Barbarian DPS Guide for Mod 19

Author: Andiemus@reeper#9973

Last update: 13/09/2020 “Equipment + Zariel setup”

Due to real life responsibilities I have not yet had the time to update this guide fully. If you find the pictures doesn’t match the wording, it means it still has to be updated.

A guide for Barbies

Introduction

I would like to start by mentioning the great GWF’s of the past: Queen Lia Knowless, Unforgiven/Northside and WickedDuck. You guys took the time to write guides and provide us with builds and the necessary information to become better GWF’s. Your contributions have been invaluable to us, for this I thank you!

With the introduction of Mod 16 everything we knew and loved about GWF’s changed and was replaced with the “Barbarian”. Our damage was low compared to other DPS classes and later we learned why. It seems that the way the Damage Formula worked was different for some classes. With the release of Mod 17 Barbarians had to adapt and turn into a Tank class to be able to run TOMM “Tower of the Mad Mage”, because our damage was not enough to be viable. With the updated Damage Formula, released 10/10/2019, DPS Barbarians still didn’t get invites to TOMM farming groups. Wizards, Rangers and Rogues still produced more damage, but the gap is much smaller than it used to be. Then Mod 18 came along and Clerics took the top DPS spot, leaving all other far behind. Mod 19 was released and finally the Barbarian was a force to be reckoned with again.

This guide is intended to help make DPS Barbarians viable again and if you feel that I am missing anything, if anything is unclear or if you simply want to discuss the guide please feel free to contact me either in-game or on Discord (Andiemus#0752)

Some information about myself: I was fortunate enough to be part of the Mod 17 and Mod 19 beta testing group on the Owlbear server. I have done hundreds, close to a thousand of TOMM completions with 7 different classes, sorry I don’t play a Warlock. I have spent a lot of time doing testing on both Preview and Live. Barbarian has been my main character for close to 5 years now. I do not know everything or have all the answers, but I try to learn as the game changes, luckily I know some clever individuals.

Be sure to check out Rainer’s Pocket Wiki, it has a lot of valuable information: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fP_cUugHdsObvQDzLFijGA-mVm_qLmSy0MI62aTLkDM/htmlview?ouid=112324326497364358345&usp=sheets_home&ths=true&sle=true#

For a better understanding about stats and mechanics, check out Janne’s site:

https://jannenw.info

Choosing a Race

The best options for DPS would be the Dragonborn races. Here are some of the reasons why as well as other alternatives if you don’t have these races unlocked:

Metallic Dragonborn – You gain 1500 critical strike and +3% to damage. You receive 3% more healing from all spells and abilities. Your maximum Hit Points are increased by 3%.

Attribute choice: +2 on 2 attributes

Dragonborn – You gain 1500 critical strike and +3% to damage. You receive 5% more healing from all spells and abilities. 

Attribute choice: +2 on 2 attributes

Note: Nothing currently beats the flat 3% damage buff that Dragonborn races provide.

Everybody knows Dragonborn is ugly, so luckily there are other choices. Yes they aren’t the best but looks matter !

Other good alternatives::

Half Orc – You gain a +5% Critical Severity. You gain +10% to run speed when you enter combat.

Attribute choice: +2 DEX and +2 on STR or CON

Tiefling – You deal an additional 5% damage to targets below 50% health. Whenever you are hit, you have a 10% chance to lower the damage of the attacker by 2.5% for 5 seconds.

Attribute choice: +2 CHA and +2 CON or INT

Ability Scores

There are only two real options here, so put all your points into STR and DEX:

For every 4 points of STR you get 1% Physical damage boost and for every 2 points you get 1% Stamina Regen.

For every 2 points of DEX you get 1% Crit Sev and for every 4 points you get 1% Movement Speed.

