Warcry using Barb Guide v. 2 by memememe173
K, I’m having problems making threads, so I’ve gotten Mad Mantis to do it (thanks).
No intro as of yet, and a lack of pictures, I’m putting this to get some extra input before I post the final version.
Warcry using Barb Guide v. 2
Introduction
Abbreviations/Terms
Overview of the build
Skill discussion
Stat placement
Equipment selection
Strategy
Build Variants
Thank you
PvP section coming soon
Introduction:
Abbreviations/Terms:
Mf: Magic Find
PvM: Player vs. Monster
PvP: Player vs Player
FCR: Faster Cast Rate
FHR: Faster Hit Recovery
WCs: Warcries skill tree
WC: War Cry skill
BO: Battle Orders
BC: Battle Command
LA: Leap Attack
DR: Physical Damage Reduced
Display Damage is the damage shown on the character screen
Singer is the common name for a barbarian who uses War Cry as his main attack
Overview of the build:
The singer barbarian uses the skill War Cry to damage and stun monsters, while using his high level Battle Orders, Battle Command and Shout to make his whole party stronger. He also makes use of Battle Cry, Taunt, Howl and Leap to keep all around him as safe as possible. The goal of this particular build is to balance usefulness to the party, safety of the barbarian, and to be able to put out respectable damage. This goal is achieved the easiest by balancing the skill level of WC with your mana, similar to long distance running. A purely PvP build on the other hand, is much more like a sprinter, quickly exhausting their energy.
Skill Discussion:
War Cry: War Cry is your only source of damage and the skill that you will use the most. It rates 20 points.
War Cry deals physical damage and the mana cost is skill level +9 (level 1 WC costs 10 mana). It will stun physical immunes even though it doesn’t do damage. WC will also stun champions, uniques and Super Uniques, although it has a reduced % chance of doing so.
With your main skill having such a high mana cost to damage ration, it is not good to have too many +skills. A level 32 WC provides 946-982 (with 20 points in 2 synergys, and 4 in the third) for 41 mana, after that the higher mana cost, makes it very hard to keep casting WC without sacrificing health and overall survivability. Even though this gives lower display damage, it will let you stay with a party during play instead of making frequent trips to town to replenish your mana supply and limits your reliance on mana potions, though you will need to use them occasionally. Over a small amount of casts, the damage a level 32+ WC d
Battle Orders: 20 points. BO more then doubles your mana and health, making a high mana and life pool achievable. BO will not multiply any mana or life gained from these modifiers: +life/mana per level, +vitality/energy or +% mana/life.
Shout: Gives a boost to defense. With all the +skills this build supplies, more then one point in Shout is a waste, especially when the stun on WC limits the amount that you will be attacked. If you have extra points at the end, this is the best place for them.
Battle Command: The duration will be more then enough with only one point. BC will add life, mana, defense, resist, damage, stun duration and leaping distance…all for a single point!
Iron Skin: Even one point will give an extra thousand defense, well worth it.
Increased Stamina/Speed: Get a point in both, it can never hurt…but occasionally it can save you, especially in the levels before you get WC
Natural Resistance: I recommend placing a point here for dealing with unique monsters with the Conviction aura, or Oblivion Knights that use the Lower Resist curse.
Leap//Leap Attack: *see end of strategy
Battle Cry, Taunt, Howl: All three of these skills are synergies for WC. You will want to have at least 2 maxed. I suggest Howl, because it gives you a huge radius at high levels and Battle Cry, because it is a great benefit to you when leveling and also to your party later on.
At level 79 with all quests done your skills should look similar to this:
20 WC
20 BO
20 Battle Cry
20 Howl
1 Leap, Leap Attack, Natural Resist, Increased Speed, Increased Stamina, Taunt, Iron Skin and Battle Command.
For levels 80+ put the points into Taunt to increase your damage.
