BvC Guide version 1.2
By Ling, with aid from Jake. This guide took two days to write. GG.
Index
Preamble
Build Goals
….Summary
Skills
… Core
… Leap
… Natural Resistance
… Increased Speed
… Shout, Berserk
Gear
… Preamble
… Helmets
… Armor
… Weapons
… Jewelery
… Gloves
… Belts
… Boots
… Charms
… Stash
… Default Gear
Stats
… Widowmaker
Duelling Tactics
… Preamble
… Widowmaker
… General + a few facts
Dueling Strategies
… Sorceress
…… Orb
…… Blizzard
…… Fire & Lightning
… Amazon
…… Charged Strike
…… Bow
… Druids
…… Non-block Wind Druid
…… Block Wind Druid
… Paladins
…… Smiters & Other Melee Builds
……Vindicator/Templar
…… Hammerdins
… Necromancers
…… Non-block Bone Necromancer
…… Block Necromancer
… Assassins
…… Trappers
…… Enigma Whirlwind (Ghosts)
…… Non-Enigma Whirlwind (Bramble/Fortitude)
… Barbarians
…… Barbarian versus Caster
…… Barbarian versus All
…… Barbarian versus Barbarian
Postamble
Closing Notes
___________________________________________________________________
Preamble:
Hay guiz, I'm Ling. I've played D2 on-and-off for about four years, all of it on *ling203. My barb has gone through many evolutions, both in names (Vorul/Exeunt/TDC-Rule/pi/Ling) and in gear (beast ettin axe to the essentially perfect build I have now). I maintain I was pretty good, but there are others who are better. My earlier guide simply put me in the spotlight. I've also done numerous mathematical analyses of aspects of BvC designing, like the systematic proof that Grief is better than BotD, and actually testing the effects of Grief/Beast versus Grief/Grief (Grief/Beast significantly more damage).
The last time I updated this guide was sometime in March '06, which is an admittedly long time ago. During this time, the most radical shift has been the advent of D2PK, which has allowed the poorer elements of Diablo to test their duelling skills. With this in mind, this character is much more open to new players, although BvC is still not a very forgiving character, especially in terms of how it deals with ping (you'll need <120 on an everyday basis) as well as the steep learning curve. It will take time to become decent and even longer to approach mastery. Still, the benefit of playing with the character over a long time has led to many gear changes and several revision of tactical doctrine that I have found to be much more effective.
In the ~3 years I have played a character that I could call a BvC with a straight face, I have had the benefit of sharing with Jake, a classmate who has thought outside the box, inventing a good deal of the dueling tactics here. I’d like to thank him for helping me revise this guide for D2PK, and for ceaselessly advocating the use of widowmaker. Also, I had to one-up his adaptation of my guide. XD
At points in this guide, I will swear like sailor. If you don’t like this, you can go fuck yourself. Also, this guide has the longest BvH section you will ever see. Enjoy beating public hammerdins.
___________________________________________________________________
Goals
BvC is a customizable character in that while most BvC's will teleport, whirlwind, leap, and sometimes zerk, you can skills and stat/gear sets to align with your playstyle (telezerk, widowgay, desync). When built correctly, this build has no characters that will absolutely trounce it, though I admit there are several builds which may be a very large problem for you, even if you have achieved a very high level of skill. Though you could say if you play defensively enough, any build can win, the BvC approaches these large problems with speed and skill rather than attrition and cowardice. Any character can run, spam, and achieve death by slow degrees, but this guide approaches problematic matchups head-on, relying on stealth, speed, and mindfucks to achieve victory.
What this guide attempts to do is lay out a foundation for anyone who wants begin playing this awesome character. I will offer gear/skill/stats options and explain my reasoning for choosing them. What I hope is that you, the reader, will be able to apply that reasoning when you choose your own gear: it is more important to know the rationale behind using a specific item or allocating points in such a way rather than blindly copying my build.
