Poison Whirlwind Barb; A Comprehensive Guide (with 135 uber gear)

[magz_]

POISON WHIRLWIND BARB
You're not like the other Barbs.


PROS

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-Clears Dunc, Fauzt, etc very comfortably
-Insane AOE farming with procs and WW AOE
-Fast leveling, even into the 130s
-Absurd amount of defense (can hit upwards of 800k-1mil defense if you build for it)
-Large HP Pool as virtually all of our stats go into VIT (As of writing this guide I have about 15k HP without maxing signets)
-Great sustain through life on attack
-We ignore a LOT of the game's more difficult mechanics.
-We don't care about mana costs! (WW only ever needs 1 point for this build)
-More I'll update if I remember

NEUTRAL

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-Plays and gears much differently from Magic/Phys WW
-Can be played SSF but has greater potential in TSW

CONS

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-Requires much more gear for MF (we need the MO space on our items for poison dmg. Covered in gearing)
-Can be a slow boss killer and needs some getting used to
-'Hit and Run' tactic won't appeal to some
-Single target sustain can be a bit lackluster

Goals of this guide and changelog
Skip this
-2.4 changes; piranha swarmed nerfed out of broken status, flat damage removal from vilehand making it viable.

This is a guide designed to get you a good farming character, at the very least. A good guide worthy character should be able to do most major content comfortably. This build can do scosglen, lab, and most major boss fights (some excluded).
Build Overview and why Poison over Phys/Magic

Poison WW benefits from a lot of things the other WW builds wouldn't. For starters, since we use Snake Stance, our damage upgrades come from plus skills/spell damage/pierce, and don't scale with stats. This allows us to put almost everything into VIT, getting us a really thicc boi life pool. This synergizes with our WW leech passive, which scales based off of our max life. Also unlike Phys/Magic WW, since we're poison and our damage is over time and not on hit, we don't need to go slow to maximize our hits and can get move speed on our boots. In my opinion this makes for a much more comfortable farming experience with WW. While the hit and run play style vs bosses may suck to some, I think there's value in being able to whack a boss, and run away while it's health ticks down. It's slow, but it's safe, and it enables some cheesy strats we otherwise wouldn't have access to.

There's more but TL;DR Poison WW makes up for some of the weaknesses of it's counterpart, while creating some of it's own and provides a bit of a unique spin on the play style, with different nuances.

STATS
VIT: Yes
STR: enough for gear
Dex: enough for gear
Energy: No


A note on stats:
You will probably require a lot more strength and dex up front while leveling, and can invest less and less as you get charms from killing uber bosses. I'm not a huge fan of re-speccing so I aim to do that as little as possible with this build.

SKILLS BREAKDOWN

YMMV. If you like big tooltip, this number can exceed 1mil.

NOMAD

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Snake Stance: MAX
- Where most of our Damage comes from. We scale this with +skills, spell damage, pierce, and duration

Ancient Blood: MAX
-Nice attack rating and life boost

Mountain King: MAX
- Big stat scaling. Makes it easier for us to hit gear requirements and pump the hell out of VIT. As of writing this I have about 2300 VIT.

Wolven Guide: ??
-This is a "dump" skill. Meaning you shouldn't max it but can put points in once you've maxed everything that says MAX. Gives you some weapon damage and a defense bonus when your wolf is near you. You can put more points into wolf companion to make more wolves and thus more coverage for this skill but you'll be spread thin on points if you do.

WINDCARVER

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Whirlwind: 1pt
-Poison damage from hits is applied based on your WDM (weapon damage multiplier). Snake stance adds the poison to your weapon, and WW does 150% of your weapon damage. Since this number doesn't go up with points in the skill, we only need 1 point. This has the added benefit of never having mana issues for our main (only) damage skill.

Precision, Stone skin, Life Stealer, Gale Force, Executioner: MAX
-We max out basically the entire WW tree EXCEPT for savagery because we don't need deadly strike. DS doubles physical weapon damage on hit and since we're poison we don't take advantage from this
-Precision is a nice amount of attack rating
-Stone Skin is a crazy huge defence boost while whirlwinding (which will be almost always while in combat)
-Lifestealer is our primary source of sustain. Lifestealer is also based on our max life which is nice because we try to get as much VIT as possible.
-Gale Force is a really nice AOE boost.
-Barbs can use some 2-handed weapons in one hand. I'm not sure if executioner applies to us when we use a 2 handed weapon this way, but until I confirm that, it's only 1 point, and it won't really be that sorely missed, as we're not starved on skill points as is.

MASTERY

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Melee Devotion: yes
- because WW is our only damage skill and thus we're melee only, we can take melee devotion. Extra survivability.

Specialization: yes(but)
- Snake stance is affected by spec because it is an active skill. Because this is an extra 15 points it may not be feasible to do until much later, but becomes important for pushing.

Endurance: ??
- Only put any remaining points in here. We scale our health high even without this so feel free to choose something else as you see fit.

REWARD

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Immortal: MAX
- Max this skill last before you start maxing out your "dump" skills and playing around with extra points. We build so much defense that the avoid from this skill is just extra and nice to have but not required. The Faster hit recovery is nice too.

Runemaster: MAX
- You should aim to max this skill as soon as you can. Big defense, big survivability boost. Makes you almost invincible in certain areas combined with all of your other skills/passives.

GEAR
We'll break gear down into 2 main sections; leveling and end game. I'll list alternatives and will TRY to rank them in order of power.
Understanding Poison
Gearing poison is complicated before you understand how it works.
In both gearing setups, we avoid having more than one source of "adds XXX poison damage over y seconds". Amatoxin, curare, snake stance, etc do not count as gear sources as they are from skills and are recommend to include along side your 1 source.

https://forum.median-xl.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=70559
I highly recommend you give Sio's poison mechanics guide a quick read. It explains the quirks and workings of poison and saves me from the character limit.

Leveling:

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Weapon-

Death Pit Stake

Death Pit Stake
Pike (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (11 - 14) to (26 - 38)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength: 45 to 48
Required Dexterity: 68 to 71
Item Level: 19
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
14% Chance to cast level 4 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
15% Attack Speed
Adds (2 to 4)-(6 to 15) Damage
+(35 to 57)% Enhanced Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(3 to 6) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 30%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Two-Hand Damage: (31 - 43) to (78 - 94)
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 63 to 67
Required Dexterity: 88 to 93
Item Level: 36
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
16% Chance to cast level 17 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
25% Attack Speed
Adds (6 to 15)-(21 to 30) Damage
+(81 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(7 to 10) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 45%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (72 - 87) to (171 - 199)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 111 to 118
Required Dexterity: 150 to 160
Item Level: 59
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
18% Chance to cast level 30 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
35% Attack Speed
Adds (16 to 25)-(36 to 50) Damage
+(126 to 149)% Enhanced Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(11 to 14) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 60%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Two-Hand Damage: (83 - 96) to (265 - 292)
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 205 to 218
Required Dexterity: 274 to 293
Item Level: 85
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
20% Chance to cast level 44 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
40% Attack Speed
Adds (31 to 40)-(61 to 70) Damage
+(149 to 171)% Enhanced Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(15 to 18) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

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The Dao of Xiansai

The Dao of Xiansai
Great Sword (4)
One-Hand Damage: (10 - 12) to (27 - 39)
Two-Hand Damage: (17 - 20) to (33 - 46)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength: 105
Item Level: 29
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
+1 to All Skills
15% Attack Speed
15% Hit Recovery
+(15 to 25) to Maximum Damage
(51 to 75)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(18 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
+(101 to 150) Defense
+1% to Experience Gained
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (28 - 32) to (65 - 78)
Two-Hand Damage: (50 - 55) to (84 - 99)
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 151
Item Level: 40
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
+2 to All Skills
25% Attack Speed
25% Hit Recovery
+(31 to 40) to Maximum Damage
(101 to 125)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(52 to 69)% Enhanced Damage
+(201 to 250) Defense
+2% to Experience Gained
Socketed (4)
One-Hand Damage: (59 - 64) to (123 - 149)
Two-Hand Damage: (114 - 123) to (172 - 201)
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 291
Item Level: 67
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
+3 to All Skills
35% Attack Speed
35% Hit Recovery
+(51 to 70) to Maximum Damage
(151 to 175)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(87 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(301 to 350) Defense
+2% to Experience Gained
Socketed (5)
One-Hand Damage: (77 - 83) to (166 - 193)
Two-Hand Damage: (148 - 160) to (228 - 259)
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 570
Item Level: 85
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
+4 to All Skills
40% Attack Speed
40% Hit Recovery
+(71 to 90) to Maximum Damage
(176 to 200)% Bonus to Attack Rating
+(104 to 120)% Enhanced Damage
+(351 to 400) Defense
+3% to Experience Gained
Socketed (6)