Equipment

Normal content:

Zariel’s Challenge build:

Potted Stats:

Some equipment pieces have damage bonuses on them these days, some of these bonuses stack while others don’t. Here is a short summary of the bonuses that might affect DPS Barbarians:

Undermountain Hunter: +5% damage buff in Undermountain: does not stack

Swordman’s Perk: +3% damage buff for Melee Powers: stacks only twice

Encounter Perk: +3% damage buff for Encounters: does not stack

At-Will Perk: +3% damage buff for At Wills: does not stack

Charged Fury: +3% damage buff when Stamina is over 75%: does not stack

Brute’s Fury: Shadowstalker rings stack but at different ranks

Butcher’s Might: +5% Power: does not stack

Gluttonous Might: +5% damage buff, -25% Incoming Healing

Here are my choices and why I use them:

Head

Lion Guard’s Raid Sallet: +5000 Power when Stamina is over 75%

Alternative:

Fancy Duelist Mask of Cormyr: +5000 Power when in combat with one enemy

Protégé’s Visor Helm: +5% damage buff in Undermountain “LOMM / TOMM”

Armor

Scavenger’s Chainmail: +10% Power

Alternatives:

Sentinel of the Stars Breastplate: +5% Power

Ebonized Breastplate: +5% Power

Executioner’s Black Garbs: +3% damage when attacking from behind

Fured Kiuno of the Bear: +3% damage buff for Melee Powers

Arms

Spiked Defender Vambrace: +5% Damage

Alternatives:

Lion Guard Raid/Ward Vambraces: +250 Power on every attack. Stacks 20 times.

Vivified Primal Assault Bangili: +5% Power

Primal Assault Bangili: +5% Power. It has slightly lower stats than the vivified version. If you haven’t got the Omuan Tale Carving drop from CODG yet.

Templar of the Twilight’s Bracers: +3% damage buff for Encounters

Sentinel of the Star’s Bracers: +3% damage buff for At-Wills

Terrored Grips: +3% damage buff for Encounters

Jawripper’s Gloves: +3% damage buff for Encounters

Weapon set

Celestial Set: After using 5 encounters you get +7.5% Outgoing Damage for 30 seconds. 30 Seconds cooldown.

Alternatives:

Lionheart Set: Increases damage dealt and outgoing healing by up to 10% whenever your stamina is full. Effect decreases as stamina decreases. Decreases damage received by up to 10% whenever your stamina is empty. Effect decreases as Stamina increases.

At 50% Stamina the damage buff is 0 and the decreased damage received is also 0. This is the point where the two bonuses reach equilibrium.

Blessed Blades Set: When using an encounter power, you gain 4500 Power and 1 random buff. 10% Crit Sev or 7.5% AP gain for 10 seconds. 30 Seconds cooldown.

Legion Guard Set: +1000 Power, Combat Advantage, Defense and Crit Avoidance for every member in your party with the weapons. Can stack 5 times.

Hellfire Set: When combat starts you get +15% Stamina Regen and Movement speed for 10 seconds. Killing an enemy refreshes this buff. Leaving combat will cause the buff to expire.

Set of the Watcher: At the start of combat your Power, Armor Penetration, Critical Strike and Defense is increased by 1%. For every 5 seconds your are in combat, these increase by 1%. “Max 5% increase”.

Sharpedge pointed out that after 10 minutes of combat time the bonus falls off irrespective of what happens. Dying or leaving resets the bonus.

Burnished Set: If you are hit or healed for more than 15% of your Maximum Hit Points in a single blow, your Power and Defense will be increased by 5% for 10 seconds.

Alabaster Set: At the start of combat, your Power and Critical Strike will be increased by 1% for every enemy you faced when starting combat, to a max of 10% for 10 seconds. If facing only one enemy at the start of combat, your Power and Critical Strike will be increased by 5% for 1 minute. When you kill an enemy, this buff will refresh.

Feet

Rusted Iron Leggings: +5% damage buff, -25% Incoming Healing

Alternative:

Fiend Forged Greaves: +200 Power for every 5 seconds in combat, up to 24 stacks

Heels of Fury: +3% damage buff for Melee Powers

Boots of the Willed: +3% damage buff for At-Wills

Enduring Boots: +3% damage buff when Stamina is over 75%

Neck

The Engine Master’s Mantle: Part of the Dark Remnants set.

