Hal's 1.10 Conc Build Guide (Updated Edition)

[dobber]

I have conc barb.
lvl 78
str ~210
dex ~180
vit ~210
resists maxed in hell (poison = 54)
damage ~1000-2300
AR ~6700
defence ~13-22000
all primary skills are maxed as the guide says. sword mastery is 18
I use doombringer as a first and final weapon for this character.
now in hell, I'm a rock. i'm going almost without potions, but I do sooo little damage. What should I do? maybe socket the doombringer? with what?

 

[johny]

Thank you, LongScar and Hal. You two are so helpful.

 

[dobber]

sad

maybe ias is my problem?
doombringer - fast attack speed
lightsabre - very fast attack speed + 20% ias (my second weapon)

the lightsabre does less damage, but is so fast, that i'm killing monsters 10 times faster than doombringer, and i think it has more chance to hit than the doombringer.

how can I increase ias without swaping equipments? charms? socketing?

 

[LongScar]

maybe ias is my problem?
doombringer - fast attack speed
lightsabre - very fast attack speed + 20% ias (my second weapon)

the lightsabre does less damage, but is so fast, that i'm killing monsters 10 times faster than doombringer, and i think it has more chance to hit than the doombringer.

how can I increase ias without swaping equipments? charms? socketing?

There is no charms that up IAS but you can socket shaels in a weapon or socket ias jewels in any equipment. a 15ias/damage is the best jewel for a conc barb IMHO

 

[johny]

Some other questions:

1. Where can I find echoing war sword, which can +3 to War Cry skills. I tried to buy it from Act5 Malah and Lazuk, but neither has the stock for it.

2. Can I set up a hotkey for weapon switch? It is necessary to change into echoing war swords when I want to BC, BO, etc.

 

[summerkc]

This may be a stupid question but I guess I'll ask it anyway since I cant find the answer anywhere else: What do you mean by the "echoing weapons" you talk about in the guide and how do you use them and what do they do for you?

Yeah, Im a noob, so flame me!

 

[Halciet]

johny:

1. Act 5 hell malah, larzuk, halbu, and anya will definately sell them to you, though sometimes it takes a good long while of shopping to get them to spawn (sometimes 30 minutes to an hour or more). I suppose since it's act 5 hell, your level is sufficiently high, though if you're not over 67 or more, that might be the problem (I'm not sure on the base requirements, but I think that's a decent number).

2. The default hotkey for weapon switch is W.

Summerkc:

Echoing weapons are weapons with the "Echoing" prefix. They give +3 to warcries, so most barbs equip two of them on their switch and use them for casting BO, BComm, and Shout, for the +6 they give, and then switch back to their normal weapons.

-Hal

 

[johny]

Thanks, Hal.

Then I need more patience to wait for its spawn. I am lvl 80 now (although good for nothing), so should be able to buy it.

 

[LongScar]

A little extra info on echoing sword shopping, I managed to buy one in act 3 of hell at around lvl 80. I got really lucky, I'd been given one, and when i hit act 3 I shopped the person sitting at the docks when you first enter and they had one for sale, no effort at all. Anyway point was you can buy them in act 3 too.

 

[johny]

The original iterations of the build went with safer str/dex totals, since I wasn't sure what kinda of items I'd find/trade for. Now that I've built the character and played through with him many, many times, I have all of my gear together, and thus I've rebuilt him using the minimum stats he would need in order to wear everything/get max block with the boosts from his items.

81 str; annihilus adds 20, making it 101, which lets me equip BotD, which lets me equip Enigma, which lets me equip Stormshield and upgraded Arreat's, ending with 255 str.

132 dex, as annihilus adds 20, botd 30, raven 20, and arreat's 20, giving me 90, taking me to 222.

For your first run through, if you don't really know what kind of gear you'll be sporting, don't be afraid to put a bit extra in. There are no circumstances where you will need more than 156 str though, and likewise no legitimate reason to have more than 222 dex (unless trying for max block with a shield with a lower block rate).

