Ranged Barb builds

[:1]Ranged barbs have always interested me, maybe even more-so than melee wizards/sorcs.

Hopefully with D3, there will be more than one way to go about these odd builds, so post your thoughts/ideas on a ranged barb.



My setup focuses not on ranged weapons themselves, but on weapon throw combined with a 2 hander for maximum damage and call of ancients for additional off-hand damage. Here's the rough skill setup.


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(1) Weapon throw

The main attack. Either runed for max damage (single target), ricochets (multiple targets), or corpse throw which appears to combine the 2 (more damage with a confined blast radius). Max damage would be great for bosses, but killing off a big mob one target at a time could prove futile. As it stands, ricochet is my favorite flavor of the skill for PVE.



(2) Call of the Ancients

Extra damage. While you're throwing weapons, these guys will come out and assist. I don't know if they can be targeted (probably not) but if they can than that's a plus.



(3) Seismic Slam

Some melee skill here because chances are you will be swarmed at some point. Not necessarily seismic slam, I just picked because it looks like it'd be good for keeping enemies at bay and it fits the ranged theme. Used when enemies are closing in faster then you can kill them. Runed for stun or maximum knockback.



(4) Ignore Pain

Not sure about the effectiveness in PVE, but I plan on making chars that will at least be able to contend in PVP among all the average players. This seems like a staple for any PVP barb.



(5) Leap attack

Not for the attack, but for the tactical aspect of it. Maybe sprint would be a better choice, but as of now, leap attack seems more useful. Play testing is needed to confirm this.



(7 & 8) Buffs?

I haven't gotten this far yet, but Wrath of the Berserker sounds great (+crit +attack speed, +dodge chance, +walk speed). It depends on how short the "short duration" actually is and it's also a steep fury cost, so efficiency is also questionable.|||Your main concern will be Fury generation - you do not know if Weapon Throw is "self sustaining," and I assume that since you are trying as a ranged fighter, you don't want to be hit. So you better hope that you can have access to gear and traits that allow you to break even on Weapon Throw (if that is even possible). So you will p[probably want that shout that boosts gives you Fury to start fights off with when you are dry.

Hopefully, the Willpower or Vitality attribute will end up doing something for resource management, so you could focus on that to help reach the breaking even point. But that might have implications for overall resource system balance, so I think it's a small chance.

Overall, I would actually focus on making Weapon Throw your primary single damage attack because Shockwave isn't a just "disable," it's a ranged AoE attack with sizable range.

I would think Sprint would be a better choice - it is focused on moving fast, and will end up providing more overall mobility for cost than Leap Attack. Plus, it is only a hunch, but I think it will have better rune effects for a ranged Barbarian.

What about Ground Stomp? You want a way to get melee out of your face, sides, and arse.