You’d lose the damage and armor bonus from IPB doing this, although I did my season 120 with BK swords anyway lol
You also can’t use CC, because you’d have to wear Lamentation.
It’s an interesting idea, although not sure how it would go as a push build.
Lol I feel you; I used crimson’s and istvan’s to push 120 on console (my ceiling), but I was accounting for IPB; 1.3 (IPB) x 1.25 (MoC) = 1.625.
With IPB and CC (with a generous 60% cdr) you’re looking at a 2.08 multiplier. However with The CC setup due to RoRG it loses CoE.
You can get a higher multiplier without sacrificing CoE (and gain doombringer’s +20%) AND keep blood funnel (and not have to rely on ploughshares)with weapon master with ambos in your mainhand. DR would be a factor though, you’re right. Either you’d have to skill at IP, maybe go hardened wrath and have more than 3 all resist rolls on gear.
From memory I just used straight WW6.
I just remember reading someone saying that the Ambo’s/DB combo wasn’t the optimal set up.
Might be interesting to see how it pans out with different options in the cube
Pretty much.
Several people ran with Ambo’s + Doom, but reported that it wasn’t as reliable as using Istvan’s. The general consensus is that it’s possible, but perhaps, despite its larger conditional multiplier, not optimal. It’s certainly better vs elites, but who cares? If you’re dragging them to density, that’s really all that matters.
Season 20 isn’t going to radically shake up the build. For Core Zodiac, the only negotiable item is Mantle, and I’m not sure there’s anything else worth slotting there.
Fair point, though part of that I feel was what weapon choice for the cube would compensate for Trading IPB w/ Ambos cubed. You could go IPB with ambos/BOM/zodiac cubed and keep F/R. You lose CoE, but gain the 2.25 100% of the time; a x2.925. Crimson’s at 70% CDR would almost get you to F&R’s place, with IPB bringing it to x2.21.
At the very least for WW/rend if you’re planning on not running CC (and not cubing lamentation) you have a wider choice of jewelry options.
A slightly wider choice, yeah, but the thing is with Zodiac Rend, you’re not really doing damage all the time. You’re moving to intersections, parking the bus, and pulling trash and elites. So, there’s a lot of time management in the build, and I think you’ll always get more out of COE than F&R.
The other problem is what is going to proc the generator? Stomp, right?
Okay, yes, but will it proc often enough without eating too many Zodiac procs?
Well, that depends on the playstyle. If your goal is to wait till you’ve collected enough density (mind you I was never that good with rage flip), then you don’t need to proc wrenching smash every 5 seconds, but 8 for BoM.
Then there is the hard cast rend factor. Hard casts have definitely gotten out of binds where I come back from death with most of WotB on Cooldown. Depending on your pattern, you may be able to keep control of both a 5 second smash and wotb.
Though to backtrack, only way you’re getting a 70% CDR is with Gogok, otherwise with perfect rolls on everything you’re looking at 66.37%.
I think taking Ambos in hand may still have an option though. Ambos+Cc, RoRg/BoM/zodiac leaves you with F&R available. 1.65 (CC) x 2.25 gives you a 3.6 multiplier (with Doombringer/funnel/into the fray). You miss out on CoE’s window for damage and IPB’s armor, but you do retain CC’s DR. Edit: completely forgot about lamentation, scrap all of that last paragraph.
2nd edit: there is also armor cube stacking option vs F&R; going RoRG cubed along with Lamentation and Mantle; it’s not the 30% from IPB, but you do retain funnel/fray/CC. The big question then is would fray’s damage make up for the loss of COE? Or would having the 4piece, WoTB, MoC & CC be able to hold up without BoM (and go CoE)? Doubtful.
(I did always entertain the idea of using hurricane to pull stragglers vs rage flip; just an adverse side quip.)
The one counterproductive element to zodiac rend is zodiac procs from WW. You get more procs with more attack speed (and more heals), but this build is based on no IAS needed for Rend; yet more procs from hard cast rends to compensate.
