Qs, re: Raging Frenzied Vampire?

[Goodgulf]

So, I've developed this crazy notion of maybe running a Raging Frenzied Vampire through Heroics.

Primary Q: does the Vampiric Healing have a chance to procc from every target of a Cleave-style attack?

If yes, playstyle would primarily concentrate on gathering-up groups of mobs, dropping Obscuring Mist or Solid Fog, maybe popping Haste, dropping a Death Aura, launching Rage, and chain-Cleaving to ultimate ecstasy. Temporary Hit Points and FB self-healing are supposed to keep me alive (beyond whatever meagre amount Vampirism provides), until Rage wears off.

So, the rest of my Qs:

Q: Does Lesser Death Aura stack with Death Aura?
Q: Would I enjoy extra love from using a Vampirism weapon; what type(s) of weapon should I favor?
Q: I am thinking that Cleave, Great Cleave, Supreme Cleave, Eldritch Strike and Tantrum would give me "non-stop Cleaves" and that, as necessary, I could turtle under Cloak of Night between Cleaves and/or if I get into trouble; are there problems with this chain of reasoning?
Q: Build selection: Bar13/14 & Wiz7/6, or Bar12/Clr5/Wiz3 (Cleric Strength Domain for Str-to-Reflex), or something else entirely; which and, please, why?
Q: Skills: Spellcraft is probably a no-go; should Intimidate & Heal be my priorities; Balance?
Q: In Heroics, where can I expect, haha, to wish I had an entirely different build?

Please and thank-you to all. Other advice is welcome.

GG

[unbongwah]

So, I've developed this crazy notion of maybe running a Raging Frenzied Vampire through Heroics.
Well, for a start, you can't cast spells while Raged unless you're a druid with Beast Awakened ("You can now cast druidic magic while raging"). But setting that aside...

Q: Does Lesser Death Aura stack with Death Aura?
Yes.

Q: Build selection: Bar13/14 & Wiz7/6, or Bar12/Clr5/Wiz3 (Cleric Strength Domain for Str-to-Reflex), or something else entirely; which and, please, why?
Death Aura is a level 4 spell so you need at least 7 wizard levels to cast that.

[Goodgulf]

Thanks for a prompt reply.



Well, for a start, you can't cast spells while Raged unless you're a druid with Beast Awakened ...

... or Clr5 with Destruction Domain. I did know this: why I said, "until Rage wears off", above (and, of course, alternatively, Rage could be voluntarily dismissed).




Death Aura is a level 4 spell so you need at least 7 wizard levels to cast that.

Lesser Death Aura is Lvl2, available to Wiz3. Please correct me if I've got something wrong in what follows.

For what I have in mind, it seems to me that the Wizard-level breakpoints are,

Wiz3 (Lvl3PrE Cores [of course, Shroud], Lesser Death Aura, Cloak of Night & maybe Arcane Barrier);
Wiz6 (above, plus Lvl6PrE Cores; some undiscussed *whatever* like maybe EK Tier4's Transformation);
Wiz7 (add Death Aura & Negative Energy Burst).

Anyway, to my modes of thinking, "Death Aura (and/or NEB) v. Lesser Death Aura" is not the issue. As stated in OP, I'm expecting Barbarian PrE "goodies" to keep me from dying: mobs dead, me not, dismiss Rage, self-heal, find next group of mobs ... whether I sit-out sequential (L)DAs, cast Cleric spells, slurp stacks of potions, or combine all of that does not matter much; wash-rinse-repeat; restore Con lost to Blood Tribute when I next stop at a Shrine.

I was really hoping for an answer to my "primary Q": does Vampire Shroud's Vampirism count each target of a Cleave-style attack as a valid trigger for its own Vampirism PRC? A great follow-up question to "yes" would be, also Strikethroughs? Does anyone know; has anyone tested these things?

Wiki tells me that the (Lesser) Vampirism weapon characteristic proccs on all damage; could someone confirm the veracity of that; are all such weapons "otherwise garbage", and therefore not worth using at all, in spite of that?

I'm already leaning towards Bar12/Clr5(Strength Domain)/Wiz3: "fixed" Reflex Saves, un-Raged Self-Healing, maybe War Priest PrE and 1 AP to unlock DD 1st Core.

If Shroud-Vampirism potentially proccs on all Cleave targets, "non-stop Cleaves" are going to generate a lot of Vampirism proccs, compared to incoming damage, even at only 10% probability; even at only 1d3/WizLvl hit points per procc, plus Vampirism-weapon proccs, that might "trickle-up" into a not-insignificant amount of healing. I stated in the OP that I would intend to hide inside Obscuring Mist, and then actively Block (invoking Cloak of Night) when not Cleaving; maybe I permit Arcane Barrier to trip before I ever invoke Blood Tribute; Supreme Cleave III + Blood Trail III is going to add another 1-10 Temp HPs every 3 seconds; maybe I have to also rely heavily upon Uncanny Dodge ... In short, significant incoming-damage avoidance/mitigation/evaporation (lol, is there a better term for damage soaked-up by Temp HPs?) combined with a continuous flood of nano-heals.

Groups of Spellcasters are going to be a severe PITA ...

But, please, what else am I missing?

Other related Qs I've just thought-of,
Q: Will Shroud reduce the glean from Accelerated Metabolism (i.e., by halving it); how would the Shroud influence other Barbarian Healing/Heal-Amp attributes?
Q: Wiki entry for Inflict Serious Wounds does not include "self" as a target; as Bar12/Clr5/Wiz3, would I need to toggle-off Shroud and cast CSW in order to heal myself?

Does anyone have any more information; can anyone offer me some pointers?

Thanks again.

GG

[lemiro]

You may have got this sorted by now but I have played a few EK hybrids and often you trade the EK damage for your other tree damage (e.g. EK/Monk). Have you thought about 12Wiz/5Cle/3Barb? Horc or WF look good as they have damage and strikethrough in the tree. That way you get decent melee plus the EK extra damage, the Eldtrich Tempest is really nice in T5 EK.

That would give you D8 Spellsword, MR, AC, MP, Crit Threat, Crit Mulitplier, Confirm Crit, Doublestrike.

EK gives some nice defence too

EDIT: Morninglord looks ok for iconics using mauls