-Hal

Hi, Hal:

I am reading an old post of yours, coz I am planning a new build for my another new barb character, since the current one is spoiled totally on skill points distribution.

Your guide provided me a sketch about how to pour skill points. And I am wondering how to distribute stat points until the above post are found.

But I have still a question: You keep your base str at 81, base dex at 132, others all go in vit. That sounds good, coz that ensures a great life bulb. But you still need +str, +dex item to boost these two attributes, such as annihilus, Enigma, BotD berserk axe, etc.

As I will play "untwinkled" - I haven't many friends online to help me with equipments, they are mostly in hardcore mode. How can I get such godly items with weapons that can be used only with base str (81) and base dex (132) ?

Or should I train another mf char (like a sorc) first to help equip this barb?

I wonder whether I can use only this barb in the training process to get all these stuff.

looking forward to your suggestions,

 

[johny]

A little extra info on echoing sword shopping, I managed to buy one in act 3 of hell at around lvl 80. I got really lucky, I'd been given one, and when i hit act 3 I shopped the person sitting at the docks when you first enter and they had one for sale, no effort at all. Anyway point was you can buy them in act 3 too.

Thanks, LongScar, I will try it in later games.

 

[mstrnicegui]

Hal:

I've managed to find Reaper's Toll which has become completely invaluable against PIs. I can now (relatively) quickly tear through PIs, including some bosses. Now my merc does about the same max dmg as me(~400-2300 vs my ~800-2300). I didn't see a mention of Reaper's Toll in your guide, but I think it's definitely worth one.

So now my merc is wearing a high def Duriel's shell, Reaper's Toll and Tal Rasha's helm. He's almost as much of a tank as I am. I'd like to get doom for when I am not generally fighting against PIs, because his decrepify overrides my lifetap (which kept him alive when lvling). For example, against dclone, my merc and I tanked him with no problems. I had to use only 3 full rejuves all for merc. When dclone was cursed with my lifetap, my merc's life never budged from max but with decrep, his life dropped as far as halfway and when niether were on, that's when I used 2 of the 3 pots.

I have another question. I am currently using a 188% ed Crescent Moon and it works great until I get in a 4+ player multiplayer game where my dmg becomes just slivers. Somehow my axe manages to get 80-200 dmg (seems to be more than 188%), but that's a different story... Will a higher %ed Crescent Moon make a noticeable difference or will I have to get a botd, doom, or famine weapon to have a noticeable difference?

johny:

in order to find equipment for your barb to use, you have listed both possible ways. First, the quicker method is raising an mf character, typically a sorc because she has teleport as a skill. Second, the more fun route is to just raise your barb and use him to mf. In my many times starting from scratch, I have done both. Using an mf char, you can get godly equipment much more quickly than with your barb. But using your barb to mf, I normally do nm and hell trav runs, can prove to be epic battles without godly gear, especially if you're trying to keep your merc alive.

As I stated, it is possible to get godly equipment with your barb but almost vital to the process, something that can greatly speed it up, is trading. If you can figure out trade values, you can make some good deals to more quickly get your gear. Gems make a great starter to trading.

Hope that helps you out.

...As I will play "untwinkled" - I haven't many friends online to help me with equipments, they are mostly in hardcore mode. How can I get such godly items with weapons that can be used only with base str (81) and base dex (132) ?

Or should I train another mf char (like a sorc) first to help equip this barb?

I wonder whether I can use only this barb in the training process to get all these stuff...

 

[rruhland]

I have a level 26 barb that I'm pretty sure is going to be a conc barb.

He's definitly going to use IK set, that I know.

I found this guide after starting him, and I've already put some point into dex. Quite a few actually. I've got 75 dex, 90 str after items (base 75), and 55 vit.

Am I going to find myself at a loss for life later in the game? Strength doesn't bother me much, I can pump myself with charms and other equipment enough so that I don't have to invest TOO many points, but I don't want my vit to be horribly lacking.

