Once a believer that the THF barb class is dead after update5 nerf/fixes to barbs (10% loss of haste alacrity from capstone, no glancing blows while moving/twitching affecting barbs most since frenzy damage procs on all glancing blows account for a large portion of barb dps), I have recently pulled out my 18/2 barb/fighter build that I made up awhile back.
Note that I had this build originally for awhile and LRed back to a pure barb after the 10% hidden haste boost from the barb capstone is discovered. Now that we have lost this again, I am convinced my original plan was the right decision and a rough calculation comparing pure barb v.s. 18/2 barb/fighter will be laid out later below and in the next few days. THF FB3 Barbs are far from dead, we just have to rework our opinions and philosophies on FB3 barbs. Many people have established a legacy on what MAX DPS barb is supposed to be (e.g. Shade) but I believe that MAX DPS is always subject to change. Make a competent character that you enjoy to play and be well-versed in your playstyle such that you maximize your dps and contributions to your party. Don't let your party revolve around you because that kind of playstyle actually inhibits interactions and potential party DPS/strategies etc. With the nerf to epic mob saves, Stunning Blow becomes another (or always) attractive option for feat-starved WF barbs wanting to keep both Toughness and Stunning Blow.
NOTE ON HUGE HIT-POINTS:
I'm a fan of HP, 800+hp for a barb is sufficient for end-game content, but I enjoy having over 900hp for instances where your group can afford to have you be a main tank with easy healing with a huge hp base. Many players say that 800+hp is not needed but I find the extra 100+hp investment to be worth more than getting a non-relevant stat e.g. DEX/WIS high enough for evasion to matter. You would need a high DEX ~16+ for evasion to start being relevant with the relevant gear, and I am just not interested in making a well-rounded barb. I enjoy the min-max builds of a barb and I feel that barbs should not be a jack-of-all-trades in all stats, but rather min-max their most crucial stats: STR/CON. It fits in the flavor and playstyle/design of the class, at least for my playstyle and experience. As a guildy/forum-mate puts it well: your reflex won't matter unless you sacrifice some stats in CON, and to make reflex saves worthwhile, you will have to sacrifice the stat in CON. As an aggressive DPS class, you will be assaulted by every mob that you hit, and hold aggro on alot of mobs. Your very basic line of defense is your hp. 800hp is well recommended for end-game raiding barbs but any extra provides a bigger hp base to do more with your groups/healers than a 600hp barb would. Your HP will always be your lifeline regardless of your reflex. Sure you would lose dps and hp on failed reflex saves, but having a big base means that you would be able to take a ton of pain, yet stand up and return it without jeapordizing your party healers to focus on you. It's a matter of playstyle, and I do not judge or hope to be judged too critically on that decision. Nothing is set in stone, this is just my playstyle.
With 36pt build, I was also able to raise some dump stats 'INT/CHA/WIS' to a stable level of at least 11+ to ensure that I can chug silver flame pots without being incapped when the need arises.
Unlike some forum-posters, I dislike claiming this to be max-DPS, but this is currently my setup for epics and end-game content, a Frenzied Berserker III with huge STR potential (barb active past life), high stunning blow DC for epics, enormous HP for raid tanking, six Haste Boosts that add more DPS (when considered across classes/builds) than before after the update5 changes.
Firstly, off to the character info:
Metalworker Razormane
36pt 18barbarian/2fighter (most of my toons are 36pt TRx2 )
Chaotic Neutral
STATS
STR 37 (18 +5lvl +6item +2tome +1enh +3exc +2enc)
DEX 16 (08 +6item +2tome)
CON 38 (20 +6item +3tome +4enh +3exc +2enc)
INT 11 (08 +3tome)
WIS 08 (08)
CHA 11 (08 +3tome)
HP: 780
069 (Toughnessx3)
256 (20Base +20fighter +216barb)
010 (Barb passive past life)
280 (CON38)
060 (Toughness Enhancements)
010 (Draconic Vitality)
045 (GS 45hp)
030 (GFL)
020 (Toughness item)
Raged-sustained stats:
STR 63 (37 +4Power Rage IV +6Rage +4Past Life +4Death Frenzy +2Frenzy +2Rage pot +2Yugo +2Madstone)
CON 58 (38 +6Rage +2Hardy Rage II + 4Past Life +2Rage pot +2Yugo +4Madstone)
HP: +200hp from CON58-CON38
Total HP: 980
STUNNING BLOW DC: 48 (sustained)
10 Base
10 Weighted 10
26 63STR
01 Fighter Passive Past Life
01 Fighter Stunning Blow I Enhancement
Can be made higher with WF Tactics II, III which I have not taken for guild-raiding purposes. Should be able to sustain at 50DC easily and boosted up (titan' grip) to 55ish when needed.