If, however, you are familiar with this build, I hope that my spin on the BvC will offer you some insights that were previously unknown to you.
If you're still reading now, I'd like to thank you for finishing that verbose introduction and offer some general build goals.
The core of the BvC has remained the same: leap, tele, ww, and sometimes zerk. Lather, rinse and repeat if necessary. What you want to do is ensure you can do this properly. Whether this means you reach the last whirlwind ias breakpoint, or maintain a high enough fcr to catch your opponents is something you have to get a feel for on your own. Similarly, knowing when to sacrifice certain aspects is equally as important for duelling success.
Generally, a BvC is a character that is duel wields axes, WW/zerks ti kill, uses FCR to improve his teleport mobility, and is known for its very high life and resistances.
In summary:
pros:
- no glaring weaknesses
- high life, high damage, cannot be absorbed
- very good team player through bo/shout/leap
- excellent 1v1; will always offer a challenge to any other character
cons:
- expensive on realms
- steep learning curve (high level of skill needed)
- very lag intolerant
- needs pretty high level
- difficult to deal with bm alone
- several builds matchups that will give you trouble on a regular basis (as Jake says, "they can be VERY FUCKING BAD for you")
- room for customization in almost all aspects of its design often confuses the new and causes them to blindly copy a build that is not for them
___________________________________________________________________
Skills
Core
The following are what every BvC must have. Without them, you don't have a BvC, you have a subpar teleport barb. These skills form the "core" of the BvC, and it is from here you starting tweaking the character.
Battle Orders - 20
Axe Master - 20
Whirlwind - 20
Prerequisites - 6 (Bash, Conc, Leap attk, Inc stamina, Iron skin, Howl)
Battle command - 1
Howl is useful for scattering summons. It doesn't work on shadows, which is quite unfortunate.
Battle command is optional, since you may feel the urge to use HotO + CtA to cast battle orders, but I feel that the ability to use battle command while using alternate weaponry (ie. Widowmaker) outweighs the skill point used here.
The following skills will all be present in some form, though the actual number is where you can personalize this build. You will probably want to get to level 90+ to have sufficient stats/skills/open wounds damage, I find that level 88 is the minimum acceptable for decent duelling.
Leap - 20
Leap was one the cooler discoveries of 1.10/1.11. When you land a leap, hostiles within a radius of your character (leap lvl * 0.66 yards) will be knocked back and put into a double FHR animation. This makes catching casters much, much easier, whether it for you or your teammates
The absolute minimum I recommend for leap is level 19 when you are wearing the gear set that gives you the LOWEST + to skills bonus. This will give you coverage of the entire visible screen, minus the corners, since the D2 screen is a rectangle and the leap effect is radial (circular) around your character.
Level 24 will nicely cover the corners and give you a bit of off-screen rage. It is much more comfortable to have this when you're facing a jumpy orb sorc than level 19 leap. However, the stun effect of leap has NO DIMINISHING RETURNS, so feel free to dump your excess points into here. Personally, I added 20 points to have a long offscreen reach, which is particularly useful in team matches.
Natural Resistance - ~5
At least 1-2 points are needed in this skill, which provides much-needed resistance. Sadly, diminishing returns set in very fast, so investing beyond 6 is a waste of skill points that you could have been putting in leap or shout.
Increased Speed - ~4
This skill also gets diminishing returns fast, but the 4 points are worth it. The additional speed allows to outrun bone spirits when slowed, as well as increasing the desync (I will explain this later) effect of your whirlwind. Also, being able to run faster aids you wasting less time in town as well as dodging/escaping projectiles on foot.
Note: You may hear that a slower whirlwind is better, but it is VERY IMPORTANT to differentiate between faster WEAPON SPEED and faster RUN/WALK speed. Faster weapon speed is ALWAYS better, as it will increase how much faster you swing your axes. However, faster run/walk speed is more of a tossup, as you may do less damage with faster r/w.