Stat Placement:
Strength: enough for gear Slikweaves are 65, Frostburns 60, mage plate 55. Keep in mind any strength you will get from gear/charms
Dexterity: Enough for Wizard Spike (75) or for “helâ€ed Wiz (60) again, keep in mind your charms
Vitality: As many points here as you can spare. Try to have some idea of your end gear, so you know how much you can put in vitality, and still have a good sized mana pool.In a PvP build most if not all points should go here, as you don’t need to worry about running out of mana, because you can fully recover it after every fight.
Energy: You want to reach 3k mana (roughly) so if you need to put points here...DO IT! Points in vitality give much better returns (4 life, while energy only gives 1 mana) So charms are a better source of mana supply...but you gotta do what you gotta do
You should aim for a minimum of 4k life and 2.7-3k mana after BO.
Equipment Selection: Unique, Magic, Set, Runeword
When choosing equipment keep in mind that you want to get 105% FCR, 3.5-4k life, 2.7-3k mana, close to 5k defense, and if possible 7frame hit recovery (15% FHR) and a WC level near 30. Depending on your gear (charms mostly) you might find that a few more +skills will work fine. My Singer will probably hit level 33 with his War Cry.
Helm: The best possible helm would be a Jawbone Visor, or other low strength barbarian helm with +3 Warcries, +3 BO, +3 WC, and + Shout/Leap or another useful skill, with the Whale or Squid suffix. Great Magic barb helm, socketed with two perfect skulls *Picture from SeraphimSilver
Another good option would be a 3 socketed barb helm, with +BO, WC, Shout or Leap. With 3 sapphires this kind of helm can provide a lot of mana.
Halabred’s Reign would also be nice, and much easier to find. Only disadvantage is the very high strength requirements.
Low cost/low level options: Radiance or Lore in a +skill helm, Peasant Crown War Hat
Harlequin Crest Shako is good but a magic barb helm, or a socketed helm with +WC, BO etc. with perfect sapphires is better since the +life/+mana with level on shako is not multiplied by BO or increase maximum mana %. It still has good skills and DR% and will provide some mana and life. Much easier to come by, then a really strong magic or socketable helm, so it is still many peoples choice. If you have enough strength, I would choose a “hel†Halabred;s over it though.
Armor: Enigma in a Mage Plate or Breast Plate would be ideal, as it give +2 skills, saves you points in strength, give life and DR, and lets you teleport
Que-Hagen’s Wisdom Mage Plate is my pick if you can’t afford Enigma, great defense, a skill, let’s you hit both the FCR and FHR break points and some mana
The Spirit Shroud Ghost Armor can also be good if you have 2 SOJs to use but would like the cannot be frozen mod.
Low cost/low level options: Stealth Breast or Mage plate, Skin of the Viper Magi Serpenskin Armor, Heavenly Garb Light Plate, 4 sapphire armor
Weapons: Wizard Spike Bone Knife, two of them. There is no replacement. Huge mana, mana regeneration, 100% FCR combined plus their very cheap, many players give them away or will sell for perfect gems. Heart of the Oaks doesn’t provide as much mana or FCR, and the +skills doesn’t really help that build I’m aiming for.
+3 Warcries weapons on your switch are very nice, giving an extra +6 to BO, BC and Shout.
Suicide Branch Burnt Wand and Spectral Shard Blade can both be used at low levels or if you can’t get Wiz spikes.
Gloves: Frostburn Gauntlets are simply the best choice as they give you a huge amount of mana. Mage Fist Light Gauntlets is a distant second, with its mana regeneration.
Belt: Arachnid Mesh Spider web Sash gives a 5% increase in mana, 20% FCR, which can open up ring, amulet and armor options as well as +1 skills. Gloom’s Trap Mesh Belt or an upgraded Nightsmoke Belt are alternatives if you can’t get a Arachnid Mesh.
Boots: Silkweave Mesh Boots are great if you need extra mana, while Water Walk Sharksin Boots will give you life, and a bit extra protection against fire, with the added bonus of making it easier to wear Wizard Spikes.
