New build LOD HotA

Barbarian
1

I been looking at the new stuff we were given in this patch and I was wondering what I could make that was new and potentially better. The Legacy of Dreams gem peaked my interest. So I tried to throw a HotA build together using that gem in part because the third gem in HotA builds is always debated which is better.

Here is my build
Helm: leoric
Chest: Cinder Coat
Amulet: Hellfire
Rings: CoE, BoM (Zodiac in the cube)
Bracer: Bracer of first Men, Mortick (one in the cube, pick your best one to wear)
Gloves: Magefist
Pant: Swamp waders
Boots: Iceclimbers
Shoulder: don’t care all work
Belt: Witching hour
Weapons: Echoing Fury and Pigsticker

I first checked to see how fast the weapons were going to be compared to Rogue and Slanderer. When I looked at the details tab while fighting R&S were at 2.52 with WotB and 5 stacks (no IAS or AIS). With 1 ASI and 7% on both Pigsticker and Echoing Fury, after I killed my first mob I went to 3.62 and 3.17 respectively. I only thought the dagger would be faster than R&S but both were faster.

A quick look at the damage comparison you get for IK HotA you get 41x from set, 2x from EW, you get 1.3x from R&S and 1.4x for the fire bonus and 1.5x from CoE. This is 223.86s (I left out the 1.3x increase for attack speed because the LOD set is faster). You also need to add in a bonus from the third gem, I will use 1.2x for now for a total of 268.632x.

For LOD you get 98.5x from set, 2x from fire bonus, 1.5x from CoE, I will use 1.3x because of the faster attack speed. Which comes out to 384.15x. There is also a bonus because half the mobs get a bonus from pig sticker which would be approximately 1.15x but it is a dagger which does less damage than a sword but it also has a an additional magical property which put is on par with the swords but I won’t count this bonus for now. There is also a damage bonus from using witching hour, which I haven’t figured in yet which is around 8-10% depending on your Crit damage.

I ran the build and cleared up to 109 with my first key I haven’t tried 110 yet. The extra damage is noticeable. At GR110 I had to start fishing with my IK HotA set and only cleared up to GR114 (haven’t used mortick with it as of yet). I can add around 4k if I augment my gear and I don’t have Fire on my hellfire amulet, I would need to farm another one so I am missing around 25% damage from strength do to lack of augments and 10% due to lack of Fire on my amulet.

There is a difference in game play and there is a bit of difference in defense as you loose the armor bonus from R&S. You also get an extra active skill as call of the ancients isn’t needed on your bar.

Anyone else give this a try? Anyone want to check my math?

2

To have 98.5 multiplicator you need Legacy of Nightmares.

3

Blizzard gave you the LON set bonus with the Legacy of Dreams gem, it is new to the patch. This allows you to have the bonus but at the same time have 2 free ring slots.

4

Hi, I would use Illusory Boots to avoid tough spots. Easy to get and roll.

5

You can use illusory boots if you want. I spend more time fighting mobs as opposed to skipping because you have to spend fury to keep the zodiac procs going. With Furious charge on my active bar, I don’t have a major issue re-positioning but illusory boots is not a bad choice.

Grabbed some keys over lunch and one keyed GR110 and GR111. Only big issue I see with this build is it takes longer to kill the RG if they don’t have adds because you loose a lot of attack speed.

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6

I’d probably go PoC for my belt, get max Fury and IP uptime. Not sure I’d use Cindercoat since it hurts recovery. With Berserker and IP you shouldn’t need to use Ice Climbers. Not sure if there’s better boots you could fit in there.

7

I ran with PoC at first but as we need more dps to reach higher GRs I decided to try and add more with witching hour. Going away from Cindercoat can cause issues with Fury and reduces fire damage by 10%. Also if you are not full on fury you loose more dps as we get 1% crit for 5 fury we have. Not saying what I have right now is optimized just something I threw together quick.

8

Very cool. Hoping to rock this build in S18. If LoD drops early, I might just ignore season journey :yum:

9

I tried String of Ears for my belt last night and cleared GR112 in 3 keys (18k strength). I think I am to the point where I will have to start fishing to clear higher. When I pushed IK HotA I had to start fishing at GR110. To me that makes this build stronger than IK HotA. I can still add 35% more damage by augmenting my gear and getting a new hellfire which would be around 2 more GRs, but this is partially offset by IK HotA now being able to use Morticks (blood thirst passive can now be an offensive passive).

So if you like IK HotA and are interested in clearing 2-3 levels higher next patch you might want to give this a shot.

I am currently at 41 on the PTR leader board if you want to fully check out my build.

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