Barbarian Skills/Stats Question

Hakghen - Harshlands wrote: »

Greetings friends,

I'm a level 32 barbarian on Harshlands, and I'm having a bit of trouble allocating my stat points and choosing my skills.

I'm interested in making a tank build for my barb while using any type of barb weapon (polehammer, poleaxe, dual axe, dual hammer, although I find dual axes more suited for the lack of damage tank builds have).

These are my current stats (w/o equipment modifiers):

Vit.: 48
Mag.: 5
Str.: 93
Dex.: 21

Spare Points: 8
Spare Spirit Points: 30967
Cultivation: Aware of Harmony

And these are the skills I have learned:

- Humanoid Form -

Stomp of the Beast King lv. 4 (don't use it or level anymore)
Garrote lv. 3 (always using)
Swell lv. (use it only sometimes because of the little AoE effect)
Mighty Swing lv. 3 (always using)
Penetrate Armor lv. 2 (always using)
Beast King's Inspiration lv. 3 (always use it)
Bestial Rage (always use it cause of the chi regen and the chance of protection below 50% hp)

- Tiger Form Skills - (I nearly don't use tiger form)

Flash Ream lv. 3
Alacrity of the Beast lv. 1

And below, the PASSIVE SKILLS I have:

Feral Regeneration lv. 5
Shapeshifting Intensity lv. 2
Swimming Mastery


So, my questions:

1. Is there a formula for allocating stat points for this build I want? Like "add x to str, y to dex and z to vit every two levels" or something like that? Could you experts guide me, please?
   
2. For the skills, I have a lot on the list to learn and i don't know what to get. Any tips of skills for helping me on questing, etc? Also, if possible, are there any recommended skills macro for combo'ing them?

Thank you all for the help and attention!

[]'s,
Hak

My build is similar to this, and i've seen it work many times. on the 10's put all 5 points into dex. On every level other than that do a 2 vit and 3 str build. You may have to wait a level or two to use some gear, but toward end game stuff starts to even out. You will have a lower vit than some barbs, but you can either move some of the extra points around as you see a need or use shards and refining. You can also mod hp to a higher level with vit stats on gear ^^ always a bonus, plus then you can go for some tt gold gear - good stuff. The build depends a lot on how well you play the barb if it will be totally successful. As with everything- always be watching your gear and whatnot to make sure you will be reaching req's. There are times where you will need to boost str or dex a point or two most likely. Use gear to do that and even it out as best you can while you go. This isn't a perfect science!

My personal favorite wepon is always a polehammer or pole axe, that's just preference, though it does lower damage. I would recommend going duel axes or duel hammers (has a more consistent dmg range than the axes even though it's lower).

As for skills if you are going to do a tank build you will want to focus on the tank skills, all of which have their uses. Flesh Ream needs to be maxed out asap as well as true form to give that added def.

As for the rest i'll have to post again later.. my lunch is over and students are here b:chuckle

Additions:

The stand up skills you choose to use are personal preference based on your playing style. I can honsetly say my favorite skills you have already listed as using frequently. The few additions I like to add for pve are typically slam and armageddon. PVP bestial onslaught is useful for those with higher evade (archer/sins).

**Also, make sure you are checking your boots and weapon - those will tell you where your stats need to be for each 10 levels**

Any questions feel free to ask!

~Dar

My build:
6 STR, 3 VIT, 1 DEX every 2 levels.

FORMULAS: (calculates bare minimum for gear)

STR = character level * 3 + 2
(so at 32 you would have 98 str)

DEX = character level / 2 + 4 (round up to nearest whole number)
(my dex at your level would have been 20)

VIT = all excess points

---

build is based on dual axes and heavy armor since this is what youll be wearing (armor wise) as a tank, and dual axes is what youll equip mainly in your 60+ levels (tt gear) but you can use all other barb weapons with this build as well. I currently use the cudgel of ancient alloy (lvl 79 legendary polehammer) as my main grinding/tanking weapon.

