Originally posted by Are on Sep 24, 2009:
Patriarch Hercules, WW Polearm Barb (w/ miniguide)
I finally came to the conclusion that not only my mercs should have access to all the nice Polearms I've been finding over the years, so it was time to make a character to take advantage of them. Hence the birth of Hercules, the WW Polearm Barbarian
He grew up and became a Patriarch tonight, besting Baal at level 88. On the way he suffered two deaths, both times due to whirling into packs of PI manaburn monsters and my fingers not working fast enough. While whirling along, you unfortunately often don't know whether a pack of monsters is a boss pack or not until they're dead or you start taking loads of damage
My mercenary (Act 2 Might) kept himself off the suicide watch most of the time, but when the Throne of Destruction spawned OKs, he decided to die around 5-6 times on those alone, and then for some reason he also died to every wave except the first one. I normally use Holy Freeze mercs, and it seems as if Holy Freeze actually does help a lot, especially against waves 4 and 5
Whirlwind, by the way, even makes Act III fun!
I played on /players 8 throughout Normal and Nightmare, switching to /players 5 for Hell, which I stayed at all the way. The Ancients in all difficulties were handled on /players 1.
The future of this character will mainly involve runs on the Act V minor bosses (Pindleskin, Eldritch, Thresh Socket) since he has a perfect Thresh Socket map, and because Find Item works on all of them. The Frozen Tundra WP is also right next to a bosspack, and the Glacial Trail WP is close to the superchest in that area, so those two areas will probably also be included in those runs
One thing is for certain; his future will not include any time in areas where Oblivion Knights can spawn!
My gear:
Tomb Reaver (w/ Realgar Jewel of Fervor and Dun Jewel of Wrath):
Code:
Tomb Reaver
Cryptic Axe
Two-Hand Damage: 126 to 583
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 103
Required Strength: 165
Required Level: 84
Polearm Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x53dce121
+284% Enhanced Damage
+7 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +33
71% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+14 Life after each Kill
+4 to Light Radius
75% Increased Attack Speed
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
219% Damage to Undead
+306 to Attack Rating against Undead
10% Reanimate As: Returned
Socketed (2: 2 used)
“Lionheart” Ornate Plate
Arreat’s Face (w/ Ith rune)
String of Ears
Soul Drainer
Gore Rider
Highlord’s Wrath
Gheed’s Fortune
Various GCs, LCs and SCs with +AR, +MaxDamage, +Life, +Strength
2 Rare Rings:
Code:
Entropy Turn
Ring
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xb294406c
+15 to Strength
+14 to Energy
+60 to Mana
+11 to Maximum Stamina
+118 to Attack Rating
5% Mana stolen per hit
Rune Eye
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x48d23a9d
+19 to Strength
+80 to Mana
+27 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +21%
8% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
Mercenary:
Act II Nightmare Offensive (Might aura)
“Insight” Ethereal Cryptic Axe
Ethereal Andariel’s Visage (w/ Ral rune)
Shaftstop (would have put an Um here if I had spares)
Interesting items found while questing:
Code:
Harlequin Crest
Gimmershred
Demon’s Arch
Frostwind
Doombringer
Realgar Jewel of Fervor (this went into my Tomb Reaver)
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 73
Fingerprint: 0x5e0d40b7
+22% Enhanced Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed
Rusty Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x17182bb1
+20% Enhanced Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed
Amber Small Charm of Fortune
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 78
Fingerprint: 0x66a4aec0
Lightning Resist +11%
3% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd2479fa4
+20 to Attack Rating
+2 to Maximum Damage
3% Faster Run/Walk
Wrist Sword (maybe useful for some sort of runeword-twinking?)
