PvM WW Barb weapon choice

Hi!

I haven't played the Barbarian for years. I'm pretty sure eBotD was the shit back then, but from what i can read on forums, 2x grief / Grief+Beast / Grief+eBotD / Grief+Death seems to be what people are going for.
However, as much guides are on PvP barbs, I would love to hear your opinions on max dmg weapon choice for PvM WW Barb.
2x Grief is pretty cheap, but is it the best dps?

Also, it Act2 merc with Pride the way to go and is the dmg "worth" the expensive runes? How is A2 compared to A1 faith merc?
Lastly, I dont think i want to run Enigma. In that case, I suppose Fortitude is the way to go for max dmg, but can I survive without CoH?

Thanks in advance.

The gear setup i had in mind was:
- Arreat
- Highlord
- Raven + BK
- Fortitude/CoH
- Gorerider
- Dracul
- Verdungo
- Switch: CTA + Spirit?

Thanks in advance

 

Hey i have good barbarian setup pvm like lastwish+ grandfather instead of those combine this with perfect faith bow merc act 1 cold arrow would be awesome.My barb can even survive in killing ubers because of lifetap.TBH i really love last wish for 1 reason crushing below 70% :O combine this with gorider or if u are lucky enough to have steelrends(unique ogre gauntlets) cuz u have ur merc act 1 wearing draculs+ last wish proc rate high.
Fortitude is awesome cuz of 300ed along with resist stuff
On switch i would go 2 hotos or 1 hoto with cta for battle orders etc.
If u having issues against light monsters i would suggest u not to throw wisp projectors if both equiped 40 % light absorb.

 

My personal preference is ebotd great poleaxe... It has same dps as ghost spear, but you have bigger range... Plus there is a lot style points going for swinging that great polearm If you played back in the years, when d2 classic went out, the biggest bosses were barbs with imbued rare lances

Basically for pvm ww builds you want some undestructible wpns, otherwise u will be repairing every few minutes... Double griefs are fine, grief and death aswell, even tho i prefer dual wielding for frenzy barbs...

My last ww barb build on hc was:
- upped Arreat
- highlord
- ebotd gp
- sacred armour forti
- raven/dwarf
- tgv
- crafted gloves
- upped gore riders

I was playing it TITAN-ish (which means to put a lot into strenght - on softcore it means everything - on HC i was aiming for 3k hp after bo, rest to str). It worked just fine and it was definitelly something different from all those grief pb/stormshield barbs

Quinn

edit: i was wrong in statement GP has bigger range than GS - the reason i went for GP is that it has lower dex requirement, so i didnt have to spend that much points just to eq. the wpn.. because of that TITAN build i had enough str for anything else...

 

Hey i have 1 question that thundergod is any useful on barbarian? No offense just a question.

 

Sure, it is very usefull
There is a lot of stats on it (20str and 20dex), but most important thing is that +10% max light res and light absorb... Many different chars are using this belt to be more safer against souls on HC.. but then again, its probably a HC thing...

 

Hmm maybe 2 wisp projectors combined with thundergod vigor will make that barb invincible against light enemies such as souls and especially crab light creatures in act 2 if u are farming 7 tombs . I really love wisp projectors since they are top 10 rarest items in the game.

 

I must admit I like the idea of wielding a 2handed weapon for my barbarian, but if it is significantly lower damage I will prolly go for dual wielding.
I am playing SC and looking for max dmg while also not getting oneshot.
I have always been using A2 mercs, so I think i want to try the A1 merc for a change

Please keep posting your oppinions, really appreciate it!

 

Np mate its a suggestion

 

Sure, could be light dmg even counted as healing... but you would have to sacrifice ring slots, and you dont want to do that... 1 absorb with max resist is usually enough...

But lets go back to the original topic

 

Yep

 

I think (will check that when im back home) that the 2hand wpn was little supreme to dual wielding DPS-wise.. Mostly because the range of the weapon, which matters a lot.

 

Pretty much everything works for PvM, it depends on what you can afford and what fits you the best. Don't forget style.

I personally have a WW barb which is dual wielding PB Griefs and it gets the job done.

Cheers.

 

If I were to build next WW barb (PVM - not ubers), I would take into account:

• reaching highest speed breakpoint for WW,
• attack rating,
• healing (since You can not use potions while in the middle of WW - my last WW barb was when Chaos Sanctuary mobs still had Iron Maiden -_-),
• weapon range,
• looking good (no 2-handers here! Ribcracker is special ) - Try to imagine big-ass guy running into You with two axes/giant swords or same guy with a Poleaxe (maybe it is just me, but I do not like pithforks / lances / spears / etc. ,
  
• thinking as a BARBARIAN! (which means - not thinking too much) - No to all small-triangle-ww-tricks to cheat on games mechanics (first two WW hits are considered "free" even with slowest weapons),
• I will not talk about armor items much.. or at all,
• For BO swich into two +3 warcries spears / throwing axes / throwing knifes (get those from Anya or Malah). We are masters of the universe, and by the power of Grayskull WE DO NOT NEED PUNY CTA!

I will only write about a few weapons.. because I am lazy, and I am not getting anything from doin' it.
... but before that let's check how our teoretical rune words bases looks like (w/o any ED):

• Berserker Axe: 47,5 average dmg, 2 range, 0 speed (Ettin Axe has higher damage, but 1 range and is too slow),
• Phase Blade: 33 average dmg, 1 range, -30 speed,
  
• Colossus Blade: 45 average dmg, 2 range 5 speed, (Colossus Sword has best dmg of all 1-handed weapons, but is too slow)

My fave WW weapons are:
Grief, Rune Master, Death Cleaver, Upped Ribcracker and Rare BA (those last four are for extra style points )
Why Grief?

