At what point is carniflex not the best.

[D'rin]

So this is my first thf build. At what point is carniflex not the best weapon in the hands of a frenzy barb? I am thinking once you have improved crit slashing. I know if I had a sword of shadows that would be the one to use. I don't have one of those yet so I am wondering what I should be using. And no I don't have GS on this guy yet

[Wraith_Sarevok]

1.) In the beginning:

* Carnifex as the main weapon for all non-undead, elemental, construct enemies.

* Flametouched Iron / Holy / Holy Burst Maul for skeletons.

* +5 Greataxe (any type) for high AC enemies.

* Burst Greataxes (Flaming, Holy, Icy, Shocking) for demons, devils, fire elementals, reavers, and trolls through mid-level quests.

* Greater Bane Greataxes (top picks are Construct, Dragon, Evil Outsider, Giant, Undead) through mid-level and high-level quests.

* Returning Throwing Axe for those extremely rare occasions when you can't reach an enemy.


2.) Tier 2 Green Steel as soon as possible. Tier 3 whenever you get the chance later on:

* Supreme Tyrant Green Steel Maul of Positive Energy (Holy, Good Burst, Good Blast)
- Positive/Positive/Positive
- Force Damage Ritual
- Doubles as a Raise Dead clickie and the best skeleton smasher in the game.

* Supreme Tyrant Green Steel Greataxe of Mineral (Holy, Acid Burst, Acid Blast)
- Positive/Earth/Earth
- Force Damage Ritual
- Best all-around weapon in the game. Cuts through nearly any Damage Reduction. Excellent for most bosses. Free Stoneskin clickie.

* Supreme Tyrant Green Steel Greataxe of Lightning (Holy, Shocking Burst, Shock Blast)
- Positive/Air/Air
- Force Damage Ritual
- Best DPS for demons, devils, and anything else resistant to acid. Excellent for those types of trash and on bosses that don't require Mineral II to cut through DR.

* Green Steel Throwing Axe (haven't decided. Mineral II, Lightning II, and Steam II would probably be my best picks)
- Best ranged DPS for Barbarians. Beats out any epic bow or throwing weapon in the endgame due to your massive strength bonus and the x3 multiplier.


3.) Epics and Top Endgame Lootgens you will want to keep:

* Epic Sword of Shadows
- Force Critical Ritual
- Still probably the best Auto-Crit DPS in the game, although it competes with a few epics and green steel as of the Update 5 change. Replaces your Carnifex.

* Epic Unkor's Cleaver
- Force Damage Ritual
- I just love this weapon now with the Update 5 change. Eat Jerky is a useful 10 minute health restorer. Acts as a 1-handed Vorpal weapon and Limbchopper can absolutely cripple epic trash you may find yourself tanking. Combine it with your shield in tanking situations.

* +5 Shocking Burst Flametouched Iron Maul of Stunning +10 (Find one as close to this as possible.)
- Force Critical Ritual
- Icy Burst Winter Festival Ritual
- A must have for stunning epic trash. Best Auto-crit DPS without changing weapons.

* +5 Impact Flametouched Iron Maul of Everbright (Find one as close to this as possible.)
- Force Damage Ritual
- Icy Burst Winter Festival Ritual
- Anti-ooze and rust monster weapon. Best DPS without sacrificing durability. x3 multiplier is for auto-critting stunned Rust Monsters. Impact is for the extremely rare boss Rust Monsters.


4.) Miscellaneous Things you may want to carry:

* Bereavement
- Not an epic weapon, but the trick is that it can be combined with a throwing weapon in the main hand for a +10 seeker bonus.

* Levik's Defender
- Not really a weapon at all, but a must have for shield blocking situations. Highest shield blocking DR in the game. Healer's Bounty is amazingly useful when it triggers. Sonic Guard is fun for a tad bit of offense against regenerating bosses/trash.


This is the overall setup I am using. Other things you can experiment with, including Epic Antique Greataxe, Epic Hammer of Life, Epic Noxious Fang, and Epic Xuum. Not really my style as they're not as good as most green steels, but they have their uses at times.

