Diablo 2 LOD The Titan Build

Introduction

I didn’t come up with the idea of the Titan Barbarian, but it seems that by posting a couple of my screenshots, I have popularized it to some extent. Well, that’s fine and dandy. After all, it has to be about the "funnest" PvM build on the Realms, and a decent way to show off the power of the barbarian.

What is a Titan? A Titan is a barb whose stat investment is purely strength, if possible. The focus is on huge damage, and is usually built around a big range, big damage weapon, like the coveted Cruel War Pike of Quickness or one of the famed (and expensive) Robopikes. The basic skills employed are mostly the same as any cookie-cutter barb, but with the addition of maxed Berserk.

Some folks view the Titan as not so much a variant or sub-class as it is a build style. Titan-Frenziers are viable, as are Titan-Zerkers that use War Cry as a secondary skill instead of WW. In a way, a BvB dueler is a Titan of sorts, in that while he has no investment in vitality, and puts in dexterity for blocking, but the rest goes into strength. I’m even experimenting with a semi-Titan (400strength/150vitality) Fendazon that may be interesting. In any case, for the purpose of this guide, I’m describing a specific type of barbarian variant focused on maximizing his killing efficiency in PvM.

The Titan is obviously equipment dependent, but outside its weapon, the equipment isn’t particularly rare or expensive. Only minimal leech is required, and damage reduction is not necessary, so the Titan can focus on equipment with stats, life, and even IAS to some extent. The Titan is no dueler. By definition, he will have very little investment in vitality, so life is at a premium. He depends on the huge damage and his minimal leech to stay alive… that and killing things before they can do him any harm!

Skills

Basic Cookie Cutter stuff here…

Max Mastery
Max Whirlwind
Max Battle Orders
Max Berserk (incredible damage!)
3 to 5 in Natural Resistances
1 in Battle Command
2 to 4 in Increased Speed.
Maybe one in Hork (Find Item) if you have any left over. Being a PvM build, you just as well have Hork!

Statistics

The basic rundown is this:

Strength - Everything
Dexterity-– Whatever is needed for the weapon, and should come from equipment if at all possible.
Gitality - Nothing
Energy - What’s that?

OK, so what is up with all the strength anyway? With most melee weapons, you get an Enhanced Damage bonus for every point in strength. For most weapons, 1 point in strength = 1% ED. So a Titan with 550 strength is getting 550% ED from his stats alone. Add in the bonus from the mastery, and the skills, and any ED equipment you own, and you can stack up some serious wicked damage.

Some folks will be quick to point out that mauls/maces get 1.1% ED for every point in strength, and have no dexterity requirement, which would appear to make them the ultimate Titan weapon. Unfortunately, mauls lack the range of most of the preferred Titan weapons. (For further discussion on how range equates into hits per whirl with Whirlwind, see the Barbarian FAQ.) This naturally takes us to a discussion of the main focus of the Titan build, their weapon.

Weapons/Equipment

I originally started messing with Lance barbs after months of reading how Lance barbs owned all in D2 Classic, but were not really viable in D2X. I started out making a PvP Lance – S/S hybrid… I figured if you could make a viable thrower hybrid, why not a lancer hybrid? (This topic should probably be addressed further by other D2 dueling junkies.) At any rate, in building that guy, I launched myself on a search for a Cruel spear of some sort with speed modifiers that would allow it to hit the -60 BP when properly socketed. Overall, I ended up with a 252% ED Cruel Ghost Spear of Alacrity, a 255% Cruel War Pike of Quickness (curse Larzuk for one hole!) and finally, my good friend Eblocher blessed me with a 278%ED Cruel War Pike of Quickness with 2 sockets. Later came the Mother of All War Pikes, which I’ll talk about later. After achieving only limited success with my Lancer - S/S hybrid, (probably due to my lack of skills more than anything) I began to look around for something else to do with the War Pikes, and the answer was soon obvious.

