Probably the most unique and coolest barb build out there, if you would show me before seeing T100 clear, I would never believe it would actually work so well as it did. Amazing theorycrafting and I wish you luck in S1.
I had a sweet thorns build going with Razorplate up to about level 80, but it started to fall apart in NM dungeons because the damage from mobs was too high and I was lacking damage reduction, but you've shown that with enough DR + life, this can be done again. Looking forward to taking this approach with thorns, thanks!
I am so glad you enjoyed the video and love to see a fellow thorns barb in the wild :) Hopefully you got some great insight from the video to improve your own NM limits! GL and stay tuned for some more cool videos on this build :)
Thanks for making a breakdown! I wanted to make a Thorns build and between your 100 NM run and the review video, I'm really thankful for the advice and direction ^-^
@@KingGault **Update for after respec of aspects and skills from a fresh 50** It feels super comfortable and powerful. I feel the longer kills from bosses, but that's just gonna happen. I was using HotA before for that, but the chains making enemies vulnerable and the berserk uptime feels like there's a flow to the gameplay that's just plain fun. I feel like the mitigation of damage is gonna be a much more welcomed playstyle, akin to how I feel about a shield healer vs. a pure healer in MMOs. I don't have all of the aspects farmed yet from gear (I have the codex ones) so to have this strong of an impression before it's even complete is marvelous. Obviously, you've shown the build works very well for endgame, but to have it be this fun and viable for the leveling process makes it a good all-rounder and, imo, contends with meta builds for overall usage. I feel like you've struck gold here, mate, and I believe your hard work to figure this out is gonna end up helping the community as a whole. Cheers!
I've been looking at trying thorns/bleed build, what I can't believe in your build is you have no thorns on your gear and it works so well. Brilliant that you have come up with this build it proves that Barb can be versatile and not just WW and HOTA.
Wow... thanks for the compliment, and absolutely versatile in almost all aspects, and dare I say, S tier. Stay tuned for a NM60+ speed run video coming shortly, and PvP to follow :)
@@KingGault Heck yeah man, my dad and I are almost level 60 using your season 1 thorn barb leveling guide now - he keeps asking me to check your channel for updates everyday!
I really appreciate this guide man, I was running whirlwind thorns barb and started flagging really hard around NM 55, I don't even have close to BiS stats on my gear after swapping to your build and I'm already bulldozing way passed my previous plateau. Seriously, thanks a ton! On a side-note, I especially liked how in-depth you went into your choice of skills, gear, and paragon points, as well as your thoughts on why you made the choices you did.
Nice setup. One issue you have is miss-calculating your lucky hit chance. The imprints % is multiplied against the skills base % chance. This means that 35% (.35) is multiplied against the skill base of frenzy which is 30% (.30). The result is a 10.5% chance to proc the imprinted effect. While this is still worth having, I think it is important that people understand the proc rates of lucky hit chance better than they currently do.
Good to know. I've always been curious how exactly this works. So, if an ability has 58% (.58) and the imprinted effect is 30% (.30). Then it would be a 17.4% chance to proc?
@@TheAbvsyork Exactly! You can boost this by getting additional lucky hit chance on several types of items. This stat will adjust your tooltip lucky hit chance automatically. If you want to see the most accurate numbers you can calculate it manually but the tooltip gives good rough numbers. My whirlwind has gone from 20% LS to 23% LS based on gear. After that the 23% is multiplied by the % on any of my imprints.
Thanks for pointing that out! I didn't really know how the lucky hit proc worked exactly but this definitely makes sense to me! I appreciate the knowledge and thanks again for the support!
@@KingGault I really think the UI should make the %'s more clear. It can be quite confusing. I really like your build and I am thinking about trying it out on my barb! Thank you for the detailed info it was much more specific than any of the others posting about it.
Congratulations, this is exactly the comment I wanted to see. I am extremely happy I was able to help anyone in community make the leap to NM100! See you on the leaderboards... supposedly S3 :(
Thanks for the video dude. Well explained and down to earth with the approach so people like me can understand the decision making :) Looking forward to what else you bring in the future.
hi it's me again! after a few days of gathering every gear almost similar to yours. i finally cleared tier 100 solo in like 2 tries! i even managed to help a buddy to clear his 100 too. he's a bone spear necro. and as we all know, bone spear is kinda OP, but he can't seem to survive alone. so i tried to face tank every mobs for him while he's behind pew-pewing like crazy. surprisingly it worked very well! we cleared the dungeon in about 7 minutes. much thanks to you. you're the best!
I love to see it! I am so glad to help out anyone in the community, and to clear a NM100 is the icing on the cake, congratulations to the two of you on your clear! Hope to see you in Season 1 and play along side
I don’t understand how. I farmed almost exact same gear as in the video, and I can’t get past the first group of mobs in a NMD 100. I can’t kill vampiric/suppressor elites. I chew through pots.
Thanks for the guide. Been giving it a go and it is fun in a different way than HOTA and WW. I was having trouble with solo elites and boss damage, maybe my gear isn't as good but in 80+ I was struggling to kill them. I switch Berserk Ripping because I don't believe the damage we get is high enough. I switched it to weapon master for the +1 steel grasp charge and it is working nicely. I also took flay for the extra thorns and I am destroying those elites. I hope to get a 100 done soon. Anyways thanks again for all the work.
The attack speed is the biggest disadvantage of flay by itself, its pretty difficult to maintain full fortitude with it especially in higher tiers. I'm actually working on a variant of the build that may even be superior as the damage is insane, but stay tuned as I will be trying it in Season 1!
