Patriarch Baz the Throw Barb

[LouB]

This is my third throw barb and the second pure thrower that I have completed Hell with. The first was way back in 1.09 with a Hybrid berserk thrower. Why I decided to make another pure thrower I don’t remember as I took a ten-year hiatus from the game and this guy was left sitting in Act 1 Hell when I got back.

Like my first pure thrower he went through Normal and Nightmare with an Act 1 Cold Rogue. I’m sure that the plan was to use her all the way through Hell as I did with my first thrower. However, after 10 years I was very rusty and quickly tired of the constant repositioning needed to use the rogue to the best advantage. So, I went back and got a barbarian merc and used him till Act 5. At the beginning of Act 5 I went back to Nightmare and got a Might Merc and used him through Act 5.

Quite a few deaths as I got most of my skills back, but Mephisto, Diablo, the Ancients and Baal all went down quickly.

No real finds as I had almost zero magic find, but the Hell forge dropped a Pul.

Name: BAZ
Class: Barbarian
Experience: 1005487759
Level: 84

Naked/Gear
Strength: 149/194
Dexterity: 130/194
Vitality: 226/251
Energy: 10/15
HP: 1085/1159
Mana: 93/145
Stamina: 376/396
Defense: 32/2082
AR: 635/30933 (that’s what Go Mule says, on the screen it was something over 6,000)

Fire: 148/108/48
Cold: 128/88/28
Lightning: 138/98/38
Poison: 128/88/28

MF: 63 Block: 26
GF: 105
FR/W: 30
FHR: 70
IAS: 95
FCR: 0

Skills
Bash: 1/7
Double Swing: 20/26
Double Throw: 1/7
Axe Mastery: 1/5
Throwing Mastery: 20/24
Increased Stamina: 1/5
Iron Skin: 1/5
Increased Speed: 1/5
Natural Resistance: 4/8
Howl: 1/5
Find Potion: 1/5
Taunt: 1/5
Shout: 9/13
Find Item: 1/5
Battle Cry: 1/5
Battle Orders: 20/24
War Cry: 4/8
Battle Command: 1/5

And 6 skill points unused

Equipment
Helm: Arreat’s Face socketed with a Realgar jewel of Fervor (29% ED/15%IAS)
Armor: Duress Balrog Skin
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Belt: Thundergod’s Vigor
Boots: Gore Rider
Amulet: Mara’s (23 to resistances)
Ring: Raven Frost (220 AR and 19 Dex)
Ring: Rare with +74 to Attack Rating
7% Life stolen per hit
+14 to Dexterity
+12 to Mana
Lightning Resist +30%

Weapon switch 1: Dual Lacerators (209% ED and 208%ED)
Weapon switch2. Either Dual Gimmershreds (204%ED, 188%ED) or 1 Gimmershred and 1 Warshrike.

Charms
A Gheeds with 37 MF
Iron, Fine and sharp charms totally 223 AR, 6 Dex, 11 to Max damage and 56 to life
Small charms to max resistances

Mercs
Rogue
Helm: Guillaume’s face
Arrmor: Shaftstop with 55AR/15IAS jewel
Bow: Windforce


Barb
Helm: Guillaume’s face
Arrmor: Shaftstop with 55AR/15IAS jewel
Weapon: Frostwind

Desert Merc
Helm: Delirium
Armor: Gladiator’s Bane
Weapon: Arioc’s Needle

I’d never tried a barb merc, so it was worth the try. I will say that if I had given him one or two purple pots he would have lived standing toe to toe with Diablo as I stood to the side and cut Diablo down. Other than that, nothing good to say for him.

I ended up not using Reaper’s toll for the might merc as the amp damage from the Lacerators was enough and the +4 to skills from the Needle gave me slightly more damage.

I really like the Delirium helm. It’s fun watching a mob bashing away at each other. I don’t think they actually killed other monsters, but they sure got distracted.

 

[Delsy]

@LouB Well done.

One little thing. +Min/Max Damage outside of a weapon doesn't work with throwing weapons.

I wonder if +%Damage to Demons does work with throwing weapons. By any chance, did you notice increased damage facing Demons?

 

[LouB]

I just did a couple of quick tests.

I removed all of the charms with +max damage and replaced them with the same total of Dex and AR charms. The damage window in the character sections shows a decrease in the max damage done. I also took him on a quick spin through the Highlands and the monsters sure seem to die a little slower.

I also found a pair of gloves with 20% IAS and no other mods that would affect damage being done. Without a doubt demons (blunderbores) died slower than with Laying of hands . I also tried just the 20% IAS gloves with no +max damage charms and I think that the demons are dying even slower.

 

[Delsy]

Interesting. That would mean DMG charms do work with throwing axes. Way back I tested it with plain javelins and about 100 max dmg worth of charms and they didn't work. Guess I'll test it again with all throwing weapon types. Thanks for your answer.

 

[NorthDakota]

Pretty sure they work with double throw. It's just that it doesn't display correctly on the LCS. You can't trust that thing, it lies.

 

[saracen85]

Congrats!

I remembered playing one last year.. The need for spacing between the throw barb and monsters threw me off (pardon the pun). Such a weird feeling; Not really melee but not quite ranged either.

And yeah, I don't notice any damage irregularities either. Just the LCS over inflated the damage numbers.

 

[Delsy]

I tested it again, with the same results. This time I tested throwing knives and throwing axes as well. With basic throw or double throw, the damage was the same, whether I had equipped 120 max damage from charms or not. Obviously, I tested it on monsters and not by looking on the LCS. Damage to Demons works all right, just as LouB already said.

 

[snickersnack]

Nice build! I've thought of doing one myself now that I have a second Lacerator.

Sidenote: I *kind of* want to make a sock account named LCS that goes into threads spreading misinformation.

 

[LouB]

I'm partial to barbs , but hate whirlwind and stay away from swords. Ok, I'm different! My favorites are Frennziers and throw barbs. If you try a throw barb don't fall into the trap of putting 20 points into double throw, It's not worth it. I submitted a build guide at the same time as I posted this, but haven't heard back.