Weapons [in order of priority]

A. War Pike: For the most part, the preferred weapon of choice is the Cruel War Pike of Quickness, 2 Shael. This is for the following reasons:

Pros:
1. Insane damage. War Pikes have a max damage of 178, the highest of all elite weapons, save the Thunder Maul, which only has a range of 3.
2. Range 5. No discerning Titan would be without a range 5 weapon.
3. Relatively low dexterity requirement. In fact, only the Great Poleaxe has less of all the range 5 elite weapons, but with substantially less damage.
4. There is no number 4.
5. Coolness factor. When in channels, the tip of the War Pike sticks up almost all the way to the “Create” button! (The spear look, I’ll admit, it eclipsed by the Cruel Giant Thresher look, but I digress…)
Cons:
1. Very rare! While War Pikes can be shopped in act 5 Hell, they only show up about once every 10 or 15 times. And then, getting a good set of mods is a real crap shoot. Some folks like to roll them in the cube with perfects. Also, being TC90, they can’t be dropped by cows, and can only be dropped by Baal’s minions, and few others.
2. Very Slow. With a base speed of 20, you really need a “Quickness” mod and two Shaels to reach the -60 Whirlwind breakpoint. A “Swiftness” with one hole can do OK at the -30 BP, and you can use an ED/IAS jewel to reach it, upping the damage even more.
3. Low durability = lots of repairing. Many people make a big deal about this, but as long as gold in D2X is like water, then the point is moot. You’ll get about one run of the cows before it needs a $55,000 repair.
4. Expensive. Decent Cruel War Pikes with Quickness mods can go at Windforc-ean levels.

B. Robopikes: Robopikes are even rarer, but deserve mentioning. The base weapon is a 6 socket non-magic Ethereal War Pike. One of the rarest things on the Realms. You then add Zod, Shael, and 4 x ED/IAS jewels to make it. Also, if the non-magic Ethereal War Pike also happens to be a 15% ED Superior, you’ll end up with the highest damage, range 5 weapon available that reaches the -60 breakpoint, and would top out at 730ish max. An Ethereal CWPoQ would reach 1068 max damage, but you’d have to Zod it, voiding any chance of reaching the -60 BP. (Robo-weapons got their name from the guy who popularized the concept, a frequent barb forum poster, RoboTurtle.)

Pros:
1. Same as the CWPoQ above, but add that it’s indestructible because of the Zod.

Cons:
1. Even rarer, due to almost-impossible drop rate of non-magic Ethereal War Pikes.
2. VERY expensive to put together all those jewels.

C. Giant Thresher/Great Poleaxe: Some of the coolest looking range 5 elites on the Realms.

Pros:
1. Good looks. LOTS of comments from other players.
2. More common than War Pikes. It seems more of them show up at Larzuk’s Emporium of Desirable Weapons than War Pikes.
3. Speed. They have a base of -10, meaning they can reach the -60 breakpoint with a single socketed ED/IAS jewel if you get a “Quickness” mod. Even a “Readiness” mod and 2 Shaels will reach it as well. This makes viable versions of them more abundant.
4. Fair Durability – less repairs.
5. Low dexterity requirement for the Great Poleaxe, allowing more flexibility in the other equipment.

Cons:
1. Lower Damage. Only 114 max damage base, which is 64 less than a War Pike.
2. High dexterity investment required for the Thresher, either forcing you to invest some in dexterity, or re-focus your equipment to accommodate it.

D: Ghost Spear: The infamous Picklefork. Looks like a Trident, and is small-looking compared to other range 5 weapons.

Pros:
1. Speed. A range 5 weapon that can reach the -60 BP with just an “Alacrity” suffix and 2 Shaels doesn’t suck.
2. Damage. Second highest range 5 elite, though the minimum is quite low at 18.
3. They can actually be dropped by cows! In fact, finding an ethereal one to make a Robo-Picklefork out of may actually be something you could accomplish in your lifetime. Also, because of the base speed of 0, you can add and ED/Max Jewel or an OHM to the Robo-Recipe instead of the Shael and have a Max damage eclipsing a good Cruel War Pike.

