HotA Barb weapon selection for MP10

[Voxxel]

Hey guys,

After reading a ton of guides that usually contains mismatching "facts" it's still not clear to me what weapons should I use and where. I already have a plain 1200+ EF without LS or CHD, and I can't decide what should be the other weapon, also can't decide their slots, which goes where. I tried a cheap low-dps wpn with high CHD and LS already that doesn't worked well as HotA shifts weapons for its consecutive hits. I know I need at least one piece of CHD and one LS for my weapons, but for a higher damage wpn I can't afford both LS and CHD on the same piece. Budget is at 300-400mil for the missing weapon, so my current plan is to go for only CHD and I'll change my EF later to a LS'ed EF.

About CHD weapons:
- Should I go MH EF and get a ~1100 wpn for offhand?
- Should I go for a slow high dam wpn (1.20) for MH instead and use EF as offhand?
- Is a slightly faster (1.30) axe/mighty wpn or IAS'ed spear/mace good aswell for mainhand? They usually have lower damage than the 1.20s or even my EF.

When I'm looking at the list of a specific weapon type on AH I always got several choice where I also can't decide which part is more important for a HotA barb:
Let's say there are two Axes with same type of stats, no ele dmg, no ias, nothing more just black weapon dmg and CHD.
The first axe has

610-1250 (~1220 dps) and
70% CHD

the second one has

620-1170 (~1160 dps) but
90% CHD


Which one is better for my HotA barb? Some more dps or some more CHD if I sit on ~400.

Also, it's very confusing to me whenever I swap my weapons and use a high-dmg slow weapon on my main hand and EF in offhand, my Damage listed on the character panel dives into 15-20K less than before even if the damage range of the slower weapon is higher than EF. It is just an in-game bug or the game is right and I got better dps with EF in main hand?

Thanks for any help!

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I was under the impression that HotA Barbs used a 2h weapon, ideally an axe or mace. You could get an 1350-1400 dps Skorn with strength, 180+ CD and a socket for that price, maybe even one with life-steal.

[Mesima]

I was under the impression that HotA Barbs used a 2h weapon, ideally an axe or mace. You could get an 1350-1400 dps Skorn with strength, 180+ CD and a socket for that price, maybe even one with life-steal.

Whirlrend Barbs use a 2H like Skorn Generally. For your main hand you probably want something with as high dps as you can afford, LS, 60+ CHD, and a open socket.

[announced]

u can use a skorn. but i myself prefer 2 fast 1h- weps. idealy because i never found a really kickass skorn that could beat my combo.. and that didnt cost a absurd amount of money like $150 per wep to buy.

because of this i go with cheap 1handers. im using a 1040dps 80% crit hit dmg 2.5% life leech axe with a socketed 110% gem. it didnt cost much at all so it went along perfectly with my EF.

u can see the weps in my armory below. http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/D...2/hero/9346590
im not the richest barb but i can play comfortably on mp10.. usually im grinding para on mp9 though.

[Jaroko]

What's your play style? Or should I say want to use?

If your going 2 handed, Get a Skorn, High STR LS 5-6% as high DPS as you can afford.
If you going DW, LF 2-3% Crit 40 - 100% with a socket with much DPS as you can afford.
If you going S&B, Grab IAS 9 - 11% Crit 40% - 100% with a socket and again high DPS as you can afford.

IMO if you want to see the most damage I think skorn would end up on top. then again you have to factor in stuff such as IAS etc.
Skorns are wait too slow and DW costs a ton so I stick with my S&B build. I still hit for 1.6m with 2.05 IAS.

[blindrye]

A skorn rend barb is cheaper and you can use HotA with it if you wanted. As for DW , it's expensive to get a decent set of weapons, you can save some by having LS on belt or as passive. Using a low dps on the offhand only really works with pure WW barb. Your DPS drops when your equipping a slower main hand because of your passives , try looking for an axe or mace , strength , socket and 50+ CHD as main hand and an EF with +25 attacks , socket , 50+ CHD as off hand, I think you need 36% increased attack speed on gear to hit tornado breakpoint. Posted from my mobile which was annoying

[Voxxel]

Thanks for the help guys!

What's your play style? Or should I say want to use?