Alternative:

Necklace of the Mad Mage: Part of the Mad Dash set.

Baphomet’s Infernal Talisman: Part of the Demon Lords’ Immortality set, better known as the Orcus set or Demo set.

Rings

Striking Ring of the Veteran / Striking Ring of the Master: +3% damage buff for Melee Powers

Ebonized Assault Ring: +3% damage buff for Melee Powers

Alternatives: 

Ring of the Shadowstalker +5: +2.5% damage buff when within 25 feet of your target

Ring of the Shadowstalker +4: +2% damage buff when within 25 feet of your target

Bypass Gold Ring / Twisting Gold Ring: +3% damage buff for At-Wills

Gold-plated Ring / Nickel-plated Ring: +3% damage buff for Encounters

Waist

Whip of the Erinyes: Part of the Dark Remnants set.

Alternative:

Belt of the Mad Mage: Part of the Mad Dash set.

Demogorgon’s Girdle of Might: Part of the Demon Lords’ Immortality set, better known as the Orcus set or Demo set.

Shirt

Ebony Stained Shirt: +3% damage buff when Stamina is over 75%

This Shirt has different versions, with different combinations of stats which might help with stat balancing. The different versions will be the only alternatives I would recommend.

Pants / Trousers

Pants of the Sentinel / Pants of the Keeper: +4040 / 3960 Defense and a 10% chance to gain 25 Action Points on a critical hit. 5 second internal cooldown

I’m using these purely for the Defense stat. I won’t be providing any alternatives for this reason.

Artifacts

Primary Artifacts

Envenomed Storyteller’s Journal: 

+5% damage buff

20 Action Points per second for 17 seconds “tooltip says 15 seconds”

Chartilifax aura does between 2% and 4% of my total damage on a Boss fight

Alternatives:

Decanter of Atropal Essence:

Up to 10% damage buff for roughly 30 seconds, sometimes even longer

Soul Sight Crystal: +25% damage buff against a single target for 10 seconds

Secondary Artifacts

Choosing a secondary artifact is normally to get as much extra stats like Power and to complete your artifact set. There are a lot of options and combinations, again I will mention my picks and some alternatives

Book of Vile Darkness:

This is needed to complete the Dark Remnants set. I will be using this set for Mod 18 and Mod 19 in general play, it gives +2.5% damage buff and an additional 2.5% damage buff vs demons, devils and fiends.

Choose 2 of the following:

Frozen Storyteller’s Journal

Flayed Storyteller’s Journal

Darkened Storyteller’s Journal

I use the Storyteller’s Journals because of the wonderful multiple set bonuses they currently have.

Alternatives:

Shard of Orcus’ Wand:

This is needed to complete the Demon Lords’ Immortality set. It’s still a good option in my opinion. The set bonus reads: Deals up to 10% additional damage based on the difference in Hit Points percentage between the player and the target.

This gives an average of 5% additional damage during a Boss fight.

During Phase 4 in TOMM while Halaster starts off with 10% HP, you start off with an 9% damage buff.

Halaster’s Blast Scepter:

This is needed to complete the Mad Dash set. +5% Damage and Movement after standing still for 3 seconds. This is probably the best set to use in Trials where you can stand still while fighting the boss most of the time.

Staff of Flowers

Trobriand’s Ring

Sword of Zariel

Try getting the artis that gives 3000 Power if you don’t have the Storyteller’s Journals.

Powers

At-Wills

Relentless slash is our only AOE at-will that we can use for clearing mobs. It also applies a 5% damage buff, active for 12 seconds.

Relentless Slash has a two fold attack mechanic, each dealing 40 magnitude damage with an “Avatar” doing the second hit. This makes killing mobs extremely light work when in battlerage.

“Avatar” – The mirror image of your character that spawns on the other side of your target.

