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Evil Grin need help!!!!
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Posted 2004-04-13, 09:44 PM
i would really like to know a great pvs m now ... one that can do hell better ... plz include item and skill list 2 ty
Out in this cold hearted world is a warm sense that comes from only one. It is true cause his name states what kind of person he is. With honor comes glory and with glory comes GLORY GAMER
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glory_gamer is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-betweenglory_gamer is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-between
 
 
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Posted 2004-04-13, 09:54 PM in reply to glory_gamer's post "need help!!!!"
My main goals when developing the Concentrate Bard were as follows:

-Achieve a large amount of defense, rendering enemy accuracy as close to 5% as possible
-Reach max resists
-Obtain maximum blocking, for those enemies that ignore defense
-Achieve a decent level of physical damage reduction
-Obtain a pool of 2000+ hitpoints, in order to survive any blows that make it past defense
-Create a character that meets all of the above requirements, while still maintaining the capability to deliver
quick, accurate, and powerful attacks
-Create a character with a mix of skills which will allow him to handle any situation encountered, with
emphasis on flexibility and versatility.

The original build, developed during the beta, met all of these criteria. I was thus very excited to see that none of the synergies of the build were changed between the beta and the final, and I am pleased to present you all with my outline for the 1.10 concentrate barb.

Disclaimer

Note that the purpose of this guide is to provide you with a template that works extremely well in 1.10, along with filling you in on general tactics for playing and providing you with an idea of what types of equipment to look for. The intention of this guide is not to tell you when to place which point where, or how to go about gaining your levels. I feel that in doing so, I would’ve taken the fun out of playing, removing the personal connection between the player and his character. This guide is thus more of a template for your build; use it to get an idea of where you’re going and why.

Glossary of Commonly Used Game Terms

AR: Attack Rating
BP or BPS: Breakpoint(s)
CBF: item property “Cannot be Frozen”
Clvl: Character level
Dual Leech: an item that has both Mana and Life leech.
ED: Enhanced Damage
FCR: Faster Cast Rate
FHR: Faster Hit Recovery
IAS: Increased Attack Speed
ITD: item property “Ignore Target’s Defense”
LL: item property “Life Leech”
MF: Magic Find
ML: item property “Mana leech”
PDR: item property “Physical Damage Reduction”
PMH: item property “Prevent Monster Heal”
Prismatic: a property on an item that gives +all resists
PvM: Player versus Monster
PvP:Player versus Player
R/W: Run/Walk (as in run/walk speed)
Slvl: Skill level
TP: Town Portal

Stat Point Distribution

The most important things to consider before assigning stat points are what weapon you plan to be using at endgame, and whether or not you’re going to use a shield. This will give you some idea of how much strength and dexterity to aim for. I personally prefer berserker axes, thanks to their base speed of 0, wonderful 1 handed damage, and ability to obtain up to 6 sockets, meaning you can create virtually every runeword weapon available. This will be discussed more in the equipment section.

Strength

Enough to use your biggest item. If you’re following this guide to the letter, I’d suggest getting your strength to exactly 156 base and stopping, as that is the requirement of Stormshield, the biggest item you’d be using. Massive strength isn’t so important, since most of the end-game items you’ll be looking for give 20+ strength bonuses (Arrest's, CoH, Stormshield, etc), and because your main concern is survival.

Dexterity

If you’re going with shields, you’ll need a hefty amount of dexterity to maintain max blocking. Stormshield, for example, requires 222 dexterity at level 99 to achieve max block. Whether you make that you base amount or get there with items is up to you, though I would personally recommend making it your base, for several reasons: for one, you don’t know for sure that you’ll end up with Stormshield, so you want to make sure you have max block regardless of what you’re wielding. Secondly, every 2 points into dexterity gives you 1 extra defense, which is useful to the build. And lastly, dexterity gives you AR. If you ever decide to PvP with the build, you’re going to want as much AR as you can get. Thus, you can never really waste a point of dexterity on an Ironbarb.

On the other hand, if you’re NOT planning to use a shield, then you need only get enough dexterity to use your weapon. You can leave it at base for big mauls, since there are plenty of AR boosting skills and items in this build, and one of our “tools” – battle cry – knocks off 50% of an enemy’s defense, making him MUCH easier to hit.

Vitality

Everything you have left. While in the past, Ironbarb variants didn’t really require a lot of life, things have changed in 1.10. There are several types of creatures who ignore defense, and with damage from enemies increased across the board, you’ll want a hefty amount of HP to soak up magic and elemental damage in the later parts of Hell.

