Throw Barb 2017?

Is geared Bloodmage better than a geared a5 mercenary? I was always told than other than against phys immunes, a5 was the best.

Is anyone able to do Quov Tsin with their throw. Barb

Tedddy wrote:Is anyone able to do Quov Tsin with their throw. Barb

Yes, I summoned him in a room with the bookshelves thing and spammed fortress while los`ing his spells. Took 2-3 minutes to kill with wolf stance

The interesting part about throwbarb is that there are multiple ways to build it, most of the specs have similar results. I think i've tried about 10 specs now, all focused on phys/mag damage combo (no rainbow damage). I guess ultimately the specs can be better or worse depending on place to farm and gear used. My thoughts on skills:

Main skill:
- Stampede: easy to use, very good aoe, one point wonder
- Rebound: prob better than stampede early on (better damage), gets overshadowed eventually when you can kill immunes with stamp
- Overkill: imo worst of the 3 (depending on wolve's doom is a bit slow)

Passives/Utility:
- Gladiator's Dominance: must max for stampede. I'd keep as 1-pointer if used with rebound/overkill
- Daedalus: smax always
- Spirit Guide: 5-pter/leftovers (more for fauzt)
- Wolves: must smax for overkill spec, otherwise 10-15 pts

Stances:
- Wolf: a solid choice until very lategame, cb good with overkill, the velocity is a bit problematic because wolves disappear
- Lion: better than wolf once you have decent gear (i.e. toraja's champion) - magic damage is crucial for necromorbs / necrobots

Right now my spec for dunc is: smax glad, smax lion stance, smax wolves, smax daedalus, 1pt stampede. 100 points into dex for AR and some free block, rest str.

It's a full offensive build, 2800%EWD, 60%DS. Lion adds about 6k magic damage (that's a lot). Got about 150k def, 33% block and -10% dr (with lion). I have Toraja's Champion which takes care of all healing. Dunc is a cakewalk because you oneshot everything before it can hit you. Fauzt hard with this spec tho - for that I'd swap points from wolves into spirit guide (3 wolves instead of 7).

Why is max wolves any better than 1 point? I use it mainly for the defense and dmg bonus . I figure I only need 1

Tedddy wrote:Why is max wolves any better than 1 point? I use it mainly for the defense and dmg bonus . I figure I only need 1

well that's a bit optimistic because the aura range isn't too high. So the more wolves, better spirit guide coverage. I'd recommend at least 2-3 wolves.

i agree though for stampede max wolves is probably not worth it. but since i'm purely running dunc and am doing fine without points in spirit guide, I'm going with it. But I'd recommend about 3 wolves and rest of points in spirit guide for an overall more solid (but slightly slower) spec.

I'm currently running a dexterity max block build with kraken stance, using overkill . It's a bit unusual but I get rainbow damage, my def is 350k with wolf and I got 75% block. Still playing around with the skill points but I've done most Uber's with this set up

From my experience, snake stampede works best, you can spam stampede with high phys damage, and poison comes as extra, with proper gear at around 100 poison pierce. You have to drop daedalus, but it isn't that big of an issue with block.
For duncraig, using offhand sword that unlocks whirlwind, instead of shield works better, you can ww for movement without switching. You are less tanky without shield (but with 1mil defense), but in duncraig with mostly melee monsters it is enough.

There are some annoying spots in duncraig map though, some teleports you can only teleport the way you get stuck, and if there is barrel guy that is spawned close to you (throws barrel very close), you can't teleport away in 3s with void charm. Same goes with those few tiny rooms. Happens once every few runs, but it is painful regardless. No way to EXP there.

But overall barb is fun class, there is lot of flexibility in skill tress, you can keep trying slightly different variants of builds. I have a lot of fun with it, nice playground if you like switching builds.

Always wanted to try a throw barb..currently I am stuck in Act4 Dest. Stampede does not really bother Diablo. His spawns do drop like flies tho.
Using a crafted balanced axe with decent damage (decent for me at least 380max throw)
Truce,Erewan,Invictus,Feather gloves and some abandoned crafted boots.
I've tried for single targets but it just does not get the job done in any decent amount of time. Duriel was even worse lol.
With wolves I have 156k def and my ar is around 26k.
Been switching between snake and wolf as well as kraken but the difference is negligable.
This either means that a throwbarb is only really viable with rather high end gear or he is more for area clearing than boss fights.
I dont even want to imagine how baal would be alike if I ever get there lol.