What I mean by this is the following:

1. Your initial hit applies the 5% damage buff. This buff is also applied to the “avatar”, which results in it also doing more damage.
2. If you deal a critical hit, the “avatar” will also deal a critical hit to the target resulting in your single attack now dealing more than double the damage.
3. The “avatar” has a chance to proc the following: Steel Blitz, Tenebrous enchant, Owlbear Cub, Tales Artifact Set, Lostmauth’s Vengeance, Bilethorn weapon and Lightning arc.

Brash Strike has been buffed in Mod 19 to the point that it’s the only viable option for single target fights. Every hit does 110 magnitude damage.

Encounters

For Mobs:

Mighty Leap has a magnitude of 250. The feat Mightier Leap increases that to 600. How to use this will be discussed under Rotations, a bit further down.

Not so Fast has a magnitude of 180 and slows enemies for 6 seconds. This is used to proc Trample of the Fallen, which will give both the 5% for 10 seconds and 10% for 6 seconds buffs.

Bloodletter has a magnitude of 520. The feat Bloodspiller increases that to 920. This is our second hardest hitting encounter and should never leave your bar. The reason I prefer using this over Frenzy on mobs is because you cannot miss with Bloodletter.

For Bosses:

Indomitable Strike has a magnitude of 500 and a shorter cooldown than the other hard hitting encounters. I DO NOT use the Indomitable Rage feat that increases it to 800. The reason for that is, your rage has to be full to hit with 800 magnitude. When using IBS with 0 Rage, it will hit with 500 magnitude. So since your Rage is only really full for a split second, using the feat would be a bad choice.

Frenzy has a magnitude of 975. This is your hardest hitting encounter. The cooldown has been reduced even further for mod 19, so now everybody has finally seen the light and started using this skill.

Bloodletter has a magnitude of 520. The feat Bloodspiller increases that to 920. This is our second hardest hitting encounter and should never leave your bar. Yes, it does a little damage to yourself, but you can always blame the healer for not keeping your Hit Points full all the time. The damage you take is equal to 20% of the damage given, then mitigated by your defense. So when you have 400K Hit Points and defense is capped and then hit the boss for more than 4 million damage, you will probably kill yourself unless you had some extra temporary HP.

Dailies

Avalanche of Steel + the feat Steel Slam might be the most amazing Daily ever! It’s a must have for Mob fights.

For Boss fights I prefer Savage Advance over Crescendo. Crescendo channels for three seconds while doing a multi-hit combo. Savage Advance has a one second cast time with one big hit, for example:

“Critical Hit! Your Savage Advance deals 6119720 (2381210) Physical Damage to Zariel.”

Class Features

For Mobs:

For Bosses:

Trample of the Fallen has two different damage buffs. The first part gives a 5% buff for 10 seconds after casting a Control Power, like “Not so Fast” “Punishing Charge” “Roar” “Savage Advance” “Crescendo” “Avalanche of Steel”. The second part gives a 10% buff while the target is controlled. That means on Mobs and Bosses that are controllable you could have a total of 15% damage buff for however long the control effect is active. Sadly, the second part of the buff does not work on Control immune targets, basically most of the bosses we face.

Barbed Strikes adds 25% Crit Sev, which amounts to 7.87% damage increase for me.

Steel Blitz does between 5 – 6% of my total damage.

Feats

Mightier Leap upgrades Mighty Leap to a Mob killer. From 250 magnitude to 600. Mobs just melt when using this correctly.

Since mobs die so quickly and we do not use Not so Fast on Bosses, we do not need the feat Relentless Speed.

Bloodspiller upgrades Bloodletter from 520 magnitude to 920 and reduces the cooldown by 3 seconds. Also it causes Bloodletter to do damage to yourself equal to 20% of the hit. Hopefully you are capped on Defense, so you only get hit for 10% in reality.

As explained under Encounter section, Indomitable Rage will increase your IBS by 300 magnitude when your rage is full. 50% full = 150 magnitude. Waiting for that before using IBS will surely reduce your DPS.

Overpenetration gives you 2% damage buff for every 500 points of Armor Penetration you have more than your target’s Defense to a maximum of 10%. So in TOMM, Halaster has 80 000 Defense. That means you have to be at 82 500 Armor pen to reach the full 10% buff. For Infernal Citadel you need 87500 Armor pen to reach the full 10% buff.

