- May 11, 2022
- 469
- 799
- 93
Another day, another character I'd like to share with you all.
If there are any Bravely Default fans out there on these boards, you might have guessed that my original idea for barras came from Barras Lehr, holder of the Monk Asterisk in Bravely Default. (Sidebar: If you like JRPGs with Job systems and haven't heard of Bravely Default, then check it out! It is really well done. My all-time favourite JRPG is easily Final Fantasy 5. Bravely Default is kind of like a modern, and in many ways improved, spiritual successor to earlier games with Job system like FF3 and FF5.)
Barras is a big, strong looking dude, similar to a Barb in D2. Some descriptions of a Monk:
- "With high HP and strong attack abilities, these contemplative combatants find inner peace by taking pieces out of enemies."
- "A brute-strength attacker!"
Also, Monks in Bravely Default have S-tier affinity for using Staves and Knuckles.
A contemplative combatant... a brute-strength attacker... good with staves... it sounded just like a Concentrate Barb with an 'Insight' Staff to me!
So, barras played through Normal and NM as an 'Insight' staff-wielding Concentrate Barb. Concentrate was the main attack, but to spice things up I mixed in Leap Attacks and Whirlwinds just for fun, and to make it easier to get around in some areas.
Early progress through Normal and NM are chronicled in my thread-of-doom starting here: https://www.purediablo.com/forums/t...-to-join-in-the-fun.21038/page-3#post-2720312
The gameplay started to get a bit tiring towards the end of NM. A little repetitive. At least I didn't restrict myself to only using Concentrate. That would have gotten boring even quicker.
As barras was almost ready to make the jump to Hell difficulty, my Fire Ball Sorc scored a Wolfhowl from Terrorized Andy. That was the perfect opportunity to mix things up. I ran NM TZs with barras to hit the level requirement, re-spec'd, and set off in Hell.
Wow, the Werewolf Barb is a speed demon. I absolutely blitzed my way through Hell. As usual, I completed all quests, but I didn't necessarily fully clear every area along the way. I played barras as a full-time Werewolf throughout Hell, and while I started finding the playstyle a bit tedious after a while, I still enjoyed it overall. I have loads of skill points to spare, so I willll re-think this guy a bit, and maybe only play him as a Werewolf situationally, so I can mix in Barb Combat Skills while not being a Werewolf.
Interesting finds along the way: Ist rune, Fleshripper... no good claw bases :-/
Stats and all that:
Patriarch barras - Level 83
STATS
Strength: 150 (191 w/ gear)
Dexterity: 145 (193)
Vitality: 205 (235)
Energy: 10 (25)
Life: 1419 (2782 w/ Battle Orders; 3566 w/ BO and Werewolf)
Mana: 305
Fire/Cold/Lightning/Poison res.: 75/20/46/34
SKILLS
Max: Battle Orders, Axe Mastery
1 pt: Battle Command, Increased Stamina, Increased Speed, Iron Skin, pre-reqs
5 pts: Natural Resistance
(43 skill points left to spend... I am undecided..!)
GEAR
Helm: Wolfhowl (+3 Warcries, +6 Feral Rage, +4 Lycanthropy, +6 Werewolf)
Weapon: Messerschmidt's Reaver unique Champion Axe
Switch: 2x Islestrike unique Twin Axes (I assume the +2 Druid skills on these axes applies when I switch to Werewolf... but honestly I don't know about that lol)
Armor: 'Fortitude' Archon Plate
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Belt: Nosferatu's Coil
Boots: Gore Rider
Amulet: Rare w/ +2 Warcries, +48 Life, +20 all res.
Rings: Raven Frost, Manald Heal
Charms: 2x Warcries skillers (one with +34 Life, one plain) and various charms found while questing (life, res., FHR, FRW, etc., etc.)
I selected Messerschmidt's Reaver because it is big and cool. And when else was I going to us it? I could have of course used various runewords... but I have a soft spot for unique items. Kind of wish I hadn't used 'Fortitude' on this guy, and instead another unique... but 'Fortitude' is a very nice choice. Oh well.
Also, I really like that amulet
MERCENARY
Annor - Level 82 Rogue (Freezing Arrow)
Bow: 'Mist' Matriarchal Bow (w/ +3 Bow skills)
Helm: Valkyrie Wing
Armor: 'Lionheart' Wyrmhide
She was very tanky and helped a lot! Level 17 Freezing Arrow and level 35 Cold Arrow froze every non-Cold Immune monster around me. And I let her tackle all the physical immunes (as long as they were not dual CI and PI). All I had to do was stand there slapping at the PI's, tanking hits, while she mowed them down with Cold and Freezing Arrows. 'Mist' is a fantastic runeword. Also, the Concentration aura it provides fit very nicely with the original theme of 'Insight' and Concentrate for barras.
