Rare Phaseblade

[LouB]

I got a lot of likes when I posted this in the Beyond Infinity thread. The question is just how good is it? It doesn't beat Grief, but I'm very seriously thinking about building a Frenzy barb that uses Grief and this. I like the idea of being able to cast amp damage on my own and being able to equip something else on my merc.




I've gone ahead and had Lazurk punch a socket in it and the next question is what to put in it? I recently found a 40/15 Ruby jewel of Fervor, but I think the 15% IAS will be wasted. I just found this little beauty and think this might be a good choice.

 

[snickersnack]

Is there a reason that you don't run with an empty socket first just to see how that goes?

 

[LouB]

Nope and seing as how I haven't even created the frenzy barb it will be a while before He can equip it. and who knows what I might find between now and then to socket it with. However, I thought it would be interesting to get some ideas what to put in it.

Over the years only three of my 18 pat/mats have used swords. So, I'm not exactly good at judging swords.

I enjoy planning a build almost as much as playing the character. I know that for Frenzy the weapon speed of both weapons is important and both really need IAS on the weapons. Looking at the Runewords I'd say the best pairing to go with Grief would be Oath. Without the ctc amp damage this sword is less than an Oath sword, but I'm curious to see what people think of it because ot the ctc amp damage.

 

[coju]

I like it for the Amp.

AMP!!!

 

[D2DC]

I recently found a 40/15 Ruby jewel of Fervor, but I think the 15% IAS will be wasted.

Yes, please do not do that. Unless of course, you have already used your 2 other 40/15s on your Zod'd eth Tomb Reaver. Then by all means, proceed!

35-40 ED / 15 IAS - 11.0 - 23.0 (perfect ones cah go MUCH higher)

 

[Miron]

I would go for Eth rune or AR jewel. Another option is max or min damage jewel (will this sword reach max=min+1?)

If you really want to optimize AMP then you should also use Atma amulet. I went this way too with my frenzy barb although I used crafted flail instead of your sword.

EDIT: There was a thread in the past about DEX glitch, so maybe a jewel with dex/ED (or other useful mod) can be used?

 

[Excalibur]

Amp Damage is crazy but 5% to cast it is very low. I assume most mobs would die before even triggering. Lacerator would be a better choice if you plan wielding it yourself.

+150-210% Enhanced Damage  
 +30% Increased Attack Speed
+33% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
 Hit Causes Monster To Flee +50%
33% Chance To Cast Level 3 Amplify Damage On Striking
 Replenishes Quantity [1 in 4 sec.]

 

[LouB]

@D2DC Nope, I'm going till wait till I have a second 40/15 and then drop them both in a Heaven's Light.

@Excalibur You raise a good point and I think I'll break out my old Frenzy barb and put the two swords on him and see what happens.

I've used Dual Lacerators on a throw barb and of course the axes are really flying and amp is constantly going off. However, the one hand damage isn't that great and in order to take advantage of Weapon mastery I'd have to make A Grief axe. I end up with a higher frame rate and have repair cost for the Grief Axe.

While I realize that both decrepify and Amp damage affect all monsters, I tend to just focus on their ability to break Physical immunities. Besides if everything is dying so fast that amp never casts did I really need it?

@Miron An interesting idea on using Atma's. Any idea how the game handled the fact that Atma's is a level 2 Amp and the sword is only a level 1. the effect is the same but the curse area and duration are different. So, is the ctc 10% and half of that time its level 2 and the other half level 1? Or does it check one and if it doesn't cast check the other to see if it casts, which isn't actually a 10% chance.

 

[ffs]

I'd say it’s not very useful tbh, I wouldn’t spend good jewels or anything like that on it. Not only 2x Grief but also Oath or Death will deliver higher damage. Barb can use 2h sword bases as well and Oath/Death in such bases hits pretty hard with Frenzy.

I personally don't pick up rare PBs because the only "potential trophies" in that category are ethereal ones, upgraded from ethereal crystal swords or dimensional blades. Their damage is still lower than Grief/Oath/Death or good uniques for that matter, but etherealness helps with that at least, and with high ED and other good mods at can provide style points for sure.