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The Shanker

The Shanker
Dagger (4)
One-Hand Damage: (5 - 6) to (6 - 8)
Required Level: 1
Item Level: 1
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+50 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(12 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
-9% to Enemy Poison Resistance
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (3 to 5)%
Socketed (1)
One-Hand Damage: (11 - 12) to (12 - 14)
Required Level: 18
Required Dexterity: 18
Item Level: 31
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+100 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(58 to 80)% Enhanced Damage
-18% to Enemy Poison Resistance
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (9 to 11)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (32 - 36) to (34 - 38)
Required Level: 36
Required Dexterity: 49
Item Level: 51
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+250 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(104 to 126)% Enhanced Damage
-27% to Enemy Poison Resistance
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (15 to 17)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (36 - 39) to (38 - 42)
Required Level: 45
Required Dexterity: 104
Item Level: 77
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+725 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(126 to 149)% Enhanced Damage
-36% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (18 to 20)%
Socketed (2)

- DPS is a great spear for us. It provides good attack speed, great range, a beefy poison spell dmg modifier and a strong Arachnomancy proc, which also enjoys the boost from our poison spell dmg.
- Dao is just a good +all skills sword. Since we're a barb we can one hand it with a shield for some extra defense, should you need.
- The shanker was updated so that it applies poison damage over 2 seconds. It's one of (or THE) highest flat damage additions you can get early game, and the pierce is also really high. Doesn't give you any poison spell damage but the pierce may be worth it. Keep in mind WW's range is affected by the size of your weapon, so be prepared to take a small range loss if you decide to use a dagger. Also be sure to not use any other source of flat damage if you take the Shanker.

Offhand-

Destroying Angel

Destroying Angel
Small Shield (4)
Defense: (59 - 65) to (112 - 123)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 2
Required Strength: 27
Required Dexterity: 34
Item Level: 1
+50 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(6 to 10)% to Poison Spell Damage
-3% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Attacker Flees after Striking (4 to 5)%
+(12 to 23)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements +10%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (229 - 248) to (363 - 392)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 20
Required Strength: 60
Required Dexterity: 55
Item Level: 31
+150 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(16 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
-6% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Attacker Flees after Striking (8 to 9)%
+(35 to 46)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements +20%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (581 - 621) to (880 - 941)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 227
Required Dexterity: 124
Item Level: 51
+300 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(26 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
-9% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Attacker Flees after Striking (12 to 15)%
+(58 to 69)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements +30%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (858 - 914) to (1287 - 1371)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 490
Required Dexterity: 278
Item Level: 77
+600 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(36 to 40)% to Poison Spell Damage
-12% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Attacker Flees after Striking (16 to 20)%
+(69 to 80)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements +40%
Socketed (4)

- You obviously don't need an off hand if you're using a spear but if you decide to go with a sword and board playstyle destroying angel is unparalleled. High spell damage and pierce. All we need really.

Armor -

Acidblood

Acidblood
Leather Armor (4)
Defense: (43 - 50) to (86 - 101)
Required Level: 2
Required Strength: 27
Item Level: 1
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(11 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(11 to 30)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(11 to 15)%
Poison Resist +(11 to 15)%
+(11 to 15) Life after each Kill
Socketed (2)
Defense: (198 - 225) to (322 - 366)
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 53
Item Level: 31
-(10 to 12)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(21 to 25)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(21 to 25)%
Poison Resist +(21 to 25)%
+(16 to 20) Life after each Kill
Socketed (4)
Defense: (530 - 589) to (815 - 906)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 184
Item Level: 51
-(14 to 16)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(31 to 35)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(71 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(31 to 35)%
Poison Resist +(31 to 35)%
+(21 to 25) Life after each Kill
Socketed (5)
Defense: (858 - 982) to (1312 - 1501)
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 368
Item Level: 77
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(36 to 40)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(101 to 130)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(36 to 40)%
Poison Resist +(36 to 40)%
+(26 to 30) Life after each Kill
Socketed (6)

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The War Cloak

The War Cloak
Quilted Armor (4)
Defense: (28 - 30) to (59 - 64)
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 10
Item Level: 1
Adds 5-9 Damage
2% Life stolen per Hit
Weapon Physical Damage +(7 to 15)%
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+20 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (2)
Defense: (149 - 161) to (224 - 241)
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
Adds 10-14 Damage
3% Life stolen per Hit
Weapon Physical Damage +(16 to 30)%
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+40 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (4)
Defense: (403 - 430) to (572 - 610)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
Adds 15-18 Damage
4% Life stolen per Hit
Weapon Physical Damage +(31 to 45)%
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+60 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (5)
Defense: (595 - 632) to (834 - 887)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
Adds 20-25 Damage
5% Life stolen per Hit
Weapon Physical Damage +(46 to 60)%
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+80 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (6)

- You can take acidblood for some poison pierce, or a war clock if you'd prefer a bit more survivability. We don't gain a whole lot from our armor while leveling to be honest, so survivability may be best.

Helmet -

Glowskull

Glowskull
Crown (4)
Defense: (164 - 187) to (248 - 281)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength: 26 to 29
Item Level: 19
+(6 to 8)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(4 to 6)% to Poison Spell Damage
-3% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(16 to 25)%
(11 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -(11 to 20)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (561 - 620) to (785 - 868)
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 50 to 56
Item Level: 36
+(11 to 13)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(10 to 12)% to Poison Spell Damage
-6% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(81 to 100)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(36 to 45)%
(21 to 30)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -(16 to 25)%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1272 - 1392) to (1754 - 1920)
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 165 to 186
Item Level: 67
+(16 to 18)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(16 to 18)% to Poison Spell Damage
-9% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(101 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(56 to 65)%
(31 to 40)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -(21 to 30)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1911 - 2076) to (2614 - 2839)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 306 to 349
Item Level: 85
+(18 to 20)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
-12% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(121 to 140)% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +(66 to 75)%
(41 to 50)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -(26 to 35)%
Socketed (4)

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The Jester

The Jester
Cap (4)
Defense: 14 to 17
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
+(4 to 5)% to Spell Damage
+(51 to 100) to Life
Physical Resist 2%
Random Movement Speed Bonus
Socketed (1)
Defense: 85 to 93
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
+(6 to 10)% to Spell Damage
+(101 to 150) to Life
Physical Resist 3%
Random Movement Speed Bonus
Socketed (3)
Defense: 202 to 226
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
+(11 to 15)% to Spell Damage
+(151 to 200) to Life
Physical Resist 4%
Random Movement Speed Bonus
Socketed (4)
Defense: 282 to 310
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
+(18 to 20)% to Spell Damage
+(201 to 250) to Life
Physical Resist 5%
Random Movement Speed Bonus
Socketed (4)

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Slimedrool

Slimedrool
Jawbone Cap (4)
Defense: (34 - 37) to (50 - 55)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
6% Chance to cast level 12 Harvest on Melee Attack
+1 to Barbarian Skill Levels
-(4 to 5)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+10 Life after each Kill
10% to All Vendor Prices
Socketed (1)
Defense: (157 - 170) to (200 - 215)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 20
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
9% Chance to cast level 20 Harvest on Melee Attack
+1 to Barbarian Skill Levels
-(8 to 9)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+25 Life after each Kill
10% to All Vendor Prices
Socketed (2)
Defense: (411 - 439) to (503 - 537)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
12% Chance to cast level 28 Harvest on Melee Attack
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
-(12 to 13)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+40 Life after each Kill
10% to All Vendor Prices
Socketed (3)
Defense: (605 - 643) to (736 - 783)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
15% Chance to cast level 36 Harvest on Melee Attack
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
-(14 to 15)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+60 Life after each Kill
10% to All Vendor Prices
Socketed (4)

- Glowskull is just good. Damage, duration, and pierce. Jester adds generic spell damage so it could work, and slimedrool has some added benefit but it adds some poison damage over 1 second.