• Highest raw physical dmg on average - taking Deadly Strike/Criticals/Crushing Blow into it - unless You are going for very high STR build and are willing to invest into damage/str charms, then BOTD can be better [BOTD can hit much... much stronger, but also much, much weaker (I hate lightining soso for that)],
  
• Can reach highest attack speed breakpoint for WW (always in PB, 34% or more in BA, 39% or more in Colossus Blade)
  
• Grief Lacks Crushing Blow, but since it is supposed to be PVM, I will not even stutter about it, just get crafted gloves with it or Steelrends and Gores.
  
• Ignores Enemy Defense (Yeah! This little thing allows You to use Highlords for deadly strike / Mara for resists / Wisps / Carrion for LS / BKs / Nature - good bye corpse explosion / Crafts-Rares with life and mana steal and forget about angelic combo or struggling with AR charms! It makes me wanna scream like Mel Gibson in Braveheart: FREEEDOOMMMmmm ... and he is dead.) - You will still be stuck with Raven for "Cannot be frozen" tho. :/

Did You know?

• Last wish/Death will never reach highest breakpoint so IMO it is not best option (if Death would have 40 IAS then it would really be worthy its name!).
  
• Life Tap does NOT trigger with WW, You would have to use Frenzy/Double Swing/normal attack,/etc. - Once Life Tap was used, healing will work with WW.
• Most of the time it will be faster to kill bosses by using lvl1 Berserk/Frenzy/Double Sw, than WW.
  
• If You want to kill bosses faster, swtch one Grief for Beast

Conclusion: Double - Berserker Axe - Grief!

PS. Dammit... now I want a WW barb myself.. AGAIN!

 

Thanks for the very sentimental walkthrough
While I do consider the aesthethics of my chars I am more of a "lets reach the maximum possible stat"-kinda guy. I like the idea of having 1 grind/MF char and 1 other char to funnel all my runes into, trying to reach a "perfect" setup.
However, Botd is so expensive that I might just go with double grief first and then try out 2handed eBotd later on.

Cheers!

 

not sure if maths etc is mentioned above, only read main post. I'd say try using 2x grief PB due to indust, the lower range doesn't really matter if you consider the rep cost.
grief damage is best in spot in this case you don't wanna go to charsy every minute

 

That would be my choice aswell , you could try Grief + Beast in PvM aswell

 

I have a WW barb using full IK. I love it, it may not be the best setup statistically, however I have no problem soloing thru Hell and it's fun to glow! I put 2xshael in maul and sols in the armor and helm for integer DR but there are certainly better socket choices.

I know it's not WW but my frenzy barb uses grief + death PB and it's a solid setup as well.

 

Never uses axes for PvM unless they're indestructible. Especially Zerker axes if u dont mind repairing every 5-6 minutes. PB's are indestructible so can't go wrong with 2x grief.
For starters - upped Hone Sundan = 45 % cb. 2x shaels lets it hit 6,5 bpa which is insane on wep alone and also leaves space for AMN rune which is important. Self repairing is a bliss.
Upped Um'd Shaftstop + Upped gaze = 50 % dr. Now u can wear Tg for light absorb free. Dual leech from Gaze it means u are free of mana leech problems and Got plenty of lifeleech already.
Do you know what that means? It means we can wear LoH gloves which boosts us our DMG OUTPUT huuuuuge amount (as primary areas u'd like to farm are full of demons).
Either u go 1 raven + power ring (str/dex ar + %to att rating) or dwarf (if u mostly travincal).
There is not need for pvm barb to wear Hotspurs, either to crack up double absorbs. Also - Lava gauntlets exists so you could get enchanted pretty nicely!
In case u have Enigma and want to hop faster - 10 %fcr 24fhr str+life+mana belts is what u're looking for as you're going to replace the either t-god for it and place Wisp protector instead of power ring.
Do not overstack deadly strike. Rely on crushing blow as you have plenty of critical strike from masteries.
Also you can't go wrong with Cat Eye amulet if you're not rich enough and U want to get faster to the objective you are farming. Combine this amu with Run speed from masteries.. Bolt, is that you?
So... cheapest (and thus far the strongest) PvM would be:
Yone sundan upped 2x shael and amn. / Insight is not to be overlooked - Provides you mana regen aura nad has Great scaling and U can abuse eth items for that 6 critical/ Arioc Needle is no brainer too.
Gaze/Arreat/Guillame's face
Shaftstop (Um)
LoH gloves/Lava gauntlets/Soul Drainer (dual leech)/ Ogre gauntlets
Goblin toes /Gore rider/War traveler/Sharkskin boots
Cat's eye amulet/Highlord.
Raven/Dual leech ring (if not wearing gaze and the dual leech glove) wisp/dwarf/power ring/fcr ring (when enigma/tm)
Tgod belt/String of ears/Dungo/Arach/10%fcr 24fhr str+life+mana crafted belt/

Tips. U can easily get decent helm with 2 os + deadly strike if you're into crafting.
It's all preferences. Early start = cheap build. Makes u really strong and durable. Most of the items are found on Nightmare travi. Easily. Nice dmg output. Can afford to save runes for stronger runewords.
Now.. If you're rich enough. Just put 2x Grandfathers (altough they're nerfed) with TM/Enigma/(forti if u're not into teleporting/ + fcr amu + fcr ring + CoA/Arreat and it's going down WILD.
There is nothing more satisfying than the beauty of that old, old, old Golden Colossal blade.
Honorable mention: 2x Death in Colossal Blade. Get that FRENZY and just charge into madness.