You give way too many choices in your equipment.. some of them not even viable.. ex, stone/black hades/shaftstop/atma's, etc are pointless armor options on a frenzy barb..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Helm - Arreat's Face Slayer Guard (Demonhorn's Edge, Halaberd's Reign, Vampire Gaze, Crown Of Thieves, Veil of Steel, Crown of Ages, Giant Skull, Delirium BO Helm)
Again here, Arreat's is your best all around bet. Skills, High defense, Life Leech, Attack Rating, Resistances, Faster Hit Recovery, and strength/dexterity, all render Arreats as the number one choice. I jeweled mine with an Enhanced damage (with other mods) jewel, but also feel free to Um it if you feel you don't have enough resists, or put whatever you want in it. Some people say to Cham your arreats for the Cannot Be Frozen mod, however, my Frenzy Barb uses a Raven Frost that has that mod, so you should definitely use one too, and refrain from inserting a Cham rune into your Arreat's.
For pvm, guillaume's is a far better helm compared to arreats.. 35 CB, DS, fhr, str.. the +skills on arreats just doesn't justify it, especially on a frenzy barb..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Belt - Verdungo's Hearty Coil Mithril Coil (String of Ears, Any rare belt with good mods, Nosferatu's Coil, Immortal King's Belt)
Verdungo's is a great choice here, with it's faster hit recovery, HUGE vitality bonus, high defense, and damage reduction. It's the perfect belt to use for your Frenzy Barb. However, if you'd like more leech and you're low on dough, String of Ears (especially up'd) makes a great belt. It too has very useful mods you can explore with.
Verdungo's again is pointless in pvm.. String of ears/Nosferatu's coil are better options..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Gloves - Up'd Venom Grips (Twice Up'd Bloodfists, Hellmouths, Dracul's Grasp, Soul Drainers, Steelrend's, Immortal King Gloves, Rare IAS / leech / other modded gloves)
I'm a fan of Venom Grips because they're cheap and easy to get, and still have very useful mods. Life leech, crushing blow, enhanced damage, and resists make them a great addition. Probably the best choice for gloves overall, however, are the slightly more expensive Dracul's. They've got even more of what you need, especially some bigtime leech, that all is very important. Don't be afraid to be creative here if you have some rare gloves that you think have the mod's you need. You can work with alot. :]
LoH >>>>> any other gloves for frenzy.. 20 ias, huge damage to demons (about 90% of monsters in hell), fire resist..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Boots - Sandstorm Treks Scarabshell Boots (Up'd Gorefoots, Up'd Goblin Toe's, Gore Riders, Infernostrides, Rare modded boots)
I use Treks mainly for the very paramount strength and vitality bonuses. They're one of the Items that can help you to not have to invest as many points into strength, that you can then put towards vitality and thus more life. Gore's are also a good choice with Crushing Blow, so don't be afraid to go with them, and Up them for some extra defense.
Gores >>>>>>>> Treks.. The stat and vita bonuses don't even matter in pvm.. and gores trumps treks with CB, DS, OW.. pretty much everything..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Jewelry - Angelic Wing's Amulet, Angelic Halo Ring, and Raven Frost Ring (The Cat's Eye, Metalgrid, Atma's Scarab, Highlord's Wrath, Crafted or Rare Modded Amulet with +Barb Skills, Bul Kathos Ring, Nature's Peace Ring, Rare modded ring.)
Dirt cheap, but so important. Angelic Amulet, along with 1x Angelic Ring, give your character a much needed HUGE attack rating bonus, as well as dexterity and life. They're easy to get and very important to have for a Frenzy Barb that needs to have high accuracy in hitting his targets. The Raven Frost Ring too is very important, with it's bigtime dexterity and Attack Rating mods, and the very important Cannot Be Frozen mod I mentioned earlier. I think that this ring/amulet combination is the most effective way to go, and it's also very cheap and easy to get. Great news for you, bad news for monsters.
Angelic's?!?! Your AR with default gear is good enough to hit bosses.. you don't need the angelics.. highlord's + ravenfrost + w/e ring of your choice would be ideal..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
This is quite simple. A Frenzy Barb wants to have enough strength and dexterity to use his equipment, and no more. The rest of your points, pump into Vitality. Be careful not to use too many strength or dexterity points, because they'll only go to waste.
Why would you pump vita for pvm.. You only need ~2500-3000 life to stay alive.. May as well pump str for faster killing speed.. With good leech, it you can't stay alive with 3000 life, you're playing your character wrong..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Weapon - Ethereal, Superior Pride Runeword Colossus Voulge. (Other choices include: Bonehew, Infinity, Insight, Ethereal Breath of the Dying Polearm Weapon, Rift, Obedience, Doom, Tomb Reaver)
The Pride Runeword, although slightly expensive to make, has a mod that is a gigantic boost to your Barb's attack. A Mercenary equipped with a Pride weapon has a level 16-20 Concentration Aura, which even further increases your Barb's damage, and also increases the mercenary's. Any other high damage polearms are also good choices, sometimes for cheaper.
Ethereal Reaper's Toll > Pride..
The ctc decrepify works wonders to boost your damage.. and ends up dealing better damage compared to pride..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Armor - Ethereal Fortitude Sacred Armor (Other Choices Include: Corpsemourn, Stone, Duress, Gloom, Chains of Honor, Ethereal Shaftstop, Ethereal Leviathan.)
If made out of a glitched ethereal armor, a high fortitude can reach upwards of 3,000-4,000 defense. Along with it's resists, life, and enhanced damage mods, it's the perfect Mercenary Armor. Anything else that's high defense, and preferably ethereal is also a good choice.
Again, 4000 defense is not needed on a pvm merc.. Eth Treachery is far better.. massive IAS, ctc fade (resists, DR), resists..
Quote (xXdeliciousXx @ Dec 23 2007 06:37pm)
Helm - Ethereal Andarial's Visage (Vampire Gaze, Crown of Thieves, Nadir Runeword, Ethereal Crown Of Ages, Delirium Runeword)
Andarial's Visage is a very good mercenary helm, especially when ethereal, that has all the important mods and high defense that your mercenary needs. Definitely your best bet for maximum effectiveness.
Guillaume's face again.. CB, DS, FHR.. You have all the leech you need from reaper's toll..