Skills I use alot humanoid wise:

Mighty swing (maxed)
Penetrate armor (maxed)
Bestial Onslaught (lvl 5)
Garrote (maxed)
Swell (maxed)
Slam(lvl 4)

Tank Skills:

Flesh Ream (maxed)
Devour (maxed)
Alacrity (lvl 8)
Surf Impact (lvl 7)
Frighten (level 6)
Roar (level 4)
Sunder (level 6)
INVOKE

Buffs:
Strength of Titans (level 8)
Beast King Inspiration (maxed)
Poison Fang (maxed)
Blood Bath (level 5)

Passives all maxed

--

I started sharding gear around the 50s - always citrines in armor, ambers in weapon
Ornaments - I wear mdef ornaments to offset my relatively weak natural mdef (refining pieces with good bonuses is a good idea)
If you can afford it, its a good practice to at the very least refine each piece of armor you wear to +1 for additional HP (mine is all refined +2)
some barbs I know actually wear (and refine) magic attack rings for even more mdef. (not a bad idea against magical opponents as they already have low pdef and evasion) - I wear 2x misty forest rings refined +1 each (actually need to refine them higher to get any benefit from pdef add, since the defense reduction percent hasnt changed at all).

Baalbak - Dreamweaver wrote: »

My build:
6 STR, 3 VIT, 1 DEX every 2 levels.

FORMULAS: (calculates bare minimum for gear)

STR = character level * 3 + 2
(so at 32 you would have 98 str)

DEX = character level / 2 + 4 (round up to nearest whole number)
(my dex at your level would have been 20)

VIT = all excess points

---

build is based on dual axes and heavy armor since this is what youll be wearing (armor wise) as a tank, and dual axes is what youll equip mainly in your 60+ levels (tt gear) but you can use all other barb weapons with this build as well. I currently use the cudgel of ancient alloy (lvl 79 legendary polehammer) as my main grinding/tanking weapon.

Skills I use alot humanoid wise:

Mighty swing (maxed)
Penetrate armor (maxed)
Bestial Onslaught (lvl 5)
Garrote (maxed)
Swell (maxed)
Slam(lvl 4)

Tank Skills:

Flesh Ream (maxed)
Devour (maxed)
Alacrity (lvl 8)
Surf Impact (lvl 7)
Frighten (level 6)
Roar (level 4)
Sunder (level 6)
INVOKE

Buffs:
Strength of Titans (level 8)
Beast King Inspiration (maxed)
Poison Fang (maxed)
Blood Bath (level 5)

Passives all maxed

--

I started sharding gear around the 50s - always citrines in armor, ambers in weapon
Ornaments - I wear mdef ornaments to offset my relatively weak natural mdef (refining pieces with good bonuses is a good idea)
If you can afford it, its a good practice to at the very least refine each piece of armor you wear to +1 for additional HP (mine is all refined +2)
some barbs I know actually wear (and refine) magic attack rings for even more mdef. (not a bad idea against magical opponents as they already have low pdef and evasion) - I wear 2x misty forest rings refined +1 each (actually need to refine them higher to get any benefit from pdef add, since the defense reduction percent hasnt changed at all).

I agree with all the above except swim mastery and don't forget about your passive axe skill.

My level 55 barbarian's current stats

STR:167
VIT: 86
DEX: 34
MAG: 5 (idk how to set it at 3 for 2 more VIT b:sad)




Humanoid Skills
level 10 Stomp of the beast king-its actually a nice skill for low level, mid level game than what people say. I sort of finish mobs with this skill with low enough HP for me to kill it. Or being able to spam it. I do always use it except for tanking

Level 10 garrote-This is a great skill, it can stack after flesh ream, and best of all, least MP costly. I always use it when soloing

Level 9 swell- I use this every time I AOE, better with spark though.

Level 8 mighty swing- I use this always, a good damage dealing skill while it stuns, but I don't use mighty swing on bosses because I mainly tank.

Level 7 penetrate armor- I don't really use this skill unless I want to use less chi to build, it is a really good damage dealing skill, but idk if this overwrites another P.DEF debuff skill.

Level 6 Firestorm- its a great skill, even for increased P.DEF and its elemental DOT. Physical defense can't work against firestorm

Level 5 slam- I use this a lot, but I have to be careful what mobs I use it on, great against melee mobs, but ranged ones, no.

Level 2 beastial onslaught-really really great skill, I miss a lot less, and it does help me with tanking too, although its not made for aggro.