Energy

None. All of your skills use at or around 2-4 mana, so this is not an issue, even vs. mana burn uniques.

So, staying strict to the guide, you would have 156 strength, 222 dexterity, 202 vitality, and 10 energy base if you made it all the way to 99. Not very likely, but theoretically speaking, that’s how it would turn out.

Skill Point Distribution

Here is where we get into the blood and guts of the build. As I stated before, this template is a variant of the Ironbarb, though it forsakes some of the traditional steps taken by its forbearer to max defense to instead become more versatile and balanced. The basis of this is the synergy chain: Concentrate is your main skill, which chains with Battle Orders, which chains with Shout, which chains with Berserk, which chains back to Concentrate. Thus, just about every skill in the template works with another one, making the barb operate much like a well-oiled machine.

Below is a list of all the skills you will need, as well as my reasons for selecting such. Keep in mind that this is a skill point distribution for the entire 110 points acquired by level 99; as level 80 is a more reasonable estimate, I will provide my suggestions of what skills should be worked on last.

The Big Four

Concentrate: 20 skill points

Concentrate is the engine of the build. In 1.1, this skill, once overlook for its poor damage and slow killing speed, has become a powerhouse, with synergies boosting its damage to very large proportions, along with massive defensive boosts and the inability to be interrupted. Plus, at the meager cost of two mana, you can get by with little to no mana leech when using it as your main skill.

Battle Orders: 20 skill points

Even with your huge defense, max block, resists, and pdr, your character will take quite a pounding from magical and defense ignoring enemies. Thus, the more life the better. Battle Orders likewise has several very important synergies in the patch. For one, it gives concentrate an incredible +10% damage a level, which alone would justify it’s use. Furthermore, the skill grants a +5 second/level bonus to Shout and Battle Command, both of which are critical to this build plan. So for your 20 point investment, you get a skill that gives +200% damage to your main skill, doubles your life/mana/stamina, and increases how long your defense and skill boosting War cries last by an excellent 100 seconds. It’s also party friendly, benefiting you, your group, your mercenary, and any other summons/hirelings/friendly NPCs in the area.

Shout: 20 skill points

Shout boosts the defense of you and your party by huge amounts, which will help you survive the harsh environment of the patch. Also, just like Battle Orders, Shout has some valuable synergies to take advantage of. It too features the wonderful +5 seconds/level boost to Battle Orders and Battle Command, so with both this skill and BO maxed, you’ll get +100 to each of them, and +200 to Battle Command, making that skill last over 3 minutes with only ONE skill point invested in it. The skill also provides a 10% damage/level bonus to berserk, which you’ll want a point of anyways for dealing with those pesky PI’s later in the game.

Weapon Mastery: 20 skill points

A lot of people will tell you that boosting a mastery is a foolish act in the patch, that working with synergies is a much better idea. However, with this build you are already maxing the three skills that do the most using synergies in your build: BO, Concentrate, and Shout. The only other skill you could really consider working on is Bash, but all that does is give you 5% damage/level, while a weapon mastery gives you 5% damage, 8% AR, and increases your critical strike chance. Thus, it is the humble opinion of this writer that every player should pick a weapon to specialize in and work on maxing it out. Which one you pick is totally a matter of personal opinion, though I sincerely feel that axes offer the most to the template, as they have the most powerful one handed weapon in the game in the berserker axe, can use most every runeword, have very low requirements, and are the only candidates for use with the blood weapon <A TITLE="Click for more information about <A TITLE="Click for more information about recipe" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||recipe|AA1VDw">recipe</A>" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||recipe|AA1VDw">recipe</A>, which can create some INSANELY powerful weapons, should you get lucky. I’d like to note that because of the difficulty of gaining levels in the patch, I would suggest making this the second-to-last skill you work on; the three preceding skills should be your top priority.

Secondary Skill

Bash: 15 points

The sole reason for working on this late-game is to take advantage of the 5% damage/level boost to your concentrate skill. Some would argue you should spend these spare points in Iron Skin instead, but you can increase Iron Skin using +skill items, while synergies only benefit from actual skill levels, thus the damage boost from Bash trumps Iron Skin. There are more important things to worry about first, however, so this should be the LAST thing you work on, from levels 85-99, if you ever get that far.

The One Point Wonders

Battle Command

BC always deserves a point of investment, just because it is so useful. BC first, then use Shout and Battle orders for a lovely +1 skill boost to both of those when they are cast. BC also receives some nice synergies that make it much more powerful in the patch: +5 second/level boosts from Shout and BO. Thus, once you max those two, you can cast BC, Shout, BO, and then BC again to get the +skill boost to it, increasing all of your skills for a good 4 minutes!

