Hard life of a Barb

It's hard to be a barb sometimes. Today I died twice, SC, so could have been worse. It's been a month since I last got killed. Lost some good xp too. First time TZ 8PPL online. Got mobbed by Herald moon lords, extra strong TZ with lots of nice mods to casually tank a melee char. Grabbed merc came back, no way to get near that body. Most of the time the little guy can take out most things, he's got all the tried and tested great gear. Next time was a pretty similar thing. It's not like getting 1-shoted, but how hard and fast some mobs just Swarm and smack is abit, well, you know what I mean. Last week I had a Herald, again TZ 8PPL with some great mods, I cleared all the support, till it was just the 2 of us (my BIS merc just keep dying so gave that up) and eventually just gave up myself. The return damage was nuts, and of course, even with the best gear, it was hard to tell if the heralds HP bar was actually moving, PI is kinda painful at times, even with Lawbringer, Dreadfang, and a truckload of CB. I don't subscribe to that throw thing either (Conan was never ranged right). I guess barbing is kinda like a life choice, sometimes sticking on the path you like best, may mean having alot more patience and perseverance. Gee, maybe I just like getting hit alot ....

Man... I feel for you, only to some extent ofc.

There's a reason that Barb is the only class I haven't made a level 99 char yet. =p

My barbarian is strictly Travincal only horker. Nothing else.

Has some 2400+% GF and a lot of MF. Is the slowest clearing char I have but that goes hand in hand with the optimization for GF.

It's not fun clearing areas with a barbarian, true. And Heralds with concentration/might/thorns/fanaticism/amplify damage are all a beating. Every now and then a travincal herald spawns and empties my full rejuvs belt.

Rygar wrote: 2 months ago

It's hard to be a barb sometimes. Today I died twice, SC, so could have been worse. It's been a month since I last got killed. Lost some good xp too. First time TZ 8PPL online. Got mobbed by Herald moon lords, extra strong TZ with lots of nice mods to casually tank a melee char. Grabbed merc came back, no way to get near that body. Most of the time the little guy can take out most things, he's got all the tried and tested great gear. Next time was a pretty similar thing. It's not like getting 1-shoted, but how hard and fast some mobs just Swarm and smack is abit, well, you know what I mean. Last week I had a Herald, again TZ 8PPL with some great mods, I cleared all the support, till it was just the 2 of us (my BIS merc just keep dying so gave that up) and eventually just gave up myself. The return damage was nuts, and of course, even with the best gear, it was hard to tell if the heralds HP bar was actually moving, PI is kinda painful at times, even with Lawbringer, Dreadfang, and a truckload of CB. I don't subscribe to that throw thing either (Conan was never ranged right). I guess barbing is kinda like a life choice, sometimes sticking on the path you like best, may mean having alot more patience and perseverance. Gee, maybe I just like getting hit alot ....

well thats life melee sucks comapred to casters in this game thats it end of story

Dual Grief PB makes my life easier as a barb. Gear is a big factor in terms of barb is gonna perform along with the fun factor. Melee classes can't get away as much compared to casters when it comes to equipment. A feasible budget build in your case could be getting a pair of Oath (Use A2 merc /w reaper's toll for decrip) or Oath + Dreadfang for the amp proc.

As for heralds, I have two strategies:

1) Stand on top of lightning and spam Howl (I have my weapon's switched to dual HOTO for higher FCR. Switch back to main weapons after the pack has been howled). single out the Herald and chop down it ASAP. it's like doing Uber Baal. just keep spamming Howl to keep them terrorized. sometimes I switch to concen/ Berserk to single target fire if other minions crowd around the Herald.

2) Seperate the pack and pick off mobs one by one. kite the mobs away from each other.

for some Thorns aura groups or mobs you can't leech, use Dracul's Grasp gloves or have a Life Tap Wand on hand.

I´ve started to use Grim Ward on the corpses where the Herald packs will spawn. Whirlwindbarb with Grief and Death. i have a full 20 Points in Find Potion for hork anyways to give a full 120 reduced Physical resistance on the Herald trash. made life so much easier

I simply skip Thorns aura tbh.