Ultimately free I think it’s worth tinkering into, considering you’re the expert. 
Thank you! yes i found the issue!
My current setup is allowing me to clear GR 100+ atm with current paragon at around 910 or something.
Spec build would come later when P-Points are higher. Anyways started late in this season to catch up so i am pretty happy
Thanks again people for the responses and help!
Congrats on the clears. The most important thing is to play the build in a manner you find fun and fulfilling. That said, you can clear higher and more efficiently if you adjust your setup according to the guide, regardless of Paragon. If you’re not playing Hardcore, there’s little incentive to playing conservatively with rolls and gems.
Hey Free,
After may years of a break I restarted wit D3 around 2 weeks ago and was up to play a different class than Crusader and DH as I did in the past.
Your very detailed guide helped a lot to bring the Barb to T16 farm status. I am still far away from having good gear but farming is easy and makes fun.
Thank you so much for your efforts to enable such an easy start for noob player like me!
You are welcome. 
Well, sure, but if you’re not playing that way, you’re not playing the optimal way. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the guide is really only focused on optimizing the build for pushing solo GRs and speed-farming.
That said, if you’re thinking of how to use the Season 20 Cube slots to change the build, there aren’t many worthwhile options.
With the Crimson’s variant, you can equip Ambo+Doom, then use the Weapon slot in the Cube for RORG and keep Band/COE in the ring slot. That will let the Crimson’s variant use Band + COE + RORG + Zodiac. You could also equip Mantle and use those four rings, but that’s not very worthwhile and can’t be combined with Crimson’s.
Honestly, trying to squeeze FnR in is tricky, because with the Crimson’s variant, you have to Cube Lamentation. So even if you equip Ambo’s, you still need Lamentation and RORG in the Cube. That means you could use the Weapon Cube slot for Zodiac (which is mandatory), but now you lose out on Band of Might or COE. For high-Paragon players, you can skip Band of Might and rely on IP, and thus you can keep COE, but that’s not going to work for 99% of Seasonal players because they likely won’t have the Paragon to make that viable.
Very bad idea. Hurricane constantly applies hard CC. Getting proficient with Rage Flip is essential!
Thank you for the kind words. Glad the guide is helping. If you play non-Season, you’re welcome to add me in game and I’ll help you farm when I have time.
Once the new patch drops, Mantle will lose a lot of appeal, since every time you hard-cast Rend, the bonus will drop, and won’t come back for 1 second. I’m guessing Stone Gauntlets will be the new go-to…
Could be. I didn’t test it much in PTR, but all that extra armor blows Mantle out of the water. Then again, an extra 25% multiplicative damage isn’t easy to come by in the build.
All that extra Armor is going to make the build even tankier. That’s a nice perk for the Core build and makes it much easier for low-Paragon players to survive.
Glad I don’t need to worry about mantle anymore… 
Very funny, Diablo:
Jumped into 120 to test SG instead of Mantle and demolished it. SMDH.
Anyway, yeah, SG are great because they provide a ton of extra mitigation. Can they replace Band of Might? No way. Will they make life easier for low-Paragon players? Yes.
But I suspect that high-Paragon players may stick with Mantle for the extra damage. Really, there’s nothing else to put in the Cube for extra damage.
It’s been a few weeks since I pushed on season so I’ve been honing my spear skills, repeatedly trying a GR128 tonight. I’ve even had some runs where I got Festering and Battlefields, some runs with Power and Conduit, but never a combination of the two. I’m currently reading the forums and drinking a cup of tea, to provide a break from quietly swearing under my breath. I’ve still got 100+ keys. I won’t let it beat me but Rank 1000 EU seasonal is a 131. I’ve got my sights set, even if I don’t make it.
Well, high Paragon players already don’t use Mantle, they use CC…
Nice work!
I might have to have another go at pushing with by NS Barb, although it need some major work. I think I have made 113, but couldn’t get through 114.
The only thing I find with SG, is if Wrath drops, it’s pretty much game over lol