Choosing Brutal Critical will surely cause the bosses to die of old age, also gaining 2 Rage for every critical attack doesn’t mean much with the crit chance capped at 50% and not always happening…

Steel Slam upgrades Avalanche of Steel to probably the best AOE daily and certainly the best looking in my opinion. When timed correctly you’ll be like the Mafia and just make all the mobs disappear. “Get Marduk to read this in his Italian accent”

Unstoppable Spin has no use since nobody should be using Spinning Strike.

Relentless Battlerage helps you build Rage twice as fast, but Battlerage only increases damage by 14% instead of 20%. Rage builds really slow without this feat, it’s still not lightning speed with the feat but a lot faster. Maybe someday we won’t need to select this feat at all, but surely we aren’t selecting Escalating Rage. Who wants to be stunned for 3 seconds, waiting for Ground to Cloud/Cloud to Ground to kill you?

Rotations

Mobs

When running up to a group of Mobs, identifying if they have any control abilities such as interrupt, stun or knock back is very important. If you aren’t sure rather play it safe and assume they can, for this I would recommend starting the fight this way:

Mobs that could possibly control you: 

Use Mighty Leap and aim for a safe spot, be sure not to hit any targets. This procs your Mightier Leap Feat, increasing the next jump to 600 magnitude. Try aiming this to hit as many mobs as possible. If there are mobs that survived, use Not so Fast to proc the 15% buff from Trample of the Fallen. Spam Relentless Slash and activate Battlerage while still spamming Relentless Slash. If any mobs still survive, use Not so Fast when it comes off cooldown for the 15% buff while still spamming Relentless Slash.

If you know the dungeon well and know the next group of mobs does not have control abilities, I recommend starting the fight this way:

Mobs that cannot control you: 

Use Mighty Leap and aim for a safe spot, be sure not to hit any targets. This procs your Mightier Leap Feat, increasing the next jump to 600 magnitude. Run into the middle of the mobs, Use Relentless Slash for the 5% buff, followed up by Not so Fast for the 15% buff and then use your second Mighty Leap and aim it on the same spot you are standing. This should melt away almost any group of mobs. Spam Relentless Slash and activate Battlerage while still spamming Relentless Slash. If any mobs still survive, use Not so Fast when it comes off cooldown for the 15% buff while still spamming Relentless Slash.

For both situations: Use Bloodletter to finish off any surviving mobs. Usually there is at least one elite mob that might be too stubborn to accept defeat.

Bosses

When starting a Boss fight, always wait for the tank to grab aggro and position the boss. Never stand on the tank’s side. Sometimes they turn him around, other times you have to run to get behind the Boss. You want to fight the boss while having someone on the opposite side of him, this way you gain Combat Advantage which is very important.

So you start with a Relentless Slash for the 5% buff, followed up by IBS, Bloodletter. This will put your Rage high enough to activate Battlerage. I basically use those two encounters to gain Rage because using At Wills takes too long to reach 50% Rage. When activating Battlerage you want to use Frenzy and spam Brash Strike until Battlerage runs out. Remember to use Relentless Slash once every 12 seconds. IBS and Bloodletter should be off cooldown or close, use them to gain Rage again. IBS and Bloodletter can be used while Battlerage is active, but not when its about to run out. Then rather wait and use them again to build Rage.

For an “artifact call” in TOMM it’s important to have your encounters off cooldown and ready. When the call comes I do the following:

Use Relentless Slash, artifact, Swarm, IBS, activate Battlerage if possible or use Bloodletter to gain more Rage then Battlerage, use Frenzy + Bloodletter if you haven’t used it yet, Savage Advance, spam Brash Strike and continue with the rotation as explained above.

Boons

Boons doesn’t make a big difference most of the time, but since we have them we might as well use them wisely.

For normal content:

Most dungeons have either Demon/Undead/Dinosaurs or Cultist mobs somewhere, so getting a 5% damage buff and 5% damage resistance buff versus them works for me.

