Barb genies

_Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver
_Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver Posts: 171 Arc User
edited April 2012 in Barbarian
So I'm trying to make a genie for my sage kitty - full vit build tank/puller type. However I'm having trouble deciding what to get because there are several skills I want, but they fall between STR and DEX based.

I'm looking at the following skills:

Tree of Protection for sure
Solid Shield
Alpha Male

Fortify/Badge of Courage
Wind Shield
Expel

Absolute Domain
Holy Path

Now the two red skills, Alpha Male and Solid Shield, are definitely great in PvE from my experience. However if I went with a STR genie and got those I'm not sure what else I should get. If I go with a DEX genie, which I see as more of a PvP choice because of the anti-stun skills, should I get expel as well as AD? Or only one? And if I do go for a DEX genie, is it realistic to get solid shield on it? Or does wind shield sort of replace that?

Have I missed any skills that you guys think are really worth getting? Or am I barking up entirely the wrong tree with my genie ideas?
Post edited by _Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver on

Comments

  • Hurrdurr - Lothranis
    Hurrdurr - Lothranis Posts: 1,468 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    If you're making a dex genie then these are the skills I would have :

    Holy Path
    Fort
    BoC
    Remove Paralysis
    AD (since solid wall with dex genie is meh)
    wind shield (very weak solid shield)

    However str genies suits barbarian PvP a lot more. You can choose any of these skills and they all would benefit from str :

    Solid shield (must have imo)
    Tangling Mire
    ToP
    Lawbreaker/will surge
    Occult Ice
    True Emptiness (if people still use it)

    In my opinion barbs are tanky enough to not require a dex genie for most PvP situations. You can always add fortify on your str genie but the anti-stun only lasts 3s instead of 5-6s on a dex built genie. The only situations where I see a dex genie may be useful is against a max SF psy who tanks in white, wait until you activate SoStunning -> black -> kill combo. There their SoStunning will last ~11-12s so you could BoC out of the stun to catch them in black. However you could probably solid shield it on a strength genie and occult them before they can change back to white.

    Overall I still think str genie suits barbarian PvP more than a dex genie could.
  • Nowitsawn - Heavens Tear
    Nowitsawn - Heavens Tear Posts: 4,864 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    That's a pretty good setup for a barb, but to help you decide on STR or DEX:

    Solid Shield: A very useful genie skill, even more so with high STR.

    Alpha Male: Adding STR only makes the reflecting effect last a bit longer, which isn't really the point of this skill.

    Fortify/BoC: BoC requires a high DEX to be reliable (and there's no way to get enough DEX to get it to work 100%) while Fortify only gets a slightly longer duration and will still always work even if you have 0 DEX.

    Wind Shield: Solid Shield gets a much higher benefit in damage reduction from STR than Wind shield gets from DEX. Wind Shield might have a nearly non-existent cooldown to compensate for it, but since you will most likely be low of MAG you probably can't keep up with the energy cost to use it that often (while Solid Shield also requires less energy). I'd suggest dropping this skill.

    Expel/AD: Expel only works on for physical damage while AD helps avoiding those magical nukes. They both have their own situation where they can prove useful, but if your affinities will only allow one of them, I'd take AD for those ''OH SH*T'' moments.

    Tree of Protection: Adding more STR means you get a higher max HP buff, meaning the skill also heals more. On top of that it will also make a killer combo with Armageddon.

    So this means you have 2 skills that get a great benefit out of STR (ToP and SS) and a few skills that get a very slight benefit out of DEX (assuming you get Fortify instead of BoC and don't get Wind Shield).
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • _Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver
    _Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver Posts: 171 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    So if I decided on a STR genie something like this would be what I'd aim for

    ToP
    Solid Shield
    Alpha Male
    AD


    As the definite skills. Now assuming I have at least a 6 skill genie, what's worth using as the last 2 skilsl? I'm keen to get an anti-stun skill so I guess Fortify would be better? Also on the matter of holy path, worth getting bearing in mind I have sage true form?
  • Hurrdurr - Lothranis
    Hurrdurr - Lothranis Posts: 1,468 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    Depends what sort of 'PvP' you're looking for. If you're looking to actually kill people then I would say you need occult ice/whirlwind and tangling mire. If you're just looking to tank, debuff and support then maybe something like True Emptiness which can be used even if your genie is on its last energy as a last ditch shield.

    Fortify is kind of a must have to IG with, not to mention avoiding stun locks, because AD/Triumph/faith has high costs.
  • _Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver
    _Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver Posts: 171 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    Yea I'm mostly looking at tanking and catapulling, so primarily concerned with defensive skills. Occult I guess could potentially be used defensively but I'm sure there are better uses of genie energy.
  • BloodTyrant - Raging Tide
    BloodTyrant - Raging Tide Posts: 581 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    i don't think wind shield would be good for you, since you already got solid shield, use this spot for Tree Of Protection or true emptness.

    here's my genies:

    PvE: infliction based on str (102 str) 82/100
    solid shield
    alpha male
    tangling mire
    absolute domain
    tree of protection
    holy path
    cloud eruption

    PvP: infliction based on str (106 str) 93/100
    solid shield
    tangling mire
    occult ice
    absolute domain
    holy path
    tree of protection
    frenzy
    cloud eruption


    hope it helps you.