I used deathblow to start berzerk for the 3 seconds, and double swing to keep it going. Tactical Iron skin was a good safety botton that heals to full life. But I'm only level 72 and this has been working for me thus far.
@@KingGault when I see my character killing monsters with your build , I feel like I'm still watching your own character fighting just like in your video, kind twins , that sensation is something
I am very glad you enjoyed the video! Stay tuned for speed NM dungeons and PVP video as well, just to show how amazing the build really is :) I appreciate all your support
I decided on Barb as my 1st character and everyone had doubts...I run a Whirlwind and doing ok in T4 Stuff at Level 76...however I really wanted to try other stuff but didn't want to do all the respec stuff...I started a new Barb last night to aim for this...The Thorn Iron Skin Barb in D3 was such a blast to play...thank you for doing this....
Absolutely! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and hopefully got some insight from it. I am uploading a video right now of NM60+ speed clearing so stay tuned! I appreciate all of your support
If you're down for it, I guess a lot of Barbs wanna see a pvp run of this build AND a speed NM50s version of this build. I know I would like to see 10 mins of each of those versions. 😁
So I did a bit of rejigging last night, don't have all the gear or aspects but I'm trying thorns/bleed. I was testing in a NM Champions demise dungeon only a 29 (I'm lvl 79) and guess who showed up "The Butcher" I've killed him twice before, 1st time took me forever, 2nd time took me around 7 minutes but last night he melted in 90 seconds, being bleed for 79 levels I like to get into the middle of a large pack and face tank but I found my HP dropping like a stone so I definitely need more defence as a thorns/bleed. But I won't be going back to pure bleed, it absolutely destroyed packs, I currently have 4k thorns unbuffed, just need that Razorplate to drop!!! A bit of work to do tonight sorting my paragon boards etc but it's all worth it. Thank you for the inspiration 😉
Great guide, thx a lot for sharing your insight! One minor thing to notice: Thorns is direct physical damage, so %damage with physical ofc applies to it. Not like you would go out of your way for getting some, but its just as good as damage while berserking is.
I forget which sidequest it is but there's one that gives you an amulet that can actually roll life. As far as I know it's the only life amulet in the game and you only get one shot at it per character. Would likely be extremely hard to get it to have ideal stats but it does exist if you want it.
You did a great job of explaining your build and how to work it....I definitely sub to you and hopefully many more great things to come...once again good job💯💪
First of all, amazing build and guide! Just wanted to share my 2 cents on the damage reduction DR topic. My understanding is that offensive stats have buckets to control exponential scaling: all damage increases within a bucket are additive with each other, and the total of the bucket multiplies other buckets. That’s why you want stats in all buckets - buckets make the stats in other buckets stronger However, defensive stats have no buckets generally - all sources of the same type of damage reduction are multiplicative already (unlike offensive, which were additive) to prevent reaching 100% reduction. The only exception being putting more points into a skill or passive (a passive with X points is considered as 1 single source, not X sources) Thus, there are no diminishing returns in defensive stats. E.g., I take 100 damage If I have 50% damage reduction from bleeding and the enemy is bleeding, I take 50 damage If I had two sources of 50% damage reduction while bleeding, I would have 75% damage reduction (0.5*0.5) and take 25 damage If a had a different “bucket” and had 50% damage reduction while bleeding and 50% damage reduction from elites from my skill tree, I would take 50 damage from the bleeding reduction, and then 50% of that from the elite reduction = 25 damage So there are no diminishing returns as getting extra 50% damage reduction always halves the damage you take
You are pretty accurate, but when looking at your character sheet, and going above 40% resist, the actual stat from the armor starts giving you only 1/2 or 1/3 of the DR. But the DR is definitely additive similar to dps buckets, which is why you will see I am almost un-killable once I am below 35% hp
the other 2 hearts probably gonna be: ignoring pain and resurgent life, we could run thorns with a focus on heal. The starlight aspect gets 40 fury for 25% life heal, maybe change the fortify aspect to numbing wrath. what do you think?
I know very little of theory crafting and these types of things, but the build is insanely unique and cool. What I want to know is what this looks like and plays like vs players hahahahah
I hope we can get your thoughts before season 1 tomorrow on how the patch has affected this build? Have you tried it out yesterday or today to see if anything has drastically changed? Was thinking of rolling Barb in season one (my dream of running Sorc is forever dead now) so was really looking forward to Bard instead and love this guide.. but want to know (along with so many others) if this got changed in any way with the recent patch??? Hope to hear your comments and great job with the guide
Glad you enjoyed it boss, I just got back from vacation and will be releasing a video highlighting how the build is actually stronger in Season 1, so stay tuned
I'm loving this build. Just converted to this from WW and it's much more fun to play. Damage output against single target bosses is pretty low, but hopefully I'll get some better gear and it will improve. Regardless, this is my new fav build and I won't turn back. It's like being Olaf from league of legends - you just rapid fire swing your axes and everything around you dies while you take zero dmg
I will say the one down side is 1v1 dps. Bosses without adds, elites without adds on high NM, are somewhat slow. But, you at-least have the peace of mind that you can't die :)
@@KingGault sometimes the fights take so long that I start to fall asleep holding down the frenzy button, but you're right that I have zero concerns I'll die. I did encounter one vampiric boss and a high level butcher that I literally couldn't kill
Really nice breakdown of the build. Especially regarding damage reduction and diminishing returns. Since i play hardcore i am curious on what if any different choices you would make if you played hardcore? Also interested in differences you make during leveling of this build for season. For sure the best breakdown of thorns build i have read so far.
