Lld101 Level 49 Conc Barbarian - Topic

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Jan 28 2023 03:16pm

LLD101 Level 49 Melee Conc Barb

Introduction to PvP and LLD/MLD PvP

Player vs Player (PvP for short) was an integral part of the game Diablo 2 : Lord Of Destruction (D2LOD). While the PvP community as a % of the total D2LOD population was small, the pursuit of PvP gear invariably made Player vs Monster (PvM) players rich, with players repeating the Leveling, Magic Finding, Upgrading and Selling process each Ladder Season. This pursuit of PvP items also applied at lower dueling brackets. Low Level Dueling ("LLD") encompasses the dueling brackets 9, 18 & 30 and 49, both "Click and Hold" melee dueling and "standard" dueling in the blood more. Level 9 PvP is typically referred to as Very Low Level Dueling or "vLLD" while Level 49 PvP is typically referred to as Mid Level Dueling or "MLD". There are some slight variations to the dueling brackets from time to time i.e. Level 12's competing with restrictions against level 9's and characters above level 49, with restrictions, competing against level 49's, respectively. Duels take place in the Blood More in normal difficulty ( Melee duels "Click and Hold" might sometimes take place in Inner Cloister) and Mana Potions (and all other potions) are never used. Users have played LLD for decades, spending sometimes years to perfect their characters. Some players to this day are still trying to perfect their characters in D2LOD. The Journey to perfection of a PvP character has restarted in the game Diablo 2: Resurrected (D2r) and with changes to the game (FHR, new mechanic's, new runewords, new charms, new synergies, redundant or missing guides etc.) a new set of guides is being written to support new and old players coming to the game. The pursuit of perfection involves tens of hours of effort - its a labor of love and is often frustrating (item availability in particular!), never the less, we all need a HOBBY, and for some people, this is it.

As with all PvP dueling brackets in D2r, the goal is to perfect your character as best you can in order to increase your Attack/Defence sothat you can take attacker harder and defend more. The lower the bracket, the more your gear will play an integral part of your success. For Melee only duels the skill lies in perfecting your character, and therefore the closer to perfection, the closer you will be to winning. In this regard players will always seek to Min-Max their characters to perfection. Min-max is a gaming term used to describe the process of minimizing your weaknesses and maximizing your strengths. This means having your character rushed through normal, nightmare and hell, completing Anya and all Stat/Skill Quests (get a friend to help otherwise you might level up by accident), getting a perfect inventory and equipping your character with the best gear and sockets possible.

Introduction to Level 49 Melee Dueling

As with all brackets, there are two types of dueling : "Open" and "Melee". This guide is specific to MELEE ONLY i.e. "Click and Hold" Duels.

(A) Limitations to dueling at Level 49 : This dueling bracket (as with all LLD dueling brackets) has skill, stat and item limitations (based on level) not seen at in High Level Dueling. Remember now, the required Level is 49. While we endeavour to ensure that each class has at least 1 viable build in Open, For Melee we are limited in what we can do. For now there are no limitations on gear for balancing purposes (noting we need to see a far more active community in order to best determine what, if any, balancing is required). The 3 main builds, at this time, are Conc Barb, Shaper (Wolf) and Smiter.

(B) Items - All of the builds at this level will broadly use the same Set, Unique and Rare gear. This means the following (easy to obtain) items would be regarded as the "standard": Eth Oath Weapon, ShaftStop, Angelic Ring and Amulet, Raven, Gores.

(C) Damage modifiers at MLD: Grief is level 59 so we dont need to talk about whether its allowed or not (hint: its not), but BOTD is also out due to its level requirements. Therefore the standard weapon is Eth Oath (355% enhanced damage). As it is easier to beat Oath then it is to beat a BOTD (nothing beats grief ok), MLD is the home for Rare Eth Rep weapons (up to 450% Enhanced Damage and potentially with IAS and 2sox). The problem we face however is that if a weapon beats BOTD then you are competing vs HLD players that usually have deeper pockets. Relating to another item that grant fantastic damage - Highlords - this is not available at MLD. In this regard alot of the standard items worn are readily acquired (Angelic Combo etc) and with no credible alternatives its a case of one item fits all (builds).

(D) Jewels & Runes - the go-to at this level bracket : As with rare weapons you are competing against High Level dueling players for jewels, noting high level jewels are typically level 42 "30ed 9str 9dex 60ar". The only exception re: Jewels MLD vs HLD is that at level 49 the best IAS jewel is 30ed/15ias. A 40ed/15ias is above level 49 and costs way more. Sockets - Ohm and Lo are both over level 49 so they are out, as are Cham/Ber. Um could be considered in a weapon if you already have enough IAS (unlikely) but a ED/AR/ REQ/STAT jewel is probably the best you can put in a rare weapon.

(E) Charms - One of the great positives of MLD is that the entrance cost to the bracket is quite cheap. While 1PC/30 Life charms still cost about 200fg, you can get 1Shape/30Life and 1Masteries/30Life quite cheap (30-50fg). Small charms 20life/36ar (450-600fg) are now quite common and have come down in price since last year. While 3/20/20's (9500-10,000fg) still remain very expensive 3/17/20's are about 900~1000fg. In this regard more players can get a perfect or near-perfect inventory at MLD that at any other dueling bracket right now.

Overview of Level 49 Melee Conc Barb

Conc Barb's have always been a main stay of Melee dueling. With High Defence, High Life and High Attack Rating they are very competitive at Level 49, noting that at this bracket the other classes do not have the Luxury of BO (As Call to Arms is above level 49). The standard Conc Barb Build at Level 49 uses relatively easy to obtain items (Arreats, Angelic Combo, Raven, Immortal King Gloves, Immortal King Boots, String of Ears, Shaftstop, Oath and Sanctuary) and charms (1Mastery 30Life or 10max/76ar/30life) and in this regard it does not take alot for a character to be up and running.

