Magic Finding Barbarian: THE TYRANNICIDES: v3* An Expensive Build for Optimal MF-ing!
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Before we get started...
0. {A brief overview of the build.} - The Barbarian: A fast teleporting barbarian that is a very sturdy tank capable of buffing it's mercenary companion to great heights. A very rich character with lot's of magic find. The Mercenary: A boss killer with huge crushing blow and great survivability; is capable of taking on just about anything except iron maiden of course.
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1. {Who were the Tyrannicides?} -
Harmodios and Aristogeiton were their names. Two ancient greek heroes. They helped to usher in a new era free from tyranny. They killed a tyrant in the Athenian empire anmed Hipparchus. I hope to usher in a new era for magic finding, with this guide.
The real reason this build is called The Tyrannicides is because this is one of the most (if not the most) mercenary dependent builds for any character class. Without your mercenary you can no longer function and your mercenary relies heavily on your barbarian. So, when making this barbarian or playing him don't think of yourself as one character, but two inseparable interdependent forces. In this build your mercenary is just as important as you are!
The_TYRANNICIDES is also the name of my on-going experiment on US-East Non-Ladder to make the ultimate MF-Hunting Character. He has been remade many times...:wink:
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2. Why magic find? - If you play Diablo 2 LOD online either in ladder or non-ladder then you have probably felt the rush of seeing a unique or set item fall to the ground; and then you rush to pick it up! Primarily a magic find character lets you indulge yourself in that sensation over and over. This is achieved by ainflating your chances to find good items and by achieving a fast speed and killing power with your character.
A magic find character can also be used to inspire you; the items you find prompt you to make something new. Perhaps you find a Windforce and the discovery prompts you to make an Amazon for the first time.
This build is meant for players that are in hell and have access to many high runes and valuable items. You might say, "But if you have great items, why magic find?" I would respond, there are MANY fantastic items out there in Diablo, begging to be used and to be used in varying ways and in countless combinations.
If you are new at magic finding and want to make a character exclusively for the purposes of magic finding I highly recommend a Sorceress. Here is small guide with a few detailed builds but it is focused largely on items http://www.jpitems.com/diablo2mfguide.html. Here is Flux's guide to MF to really get you started http://www.purediablo.com/strategy/x-guides/magic-find.shtml This guide is very comprehensive and teaches you alot, including all the basics. However, I think that some of the opinions expressed in this guide are about to be disproven. Specifically, that the Sorceress is the best Magic-Finding character.
Magic finding is for those looking to try out alot of different builds. I believe this applies to many of the people who are members of forums like this one.
But this isn't just a magic finding guide! Why should I try to make this build? A very good question, and one that I hope this guide answers. This build is for those who are Rich and Bored! This build strives to be just as fast and efficient as a Sorceress at magic finding but also to utilize massive magic find bonuses without having to switch items alot or sacrifice killing power.:thumbsup:
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3. But why a Barbarian? - If one were to make a "Perfect" magic find character with the maximum percentage chance added to magic find you would have to make a barbarian! Here is a resource on a dicontinued attempt to do just this: http://www.planetdiablo.com/diablo2/characters/barbarian/strategy/mfind/ The Arreat Summit itself points out that to achieve maximum magic find% you must use a barbarian: http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic/magicfind.shtml These two sources offered considerable inspiration for my build.
A barbarian also has the Find Item ability which proves invaluable when killing many regular, champion, unique, and even Superunique monsters , because it allows you to get their drops twice! if you're lucky.
A barbarian is also ideal because it can achieve high life and defense totals for iiself and its mercenary.
Finally, a barbarian can have more magic find *on switch (on the alternate weapon set) than any other character. At maximum the barbarian can weild dual swords each socketed with six 'ist' runes!
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4. Why "Perfect Magic Find%? - Many people think that the diminishing returns on magic find percentiles are too sever to bother going above 300% or 700% magic find. The # varies but the philosophy remains the same. These people are missing out! I believe that the editors on Arreat Summit put it best when they say "Is there an ideal % Magic Find Number? No. The more the better. Previously a bug resulted a penalty for more than a certain percentage, but this has been fixed." and when they say "Just remember, you can never have enough % Better Chance. Increasing your Magic Find Percentage will always help you."