Awesome, I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the video! I will be releasing leveling guide/speed run videos here soon so stay tuned! As far as the HC, I made this build specifically to be ready for S1 HC :)
Would love to see the build in action. I would recommend that you show us the build performing then show the build details. It's hard to know if the build is good without seeing it perform and it's hard to know if I should be interested in the build detail without a knowledge of the builds performance.
Absolutely agreed, I have a few video's out now showing gameplay, one of which was just uploaded today so check it out and I hope to have your continued support while I release more content throughout the seasons
This new patch just killed this build. I've been practicing in tier 90 and can tank easily. Now, disobedience is gone.. I wish we can theorycraft together to make thorns great again
@KingGault cant wait. Also, i made few changes prior to season 1 and can kill almost all classes. Only two rogues were able to beat me who were min max. Im using thorns this season and cant wait for more of your content
Is Thorns Barb still viable after the defensive nerfs to armor and damage reduction in the Season 1 patch notes? Was planning on starting this, but now I'm not for sure.
It's still amazing, in my opinion will be the best build in the entire game come 5 days when mob density is increased... so stay tuned for even more great content coming soon
I just wanted to say that I think you did a great job with the thorns build. Your choice of aspects and skills has really helped me improve a lot. I'm level 86 went from a tier 31 to 50 dungeon with zero issues and have been killing level 100 players in PVP super easily. I'm still rocking razorplate. but Im happy to lose the defenses since I don't plan on pushing high dungeons.
Awesome, I am so glad you enjoyed the video and got some insight to your own character. Razorplate is amazing, and is what I also use in NM75 and less. Stay tuned for a video being uploaded now that shows me running NM60+ with it on :)
@@LiteOfQureshi Correct, I am however missing the fortified aspect (which is kinda huge IMO) I did a test without razorplate and it works fine. I think for what I do though, I prefer the extra thorns. Pushing high dungeons / DR chest / Frenzy PvP and lower dungeons / Razorplate / Flay
Awesome brother. I just subbed. I'd love to see a tutorial on leveling it from 1 to whatever. I'm a major noob still, but I'll try my best to find a way to get something similar to you. Thanks
Bro made this build but went purple diamonds in weapons went flay over frenzy stack thorns with flay 3 power man slaps in pvp for team play that throns procs on players off there barriers is crazy good love it man
I thought about using a full crit chance/crit damage bleed build with thorns. I don't believe it's quite strong enough... yet. That being said, some exciting new aspects and gems in S1 may change my thought process and I may release something season 1 with a thorns/bleed/crit build
with the way stats have been changed around for S1 are you making any changes to the build/paragon? or are you dropping thorns completely for a fresh build? great vid~
New video highlighting Season 1 effects on the build.... so check it out and stay tuned for more! But no... sticking with thorns until they destroy it haha
@kevin gualt - great video and awesome job on the build. this has reignited my love for thorns. Question though, does the "inner calm" aspect (increase dmg while standing still) apply to thorns? Just wondering since I ran across it in my pool of aspects trying to construct this build
It sure does! I actually ran that imprint until a few days ago when I changed back to attack speed. It just didn't feel like it was enough damage to warrant it over keeping up fortify 100% of the time!
Hello kGault. I would like to thank you for this guide. Yesterday I had DC on my 92 HC ww barb and it is gone now. I thought about a thorn barb build now and I found yours. Hopefully I will be lucky and will make 100 with your build 😊🎉 Have a nice day.
I am a long time player of HC... and the death's that are not able to avoided are absolutely the worst. That being said, I'm glad you enjoyed the build, and I just introduced a full leveling guide for the new season, which is different, and will help Hardcore players ever more in their leveling journey. Hope you check it and I truly appreciate all of your support
@@KingGault yo. I noticed that and I started yday with your lvling build. Its perfect I am already lvl 33 on HC again. Goal is that 100 lvl. Could you please make guide for Uber Lilith on HC later?
this is wild to me, cause I play thorns as well, but you have zero thorns on any of your gear, lol and no razorplate.. but you still melt shit... crazy.. making me rethink everything I thought I knew, haha, ty
I know you are getting bombarded with questions, but when you get a chance can you go through the leveling and gearing process? Were you thorns the whole time?
I sure was! I will absolutely bring videos out, unfortunately I am not a content creator and work a full time job, but I am going as fast as I can! Stay tuned for some cool videos on exactly this :)
Do you have a video of killing Lilith or maybe clearing content closer to your level, like a tier 60. I'd like to see how fast you clear more normal content.
I just uploaded a 60+ speedrun video, I may attempt Lilith after work tonight just to see how it fairs, but if every ability she uses is a true 1 shot mechanic then I would have to adjust quite a few things
Any ideas/thoughts on thorns barb for season 1? After reading the patch notes and messing around on my thorn barb it feels pretty bad, not sure its very viable at all. Also i think they stealth nerfed razorplate.. went from like 11,000 to 9,000 thorns just on the chest. I was planning on going full thorns barb for this season but now im not so sure. Strength on weapons was reduced, as well as DR in general has been nuked. CDR for the shouts feels awful
Great build man! Have you tried the unique battle trance that gives 2 more stacks of frenzy for 16% more DR? Move disobedience to another item or is every single defensive aspect irreplaceable?
