of another question, is confuse an area effect or does it just effect one monster? ditto for mindblast, and your stats on delerium are out of date, not that it makes much difference.

 

[Vargasanath]

If you want to kill the dclone

Throw on a reaper's toll on your merc and cast decrep on him and kick his arse

 

[DarK_EnforceR]

Can someone plz tell me that this will work for ikset as well? If it does how does the stats change, do i still need to add dex for ar or just keep it base??

 

[Halciet]

Dark:

The thing about the build is that it doesn't really matter what equipment you use, the strength is in the synergies; you can pretty much go with whatever gear you want and be fine, though it is a slight bit more difficult for two-hand fighters since they lose the shield.

If you go with the IK set, you can leave dex at base and just work on str and vit. There are plenty of AR items like charms and rings and such in the game (not to mention the bonus to AR from set itself), and then Battle Cry cuts enemy defense in half, making them a lot easier to hit.

Long:

Confuse is AoE, and I'm pretty sure Mindblast is too (just a very small area on it, however). Thanks for pointing out the stat issue, I'll change that and update the page.

As for the run/walk question: speed is a very confusing statistic. For one, the amount gained from items works in diminishing returns, while that from skills doesn't, so we can't just add the totals together. There is a rather irritating formlua for all of it around here somewhere. Likewise, I believe the speed penalty from armor is applied at a different point in the equation, so that it has a much larger effect (it was either at the very end, after item/skill r/w had been calculated, or subtracted from the skill...I can't remember off hand).

In reality though, the main reason for not using something like sacred armor for enigma you've already mentioned: that contemptable str requirement. The big reason to use Enigma in general is because it lets you skimp on str in order to pump more vit, thus something like an archon or wyrmhide or such make great pieces to go with. My current rendition of the barb has 81 base str, which goes to 101 with annihilus, and then 131 with my BotD berserker, which lets me put on the archon, and then storm, and so on and so forth. Likewise, if you equipped Enigma using str items, then removed the str items, Enigma would turn red and dissapear from your character. I tried doing it the other day, as I was thinking about similar things as you, to no avail =/.

-Hal

 

[xChieftain]

is this build good for MFing? in particular doing meph runs in hell and possibly diablo clone

or would you suggest a few changes to the conc barb guide for MF?

 

[DarK_EnforceR]

Ok thanks hal for the build and info!!

Justa nother thing, have you tried it with the ik set and if u want do u want me to try it and give you feedback of how it goes so u can tell other newbs like me of the potiential it has. Just a point!?

 

[bigballerpaul]

.... just tryin to keep this at the top.... wheres a sticky when you need one.

 

[ZappaFan]

Anybody try PM'ing the mods to ask for a sticky?

Pretty nice guide, but I don't see a recommendation for using War Cry anywhere. Personally I think it's essential for getting through Hell, especially places where you get swarmed real badly like Frozen River and Worldstone. Get it to about a 3 second stun and it's invaluable. Nice thing about it is that it doesn't cancel out Battle Cry. A very effective combo IMO.

 

[Halciet]

Dark:

I've tried the build out with the IK set, and it works very well; admittedly not as well as some of the other gear set-ups, since the Maul's damage is somewhat low and the lack of a shield hurts, but it still moves along at an excellent pace with few real problems

Zappa:

Aye, I PM'd Zoso in attempts to get it stuck again, though no response yet. He's probably busy atm, so I'm not worried.

I didn't mention Warcry as it typically goes against the theorem of the build, which is not to be hit in the first place. If stunned, your defense/blocking becomes pointless in general, so I consider it more of a frill skill for this type of build, especially since you can use Howl to effectively handle swarms, and you get that as a pre-req to start with.

It's still a really nice skill though, so I'll consider adding it into the possibilities section of the guide

-Hal

 

[ZappaFan]

Personal preference probably has a lot to do with it. I'd rather keep a pack stunned and deal with them that way rather than keep them scattered using howl. Seems like a more efficient way to deal with a pack (at least in my experience). Stunned monsters make life a lot easier for your merc, too (assuming Act II Merc here). Mercs leech a lot more effectively when they have a stunned target to deal with.

Defense and blocking are still important when using War Cry because you can't stun champions and super uniques.

Granted the down side is certainly a greater investment of skill points for War Cry, but IMO it's worth the investment.

Again, nice work on the guide.

Dark:

Zappa:

I didn't mention Warcry as it typically goes against the theorem of the build, which is not to be hit in the first place. If stunned, your defense/blocking becomes pointless in general, so I consider it more of a frill skill for this type of build, especially when you can use Howl to effectively handle swarms, and you get that as a pre-req to start with.

It's still a really nice skill though, so I'll consider adding it into the possibilities section of the guide

-Hal

 

[wind1]

Nice guide Hal, I really liked this comment you made:

"So you’re standing in the Chaos Sanctuary, hacking your way unscathed through a huge horde of undead, whistling merrily and thinking “Man, that Halciet has set me up with a tight build!†when suddenly your life bulb empties and you drop. Wtf?!"

My only gripe about the guide is your choice of font, harder to see than the one on this forum, but that too is personal preference.

 

[Halciet]

My only gripe about the guide is your choice of font, harder to see than the one on this forum, but that too is personal preference.

That can easily be taken care of

I'll change/enlarge the font soon. I'm also planning to divide up the sections onto seperate pages for easier navigation.

-Hal

 

[xChieftain]

what about MF?!@#$?@#%

 

[LongScar]

what about MF?!@#$?@#%

Grab enigma for teleporting to boss and decent mf. Wartravs, chancies etc, wear as much mf as you can while still killing at a good rate. Oh and invest in FI or carry a heart carver if killing stuff like eldritch or pindle. Carrying dual alibaba's on switch for kill can help too. A tip for killing pindle is to run into his room and start spamming howl till he comes forward to you. Makes it easy to get him out of the crowd, be warned the others will keep returning though, the room isn't big enough to keep them running away.

Oh and hal i got another question/suggestion. I notice that with howl it's tough to scare stuff that is actually close enough to melee attack, I'm not sure if thats just me or if their is a reason, if there's a reason it might be good to mention.

 

[Swevain]

Ik

I'm using the IK set and have maxed conc., bo, shout, mace mastery. So it's time to start putting points in another synergy for conc. But which is more effective, bash or berserk? I have put one ed/ias jewel in the maul so it's up to 350 max dmg atm, and I have put 2x38 ed jewels in the helm and a 27 ed / 3 max jewel in the armour.

 

[Halciet]

Well, it all really depends on what kind of player you are. Berserk is a great synergy, as it makes your back-up attack a lot stronger. On the other hand, since you're an IK barb and don't have a shield, using berserk is a bit more dangerous for you, though if you're really handy with Howl and Taunt it won't be much of an issue.

Bash will help damage, though it won't add an overly impressive amount to the maul since it has a relatively low score overall; with a full inventory of 3/xx/xx charms and a BotD berserker axe, for example, it adds somewhere around 700 damage (which is of course doubled by deadly/critical).

You might look into Ironskin. Since you don't have a shield, you need all the protection you can get, and thus the extra boost from this skill could be a great help to you. It's just a thought, of course, though something I would lean towards if I were in your position.

Also, I just wanted to point out that you might wanna clean the socket with that 27/3 ed/max jewel in it. ed/max and ed/min jewels are bugged in armor, helms, and shields, and do not provide the correct damage bonus. You are usually much better off with ed/ias for conc barbs, or even ed/str or ed/elemental damage.

-Hal