Pros to the Build

Easy to make with attainable gear
Cheaper then almost every other dueling bracket
High Life
High Attack Rating
High Defence

Cons to the Build

Slow attack speed
Jewels are more expensive at this bracket then they are at lower brackets as you are invariably competing with HLD players for PVP jewels.

But what about Faster Hit Recovery ?

With the changes introduced in Diablo 2 Resurrected in Patch 2.4, you basically dont need any more FHR then you already have on Arreats.

Break Points: 0 7 15 27 48 86 (not needed) 200 (not attainable)

The Items that make the build

Helmets

1. Arreats Face - the standard helmet.
2. Guillaume's Face - Players are invited to experiment with this helmet vs low defence characters (Wolf Shapers)
3. Rare Eth Rep 5BO Visio. These need to be amazing to beat Arreats, and if they are they good some HLD player will probably get it for 275,000fg.

Use Maxroll when considering a rare Class Helmet for your Conc Barb (invariably Arreats is better due to high Def and AR noting Visio at 49 grants less AR then at levels above 49).

TLDR: Arreats Face.

Amulet

1. Angelic Amulet (in combination with Angelic Ring)
2. Rare Amulet 2 Masteries 60 life 15str 15dex (good looking finding something like this)

Its impossible to beat the AR Bonus on Angelic's but a rare ring can grant you massive life (in tandem with a rare ring).

Body Armor

1. Shaftstop - 30%DR - Hard to Beat - Used vs Paladin and Shapers.
2. Stone (Boneweave or Dusk Shroud 15% enhanced defence) - Used vs Barbs.
3. Rare Eth Rep 2sox armor - A replacement for Stone. With Rare Eth Rep armors you will find yourself competing with HLD players (i.e. expensive). Nothing wrong with Stone in the meantime.

The Weapon

With various trading platforms and more focus on Melee dueling at HLD then ever before it now realistically possible already for players in D2r to get their "end game" weapon - provided they have the fg for it. At present dream weapons (400-450ed with 20-40IAS) start from 2000fg and go all the way up to 40,000fg and beyond. We have not seen many of these that also come with 2Sox. The Visionary Mod is not needed as much at MLD as it is at HLD.

Weapons

1. Eth Oath HLB or Eth Oath Small Crescent
2. Rare Eth Rep Weapon 400-450% ed with IAS
3. Rare Eth Rep Weapon Fools Mod with IAS

Note that you can Conc (and WW!) with Javalins, and in this regard you dont need Repl Quantity provided you have lvl 18 Mastery (AFAIK).

The Viable Rare Eth Rep Cruel Weapons and how much IAS is required

The below are realistically the weapon bases you can look for Rare Cruel with the Eth Rep Mods.
(this is from warren's calculator, if any errors I will revist on a later date)
The way to use this information is to look at your weapons IAS. Lets say its Oath, 50% IAS. then the option is either IK combo for 25% IAS or rare gloves for 20% IAS. Have you reached the required IAS for the attack speed breakpoint you want to be at? How much IAS is now left to the next breakpoint? Use 30ed/15% IAS jewels to make up the difference.

This is what a perfect Oath looks like ( very hard for a rare to beat this ) and beside it is the best sword that I have seen to date for MLD. Your really looking for IAS on a rare in order to use a -15% Req Jewel (boosts your life noting the Str Requirements on HLB's is high).

Shield

1. The starter shield : Sanctuary Runeword in Hyperion or Gerkes Sanctuary Unique Shield.
2. Artisans (or Jewellers) Tower/Hyperion of Deflecting.
3. 30/20 2Sox 50%-200% enhanced Def Rare Hyperion or Grim Shield
4. Eth Rep 30/20 2Sox 50%-200% enhanced Def Rare Hyperion or Grim Shield

Rings

1. Angelic Ring
2. Ravenfrost Ring
3. 120 AR 15 Str 15 Dex 30 Life 90mana Ring

Your losing about 1000ar if you use are ring/amulet combo instead of angelic's but you gain about 200~250life.
Your losing about 500ar if you use use dual Raven and a gg rare Amulet

Belt

1. String of Ears 15/15. Its impossible to beat this belt. The only reason to use another belt is if you want additional IAS (IK Combo) or want to play around with Open Wounds Crafted Belts
2. IK Belt - you would use this for the IAS bonus with Gloves, while wearing Gores. IK belt is typically not used in Melee Duels.
3. Crafted 24fhr 10OW 80 Life Belt. This is typically not used in Melee Duels.

Gloves

1. IK Gloves + Boots Combo for 25% IAS and a host of other nice mods.
2. Rare Gloves 20ias 9str 15dex + Adds (or remove a stat and then Eth+Rep+50-200% Enhanced Defence)

Boots

1. IK Boots + Gloves Combo
2. GoreRiders

Gores are probably best vs Shapers.

Below I have outlined 45% DR and a Max Defence setup at each of the price ranges. You will use %DR vs Shaper, you can decide what you want vs Paladin and vs Barb you want the Max Defence setup.

Starter Build 45% DR: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/3b0106on
Starter Build Stone Setup: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/to0106vd
Intermediate Build 45% DR: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/3c0106tm
Intermediate Build Stone Setup: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/370106l4
End Game Build 45% DR: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/0301065h
End Game Build Eth Rep eDef Armor: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/ly020696

This post was edited by ferdia on Jan 29 2023 02:34pm