I have! Unfortunately, it starts to get effected by the diminishing returns for damage reduction in that particular DR bucket... so the neck in theory is great, but for this build it just doesn't add enough... oomph :)
Probably the most unique and coolest barb build out there, if you would show me before seeing T100 clear, I would never believe it would actually work so well as it did.
Amazing theorycrafting and I wish you luck in S1.
Thanks so much for this comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the video and the thought process behind it. See you on the leaderboards friend :)
You created a amazing build much respect man trying it know and loving it.
Much appreciated, I hope you enjoy it and good luck in the grind!
I had a sweet thorns build going with Razorplate up to about level 80, but it started to fall apart in NM dungeons because the damage from mobs was too high and I was lacking damage reduction, but you've shown that with enough DR + life, this can be done again. Looking forward to taking this approach with thorns, thanks!
I am so glad you enjoyed the video and love to see a fellow thorns barb in the wild :) Hopefully you got some great insight from the video to improve your own NM limits! GL and stay tuned for some more cool videos on this build :)
@@KingGault hell yeah :)
A great build with NO UNIQUES REQUIRED. That's awesome. Well done!
Glad you liked it!
@@KingGault What are your thoughts on using Ancient Oath for the two handed slash?
Almost all Barb builds don't use uniques. It's because the uniques are bad for the Barbarian class. lol
@@justsomerandomguyman Fair point. I'm approaching this from the perspective of No Tempest Roars Forever.
Battle trance is really good for this. 2 more stacks of frenzy = 16% extra dmg reduction
Subbed and followed. I'm lvl 100 but struggling to clear past Tier 60. Your insights have helped me a lot!
That's what I love to hear! Good luck to you and the grind :)
Awesome guide. Was able to do nmd tier 100 with this build. Look forward to future content!
Glad you enjoyed it! Content will be coming so stay tuned
Thanks for making a breakdown! I wanted to make a Thorns build and between your 100 NM run and the review video, I'm really thankful for the advice and direction ^-^
I love that people are interested! I will try and release more information on the build and future builds in the future, stay tuned :)
@@KingGault **Update for after respec of aspects and skills from a fresh 50**
It feels super comfortable and powerful. I feel the longer kills from bosses, but that's just gonna happen. I was using HotA before for that, but the chains making enemies vulnerable and the berserk uptime feels like there's a flow to the gameplay that's just plain fun. I feel like the mitigation of damage is gonna be a much more welcomed playstyle, akin to how I feel about a shield healer vs. a pure healer in MMOs. I don't have all of the aspects farmed yet from gear (I have the codex ones) so to have this strong of an impression before it's even complete is marvelous.
Obviously, you've shown the build works very well for endgame, but to have it be this fun and viable for the leveling process makes it a good all-rounder and, imo, contends with meta builds for overall usage. I feel like you've struck gold here, mate, and I believe your hard work to figure this out is gonna end up helping the community as a whole. Cheers!
Thanks so much for taking the time dude! Looking forward to this since murder had a little overview + your Reddit post
MurderInc was an awesome guy! I appreciate your support boss, new video is being uploaded now on the build as well... hope you enjoy!
Interesting. I'll give this a try before the first season drops. Thank you for posting this!
I hope you enjoy it! I will be releasing a video on leveling/speed running etc. to assist with your adventures, so stay tuned!
I've been looking at trying thorns/bleed build, what I can't believe in your build is you have no thorns on your gear and it works so well. Brilliant that you have come up with this build it proves that Barb can be versatile and not just WW and HOTA.
Wow... thanks for the compliment, and absolutely versatile in almost all aspects, and dare I say, S tier. Stay tuned for a NM60+ speed run video coming shortly, and PvP to follow :)
Now im playing same build 🤩🤩🤩 thx for sharing so much fun
I'm glad to hear it! Enjoy
@@KingGault Am waiting to see your build with Uber Lil
Thanks for the build, gonna give it a shot!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Stay tuned for a Leveling Guide 1-100 coming out before Season 1 launches!
I hope to soon se a updated build after the patch 🙏🏻
Coming up! 1-2 days and a video will be uploaded highlighting how the build is even stronger then it was before
@@KingGault How is that possible with all the damage reduction nerfs 😜 I can’t wait for the video.
Do you have a twitter ? Would like to follow
oh boy after all the damage reduction changes would love to hear what you think about season 1!
The buff to thorns! Why I will absolutely share my thoughts with you, and that video will be coming out in just a day or two so stay tuned friend
@@KingGault Heck yeah man, my dad and I are almost level 60 using your season 1 thorn barb leveling guide now - he keeps asking me to check your channel for updates everyday!
I just want to say this build is fun as all hell and I want to say, I incorporated Ancients Oath into it and it is absolutely insane!
It is a whole lot of fun you are right! I am glad you are enjoying it, check out the speed run video... I also use Ancients Oath there!
@@KingGault Im currently only an 81 with this build doing 60+NM lol.
Such an easy to understand and awesome video. Thank you for taking the time. Really great work
Glad it was helpful! Stay tuned for some more cool stuff
I really appreciate this guide man, I was running whirlwind thorns barb and started flagging really hard around NM 55, I don't even have close to BiS stats on my gear after swapping to your build and I'm already bulldozing way passed my previous plateau. Seriously, thanks a ton!
On a side-note, I especially liked how in-depth you went into your choice of skills, gear, and paragon points, as well as your thoughts on why you made the choices you did.