Sandmaennchen wrote: 1 month ago

I´ve started to use Grim Ward on the corpses where the Herald packs will spawn. Whirlwindbarb with Grief and Death. i have a full 20 Points in Find Potion for hork anyways to give a full 120 reduced Physical resistance on the Herald trash. made life so much easier

I simply skip Thorns aura tbh.

I'm curious, doesn't Glacial Spike from Death apply cold to monsters making them shatter so you can't hork them?

I second that having barb as an all-around char is about struggle and bereavements, e.g. no gg gear makes you skip Thorns. But there is no impossible thing in the game even for this class, he has all the instruments to overcome any given challenge, tho it is not economically worthy it in a long-term playing.

I feel you anyways, this is either one's deliberate choice to struggle or realize that some classes are just fit better to solve some niche tasks. I deliberately chose Frenzy barb to hunt ubers, instead of those hyped Smite pallys, this move made me look at the game in a fresh way.

stx wrote: 1 month ago

Sandmaennchen wrote: 1 month ago

I´ve started to use Grim Ward on the corpses where the Herald packs will spawn. Whirlwindbarb with Grief and Death. i have a full 20 Points in Find Potion for hork anyways to give a full 120 reduced Physical resistance on the Herald trash. made life so much easier

I simply skip Thorns aura tbh.

I'm curious, doesn't Glacial Spike from Death apply cold to monsters making them shatter so you can't hork them?

Well No, you see, when Whirlwinding no weapon procc activates, its only if you attack with normal attack or like Concentrate or maby Berserk or Bash that the proccs happen, but not during WW.

Its the same for Breath of the Dying, it only gives my Barb Poison Nova procc after I kill something with a Concentrate, witch is my left click.

DrunkAkuma wrote: 1 month ago

stx wrote: 1 month ago

Sandmaennchen wrote: 1 month ago

I´ve started to use Grim Ward on the corpses where the Herald packs will spawn. Whirlwindbarb with Grief and Death. i have a full 20 Points in Find Potion for hork anyways to give a full 120 reduced Physical resistance on the Herald trash. made life so much easier

I simply skip Thorns aura tbh.

I'm curious, doesn't Glacial Spike from Death apply cold to monsters making them shatter so you can't hork them?

Well No, you see, when Whirlwinding no weapon procc activates, its only if you attack with normal attack or like Concentrate or maby Berserk or Bash that the proccs happen, but not during WW.

Its the same for Breath of the Dying, it only gives my Barb Poison Nova procc after I kill something with a Concentrate, witch is my left click.

Ah ok makes sense, thanks for clarifying. I never seriously played WW barb so didn't know about that. You learn something new every day

In deed, I saw a short of a guy who found a Wolfhowl Fury Visor, a Barbarian only helmet with 3 Druid Skills on it &
one Barb Warcries skills 2-3.

( I traded for one after I sold a Diadem with epic Barbarian stats etc yesterday)

got 3 Warcries,
Feral Rage 3-6, ( got mine to 5 on Feral Rage, then +6 on the other 2)
Lycanthropy 3-6
Werewolf 3-6
as well as
+8-15 To Strength
( mine got 11 Str )
+8-15 To Dexterity (12 Dex)
+8-15 To Vitality (11 Vit)
Level 15 Summon Dire Wolf (18 Charges)

apparently it lets you absolutely destroy Uber Ancients with a slightly Re-spect skills from Find Potion to maxing Natural Resistance.

salvaged all my + gears ( 2 SoJ's, 1 Mara's Amulet, 1 HotO also made a new HotO, that rolled perfect +40% All res LOL, Arachnid Mesh Sash, Chains of Honor armor, and buffing with Battle Command from two +3 javelines)
got Wearwolf up to 21 before Transforming which was very nice, +7k HP but Feral Rage sits at lvl 9 after I swap back all the gear to my original Barb gear.
the life leech is still insane tough, and with a Beast Runeword Axe, you maxout the Speed with lvl 9 Fanatisicm aura if you got nice increesed attack speed from other stuff.

still grinding statues.