5% Movement speed and 5% Companion Influence is always nice to have.

4% Crit Sev and 4% Cooldown Reduction adds to your damage output directly and since gaining Action Points will have no problems, check out the Enchantments section why, there are no other viable options.

Since I am doing quests and normal dungeons with this loadout, I’m using Deathly Rage as my Master Boon because I do kill a lot of mobs and could possibly get a random 6% damage buff from time to time. Some bosses also spawn adds, so this is useful most of the time. You could use Bloodlust on Boss fights, but we don’t use encounters as often as some other classes *cough* Wizards and Rangers *cough* I must be catching a cold…

For Boss fights:

Since Halaster + Zariel doesn’t fall into any category like Undead/Demon/Dinosaur or Cultist, i’m not using those boons for my TOMM or Zariel loadout. I’m rather using the points to maximize Power, Hit Points and to balance my stats. For the Master Boon, I’m using Focussed Retaliation since it’s reflecting a little bit more damage than Bloodlust is doing.

If you have a choice between 15% Crit Sev and 8000 Power, the Crit Sev boon will give you +- 2% increased damage.

If your Defense is capped, then using the HP boon for 32K HP is the way to go.

Running dungeons, using the Revive sickness boon is the best option.

The Mount Speed Bonus boon is really nice for just general play and questing.

Companions

Normal content:

Zariel’s Challenge:

Summoned Companion

There are 2 options that stand out above the rest. Both are Augments, “Why Augments?” you may ask. They transfer 100% of their stats to me. 3x Bonding Rank 15’s gives another 210%. That means I get 310% of their Stats via Augmentation and Bonding Runestones vs only 210% from a summoned companion. The best options for me are:

Bulette Pup – Augment Enhancement: 1000 Power/Defense/Combat Advantage

Quasit – Augment Enhancement : 1000 Power/Defense/Accuracy

Augment Enhancement are extra stats that Augment companions have. This gets transferred to you via Bonding Runestones, Augmentation, Bolster bonus and Companion Influence. This means you will get over 3000 of each of those stats when you have high ranking Bondings.

Enhancement Power

Potent Precision has a chance to increase your Crit Sev with 5% for 15 seconds. This adds 1.45% damage increase for me. The only other option here is Potency which adds 2000 Power, but that only adds 0.67% damage for me.

Player Bonuses

Since Barbarians have one Offense, one Utility and three Defense slots our options are a bit limited. Here is a list of my best choices:

Offense slot:

Batiri: 4% damage buff against Bosses

Deepcrow Hatchling: 8000 Power

Tamed Velociraptor: 10 000 Power (2000 Power per person in the party using it on Legendary quality)

Utility slot:

Alpha Compy: 5% more Power

Owlbear Cub: 10% chance to hit for 50% of you power when you fail to critically hit “2-3% of my total damage”

Defense slot:

Minstrel: 4000 Power, 2000 Awareness

Splinters: 4% Crit Sev, 2000 Crit Avoidance

Ioun Stone of Might: 2000 Power, 4000 Deflect

Ioun Stone of Allure: 2000 Power, 10% Incoming Healing

Green Slime: 8000 Defense

Iron Golem: 16000HP, 2000 Defense

Man at Arms: 4000 Defense, 2000 Combat Advantage

Laughing Skull: 4000 Combat Advantage, 2000 Defense

Sergeant Knox: 4000 Defense, 2000 Accuracy

Fey Panther: 4000 Accuracy, 2000 Combat Advantage

All stats shown are at Legendary quality.

Companion Gear

These are my personal choices, but it all depends on which stats you need to get them balanced. For runestones I suggest using Empowered runestones to gain more Power.

Ranking up your Bonding and Empowered runestones are a priority to gain as much stats from your companion as possible.

Mounts

Equip Power

MORE POWAHHHH !

If you cannot afford a mount that gives 10 000 Power, using a 5000 Power mount would be the next best thing.

Combat Power

The two best options here are Swarm and Tenser’s. 