The more magic find the better! and this build takes that philosophy and runs with it!
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Strategies
Blizzard nerfed mercs in the latest patch, nerfing their offensive capabilities against bosses to 25% of their actual strength. Don't worry about that though because this build works despite that nerfing! This is due to the crushing blow on the mercenary which remains unaffected by Blizzard's changes. If you try to make this build without giving your mercenary plenty of CB it probably won't work as well.
I'm still trying to increase the speed at which my merc kills Baal's minions (i rarely have to worry about my mercenary dying) but he is fast enough especially with help from a friend. Baal is tough and i'm still experimenting on ways to kill his minions faster. Baal himself goes down pretty fast with this build as do most of the minions so long as you use you battle cry and war cry.
I would like to try using an Act 5 mercenary in place of the Act 2 mercenary; it could use and ethereal colossus Last Wish, ethereal Fortitude and Guillame's or a giant skull. If you are interested in contributing to this build, I would suggest trying other mercenary configurations and their effectiveness against Baal or Mephisto. If I receive good suggestions I will add them to the guide and give those who made the suggestions credit!
Thank you very much for reading, and I very much appreciate your constructive feedback. I can't wait to hear from all of you!
The TYRANNICIDES - Magic Finding, Corpse Searcher, and Boss Runner.
Guide - Written and developed by CallsignAPOLLO aka. LightALEX
Guide - Written and developed by CallsignAPOLLO aka. LightALEX
Dedicated to: Those who support me, including, and above all, my girlfriend Bess.
Magic Finding Barbarian Guide - Third Edition.
Table of Contents
- Disclaimer
- Warning
* Before We Get Started... *
- 0 - Build Overview
- 1 - Name Explanation and Background
- 2 - Why Magic Find?
- 3 - Why A Barbarian?
- 4 - Why "Perfect" or High MF%?
* The Build *
- Stat Points
- Skill Points
- Character Equipment
- Mercenary Overview
- Mercenary Equipment
- Playing Strategies
* Additional Information *
- Tips and Tricks
- Tables and Links
- An Example Build
* Explanation and Conclusion *
Disclaimer
- This guide outlines a character that is not easy to make or afford. It is difficult to have this character work properly and do as it is supposed to do unless you follow this guide closely. The build is highly *Twinked (Reliant on specific items to work) and not using just one item can really throw it off. However, if you do make this character and it works for you as well as it works for me you will be pleasantly suprised. And, the character you will have made will have lasting value.Warning!
- Please do not reply to this thread unless you have something constructive to say. A previous version of this Guide was *flamed until it was locked! However there was a marked improvement in the feedback for the second iteration of the guide. Lets keep moving forward; with your help I can streamline this build and improve upon it further. That said, this is not a thread for personal attacks and I myself will make none. Remember it takes alot of time and effort to put together a guide; dudes like me love positive feedback!{PLEASE BE CONSTRUCTIVE!}------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before we get started...
0. {A brief overview of the build.} - The Barbarian: A fast teleporting barbarian that is a very sturdy tank capable of buffing it's mercenary companion to great heights. A very rich character with lot's of magic find. The Mercenary: A boss killer with huge crushing blow and great survivability; is capable of taking on just about anything except iron maiden of course.
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1. {Who were the Tyrannicides?} -
Harmodios and Aristogeiton were their names. Two ancient greek heroes. They helped to usher in a new era free from tyranny. They killed a tyrant in the Athenian empire anmed Hipparchus. I hope to usher in a new era for magic finding, with this guide.
The real reason this build is called The Tyrannicides is because this is one of the most (if not the most) mercenary dependent builds for any character class. Without your mercenary you can no longer function and your mercenary relies heavily on your barbarian. So, when making this barbarian or playing him don't think of yourself as one character, but two inseparable interdependent forces. In this build your mercenary is just as important as you are!
The_TYRANNICIDES is also the name of my on-going experiment on US-East Non-Ladder to make the ultimate MF-Hunting Character. He has been remade many times...:wink:
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2. Why magic find? - If you play Diablo 2 LOD online either in ladder or non-ladder then you have probably felt the rush of seeing a unique or set item fall to the ground; and then you rush to pick it up! Primarily a magic find character lets you indulge yourself in that sensation over and over. This is achieved by ainflating your chances to find good items and by achieving a fast speed and killing power with your character.