Thanks for reading!
If there are any Bravely Default fans out there on these boards, you might have guessed that my original idea for barras came from Barras Lehr, holder of the Monk Asterisk in Bravely Default. (Sidebar: If you like JRPGs with Job systems and haven't heard of Bravely Default, then check it out! It is really well done. My all-time favourite JRPG is easily Final Fantasy 5. Bravely Default is kind of like a modern, and in many ways improved, spiritual successor to earlier games with Job system like FF3 and FF5.)
Barras is a big, strong looking dude, similar to a Barb in D2. Some descriptions of a Monk:
- "With high HP and strong attack abilities, these contemplative combatants find inner peace by taking pieces out of enemies."
- "A brute-strength attacker!"
Also, Monks in Bravely Default have S-tier affinity for using Staves and Knuckles.
A contemplative combatant... a brute-strength attacker... good with staves... it sounded just like a Concentrate Barb with an 'Insight' Staff to me!
So, barras played through Normal and NM as an 'Insight' staff-wielding Concentrate Barb. Concentrate was the main attack, but to spice things up I mixed in Leap Attacks and Whirlwinds just for fun, and to make it easier to get around in some areas.
Early progress through Normal and NM are chronicled in my thread-of-doom starting here: https://www.purediablo.com/forums/t...-to-join-in-the-fun.21038/page-3#post-2720312
The gameplay started to get a bit tiring towards the end of NM. A little repetitive. At least I didn't restrict myself to only using Concentrate. That would have gotten boring even quicker.
As barras was almost ready to make the jump to Hell difficulty, my Fire Ball Sorc scored a Wolfhowl from Terrorized Andy. That was the perfect opportunity to mix things up. I ran NM TZs with barras to hit the level requirement, re-spec'd, and set off in Hell.
Wow, the Werewolf Barb is a speed demon. I absolutely blitzed my way through Hell. As usual, I completed all quests, but I didn't necessarily fully clear every area along the way. I played barras as a full-time Werewolf throughout Hell, and while I started finding the playstyle a bit tedious after a while, I still enjoyed it overall. I have loads of skill points to spare, so I willll re-think this guy a bit, and maybe only play him as a Werewolf situationally, so I can mix in Barb Combat Skills while not being a Werewolf.
Interesting finds along the way: Ist rune, Fleshripper... no good claw bases :-/
Stats and all that:
Patriarch barras - Level 83
STATS
Strength: 150 (191 w/ gear)
Dexterity: 145 (193)
Vitality: 205 (235)
Energy: 10 (25)
Life: 1419 (2782 w/ Battle Orders; 3566 w/ BO and Werewolf)
Mana: 305
Fire/Cold/Lightning/Poison res.: 75/20/46/34
SKILLS
Max: Battle Orders, Axe Mastery
1 pt: Battle Command, Increased Stamina, Increased Speed, Iron Skin, pre-reqs
5 pts: Natural Resistance
(43 skill points left to spend... I am undecided..!)
GEAR
Helm: Wolfhowl (+3 Warcries, +6 Feral Rage, +4 Lycanthropy, +6 Werewolf)
Weapon: Messerschmidt's Reaver unique Champion Axe
Switch: 2x Islestrike unique Twin Axes (I assume the +2 Druid skills on these axes applies when I switch to Werewolf... but honestly I don't know about that lol)
Armor: 'Fortitude' Archon Plate
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Belt: Nosferatu's Coil
Boots: Gore Rider
Amulet: Rare w/ +2 Warcries, +48 Life, +20 all res.
Rings: Raven Frost, Manald Heal
Charms: 2x Warcries skillers (one with +34 Life, one plain) and various charms found while questing (life, res., FHR, FRW, etc., etc.)
I selected Messerschmidt's Reaver because it is big and cool. And when else was I going to us it? I could have of course used various runewords... but I have a soft spot for unique items. Kind of wish I hadn't used 'Fortitude' on this guy, and instead another unique... but 'Fortitude' is a very nice choice. Oh well.
Also, I really like that amulet
MERCENARY
Annor - Level 82 Rogue (Freezing Arrow)
Bow: 'Mist' Matriarchal Bow (w/ +3 Bow skills)
Helm: Valkyrie Wing
Armor: 'Lionheart' Wyrmhide
She was very tanky and helped a lot! Level 17 Freezing Arrow and level 35 Cold Arrow froze every non-Cold Immune monster around me. And I let her tackle all the physical immunes (as long as they were not dual CI and PI). All I had to do was stand there slapping at the PI's, tanking hits, while she mowed them down with Cold and Freezing Arrows. 'Mist' is a fantastic runeword. Also, the Concentration aura it provides fit very nicely with the original theme of 'Insight' and Concentrate for barras.
Thanks for reading!
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