Boots -

Rabbit's Foot

Rabbit's Foot
Boots (4)
Defense: 8 to 14
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 21
Item Level: 1
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+10% to Spell Damage
+5 Maximum Stamina
(1 to 5)% Gold Find
(1 to 5)% Magic Find
Requirements -15%
Socketed (1)
Defense: 75 to 88
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 35
Item Level: 31
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+12% to Spell Damage
+10 Maximum Stamina
(5 to 10)% Gold Find
(5 to 10)% Magic Find
Requirements -30%
Socketed (2)
Defense: 184 to 215
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 96
Item Level: 51
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+16% to Spell Damage
+15 Maximum Stamina
(15 to 20)% Gold Find
(15 to 20)% Magic Find
Requirements -45%
Socketed (3)
Defense: 258 to 296
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 140
Item Level: 77
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+20 Maximum Stamina
(25 to 30)% Gold Find
(25 to 30)% Magic Find
Requirements -60%
Socketed (4)

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Wake of Destruction

Wake of Destruction
Greaves (4)
Defense: (90 - 102) to (135 - 152)
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 17
Item Level: 19
+(4 to 6)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(11 to 13)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Requirements -20%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (333 - 369) to (462 - 512)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 33
Item Level: 36
+(7 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 17)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(26 to 30) to Energy
Requirements -25%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (854 - 930) to (1152 - 1254)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 158
Item Level: 59
+(10 to 12)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(19 to 21)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Requirements -30%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1274 - 1378) to (1713 - 1853)
Required Level: 52
Required Strength: 272
Item Level: 85
+(13 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(23 to 25)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Requirements -40%
Socketed (4)

- high move speed roll if possible. Rabbit's foot has no RNG in the spell damage roll, and although it has less defense gives us some MF. Up to you really.

Belt -

Wormtongue

Wormtongue
Light Belt (4)
Defense: (53 - 58) to (71 - 78)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 26
Item Level: 1
(31 to 50)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 5-13 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(2 to 4)% Life stolen per Hit
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 15) to Dexterity
Socketed (1)
Defense: (214 - 231) to (259 - 279)
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 55
Item Level: 31
(71 to 90)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 19-50 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(8 to 10)% Life stolen per Hit
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (544 - 581) to (649 - 693)
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 192
Item Level: 51
(111 to 130)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 75-150 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(14 to 16)% Life stolen per Hit
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (801 - 851) to (946 - 1006)
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 384
Item Level: 77
(131 to 150)% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 100-250 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
(17 to 19)% Life stolen per Hit
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)

=

Moonwrap

Moonwrap
Sash (4)
Defense: (16 - 18) to (20 - 21)
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
5% Cast Speed
+3% to Spell Damage
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(11 to 15)%
Cold Resist +(11 to 15)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (119 - 129) to (131 - 141)
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
15% Cast Speed
+9% to Spell Damage
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (331 - 353) to (370 - 395)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 125
Item Level: 51
25% Cast Speed
+15% to Spell Damage
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (493 - 524) to (542 - 576)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 77
30% Cast Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Cold Resist +(36 to 40)%
Socketed (2)

- spell damage vs flat damage. Wormtongue has more melee benefits and survivability, but moonwrap will get you more damage. WW needs help with life leech early on so I'd take WT until you can afford to replace it.
-NOTE: if you decide to go with Destroying Angel, replace wormtongue with moonwrap or an honorific.

Gloves -

Vilehand

Vilehand
Leather Gloves (4)
Defense: 6 to 8
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
+(3 to 5)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(6 to 10)% to Poison Spell Damage
Poison Length Reduced by (31 to 35)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: 70 to 75
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
+(0 to 1) to All Skills
+(6 to 8)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(11 to 15)% to Poison Spell Damage
Poison Length Reduced by (36 to 40)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: 176 to 184
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 175
Item Level: 51
+1 to All Skills
+(8 to 10)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(16 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
Poison Length Reduced by (41 to 45)%
Socketed (3)
Defense: 243 to 258
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 350
Item Level: 77
+1 to All Skills
+(11 to 13)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(21 to 25)% to Poison Spell Damage
Poison Length Reduced by (46 to 50)%
Socketed (4)

- Flat poison damage was removed from vilehand in 2.4, making it the defacto best item for us for quite a while. Low stat reqs, spell dmg, +1 all sk, it's good.

Rings - Good rolled rare ring >

Ring of Regha

Ring of Regha
Ring
Item Level: 1
Adds 3-5 Damage
+5% to Spell Damage
+(5 to 15) to Strength
+(5 to 15) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +10%

-We take either the best rolled rare ring we can find (I found a good one while leveling I'm still using, pierce, spell dmg, etc) or Regha, and pump it with MOs. The lower the level the better, so the more MOs you can use.

Amulet - Rare amulet with +all skills, poison spell dmg, pierce, etc

- Take whatever you find that increases your damage the most, MO to fill in the gaps.

End Game Setup:

► Show Spoiler

Weapon-

Blacktongue

Blacktongue
Flamberge (Sacred)
One-Hand Damage: (101 - 119) to (110 - 130)
Two-Hand Damage: (165 - 195) to (169 - 200)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 300
Item Level: 105
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
15% Chance to cast level 44 Rotting Flesh on Melee Attack
+25% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(120 to 160)% Enhanced Damage
+(40 to 60)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(20 to 35)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(14 to 20) to Amatoxin
Slow Target 15%
Maximum Poison Resist +(1 to 2)%
Requirements -50%
Socketed (6)

>

Demhe

Demhe
Maces, Scepters
Except Hammers
'ZodLew'
Runeword Level: 110
25% Chance to cast level 35 Infected Roots on Melee Attack
+(126 to 250) to Maximum Damage
Stun Attack
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
+(39 to 45)% to Cold Spell Damage
-(39 to 45)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(39 to 45)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(39 to 45)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% to Vitality
+(51 to 125) Mana on Striking
+15 Life after each Kill

-2x Blacktongue win out slightly over demhe. Demhe is better for pierce before you can get the astro set. Piranha as an offhand is still good but not as good as blacktongue.
-2x
Raptor




Raptor
Throwing Axes
'ZodSurLemEl'
Runeword Level: 85
(Barbarian Only)
3% Chance to cast level 60 Thunder Slam on Kill
-19% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(6 to 11) to Snake Stance (Barbarian Only)
+3 to all Attributes
5% to Vitality
Maximum Life +3%
Regenerate Mana +15%
+115 Life after each Kill

on switch. Because barb stances are buffs and not passive, you can "snapshot" snake stance. Meaning if you use the skill with a higher level and then switch to items with a lower level (Blacktongue and Demhe use no +skills), it will retain the damage bonus from the higher level buff. So when you can, get two of these, and cast snake stance on switch before you switch to your main weapons.

Offhand-

Your offhand can be any combination of the above items. If using demhe, be sure to place it in your offhand.

Armor -

Scales of the Serpent

Scales of the Serpent
Gothic Plate (Sacred)
Defense: (7481 - 8308) to (9074 - 10078)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 675
Item Level: 105
15% Chance to cast level 40 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
4% Chance to cast level 12 Time Strike on Striking
(31 to 40)% Hit Recovery
+90% Damage to Undead
Adds 200-300 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
-35% to Enemy Poison Resistance
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(25 to 30)%
+(144 to 171)% Enhanced Defense
+100 to Strength
+50 Life on Melee Attack
Socketed (6)

=

Scales of the Drake

Scales of the Drake
Ring Mail (Sacred)
Defense: (5239 - 5921) to (5764 - 6514)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 550
Item Level: 120
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
30% Cast Speed
+(25 to 38)% to Poison Spell Damage
-35% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(14 to 18) to Lorenado
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+300 to Life
Maximum Poison Resist +5%
Physical Resist (5 to 10)%
Socketed (6)

- Drake is technically better than SoTS. If you're wearing drake, you'll need some flat poison from another piece of gear, like Mith in your gloves. It's worth noting that
Bone Chimes

Bone Chimes
Required Level: 120
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Gives stats based on the sum of your bonus damage to Undead and Demons
30% added as Weapon Physical Damage (Max +150%)
Current Bonus: 1%

would give you 40% psd if you wore tyraels, but good luck finding one .

Helmet -

Crown of the Black Rose

Crown of the Black Rose
Diadem (Sacred)
Defense: 870 to 983
Required Level: 110
Required Dexterity: 524
Item Level: 105
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
+(2 to 3) to All Skills
+(20 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(10 to 15)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(14 to 20) to Black Lotus Strike
+(90 to 150) Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Poison Resist +(2 to 3)%
(25 to 50)% Bonus to Defense
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (4)

>

Amanita

Amanita
Helms
'VenAmn'
Runeword Level: 100
3% Chance to cast level 1 Time Wave on Melee Attack
+(200 to 300) to Attack Rating
-(21 to 25)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(2 to 5) to Amatoxin
(3 to 5)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Attacker Flees after Striking 20%
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+(30 to 50) to Vitality
Poison Resist +25%

- Crown of the black rose is much better damage. Amanita has a timewave proc that is useful in fauzt but as you push to scos you'll want Crown.