A magic find character can also be used to inspire you; the items you find prompt you to make something new. Perhaps you find a Windforce and the discovery prompts you to make an Amazon for the first time.
This build is meant for players that are in hell and have access to many high runes and valuable items. You might say, "But if you have great items, why magic find?" I would respond, there are MANY fantastic items out there in Diablo, begging to be used and to be used in varying ways and in countless combinations.
If you are new at magic finding and want to make a character exclusively for the purposes of magic finding I highly recommend a Sorceress. Here is small guide with a few detailed builds but it is focused largely on items http://www.jpitems.com/diablo2mfguide.html. Here is Flux's guide to MF to really get you started http://www.purediablo.com/strategy/x-guides/magic-find.shtml This guide is very comprehensive and teaches you alot, including all the basics. However, I think that some of the opinions expressed in this guide are about to be disproven. Specifically, that the Sorceress is the best Magic-Finding character.
Magic finding is for those looking to try out alot of different builds. I believe this applies to many of the people who are members of forums like this one.
But this isn't just a magic finding guide! Why should I try to make this build? A very good question, and one that I hope this guide answers. This build is for those who are Rich and Bored! This build strives to be just as fast and efficient as a Sorceress at magic finding but also to utilize massive magic find bonuses without having to switch items alot or sacrifice killing power.:thumbsup:
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3. But why a Barbarian? - If one were to make a "Perfect" magic find character with the maximum percentage chance added to magic find you would have to make a barbarian! Here is a resource on a dicontinued attempt to do just this: http://www.planetdiablo.com/diablo2/characters/barbarian/strategy/mfind/ The Arreat Summit itself points out that to achieve maximum magic find% you must use a barbarian: http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic/magicfind.shtml These two sources offered considerable inspiration for my build.
A barbarian also has the Find Item ability which proves invaluable when killing many regular, champion, unique, and even Superunique monsters , because it allows you to get their drops twice! if you're lucky.
A barbarian is also ideal because it can achieve high life and defense totals for iiself and its mercenary.
Finally, a barbarian can have more magic find *on switch (on the alternate weapon set) than any other character. At maximum the barbarian can weild dual swords each socketed with six 'ist' runes!
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4. Why "Perfect Magic Find%? - Many people think that the diminishing returns on magic find percentiles are too sever to bother going above 300% or 700% magic find. The # varies but the philosophy remains the same. These people are missing out! I believe that the editors on Arreat Summit put it best when they say "Is there an ideal % Magic Find Number? No. The more the better. Previously a bug resulted a penalty for more than a certain percentage, but this has been fixed." and when they say "Just remember, you can never have enough % Better Chance. Increasing your Magic Find Percentage will always help you."
The more magic find the better! and this build takes that philosophy and runs with it!
The Build.
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Stats.
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Skill Points
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Character Equipment
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Mercenary Overview
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Mercenary Equipment
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Stats.
[*]---STRENGTH--- This build does not utilize the combat skills of the barbarian:shocked: so putting points into strength should be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately you must put some points into strength in order to equip some of the items I list in the equipment section. -Decisision- Put JUST ENOUGH! into strength in order to wear Enigma OR enough to wear Skullder's Ire.
[*]---DEXTERITY--- This build does not utilize a shield in any way {I hope when there's another patch they'll let you dual weild sheilds!}. So, putting points into dexterity for max-block would be pointless. Do not put any points into dexterity because Annihilus and Helltorch should give you all you need. -Decision- NO POINTS!
[*]---VITALITY--- This is the most important stat for most builds. Vitality is ESPECIALLY important to this build because you will max the skill Battle Orders which gives a percentile bonus to life. This means you will see bigger bonuses than other characters for all the points you put into Vitality. -Decision- (everything you have to spare) MAX THIS!
[*]---ENERGY--- If you stick to the equipment selections I lay out in my guide these stats. are superfluous. Your items should give you all the mana you need. Take into account the fact that you should not be using any moves that require mana very often, and when you do it is Teleport you will be using and at that time you will have dual HOTOs equiped and two huge mana rings. Your mana will come from your equipment and charms. -Decision- NO POINTS!