0% bait, 0%bullshit, t100% thorns. Much love and support, keep going! 💪
Thanks boss! Appreciate that support
Really great explanation and super impressive. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned there is more in the works
Nice setup. One issue you have is miss-calculating your lucky hit chance. The imprints % is multiplied against the skills base % chance. This means that 35% (.35) is multiplied against the skill base of frenzy which is 30% (.30). The result is a 10.5% chance to proc the imprinted effect. While this is still worth having, I think it is important that people understand the proc rates of lucky hit chance better than they currently do.
Good to know. I've always been curious how exactly this works. So, if an ability has 58% (.58) and the imprinted effect is 30% (.30). Then it would be a 17.4% chance to proc?
@@TheAbvsyork Exactly! You can boost this by getting additional lucky hit chance on several types of items. This stat will adjust your tooltip lucky hit chance automatically. If you want to see the most accurate numbers you can calculate it manually but the tooltip gives good rough numbers. My whirlwind has gone from 20% LS to 23% LS based on gear. After that the 23% is multiplied by the % on any of my imprints.
Thank you!! This helps a lot.
Thanks for pointing that out! I didn't really know how the lucky hit proc worked exactly but this definitely makes sense to me! I appreciate the knowledge and thanks again for the support!
@@KingGault I really think the UI should make the %'s more clear. It can be quite confusing. I really like your build and I am thinking about trying it out on my barb! Thank you for the detailed info it was much more specific than any of the others posting about it.
cleared 100 using your build, thank you and doing god's work sir. stuck at 94 with hota and this sealed the deal for me.
Congratulations, this is exactly the comment I wanted to see. I am extremely happy I was able to help anyone in community make the leap to NM100! See you on the leaderboards... supposedly S3 :(
@@KingGault i did it on crusaders cathedral, supposedly d tier for pushing but all is well
Well done guide! I do request a video on how to PvP with this set up.
You got it! Several people have mentioned the same interest and I plan on releasing a pretty cool video on slaying folks :)
Thanks for the video dude. Well explained and down to earth with the approach so people like me can understand the decision making :)
Looking forward to what else you bring in the future.
I am so very glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned, a video is currently being uploaded on NM60+ speed runs! PvP after that, and then who knows! :)
THANK YOU SIR! new fav best barb coach! teach us sir!
Happy to help!
dude, u're the real bro
Thanks bro :)
Thanks 🙏 for your explanation ! 👍
Glad it was helpful!
hi it's me again! after a few days of gathering every gear almost similar to yours. i finally cleared tier 100 solo in like 2 tries!
i even managed to help a buddy to clear his 100 too. he's a bone spear necro. and as we all know, bone spear is kinda OP, but he can't seem to survive alone. so i tried to face tank every mobs for him while he's behind pew-pewing like crazy. surprisingly it worked very well! we cleared the dungeon in about 7 minutes.
much thanks to you. you're the best!
I love to see it! I am so glad to help out anyone in the community, and to clear a NM100 is the icing on the cake, congratulations to the two of you on your clear! Hope to see you in Season 1 and play along side
I don’t understand how. I farmed almost exact same gear as in the video, and I can’t get past the first group of mobs in a NMD 100. I can’t kill vampiric/suppressor elites. I chew through pots.
Awsome guide, can you do a video on a thorns speedrun build by any chance? Best thorns theory crafter in d4 by a mile - keep up the good work!
I am working on it as we speak, stay tuned!
Thanks for the guide. Been giving it a go and it is fun in a different way than HOTA and WW. I was having trouble with solo elites and boss damage, maybe my gear isn't as good but in 80+ I was struggling to kill them. I switch Berserk Ripping because I don't believe the damage we get is high enough. I switched it to weapon master for the +1 steel grasp charge and it is working nicely. I also took flay for the extra thorns and I am destroying those elites. I hope to get a 100 done soon. Anyways thanks again for all the work.
You are probably right that frenzy is better. Flay could be so good if I could get attack speed higher.
The attack speed is the biggest disadvantage of flay by itself, its pretty difficult to maintain full fortitude with it especially in higher tiers. I'm actually working on a variant of the build that may even be superior as the damage is insane, but stay tuned as I will be trying it in Season 1!
I used deathblow to start berzerk for the 3 seconds, and double swing to keep it going. Tactical Iron skin was a good safety botton that heals to full life. But I'm only level 72 and this has been working for me thus far.
I love it! Keep up the good work friend and good luck to you in Season 1
Thank you for this build, i feel really confident when i go now on higher dungeon with that, this build is a 💎
Glad I could help, stay tuned for some more cool stuff :)
@@KingGault thanks
@@KingGault when I see my character killing monsters with your build , I feel like I'm still watching your own character fighting just like in your video, kind twins , that sensation is something
This is actually super impressive. I didn’t think it was possible
I am very glad you enjoyed the video! Stay tuned for speed NM dungeons and PVP video as well, just to show how amazing the build really is :) I appreciate all your support
I decided on Barb as my 1st character and everyone had doubts...I run a Whirlwind and doing ok in T4 Stuff at Level 76...however I really wanted to try other stuff but didn't want to do all the respec stuff...I started a new Barb last night to aim for this...The Thorn Iron Skin Barb in D3 was such a blast to play...thank you for doing this....
Absolutely! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and hopefully got some insight from it. I am uploading a video right now of NM60+ speed clearing so stay tuned! I appreciate all of your support
Thanks for extensive guide for this build. It's probably also fun in PvP - I would like to see it in action
Coming soon! I am uploading as of this moment a NM60+ speed guide, but PvP is next! Stay tuned :)
Im lvl 75 using razor plate doing ww then saw your build and switch to it and dang flying through nightmare dungeon
I am super glad it was helpful for you! Good luck
Sub'd and bookmarked! You're a legend bro!