Boots -

Darkling

Darkling
Heavy Boots (Sacred)
Defense: (1677 - 1879) to (1776 - 1989)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 550
Item Level: 115
+(0 to 1) to All Skills
(15 to 45)% Movement Speed
(7 to 12)% Life stolen per Hit
+(6 to 15)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(6 to 15)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(141 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
-100 to Life
Socketed (4)

Astrogha's Moon
(Wyrd Set)

- We need Darkling for our set. Until you get it you can either use an honorific, or the TU recommendations
Rabbit's Foot

Rabbit's Foot
Boots (4)
Defense: 8 to 14
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 21
Item Level: 1
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+10% to Spell Damage
+5 Maximum Stamina
(1 to 5)% Gold Find
(1 to 5)% Magic Find
Requirements -15%
Socketed (1)
Defense: 75 to 88
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 35
Item Level: 31
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+12% to Spell Damage
+10 Maximum Stamina
(5 to 10)% Gold Find
(5 to 10)% Magic Find
Requirements -30%
Socketed (2)
Defense: 184 to 215
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 96
Item Level: 51
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+16% to Spell Damage
+15 Maximum Stamina
(15 to 20)% Gold Find
(15 to 20)% Magic Find
Requirements -45%
Socketed (3)
Defense: 258 to 296
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 140
Item Level: 77
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+20 Maximum Stamina
(25 to 30)% Gold Find
(25 to 30)% Magic Find
Requirements -60%
Socketed (4)

or
Wake of Destruction

Wake of Destruction
Greaves (4)
Defense: (90 - 102) to (135 - 152)
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 17
Item Level: 19
+(4 to 6)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(11 to 13)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Requirements -20%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (333 - 369) to (462 - 512)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 33
Item Level: 36
+(7 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 17)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(26 to 30) to Energy
Requirements -25%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (854 - 930) to (1152 - 1254)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 158
Item Level: 59
+(10 to 12)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(19 to 21)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Requirements -30%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1274 - 1378) to (1713 - 1853)
Required Level: 52
Required Strength: 272
Item Level: 85
+(13 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(23 to 25)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Requirements -40%
Socketed (4)

(yes, really. They offer higher dmg than an honorific and rabbit's foot has a chunky MF bonus. Our defense is already so high at this point it wont matter)

Belt -

Viper Skin

Viper Skin
Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (2860 - 3204) to (3036 - 3402)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 385
Item Level: 115
30% Attack Speed
(51 to 75)% Bonus to Attack Rating
-(11 to 20)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Slow Target (3 to 8)%
+(141 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
Requirements -33%
Socketed (2)

Astrogha's Moon
(Wyrd Set)

>

- We need Viper skin to complete the Astro set. You can go with a good rolled
Lilith's Temptation

Lilith's Temptation
Plated Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (3680 - 4089) to (4031 - 4479)
Required Level: 100
Item Level: 105
3% Chance to cast level 2 Time Strike on Striking
+(170 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
-100 to Life
(60 to 100)% Magic Find
Requirements -100%
Socketed (2)

for MF or a poison/defense honorific belt until you get Viper skin. Not much comes from the belt slot for us otherwise.

Gloves -

Lorekeeper

Lorekeeper
Light Gauntlets (Sacred)
Defense: (1018 - 1179) to (1159 - 1342)
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 300
Item Level: 120
+3 to All Skills
20% Combat Speeds
+(5 to 10) to Firedance
+(90 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana +(40 to 60)%
Requirements -50%
Socketed (4)

>

Lamha Na Draoithe

Lamha Na Draoithe
Gauntlets (Sacred)
Defense: (1339 - 1506) to (1567 - 1763)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
+2 to All Skills
+150 Spell Focus
30% Cast Speed
+(16 to 20)% to Spell Damage
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
+75 to Strength
-100 to Life
Elemental Resists +15%
Socketed (4)

>

Mithridatism

Mithridatism
Gloves
'VenOhm'
Runeword Level: 100
Gain 20% of your Poison Resistance as Poison Length Reduction
+1 to All Skills
25% Hit Recovery
Adds 300-400 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
-(7 to 10)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(141 to 171)% Enhanced Defense
+10 to all Attributes
Poison Resist +25%

Abandoned/Shimmering/Quiet craft

- Gloves can roll good psd, and you may run into AR issues in scosglen, so the gloves are a great place to make up for that with an abandonded craft (for farming, you can go for shimmering/quiet for single target.) I'm told Burning Veil Procs can help your damage a good bit, so look out for those. Mith gloves could be taken if you need the +poison source and don't have it anywhere else.

Rings - Good rolled rare ring >

Ring of Regha

Ring of Regha
Ring
Item Level: 1
Adds 3-5 Damage
+5% to Spell Damage
+(5 to 15) to Strength
+(5 to 15) to Dexterity
Elemental Resists +10%

- More or less the same as the leveling items. Take the items that give you the bigger numbers.

Amulet -

Angel of Death

Angel of Death
Amulet
Required Level: 90
Item Level: 123
2% Chance to cast level 33 Punisher Bolt on Striking
+(0 to 2) to All Skills
+(11 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(6 to 15)% to Enemy Poison Resistance

Astrogha's Moon
(Wyrd Set)

> Rare amulet with MOS.

- We take the Astro set so this slot is decided for us. Use the best rare ammy you can until you get a good rolled AoD.

Pushing Beyond End game (Samael and other big single target challenge fights):

► Show Spoiler

The type of endgame spec you run depends on what type of content you want to do. For big single target fights, you may want to swap out Runemaster for Gladiator's dominance. The poison duration on this skill helps your snake stance damage (by increasing it's duration). For labbing, you can stay with 2x Blacktongue. You have an additional option for your weapon choice with
Weapon-

Deckard Cain's Heirloom

Deckard Cain's Heirloom
Short Staff (Sacred)
Two-Hand Damage: 53 to 55
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 188
Item Level: 120
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+2.5% Spell Damage per 1% Additional Experience Gain
+1 to All Skills
+50% Damage to Undead
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
Maximum Fire Resist +2%
Maximum Lightning Resist +2%
Maximum Cold Resist +2%
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
(21 to 60)% Magic Find
''Knowledge is Power''
Socketed (3)

-+1 all skills, some rainbow pierce, Rainbow max res, and some magic find. The main affix we care about is the orange text "+2.5% Spell Damage per 1% Additional Experience Gain". We will be crafting a lot of jewels to REALLY push snake stance to it's limits.
Cain's isn't as absurd as it used to be so 2x Blacktongue is also possible to run.

On Switch-

Feltongue

Feltongue
Great Sword (Sacred)
One-Hand Damage: 48 to 52
Two-Hand Damage: 79 to 81
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 670
Item Level: 105
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.16 per Strength)%
Adds 300% of Crushing Blow as Fire and Cold Spell Damage
4% Chance to cast level 20 Pagan Rites on Death Blow
+(5 to 7) to All Skills
20% Movement Speed
-(10 to 20)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(10 to 20)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(2000 to 4000) Defense
Maximum Fire Resist +1%
Maximum Cold Resist +1%
Socketed (6)

Raptor

Raptor
Throwing Axes
'ZodSurLemEl'
Runeword Level: 85
(Barbarian Only)
3% Chance to cast level 60 Thunder Slam on Kill
-19% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(6 to 11) to Snake Stance (Barbarian Only)
+3 to all Attributes
5% to Vitality
Maximum Life +3%
Regenerate Mana +15%
+115 Life after each Kill

-To squeeze as much out of snake stance as possible, you want either 2x +7 Feltongue filled with Atomus jewels and Suicide notes or 2x Raptor with 2 suicide note jewels. The latter here is much cheaper but I DO NOT RECCOMMEND ATTEMPTING TO ROLL RAPTORS WITH SUICIDE NOTES, AS IT WILL BE A COMPLETE WASTE IF YOU DON'T GET A +11 RAPTOR. We can't re-roll any runewords (instead of just ones made with great runes), so you can and will waste your time and tg if you try to roll a +11 raptor with SNs in it. It's more expensive, but far safer and not a waste of your TG/time to use 2x +7 feltongues and fill with SN/Atomus jewels.