Howl

One of the main issues with playing a Concentrate barb is the fact that it’s a “one enemy at a time” skill; thus, you don’t have much in the way of crowd control. That’s where Howl comes in. When swamped with enemies, a blast from Howl will throw them into a panic, forcing most (if not all) of them to flee from your character. While most of the time this won’t be necessary for your barbarian, thanks to his huge defense, you will run into several occasions where you are pitted against an enemy class that ignores your defense (like Moon Lords, Gore Bellies, and their kin). A quick spamming of this will give you some time to breath, and thin out the mod quite a bit, making it much less frantic and more manageable. This skill works wonders with Taunt as well, and tactics combining the two have been explained in the Gameplay section.

Howl has a limit on its terror inducing ability, designated by the formula slvl + clvl + 1, as compared to the monster’s level. Likewise, certain enemy types, as well as all act bosses, champions, and unique/super unique enemies are immune to this skill.

Taunt

Ok, this is probably going to turn out to be a somewhat lengthy rant. Taunt is, without a doubt, my favorite skill, one that is so under-appreciated that it is ridiculous; it is a skill that has so many applications that I feel it should be a staple for nearly every barbarian made post-1.10.

So what’s so great about Taunt? Here we have a skill that forces an enemy to stop what it is doing and move into melee range to attack you, while lowering his damage and accuracy. While it may not seem too great at first, to an Ironbarb, is an incredible, incredible tool! Following activation of the skill, one of three things is going to happen:

1. The enemy will swing, and the attack will be negated by your blocking;
2. The enemy will swing, and miss, thanks to your huge defense;
3. The enemy will swing, make it past your blocking and defense, but do meager damage, thanks to pdr from the skill and your equipment.

But wait, there’s more! Taunt is also extremely party friendly, allowing you to pull enemies off of your weaker compatriots and onto yourself. You can also use this to your advantage when working with your mercenary, as you can use it to keep heavy hitters off him. Furthermore, taunt works wonders against ranged attackers, forcing them to stop shooting and walk right up to you. AND, you can use it in combination with Howl for some INCREDIBLE crowd control. Howl to scare off the crowd, taunt to pull back the ones you want to deal with as you feel like it. All of this for just ONE point!

Berserk

This one doesn’t really need much explanation…it’s been a staple of every barb build since Blizzard introduced PI’s into the game. A one point investment is plenty enough, as you’ll get an additional 200% damage from your shout skill and it will be boosted a level by battle command.

Battle Cry

For one point, you get a skill that significantly lowers the damage dealt by enemies and halves their defense, making them much, much easier to hit. Battle Cry has the added bonus of working on nearly everything in the game as well, making it a wonderful tool to use against bosses like Duriel and Diablo and other high-defense, high-damage uniques. Also nice for when you are being mobbed, because even with your defense and equipment pdr, it’s nice to get every possible edge you can in combat in 1.10.

Note: Battle Cry works in PvP.

Leap Attack

Another staple for most barb builds, LA is basically barbarian line-of-sight teleport. Lets you get across rivers, gaps, hills, groups of monsters, and many other obstacles you will encounter in the game.

Find Potion/Find Item/Grim Ward

I’ll just lump all of these together. Find Potion and Find Item are included for obvious reasons…you never know when you’ll score that Zod rune or high-end unique using FI, and FP will let you stock up on potions for long excursions when you don’t have a TP.

Grim Ward is a whoooooole other story. I know most of the readers of this guide would probably see this as a wasted point, but it is actually quite the contrary. GW is a very powerful tool in the right hands. While most of the time, you’ll rather use Howl instead, the ward shores up for Howl’s weaknesses. For example, in close quarters, Howl will scare off the enemies, but if they hit a wall, they will just turn around and come right back, attacking you regardless of the fear. Grim Ward handles this case very well, putting up a defensive zone that nothing will enter for 40 seconds; thus, when the enemies hit the wall and come running back, they’ll just turn around again and scurry off. This is nice to use when you come up against a powerful unique boss as well, giving you 40 seconds to dance with him alone. You can also employ some very powerful tactics involving the ward. Set a few up in a perimeter and any enemies trapped within will become panicked, running back and forth between the wards while you take them apart. It’s also really nice for parties, since you can create safe zones for casters, archers, and throwers, and use it when at lower levels to safely navigate dangerous terrain, or ensure your retreat by throwing one up while on the run.

