After the recent patch, it seems like Monks have really shot up the leaderboards. While I am by no means calling for nerfs or claiming what they can do to be unfair, I am wondering if Barb’s will have just as easy of a time reaching GR150 solo? I imagine that since the class or class sets themselves did not receive any sort of a buff, that it is all going to fall onto the Ethereals and how lucky we get with their bonuses.
Which also leads me to my next question - if Barb’s hit 150 during S24 because of the Ethereals, what do you suspect would happen after the season?
But, Barbs will definitely reach 150 this season, certainly with Zodiac Rend but perhaps also with Leapquake as well.
Rend did 150 last season (with a bit of help from botting) when the theme was nothing. Now we get to carry a huge sword that triples our damage. If 150 doesn’t go down, it’ll be shocking.
For Leapquake, Deal did 146 with 10k paragon. So, carrying Grandfather (3x damage = +7 GRs), that means you could do GR 153 at 10k paragon. Of course, you only can, and need to, get to 150. Deal had roughly 60k Str, and those 3 extra GR levels are 1.17^3 = 1.6, i.e. 60% extra damage, that you don’t need to do. 60k / 1.6 = 37500, meaning it should be possible to do a Leapquake 150 with around 40k Str, which should be reachable at between 5k and 6k paragon.
Of course, that depends on there being a player as good as Deal playing this season, which I definitely don’t think we can take for granted.
I have a limited time to play, usually only a couple hours a night. I’m also coming back after a long, long hiatus - I just broke P1600 the other night (solo player). I’ve been on the boat of rolling with a Barb during S24, since that is what I am most comfortable with (WW Rend). But for the sake of maxing out whatever GR I can to help increase my Blood Shard capacity and leveling my gems, I may jump on the bandwagon and give Monk a whirl. It terms of ease-of-play, are they as easy as WW Rend Barb?
I haven’t played much Monk for quite a while, and of course Inna’s has been changed, so my past experience doesn’t matter.
My impression is that LoD WOL will be fairly easy to play, especially for XP runs / mid-range pushing, but as a LoD build it’ll be a bit harder to gear. Inna’s looks very powerful, but quite hard to play, with lots of juggling to line up the effects of Shenlong, CoE, EW, and Flying Dragon.
For Barb, pure spinning Rend will be better than ever, since the slightly lower speed while hard-casting doesn’t matter.
Ultimately I think both Monk and Barb will do very well this season. I’d say that if you want a change of pace, go for Monk, but if you’re just looking to do as well as you can, as fast as you can, go Barb- since you’ve already got a lot of experience, it’ll probably feel much smoother.
I will start Barb, and change it up later, maybe. I may have to if I actually like the look of the Ethereals and want to unlock the Feat of Strength. Besides, I already spent over an hour last night rearranging my stash so that I can rebirth the Barb without everything being sent to the mail.
Yeah, read through maxroll’s Inna guide and it was ridiculous. Do this at 2 seconds, make sure this is active by opening character sheet, do this again, and then 2 seconds later do this. Yeah, no thanks. Too fiddly.
Barbarian rending wind is so much easier. And for someone like me who sometimes struggles just to hold the controller, that means victory.
Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god, Crom and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, Conan. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts… [points to sword] This you can trust.
Not to be that guy (okay, I lied, I’m totally that guy), but the speech Conan’s father gives him at the beginning of the film turns out to be false. He implores Conan to trust in steel, in the strength of his arm and his sword. But what does that get him? By the end of the film, Conan’s quest for vengeance has cost him tenfold. Valeria is dead, and it’s worth pointing out that she saves him, twice, where his martial prowess failed him. So, too, is his father’s sword broken–by the son, no less, after being wielded against him. The object Conan was meant to trust is much more frail than his father led him to believe, and even Thulsa Doom, Conan’s enemy and surrogate father, knows better: “That is strength, boy,” he says, motioning to the acolyte who has thrown herself to her own death at his beckoning. “That is power.” And he’s right. Steel in Conan is shown to be brittle, untrustworthy, unreliable, not as a substance, but as a foundation for belief.
At the end of the movie, Conan sits pondering what he’s accomplished. It should have felt like a triumph, right? He should be elated now that he has his vengeance. But all that’s left to do is burn down the temple and return the princess to her father. All of Conan’s brawn and skill, all his training, could not bring him what he wanted. The riddle of steel and the speech at the beginning of the movie are, ultimately, misguided ideas on a world long past, a simpler time that may never have existed. Men, like the gods in the story, put their faith in the wrong thing.
@ Both Meteorblade & Free I was once given a full collection of the original run of Conan comic books by a military man, I moved away to get myself through high-school and when I came back my mother had already threw away all of my belongings including my collection.
My goal is 140 this season, which judging by PTR, should probably not be my end goal. XD; But, it’ll be cool to blast my personal best by 9 Grifts. I’m aiming to get as high as possible with LQ, but paragons will always be the limiting factor for me, since it’s unlikely for me to hit 3k or more.
But same as Rage and Free, ROLL with that barb, KEEP IT STRONG! SMASH MANY THINGS!
