Inferno Barb

[JustAGuy]

Ok, my Mephisto runs have given me the means to create what looks to me to be a fun and potentially powerful build.

Mepphy-cakes was kind enough to drop the following items for me (not all at once mind you):

Flamebellow Balrog Blade #1
152-326 2h damage
41-207 1h damage
12% to cast lvl 16 firestorm on strike
+3 fire skills
+177% enh damage
233-482
+12 inferno
+11 str
+10 vit
Fire Absorb 28%

Flamebellow Balrog Blade #2
171-368 2h damage
46-234 1h damage
12% to cast lvl 16 firestorm on strike
+3 fire skills
+212% enh damage
+15 inferno
+17 str
+7 vit
Fire Absorb 22%

Steel Shade Armet
300 Defense
+100% enh. defense
6% mana steal
+8 fire absorb

Ormus's Robes Dusk Shroud
422 defense
+13% to fire/coldghtning skill damages (this is the only mod that matters, really)

Dwarf Star Unique Ring
Magic Damage Reduce By 15
+40 to Life
Fire Absorb 15%


Ok, with these items, the total fire absorb is 65%, with an additional +8 of straight fire absorb (the actual mod that will allow me to heal from fire). Since I can get lightning immunity (read: gloam immunity) on my Paladin using Guardian Angel and Thundergod's Vigor (+20 absorb with 90% resist), fire immunity with this equipment is certain. I'm not sure when and how the 65% (if it actually IS 65% -- probably capped somewhere) is applied, and if that combined with the +8 will actually heal my widdle ol' barby.

Resistances aside, the main feature of this build is the Inferno. The two flamebellows give +6 to fire skills and +27 to Inferno. Adding ormus's robes adds another 13% more fire damage. My question is, how much mana does level 33 inferno (not counting any other +skill modifiers) eat up? And how much damage does it do?

Ok, I'll have level 33 Inferno right away, 34 with Magefist, 36 by adding Mara's. I haven't gotten an Annihlus yet, so I can't get it to 37... I could always ditch the Steel Shade and replace it with a +2 helm of some sort for level 38 Inferno. How much mana does it drain and how much damage does that do? How can I offset the mana drain?

My hope is that this Barbarian would be just like a Venom Lord, with a massive inferno attack and high physical damage using frenzy. The only thing that would stop him would be his lack of defense... Shout and Iron Skin could offset that, if I ditch the Ormus Robes. If I had the runes, I'd upgrade my Shaftstop (another wonderful gift from Mepphy) and use that to help offset the physical damage I'd be receiving.

The idea is that he'd be a Frenzy Barbarian, ignoring Berserk all together, instead using the more defense friendly (and most importantly, FREE) Inferno to take care of Physical Immunes. Of course, dual Physical/Fire Immunes would be un-killable, but then, so too are Physical and Magic Immunes to Frenzy/Berserk style Barbs. It's not like he'd be soloing Hell in 8 player games anyway; teammates can take care of those rare dual Fire and Phsyical immunes. The beauty is that I'd not lose my defense when berserking.

Now as far as skills go, I have one skill of interest: frenzy.

Frenzy, it's pre-requisites and it's synergy skills would take up 64 points, ignoring Berserk's magic damage synergy (since we will deal fire damage to PIs):
20 in double swing
20 taunt
20 in frenzy
1 in bash
1 in double throw
1 in Increased Stamina
1 in howl

Now, we need some backup skills. Now, Battle Orders seems like a no brainer. Putting 20 into it doesn't seem that useful when there are other skills that also deserve points. So...
10 in battle orders
10 in shout
1 in increased speed
10 in iron skin
5 in natural resist
10 in sword mastery

Optional but useful:
1 in leap
1 in leap attack (gotta have it for transportation!)
1 battle command

So with the 64 point main skill, there are an additional 46 points in extra stuff (not including the optionals) that needs to be taken care of. Assuming that we use the 12 skill points from quest rewards, that means this Venom Lord Barbarian will "complete" by my standards at level 98.

As far as putting the points in a certain order, I would probably do 10 in double swing, max frenzy, while also getting a few each in resists, iron skin, shout, then max taunt, double swing, and then finish off the rest.

Seems like there are too many things to max out for the Barbarian. Can't have it all I guess. At least I don't have to worry about any synergies that have to do with Berserk.

Any suggestions or ideas? I'm hyped up about this build. Should be interesting. The items are super high level, though, so getting the Barbarian up that high will take a straight-up frenzy build. Luckily, I have two Hexfire Shamshir's for the early levels, two Plague Bearers for mid levels, heck, I even have two deathbit battle darts to have some fun!

[Sporky Smurf]

Sounds like a very nice build. However, level 36 Inferno with no synergies only does 412-435 per second for 13 mana per second. However, with a low-mana build, there is an easy way to work around the high mana cost of inferno.

See the little description "Minimum Mana Required to Cast - 6"? That's what you pay for the initial burst of inferno, and every tick after that is 13 mana. So if you click the Inferno key only once, you'll get a short blast for 6 mana.

[Obi2Kenobi]

The cap on absorb% is 40%. So your two Flamebellows alone will allow you to hit that cap. However, the Dwarf Star is still an excellent ring.