Confused? So was I. Just remember, nothing other than weapon IAS will affect your whirlwind weapon speed. You are ALWAYS swinging axes at the same speed. But your whirlwind is affected by HOW FAST YOU MOVE. If you run/walk too fast, you will not be in weapons range for a long enough time to do decent damage.
But really, additional faster r/w has a very small impact on your damage output. Faster run/walk can get you out of some "VERY FUCKING BAD" situations (trap lock, bone prison spamming, hammerfield), and you'll have done more net damage when all’s said and done. Just don't sweat faster r/w. You won’t have to worry about it unless you have very weird charms.
Berserk - 1+; Shout - the rest
These two skills are put together because they are often what BvCs have to choose to dump the rest of their points into.
(Note: Even though iron skin gives the same boost as shout, shout is much more party friendlier and it is very simple to recast it)
Berserk is a good secondary skill with irresistible magic damage. If you can master chain-locking teleport-zerk sequences, you will be a force to be reckoned with.
Shout gives a good defense bonus that can save your skin sometimes.
An additional point in berserk nets you: +15% damage
Another point in shout gets you: +10% berserk damage, additional warcry duration, and a team defense bonus.
Personally, I believe that the team defense bonus and additional warcry duration more than outweighs +5% damage on a secondary attack. On D2PK, BvC's are EXPECTED to have a good shout to improve team defense. Even if you're very good at telezerk, I would still choose shout over zerk since it is simpler to attack again. I feel that the 5% won’t break you in a duel, while the defense/duration might.
___________________________________________________________________
Itams
On the realms, BvC is one of the more expensive builds to construct. It took me the better part of two years to just amass the required charms (perm 32020s are so rare =| ). However, on D2PK it is a simple matter to obtain the necessary items from BarbGheed
There are some things you can compromise on items, but there are others than you simply cannot do without. If you cannot find these, then this is not the build for you.
Helmets (This section is long, but useful. Read it.)
There are many options for helmets, but D2PK has created a new "best helm:" the barb circlet, which has all but replaced CoA/Arreats as the primary/secondary headgear.
As said before, this guide approaches character building as something to be understood and customized, not carbon-copied. Because of this, I will go into a lot of depth for helmets, as it is one of the places where BvC’s most often go awry.
CoA is primarily used because BerBer can be put in its sockets for 31% damage reduction, allowing BvC’s to go toe-to-toe with good Windys and Smiters. Arreat’s Face was the default helmet for situations where damage reduction was not needed.
This same philosophy is used in choosing circlets. You'll want a DR circlet and a "damage" circlet.
On both the circlets, you will want:
+2 barb skills
+20% (this allows for lots of flexibility in belt/glove/ring choices)
+ 60 life
+ 20% resist all
2 sockets
+30 faster r/w
(Honestly, I feel that +30 strength is not worth the mobility loss you'll suffer. You likely won't need to build around the strength, so it's all rather pointless.)
On the DR circlet, you'll want +99% attack rating, since damage reduction typically implies high defence characters such as Smiters. Also, stick in 2x BerBer for delicious damage reduction, coupled with awesome headgear mods.
On the "damage" circlet, you'll want to replaced the +99% attack rating with +90 mana. If you think about it, the "damage" circlet is what you generally use to face sorceresses, necromancers, etc. In these duels, you'll be taking the initiative and the teleport mobility offered by more mana is more useful than the difference between 94% chance to hit and 95%. Socket this with the best jewel you can get: 2x 30ED/9Dex/9Str/10Res.
Honestly, customizing circlets is up to you. It's all about seeing what magical attributes you need in each matchup and using your own experience + commonsense.
I like to keep an Arreats socketed with a 9 Dex/15 Max jewel or a 30 ED/9 Dex/9 Str/60 AR jewel. This allows me to use angelics/widow, a tactic that will be explained indepth later.