Cons:
1. Huge dexterity requirement. At 163 it’s almost silly. Maybe with that last hole on a Robo-Picklefork, you should use an ED/-Requisites jewel. (A Cruel Ghost Spear of Alacrity was my weapon of choice for my PvP Lancer – S/S Hybrid, since I had to have the dexterity investment anyway for blocking on the S/S switch.)
2. Kinda dainty lookin’.

E. Honorable Mention: Cruel Thunder Mauls, Ethereal Hellslayers, yadda, yadda, yadda…

Pros:
1. Dunno of many, other than the No-dexterity requirement of the Mauls.

Cons:
1. Range 3 mostly.

Finally, don’t forget to put two echoing weapons on your switch to boost your BO. Cast Battle Command first as well to get a little more boost. Your life bulb will need all the help it can get!

Once you have chosen your weapon, and know your dexterity requirement, you need to carefully plan your other equipment. I’m going to list my favorite for each slot, and then a short blurb on other things to consider. Getting Stats (mainly dexterity for the weapon) and vitality/HP are the most important issues.

Armor:

Lionheart Runeword in a light Elite armor, like a Archon Plate or a Great Hauberk. (I prefer the lighter armor so I don’t have to deal with speed penalties of the heavier stuff, though they work fine.) The insane Stats, 25 strength, 15 dexterity, 20 vitality and 10 energy are awesome, then add in 50 HP, and good resists. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, you get 20% Enhanced Damage on top of it!

Other choices are possibly a +2 Barb Valor with an ED/Max jewel, or maybe one of them fancy 160/60 armors. No help on dexterity from those though.

Hat: Arreats Face. There’s no other choice here. The 20 strength/dexterity take you a long way to making your goal with a Titan. And, if you get lucky and get 6% LL on it, you’re set in the life leech department. Put an ED/dexterity or ED/Max jewel in there if you get one.

Other choices include a Crown of Thieves, the life leech and 25 dexterity are cool, and the gold find may actually help pay for repairs. Shako’s good with it’s skills, a few stats, and the big life boost, but I’d prefer one of the others before it.

Gloves: IK mitts. 20/20 strength/dexterity is so huge they can’t be beat.

Other choices include: Mavina’s with their duel stats, or any rares/crafted with stats would be nice.

Boots: War Travelers. The only way to go. The dual strength/vitality stats are critical, the fast R/W is nice, and that added damage is multiplied INSANELY with this build.

Other choices include: Sanders are nice. The faster R/W is a plus, and they have 10 dexterity and 5 strength. A nice choice to make up some lost dexterity if you need to.

Belt: Thunder God’s Vigor. With 20 strength and 20 vitality you can’t beat it in the life boost department. The other non-Amazon mods are nice too.

Other choices include: Razortail for the nice dexterity boost and addition to Max damage. The high-level thorns effect is neat when rushing folks, too. Just walk slow through the mobs and kill them without taking a swing!

Amulet: Cats Eye. 25 dexterity, what can you say about that? The R/W and IAS are pure gravy here.

Other choices, if you don’t need so much dexterity is maybe a Maras, or perhaps a Crescent Moon, which would be ALL the leech you’d need. I personally use a rare with +2 barb skills, 6% ML, 15 dexterity amulet on my Titan.

Rings: Ravenfrost on one hand (dexterity, CBF), and a Rare/Crafted with stats on the other, assuming you have Mana leech from somewhere else. Otherwise suck it up and put a Manald on there. 20 to life helps!

Charms: You’ll want about half of your inventory filled with 18 to 20 life charms. It is desirable to put Sharps, fast R/W, etc. in the other side. Sharps with Vita are awesome, but stay legit, will ya!

I often get a lot of people asking, “well what about vampire gaze, or what about string of ears, or what about shaftstop?” While they are excellent equipment choices for PvP builds, they have far superior counterparts for the PvM Titan build... I mean who needs damage reduced gear if any monster within 5 feet of you dies in a whirl or two...