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Skill Points
[*]-The Combat Skills- There are alot of useful skills here but this build would only be weakened by putting even a few points in here. If your source of damage is your mercenary then don't pretend to be doing all the work! Your damage even with +skills will not be considerable when you combine one of these moves with the items in the equipment section. This barbarian was not meant to kill he is meant to bring new world order! Don't put points into any combat skills. A new era of peace and Magic Finding is at hand!!!
[*]-Increase Stamina- 1 Point as a Pre-req.
[*]-Increased Speed- Exactly 8 Points If you're not teleporting then you want to be able to walk fast. These eight points really are the icing on the cake and should be put in last. However, these points are useful for when you want to use one of the two switch armors I list later. Wealth and Skullders Ire both have their uses. If you are just running around checking corpses then you will be thankful for these points. These 8 points will come in useful when you want a change in pace freom Mephisto runs and decide to tag along in a chaos game to raid all the bodies!
[*]-Iron Skin- MAX This move! Combined with Shout this will give you a huge passive bonus to your defense! This necessary because you don't wear a sheild and you are far more vulnerable than your mercenary. (Except of course in Chaos Sanctuary and Worldstone Keep) This skill really is a must-have for this build.
[*]-Natural Resistance- This will raise a few eyebrows. MAX This skill! Because you are not wearing ANY items that give resistances when you have Skullders or Wealth on and your 6-'ist'ed swords, this is a must! You will have few +skills because most of your +skills are actually +warcry skills so you shouldn't encounter very severe diminishing returns. Your Annihilus and Helltorch won't even get you out of the negative range in Hell. And, you're not wearing any resistance charms. This skill is VERY necessary to this build.
[*]-Find Potion- 1 Point as Pre-req. Some people think this skill is useful. I've even seen several builds around this skill! IBut, in my experience, Find Item ends-up finding you ALOT of potions anyway. I suppose in a pinch one might use this but I've never used it and I have it hotkeyed. (because this build has very few activated abilities {MTG term!} )
[*]-Find Item- Exactly 12 (a dozen) Points! With your items on switch equipped a dozen points will give you a 55% Find Item that's better than a helf/half chance! However, after 12 points it is many points before you will go up even one more percentile at this skill. 12 Points is optimal.
[*]-Howl- 1 Point as a Pre-req.
[*]-Taunt- 1 Point as a Pre-req. Unfortunately you won't use this skill much because it doesn't affect bosses. You will want to use Battle Cry most of the time instead.
[*]-Battle Cry- 1 Point Wonder! You would think it would be a good Idea to MAX this but it isn't. After you get to around level 20 in this skill you have reached the optimal level for it because you can't lower an enemy's defenses more than 95%. Put one point in this skill and use it single-cast on every boss and pack of monsters your merc fights because it significantly quickens the battle. Why not put more points in? Well, you can only lower defense by at most 95% so plus skills will give you all the battle cry you need! Use it on a boss BEFORE you switch from HOTOs to 6-'Ist'ed swords etc... because the +skills bring it to its most effective level.
[*]-War Cry- 1 Point Wonder! Use this skill often to give your merc a chance to level the playing field. I find that it is almost never necessary to cast this spell but it is useful to have. This skill could help alot if you wanted to solo Chaos Sanctuary with this build. More points into this skill are inadvisable because the damage of this skill doesn't go up much even if it is fully synergised, which it isn't! The stun from this skill is more than adequate with +skills. And most importantly! this skill has a very nice low mana cost when you don't put more than one point in. This skills mana cost gets VERY high if you choose to max it. Just look here at the mana cost of just a level 20 warcry! http://www.battlenet.co.kr/diablo2exp/skills/barbarian-warcries.shtml#warcry Maxing it would would be inefficient; just put one point in.
[*]-Shout- MAX This skill! This skill goes very well with Iron Skin which you've already maxed. Also, this skill is incvaluable at buffing your mercenary. This is one of the core skills of this build.
[*]-Battle Orders- MAX This skill! This skill helps you to have enough mana to teleport comfortably. But, this scores primary purpose is to further buff your mercenary who will be doing all the fighting. This is the other core skill to this build.