Crafted Cast Boots (Thul rune + magic jewel + Perfect Amethyst + magic Boots//Demonhide Boots/Wyrmhide Boots) can be excellent with a bit of luck.
Rings: The Stone of Jordan is the best ring for this build. Huge mana and a skill. Ravenfrost gives mana and Cannot be Frozen and Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band has life and a skill. But if you can afford it nothing beats the SOJ. In a rare or magic ring look for mana, life, or FCR if your missing the 105% FCR breakpoint.
Amulet: This is the most open spot on your character. Simply fill in what you don’t have. Mana, life, skills, FCR, Strength, Dexterity can all come on an amulet. Just remember not to go overboard on the +skills. Teleport charges (for those without Enigma) can be a real plus to find on an amulet.
Charms: An Annihilus small charm can never hurt. Get Warcry Grand Charms if you don’t have level 30ish WCs yet. Mana (and life to a lesser extent) is the most important thing you can get on charms. FHR and Faster Run/Walk are also useful, though most item selections won’t require any more of either.
You don’t have to follow these items to a T. The only items I feel are non-removable are Wizard Spike and Frostburns, and something to get you to 105% FCR. Experiment with some of the other items to see what you like best, just keep in mind what I suggested at the top of the equipment section.
For socketing the helm and armor, put in Perfect Skulls to help get your mana back as quickly as possible, sapphires for extra mana, or rubies for more health. If you want to use 2 SOJ and Enigma, you could put a Cham in the helm for CBF, though it’s probably not needed as being frozen won’t decrese your cast speed. For the Wizard Spikes, Hel runes to lower the required dexterity or jewels with life, mana, or FHR could all be used.
Note: Due to my testing I feel that perfect skulls are more valuable then either rubies or sapphires. Although the short term totals will be smaller, the quicker replenishment will be invaluable.
IMO the best (possible) gear for this build would be: Berserker’s Jawbone Cap of the Whale with +3 WC, +3 BO and +2 Leap or Shout with two perfect skulls, Enigma Mage Plate, 2 “helâ€ed Wiz Spikes, Frostburns, Arachnid Mesh, Waterwalks, 2 Sojs, and a rare amulet with life and mana and a few skill levels.
Strategy:
Mercenary: If you’re using Leap Attack, your merc could often be stranded out side the group, and quite possibly taking damage from a few monsters outside your WC radius. So you want a tough merc who can take a few hits. None of the Act 3 mercs can tank well nor do they do much damage, so we can forget them completely. The Act 1 Rogue and then Act 5 Barbarian could be OK, but I think that an Act 2 merc offers the best all around benefit. He can tank and deal good damage, but his aura can also help you, even when you’re not together.
My suggestion for merc equipment would be: Duriel’s Shell Cuirass, Tal Rasha’s Death Mask, and Reaper’s Toll Thresher. For the merc cannot be frozen is much more important since cold will slow down his attacks. Bonehew, Arioc’s Needle, Steel Pillar, or a cruel Polearm//Spear can work well. High damage Runewords can also be used by the rich.
Do to the high mana cost and relatively low damage of WC, it is best to “herd†monsters into a group around you. This makes best use of WC radius and let’s you deal with many monsters at once, saving mana. If you run across a group, use Leap right into the middle of them, so that you WC hit as many as possible. The high mana cost and low damage can easily be offset, by smart timing and by grouping the monsters. Don’t worry about getting hit as you have a large life pool, plus the knockback radius while reduce the amount of monsters even within their striking distance. Once you start using WC the monster won’t be attacking any more. Don’t be afraid to use a mana potion if you need to, you can always get more by using Find Potion.
Taunt should be used against any ranged monster. It will force them to advance to your position, and use a melee attack if they have it...even if they resume their ranged attack once they reach you, it will still take lots of time, where you can attack or run away.
