the only real subtlety from dha’s guide is that you now have to use 86 fcr instead of 63. this changes which pieces you want to keep in stash. you always need to double-check your fcr when swapping gear: either stay between 37–62 fcr, or go straight to 86. if you pass 63 without reaching 86, welcome to double tele, black screen, and deadly lag. you won’t be able to chain more than two teles before hitting the black screen of death.
this makes barb weaker in some situations because you have far fewer swap options at 86 fcr. before, when 63 was enough, you could swap three slots: belt, amulet, and helm. now you’re basically locked, with only the helm being flexible, and it must be 20 fcr.
for example, vs druids, you used to run dungo for more dr while keeping berber circ, fcr ammy, one fcr ring, and trang (63 fcr). or you could swap to highlord and keep arach, or use coa while keeping arach and fcr ammy. before the 1.14d netcode changes, barbs could have very different stash setups. now your only real option is owning multiple 20 fcr circlets, since arach and ammy are mandatory to hit 86 fcr.
staying at 40 fcr vs druids is trash: your teleport frames are awful against 163 fcr druids and you’ll eat nados between teles. going 86 fcr lets you chase and chainlock properly, but if you get hit you’re stuck at 24 dr, which is playable but noticeably worse than 1.13, where circ builds could reach around 39 dr. you can use a 3os / 20 fcr magic circ for +8 dr (32 total), but losing 30 frw hurts your ww, especially for tri-ww fhr stunlocks. still playable, but imo it’s better to finish a chain with a dead druid than let them slip away with a few lucky hits.
when 63 fcr was viable, coa also gave you 30 fhr, meaning you didn’t need to stack fhr from inventory. now, with circ builds (still the best imo), you must always carry 48 fhr from charms. that lowers your life pool and makes you more vulnerable to fhr lock from spirits or anything hitting for more than 1/8 of your hp, like nados. because of this, hybrids like enigma of duress are a bad choice: you’d need to reshuffle fhr charms just to fully benefit from the 20 fhr, and there are very few matchups where it’s worth the hassle. enigma of bone is a better option if you want extra res. on the other hand, hybrids like godz/bodz are now almost mandatory, since you’ll never wear highlord in an 86 fcr setup and you lose a lot of deadly strike otherwise.
in short, bvc was already hard to master, with a higher skill ceiling than any other fpk build. now it’s even harder. you’re weaker overall, and you will feel it. but it’s still the most satisfying character for aggressive players who want to hunt. you’ll need cleaner, faster gameplay and more consistent locks than ever, because there’s far less room for mistakes.
D2