[*]-Battle Command- 1 Point wonder! This skill doesn't get any better after one point (other than increased duration). This skill will serve to buff you and your mercenary.
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* Skill Point Distribution Breakdown
20 - Natural Resistance
20 - Iron Skin
20 - Battle Orders
20 - Shout
9 - Points Total: 1 point into Increased Stamina, Find Potion, Battle Command, War Cry, Taunt, Howl, Battle Cry, Find Item, Increased Speed
* Those are the NECESSARY 89 Points you Need, after that I recommend...
11 - Find Item
10 - Increased Speed - (this would be at level 99)
20 - Natural Resistance
20 - Iron Skin
20 - Battle Orders
20 - Shout
9 - Points Total: 1 point into Increased Stamina, Find Potion, Battle Command, War Cry, Taunt, Howl, Battle Cry, Find Item, Increased Speed
* Those are the NECESSARY 89 Points you Need, after that I recommend...
11 - Find Item
10 - Increased Speed - (this would be at level 99)
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Character Equipment
[*]Helm- Immortal King's Will Avenger Guard dual socketed with 'Ist' runes- Together with the 'Ist' runes this helm will give you lots of magic find. This helm also gives some very nice bonuses such as +2 to warcry skills. This helm is also fairly easy to find or trade for! and it looks cool!
[*]Armor- Enigma Socketed in an Archon Plate- This will give you high defense as well as +2 to all skills and teleport! This also gives you nearly 100%mf. This armor is the core item of this build.
[*]Secondary Armor- Skullders Ire 'Ist'ed or Wealth socketed in an Archon Plate- These two armors are optional but I HIGHLY recommend using Skullders Ire for raiding corpses and for when you kill bosses! It adds significantly more magic find than enigma, around 50% more! I recommend keeping one of these in your cube for when you need it. What else is there to do in that short space of time while you are waiting for your mercenary to kill Mephisto? Wealth can obviously be used for goldfinding which is useful if you like to gamble for circlets or rings etc...
[*]Weapons- Dual Hoto's (they don't have to be high!)- Your natural resistance should take care of any variance in the +res from the Hoto's. Heart of the Oak socketed in a flail gives you big bonuses to cast rate (40%fcr) and mana dual weild these while you teleport and when you BO your merc. Switch these off when a boss is about to die.
[*]Secondary Weapons- 2 six-'Ist'ed Crystal Swords each giving +ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY % MF!- These swords are your very hard to put together. Please don't use phase blades by mistake! Remember, no points into dexterity! Switch to these swords when you are searching bodies or about to kill a boss.
[*]Belt- Arachnid Mesh- This gives you a mana boost and +skills! Importantly, this belt also pushes you past the 105%fcr breakpoint and gives you optimal teleporting speed. Although this belt is not part of perfect magicfind (because you could be getting another 30% from Goldwrap) it improves your ability to magic find significantly by giving you that last bit of faster cast rate.
[*]Gloves- You shouldn't need any more mana so wear Chance Guards if you do need more mana go with frostburns until you get better charms.
[*]Boots- War Traveler Battle Boots- These give 50%mf. Now we're really starting to stack up the magic find%! If you need more mana while you try to get better charms try using silkweaves.
[*]Rings- 2x Magic 120 Mana 10%FCR rings- These are very important, you may only want to wear one though if you feel you have enough mana. You need at least one of these rings to get you the FCR you need to teleport as fast as a Sorceress! The mana bonuses from rings like these when multiplied by your BO are huge! This is your mana pool. Rings with less mana are acceptable but these are optimal.
[*]Secondary Rings- 2x Nagelrings- 30%mf each. You can use nagelrings or dwarf stars for more mf% or goldfind% respectively. If you're greedy and want all the magic find you can get (like me!) then switch onto these rings while killing a boss. Keep them in your cube.
[*]Amulet- Any +3 to warcry amulet will do but preferably with +30% to mf or more in addition to the +skills. This is a tough item to find but it can be done!
[*]Annihilus and Helltorch- These need not be perfect but they are necessary. If you don't use these you will get killed far more often because Natural Resistance can't give you ALL of your resistances.