A nice bonus to all three of these skills is that they provide you with a form of corpse disposal, which is extremely useful when facing mobs of resurrecting foes.

Increased Stamina/Increased Speed/Iron Skin/Natural Resistances:

All of these skills provide powerful passive boosts to your character. While in previous versions of the game, it was prudent to play a good 5+ points in Increased Speed and Natural Resistances, this is not the case anymore thanks to synergies. One point in each one is enough; with +skill items, battle command, and good equipment/charms, they will all be upwards of 7 or more with just one point invested.

Leap/Stun

Not really much use in either of these skills; they’re really just pre-requisites.

There now. That should all add up to 110 skill points, the maximum amount you can acquire whilst playing through the game. Since it will be excessively difficult to level past 80 in the patch, I would recommend working on your weapon mastery and bash skills last, as they do not provide much other than increased damage and AR; all of the other skill point investments provide you with useful tools for handling your foes in the patch.

Outfitting Your Concentrate Barbarian.

7. Fighting the Diablo Clone.

Due to his huge block rate and massive resistances to all physical and elemental attacks, your best bet is to go in with weapon and shield, throw up a Battle Cry, and start whittling away using Berserk. Almost all of his attacks are fire based, so make sure you have this resist maxed, and you’ll want decent lightning resist as well, in order to survive his Armageddon and Lightning attacks. Also, when you spawn him, try and do it in an area with weak enemies, like Bishbosh in the Cold Plains. Just make sure you have a good amount of potions (since the Clone is immune to leech), and throw up a portal, and you should be ok. For reference, I’ve soloed him several times, taking an average of about 6 minutes, using 6-9 rejuvenations between my mercenary and myself each time, and neither of us have died yet. He’s nowhere NEAR as tough as everyone makes him out to be, so while you should respect his power, don’t be intimidated.

FAQ

Q. Is 9fps really worth it?

A. It really depends on how wealthy you are. 9 fps is definitely a very nice thing to have, but it usually involves socketing your gear with some extremely valuable jewels and such to get there. It is definitely worth getting there, if you can, but in most circumstances, you should definitely worry more about creating a more balanced and stable character and settle for 10 frames.

Edited by Senesia 

Credits go to Halciet (of Dii.net)

Link:
http://www.unc.edu/~jpurvis/conc/main.html
I use to be a shoe shinner now I sip Aunt Jamima, I go to sleep in Europe and wake back up in China. CLUB 977 The 80's Channel!!!!! -winamp radio is heaven on earth

Last edited by Senesia; 2004-04-14 at 06:56 PM.
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zagggon is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-betweenzagggon is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-between
 
 
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Posted 2004-04-14, 12:53 PM in reply to zagggon's post starting "My main goals when developing the..."
Holy shit... Did you type all that? If so, you're my hero .
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slaynish enjoys the static noises of ten television sets simultaneously tuned to 412.84 MHzslaynish enjoys the static noises of ten television sets simultaneously tuned to 412.84 MHz
 
 
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Posted 2004-04-14, 01:29 PM in reply to slaynish's post starting "Holy shit... Did you type all that? If..."
That was too analytical for Zagggon. He copied it, likely from DiabloII.net.
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Vollstrecker shows clear signs of ignorance and confidence; the two things needed to succeed in lifeVollstrecker shows clear signs of ignorance and confidence; the two things needed to succeed in life
 
 
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Posted 2004-04-14, 01:52 PM in reply to Vollstrecker's post starting "That was too analytical for Zagggon. ..."
it´s really very hard to read for me Oo
excuse me plz for my bad english
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BlackKnight is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-betweenBlackKnight is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-between
 
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Posted 2004-04-14, 06:43 PM in reply to Vollstrecker's post starting "That was too analytical for Zagggon. ..."
Vollstrecker said:
That was too analytical for Zagggon. He copied it, likely from DiabloII.net.
Shhh j00!!!!!!
I use to be a shoe shinner now I sip Aunt Jamima, I go to sleep in Europe and wake back up in China. CLUB 977 The 80's Channel!!!!! -winamp radio is heaven on earth
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zagggon is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-betweenzagggon is neither ape nor machine; has so far settled for the in-between
 
 
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Posted 2004-04-14, 06:54 PM in reply to zagggon's post starting "Shhh j00!!!!!!"
http://www.unc.edu/~jpurvis/conc/main.html

I'll add in the credit in his post.


11:49 Skurai said:
I don't have to study for math, I'm technically a genius, just don't care to show.
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