Appreciate the support! I'll continue to release information on the build and others throughout the seasons
If you're down for it, I guess a lot of Barbs wanna see a pvp run of this build AND a speed NM50s version of this build. I know I would like to see 10 mins of each of those versions. 😁
Thanks for this :) keep this going.
Absolutely! I appreciate the support boss, a new video is being uploaded now
So I did a bit of rejigging last night, don't have all the gear or aspects but I'm trying thorns/bleed. I was testing in a NM Champions demise dungeon only a 29 (I'm lvl 79) and guess who showed up "The Butcher" I've killed him twice before, 1st time took me forever, 2nd time took me around 7 minutes but last night he melted in 90 seconds, being bleed for 79 levels I like to get into the middle of a large pack and face tank but I found my HP dropping like a stone so I definitely need more defence as a thorns/bleed.
But I won't be going back to pure bleed, it absolutely destroyed packs, I currently have 4k thorns unbuffed, just need that Razorplate to drop!!! A bit of work to do tonight sorting my paragon boards etc but it's all worth it. Thank you for the inspiration 😉
I'm glad your enjoying the thorns! I may have a thorns/bleed build for Season 1 depending on new affixes/gems, so stay tuned
Best thorns video from thorns master 👌
Wow, thanks! I will continue to come out with more videos here soon, hope you enjoy it all!
Great guide, thx a lot for sharing your insight! One minor thing to notice: Thorns is direct physical damage, so %damage with physical ofc applies to it. Not like you would go out of your way for getting some, but its just as good as damage while berserking is.
I forget which sidequest it is but there's one that gives you an amulet that can actually roll life. As far as I know it's the only life amulet in the game and you only get one shot at it per character. Would likely be extremely hard to get it to have ideal stats but it does exist if you want it.
I've seen this! I don't believe it's worth the STR% sacrifice and DR, but it would be interesting for a max HP build
thank youuuuuuuuuuu. i built for u, and Passed NM 100 ^^.
Congratulations!!!! This is exactly the comment I love to see, barb strong together
You have a great voice. You could be on the radio. Also I love this build. Thanks for sharing
😊 thanks, glad you enjoyed
Godamit man, thank you so much for sharing🎉, im calling all my friends to press subscribe
I appreciate the support! I will continue to do what I can to help the community grow
@@KingGault look at Necro thorns I think u can be the only madman that can make it work, maybe in season 1
No bs/clickbait! Excellent explanation. Subbed. Thanks!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for some more fancy stuff on the build :)
Hey Kevin thanks for the video, would you consider making a guide on what to look out for when levelling?
I will absolutely! Great idea
Thank you so much! This is amazing
Glad you liked it! Stay tuned for some more cool stuff on the build :)
@@KingGault Any thoughts on additional tough as nails points from your neck? Is it a trap and much worse than defensive lines?
Great common sense explanation of your build. Just like talking to a normal player. Great stuff, don't change your style. Sub'd.
Appreciate the support!
You did a great job of explaining your build and how to work it....I definitely sub to you and hopefully many more great things to come...once again good job💯💪
I appreciate the support boss! Stay tuned for more cool stuff :)
I will definitely be looking foward
thanks for this bro
A true pleasure! Stay tuned for some more cool stuff about the build :)
Congrats on the achievement. Already re-specing to try out your build. Would love to see a video on how you go about facing HoTA barbs in PVP.
Thanks! Will do! A lot of requests for PvP vid's so I'll get right on it, stay tuned and I appreciate the support
First of all, amazing build and guide!
Just wanted to share my 2 cents on the damage reduction DR topic.
My understanding is that offensive stats have buckets to control exponential scaling: all damage increases within a bucket are additive with each other, and the total of the bucket multiplies other buckets. That’s why you want stats in all buckets - buckets make the stats in other buckets stronger
However, defensive stats have no buckets generally - all sources of the same type of damage reduction are multiplicative already (unlike offensive, which were additive) to prevent reaching 100% reduction. The only exception being putting more points into a skill or passive (a passive with X points is considered as 1 single source, not X sources)
Thus, there are no diminishing returns in defensive stats. E.g.,
I take 100 damage
If I have 50% damage reduction from bleeding and the enemy is bleeding, I take 50 damage
If I had two sources of 50% damage reduction while bleeding, I would have 75% damage reduction (0.5*0.5) and take 25 damage
If a had a different “bucket” and had 50% damage reduction while bleeding and 50% damage reduction from elites from my skill tree, I would take 50 damage from the bleeding reduction, and then 50% of that from the elite reduction = 25 damage
So there are no diminishing returns as getting extra 50% damage reduction always halves the damage you take
You are pretty accurate, but when looking at your character sheet, and going above 40% resist, the actual stat from the armor starts giving you only 1/2 or 1/3 of the DR. But the DR is definitely additive similar to dps buckets, which is why you will see I am almost un-killable once I am below 35% hp
the other 2 hearts probably gonna be: ignoring pain and resurgent life, we could run thorns with a focus on heal. The starlight aspect gets 40 fury for 25% life heal, maybe change the fortify aspect to numbing wrath. what do you think?
