Barbarian Frenzy Build with the Horde of the Ninety Savages set

Last updated on Sep 13, 2023 at 09:00 by Deadset 33 comments
1.

Introduction

This agile, target assassination-oriented Barbarian build utilizes the Horde of the Ninety Savages set for its Frenzy-fueled carnage, layering an arsenal of synergistic legendary items onto a simple-but-deadly basis revolving around shouts. The build is designed with Greater Rift solo progression in mind. For more information about how this build performs on the ladder, please refer to our Solo push rankings.

2.

Quick Reference

2.1.

Skill Setup

The basic skill setup of the Horde of the Ninety Savages (HotNS) Frenzy Barbarian is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Frenzy Icon Frenzy Berserk Berserk Right Mouse Button Furious Charge Icon Furious Charge Merciless Assault Merciless Assault 1 War Cry Icon War Cry Veteran's Warning Veteran's Warning 2 Threatening Shout Icon Threatening Shout Falter Falter 3 Battle Rage Icon Battle Rage Bloodshed Bloodshed 4 Wrath of the Berserker Icon Wrath of the Berserker Insanity Insanity
Passive Skills
2.2.

Gear Setup

The required gear setup for the Horde of the Ninety Savages (HotNS) Frenzy Barbarian for GR solo pushing is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.

2.2.1.

Season 29: Paragon Cap

Season 29 introduces a season-specific cap to stat benefits from Paragon levels, all while updating how Paragon point distribution is handled. For the duration of this Season, you can only assign 800 Paragon stat points to your character, removing the long-standing practice of main-stat stacking (with some gearing implications — see below) after you reach Paragon 800.

On top of that, you could only allocate 50 Paragon stat points to each of the four stats in a given Paragon category (Core, Offense, Defense, and Utility). In Season 29, you can allocate up to the full 200 points per category into any attribute, allowing you to more easily reach necessary build breakpoints (as outlined in the Gear page of the guide) for Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction, etc.

With the changes to Paragon in mind, we recommend using the following Paragon distribution for this build:

  • Core: Movement Speed: 200 points.
  • Offense: Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage: Allocate points so they are as close to the desirable 1:10 ratio between the two stats, as displayed in your Character Details sheet. For dual-wielding 1-handed builds, this is usually achieved with 150 points into Critical Hit Chance and the remaining 50 into Critical Hit Damage.
  • Defense: Life and All Resistance: Allocate points to maximize survivability; for Barbarians, this is usually achieved by evenly splitting 100 points into Life (directly increasing your Health pool) and All Resistance (to complement the naturally high Armor stat of Strength-based characters).
  • Utility: Area Damage: 200 points.
2.2.2.

Season 29: Gearing Considerations

In terms of gear, keeping the Paragon cap in mind is paramount, as it stymies the traditional endless supply of main stat after Paragon 800. This means re-rolling mainstat off your gear is no longer desirable, and full equipment augmentation with your main stat is even more critical. Additionally, you should take a careful look at your build and consider if you can fit the following changes to strengthen your damage and survivability:

  • Guardian's Jeopardy: This is a craftable armor set, and the recipe for its creation drops from Bounty farming. Guardian's 2-piece provides a decent damage reduction bonus, but the true powerhouse of the set is the 3-piece bonus, which nets you an additional 100% of your main stats from equipped items. This is a tremendous benefit in an 800 Paragon capped Season. If the Guardian set can fit into the build with minimal sacrifices (other craftable sets, tertiary damage multipliers, etc.), consider its implementation. The available pieces are Guardian's Aversion Guardian's Aversion (Wrists), Guardian's Case Guardian's Case (Waist), and Guardian's Gaze Guardian's Gaze (Head). Of course, you can wear 2 pieces of the set and complete the full 3-piece bonus with a Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur (found from Act I bounty caches).
  • Endless Walk:This is a jewelry set consisting of The Traveler's Pledge The Traveler's Pledge (Amulet) and The Compass Rose The Compass Rose (Ring), and is randomly found through farming, gambling Blood Shards, and/or Kanai's Cube recipes. The Endless Walk set is a nice compromise between damage bonuses (building up while stationary) and defensive bonuses (building up while moving). It can replace glass cannon choices like the Bastions of Will set (Focus Focus and Restraint Restraint) and Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace with acceptable losses to DPS.
  • Unity Unity: A character wearing this ring, along with another Unity Unity on their follower plus an immortality relic for them (i.e., Enchanting Favor Enchanting Favor), will reduce their damage taken by 50%. Unity Unity can roll excellent offense-oriented stats and has an innate Extra Damage to Elites roll, which somewhat offsets losing all-out offense jewelry.
2.3.

Legendary Gems

2.4.

Kanai's Cube

2.5.

Follower and Potion

We recommend the Scoundrel for GR solo progression, and the Enchantress in speed GR and T16 farming. Check out our Follower guide for advice on their skills and gearing. For your legendary potion, we recommend Bottomless Potion of the Leech Bottomless Potion of the Leech.

3.

Changelog

  • 13 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (skills page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (this page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 28.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (this page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (gear page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 27.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (this page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 14 Apr. 2022 (gear page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 14 Apr. 2022 (this page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 10 Apr. 2022 (skills page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 09 Dec. 2021 (gear page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 09 Dec. 2021 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 25.
  • 09 Dec. 2021 (this page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 22 Jul. 2021 (gear page): Added recommendations for Season 24 ethereal weapon.
  • 22 Jul. 2021 (skills page): Rune and passive recommendations revised.
  • 22 Jul. 2021 (this page): Rune and itemization choices revised, added recommendations for Season 24 ethereal weapon.
  • 06 Apr. 2021 (skills page): Additional passive clarifications and choices.
  • 06 Apr. 2021 (this page): Added GR farm build variation page, included additional build and gearing options. Minor clarifications and fixes.
  • 28 Mar. 2021 (gear page): Revised desired stats section and added a follower recommendation.
  • 28 Mar. 2021 (skills page): Revised passive recommendations.
  • 28 Mar. 2021 (this page): Revised passive and gear choices, added additional information and variants where applicable.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (gear page): Revised weaponry choices. Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (skills page): Revised Frenzy rune recommendation to fit itemization choices.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (this page): Revised rune and weaponry choices. Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 30 Jun. 2020 (gear page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 30 Jun. 2020 (skills page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 30 Jun. 2020 (this page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 06 Apr. 2020 (gear page): Included additional gearing options. Minor clarifications and fixes.
  • 07 Mar. 2020 (gear page): Clarified the general preference toward Azurewrath / Mortick's Brace at the high end.
  • 07 Mar. 2020 (skills page): Revised active skill rune recommendations and some additional passive alternatives.
  • 07 Mar. 2020 (this page): Revised the guide to better reflect high-end pushing setups.
  • 06 Mar. 2020 (gear page): Guide added.
  • 06 Mar. 2020 (skills page): Guide added.
  • 06 Mar. 2020 (this page): Guide added.
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