Buffs and passives
Level 6 axe / hammer mastery- more p.dmg, the better, great for soloing / keeping aggro

Level 10 feral regeneration- HP recovery is definitely helpful, I maxed mine, and with sage feral regeneration, it becomes a really great passive because of MP recovery.

Level 8 beast king's inspiration- everyone loves HP buffs, I always use this

Level 6 blood bath- Personally, I don't really use it. Good for extra accuracy and I might need to use blood bath later on ingame

Level 2 strength of the titans- good skill to help you damage more often, I always use this

Level 9 shape shifting intensity- a must get, if you want to learn invoke the spirit too. It is a great passive to have to increase your physical defense, it works only in tiger form though

Level 2 true form- True form is great with traveling speed, and HP, the drawback is damage penalty. Which can result of losing aggro if you don't use the aggro skills.


Tiger form skills

level 10 Flesh ream great aggro skill and I always use it, in tanking or solo. I use this skill after bleed is gone

level 8 alacrity of the beast awesome canceling skill, a must get

level 6 devour I spam this skill all the time, I always use it as an opener, and the attack level / defense debuff is remarkable too.

Level 6 poison fang Good for increased physical defense because elemental buff ignores physical defense.

level 5 surf impact I use this skill all the time, for chi too, and to slow down them pesky kiters

level 5 roar I use this skill for taking / keeping aggro. Spamming skills ftw. Its a great skill too

level 3 frighten is a really good skill especially in AOEs too


I am definitely getting sunder and invoke the spirit soon, I witnessed them ingame. Those are the best skills in game b:victory

Howles - Heavens Tear wrote: »

i'm new to the game and i want to make a tank build. I am lvl 23 stats are vit 35 str 61 dex 21 am i on track

Seems just about right

Hakghen - Harshlands wrote: »

Oh, lol Baalbak! I play a bit like that too, but thanks for helping!!

I'm using a lot my tiger form now for grinding using that suggestion of skills, very nice! I upped my genie's second wind, so, it's being a nice solo-healer for questing and stuff =]

Thanks a lot! It's a sad fact that we don't play on the same server tho =/

[]s!!

never too late to roll on Dreamweaver. I'll be glad to have you in faction We need more barbs, to lighten my tanking load a bit (and help my alts b:surrender).

any rate.. as for genie healing skill... I highly recommend you get Tree of Protection. The first few levels of it will actually suck... but once you get it leveled up to around 6/7, and your genie is built properly, you can regenerate over half of your HP with it.

I started my genie build with 40 dex to add 5% extra HP per "tick" of tree of protection, but then added skills that use genie STR points. Now I'm working on taking the dex back out (you get a chance to reset genie attributes when you hit 70) and putting it into STR.

Lets say hypothetically speaking you have 10000 HP.

Now lets look at Tree of Protection level 8:

Increases Max HP by 26% for 5 seconds
Restores 16% of your Max HP every 3 seconds for 6 second
Every 2 genie STR point increases Max HP more by 1%
Every 60 genie STR point increases the duration by 1 second
Every 8 genie DEX point increases health recovery effect by 1%

My genie:
68 STR
26 DEX

26/8 = 3% health recovery effect added
60 str for 1 second longer duration
68/2 = 34% Max HP increase bonus

We now have 6 seconds of 50% Max HP increase, receiving 2 "ticks" of 19% of that max HP.

What this works out to is:

10,000 * 1.5 = 15000
2*19 = 38
15000 * .38 = 5700 HP restored during effect.

---

OTOH, before i rebuilt my genie I had 40 dex and 59 str. It gave me 1 tick at the increased HP, one at the normal HP amount. thus:

58/2 = 29% (+ 16%)
10,000 * 1.45 = 14500

14500 * .21 = 3045
10000 * .21 = 2100

---

total hp restored = 5145

Note that Tree of Protection's increase in HP seems to not stack with Beast Kings inspiration. It will increase your HP still, but apparently not based on the max HP given by Beast Kings inspiration. I know this because I have 10.5k HP in true form with BKI 10 buff on, and my max HP goes up to less than the calculations above (more like around 13k).

summation: a 60 STR, 40 DEX build works really well with ToP if thats the main purpose of your genie. I just happen to use mine for epic Tangling Mire debuffs whenever a BM uses HF and I devour b:victory