Prebuff
Now we can worry about maxing out our prebuff, as you want every edge you can get for big fights. Prebuffing is simply equipping gear giving as many +skills as possible, casting snake stance, then switching out to your desired setup. Snake stance "snapshots" it's skill level when cast, so you don't need to retain the slvl you had when you first cast the skill.

1.Equip all pre buff gear (including on switch weapons)
2. Find a skill shrine
3. Cast snake stance (may as well also cast wolf companion while buffed).
4. Equip spell damage gear
5. If using Cain's, find an XP shrine before attempting the fight you're looking to do. The Bonus to XP gained works with cain's orange text.

Here's the Prebuff gear I recommend:

The Protector

The Protector
Fanged Helm (Sacred)
Defense: (2628 - 2956) to (2779 - 3126)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 500
Item Level: 1
+(3 to 4) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+(21 to 25)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(31 to 50)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
(21 to 25)% to Vitality
Cold Resist +(41 to 50)%
(21 to 25)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)


Spirits of the Nephalem
(Barbarian Shaman Set)

filled with 3 SN, 1 atomus
-The reason we take this instead of a +4 runeword is because this way we can get +8 from just our helm.
+2 all skills (or barb skills) crafted chest with 3 SN, 3 atomus
-+8 all skills total.
+3 all skills amulet
-The highest base roll for this slot. I'm told you can lotto to +5
+2 barb skills belt with 2 SN
-Crafted belts can roll +2 barb skills. +4 total with gems.
+3 all skills gloves with 3 SN, 1 atomus
-Another +7 all skills.
+2 all skills boots with 3 SN, 1 atomus
-+6 all skills total. I THINK +2 is the highest + skill roll you can get on boots before gems? If there's a +3 non runeword take that instead.
2x +7 feltongue with 3 SN and 3 atomus
-Total of +13 per weapon. Safer bet than +11 raptors with 2 SNs.

-
Destiny

Destiny
Gilded Shield (Sacred)
Defense: (8868 - 9976) to (10992 - 12366)
Chance to Block: 1%
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 700
Item Level: 1
+3 to Barbarian Skill Levels
60% Hit Recovery
+(41 to 50)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(11 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
+100 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Mana +15%
Regenerate Mana +(31 to 50)%
Socketed (4)


Spirits of the Nephalem
(Barbarian Shaman Set)

- The +2 all skills stays even after removing the shield, equip this first, eat an apple, then equip all of the above (including off hand weapons).

You need the Astro set and most of the previous end game gear to round out this build. Killing Samael NEEDS 199 pierce, and the set bonus is too much pierce to pass up.

As for socketing, you want to craft jewels that give 2% additional exp gain (if going cain's). Flat life or Vita % to help get your HP nice n high for survivability, or some psd for a total of up to 8% spell damage per jewel. T4v told me to get xp/life and he's the one who's killed sam so I'd listen to him.

MOs:

