06-26-2006, 05:28 AM
>I've restarted on 1.10 for now and am having a blast. I created a new frenzybarb, Ginsu. He's 26 and venturing into the Palace Cellar now. I'm finding that cube formulae and gems are crucial to getting good weaponry for an untwinked melee character in Normal.
Before I offer you my 2 cents (get them now! they're devaluing as we're speaking!) on anything, I gots to ask if you're running 1.10 vanilla or with the Realm Runeword enabled modification. Because imo, it can make a fairly significant difference. eg: An Edge or Harmony bow can give an Act 1 rogue merc a fighting chance in Hell mode, whereas without it you might have to look for a more expensive alternative. An Insight stick practically changed the game for any builds that previously had heavy mana costs. (You might already know all of this since you mentioned you played with some mods and other utilities for 1.10)
>The only thing I can't decide is - should I keep my cold arrow Rogue for the long haul, or replace her with an A2 spear merc? I'm thinking either defiance aura for DR, or Might aura for max damage. I'm also trying to decide whether I want to focus my synergies on singing (ie Taunt, War Cry) or on armor / power buffs like Shout and Double Swing. Without any end-game items to twink him with, I suspect Ginsu is going to really start struggling to wound enemies once he gets into Hell difficulty. Would Might aura merc + damage boost synergies be best?
I've played frenziers before, but they're not my forte or my cup of tea. There's some real interesting things over on the Amazon Basin forum if you want to take a look. The last barb I've played was a Double Swinger, so let me try to sift my mental sludge for what's apllicable. I guess it does depend a lot on your personal style as well. Like you, I don't bother with much Defense rating since I prioritize resistance over armor. I usually choose speed with ctc effects over raw damage, so my early-mid game weapon was Steel and Strength\Black, with end game target being CrescentMoon and Lawbringer weapons. (Lawbringer can be assembled earlier than Cmoon, but it's not officially activated for SP at this time. Thank bliz for that one.) If I don't have access to a Lawbringer, then probably something with a fast, high AR or armor reducing 1 hander rare with a ctc Amp Damage. Or just finding a l33t blunt to make another 'Black'.
In a no twink or budget situation I would probably take a serious look at axe type weapons (including the thrown types), since axes are eligible for some good rwords, or get some decent speed and damage from the blood craft recipes. I'd also look at blunts, since there are some decent and affordable rwords that can fit in there, as well as some occasionally lucky rolled, Hit Power blunt weapon.