What level to invest points in weapon mastery?

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skoolbus1

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What level to invest points in weapon mastery?

I'm going to start a new HC barb, and I'm wondering what level would be a good time to invest points into a mastery? The damage bonuses when I don't have good weapons don't really seem worth it. The chance of me using something besides swords is small, I might persuade myself to use axe mastery if you all can convince me I can find some worthwhile axes. This is going to be untwinked, as all my HC chars die at some point and I generally dont mule off items to twink, and I have no reason to believe this one will fair any better.

Also, how slow of going is a throwbarb through NM? I've always wanted to try one of them but never have, and I don't really want to spend lots of time killing monsters all through NM and then do my normal die at NM ancients routine.
Thanks for your help and Merry Christmas!
 
Ill try to convince you that you may find some nice axes:wink3:
I don't know what skill are you planning to use, but Ill assume frenzy or WW.

First, as soon as you get to countes you can use steel hand axes, which youll later substitute with military picks and war axes.

There is a great normal unique axe that makes awesome primary weapon for frenzybarbs and great general weapon for WWers - Rakescar(my favourite:grin: ). Then there is another nice unique axe - coldkill. They are both realtively low, and are easy to find.

Rakescar
War Axe
One-Hand Damage: (17-25) To (31-45) (24-35 Avg)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 67
Durability: 26
Base Weapon Speed: [0]
+75-150% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+38 Poison Damage Over 3 Seconds
30% Increased Attack Speed <--- with shael 50%!!
+50 To Attack Rating
Poison resist +50%
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.09 or later


Coldkill
Hatchet
One-Hand Damage: (25-29) To (52-60) (38.5-44.5 Avg)
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 25
Range: 1
Durability: 28
Base Weapon Speed: [0]
+150-190% Enhanced Damage (varies)
30% Increased Attack Speed <-- another 50%!!
10% Chance To Cast Level 10 Ice Blast On Striking
10% Chance To Cast Level 5 Frost Nova When Struck
+40 Cold Damage - 2 Second Duration
15% To Maximum Cold Resist
Cold Resist +15%
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.09 or later)

The only thing coldkill lacks is range - it's range 1...
Rakescar OTOH lacks nothing, but its downside is huge range of ed rolls. If its a good roll its worth upgrading(the recipe is cheap anyway)

For nice low secondary frenzy weapons you can make:
"strength" in war axes
blood crafted war axe or naga
as soon as you find a 5 sox Naga - "Honor".
Guardian Naga isn't too bad too(unique)

I went through first3 acts of hell with upped Rakescar(shaeled) + "Honor" Naga.

Then we're onto better weapons:

Razors Edge is fairly easy to find in hell, so it's quite realistic weapon to get when playing untwinked without single pass:

Razor's Edge
Tomahawk
One-Hand Damage: (90-107) To (159-188) (124.5-147.5 Avg)
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 125
Required Dexterity: 67
Durability: 28
Weapon Speed: [0]
+175-225% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+40% Increased Attack Speed
-33% Target Defense
50% Deadly Strike
50% Chance of Open Wounds
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.10 or later)

Its a very nice primary/ww weapon.

Runemaster is a weaker alternative, while cranebreak is equal IMO. of course Death Cleaver is simply great but you'd have to be lucky as hell to get it.

Other alternatives:

If you happen to find Um you should consider Crescent Moon - with frenzy static field will trigger a lot.
Passion would be a waste of Lem IMO.
If you get Mal you know what to make...:P

Phew... thats it at last...I hope I convinced you...:wink2:

About the original question - I always choose my weapon type at the beggining of my adventure and then I curse the game for giving me lots of other type nice uniques... I belive it helps greatly in the beginnig though, and won't cripple you all that much later in the game to put points in mastery in the moment you start playing with the character. If you know how and where to look for youll always get some nice weapons no matter what.
 
I usually collect Barb helms with different masteries on them when I'm playing untwinked. That is usually enough to help you out early on until you have a better idea of what you might want to use.

Axes tend to be a safe bet for a couple of reasons. Most of the runewords work in axes, and there is a crafting recipe for axes with guaranteed ED.
 
You did not stat your build but may i suggest going along the lines of Nightfish’s Berserker barb. It is directed towards HC Untwinked. Once I make a mat/pat most likely Mat because of my sorc in the Enchantress tournament my first HC character will be a Berserker Barb following Nightfish’s guide. Here it is if you cant find it
 
Do not forget about Butcher's Pupil either, as a nice exceptional unique axe. The base speed is 10 and it lacks a point of range compared to war axes, but it comes with 30 IAS and the base damage beats Guardian Naga/up'ed Rakescar, on top of which it has a beefy 35% Deadly Strike (and some Open Wounds).

One-Hand Damage: (55-60) To (132-149) (93.5-104.5 Avg)
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 68
Range: 2
Base Weapon Speed: [10]
+150-200% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Adds 30-50 Damage
35% Deadly Strike
25% Chance of Open Wounds
30% Increased Attack Speed
Indestructible
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.09 or later)
 
Doh, forgot to say it's gonna be frenzier. I will be doing runs for xp and items, so any norm/excep item would be reasonable for me to find. The axe suggestions are looking pretty good, and I'm noticing they have very small dex requirements which will give me more life.
I just looked at the AS and was comparing damage from elite axes and swords and they really look the same. I think using the chippie recipe to try and get some cruels would also be a viable option. The only thing holding me back from using axes, is that berserker axes look really wimpy while CSs look really cool.
However, as far as elite uniques go, doombringer eclipses everything else (barring tc87s) and it'd be horrible if meph gave me one of those and I had 20 axe mastery.
 
Like Cattleya said, if playing untwinked it's a good idea to hold off on your mastery until finding your endgame weapons. Don't worry, you won't miss the bonuses.

I started a Frenzybarb and put 10 points in sword mastery almost immediately, but now I wish I hadn't.
 
yeah wait until you decide what path you want to take, may it be axes or swords or maces etc... But max your mastery last or wait until you have found your end game weapon. It is a waste if you do it now.
 
As other's have said, max your mastery last. Here's why:

My frenzier was heavily twinked, and I knew I'd be using Stormlash/Schaffer's as end-game weapons, so I maxed Mace Mastery early on. However, while I was questing/leveling through norm/NM, I was very limitted in the weapons I could use if I wanted to gain any benefit from my mastery. :duh:


I'm not sure if you're using WarCry (for HC, I'm guessing you probably are), but you should definitely get that to the level you want, as well as max BO and Frenzy before even thinking about a mastery. Also, I'd still recommend you put a few points in Taunt/DS for synergies too, before taking a mastery.

Speaking of taunt - use it to break up really big swarms. It's a very underrated skill, and it can save your butt.
 
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