Warcry Variant

[IShiva]

Really tempted to make a Warcry barb. I had one in 1.08 that I loved playing.

What I'm thinking is a very expensive build that really would be a great party character, but leveling him up would be painful and solo would be very difficult if not impossible.

Level 99

20 Howl
20 Taunt
20 Battle Cry
20 Battle Orders
20 Warcry
01 Battle Command
01 Leap
01 Increased Stamina
01 Increased Speed
01 Iron Skin
01 Natural Resistance

(for a more reasonable level 80 nix howl)

Pure vitality build.
Enigma Breastplate, dual HOTO battle hammers, Harlequin crest, 2 sojs, maras, silkweave, Arachnid mesh, frostburn.

That's +16all (including BC), max resists, huge life and substantial mana, and ample fast cast.

[Zyr]

Pure vitality build. 
Enigma Breastplate, dual HOTO battle hammers, Harlequin crest, 2 sojs, maras, silkweave, Arachnid mesh, frostburn.

I don't believe you can put HotO into Battle Hammers. The Arreat Summit Rune Word page states (in a footnote to HotO):

"-Maces: Maces doesn't mean all Mace class weapons. As the top of the page says: Maces = Mace, Morning Star, Flail, and Exceptional/Elite versions."

Four-socket Flails would seem more consistent with a pure vitality build than getting 100 Strength for Battlehammers. ;)

I've begun a Singer Barb under the influence of Candlelight's BarelyManilow, who achieved Guardian status playing (visually) n00d (no armor or shield; gloves, boots, belt, circlet and jewelry allowed); his adventures are detailed in the Amazon Basin Hardcore Resting Room board. Also, I've found a lot of useful information in Wim-sama's Singer Barb thread in the AB Barb forum. Unfortunately the AB forums are down for me right now, so I can't provide direct links.

My hopes are that my Singer can do some MFing, with a PTopazed-out merc delivering most (all?) of the killing blows. Gear will include (at least temporarily, because I have all of these items now):

Tarnhelm
Angelic armor, ammy, and two rings
Sigon's belt, boots, and shield
Frostburns
Two Spectral Shards

Attribute points: Str 75 (for Sigon's shield), Dex 51 (for Shards), rest into Vit

Skill points: Still undecided. In a reply in the Wim-sama thread I can't currently access, Booyakasha made a strong case for maxing Berserk, and I may go that way rather than the purely vocal approach you've outlined.

EDIT: The Basin is back. :)
BarelyManilow
Wim-sama

EDIT AGAIN SOME MORE: I misremembered the location of Boooyakasha's post (and misspelled his name as well :ph34r:)-- it's in this MF Barb thread.

[IShiva]

I meant to say war hammers! But you're right, it has to be a flail.

[Baajikiil]

What I'm thinking is a very expensive build that really would be a great party character, but leveling him up would be painful and solo would be very difficult if not impossible.

I think you'll be amazed by how effective he is. If you manage to put together the gear you mentioned, you'll rock through hell solo. My warcy barb, with the exact same build as you mentioned(and much worse gear, though decent) can easily kill any group of non phys immune monsters in just a few seconds. For phys immunes, I guess you better have some elemental backup equipment for your merc, or just pass them bye. I used open wounds on my barb merc to kill any phys immunes, and boy did it take a while in multiplayer hell games.

The real problem will be how much your killing slows down in multiplayer. But in multiplayer, you become the best support char around, one with 4-5K life, the ability to shut down ranged attackers (taunt), shut down melee attackers(warcry), and buff your friends(BO,BC) as well as curse your enemies(battlecry). All in all, it's a great build IMHO, but act bosses sure do take a while.

[Bloodshrike]

I'm thinking of redoing my Singer Bane_Sidhe from 1.09.

The skills you listed, however, with 1 point in Mace Mastery
WHY??
Because.......
Baranar's Star
Devil Star
One-Hand Damage: 129 To 159 (144 Avg)
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 153
Required Dexterity: 44
Durability: 172
Base Weapon Speed: [10]
+200% Enhanced Damage
+50% Damage To Undead
Adds 1-200 Fire Damage
Adds 1-200 Lightning Damage
Adds 1-200 Cold Damage
50% Increased Attack Speed
200% Bonus To Attack Rating
+15 To Dexterity
+15 To Strength
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.09 or later)

1 point in mace mastery, combined with your + to skills boosting it, should give a decent amount of AR. The 200% bonus of Baranars would triple your regular AR. This should give a good chance to hit, even in Hell.

Use Tiamat's Rebuke and Baranars on a weapon switch when coming up on physical immunes. Mana burn? No problem. You'd be using standard attack anyways.

I'm barely able to afford making 1 HotO, so I'll use Sigons shield (+1 to skills, high block rate) and put about 100-150 in dex for a good block rate.