Also, I've nearly maxed Mace Mastery already. Am I going to have trouble when I start to get higher up? I'm so close (18) that I should just max it now and worry about the others later, but what should I move onto next? If I put the next two points into Mace Mastery, then I can save up the next three levels and then get BC/Nat Res/Berserk all in one go.

After that, what would be the best synergy to go with? I suppose BO would be best since it has the dual purpose of adding more life/mana, and adding more damage.

The main concern is the dex thing. I don't think it'll be too much of a problem, but I never know.

(Note: This barb will be questing the whole game, no rush. Twinked slightly, has been using Sigon's set for as long as he could. )

 

[Halciet]

Sorry for the delay in responses the last few days crew; my new comp came in, so I've been working on partitioning it to triple boot in XP, Linux, and Mac OSX.

rruhland:

The dex isn't such a big deal, though late in your career you'll probably regret it. It just depends on if you're the type of person who will get really irritated thinking that you could've invest the points elsewhere to better effect. Now is a great time to decide though, since you're only 26, and thus it won't take too long to rebuild yourself if you scrap and start over now.

If you do continue though, go ahead and max your mastery, and then move straight into pumping BO for sure. After that you can do Shout/Conc as you like, it won't matter too much. I'd probably go with the ironskin path for your final points as a ik barb, or maybe look at a point of warcry.

gui:

A higher % cresent moon won't really make that big of a difference in damage. To get a really huge boost, you'll need an ethereal, high end runeword like BotD. I'd just start saving up, if I were you

-Hal

 

[red.13]

[I have no idea]

Thanks for great guide! My barb is 37lvl at the moment and he splashed Andy, Duriel, Mef and Diablo, and now i'm playing ActV, and of course i can literally hack every monster to death. But that's not my main question. Actually i have few questions: What weapon (axe of course) search on the beginning (>30lvl)? When it's good time to start thinking about Rune Words? Pros and Cons for playing players 8 (I'm playing now); Good places to mf.

Regards,
red.13

 

[rruhland]

I suppose I'll just stick with it as I am, and then later on, if I decide I don't like IK set, I can switch to 1 hand mace and a shield.

The only thing would be what mace to use.

None of the 1h Maces get 6 sockets, so BotD is out.
Doom looks like my best bet right now. The holy freeze will help with swarming, and it's got all sorts of other goodies, especially the guaranteed 330% ED and PMH.

The only choice for that though is a Scourge, and the low min damage has always turned me off to flails.

It makes me wonder why 1h maces are such a... neglected weapon class in D2. If Legendary Mallet was a hair faster, and could get 6 sockets...

Ah well.

 

[[wnl]CoffinDodger]

I've lvld up my conc barb to the point where he can wear all his gear so far, lvl 76, unfortunatly i started him before coming to the forums and reading about break points etc and have almost maxed sword mastery and eqipt botd cb.

My gear is :-

Arreats
botd cb
coh
ss
verdungos
drac gloves
highlords
2x raven
gore riders
2x wc swords on switch

When adding stats I put 156 base strenth for ss and enough dex for max blocking, rest into vit. Now after reading here I see that you dont need that much in strenth. I always thought you needed enough to equip your highest req item, due to body popping etc, is this not the case now?
Secondly I have 180 ias giving me 10 frames, with 2 free sockets for 2x 40/15's giving me a total of 110 ias, still not getting near the 9 frame mark of 147. Is it still worth socketing these jewels for the ed alone as i guess the extra ias wont do anything, or would say Cham be better to free up a rings , possibly for angelic set?
For pure pvm is it worth the re build to use a botd zerker, from what i've read i'd need 125 ias to hit the break point, still not achievable with my gear without swapping drac gloves for some 20 ias gloves giving me 130 ias in total, is the 9frame gain worth the loss of the drac gloves and the versitility of swords, or is the 9 frames more important to pvp?
OK last question, if i do rebuild are the values of botd sword and zerker roughly the same on uswest nl, ie could i do a straight swap ?