[*]Optimal Charms- 4 Warcry skill charms with good modifiers (mana or life or defense). and 6 7%mf 17mana small charms. These will give you more mf% and more mana! 1 perfect gheeds grand charm. 1 annihilus and 1 helltorch for barbarian. Remember you want some room in your inventory (at least 2x8) so you can pick up items easily.
[*]Your Inventory!- Yout inventory should look like this- You should have your cube all the way in the top right with 2x nagelrings, goldwrap and a second armor in it; if you want even more MF. You should have 8 spaces of free space giving you enough space to pick up any item in the game! You should have room for 1 tome of town portal and 1 tome of identify. This makes things easy on you! Other builds might have you not carry tomes at all or have no space to pick up items. I think the "Perfect" magic find build should be easy to use.
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Mercenary Overview
[*]Act 2 Nightmare Might Mercenary! I think that an act5 mercenary could quite possibly out-do an a2 mercenary in terms of damage if properly equipped. I am looking into this now but it will take some time. An act 2 Nightmare Might Offensive mercenary Is the best choice for this build because it gives the mercenary a big damage bonus and he needs to be able to work on his own. The might aura adds a nice damage bonus to his attack.
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Mercenary Equipment
[*]Armor- Fortitude socketed in an Ethereal Archon Plate. This is the definite choice. Huge enhanced damage and defense bonuses, plus just enough to resistance for a mercenary to get max. There isn't much to debate here; the massive %Enhanced Damage can't be beat. An alternative to this armor might be the runeword stone but ethereal fortitude is definitely better.
[*]Weapon- Ethereal Hone Sundan Yari socketed with, a Ber rune, an Amn rune, and a 15%ias/40%ed jewel OR another Amn rune. The Amn rune(s) will be your primary source of Life Leech. Your mercenary MUST be godly in this build because he does all the killing. I recommentd an ethereal Hone Sundan Yari because of the crushing blow, this recommendation has changed since the last time I wrote this guide. I find that the quickest way to make your mercenary a boss-killer is give him lots of crushing blow. A very nice alternative is the Thresher Infinity - this will greatly weaken bosses and monster. Infinity also has some nice crushing blow etc... Other alternatives are... EBOTD, Arioc's needle and Kelpie Snare; these are all interesting but not nearly as effective.
[*]Helm- Guillame's Face- Socket this with a 15%IAS/40%ED jewel and you will have 100% Crushing Blow! and plenty of damage as well as a nice amount of FHR. Look here for IAS and FHR information on the Act2 Merc http://realmgaming.net/index.php?act=content&CODE=post&id=216214 Another option is Andariels Visage; it gives very useful poison resistance. It give +2 all skills which does help the mercenary and some great modifiers along with high defense. This specific helm does have the annoying quality of messing up fire resistance but if you chose to socket and um, or a more specific to fire res rune in it, that would sove the problem. I recommend trying to find a +15%ias/+40%ed jewel to put in it. Another alternative is, Giant's skull socketed with 2 ias/ed jewels which gives 10% crushing blow.
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Strategies
[*]When teleporting to Mephisto head left first and then stay against the wall.
[*]When using Find Item click around like crazy! don't try to be precise; you will raid the bodies faster and still get them all.
[*]Keep lots of room in your stash and drop items off as needed.
[*]Use battle cry on bosses to help your merc.
[*]Let your merc fight! Stand back and stay still; don't distract him.
[*]Help your merc by teleporting right on top of enemies; this makes teleport feel like a weapon!
[*]Don't bother using pots on your merc unless they're Rejuv. otherwise you won't see a change! Your BO will do that.
[*]Keep the Pindelskin portal open by not completing the quest and run him.
[*]Run andariel, have no fear your mercs helm will protect him from her poison if you chose to use andariel's helm.
[*]Don't bother leveling up your merc, just buy a new one!
[*]Use the teleport ability to position your merc where you want him when he is about to die.
[*]Watch out for physical immunes they're literally the only thing your merc can't kill. (Unless you have some sort of secondary weapon for your merc like a IAS Socketed Bonehew).
[*]If you want more people in your game and you don't want to search for one make a game called "free items" or something.
[*]If you are only searching for the most elite and rare items then you might as well choke your inventory with more magic find because you will rarely need to pick up items; so the clear 2x8 inventory space won't be as useful to you as more warcry charms or +mf% charms.
