1) Using a high crit chance to fuel abilities which in turn fuels Overpower which in turn fuels more abilties
2) Using Hammer of the Ancients for large damage and increased crit chance
3) Having some useful utility and life-saving features
Active Skills:
Bash (Punish)
This is your single target attack and is also used to boost damage through the Indigo rune buff. Bash builds fury faster than Frenzy, and gives a much higher % of weapon damage off of the bat. This build will be using a two-hand weapon to maximize the overall damage. The other runestones for Bash are also tempting, but Punish is an easily stackable buff even in an AOE situation.
Cleave (Broad Sweep)
This is the main AOE tool of the build. Crimson rune is chosen for the high base damage.
Hammer of the Ancients (Smash)
This attack is the main fury dump of the build. Crimson is chosen again for pure damage, especially considering the extremely high crit chance this ability will have. Almost 100% of the fury this build gains will be spent on Hammer.
Overpower (Killing Spree)
The build will be getting lots of critical hits so this is the most obvious synergy. Overpower is free AOE damage on every crit, and with the Crimson rune it further increases critical chance. This means more damage, more Hammers, and more Overpowers.
Battle Rage (Marauder's Rage)
Fairly self explanitory here. A buff to damage and crit. Crimson is chosen for a larger damage modifier.
Threatening Shout (Stagger)
Here we have some of the utility of the build. Threatening shout is an amazing tool, and this build has the fury to use it often. Golden rune is chosen to further nerf enemies and this will be especially potent on bosses.
Passive Skills:
Ruthless
An obvious choice. More crits, more damage from crits. Hammer of the Ancients in particular with Battle Rage, Bash stacked to eight, and Ruthless will HURT when it crits, which should be often.
Inspiring Presence
This I feel is a great choice for this build. Not only do you get some free life regeneration, you get much longer lasting Battle Rage so you can use more fury towards Hammers. Battle Rage should never fall off with this passive. Threatening Shout lasts twice as long as well, which will be fantastic for named or boss mobs.
Bloodthirst
This is a less obvious choice. Many will say that I should fully maximize crit by taking Weapon Master, but not only does that mean forgoing many weapon options I may run into but it also means forcing myself into very specific gearings. I want to be able to instantly use a weapon upgrade regardless of type.
Not only that, but this build has low mobility for a Barbarian build (no Leap, Charge, Sprint, etc) so survivability when standing mostly still is paramount. With a high crit chance and damage modifiers, 10% damage dealt should be a very respectable for healing when combined with the passive regen from Inspiring Presence. Hammer crits in particular (which should be happening a lot with the build) will give back high amounts of life.
The build should have no trouble with fury generation (two of the three main damage sources will generate fury constantly even when hitting Hammer as often as possible you will always be Bashing or Cleaving in-between) and Battle Rage does not need to be cast often.
I feel the build is fairly well-rounded - perhaps not amazing at any one task but a useful and survivable build. The build should excel at dealing with strong single targets by using a constant stream of high damage, high crit, and high life return attacks. Obviously actual playtesting will determine if some runestone effects are going to be more useful (for example - Bloodshed on Battle Rage may actually lead to more damage in the end than a +70% flat damage boost).
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#acbhYZ!bca!YZZZZb
This build focuses on three things:
1) Using a high crit chance to fuel abilities which in turn fuels Overpower which in turn fuels more abilties
2) Using Hammer of the Ancients for large damage and increased crit chance
3) Having some useful utility and life-saving features
Active Skills:
Bash (Punish)
This is your single target attack and is also used to boost damage through the Indigo rune buff. Bash builds fury faster than Frenzy, and gives a much higher % of weapon damage off of the bat. This build will be using a two-hand weapon to maximize the overall damage. The other runestones for Bash are also tempting, but Punish is an easily stackable buff even in an AOE situation.
Cleave (Broad Sweep)
This is the main AOE tool of the build. Crimson rune is chosen for the high base damage.
Hammer of the Ancients (Smash)
This attack is the main fury dump of the build. Crimson is chosen again for pure damage, especially considering the extremely high crit chance this ability will have. Almost 100% of the fury this build gains will be spent on Hammer.
Overpower (Killing Spree)
The build will be getting lots of critical hits so this is the most obvious synergy. Overpower is free AOE damage on every crit, and with the Crimson rune it further increases critical chance. This means more damage, more Hammers, and more Overpowers.
Battle Rage (Marauder's Rage)
Fairly self explanitory here. A buff to damage and crit. Crimson is chosen for a larger damage modifier.
Threatening Shout (Stagger)
Here we have some of the utility of the build. Threatening shout is an amazing tool, and this build has the fury to use it often. Golden rune is chosen to further nerf enemies and this will be especially potent on bosses.
Passive Skills:
Ruthless
An obvious choice. More crits, more damage from crits. Hammer of the Ancients in particular with Battle Rage, Bash stacked to eight, and Ruthless will HURT when it crits, which should be often.
Inspiring Presence
This I feel is a great choice for this build. Not only do you get some free life regeneration, you get much longer lasting Battle Rage so you can use more fury towards Hammers. Battle Rage should never fall off with this passive. Threatening Shout lasts twice as long as well, which will be fantastic for named or boss mobs.
Bloodthirst
This is a less obvious choice. Many will say that I should fully maximize crit by taking Weapon Master, but not only does that mean forgoing many weapon options I may run into but it also means forcing myself into very specific gearings. I want to be able to instantly use a weapon upgrade regardless of type.
Not only that, but this build has low mobility for a Barbarian build (no Leap, Charge, Sprint, etc) so survivability when standing mostly still is paramount. With a high crit chance and damage modifiers, 10% damage dealt should be a very respectable for healing when combined with the passive regen from Inspiring Presence. Hammer crits in particular (which should be happening a lot with the build) will give back high amounts of life.
The build should have no trouble with fury generation (two of the three main damage sources will generate fury constantly even when hitting Hammer as often as possible you will always be Bashing or Cleaving in-between) and Battle Rage does not need to be cast often.
I feel the build is fairly well-rounded - perhaps not amazing at any one task but a useful and survivable build. The build should excel at dealing with strong single targets by using a constant stream of high damage, high crit, and high life return attacks. Obviously actual playtesting will determine if some runestone effects are going to be more useful (for example - Bloodshed on Battle Rage may actually lead to more damage in the end than a +70% flat damage boost).