Don’t forget to keep BO, Shout and BC on at all times, and use Battle Cry to make it easy for a party and your merc to tear through monsters.
Potions are your friend. I can not stress this enough. You have no way of leeching so if you are low in either health or mana drink and potion and then get it right back with Find Potion.
Leveling should not be too hard, because even the 60 dexterity for a hel’ed Wiz Spike, will be enough to hit things until you get WC. I don’t suggest maxing WC right away or the mana cost will quickly become too high to manage. Get about 5 points in it, then work at BO and a synergy before you come back to WC.
Large health monsters, like Izual, Lister and the Act Bosses, will
have too much health for you to handle without using 2+ potions, so if you can, try to find a party or be prepared to sit and hold the mouse button down for a long time.
This build doesn’t have the high damage of Wind Druids and Hammerdins, but it survives very well, is quite fun to play and is a great change from the builds you normally see.
Variants:
The big problem with trying to combine War Cry with another skill, is that the damage becomes so small, that War Cry ends up only being used for stun...which is a great use for it...but only requires a few points so trying to combine Singer for damage with a combat skill doesn’t work too well...
This being said, within Singers there is still some room for variations. These either branch into using cheaper gear then this build, or into much more of a support role for party play.
The mfer: one of the weapon switches has Gull Dagger/ Blade of Ali Baba Tulwar, uses Find Item on every corpse, WC and BC are simply used for party support, some gear/charms replaced with mf items.
Party support: Doesn’t worry as much about mana pool. Concentrates on getting as high a level of WCs as they can afford to milk as much as they can from the security WCs can provide.
Sorc Support: Requires Enigma. Teleports a long side a Blizzard or Meteor sorc and stuns monsters (usally in Baal runs) while the sorc bombs from relative safety.
“Poor man’s†build: very few +skills (often only echoing weapons as main switch), everything socketed with Pspahs, behaves similar to party support, but leans a bit more towards damage.
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp
http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=167748
PvP Singer Guide
http://forums.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=170322
Gruntmaster’s PvM Singer Guide
K, I’m having problems making threads, so I’ve gotten Mad Mantis to do it (thanks).
No intro as of yet, and a lack of pictures, I’m putting this to get some extra input before I post the final version.
Warcry using Barb Guide v. 2
Introduction
Abbreviations/Terms
Overview of the build
Skill discussion
Stat placement
Equipment selection
Strategy
Build Variants
Thank you
PvP section coming soon
Introduction:
Abbreviations/Terms:
Mf: Magic Find
PvM: Player vs. Monster
PvP: Player vs Player
FCR: Faster Cast Rate
FHR: Faster Hit Recovery
WCs: Warcries skill tree
WC: War Cry skill
BO: Battle Orders
BC: Battle Command
LA: Leap Attack
DR: Physical Damage Reduced
Display Damage is the damage shown on the character screen
Singer is the common name for a barbarian who uses War Cry as his main attack
Overview of the build:
The singer barbarian uses the skill War Cry to damage and stun monsters, while using his high level Battle Orders, Battle Command and Shout to make his whole party stronger. He also makes use of Battle Cry, Taunt, Howl and Leap to keep all around him as safe as possible. The goal of this particular build is to balance usefulness to the party, safety of the barbarian, and to be able to put out respectable damage. This goal is achieved the easiest by balancing the skill level of WC with your mana, similar to long distance running. A purely PvP build on the other hand, is much more like a sprinter, quickly exhausting their energy.
Skill Discussion:
War Cry: War Cry is your only source of damage and the skill that you will use the most. It rates 20 points.
War Cry deals physical damage and the mana cost is skill level +9 (level 1 WC costs 10 mana). It will stun physical immunes even though it doesn’t do damage. WC will also stun champions, uniques and Super Uniques, although it has a reduced % chance of doing so.