A note about leech: Some folks believe that since you will have life under 2000, you’ll want tons of life leech, like a BvB dueler. This is simply not true for many reasons. First of all, this build is mainly PvM, and not may things can one-hit kill you. With such huge damage, you can often fill a bulb with one blow, certainly with one whirl, even with just 5% life leech. Also, unlike BvB or PvP, monsters don’t block, so you don’t have to rely on a lucky shot to leech back your life. You’ll hit most every time.

Mercenary Tips

1. Get a Nightmare Act 2 Offensive Mercenary for his Might aura. Level him with you and get him stuff to stay alive. (Mine even has his OWN CWPoQ!)
2. See number one above.

Leveling Guide

I know, you’re saying, “What the hell I need a leveling guide for a PvM cookie cutter barb!??! Rush me to cows, level me to 66 and get me my War Pike and let me cut loose!”

Bah to that! This is such a cool build, and his mercenary is such a big help, take your time and enjoy it!

Normal – 1 to 25

This IS the place you can hurry a little. Try to find a nice lance or something with 75% to 100% ED and a minor speed modifier. Larzuk sold me a Merciless Lance of Swiftness, and I Shaeled it to the -30 BP, and it has a max damage of 212. Level requirement is 25, and it is good enough to get me to 66 when I can use the War Pike. Polearm Titans could put a Shael in the set Bill (Hwanin’s Justice) and use it from 28 on up to their final weapon. (Thanks, Skitril, for the tip… shouldn’t be surprised you’d be watching out for the polers!)

Nightmare – 26 to 66

This seems like a long time to spend in Nightmare, but the payoff is worth it. Take your time in this diff, and keep your mercenary alive and level him as fast as you can. Get him a Spire of Honor as soon as he can use it. When you complete the difficulty, stay in NM cow runs until 66 and he is about there with you. It’ll really pay off in Hell. A good weapon here would be an ethereal Hone Sundan (unique Yari) with 3 Shaels. You can use it at 37. Just don’t forget to stop killin’ Nightmare cows every few minutes to let it repair itself! (Thanks again, Skit!)

Hell – 66 – on up

Once you can equip your War Pike, you’ll be the big man on campus. It’ll seem like you can run through Hell like you’re doing normal with all that damage, but the baddies actually have nasty auras, immunities, curses, etc. you have to deal with. I like to really play the game as it was intended, doing every quest and walking to every waypoint. Did you know there are actually six other whole waypoints in Act 3 besides Town and Durance 2?!? Wow! And you know how much of a pain those little fart Flayers are? Give them a taste of that big damage/range pike and you’ll see it’s the next best thing after Multishot to deal with them.

Once you get through Baal, you’ll be ready for cows, and you’ll see the Titan come into his own. No other barbarian build kills cows like a Titan with a big spear. It is truly a sight to see. Find some way to wiggle him into MF gear, and you’ll also find him to be one of the best Baal runners you can make, too.

Conclusion

I promised to mention The Mother of All War Pikes… Well, first take a look at this screenshot. It is of my Titan at level 89.

After wiping the drool off your face from looking at the weapon, check out his stats and damage. 12.3K WW and 15.7K Berserk. Definitely a “WOW-ER”. The only outside influence is his level 89 Might mercenary's aura. If that wasn’t enough, he’s actually not in his normal Titan regalia there. He has his MF jewelry on (boosts dexterity a lot so I can wear a Stealskull and Wealth) but he also has on a 160/60 armor. He normally has 577 strength, 105 dexterity and lists about 11.2K WW and 14.4K Berserk in his regular gear and Lionheart armor. Not too shabby!

The Mother of All War Pikes belonged to Fade2Grey, who was a frequent poster on the USEast trade forum. He was a super guy who recently retired, and had the heart to think of me to pass on the War Pike to. I’m honored to possess one of the most incredible, rare, and fully legit weapons on the Realms.

Oh yeah, and EVERY ONE of my buds say I need to repeat… This is NOT a viable PvP or BvB build!! Your ears will litter the marshes of the Blood Moor.