New barb build concept

HI folks

I’ve been toying with the maxroll.gg calculator, watched some YT vids and studied MacroBioBoi LeapAttack build… and came into conclusion we’ve been doing this wrong all the time:

Instead of maxing weapon damage for the 1 mob attack, i instead focused on the patch 2,4 added AoE proc damage that always hits regardless of attack rating ( with possible exception to server not registering the hit) does AoE damage and is not prone to slow, chill, FCR or IAS…

that’s right folks MacroBioBoi claims we need tons of attack speed for leap attack, while in reality the attack speed is weapon type dependant:
two handers except two hande swords 0.89 APS
one two handed sword 0.93 APS
one one handed weapon ( any) 1.0 APS
dual wielding one handed weapons (any) 1.14 APS

and there is nothing to change this no amount of FCR or IAS is going to speed this up and no amount of chill or slow is going to slow it down.

Since I relied on the proc itself attack rating and weapon damage are irrelevant as well so one could literally forgo weapon masteries, as this only woks for single target not for the AoE proc…

Q:
but how does one Increase the AoE damage when slvl 20 and it’s synergy leap slvl 20 the damage is meh…

A: increase the damage by pumping skill level via items the fun begins once you break slvl 50 for leap attack, and yes it is possible, let me tell you how:

-main hand unbending will in phase blade ( so that it doesn’t break constantly)

-offhand HotO, yes leap attack only uses mainhand so off hand is a stat stick, and since we don’t rely on weapon damage we can forgo weapon mastery and simply keep HotO as our offhand for both attack speed increase from 1.0 to 1.14 APS and for the sweet +3 to all skills… ( HotO in mainhand would break to often hnece unbending will in a Phaseblade is chosen)

-helm Arreat’s face Hands down ( if you could somehow aquire +3 to barbarian combat skills and +3 to leap attack on a primal helm it’d be even better though such helms are impossible to get) +4 to leap attack from arreats

-chest Myth for starters later upgrade either to Enigma or Chains of Honor for +2 to skills

-ammy if +3 to barb combat skills and +30str is even possible choose this otherwise +2 to barb skills +30str / or a rare with the said rolls

-rings 2x SoJ bonus to skills and a mandatory bonus to both mana and mana regen due to amount of mana, this is a must to keep your mana supply form dwindling and constant manapot munching, bul kathos is a subpar option since life steal doesn’t help much as we forgo attack rating and “procs don’t proc procs” blizzard rule, cause the Life steal to be worthless and bonus to life isn’t all that great

-gloves/belt/boots IK set pieces. You could go with arachnids mesh for +1 to all skills, however gloves and boots don’t provide any + skills, 3p ik set boots give +2to barb combat skills which is better… also with this setup and perfectly rolled torch and anni you only need to put 10 points into strength 0 in dex and everything else into vita in order to equip everything, as gear will provide the rest of the stats.

-charms torch and anni with +20 to all attributes and barb combat skillers
( belive it or not theese give 60-120 dmg each on 20 blvl of leap) on the contrary 10/76/45 don’t do jack since it’s AoE proc not actual weapon damage I concentrate on, procs don’t benefit from bonus damage they only benefit from skill level, so barb combat skillers are the only viable chice here ( and it’s probebly the only viable choice to use barb combat skillers)

roughly 2250 to 4500 physical damage doesn’t seem that much, however due to the knockback nature of the skill the damage is usually applied twice so you do double the listed damage, and elemental skills have higher damage values due to enemies having higher resistances to them…
besides one can opt for brand bow in offhand, let yourself get gammered for a second and proc lvl 14 Amp damage, (35% chance when struck), and all physicall immune or damage problems go away…

Not to mention ground effects such as lightning can’t hit you when you’re mid air, just like most of the other ranged attacks except those exactly underneath you which is like 1 mob at a time, so unless you get one shotted after you land you’re pretty much invincible. this build can easily forgo maxing battle orders and pump some skills into item find and maxing find potion. natural resistance is so beefed up that you barely need any bonus resitances ( especially while wearing chains of honor) and your life pool is still high since you can squeeze 495 stat points into vita…

Just putting this build up here for ppl eager to test this, as it won’t be too fast for m e to finish the game with this char, i barely have time to play…

i started a normal playthrough with lore 2x spirit swords, and myth, and borrowed one barb combat skiler i found with 20 lvl leap attack and 20 lvl leap, and trash and most elites seem to fall down nicely… only bosses take some time, but this build is not Uber tristram viable it never ment to be, just an viable off meta build.