With your main skill having such a high mana cost to damage ration, it is not good to have too many +skills. A level 32 WC provides 946-982 (with 20 points in 2 synergys, and 4 in the third) for 41 mana, after that the higher mana cost, makes it very hard to keep casting WC without sacrificing health and overall survivability. Even though this gives lower display damage, it will let you stay with a party during play instead of making frequent trips to town to replenish your mana supply and limits your reliance on mana potions, though you will need to use them occasionally. Over a small amount of casts, the damage a level 32+ WC d
Battle Orders: 20 points. BO more then doubles your mana and health, making a high mana and life pool achievable. BO will not multiply any mana or life gained from these modifiers: +life/mana per level, +vitality/energy or +% mana/life.
Shout: Gives a boost to defense. With all the +skills this build supplies, more then one point in Shout is a waste, especially when the stun on WC limits the amount that you will be attacked. If you have extra points at the end, this is the best place for them.
Battle Command: The duration will be more then enough with only one point. BC will add life, mana, defense, resist, damage, stun duration and leaping distance…all for a single point!
Iron Skin: Even one point will give an extra thousand defense, well worth it.
Increased Stamina/Speed: Get a point in both, it can never hurt…but occasionally it can save you, especially in the levels before you get WC
Natural Resistance: I recommend placing a point here for dealing with unique monsters with the Conviction aura, or Oblivion Knights that use the Lower Resist curse.
Leap//Leap Attack: *see end of strategy
Battle Cry, Taunt, Howl: All three of these skills are synergies for WC. You will want to have at least 2 maxed. I suggest Howl, because it gives you a huge radius at high levels and Battle Cry, because it is a great benefit to you when leveling and also to your party later on.
At level 79 with all quests done your skills should look similar to this:
20 WC
20 BO
20 Battle Cry
20 Howl
1 Leap, Leap Attack, Natural Resist, Increased Speed, Increased Stamina, Taunt, Iron Skin and Battle Command.
For levels 80+ put the points into Taunt to increase your damage.
Stat Placement:
Strength: enough for gear Slikweaves are 65, Frostburns 60, mage plate 55. Keep in mind any strength you will get from gear/charms
Dexterity: Enough for Wizard Spike (75) or for “helâ€ed Wiz (60) again, keep in mind your charms
Vitality: As many points here as you can spare. Try to have some idea of your end gear, so you know how much you can put in vitality, and still have a good sized mana pool.In a PvP build most if not all points should go here, as you don’t need to worry about running out of mana, because you can fully recover it after every fight.
Energy: You want to reach 3k mana (roughly) so if you need to put points here...DO IT! Points in vitality give much better returns (4 life, while energy only gives 1 mana) So charms are a better source of mana supply...but you gotta do what you gotta do
You should aim for a minimum of 4k life and 2.7-3k mana after BO.
Equipment Selection: Unique, Magic, Set, Runeword
When choosing equipment keep in mind that you want to get 105% FCR, 3.5-4k life, 2.7-3k mana, close to 5k defense, and if possible 7frame hit recovery (15% FHR) and a WC level near 30. Depending on your gear (charms mostly) you might find that a few more +skills will work fine. My Singer will probably hit level 33 with his War Cry.
Helm: The best possible helm would be a Jawbone Visor, or other low strength barbarian helm with +3 Warcries, +3 BO, +3 WC, and + Shout/Leap or another useful skill, with the Whale or Squid suffix. Great Magic barb helm, socketed with two perfect skulls *Picture from SeraphimSilver
Another good option would be a 3 socketed barb helm, with +BO, WC, Shout or Leap. With 3 sapphires this kind of helm can provide a lot of mana.
Halabred’s Reign would also be nice, and much easier to find. Only disadvantage is the very high strength requirements.
Low cost/low level options: Radiance or Lore in a +skill helm, Peasant Crown War Hat
Harlequin Crest Shako is good but a magic barb helm, or a socketed helm with +WC, BO etc. with perfect sapphires is better since the +life/+mana with level on shako is not multiplied by BO or increase maximum mana %. It still has good skills and DR% and will provide some mana and life. Much easier to come by, then a really strong magic or socketable helm, so it is still many peoples choice. If you have enough strength, I would choose a “hel†Halabred;s over it though.