► Show Spoiler

BEFORE YOU MO
MOs add +4 level requirement to the item for EACH MO. This is applied AFTER the level requirement gained by making a runeword.
For example if you make a Demhe in a T4 flail, the level requirement will still be 100, and then each MO adds 4 levels on that. Im faily certain this is how it works. Try to keep this in mind, as MOing gear needs levels. Leveling up is always a good idea.
~~~psd= poison spell damage~~~
These are in order of importance
1. Aim for 5 psd MOs on every item. This is 10% spell damage per item and really adds up.
2. Life on attack on your weapon(s)
3. % Enhanced Defense on armor and shields
4. IAS on weapons; I have it on good authority that max fpa helps a ton with sustain.
5. Finally, get magic find to fill in the gaps. You can add life regen, TCD, resists, and basically anything else after these 4.
NOTE: We don't have a lot of room on our gear for magic find MOs, and we can't really take
Lilith's Temptation

Lilith's Temptation
Plated Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (3680 - 4089) to (4031 - 4479)
Required Level: 100
Item Level: 105
3% Chance to cast level 2 Time Strike on Striking
+(170 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
-100 to Life
(60 to 100)% Magic Find
Requirements -100%
Socketed (2)

because we need our belt slot. This is why we have issues with MF. You'd either need copies of your gear with MF MOs instead of psd or %ED or to break your set.

Socketables:

► Show Spoiler

In order of importance
1. Poison runes. -enemy poison res, equals more damage. BIS for each slot.
A note on hitting -resistance caps; enemies can only have a maximum of -100% resists in median. Bosses can have more but supposedly enemies only have 35% resists. 135% is good to aim for if you're farming, and fill the rest with Iths for damage. When bossing, slot more -poison resistance runes.
2.Ith runes. Poison spell damage, 3% per slot. Adds up. Switch to the enhanced version when you're rich for an extra 1% per slot.
3. Shael runes. Poison duration. I just have a couple of these. I'll have to do some math to see how well they play with the formula. Same as above, upgrade to enhanced version if rich.
4. Jewels in any runeword. BEFORE the runes in each runeword, you can fill with jewels. Use the best combo of poison enhancing jewels you can find, or craft some %spell damage ones. Only use jewels in runewords (demhe and amanita in our case). You will take a defense loss if you use jewels when you don't have to.

Playstyle
Poison WW differs a bit from phys/magic variants. First and foremost, you don't have to constantly hit things, so you can move through a bit quicker. If your damage isn't high enough you'll have to circle back for a second (or third or fourth etc) pass to clear, but most of the time one pass will be enough.
The most important thing to consider with WW is the nuances of casting it. WHIRLWIND IS NOT A TRADITIONAL CHANNELED SKILL. This means that when you WW somewhere, your character will keep going until he gets there. Consider it like leap, it wouldn't stop in mid air if you let go of the button because it was cast once.

Short Cast!

With this in mind, know that longer WW casts are not always the best. Being locked into the animation for too long can kill you. When your clear is good enough you can go quite fast but a good way to do more damage (with poison, not phys/magic) is to have the mouse closer to your character so the casts are shorter. This allows for much better repositioning, slowing down a bit (stopping and then recasting takes frames), and in some cases better sustain. It allows you to stay on targets longer, and since poison doesn't care about the slow moving "get as many hits IN the cast as possible" play style, we can take advantage of small cast distances.

Long casting can save you from death
In other cases you may want to cast much further away from yourself, in rifts like fauzt, vizjun, and bremmtown where you are being attacked rapidly. Having the monsters chase you, get hit by the tail of your WW, and continue to chase you is much safer. This is how we combat our vulnerability to ranged enemies that like to stay away, like harpies in Fauzt.

Bossing with poison WW is a little different too. You can hit the boss, and run away while it's health ticks down. YMMV depending on the boss. There are descriptions in the Dungeons section of this guide.


Leveling Guide

There are plenty of guides on leveling through median so I'll try to keep this brief and mention things that pertain to us. Refer to troubleshooting if you're stuck on a particular uber.

Normal:

► Show Spoiler

A1 Normal:

2.3 adds "attack on ground" for many melee skills. Earthquake is stupidly strong for leveling with snake stance now. The only thing to note is your gearing changes slightly. With EQ you want the highest possible flat poison dps weapon (which is

The Shanker

The Shanker
Dagger (4)
One-Hand Damage: (5 - 6) to (6 - 8)
Required Level: 1
Item Level: 1
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+50 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(12 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
-9% to Enemy Poison Resistance
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (3 to 5)%
Socketed (1)
One-Hand Damage: (11 - 12) to (12 - 14)
Required Level: 18
Required Dexterity: 18
Item Level: 31
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+100 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(58 to 80)% Enhanced Damage
-18% to Enemy Poison Resistance
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (9 to 11)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (32 - 36) to (34 - 38)
Required Level: 36
Required Dexterity: 49
Item Level: 51
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+250 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(104 to 126)% Enhanced Damage
-27% to Enemy Poison Resistance
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (15 to 17)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (36 - 39) to (38 - 42)
Required Level: 45
Required Dexterity: 104
Item Level: 77
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+725 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
+(126 to 149)% Enhanced Damage
-36% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (18 to 20)%
Socketed (2)

early on). Spell damage is only a priority for WW. Outfit your character accordingly.

Before leaving town, start out by gambling an elemental throwing axe from gheed or otherwise buying one. They have innate and added lightning ele damage which more than carries any WDM skill early on. Put your first point into earthquake, then lion stance, then melee devotion. You can choose to pick up snake stance as soon as you can access it, but the damage at early levels is sucky and you might struggle. Progress through A1 normally.

A2 Normal:
By now you can get more ACs. Invest in a

Death Pit Stake

Death Pit Stake
Pike (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (11 - 14) to (26 - 38)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength: 45 to 48
Required Dexterity: 68 to 71
Item Level: 19
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
14% Chance to cast level 4 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
15% Attack Speed
Adds (2 to 4)-(6 to 15) Damage
+(35 to 57)% Enhanced Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(3 to 6) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 30%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Two-Hand Damage: (31 - 43) to (78 - 94)
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 63 to 67
Required Dexterity: 88 to 93
Item Level: 36
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
16% Chance to cast level 17 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
25% Attack Speed
Adds (6 to 15)-(21 to 30) Damage
+(81 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(7 to 10) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 45%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (72 - 87) to (171 - 199)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 111 to 118
Required Dexterity: 150 to 160
Item Level: 59
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
18% Chance to cast level 30 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
35% Attack Speed
Adds (16 to 25)-(36 to 50) Damage
+(126 to 149)% Enhanced Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(11 to 14) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 60%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Two-Hand Damage: (83 - 96) to (265 - 292)
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 205 to 218
Required Dexterity: 274 to 293
Item Level: 85
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
20% Chance to cast level 44 Arachnomancy on Melee Attack
40% Attack Speed
Adds (31 to 40)-(61 to 70) Damage
+(149 to 171)% Enhanced Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(15 to 18) to Divine Judgment (Paladin Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

as early as possible, and prioritize upgrading it. You can farm Andariel but if she's too tough spend some time leveling in act 2. Rushing the sewers immediately is a good idea now that the pack enemies are gone. You can also now start working towards maxing snake stance. You can weave in a few points of mountain king and ancient blood to help with attack rating and stat checks for gear, but try to prioritize snake stance.

A3 Normal:
By now your snake stance damage should really be taking off, and you may even be one shotting non boss enemies through most of this act if your gear is up to par. Reveal the map, zoom through, get to Mephisto. Don't forget to respec before level 50 if you've ditched any points into lion stance.

A4 Normal:
You can farm Meph for as long as you need to get full TUs (and hopefully a good amulet and rings). Your survivability may be a bit of an issue, especially by river of flame. If you've been picking up runes and gems, start maxing your resists. Melee builds have several choke points through the game and I think late act 4 is a decently tough one. Start taking all of your defensive passives when snake stance is maxed.

A5 Normal:
Straightforward. Grab your resist scroll for sunstone from Anya, get your sunstone. If you have enough in defense, the level challenge will be a breeze.

Nightmare:

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A1 Nightmare:
At this point in the game we're on cruise control. A1 Nightmare has a particularly nasty difficulty spike just in the jail, which kind of comes at you out of nowehere, and it feels a little harder than it should be for the area. Get cold resists, and try to avoid freezes, because this is CC central and melee hates this area. If it's too much, just try to run through. Difficulty resumes ramping at a normal pace as soon as you hit the inner cloister.

A2-3 Nightmare:
There's nothing of note in NM act 2 if I remember correctly besides the free AC from Jehryn at the end of the act. Behind killing A3 Meph is the Ennead challenge, which by now if you've been stacking defense should be relatively easy. Don't engange with the enemies too much, WW on through and kill the necromancer at the very end for a nice +2 skill dmg boost. (Map to be included later)

A4-5 Nightmare:
A4 should provide little to no challenge if you're capped on resistances. Diablo might take a while to kill but play safe, hit and run and he'll go down. Same with The Ancients and Baal. Don't forget your sunstone upgrade for free resistances.

Hell, Dungeons, Rifts
Rather than reiterating how to progress through the D2 campaign, this guide will assume you are doing that on your own by now, and instead I'll cover the Median content, Dungeon and rift bosses. Be sure to complete all of your quests that give rewards, and upgrade your sunstone. The ancients in act 5 can be done for a nice chunk of XP when you hit 113-114 to help get you to 115 faster.

Leveling in the endgame is pretty straightforward. Do the regular campaign until you can do Torajan jungles/cows at 110, then farm cows (or TJ if you want to start getting signets early) until level 115. From there you can farm K3K, then Isle of Skatarra(Tran Athulua) until 120. From there you can do Duncraig until 120, and come back to clear it until 125. You likely won't be able to clear Fauzt right away, so refer to troubleshooting for tips on how to get there. From there you can farm Fauzt, Bremmtown, and Vizjun for exp well until at least 135. Scosglen could be good for XP too but I personally like vizjun until 135 because the pack density with an XP shrine is sweet. Fauzt is a better loot zone so when you can clear it just as fast do so.