One-Hand Damage: 34 to 45
Durability: 56 of 56
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 105
Required Strength: 105
Required Level: 46
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x4d3ed0b9
+2 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
+2 to Dragon Flight (Assassin Only)
+3 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xa4dd980c
+18 to Life
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance (currently using this)
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1eef2af0
+32 to Life
+73 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage
Viper Touch
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x244c6d7
+118 to Attack Rating
+4 to Maximum Damage
+50 poison damage over 3 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
Ambergris Jewel of Freedom
Required Level: 14
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x67873924
Lightning Resist +28%
Requirements -15%
Corpse Hood
Circlet
Defense: 23
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 51
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x21a5bf57
+16 to Strength
+18 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +27%
Poison Resist +39%
+2 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt when struck
Cracked Phase Blade (I wonder who managed to crack a Phase Blade?)
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 26
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 54
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x7c270195
Order Touch (gambled from Anya)
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x30056988
+15 to Strength
+30 to Mana
+18 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +30%
7% Life stolen per hit
Dread Band (gambled from Anya)
Ring
Required Level: 22
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xfab7bb82
+55 to Mana
+102 to Attack Rating
Damage Reduced by 1
Lightning Resist +20%
10% Faster Cast Rate
Level 5 Fire Bolt (32/32 Charges)
Chromatic Amulet of Life Everlasting (gambled from Anya)
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x80a087ba
Damage Reduced by 25
All Resistances +24
Ruby Jewel of Virility
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0xa293083e
+6 to Strength
+35% Enhanced Damage
Skill Points:
20 Whirlwind
20 Battle Orders
20 Polearm Mastery
20 Shout
1 Battle Command
1 Natural Resistance
1 Berserk
1 War Cry
1 Battle Cry
1 Iron Skin
1 Leap Attack
1 Concentrate
1 Leap
1 Taunt
1 Stun
1 Bash
1 Howl
1 Find Potion
1 Find Item
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed
Stat Points:
Strength: 202 (Everything else)
Dexterity: 83 (Enough for gear)
Vitality: 240 (Enough for 2.5k-3k life after BO)
Energy: 10 (Base)
(I placed enough in Dexterity so I won't be dependent on the bonus from Lionheart in case I find my elusive second Ber for Chains of Honor)
The Build:
The build will be finished at level 86 if you do all the skill quests.
Further points can be placed into Iron Skin, Find Item or Berserk.
Only take the points in Find Potion and Find Item if you want to use Find Item. If you plan to use Heart Carver as your only source of Find Item, or if you want to hold off on Find Item until you start serious MF-ing, don’t place any points in Find Potion or Find Item early on. Even though I use Heart Carver on switch myself, I still like the 1 hard point in Find Item to avoid hotkey selections potentially disappearing between games.
Some people advocate keeping your run/walk speed at base to keep whirls short. If you wish to take that route, don’t put any points in Increased Speed. Personally, I like the added speed for questing, and I don’t think shorter whirls are timesaving enough overall.
If you choose not to place any points in Increased Speed, you may not want any points in Increased Stamina either, although it is likely still worth it.
For those interested, I made this walkthrough of skill point distribution by level (note that you may complete the skill quests at different points than mentioned here):
level 2-5 + Den of Evil:
Bash, Howl, and Find Potion 1 point each, save the remaining 2 points.
Take the point in Bash first, and use it on left-click.
level 6-17:
Polearm Mastery 6 points. Leap, Shout, Taunt, Stun, Increased Stamina, and Find Item 1 point each, save the remaining 2 points.
level 18-29 + Radament:
Battle Orders 6 points. Concentrate, Leap Attack, Iron Skin, Battle Cry, and Increased Speed 1 point each, save the remaining 4 points.
Use Concentrate instead of Bash on left-click, with Leap Attack on right-click (very useful to reach monsters that resurrect others, plus to jump across rivers, getting close to archers, etc).
level 30-35:
Whirlwind 6 points. Battle Command, Berserk, War Cry, and Natural Resistance 1 point each.
Whirlwind will be the main attack from here on out. Use it on right-click to avoid the game thinking you want to move normally instead of using Whirlwind. You want to click past monsters rather than directly on a monster for most efficient use. Keep the mouse button held while whirling, just moving the mouse in small increments. This lets you continue whirling indefinitely as long as there are monsters to hit and mana in your pool.