Armor: Enigma in a Mage Plate or Breast Plate would be ideal, as it give +2 skills, saves you points in strength, give life and DR, and lets you teleport
Que-Hagen’s Wisdom Mage Plate is my pick if you can’t afford Enigma, great defense, a skill, let’s you hit both the FCR and FHR break points and some mana
The Spirit Shroud Ghost Armor can also be good if you have 2 SOJs to use but would like the cannot be frozen mod.
Low cost/low level options: Stealth Breast or Mage plate, Skin of the Viper Magi Serpenskin Armor, Heavenly Garb Light Plate, 4 sapphire armor
Weapons: Wizard Spike Bone Knife, two of them. There is no replacement. Huge mana, mana regeneration, 100% FCR combined plus their very cheap, many players give them away or will sell for perfect gems. Heart of the Oaks doesn’t provide as much mana or FCR, and the +skills doesn’t really help that build I’m aiming for.
+3 Warcries weapons on your switch are very nice, giving an extra +6 to BO, BC and Shout.
Suicide Branch Burnt Wand and Spectral Shard Blade can both be used at low levels or if you can’t get Wiz spikes.
Gloves: Frostburn Gauntlets are simply the best choice as they give you a huge amount of mana. Mage Fist Light Gauntlets is a distant second, with its mana regeneration.
Belt: Arachnid Mesh Spider web Sash gives a 5% increase in mana, 20% FCR, which can open up ring, amulet and armor options as well as +1 skills. Gloom’s Trap Mesh Belt or an upgraded Nightsmoke Belt are alternatives if you can’t get a Arachnid Mesh.
Boots: Silkweave Mesh Boots are great if you need extra mana, while Water Walk Sharksin Boots will give you life, and a bit extra protection against fire, with the added bonus of making it easier to wear Wizard Spikes.
Crafted Cast Boots (Thul rune + magic jewel + Perfect Amethyst + magic Boots//Demonhide Boots/Wyrmhide Boots) can be excellent with a bit of luck.
Rings: The Stone of Jordan is the best ring for this build. Huge mana and a skill. Ravenfrost gives mana and Cannot be Frozen and Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band has life and a skill. But if you can afford it nothing beats the SOJ. In a rare or magic ring look for mana, life, or FCR if your missing the 105% FCR breakpoint.
Amulet: This is the most open spot on your character. Simply fill in what you don’t have. Mana, life, skills, FCR, Strength, Dexterity can all come on an amulet. Just remember not to go overboard on the +skills. Teleport charges (for those without Enigma) can be a real plus to find on an amulet.
Charms: An Annihilus small charm can never hurt. Get Warcry Grand Charms if you don’t have level 30ish WCs yet. Mana (and life to a lesser extent) is the most important thing you can get on charms. FHR and Faster Run/Walk are also useful, though most item selections won’t require any more of either.
You don’t have to follow these items to a T. The only items I feel are non-removable are Wizard Spike and Frostburns, and something to get you to 105% FCR. Experiment with some of the other items to see what you like best, just keep in mind what I suggested at the top of the equipment section.
For socketing the helm and armor, put in Perfect Skulls to help get your mana back as quickly as possible, sapphires for extra mana, or rubies for more health. If you want to use 2 SOJ and Enigma, you could put a Cham in the helm for CBF, though it’s probably not needed as being frozen won’t decrese your cast speed. For the Wizard Spikes, Hel runes to lower the required dexterity or jewels with life, mana, or FHR could all be used.
Note: Due to my testing I feel that perfect skulls are more valuable then either rubies or sapphires. Although the short term totals will be smaller, the quicker replenishment will be invaluable.