DrunkAkuma wrote: 1 month ago

In deed, I saw a short of a guy who found a Wolfhowl Fury Visor, a Barbarian only helmet with 3 Druid Skills on it &
one Barb Warcries skills 2-3.

( I traded for one after I sold a Diadem with epic Barbarian stats etc yesterday)

got 3 Warcries,
Feral Rage 3-6, ( got mine to 5 on Feral Rage, then +6 on the other 2)
Lycanthropy 3-6
Werewolf 3-6
as well as
+8-15 To Strength
( mine got 11 Str )
+8-15 To Dexterity (12 Dex)
+8-15 To Vitality (11 Vit)
Level 15 Summon Dire Wolf (18 Charges)

apparently it lets you absolutely destroy Uber Ancients with a slightly Re-spect skills from Find Potion to maxing Natural Resistance.

salvaged all my + gears ( 2 SoJ's, 1 Mara's Amulet, 1 HotO also made a new HotO, that rolled perfect +40% All res LOL, Arachnid Mesh Sash, Chains of Honor armor, and buffing with Battle Command from two +3 javelines)
got Wearwolf up to 21 before Transforming which was very nice, +7k HP but Feral Rage sits at lvl 9 after I swap back all the gear to my original Barb gear.
the life leech is still insane tough, and with a Beast Runeword Axe, you maxout the Speed with lvl 9 Fanatisicm aura if you got nice increesed attack speed from other stuff.

still grinding statues.

I feel like it's only fair to mention his channel if its the one I'm thinking of, Smalps Gaming right? That was a nice barb build he shared

Crimmy wrote: 1 month ago

DrunkAkuma wrote: 1 month ago

In deed, I saw a short of a guy who found a Wolfhowl Fury Visor, a Barbarian only helmet with 3 Druid Skills on it &
one Barb Warcries skills 2-3.

( I traded for one after I sold a Diadem with epic Barbarian stats etc yesterday)

got 3 Warcries,
Feral Rage 3-6, ( got mine to 5 on Feral Rage, then +6 on the other 2)
Lycanthropy 3-6
Werewolf 3-6
as well as
+8-15 To Strength
( mine got 11 Str )
+8-15 To Dexterity (12 Dex)
+8-15 To Vitality (11 Vit)
Level 15 Summon Dire Wolf (18 Charges)

apparently it lets you absolutely destroy Uber Ancients with a slightly Re-spect skills from Find Potion to maxing Natural Resistance.

salvaged all my + gears ( 2 SoJ's, 1 Mara's Amulet, 1 HotO also made a new HotO, that rolled perfect +40% All res LOL, Arachnid Mesh Sash, Chains of Honor armor, and buffing with Battle Command from two +3 javelines)
got Wearwolf up to 21 before Transforming which was very nice, +7k HP but Feral Rage sits at lvl 9 after I swap back all the gear to my original Barb gear.
the life leech is still insane tough, and with a Beast Runeword Axe, you maxout the Speed with lvl 9 Fanatisicm aura if you got nice increesed attack speed from other stuff.

still grinding statues.

I feel like it's only fair to mention his channel if its the one I'm thinking of, Smalps Gaming right? That was a nice barb build he shared

Ahh had to look up my Youtube history, but yes that's the one ^_^

it was so epic

Werewolf Barbarian
https://maxroll.gg/d2/guides/werewolf-barbarian
maxroll lists it as F-tier.
I have never played it, can't confirm if it is good.

Gotta bust out the Life Tap Wand for Thorns Aura Herald, that's how I deal with them. Always managed to eventually kill them too, never gottten stuck although a couple were brutal sometimes.

PIs you just need Lawbringer + a sunder since the Decrep works at full effect when used with the sunder. Or put a Reapers Toll on your merc, or gamble any Dagger with CTC amp damage proc.

Ive not played barbs much, then at one point couple of seasons ago I tried one.

It was magnificent. Sure it sucked at boss kills as I had low dmg, but it was hell a fun to play and my 2nd Enigma on a character aswell.

Singer barb with Enigma and swap for corpse exploring I had something like 450~ magic find if not more, cant remember if I had added the ists yet.

'Twas a good season. Just teleporting around yelling angrily at the enemies watch them explode as their eardrums burst.