[EyeRekon]

An enhancement to Wraith_Sarevok's excellent write-up.

Epic
Red Dragonscale Armor - Adds Flaming Burst to whatever weapon you're wielding (see Eternal Fire).

Think: Epic Sword of Shadows
Also:

+5 Shocking Burst Flametouched Iron Maul of Stunning +10 (Find one as close to this as possible.)
- Force Critical Ritual
- Icy Burst Winter Festival Ritual

Becomes ShockBurst, IcyBurst, FlameBurst Flametouched Iron Maul of Stunning + 10 w/ Force Crit
so for autocrits its +6d10 +1d4 assuming no resists and +4d6 +2d6 if using Frenzy & Death Frenzy

[CSFurious]

i would use carniflex until you craft gs

there is also axe named Maelstrom that drops in TS, some like that weapon

[Hobgoblin]

doesnt apply as well, but on my wf fighter i used carni from 4 till about 12 when i pulled a +5 shocking burst ga of pure good and put the icy burst kit on it.

hope that helps

hob

[Carpone]

i would use carniflex until you craft gs

there is also axe named Maelstrom that drops in TS, some like that weapon

Maelstrom is an excellent weapon. Frost and Anarchic affects apply to many mobs until Orchard.

[Rav'n]

Carnifax/Maelstrom until you can get your hands on GS.

[IronClan]

A simple acid/shock/flaming pure good + risia frost greataxe which is ML4 or Holy pg and frost ML6 are going to outdo Carni aren't they?... I got Carni on a THF the other night but now kinda regret it because I could have taken the Cartooch, now watch I wont see it in the ends list another 5 or 10 times... Oh well I'll have Carnifex as an option for unfortified trash mobs, maybe it'll be more interesting with Force crits added to it.

Speaking of which does force damage add the purple glow or is that force crits? or do both add that?

[WilbyZ]

Speaking of which does force damage add the purple glow or is that force crits? or do both add that?

It's the 'Epic' effect that adds the purple glow to weapons... I don't think Force Dmg or Force Crit adds anything graphically wise

[Sani_Medicor]

A simple acid/shock/flaming pure good + risia frost greataxe which is ML4 or Holy pg and frost ML6 are going to outdo Carni aren't they?... I got Carni on a THF the other night but now kinda regret it because I could have taken the Cartooch, now watch I wont see it in the ends list another 5 or 10 times... Oh well I'll have Carnifex as an option for unfortified trash mobs, maybe it'll be more interesting with Force crits added to it.

Speaking of which does force damage add the purple glow or is that force crits? or do both add that?

I'm guessing putting icy burst on a keen of pure good would be the winner. I saw a vicious icy burst of pure good the other day too. That would probably be sweet on the right build.

[Hokonoso]

even on hard difficulty a lightning 2 falchion will out dps a mineral 2 greataxe on pitfiends and devil bosses. the small amount of dr does not outweigh the extra lightning dmg + the 600 dmg proc. only difference is if you are tanking you may have to weight for a proc before u tell other dps to go in, whereas with a min 2 u dont since it is consistent the whole time...

[IronClan]

It's the 'Epic' effect that adds the purple glow to weapons... I don't think Force Dmg or Force Crit adds anything graphically wise

I could have sworn I've seen purple glowing non epic Antique Great axe with +1 force or force crit ritual... But I'll take your word for it..

[Aranticus]

this has been said but i'd stress it again. it depends on race. on a dwarf, axes are good. falchions for the rest of the races. i have a keen falchion of pure good for low level use. it rocks

[Wrendd]

I am pretty sure that the Antique Great Axe always glows purple and not just when epic.

As to the GS Throwing Axe, I would actually suggest making a double Positive for the Raise Dead clicky. You would never need to make it tier 3, and the holy/good burst still does decent damage for when you do need to throw it.

[Symar-FangofLloth]

I could have sworn I've seen purple glowing non epic Antique Great axe with +1 force or force crit ritual... But I'll take your word for it..

AG glows purple because it has +1d6 Force as part of it's abilities, not because of rituals.

The Force damage Rahl's Might glows purple as well.