 

[LouB]

I already knew that there were higher damage weapons. The thing that had me excited was the ctc amp damage and since I would be casting it to break PIs, I would then be free to do something else with my merc beside putting on something to cast decrep.

After @Excalibur comment I dusted off my old frenzy barb equipped Grief and this sword and took him out to Hell LK at p8 and Travincal at p3 without a merc and with zero sword mastery. I've got to say that I was NOT impressed and that's after factoring in not having the critical strike chance or any help from a merc. I seriously doubt that I'll build a barb from scratch with the idea of using this sword.

 

[Excalibur]

I already knew that there were higher damage weapons. The thing that had me excited was the ctc amp damage and since I would be casting it to break PIs, I would then be free to do something else with my merc beside putting on something to cast decrep.

I never bothered with Physical Immunes. There are few in the game and you can just ignore them. On my most physical builds, Decrepify from Hireling's Reaper was enough.

 

[SirName]

If you really want to proc yourself (instead of merc) then I’d give Lawbringer in a Phaseblade a go. Damage is low but your rare hasn’t got a meaningful amount either. Lawbringer does however proc decrepify quite reliably and also has Sanctuary setting undead physical resist to 0.

Edit: why PB? Lawbringer has no ed so what matters is speed and you will probably be having Grief in a PB as main so also for the looks.

 

[Arjan]

@D2DC Nope, I'm going till wait till I have a second 40/15 and then drop them both in a Heaven's Light.

@Excalibur You raise a good point and I think I'll break out my old Frenzy barb and put the two swords on him and see what happens.

I've used Dual Lacerators on a throw barb and of course the axes are really flying and amp is constantly going off. However, the one hand damage isn't that great and in order to take advantage of Weapon mastery I'd have to make A Grief axe. I end up with a higher frame rate and have repair cost for the Grief Axe.

While I realize that both decrepify and Amp damage affect all monsters, I tend to just focus on their ability to break Physical immunities. Besides if everything is dying so fast that amp never casts did I really need it?

@Miron An interesting idea on using Atma's. Any idea how the game handled the fact that Atma's is a level 2 Amp and the sword is only a level 1. the effect is the same but the curse area and duration are different. So, is the ctc 10% and half of that time its level 2 and the other half level 1? Or does it check one and if it doesn't cast check the other to see if it casts, which isn't actually a 10% chance.

I’m gonna say you have 10% chance to cast level 1 AMP and 10% chance to cast level 2. It’s not different than the CTC with two different curses or effects.

Thing I noticed with my Frenzy barb on consule is that the off-hand is completely ignored in the extra abilities screen but obviously the weapon is there and the effects trigger (I had this with two CB weapons and was curious how this would be dealt with… let’s say completely ignoring it is also a way to deal with it).

I have to say that two sources of AMP trigger quite often. But that’s just a gut feeling

 

[LouB]

@Excalibur different play style. I have to kill EVERYTHING! I know that this slows my magic finding, but it's how I play the game.

@SirName Yep. I used Lawbringer extensively in Nightmare while leveling my wolfbarb using just a point in double swing. I put mine in a Superior Legend sword (highest damage fastest blade I had with 3 sockets). Since I knew that I would lose the ctc decrep once I equipped Wolfhowl, I went with a Barb merc as soon as I could after reaching Act 5 in Nightmare. At that point I made Lawbringer in an eth Champion sword (best eth sword I had at the time) and usedit all the way through Hell.

 

[LouB]

I keep picking up rare weapons because I'm convinced some day I'm going to find a great one. After all I just found a 40/15 Ruby jewel of Fervor! I've also found some real broken ones like a crystal sword with required level in the 60s, but I keep hoping.

I also think part of the reason I liked this sword initally is thatI have never found many rare phaseblades over the years and its been a long time sinice I found anything with ctc amp damage. I just found a Great Polearm with the 5% ctc amp damage and again it has 30% IAS. Unfortunately, it only has low ED% and really is quite useless.