FEATS:
F1: Stunning Blow
F2: Power Attack
L1: Toughness
L3: Barbarian Active-Past Life
L6: Cleave
L9: IC: Slashing
L12: THF
L15: ITHF
L18: Toughness
SKILLS:
Jump 12 (22total+25rage=47)
Intimidate 23
Balance 11
I will start first by weighing the PROS and CONS of 18/2 barb/fighter over pure barbs post update5.
PROS:
- 2 More feats: gives a feat-starved class the option for both Stunning Blow + Toughness + another feat
- Fighter 10% Haste Boosts: You can have up to a total of 6 boost with Extra Boost II Enhancement (6AP). Haste boosts are an even more significant source of dps post update5 when compared across classes since they are the only attack-speed attacking options that are available outside of haste.
- Barb active-past life: This purchased feat gives +4STR/+4CON to all your normal rages. Whether it's an intended hidden effect or bug, it is still available in update 5, and I personally believe the devs should keep it the way it is. It is not easy to TR in the game without putting effort, and having the barb pastlife on a barb 'rewards' for sticking to your old muscles and adds to the flavor of the past life itself This feat at lvl 20 without Extend Rage allows me to use 4:12min rages at 38CON, freeing up a lot more AP to be used in other areas. The +4STR/CON is definitely a HUGE boost to a weakened class, but the feat does not come to all, you need to have TRed a barb once to use this.
CONS:
- Loss of net 3STR: -2(capstone) -2(lvl20 rage) +1(fighter STR enh) = -3
- -4hp, -1DR
I am here to stress again, that even pre-update5, I supported the 18barb/2fighter build all the way until we discovered the hidden haste effect of the barb capstone. Now that this is fixed, there is little reason why not to play the 18/2 version over the pure version. +3STR is indeed a huge bonus for staying pure, but 2 additional feats and five-six 10% Haste boosts will make up in dps easily (calculations will be provided in the next few days but anyone with some basic math can verify this or with a DPS calc).
FUTURE CHANGES/NOTES:
There are a number of changes I will be making to my build layout above. I am personally taking out the THF, ITHF feats entirely and putting in other feats (more toughness!) but this is a personal playstyle choice. I twitch-play religiously and even though post update5 twitch dps is less than non-twitch dps, the 18/2 build will be having one of the highest stunning blow DCs in the game, and twitching dps v.s. stunned mobs is still considerably higher if one considers epic content part of your barb's daily killing chores. Against raid bosses, keeping the THF/ITHF/GTHF feats are best to maximize barb dps but I personally enjoy twitching, and I have yet to work out the dps difference between twitch+10%haste boost dps v.s. no-twitch. But in conclusion, one of the key highlights of this 18/2 build is that you are able to freely choose your feats whereas you are much more limited in the pure case. Without the haste boost to capstone and the nerf to glancing blows in general and yet-bugged-glancing-blow capstone, I believe that the best choice for a Frenzied Barb is to go 18/2. If you have a barb past life, you are even more at the benefit in taking the amazing past life feat without worrying about losing other critical feats. The past life will add +4STR/CON to all your normal rages, making that -3STR penalty for being unpure almost balanced.
CURRENT GEAR:
Head: Minos (Epic Red Dragon Helm, working on fort slot to use this)
Necklace: Verik's ToD
Goggles: Tharnes Goggles
Armor: DT1 (10% heal, Crushing Wave, Disintegration), DT2 (10% heal, Crushing Wave, Destruction)
Bracers: Levik's
Gloves: +6DEX gloves lol
Ring 1: ToD CON+3
Ring 2: Encrusted ToD
Belt: Knost Belt
Boots: Madstone Boots
Cloak: Earthgrab 45hp cloak
Trinket: Bloodstone
Weapon: Min2 GA, Epic SoS
Ideal stats:
STR 40 (18+5lvl+7item+3tome+1enh+3exc+2enc+1lit)
DEX 18 (08+6item+3tome+1lit)
CON 38 (20+6item+3tome+3enh+3exc+2enc+1lit)
INT 13 (08+3tome+1lit)
WIS 18 (08+3tome+6item+1lit)
CHA 12 (08+3tome+1lit)
IDEAL-GEAR
Head: Epic Red Dragon Helm
Necklace: Shintao ToD (set bonus +2 damage)
Goggles: Mentau's Goggles
Armor: DT1 (10% heal, Crushing Wave, Disintegration), DT2 (10% heal, Crushing Wave, Destruction)
Bracers: Epic Bracers of the Claw (set bonus +4 damage)
Gloves: Epic Gloves of the Claw (set bonus +4 damage)
Ring 1: Monk ring ToD (set bonus +2 damage)
Ring 2: Encrusted ToD (set bonus +2 damage, +2STR/CON, +1rage)
Belt: Knost Belt (set bonus +2 damage, +2STR/CON, +1rage)
Boots: Madstone Boots
Cloak: Lightning Strike 45hp cloak
Trinket: Litany of the Dead
Weapon: Min2 GA, Epic SoS