I apologize in advance for the spoiler list. I will be omitting trivial fights/ones with no particular nuance for the build, to save on character space. Open and close the spoilers as you complete the fights

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Death Projector:
A bit of an annoying fight for WW but nothing to really slow us down for long. Keep running in a circle around it and hitting every once in a while. You can kite the enemies away if you get overwhelmed but our defense should be so high at this point they're barely more than an annoyance. You shouldnt really take much damage during this fight but have some pots handy. Remember Whirlwind boosts our defense by a lot so attacking through the minions is helpful even if you can't hit them because it makes it much harder for them to hit you. My weapon actually broke during this fight and I didn't feel like re-starting so I managed to literally punch it to death, if that's any testament to snake stance and how well barbs can stay alive.

Infernal Machine:
Can be a bit of a messy fight due to how densely packed the arena is. Thankfully our defense is really high so you can either clear the area slowly if you need to, or run in, attack, run away, and repeat until the machine dies.

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Tal Rasha/Binding of Baal:
A bit of RNG is in this fight but you shouldn't struggle very much. As SOON as you get into this arena, run away from the center. Try to take out the minions one at a time, as many of them stacked on you will probably be too much damage to out sustain at this point in the game.

Akarat:
You may not be able to do akarat right away but he's quite doable with enough poison dps. Come back later.

Jitan:
Jitan may give you some trouble until you scale your defense really high. If you want to kill him asap, try to lure his guards one at a time. You'll eventually be able to tank damage from your screen being full of guard towers and fortress casts, but early on you probably cant.

Inquisitor of the Triune:
This boss is a major pain. It's poison and I think has high resistances. If you DO respec ever, come back and do this one with a good single target skill. For now, do it the old fashion way by sacrificing some defense for max poison resist. This should help you. Try to stay around the edges of the area and direct his spells away from the center. The less space there is to move around the arena, the harder it becomes to avoid some of his stronger more rippy (read: kills you) mechanics.You can also use the extra targets around the arena for extra sustain.

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Bull prince Rodeo:
Surprisingly smooth fight. Stay behind the bottom right wooden wall if possible to minimize being hit by his stampede(?) skill. The one that rains projectiles from the top left of the map. Hit an run, rinse, repeat.

Rathma square/Primus:
One of those fights where our advantages as a poison melee character shine through. We have real high defense so we don't take a lot of damage in this fight. you might die once or twice, but if you keep whirlwinding and chasing Primus you should be fine.

Black Road/Buyard Cholik:
Another fight we excel at because of our build. Kite Buyard straight to the flames in the center. Don't even worry about the sea of minions he summons, they are just more sustain. You shouldn't die much here at all.

Legacy of Blood/Bartuc:
Surprisingly easy as melee. I've struggled with this fight historically but did it no problem on this character. Just WW straight into bartuc and keep bouncing around him until he's dead. You kind of need to keep hitting things to sustain through this fight, but if you dont stop attacking you'll be fine.

The Veiled Prophet:
This fight may be frustrating, and you can die easily, but thankfully our build has a sneaky way to do this fight. As soon as you get in, the pillar in the center of the room will shoot lightning bolts in a star pattern. Avoid this by teleporting into the corner if you can. When the lightning stops, run over, hit the pillar, and run away. Rinse and repeat until it dies, staying away from the casters at the bottom if at all possible. The boss fight from there is pretty easy, just keep him in the top corners near where you enter.

Heart of Sin/Azmodan:
Capped resits, max fire res, and keep whirlwinding. This is where hit and run really starts to be necessary. Hit him, run away as the poison ticks, run back and repeat.

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Judgement Day/Imperius/Malthael:
I'd argue Malthael is the easier boss here. Kill one to get the charm at first, then come back later when you do more damage (and have more pierce) to do the time challenge.

Twin Seas/Athulua:
Eureka indeed. She'll go down slowly but she also can't hurt you very much. You can name lock her (click on her and hold so your character will chase her down even after she teleports) and whirlwind a bit for extra sustain. Bring some potions.

Quov Tsin:
There is a major pathing bug in this arena that makes this fight very annoying. Basically what happens is if your mouse leaves the arena and goes into the black area around it (except for the little holes surrounded by path inside) your character will just stop moving, and you can/will die. The devs know about this and acknowledged it in the beta feedback forums, so I'd assume it's either being fixed or an engine issue and it can't be. If you don't feel like re-speccing try to get a ranged oskill that applies Weapon damage or maybe put 2 points in the throwing tree and use one of the WDM throw skills to take him down from a safe distance. You can also name lock him with your basic attack, and keep sprint held down, to minimize time away from him. He does far less damage to you when you're very close.


Outdated map of QT's arena but the idea is the same. Area with red lines breaks pathing.

Kingdom of Shadow/Juris Khan:
Big oof. Even with 700k defense, this will be hard. Make sure you have some nice move speed boots, and up your max poison resists a bit. I managed to do this with an average poison resist (close to 80) but the end of this area is heavily RNG based. There are these sentry-like things that shoot poison stars in a circle around them. They're relatively easy to dodge, but not so in the last corridor, even with teleport. May either take a few tries until you get a run with not so many of them in the final hallway, or you're just really good. Thankfully by the time we're ready for this fight the final boss goes down quickly. PRAY that he drops a +2 barb charm so you don't have to do it again. Remember your defence is higher when Whrilwinding so sometimes if you're about to be approached by too many enemies going through them may be better than going around and gathering more.

Eve of Destruction/Hell Baal:
This is a big boi fight, so come prepared with as much pierce as you can get, and Jitan's gate. Damage Baal, and whenever he summons Andariel, Duriel, or Meph, kite them away and take them down. They have a much larger aggro range than Baal so you can fight him on either side of the center, teleport to the center, and try to drag the other boss down and away from Baal. Baal also summons (what used to be) Lister the Tormentor who buffs allies. Not as big of a threat and doesn't make Baal invincible but you may still want to kite these away and kill them. You can actually have multiple bosses up at once but since we're whirlwind we don't care much about damaging 2 targets at once. You can try to kite one away form the other if/when this happens, but it shouldnt pose too much of a problem. This charm isn't really necessary but It does give some strength which is less we need to spend on gear and more we can put into VIT.

Legion of the Damned:
This is just a regular challenging fight. We can do this quite comfortably but max difficulty gets quite hairy. Be sure to bounce around focusing on caster targets that wont approach you on their own.

Kabraxis:
Here we go. This fight is long, and difficult at the level you get to him, but there is a strategy for our build. Before you start put your portal outside where the elementals were (provided you've cleared at least one side). Kabraxis casts some nasty spells, constantly summons minions, and will teleport on top of you if you get too far away from him. We use this to our advantage. There is a sweet spot with WW where the distance away from your character, the time it takes to recast, and the the path you take around the arena puts you in a position where you are constantly running away from Kab, staying out of his more dangerous spells, but still hitting him when he teleports on you. Because we're poison, we only need to reapply our dot, and not hit him constantly. Follow the path I outline in the picture. If things mess up, you can readjust by rotating the other way. Kab won't teleport on you if you're close enough so you may need to hit a bit wider of an angle to get him to follow you properly. His minions aren't really a threat and provide some much needed sustain. It's actually possible to out-run Kabraxis, he'll stop following and you can go around killing some of the minions if too many accumulate. This shouldnt happen because of our AOE but it can. Bring potions, you can do it.
NOTE: The bug where Kabraxis sometimes heals to full when he kills you (while whirlwinding) has been fixed. Thx devs

The pattern to follow while kiting Kabraxis

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Realm of Lies/Belial:
Belial is one of those fights you probably cant do right away but becomes much more manageable when you have more pierce and HP. Keep in mind that Belial is the only boss that turns into a small rat and runs around, but as whirlwind we can bounce around between all of the active copies of him. If you lose track of the real Belial, keep bouncing around until you spot him in his rat form. He's a healthy boss but he'll go down, dont get discouraged if you kill a bunch of clones first.

Ghosts of old Bremmtown/Darkstar Dragon:
Power Overwhelming. We're really good at this rift. Once your damage and VIT are high enough you can basically zoom through the entire map without stopping. The spirits will jump on you, and the poison will kill them as you keep moving away. Because they jump on you so often they handle the reapplication of the poison for you, and they keep you sustaining through the hits that get past your insane defense. DSD is just a "get more pierce" thing. You can basically kill him as fast as you can whirlwind there, so if you dont get him down under the time limit, just get some more pierce. Ironically you actually CAN get overwhelmed, but if you're dying at all in Bremtown, it's likely because you're not killing fast enough and you're pulling too many newmonsters without killing old ones.

Xazax:
If you die in this fight at all, just come back later. With some of the nicer pierce runewords, and about 2k VIT, this fight can be done in around 7 minutes from starting a game (includes travel time TO the boss). Basically hit Xaz, run away while the poison ticks down, run back, and WW through him. Repeat until dead. His minions can actually kill you and almost definitely will if you lag out, but otherwise you should be fine. Xaz himself can only really kill you with his ice spell. You can get mega poisoned by him but I don't think it's common, as it's only happened to me once.

Astrogha
Astro has been significantly reworked in 2.3. There are 4 pillars that summon minions, and astro is in the center. Bounce between all active targets, and try not to get overwhelmed when astro splits into 3 copies. With enough pierce, the fight should be fairly simple.

Nymyr's Light:
The astro charm is good for our pre-buff, and the Yshari sanctum trophy is good for our damage. If you REALLY want to minmax, you could get a copy of the astro version of this charm in your cube for prebuff, and just main the Yshari one for damage. You can and likely will need a lot of hit and run for this. Bring pots.

Giyua:
Giyua's purify mechanic was removed in 2.1. 2.2 sees a reduction to the health of the nests, making this fight much more realistic for us. A good way to semi cheese this fight is to quickly sprint past giyua and any active nests, hit them, and then run away. Giyua summons nests so if you run away fast enough it's AI deactivates and the chances of more being summoned is much lower. Be patient, it can be a difficult fight.

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The Void:
