I used a near identical build to my end-game M6 build, but I swapped out Sentry for Vengeance - Seethe, and used Entangling Shot - Justice is Served for my generator to proc Cull the Weak (can use steady aim instead and just not worry about this).
They will die for me with tough packs in T5, and they generally will alive super long in T4. However I've found that generally I will die long before my ancients do, so I'm reluctant to try T6 yet with my barb. This is with using the fire rune.
If you find your ancients dying, try to hunt for health globes more actively.
CoTA snapshot with IK 4-set is absolutely insane. Key is to maintain 4pc bonus, stack as much main hand APS as humanly possible, pop WoTB, and then pop Ancients.
It still means you absolutely want elemental damage on your bracers, however a well rolled Trifecta neck is also now certainly worth more than a medicore +20% ele damage neck. It also slightly devalues SoJ a bit because the %ele damage is that much less useful, which leaves room for RoRG + Tall Man's, and going a pure fire build with Tiki Torcher FA.
Edit: @OP, really it just depends on what you have available to you. To answer your questions individually:
Phys and Fire are both good, however I think Fire's better if you have TMF (although you really won't be running THAT much ele damage so it doesn't matter as much).
SMK is absolutely worth using if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one, even if you use Zuni, the reduced cooldown of BBV alone makes it worthwhile.
4pc Zuni isn't "necessary" for an end-game pet doc because of the FA/FS fetishes overwriting each other, however using it does free up a passive slot, and gives you much more elemental freedom.
TMF is absolutely amazing, and would definitely recommend using it.
I'm personally using a fire build (even though I only have 17% fire dmg), and luckily enough have Zuni, TMF, and SMK. The fire fetishes reset the BBV/FA cooldown so fast (with SMK) that I could realistically play without Zuni at higher torments, but that's much easier to mess up and you may be without fetishes for a minute or two.
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I used a near identical build to my end-game M6 build, but I swapped out Sentry for Vengeance - Seethe, and used Entangling Shot - Justice is Served for my generator to proc Cull the Weak (can use steady aim instead and just not worry about this).
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If you find your ancients dying, try to hunt for health globes more actively.
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Edit: @OP, really it just depends on what you have available to you. To answer your questions individually:
Phys and Fire are both good, however I think Fire's better if you have TMF (although you really won't be running THAT much ele damage so it doesn't matter as much).
SMK is absolutely worth using if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one, even if you use Zuni, the reduced cooldown of BBV alone makes it worthwhile.
4pc Zuni isn't "necessary" for an end-game pet doc because of the FA/FS fetishes overwriting each other, however using it does free up a passive slot, and gives you much more elemental freedom.
TMF is absolutely amazing, and would definitely recommend using it.
I'm personally using a fire build (even though I only have 17% fire dmg), and luckily enough have Zuni, TMF, and SMK. The fire fetishes reset the BBV/FA cooldown so fast (with SMK) that I could realistically play without Zuni at higher torments, but that's much easier to mess up and you may be without fetishes for a minute or two.
Really it just boils down to what you find more fun, and i've linked my bnet profile below for you to look @.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/pandabro-1251/hero/25678571
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