[*]If you're having trouble with large groups of enemies play with a friend!
[*]GOLDEN RULE! : KNOW WHICH ITEMS ARE GOOD! Study up on the item lists and all the items possible uses and you will inrease your mf%, well sort-of. You will get more out of Magic Finding, Guaranteed!
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Gameplay Tips and Tricks
If you like Goldfinding every once in awhile try keeping two ali-baba swords in your stash; they shouldn't take up much room because they are 1x3 items. Socket each of them with two lem runes and you can wear them instead of the six-isted swords; they should provide significant MF% as well.
If you want to make this build but desire More Teleporting Speed and less magic find, try using dual wizardspikes perhaps socketed with hel runes to reduce the dexterity requirement, a 20%fcr ammy, a 20% fcr helm, magefist gloves and the rings and belt already listed in the equipment section. This will allow your character to hit the 200%FCR breakpoint which is also the fastest the Sorceress can teleport.
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Useful Resources and Tables
Here is a link to a detailed overview of magic finding; it includes a table showing +MF% diminishing returns.
http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Magic_Find
Here is a link to an outdated site that has impressively detailed information about some of the items used in the build.
http://library.planetdiablo.gamespy.com/unique.html
Here is a link all of you probably use frequently, all the same if you have any questions about items or runes...
http://www.battlenet.co.kr/diablo2exp/
This link is to another forum; you are by no means required to look at it! However, it is possibly the most comprehensive guide to mercenaries on the web.
http://realmgaming.net/index.php?act=content&CODE=post&id=216214
Here are some tables that include the Barbarian's FCR breakpoints among other things.
Here is a link to the previous version of this guide.
http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603045&highlight=tyrannicides
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Finished Build: Example Stats.
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Explanation and Conclusion
Gameplay Tips and Tricks
If you like Goldfinding every once in awhile try keeping two ali-baba swords in your stash; they shouldn't take up much room because they are 1x3 items. Socket each of them with two lem runes and you can wear them instead of the six-isted swords; they should provide significant MF% as well.
If you want to make this build but desire More Teleporting Speed and less magic find, try using dual wizardspikes perhaps socketed with hel runes to reduce the dexterity requirement, a 20%fcr ammy, a 20% fcr helm, magefist gloves and the rings and belt already listed in the equipment section. This will allow your character to hit the 200%FCR breakpoint which is also the fastest the Sorceress can teleport.
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Useful Resources and Tables
Here is a link to a detailed overview of magic finding; it includes a table showing +MF% diminishing returns.
http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Magic_Find
Here is a link to an outdated site that has impressively detailed information about some of the items used in the build.
http://library.planetdiablo.gamespy.com/unique.html
Here is a link all of you probably use frequently, all the same if you have any questions about items or runes...
http://www.battlenet.co.kr/diablo2exp/
This link is to another forum; you are by no means required to look at it! However, it is possibly the most comprehensive guide to mercenaries on the web.
http://realmgaming.net/index.php?act=content&CODE=post&id=216214
Here are some tables that include the Barbarian's FCR breakpoints among other things.