The void is a peculiar dungeon, and I think is explicitly designed to require re-speccing. Certain fights are easy for us, and some are straight impossible due to the nature of poison.
Sloth- hit, run away while your poison ticks down, and repeat until you kill the boss.
Gluttony- It may not be possible to out-damage Gluttony's regen unless you have well over 1mil tooltip. I'd have to ask some of the people who've pushed it that far.
Greed- basic attacking requires no mana and still applies most of our damage, lol.

Nephalem's Sacrifice (Uldyssian the Tainted):
Good old Uldy. This fight is hard, but fun. Leading up to Uldyssian, the bosses shouldn't pose too much trouble. Thankfully each fight has ads to assist with your sustain.
For Uldyssian himself, it's a surprisingly straightforward fight. It's all down to not getting overwhelmed. The main way you die in this fight is by getting slowed and hit by the big deatshstrike star that he casts. If you've followed the minmax section of this guide and switched over to jewels and glad dom, take full advantage of the extra duration by hitting him, running away, waiting for a death strike, and running back to hit him again. This would be playing it overly cautious and you can opt to hit him more often as you get more comfortable with the fight and it's mechanics. Don't forget your maxed Vit, as it increases life on hit which is plentiful thanks to lots of Edryems.

Rifts

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Cows:
Insane mob density, good early farming/leveling spot. Used to lvl to 115. The cow king drops Wirt's other leg, which opens Bull prince rodeo.

Torajan Jungles:
Farm your signets of learning here, farm gold here, farm runes (non enchanted) here, its just a good zone. People like to say to farm sunless for gold and Nihlathak for signets, but you can gold cap in one TJ clear(or far less), get MANY more sigs, AND you have a good chance to get large and great sigs, for up to 25 at a time. Just so much better and faster. The portal makes repeat farming even faster than sunless for gold too.

Kurast 3000/K3K:
Lucky for our sanity we don't actually need to farm K3k beyond the charm and some quick XP. Similarly to the ennead challenge, head straight to the necro, get the hammer, then farm some xp.

High Heavens:
Just a half way zone to a couple of other areas, kind of like TJ. There's a charm in the library of fate you earn by killing the big Avatars surrounded by acolytes behind the town.

Tran Athulua/TA:
A repeat of the level challenge, with much stronger enemies, and 2 other uber fights tucked away on the side of the map. Make sure you are always Whirlwinding because until you're better geared there are some archers that drop an arrow trap that devastates you if your defense is too low. It's nearly impossible to determine which archers will do this when you're moving quickly.

Teganze/Zagraal's Shadow:
Zagrall cannot hurt us. He has an invulnerable phase he regularly casts. While we can't hit him while invincible, the poison will still tick his health down. It's not a super fast kill, but what you can actually do, is WW over to him, and then slowly continue through the area killing things and ignoring him completely. He will continue to jump on you until he dies, and you can farm a bit while you wait for him to die, and take his drops. WW short distances so you don't lose him. Don't forget to insult him as he goes down.

The Triune:
Where you get cycles for corrupted wormhole, and, well, corrupted wormhole. In my infinite wisdom I missed that this one is pretty important. A gold cycle + a barb cycle = 2 +skills. Follow the encounter guide listed on the Median rifts docs page.

Duncraig:
The one and only. This area has a drop bias for sacred uniques, but the area level limits the very rarest from dropping here. We can farm here quite comfortably when our damage gets good, but until it does, WW THROUGH packs, and circle back a second time to finish them off. Avoid the barrels the zombies throw.
Assur is here, and it's a good charm for us. He's meant to get you used to purify for later fights. Hits like a truck but dies in 2 casts of purify. HIt and Run Baby.

Viz-Jun:
This rift will punish you if you're not ready for it. It's hard. Luckily our survivability and sustain is great. It will be difficult to reach the waypoint when you first ding 125 but eventually this becomes just as good as fauzt (for leveling) if not better because of our AOE, the density, and the waypoint.
MasterControlSystem (MCS) is the boss in this rift. An immobile purify boss that summons monsters, nukes, sentry turrets, etc. Clear the area until all thats left are the packs MCS summons, tap her with purify once, and she'll go down. After that, enjoy speedy leveling.

Fauztinville:
Not "Fauntz", not "Fautz", Fauzt. Write it wrong and trigger at least 3 people.
This is the rift. Source of the (now only) 3 great runes, used for some of the most powerful Runewords in the game. Also some of the (in contest with Viz-Jun) highest mob density in the game, making it a great farming place. The area level means the best gear drops here. You'll be able to clear Bremmtown comfortably much before you can do Fauzt smoothly. Luckily we don't need any of the great runes but we can farm the astro set and other SUs here. If you're on TSW you can sell things and buy what you're missing with TG.

Scosglen:
-Lots of community effort has pushed this build into scosglen quite comfortably. Thanks Everyone!
Get to town, and come back every so often to test out your power.

The Dimensional Labyrinth:
-There are some showcases floating around of this build doing t10. It's known that this build can lab quite well, but you may need to switch back to runemaster and make sure you cap your Physical resistance from gear.

Troubleshooting

Q: I'm dying too much in (insert rift), what do I do?

A:If you don't have max signets, go farm those. If you have way more strength or dex than you need to equip gear, you may need to re-spec and dump more into VIT, your defense may also not be high enough.

Q:How the hell do I get close to 1 mil defense?

A:You can MO all of your armor with % Enhanced Defense. While using WW and near your wolf companion, defense will be multiplied. Make sure you're using runes, and not jewels or gems, as they don't work with runemaster.

Q: I'm not doing enough damage, what do I do?

A: Make sure you MO each piece of gear with poison spell damage. This is 10% PER SLOT, it's a lot to miss out on. Farm runes for runewords, and poison runes for more pierce. Character level increases the damage of snake stance as well, so If you're still getting good exp, stop to level for a bit. Prioritize ubers that give you +all skills. You can also have 2x

Raptor

Raptor
Throwing Axes
'ZodSurLemEl'
Runeword Level: 85
(Barbarian Only)
3% Chance to cast level 60 Thunder Slam on Kill
-19% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(6 to 11) to Snake Stance (Barbarian Only)
+3 to all Attributes
5% to Vitality
Maximum Life +3%
Regenerate Mana +15%
+115 Life after each Kill

on switch to snapshot snake stance. If you really want to push it, find a skill shrine before casting.

Q: I have a question not here

A:I'm in the median discord as magz. If I'm there feel free to @ me.

Thanks
~ ~
Ben and Siosilvar for some poison mechanics clarification
aerial for pointing out the snake stance snapshotting
Wulf For inspiring the WW guide
All of you for giving me crazy good feedback and build variants. I wish I had space for em all, check the comments.
t4v for assisting with the cain's discovery

~ ~

[lovelydeny]

Already got end game gear for this build.
MY IDEA:
- Best farming build for barbarian, you could still get 300+MF for farming in Dunc or Fauz.
- Easy to kill 90% uber bosses but slow, even with no pots. The rest, you should change to other build

[meovngaming]

so poison can farm better than phys/magic?

[magz_]

Already got end game gear for this build.
MY IDEA:
- Best farming build for barbarian, you could still get 300+MF for farming in Dunc or Fauz.
- Easy to kill 90% uber bosses but slow, even with no pots. The rest, you should change to other build

I should add to the pros of this guide that this build is cheap, respective to others. It's definitely a slow bosser but a really smooth farmer.

[magz_]

so poison can farm better than phys/magic?

Maybe a bit smoother because it has way more health from not needing to scale strength. It's definitely not better for bossing, but farming is super easy.

[Siosilvar]

Hey, thanks for the shoutout!

To head off a couple of questions folks may have: spell damage applies to your Whirlwind damage, but not to your Gale Force. This is the same bug that makes classic LoD Enchant double-dip with Fire Mastery, and it applies to direct melee attacks *only* and not to any of the projectiles that 99% of Median skills use, so Whirlwind is one of the few skills that actually benefits from it.

& the reason to have exactly one item adding poison is because all of your poison durations get added up, then divided by the total number of items you have adding poison.

Snake stance + amatoxin + an item with a 2s poison = 6s, divided by 1 item = 6 seconds.
Snake stance + amatoxin + two items = 8s, divided by 2 items = 4 seconds.

More items will always increase your poison damage per second, but the total duration (and thus total damage) goes down the more you add.

[Laika_92]

Well I've been dying to level a barb, thanks for the excuse to finally do it!

[aerial]

I suggest trying devastation proc, probably on attack from su will be the best currently. It has high wdm (around 100?) was changed muliple times, so not sure what value it ended up with. But it creates gigantic delayed nova released at your feet, it is wonderful to spread poison in ubers where it can 1-shot everything, such as fauztinville. You don't need to proc it that often for it to be very good, because it hits such large area.

I have played many versions of this build, it is quite fun, although damage for bosses in endgame is bit lacking.

Another small thing, you can snapshot snake stance, so those runewords that add a lot to snake stance, dual wielding them on switch is worth it.

Lastly, with earthquake secondary hit being 150%, just running around and slapping 1x eq every screen is quite competitive, you poison for quite bit more than gale force, it is worth noting.

[magz_]

Hey, thanks for the shoutout!

To head off a couple of questions folks may have: spell damage applies to your Whirlwind damage, but not to your Gale Force. This is the same bug that makes classic LoD Enchant double-dip with Fire Mastery, and it applies to direct melee attacks *only* and not to any of the projectiles that 99% of Median skills use, so Whirlwind is one of the few skills that actually benefits from it.

& the reason to have exactly one item adding poison is because all of your poison durations get added up, then divided by the total number of items you have adding poison.

Snake stance + amatoxin + an item with a 2s poison = 6s, divided by 1 item = 6 seconds.
Snake stance + amatoxin + two items = 8s, divided by 2 items = 4 seconds.

More items will always increase your poison damage per second, but the total duration (and thus total damage) goes down the more you add.

Thanks for further clarifying~. I should add the note about gale force, or at least link to this comment, when I figure out how to add quick links

[magz_]

I suggest trying devastation proc, probably on attack from su will be the best currently. It has high wdm (around 100?) was changed muliple times, so not sure what value it ended up with. But it creates gigantic delayed nova released at your feet, it is wonderful to spread poison in ubers where it can 1-shot everything, such as fauztinville. You don't need to proc it that often for it to be very good, because it hits such large area.

I have played many versions of this build, it is quite fun, although damage for bosses in endgame is bit lacking.

Another small thing, you can snapshot snake stance, so those runewords that add a lot to snake stance, dual wielding them on switch is worth it.

Lastly, with earthquake secondary hit being 150%, just running around and slapping 1x eq every screen is quite competitive, you poison for quite bit more than gale force, it is worth noting.

I hadn't considered adding 2x raptor on switch! I knew you can hit a skill shrine and snapshot snake stance that way but didn't think about on switch weapons. I'll try that myself and credit you, it'll help as the build progresses into harder ubers. I'll give devastation a go too at some point. Thanks so much