I know very little of theory crafting and these types of things, but the build is insanely unique and cool. What I want to know is what this looks like and plays like vs players hahahahah
You got it! Lot's of people want to see this in PvP action, stay tuned :)
I love your diction, the yt translate perfect
I hope we can get your thoughts before season 1 tomorrow on how the patch has affected this build? Have you tried it out yesterday or today to see if anything has drastically changed? Was thinking of rolling Barb in season one (my dream of running Sorc is forever dead now) so was really looking forward to Bard instead and love this guide.. but want to know (along with so many others) if this got changed in any way with the recent patch??? Hope to hear your comments and great job with the guide
Glad you enjoyed it boss, I just got back from vacation and will be releasing a video highlighting how the build is actually stronger in Season 1, so stay tuned
Just cleared NM 100 with this build with non optimal gear 👌
Dude, thank you, great great video. Subbed.
I really appreciate it! Stay tuned for some more cool videos on the build :)
I'm loving this build. Just converted to this from WW and it's much more fun to play. Damage output against single target bosses is pretty low, but hopefully I'll get some better gear and it will improve. Regardless, this is my new fav build and I won't turn back. It's like being Olaf from league of legends - you just rapid fire swing your axes and everything around you dies while you take zero dmg
I will say the one down side is 1v1 dps. Bosses without adds, elites without adds on high NM, are somewhat slow. But, you at-least have the peace of mind that you can't die :)
@@KingGault sometimes the fights take so long that I start to fall asleep holding down the frenzy button, but you're right that I have zero concerns I'll die. I did encounter one vampiric boss and a high level butcher that I literally couldn't kill
Good tips and nice build 😃
Thanks! 😁Stay tuned for some more cool stuff on the build
Inspiring build, have any update about the situation after the nerfs in latest patch?
Coming very soon! Our build is actually even more powerful after Season 1 patch believe or not.... so stay tuned
good job, perfect build, please try it on echo of lilith as well
I believe Lilith is a 1 shot mechanic, bypassing all damage reduction. I haven't even attempted yet, but I may give it a try after work tonight :)
Really nice breakdown of the build. Especially regarding damage reduction and diminishing returns. Since i play hardcore i am curious on what if any different choices you would make if you played hardcore? Also interested in differences you make during leveling of this build for season. For sure the best breakdown of thorns build i have read so far.
Awesome, I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the video! I will be releasing leveling guide/speed run videos here soon so stay tuned! As far as the HC, I made this build specifically to be ready for S1 HC :)
@@KingGault Looking forward to it already!!!
@@KingGaultany way u could theory craft a kick thorn build jw. Id like do thorns with kick cuess it fun skill
Battle trance, unique neck, is really good for this. 2 more stacks of frenzy = 16% extra dmg reduction
Would love to see the build in action. I would recommend that you show us the build performing then show the build details. It's hard to know if the build is good without seeing it perform and it's hard to know if I should be interested in the build detail without a knowledge of the builds performance.
Absolutely agreed, I have a few video's out now showing gameplay, one of which was just uploaded today so check it out and I hope to have your continued support while I release more content throughout the seasons
This new patch just killed this build. I've been practicing in tier 90 and can tank easily. Now, disobedience is gone.. I wish we can theorycraft together to make thorns great again
Build is actually stronger then before. New video tomorrow, stay tuned
@KingGault cant wait. Also, i made few changes prior to season 1 and can kill almost all classes. Only two rogues were able to beat me who were min max. Im using thorns this season and cant wait for more of your content
Wow great job, love thorns atm and this will make it even better for me! Thanks! Sub'd
Awesome! Thank you!
Subbed because I like thorns build but I never built one.
I really appreciate the sub boss! A guide on NM60+ speed guide is on the way, stay tuned!
Hi mate could you do a new video explain the impact from patch released 7.18 to Thorn Barb?
coming on up! Stay tuned
Is Thorns Barb still viable after the defensive nerfs to armor and damage reduction in the Season 1 patch notes? Was planning on starting this, but now I'm not for sure.
I switched to this from a hota build. It does not disappoint!
It's still amazing, in my opinion will be the best build in the entire game come 5 days when mob density is increased... so stay tuned for even more great content coming soon
I just wanted to say that I think you did a great job with the thorns build. Your choice of aspects and skills has really helped me improve a lot.
I'm level 86 went from a tier 31 to 50 dungeon with zero issues and have been killing level 100 players in PVP super easily.
I'm still rocking razorplate. but Im happy to lose the defenses since I don't plan on pushing high dungeons.
So I'm assuming you didn't use the Iron Warrior Aspect (Iron skin gives unstoppable and 10-20% DR)?
Awesome, I am so glad you enjoyed the video and got some insight to your own character. Razorplate is amazing, and is what I also use in NM75 and less. Stay tuned for a video being uploaded now that shows me running NM60+ with it on :)
@@LiteOfQureshi Correct, I am however missing the fortified aspect (which is kinda huge IMO)
I did a test without razorplate and it works fine. I think for what I do though, I prefer the extra thorns.
Pushing high dungeons / DR chest / Frenzy
PvP and lower dungeons / Razorplate / Flay
Kinda wondering with the vulnerability nerf how this build fairs now.
And the damage reduction nerf
Are you going to try uber lilith with this? I'd love to see it
Haven't given it much thought as it has 1shot mechanics that ignore all damage reduction and all, but perhaps I will give it a try :)
I see great barb content
I sub!
Barb smash!
barb strong together
Awesome brother. I just subbed.