I'm playing as a DW barb with Punish+HotA+Rend. I get that I need as much DPS as possible (slow weapons) but I also noticed every skilled barb I know avoid to use weapons below 1.3 speed even if the DPS of a 1.2 is higher. They also avoid using mighty weaps and spears for some reason. Maybe the damage-range? Anyway, HotA needs a big 1.2 speed DPS or a not so big 1.3 DPS weapon instead?

u can see the weps in my armory below. http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/D...2/hero/9346590

Have you noticed if you swap your weapons, your Damage listed higher on the ingame character panel? Is that a bug? Or is that only the paper DPS and it turns out higher with EF in offhand?

Also, would you please check my barb why is my dps so low outside of the more CHD that I need?

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/V...339/hero/15930

[announced]

I'm playing as a DW barb with Punish+HotA+Rend. I get that I need as much DPS as possible (slow weapons) but I also noticed every skilled barb I know avoid to use weapons below 1.3 speed even if the DPS of a 1.2 is higher. They also avoid using mighty weaps and spears for some reason. Maybe the damage-range? Anyway, HotA needs a big 1.2 speed DPS or a not so big 1.3 DPS weapon instead?


Have you noticed if you swap your weapons, your Damage silted higher on the character page? Is that a bug? Or is that only the paper DPS and it turns out as higher with EF in offhand?

Also, would you please check my barb why is my dps so low outside of the more CHD that I need?

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/V...339/hero/15930

i noticed my dps shifts a bit, its like 430k one second then 420k the next, thats cause when im using bash and hota it alternates which weapon i swing, whether its my EF or my axe.. idk

spears and mighty weps are garbage unless they have insanely good stats, this is due to Weaponsmaster talent giving axe/mace in the main hand a 10% crit chance bonus for your toon.. 10% crit is a huge number and its massive dps to a barb.

your ef has almost max % fear which isnt good, your boots arent icewalkers which also isnt good plus their lacking over 200 str+ a socket. your belt isnt the witching hour 200 str 50% crit dmg which is a huge part of dps. but u would need a mainhand with around 2.7-3% life leech + bloodthirst to survive higher mps. your pants could be replaced to inna's temperance. i can see why your going for the nats ring and boots but honestly i dont feel like their barb friendly even if they had 6% crit 50% crit hit dmg and Ias + str vit all resists like a typical trifecta/quadfecta ring or whatever their called.

in short you should
replace the pants with inna's 80-100 str + some vit 9% ias
replace the belt with a 200 str 40-50% crit hit dmg witching hour
replace nats ring with a 6% cc/40% cd/ str/ vit/ ias ring
replace the spear with an axe or mace (axe preferred with life % leech base 50-90% crit hit dmg str and 1 socket)
replace boots with iceclimbers 200 str +socket ones.
replace the 20% fear EF with a lower fearing one, preferably with % crit hit dmg or some life leech
try and craft some ias crit hit chance and crit hit dmg gloves if u can, its gonna take over 200 essences proly but it'll be worth it if u get perfect ones

as for weapon swaps, if u use EF as ur mainhand it fears, a lot. like literally every mob u hit will run away. luckily i have a scoundrel with a buriza that freezes every mob that runs away.

[Voxxel]

Thx for the fast reply!
I'll check an inna's pants but I fear I'll lose many vit into an unbearabe level. I have low HP already. I got a nice withcing hout already but I should use the IK 2p bonus atm, because of my low AR. If I replace the nat's 2p bonus, I'll lose a ton of CC I don't see where can I regain it. 4% cc on ring plus 7% on 2p bonus = 11% minus?

The EF's fear does not irritate me much, I usually change / leave targets when this happens. Anyway I ask the weapon change because the overall damage displayed on character panel that shows you lower numbers if your EF is in offhand for some reason I don't know why but I'm pretty sure it should be better as EF in offhand.

Does the weapon master bonus apply for both weapons? or mixed? So can I get 20% crit if I use an axe and a mace? or can I get 10 crit and 10% attack speed if I use an axe+spear?

[announced]

it only applies to the mainhand wep. you cannot get double stats, only the mainhand 10% crit from using a mace or axe.
i spose i could see you using 200 str nats boots if possible. if your lucky maybe you could get a nats ring with str and crit chance on it. idk.

most crit comes from gloves/ neck/10/10/ 6% wrists/ helm 6% ring 6% and 1% from inna's pants. plus 9% ias which is very helpful. i chose a str + vit innas so i could maintain over 50k hp and a exp gem for farming mp9.

if you can craft archon gloves/ you can try and gain 150 or so vit from to offset the lower life. im still looking to craft a better neck but its tough getting perfect stats.

the resistances are alrite, but honestly it doesnt matter as much. over 400 is acceptable. anything more is awesome but not always needed unless your doing mp10 or ubers.