For East people, go for the BerBer CoA [maximize the DR, then the res], and a 40 ED/15 IAS Arreats [maxmize life leech over useless EDef]. If you’re poor, you can use gaze, but a CoA is highly recommended for success.
___________________________________________________________________
Armor
Enigma? It's the only choice. You're going to have a sizeable + str bonus without it, so feel free to choose a light elite armor that looks good on you. I choose Wyrmhide for its looks, decent defense, and light weight.
My experience with Fortitude is that it is only useful in VERY SPECIFIC duelling situations, such as facing down FC Zons or town-huggers. On D2PK it’s really only useful if you’re using the GSkull glitch
Seriously, if you can't get it, don't sweat it.
Weapons
Grief/Beast. The only choice. I have personally tested the damage output of Beast alternatives, and nothing else measures up, unless you're thinking of using an OW axes against a pesky ES sorc. BoTD can be used as an alternative to Grief, but its damage is much less consistent (~ 1-5k vs ~4.2-4.3k). This consistency will also help you FHR-lock your victim, BotD could give you a low damage roll, allowing them to escape your triangle whirls, whereas with Grief this is far less likely.
Remember that you need +34% ias on grief to hit the last whirlwind breakpoint.
Normally though, Grief/Beast will be all you need. I really can’t recommend OW axes or any other rare. They are subpar when compared to grief's massively consistent damage.
When placing weapons, put grief above the gloves and beast above the boots. The primary weapon is the weapon that has a hit-check by itself on the first swing of whirlwind so it is important that grief is always the primary weapon. Typically, the first weapon equipped is the primary, but when you switch weapons, the order reverts to primary/secondary; glove/boot.
Battle Orders Switch
2x Dooms on east gave you the ability to slow others as well as ping low-health opponents for the cost of +2 skills. If you can find people who still believe that this is GM, use it.
On D2PK, you likely have no other choice than to use HotO/HotO or HotO/CtA. If you use CtA, you lose +2 to shout, but you gain +1 to Battle orders. Use whatever you think is more important.
Jewelery
Highlords Wrath your choice here. Its deadly strike is what really makes it outshine the +stats on any other (duped) amulet. Personally, I use the 09 version that grants IAS to supplement my Widowmaker attack speed., but if you can get the 08 version, more power to you. Standard rings are ravens for the awesome AR and mana.
When facing high-defense characters 1v1, use Angelics set/enchant, where appropriate.
You'll also want a set of FCR/rare rings, for use based on the situation at hand
The mods you want are FCR/MANA/RES/DEX/AR/LIFE, but feel free to substitute mods as necessary. Again, it's about realizing which mods are right for what situation. Mostly, the DEX will be used to reach the requirements for widow maker.
If you can find/import a good barb FCR amulet, keep it at hand for some 65 FCR teleport goodness. Finally, keep two rings without FCR (zon-type rings) with replenish and all the juicy mods that will be needed in the duel to come.
Gloves
Dracul's Grasp is one of your two staples, providing decent open wounds damage and a useful strength bonus due to its relatively low requirements. Tap is nice to play mind games with Widow if you can get it to cast on their summons.
I discourage the use of Steelrends, as the damage gained from it is much lower than the open wounds from Draculs. As well, Dracul's has a STR bonus that is actually used. Finally, the defense you gain really doesn't matter for a BvC.
The second glove you will be using is Trang-Oul's Claws. The reason I'll use these over Magefist is that Trangs provides a decent amount of cold resistance as well as a slight Grief-Venom damage boost.
Belts
The standard belt is Arachs, giving you a nice +20% FCR, allowing you to easily reach 10 frame teleport. Its +1 skill is a nice bonus. However, the 20 FCR from a barb circlet offers you the flexibility of using a non arachs belt (Ie. TGod’s) and maintaining 40 FCR (10 frame teleport) through the use of Trang-Oul’s.