[JustAGuy]

I had a feeling that there was an absorb % cap somewhere. Dwarf star is nice, but it's main feature is the fire absorb; I'll probably just toss it for Raven Frost or some leech ring of some sort.

[Obi2Kenobi]

Well, if you have a Ravenfrost, then definately, go for it! *mumbles about everyone being richer than him* :rolleyes:

[JustAGuy]

What was that about being richer? ;)

You know, it's a bit disturbing to have concluded this, but I think I might be addicted to running Mephisto. That's why I have this nice loot; I just run that very generous bugger over and over... I supposed I'm addicted to the treasure hunt, the thrill of "ooh, what's he going to drop next?" I doubt it'll last forever, because eventually, I'll have collected everything he is capable of dropping. Still waiting for Herald of Zakarum though...

As for details on HOW I do it, it goes like this:

1. Use my sorceress to find the Durance level 3. You know, just because it's bigger, doesn't mean that it's harder to find. I've found distinct patterns to the levels, and from the orientation of the area surrounding the waypoint, I can find level 3 of the durance 95% of the time in the first try (pick a route, check if it's there). Kinda sad, but it happens when you do this so often.

2. When I approach Meph, static field him to half, unless my merc gets hit a couple of times, then I just jump to town. I keep my merc alive as often as possible, because when you teleport through the durance, those blunderbore and doll types can stun lock you quick if you teleport into a pack of them. The merc takes the heat off, and slows them when the aura is activated.

3. Use my hammerdin to beat mephisto to within an inch of his life. Having static fielded him makes this take all of 5 seconds. Drop a portal for my sorceress to come and join the fun.

4. Switch weapons to my MF gear (gull dagger and Rhyme shield). As a result of so many runs, I have some incredible MF gear on my gal; 496% MF total to be exact.

5. Give him the ol' ice orb while the hammerdin just stands there, distracting him. I'm paranoid about the merc getting the killing blow, so I teleport around, not letting him get close. This is also to prevent him from distracting meph and getting killed before I can kill Meph.

6. Enjoy the loot, and watch the exp bar slowly get higher. Very slowly.

Every once in a while, my hammerdin will get hit and the Thundergod's Vigor's % chance to cast Fist of Heavens kills Meph. Doesn't happen very often anymore, as I leave Meph enough life to survive it if it is cast. Speaking of the hammerdin, he has max resists and good defense and blocking with holy shield, so Meph practically never hits him. It's kind of nice to just let him stand there with cleansing on while Mephisto tries to poison him and slap him to no avail.

My sorceress is level 80 with 496% MF. Mephisto drops a set and/or a unique (any kind) almost everytime. I'd say he drops pure crap (that is, only low end rares) once every 10 or so runs. Each run takes about 2 to 10 minutes, depending on how hard it was to find the durance level 3. Sometimes, you just can't find it until you've gone around the whole damn map. Somtimes, it's right beside the way point.

Well, that's HOW I came to get all this crap. Not raven frost though, that was dropped by the council in nightmare. You could have lots of stuff too, if you wanted to spend a ton of time slapping Mephisto up. I'm not completely hoarding this stuff though, I'm either making new builds (such as the one in this thread), or giving the gear away to friends. My runs have produced some stellar necro gear, all of which my friend is using on his latest zoomancer (something like +12 to curses and +8 to all skills... sick I tells ya). I can't trade because people are just unreasonable on Battle.net, so I run.

[Nightwind]

I'm paranoid about the merc getting the killing blow, so I teleport around, not letting him get close. This is also to prevent him from distracting meph and getting killed before I can kill Meph.

the hammerdin's merc getting the kill might cause trouble, but as long as the sorc's merk gets the kill it's her mf that counts. And if you put aseccond gul on the merc, then it counts as even MORE mf.

[adeyke]

And if you put aseccond gul on the merc, then it counts as even MORE mf.

I wish you the best of luck giving a dagger to a mercenary ;).

You are right, though, about minions' effective MF being the sum of their own MF and the MF of their master.

[Bob]

are you planning on doing most of your damage with the swords, and inferno on the side for frying lines of enemies and PI's? or inferno everything and only use the swords for FI's?

Just, if you're going for the sword option, can I recommend you put 10 less points in taunt, and 10 more in sword mastery?

Oh, and iron skin/shout.

Considering that you'll get the same defence bonus from each (10%) you might as well go all in shout, (except 1 as the prereq for resist) and give a larger bonus to those around you and get it to last longer for your mana

Where you planning on tagging a merc along? if so which?

-Bob

[rwbatema]

An option is Shout / Iron Skin is WarCry.
With this skill at level 15+, a single yell will stun monsters for about 4 seconds in hell.

I have a Frenzy / WarCry barb and it works great.

[JustAGuy]

The swords will be doing a ton of physical and fire damage, very quickly, so non-fire immunes will be eating that for breakfast, served up by yours truly. I have two options: 1. just use frenzy all the time, and use inferno on PIs; 2. for non-fire/non-physical immune is to use inferno, then use the swords to leech back, rinse and repeat, use inferno on PIs.