Lastly, great guide Hal, its saved my barb from going totaly off the rails even if reading all the posts has fried my last brain cell :bonk:

 

[johny]

johny:

in order to find equipment for your barb to use, you have listed both possible ways. First, the quicker method is raising an mf character, typically a sorc because she has teleport as a skill. Second, the more fun route is to just raise your barb and use him to mf. In my many times starting from scratch, I have done both. Using an mf char, you can get godly equipment much more quickly than with your barb. But using your barb to mf, I normally do nm and hell trav runs, can prove to be epic battles without godly gear, especially if you're trying to keep your merc alive.

As I stated, it is possible to get godly equipment with your barb but almost vital to the process, something that can greatly speed it up, is trading. If you can figure out trade values, you can make some good deals to more quickly get your gear. Gems make a great starter to trading.

Hope that helps you out.

Thank you, mstrnicegui.


Hal,

Another question: In your guide, you said to achieve max block with Stormshield, the barb need 222 dex pts.

Where is the supporting reference to your claim?

And I have tested your Lod_Barb.d2s file in single-player mode. I found the chances of block of Stormshield is 72%, not 75% as you claim.

Did I miss anything? I know this is the most possible.

Hope you to clarify these issues,

thanks,

 

[Halciet]

Suffering from food poisoning, bear with me.

*********************

johny:

the max block % for any shield is 75%. The displayed blocking % on the shield is factored into a formula, along with your character level and dex to determine what your block % actually is.

The required dex for max block increases as your level increases; it's a commonly known fact that stormshield takes 222 dex at 99. The 72% you're looking at is the base block % on the shield its self. If you want to see your true block %, hover your cursor over your defense score in the character window.

The formula for dex required for max block at each level is floating around the forum somewhere, but since I'm doing all I can just to keep from throwing up everywhere, I'll let you dig it up.

*********************

red.13:

Basically just use any decent axe that you can find at that level. Butcher's Pupil is fairly nice, and the level req is in the 30s, I believe. I'd start using runewords whenever you can; don't make them in total crap, but definately try to put together a few whenever you get the chance. The best place to magic find is the Pit in the Tamoe Highlands, while the Worldstone Keep is also really nice. Pros and Cons in /players 8 are pretty obvious: better gear and experience, but much more difficult enemies. If you're in single player, I'd just play around in /players 4 or 5 until you get really sturdy, then do experience runs in 8.

*********************

Coffin:

Don't feel so bad about the str, my earlier copies of the build all have 156 str, which is pretty nice. It was good to have back in 1.09, but in 1.1 you can have multiple corpses, so it's not really possible to get popped anymore.

Now, as for your socketing delimma: first, I want to point out that based on the gear you're showing me, you're not even hitting 10 frames; a cb needs 89% ias for 10 frames, and you've got 20 from highlord's and 60 from BotD, so you're 9 short. I'd try and make sure you hit that frame for sure, either by switching around some gear, or popping an ed/ias jewel into your gear. Other than that, it's up to you. Sword barbs have a hellaciously hard time getting to 9 frames, so I would suggest just settling for 10 and popping what you'd like in the other socket. Cham is nice, and of course ed/str jewels are great too.

Unless you plan to do a lot of melee pvping, angelic rings and the amulet arn't so important, since conc gets a ton of ar on its own, especially with all the dex you need for blocking. You can always keep a demon limb in the stash if need be. As for the rebuild question, that's a matter of opinion. I myself would never make a sword conc barb, just because it takes so much ias to get them to a decent frame, so I'd probably advise making a berserker axe barb; they have much lower str requirements, get to 9 frames really easy, and do more damage than CBs; the versatility doesn't really matter, since you'll want to have a shield up at all times as a conc barb anyways. Dracs are great gloves as well, though I like having that 9th frame personally, and the extra crushing blow I get from my 20% ias, dual leech, +stats/resists blood gloves.

*********************

I hate Red Lobster.

-Hal

 

[hotrodder13]

will the 50% Golbal Physical Resistance dent your attack power?