IMO the best (possible) gear for this build would be: Berserker’s Jawbone Cap of the Whale with +3 WC, +3 BO and +2 Leap or Shout with two perfect skulls, Enigma Mage Plate, 2 “helâ€ed Wiz Spikes, Frostburns, Arachnid Mesh, Waterwalks, 2 Sojs, and a rare amulet with life and mana and a few skill levels.
Strategy:
Mercenary: If you’re using Leap Attack, your merc could often be stranded out side the group, and quite possibly taking damage from a few monsters outside your WC radius. So you want a tough merc who can take a few hits. None of the Act 3 mercs can tank well nor do they do much damage, so we can forget them completely. The Act 1 Rogue and then Act 5 Barbarian could be OK, but I think that an Act 2 merc offers the best all around benefit. He can tank and deal good damage, but his aura can also help you, even when you’re not together.
My suggestion for merc equipment would be: Duriel’s Shell Cuirass, Tal Rasha’s Death Mask, and Reaper’s Toll Thresher. For the merc cannot be frozen is much more important since cold will slow down his attacks. Bonehew, Arioc’s Needle, Steel Pillar, or a cruel Polearm//Spear can work well. High damage Runewords can also be used by the rich.
Do to the high mana cost and relatively low damage of WC, it is best to “herd†monsters into a group around you. This makes best use of WC radius and let’s you deal with many monsters at once, saving mana. If you run across a group, use Leap right into the middle of them, so that you WC hit as many as possible. The high mana cost and low damage can easily be offset, by smart timing and by grouping the monsters. Don’t worry about getting hit as you have a large life pool, plus the knockback radius while reduce the amount of monsters even within their striking distance. Once you start using WC the monster won’t be attacking any more. Don’t be afraid to use a mana potion if you need to, you can always get more by using Find Potion.
Taunt should be used against any ranged monster. It will force them to advance to your position, and use a melee attack if they have it...even if they resume their ranged attack once they reach you, it will still take lots of time, where you can attack or run away.
Don’t forget to keep BO, Shout and BC on at all times, and use Battle Cry to make it easy for a party and your merc to tear through monsters.
Potions are your friend. I can not stress this enough. You have no way of leeching so if you are low in either health or mana drink and potion and then get it right back with Find Potion.
Leveling should not be too hard, because even the 60 dexterity for a hel’ed Wiz Spike, will be enough to hit things until you get WC. I don’t suggest maxing WC right away or the mana cost will quickly become too high to manage. Get about 5 points in it, then work at BO and a synergy before you come back to WC.
Large health monsters, like Izual, Lister and the Act Bosses, will
have too much health for you to handle without using 2+ potions, so if you can, try to find a party or be prepared to sit and hold the mouse button down for a long time.
This build doesn’t have the high damage of Wind Druids and Hammerdins, but it survives very well, is quite fun to play and is a great change from the builds you normally see.
Variants:
The big problem with trying to combine War Cry with another skill, is that the damage becomes so small, that War Cry ends up only being used for stun...which is a great use for it...but only requires a few points so trying to combine Singer for damage with a combat skill doesn’t work too well...
This being said, within Singers there is still some room for variations. These either branch into using cheaper gear then this build, or into much more of a support role for party play.
The mfer: one of the weapon switches has Gull Dagger/ Blade of Ali Baba Tulwar, uses Find Item on every corpse, WC and BC are simply used for party support, some gear/charms replaced with mf items.
Party support: Doesn’t worry as much about mana pool. Concentrates on getting as high a level of WCs as they can afford to milk as much as they can from the security WCs can provide.
Sorc Support: Requires Enigma. Teleports a long side a Blizzard or Meteor sorc and stuns monsters (usally in Baal runs) while the sorc bombs from relative safety.
“Poor man’s†build: very few +skills (often only echoing weapons as main switch), everything socketed with Pspahs, behaves similar to party support, but leans a bit more towards damage.
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp
http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=167748
PvP Singer Guide
http://forums.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=170322
Gruntmaster’s PvM Singer Guide
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