Verdungoes can be used with or without the damage circlet to supplement your DR. I cannot underscore how much flexibility you gain from FCR circlet and verdungoes. You can go DR Circlet + Verdungoes for maximum DR; or "damage" circlet + dungoes for damage and minor protection vs physical. Consider your situation carefully.
Note: 10 frame teleport is how fast a hammerdin will teleport/cast with 75% FCR. Barbs have friggin' awesome breakpoints. =D
Boots
Typically, you want some sort of boots that offer resistance, fr/w, stats, etc. Go for a duped rare, they're probably the best choice. On east, Rune Slippers or Soul Shanks will do the job. On D2PK, Wraith Bands are king, offering massive resistance AND fhr/stats.
If you can't get these boots, try to find a rare with fire res, lite res, f/rw, stats/other res/fhr/etc. Prioritize getting the attributes in the order given.
Gore Riders are a secondary switch when you're facing ONLY non-elemental characters, or when you don’t need more resistance. Your FHR will suffer when using these, so be careful.
Charms
Annihilus
Hellfire Torch
2-3x 70/15
7-8x 36/20
2x 3/20/5 fhr (you may want to replace these with 5 res / 11 fire res + 5 fhr if you’re lacking enough resistance).
REST 32020
I use 70-15s to be able to teleport and whirl for extended periods of time, especially when using angelics. 2x 3/20/5 fhr lets you reach the 30% breakpoint with Wraith Bands for a small life cost, and the 36/10's allow you to maintain 10k attack rating with any setup, a number I find to be the minimum effective AR when facing paladins.
3/20/20's are self explanatory, they are the best charms.
If you are poor, prioritize AR over damage/life. Try to get 100+AR/Life grand charms. Once you achieve 10k AR with your worst AR setup, go for 20 life small charms.
Misc/Stash
Widowmaker (Hel): This shit is awesome. Guided arrows gives you a way to attack from a distance, forcing many characters to stop being defensive and come to you.
Thundergod's Vigor: GM for good trappers
Wisp: See above. Useful for FC zons too.
Dwarf Star: Team duels
Treachery/Demon Limb/BO Helmet can be used for prebuff if you wish, thought its BM on D2PK. Go crazy in pubs if you want.
Generally, you will not need any other absorb items. At best, they are crutch for real skill, and at worst they will handicap you in the future. Ideally, the master can duel any character (1v1) without changing any gear at all.
However, I find that in team duels, absorb is acceptable if you are really having trouble. In the end, if you need to use absorb to win, use it and win, but the important thing to remember is that you probably could have not used it, played better, and won anyways.
Default Gear
By default, you want to have gear that will ensure nothing can kill you easily. You will wear this gear when you enter public games, then customize as to what types of characters are and are not there. Obvious stuff like grief/beast will be left out. With a barb Barb circlet, you can have several options:
DR Barb Circlet:
Highlords/Ravens
Resistance Boots
For gloves/boots, you can use Trang-Oul’s/Verdungoes, Dracul/Arachs, or even Dracul/Verdungoes.
If you are using Trangs-Oul’s/Dungoes, you may switch out the DR Circlet for the “damage” one. All this is dependant on your good judgment. Gear for custom matchups will be provided in the duelling section.
___________________________________________________________________
<b>Character Statistics:[/b]
Strength: Base
Dexterity: Base, OR 38
Vitality: The rest
Energy: WtF is this shit?
I have moved away from the CoA/Fort/Widow setup for facing V/T's, as I find that using Enigma is equal to or even more effective than Fort. The higher base strength was really just for one setup, which I found a waste.
The additional points in dexterity are used to give flexibility when using widowmaker. The highest amount of dex required is the hammerdin setup: Arreats/Angelics/Widow. Trust me, 38 dex in conjunction with Hel'd widowmaker will allow you to have a slew of setups that can use widowmaker to abuse people in 1v1.
This post was edited by Ling203 on Jun 16 2008 06:38pm