Remember to use Berserk on physical immune monsters and in any area where Oblivion Knights can be found (this includes Chaos Sanctuary on all difficulties, plus Infernal Pit, Worldstone Keep Level 3 and Throne of Destruction in NM/Hell).
From here, alternate placing points in Battle Orders and Polearm Mastery until both are maxed, then max Whirlwind, and finally Shout.
Gear Info:
Regardless of what gear you choose to use, there are some mods that are fairly essential to the success of this build:
You need to have a high-damage weapon, preferably reaching the last WW breakpoint (-60), but the second-last breakpoint (-30) is also ok.
You need to have a decent amount of life and mana leech. Aim for at least 10-15% life leech and 5-10% mana leech. You can’t drink potions while whirling, so this is a must.
You should aim for 25-35% “damage taken goes to mana”. This helps a great deal against unleechable monsters (such as skeletons), as well as against mana drain and mana burn monsters, allowing whirls to continue longer.
Some percentage of physical damage reduction also helps a lot, since we can’t use a shield.
A high amount of bonuses to Attack Rating is also essential. I mainly use charms for this purpose, but the Angelic Halo-Angelic Wings combo is also very good for this purpose.
You should have some amount of Crushing Blow. Deadly Strike is also very good.
Resists should be close to max in Hell difficulty.
"% chance to cast on attack/striking" mods do NOT work with Whirlwind, so there is no point in loading up on those types of items.
"+skills" items are less required for this build than for most other builds, so there is no need to go out of your way to find gear with this unless those items also have other useful mods.
"% Increased Attack Speed" outside of the weapon is irrelevant as far as Whirlwind is concerned; it only cares about the actual speed of the weapon (plus any runes/jewels socketed in it).
Gear Options:
(I've tried to include budget options where I thought there were good ones)
Armor: “Chains of Honor” RW – “Fortitude” RW – “Lionheart” RW – “Duress” RW – “Stone” RW – “Gloom” RW – “Smoke” RW – Leviathan – Tyrael’s Might – Arkaine’s Valor – The Gladiator’s Bane – Shaftstop – Duriel’s Shell – Spirit Forge – Skin of the Flayed One
Helm: Arreat’s Face – Giant Skull – Crown of Ages – Andariel’s Visage – Veil of Steel – Steel Shade – Harlequin Crest – Vampire Gaze – Stealskull – Rockstopper – perfect Demonhorn’s Edge – rare barbarian helm with +Barb/Combat skills and nice skillmods (preferably WW, BO, Polearm Mastery, Iron Skin, or Natural Resistance)
Gloves: Soul Drainer – Dracul’s Grasp – Steelrend – Venom Grip – “Blood” crafted gloves
Belt: String of Ears – Verdungo’s Hearty Cord – Nosferatu’s Coil – Gloom’s Trap
Boots: Gore Rider – Goblin Toe
Amulet: Highlord’s Wrath – Crescent Moon – Metalgrid – Angelic Wings (w/ Angelic Halo) – The Eye of Etlich – dual leech “Blood” crafted amulet – dual leech rare amulet
Rings: Carrion Wind – Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band – Angelic Halo (w/ Angelic Wings) – Raven Frost – “Blood” crafted ring – (dual) leech rare ring
Weapons (last WW breakpoint): Tomb Reaver (w/ 1 Shael rune or IAS jewel) – “Breath of the Dying” RW (Great Poleaxe or Giant Thresher, preferably ethereal) – Bonehew (w/ 2 Shael runes or IAS jewels) – Athena’s Wrath (w/ Shael rune)
Weapons (2nd-last WW breakpoint): Upgraded The Meat Scraper (extra IAS not needed) – Regular The Meat Scraper (w/ Shael rune or IAS jewel)
The “Hand of Justice”, “Doom”, “Fury”, “Call to Arms”, “Silence”, and “Crescent Moon” runewords can also reach the second-last breakpoint in some polearms, and all of them have nice other mods, but if you have the wealth to make any of those you should also have access to some of the options for the last breakpoint