Verdungo's Hearty Cord

[Tubba Blubba]

Verdungo's Hearty Cord

Is this actually useful in PvM? The FHR is great in PvP, but negligible in PvM since you can make it up so easily with charms. The +vitality is great... But it's not multiplied by Battle Orders, which cuts the use a bit for Barbs. The %dr is decent, but eh.

Personally, I always find myself using String of Ears. %DR, leech, MDR. In particular, I find the MDR very useful since it helps with Hydras and Cold mages during Baalruns. As for life, I can get nearly as much from rares, with more FHR and some resists.

So is Verdungo's actually useful in PvM, or is it more of a PvP item?

 

[gedda-d-e]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

I like it. I dont have a CTA etc. so I prefer any life bonus I can get. String is a good item but I prefer the VIT on Verdungo's over LL & MDR, as those are easy to get from other times.

/g

 

[Schmaleop]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

I like it. I dont have a CTA etc. so I prefer any life bonus I can get. String is a good item but I prefer the VIT on Verdungo's over LL & MDR, as those are easy to get from other times.

/g

I'd say the opposite; you can make the life bonus, that Verdungo's provides, up from charms. LL & MDR are prohibited to items.

 

[Tubba Blubba]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

Thing is, I'm trying to gear up my whirler for Baalrunning as well as possible.

Stats:

Naked/Gear
Strength: 179
Dexterity: 100
Vitality: 226
Energy: 10
HP: 1071
Mana: 96

Skill distro: Nothing interesting, standard Whirlhorker, max Battle Orders, etc.

Gear:
Weapons: 2 1.07 Oath swords. I don't think I'll find anything to beat them anytime soon.
Switch: Ali Baba for killing Baal.
Helm: Arreat's Face with a 26% Enhanced Damage jewel. Well duh.
Armor: +2 Arkaine's Valor w/ 13% resist jewel. No fortitude. Alternatives include 20/20 Gladiator's, Duress, Lionheart, Tal's plate.
Amulet: 440/305/32 Metalgrid. I've got just about everything here; Highlord's, Mara's, Crescent, etc.
Rings: Carrion Wind (6% LL)/resist and mana leech rare
Belt: 8/13/13 String. I switch to Thundergod's Vigor when running to the throne.
Gloves: Laying of Hands. I don't think there's a lot to do here. I would use Steelrend or Soul Drainers if I had them.
Boots: Gore Riders, since I lack CB and DS from anywhere else.

Merc:
Reaper's Toll (for decrepify)
Ebugged Stone
Andariel's Visage

Resists: end up at something like 75/70/74/75 with Charms, which is good enough for me. Charms are basically Gheed's, Resists, and then +damage.

Concerns: Lack of CB and DS apart from Gores. I could make this up with Duress + Highlord's, but I would lose a lot of AR and resists. Just Duress would rob me of like 160 HP (not a big deal, un-BO:able), and 15 DR (Kind of annoying, but not vital). It would add a bit of ED, Cold Resist and CB. As for Highlord's, it's mainly the AR that I'm concerned about, when I checked I'd still be pretty good on resists (except CR). I'm also considering the Angelic Combo, that'd shoot my AR up a good deal.

Anyway, opinions, suggestions? Have I missed anything vital?

 

[Dronte]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

A small offtopic question, why did you use 26%ED jewel in Arreat's? I mean I'm not playing much but found like 3-4 jewels that are 30%++ ED (even one with 40%). Am I that lucky with jewels or you had a reason not to use a better one?

 

[Tubba Blubba]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

It was the best thing I had and I didn't really have anything else to socket it with. I might chip it out with a Hel and stuff an Um or Scint in it when I find something.

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

In your case, I think the SoE is a better fit - the extra leech will probably be appreciated more than anything you'd get from the Verdungos.

I'd probably choose Duress over Arkaines (with BO, you shouldn't really need the FHR... 10-15 DR and +2 skills aren't particularly great for barbs... etc.). I chose Metalgrid over Highlords for my levelup runs, as the AR and resists are pretty sweet.

As far as the charms, you might notice more benefit if you go with Steel charms over Sharp/Fine charms. Whirlybarbs can have AR issues, and even a couple extra Steel charms can improve that a lot.

I don't recommend this for WSK/Baal, but keep in mind that Tal's Helm+Armor+Belt is a pretty nice MF combo for a melee build. The helm's got nice dual leech & resists, the dex and DTM on the belt both aren't bad, the armor rocks as always, and you'd get the 65MF bonus from having 3 pieces.

 

[Schmaleop]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

Get AR from charms if necessary but i'd switch the Highlord's on. Probably opt for Duress too. LoH are also going to benefit you more than Steelrends etc.. so no need to worry there.

 

[Tubba Blubba]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

In your case, I think the SoE is a better fit - the extra leech will probably be appreciated more than anything you'd get from the Verdungos.

I'd probably choose Duress over Arkaines (with BO, you shouldn't really need the FHR... 10-15 DR and +2 skills aren't particularly great for barbs... etc.). I chose Metalgrid over Highlords for my levelup runs, as the AR and resists are pretty sweet.

As far as the charms, you might notice more benefit if you go with Steel charms over Sharp/Fine charms. Whirlybarbs can have AR issues, and even a couple extra Steel charms can improve that a lot.

I don't recommend this for WSK/Baal, but keep in mind that Tal's Helm+Armor+Belt is a pretty nice MF combo for a melee build. The helm's got nice dual leech & resists, the dex and DTM on the belt both aren't bad, the armor rocks as always, and you'd get the 65MF bonus from having 3 pieces.

Yeah, I think I'll go with Duress.

I'll have to experiment a bit with Metalgrid and Highlord's, I think. The DS is very useful, but if I can't make up the AR and resists to satisfaction, I'll have to go with Metalgrid.

I'll look over my charm inventory.

As for the Tal's combo, it's a favourite of mine, I use it when I pitrun with the Barb.

 

[Rhone]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

I feel pretty much the same way about Verdungo's vs. SoE. More hp is nice, but I'll take the life leech any day (and the MDR is a nice bonus). SoE is basically my standard belt for all my melee characters.

I agree with taking Duress over Arkaine's; or use Tal's if you want to bump up your MF (my close-to-being-patted WW Barb is wearing Tal's armor, but he's geared specifically for MFing). I also like Highlord's... even though the IAS doesn't matter for WW, the DS is very nice. When my Barb hit level 84 and I switched from Bonehew to Tomb Reaver, the resists from Tomby allowed me to switch from Mara's to Highlord's and I experienced a noticable increase in my killing speed even though Tomb Reaver and Bonehew are pretty even in terms of damage.

 

[Tubba Blubba]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

Hm, I think I need to get some more points into +nat resists, I only have like 2 hard points. I guess I could use my BKWB.

 

[Doppel]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

I pretty much prefer a nice crafted blood belt over either verdungo's or string of ears, certainly in SP as resists are much harder to come by (and with some luck a crafted belt will have some).

 

[Tubba Blubba]

Re: Verdungo's Hearty Cord

I pretty much prefer a nice crafted blood belt over either verdungo's or string of ears, certainly in SP as resists are much harder to come by (and with some luck a crafted belt will have some).

That is very true. I should try and craft a bunch. Belts and boots can get pretty crazy stats with some luck.