I'd love to see a tutorial on leveling it from 1 to whatever. I'm a major noob still, but I'll try my best to find a way to get something similar to you. Thanks
Absolutely! It is in the works so stay tuned
Barb Thorns GOAT! Subbed :D
Legend! Thank you so much for the support and stay tuned for some more cool videos on the build :)
My dude this built is sick I was able to clear a tier 100 at lvl 94 20k life, tons of strength.
glad you enjoyed it! If you are on season 1, check out the brand new guide I just released... can even down Lilith :)
Bro made this build but went purple diamonds in weapons went flay over frenzy stack thorns with flay 3 power man slaps in pvp for team play that throns procs on players off there barriers is crazy good love it man
What lvl are you?
That's awesome! I am coming out with a PvP video myself here soon, so stay tuned to see some wild things
UPDATE: At level 91 I was able to clear an T 80 NM but with a friend.....I am still crazy impressed with the sustain in this build.
Key passive will let your bleeds take advantage of critical damage
I thought about using a full crit chance/crit damage bleed build with thorns. I don't believe it's quite strong enough... yet. That being said, some exciting new aspects and gems in S1 may change my thought process and I may release something season 1 with a thorns/bleed/crit build
@@KingGault happy you've thought of this! Exciting to see future testing. I will make builds exclusively without shouts ;)
LETS GO!
We goin!
with the way stats have been changed around for S1 are you making any changes to the build/paragon? or are you dropping thorns completely for a fresh build? great vid~
New video highlighting Season 1 effects on the build.... so check it out and stay tuned for more! But no... sticking with thorns until they destroy it haha
@@KingGault love it, thanks for the insight
have you tried playing with a 4man group in 100 with this? does the tankyness hold up?
I just respecced to this and took me 15mins to clear one blood boil in tier 56 dungeon.
I'm lvl 1000 with 6k attack power
15 minutes sounds pretty rough 🤣 I recommend trying to pull mobs to it if at all possible, but those stationary targets that don't hit back do suck :(
@kevin gualt - great video and awesome job on the build. this has reignited my love for thorns. Question though, does the "inner calm" aspect (increase dmg while standing still) apply to thorns? Just wondering since I ran across it in my pool of aspects trying to construct this build
It sure does! I actually ran that imprint until a few days ago when I changed back to attack speed. It just didn't feel like it was enough damage to warrant it over keeping up fortify 100% of the time!
Hello kGault. I would like to thank you for this guide. Yesterday I had DC on my 92 HC ww barb and it is gone now. I thought about a thorn barb build now and I found yours. Hopefully I will be lucky and will make 100 with your build 😊🎉 Have a nice day.
I am a long time player of HC... and the death's that are not able to avoided are absolutely the worst. That being said, I'm glad you enjoyed the build, and I just introduced a full leveling guide for the new season, which is different, and will help Hardcore players ever more in their leveling journey. Hope you check it and I truly appreciate all of your support
@@KingGault yo. I noticed that and I started yday with your lvling build. Its perfect I am already lvl 33 on HC again. Goal is that 100 lvl. Could you please make guide for Uber Lilith on HC later?
this is wild to me, cause I play thorns as well, but you have zero thorns on any of your gear, lol and no razorplate..
but you still melt shit... crazy.. making me rethink everything I thought I knew, haha, ty
haha you got it, I'm glad you have been enlightened :)
Hey man, really nice build! Thanks for sharing. How do you deal with Suppressor Elites ? I'm having a really bad time fighting them :(
Sit there for 2minutes 😂. Suppressor is the worst.
if you use the armor of thorns is it good?
Razorplate is awesome! I only use it in 75 and less NM dungeons at the moment due to no DR% on it however
can we use this build for lvling?
Sure can! I only played thorns from 1-100
Not related, but what mount skin/armor is that at the beginning of the video?
Awesome 🎉
Thanks 🤗 Stay tuned for some more cool videos on the build :)
Now we just need a pvp video and we’re all set 😂
Coming soon :)
I know you are getting bombarded with questions, but when you get a chance can you go through the leveling and gearing process? Were you thorns the whole time?
I sure was! I will absolutely bring videos out, unfortunately I am not a content creator and work a full time job, but I am going as fast as I can! Stay tuned for some cool videos on exactly this :)
Do you have a video of killing Lilith or maybe clearing content closer to your level, like a tier 60. I'd like to see how fast you clear more normal content.
I just uploaded a 60+ speedrun video, I may attempt Lilith after work tonight just to see how it fairs, but if every ability she uses is a true 1 shot mechanic then I would have to adjust quite a few things
Is there any effective way to level with it? :X A stripped down version of it, lets say :D
Absolutely! I will release a video on leveling/speed running dungeons
@@KingGault hell jeah 🤩 currently 21 and i'm probably going for barb instead of sorc for s1 👌
Watching the video, I still can't see how you got 22k life. Is it mostly from Paragon?
Paragon and life rolls on rings/helmet.
thanks for your share, love you
aw, I am glad you enjoyed the video. Love you too
Any ideas/thoughts on thorns barb for season 1? After reading the patch notes and messing around on my thorn barb it feels pretty bad, not sure its very viable at all. Also i think they stealth nerfed razorplate.. went from like 11,000 to 9,000 thorns just on the chest. I was planning on going full thorns barb for this season but now im not so sure. Strength on weapons was reduced, as well as DR in general has been nuked. CDR for the shouts feels awful
Great build man! Have you tried the unique battle trance that gives 2 more stacks of frenzy for 16% more DR? Move disobedience to another item or is every single defensive aspect irreplaceable?
I have! Unfortunately, it starts to get effected by the diminishing returns for damage reduction in that particular DR bucket... so the neck in theory is great, but for this build it just doesn't add enough... oomph :)