Anyone interested?

Not exactly new but something that has been explored and typically tossed aside in lieu of faster clear speed via Whirlwind, Frenzy or Double Throw. Don’t get me wrong, level 52 Leap Attack with Unbending Will is certainly something since 2250-4500 knockback AoE Physical Damage is not too bad but when you factor in Physical Resistance and higher Player count, people will just resort to previously mentioned builds.

Whirlwind, for example, could use dual EDeath(Colossus Blade), and hit 4-Frame WW with Treachery, Highlords and LoH(15/15 in Arreat’s is extra cushion and would permit Colossus Sword if we wanted). 100% Deadly Strike + 65% Crushing Blow(w/ Gores) is insane and to offset Decrepify/Holy Freeze, an A1 Faith Merc + Frenzy can more than do the job. It does leave PI and what to do with them but then again, we can always ignore them, use Berserk or roll with a group.

TLDR: It’s “ok” but nothing to write home about. It’s less impressive than the Shockwave Druid was before they nerfed it to the ground. Back when Shockwave could do damage, it was mighty impressive for an “off-meta” build.

physical resistance is not a problem when coupled with brand bow runeword on swap. You simply swap, get spanked a bit until the 35% chance when struck to cast lvl 14 amp damage procs, and a large area of mobs get amped. this coupled with sunder charm virtually remooves the need for berserk…

And let’s be honest… when exactly tid you found a solid party to play with… most of the game is done in solo online mode, except for a couple of lucky individuals that have luck and find decent crew members that don’t grief or leech force ahead or stay behind during runs, or simply sit in town to farm vendors…

So that’s why i claim this build is pretty viable, it’s not A or even S tier, however a solid B for solo trash farming is a decent spot…
and the reason i mentioned it it’s not even listed on maxroll, instead MacroBioBoi put forward some mockup of a build without any understanding of the skill’s current mechanics…
Actually I haven’t found any video nor a build guide covering this, one guy tried farming hell act5 with this but having only half of the nessecary equipment and like 1/3 of the AoE damage. I wouldn’t call it proper build presentation either…

I had the same thought and tried a high end version of this back when those videos were released. It can work, but it’s very slow and clunky.

  • Attack speed does still matter because your weapon still swings at the end, and things aren’t dying in one hit, so you need to go again and again. You can’t leap again until the swing finishes.
  • You need a target to constantly switch which target you’re leaping to, and wait for the leap frames plus the attack frames, so it’s quite slow at actually attacking. Any single target skill would hit at least twice before you land one.
  • The damage still sucks, and it’s dealt via invisible missiles which can be blocked.
  • Physical damage resistance does matter because almost everything in Hell has 50% physical resist, so you’re doing half of the already terrible damage, if they don’t block it or walk out of range.
  • Waiting for Brand to proc Amp Damage just makes the whole process even slower and even more clunky.

Realistically, I can tell you that even single target attacks like Berserk and Concentrate clear a room faster, and they play a lot easier. Whirlwind and Double Throw are so much faster it’s not even funny.

To fix this build, I think it needs 3 changes.

  • Change the animation to include the attack at the end, so you don’t have to wait for the swing after landing.
  • Add more damage to the AoE. I would suggest % of weapon damage.
  • Make the missiles unblockable. It’s a ground tremor. Shields don’t protect you from earthquakes.

Even just the first point would make the build much more playable and less clunky.

From my experience, Leap Attack can only really work for elite sniping, and even then it’s a focus on attack damage instead of AoE, and even then a teleport and Berserk swing are faster and less resisted.

nah this thread is dead… after some more tests way back, i went with ww barb until i dropped proper base for Chaos runeword, and now i’m rocking ww sin. she’s my little lawnmower now…