I doubt I'll be using Inferno exclusively, as the sword damage, combined with the big fire damage on the sword, would probably be enough for non-fire immunes and PIs. That's why I wrote this build down beforehand - I'm not sure how it'll work out.

Just, if you're going for the sword option, can I recommend you put 10 less points in taunt, and 10 more in sword mastery?

So, max the sword mastery? It will provide more damage than the synergy?

Considering that you'll get the same defence bonus from each (10%) you might as well go all in shout, (except 1 as the prereq for resist) and give a larger bonus to those around you and get it to last longer for your mana

Sounds fine to me. I'm a big shouter anyway. The added time boost to Battle Orders would be great.

Where you planning on tagging a merc along? if so which?

I was thinking about a defense merc, or maybe a holy freeze or act 3 ice merc. I'll probably go with the Holy Freeze to start, but I doubt he'll be able to keep up.

[Bob]

So, max the sword mastery? It will provide more damage than the synergy?

hmmm, this is why you should NEVER listen to anything I ever say without checking it yourself first...

I didn't realise Frenzy got a bonus from taunt. You'd lose 30% with my plan, but if you have a problem with AR, then the mastery thing could be a better idea. Put 10 in each, and if you find that you have problems hitting stuff, you could go for mastery, otherwise into frenzy. Or you could go 15/15.
An act3 ice guy would probably require mucho-fast cast stuff be be useful (or is his attack speed controlled by weapon speed? I forget now). Assuming it's fast cast, you got a vipermagi kicking about?

-Bob

[Obi2Kenobi]

An act3 ice guy would probably require mucho-fast cast stuff be be useful (or is his attack speed controlled by weapon speed? I forget now).

I disagree. I have used nude act 3 cold mercenaries to great success. :) And his attack speed is controlled by weapon speed, but I asume you meant casting speed, in which case it is controlled by fast cast.


About inferno, I would reccomend usually using Frenzy, and just tossing in short inferno bursts whenever you feel like it. ;) Like a Balrog.

[MongoJerry]

It sounds like a fun build, and I'm all for off-the-beaten-path builds as everyone here knows. However, I just wanted to warn you that I have an Inferno sorceress with level 36 inferno, max Warmth (for synergy), and level 30ish Fire Mastery and even she has trouble killing things -- especially in multiplayer games. If 5000/sec fire isn't able to kill quickly, then 500/src fire damage will be that much worse. When building your barb, I'd suggest resigning yourself to the fact that it'll be your swords doing most of the damage and the inferno is there just for the looks.

[Bob]

yes, I've found them mighty handy with no fast cast or fast attack stuff, but I was trying to get at the idea of freezing backs so that they can be safely hosed down with inferno. Of course, the merc will pick one target and keep firing until it dies, but having a faster attack increases the frequency of getting a glacial spike, which is handy for slowing packs.
Actually, I rather like A3 mercs because they have a 0 dependency on equipment, or you can put fun stuff on them, like an isenhearts set. Only merc that you can put a full set on IIRC.

So, er, where on earth are you going to get fast cast on a sword from? other than a few uniques, it's a good job he's not equip dependant

-Bob

[adeyke]

Actually, I rather like A3 mercs because they have a 0 dependency on equipment, or you can put fun stuff on them, like an isenhearts set. Only merc that you can put a full set on IIRC.

Act 5 mercs can also complete a set: Sazabi.

So, er, where on earth are you going to get fast cast on a sword from?

There aren't any swords with FCR.

[MongoJerry]

There aren't any swords with FCR.

But you can get shields (e.g. lidless wall), armor (e.g. vipermagi, ormus), and helms (e.g. rare circlet) with fast cast on them.

[Caaroid]

Actually Ormus is better in some cases than a skin n an act3 merc, since it has higher defense (cold armor) and has faster hit recovery (do check Tommi's site, act3 merces are SAD)

[JustAGuy]

It sounds like a fun build, and I'm all for off-the-beaten-path builds as everyone here knows. However, I just wanted to warn you that I have an Inferno sorceress with level 36 inferno, max Warmth (for synergy), and level 30ish Fire Mastery and even she has trouble killing things -- especially in multiplayer games. If 5000/sec fire isn't able to kill quickly, then 500/src fire damage will be that much worse. When building your barb, I'd suggest resigning yourself to the fact that it'll be your swords doing most of the damage and the inferno is there just for the looks.

Sounds true enough. The fire damage on the swords will probably be doing more than a sustained level 38ish inferno can. But it's true, the inferno will mostly be for the looks. I'll hack away, and then pop some inferno off, then hack away again ... Hopefully, I'll be able to leech back some mana, so I can pop some more inferno.

I'm having a hard time levelling this guy up, though, because of time constraints. The last time I played him, he was using two Bloodletter Gladiuses, using the free +5 (+2 on one, +3 on the other) to Whirlwind to get the majority of his kills. The combined +6 to sword mastery is nice too. Whirlwind is still viable in normal difficulty, and fun, despite what some people might say.

[DukeTrout]

Get a melee merc and put a Delirium runeword helm on him. That way, you can be a Venom Lord with a little Undead Stygian Doll friend. :D