Code:
General Breakpoints
FBR
Character Weapon/Skill/Form Block Frames
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Amazon 1-handed swinging weapons* 0 4 6 11 15 23 29 40 56 80 120 200 480
Other weapons 0 13 32 86 600
Assassin All 0 13 32 86 600
Barbarian All 0 9 20 42 86 280
Druid Human 0 6 13 20 32 52 86 174 600
Werebear 0 5 10 16 27 40 65 109 223
Werewolf 0 7 15 27 48 86 200
Necromancer All 0 6 13 20 32 52 86 174 600
Paladin Without Holy Shield 0 13 32 86 600
With Holy Shield 0 86
Sorceress All 0 7 15 27 48 200 200
FCR
Frames Amazon A3 Mercenary Assassin Druid Human Druid WW Druid WB Pal/Nec Barb/Sorc
19 0
18 7 0 0
17 14 10 4
16 22 15 0 10 0 0
15 32 30 8 19 6 7 0
14 48 40 16 30 14 15 9
13 68 60 27 46 26 26 18 0
12 99 90 42 68 40 40 30 9
11 152 140 65 99 60 63 48 20
10 102 163 95 99 75 37
9 174 157 163 125 63
8 105
7 200
FHR
Character Weapon Hit Recovery Frames
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Amazon All 0 6 13 20 32 52 86 174 600
Assassin All 0 7 15 27 48 86 200
Barbarian All 0 7 15 27 48 86 200
Act 5 mercenary All 0 7 15 27 48 86 200
Druid, human 1-handed swinging weapons* 0 3 7 13 19 29 42 63 99 174 456
Other weapons 0 5 10 16 26 39 56 86 152 377
Druid, werebear All 0 5 10 16 24 37 54 86 152 360
Druid, werewolf All 0 9 20 42 86 280
Act 3 mercenary All 0 5 8 13 18 24 32 46 63 86 133 232 600
Necromancer All 0 5 10 16 26 39 56 86 152 377
Paladin Spears and staves 0 3 7 13 20 32 48 75 120 280
Other weapons 0 7 15 27 48 86 200
Act 1 mercenary All 0 6 13 20 32 52 86 174 600
Sorceress All 0 5 9 14 20 30 42 60 86 142 280
Act 2 mercenary All 0 5 9 14 20 30 42 60 86 142 280
Source: Tommy Gustafsson
Diabloii.net Character Class FAQsHere is a link to the previous version of this guide.
http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603045&highlight=tyrannicides
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Finished Build: Example Stats.
[*]You will end up with a character with stats like this... (at lvl 94) While using 2x 120mana/10%fcr rings, dual hotos, dual six isted swords, skullders up'ed, IK helm, 3 warcry ammy with mf, arachnid mesh, recommended charms, chance guards and war travelers.
[*]about 18500 defense after BO with Enigma
[*]about 1650 mana after BO with Enigma
[*]75 res all with HOTOs 39 res all with Swords
[*]about 225 strength with enigma
[*]about 70 dexterity
[*]about 430 vitality
[*]about 50 energy
[*]about 5000 life
[*]And Most Importantly around 750-800%mf without Skullders or nagelrings or goldwrap! With skullders etc.. you have between 800 and 900%mf! And with this build you could easily reach 1000% Magic Find or more and still function; so as long as your mercenary is still killing fast and you are still teleporting fast you can pile on the magic find!
[*]Now, The Very Important Merc stats. -At lvl 94 after Bo, 217 strength, 163 dex, 1.5k-8k damage 33.4k defense 5.5k+ life 75 Poison res, 80 lite res, 75 cold res, and 75 rfire res. And remember this mercenary has 100% Crushing Blow. Average mephisto kill time over about 45 time trials at 4.97 seconds to kill Mephisto. Baal kill time varies but is usually around 10-20 seconds!
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Explanation and Conclusion
Blizzard nerfed mercs in the latest patch, nerfing their offensive capabilities against bosses to 25% of their actual strength. Don't worry about that though because this build works despite that nerfing! This is due to the crushing blow on the mercenary which remains unaffected by Blizzard's changes. If you try to make this build without giving your mercenary plenty of CB it probably won't work as well.
I'm still trying to increase the speed at which my merc kills Baal's minions (i rarely have to worry about my mercenary dying) but he is fast enough especially with help from a friend. Baal is tough and i'm still experimenting on ways to kill his minions faster. Baal himself goes down pretty fast with this build as do most of the minions so long as you use you battle cry and war cry.
I would like to try using an Act 5 mercenary in place of the Act 2 mercenary; it could use and ethereal colossus Last Wish, ethereal Fortitude and Guillame's or a giant skull. If you are interested in contributing to this build, I would suggest trying other mercenary configurations and their effectiveness against Baal or Mephisto. If I receive good suggestions I will add them to the guide and give those who made the suggestions credit!
Thank you for taking a look at my Magic Finding Barbarian guide. I hope you try making one yourself. If not, I hope you found some useful information while reading this. Remember, I want commentary at Perfecting this build further rather than commentary claiming that the build as a whole is bad. Positive feedback is highly appreciated.
Copy and distribution rights on this guide are reserved to me. This guide may be copied for personal use only.
The TYRANNICIDES: Magic Finding Barbarian Guide: Version 3
Published 2008, July 29
Thank you very much for reading, and I very much appreciate your constructive feedback. I can't wait to hear from all of you!
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