The Swarm gives a 5% damage buff, 5% defense debuff on the target as well as 5% damage debuff on the target for 10 seconds. So the entire party benefits when I use a Swarm.

The Tenser’s gives 10% more Power, 10% more movement and +2 Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. 10% more Power should max out at 15 000, which is a 5% damage buff at 200K Power. 2 STR = 0.5% damage buff. 2 DEX = 1% Crit Sev. 

As you can see the two bonuses are pretty close to each other, so the question would be “Why do I choose the Swarm?” Because activating the Tenser’s is a pain in the a…, I mean it has been an issue ever since I bought it 3 years ago.

Insignia Bonuses

I recommend using Dominance and Brutality insignias for their Power if you can get to the stat caps already.

Wanderer’s Fortune:

 I always need RP and this certainly helps.

Artificer’s Persuasion:

Reduces cooldowns by 2 seconds after using an Artifact.

Gladiator’s Guile:

I feel the NEED………………………………………………………………………… For SPEED !

Who doesn’t like being fast?

I’m using 3x Gladiator’s Guile so that I don’t have to spend stamina all the time getting out of red areas and back to the fight, thus I’m benefitting from the entire 10% damage buff from Lionheart weapon set.

Using 3x does stack but with a lesser effect every time.

Alternative:

Combatant’s Maneuver:

Adds 2500 Combat Advantage, should help to reach some of the high stat caps. Unfortunately some of my Control Powers does not proc this bonus against some bosses. This might have been fixed, bugged again… I cant keep track.

Enchantments

Weapon Enchantment

Lightning enchant for me is the best for multiple targets. In mob fights the Lightning enchant does between 14 – 18% of my total damage.

Bilethorn enchant seems to be the best for longer boss fights. The Bilethorn enchant does between 8 – 11% of my total damage.

With regards to how the Bilethorn procs compared to other weapon enchants is as follows. The “avatar” also applies the same Bilethorn stack when attacking, so if your attack procs this affect then the “avatar” will also proc this effect.

If you deal a non critical hit with your Bilethorn, the “avatar” will also deal a non critical hit, however if your Bilethorn proc crits, the stack that was applied by the “avatar” will also crit.

Vorpal enchant seems to be second best for both categories, but the best for short boss fights making it a solid choice if you have to choose only one enchant. When potted up I have 157.5% Crit Sev, a Vorpal R14 gives 20% Crit Sev and will improve my damage by 5.6%. The extra Necrotic damage from Vorpal enchant does between 4 – 5% extra damage, which means Vorpal enchant adds about 9 – 10% to my damage.

Armor Enchantment

Barkshield enchant is the only Armor enchant that helps with stopping the dreaded one shots. Other Armor enchants like Negation and Shadowclad only starts providing extra survivability after you get hit. DPS classes are not Tanks, so we should be avoiding the hits. Barkshield helps us when we slip up or when our good old friend LAG shows up.

Offense slots

Radiant enchantments along with 1x Tenebrous Rank 15 seems to work the best. Adding more Tenebrous enchants will add little to no effect on your damage output. If you can reach your offensive stat caps with gear, you need to stack as much power as possible.

Defense slots

Radiant or Brutal enchantments would be the best to get your Hit Points as high as possible, with Brutals helping to get your Defense capped.

Utility slots

Quartermaster’s enchantments is a must have for normal game play in my opinion, since I always need Refinement Points. During Boss fights they serve no purpose tho. Be sure to have enough of them equipped during 2x Refining Stones event before opening your bags. Aim for 10.5% chance to ensure you get at least Rank 6 enchants and runestones, up to Rank 7. 

Tactical enchantments increases your Incoming Healing. They have been nerfed to the ground. They are still usable, but not as great as they once were.

Dark enchantments add Companion Influence, but you do not gain a lot of stats from them. Gearing for Zariel you will need all the stats you can get. Dark enchants seems to help with this.

Overload slots

Rage of Flames:

+5% damage buff (It’s not just physical damage. Can you believe the tooltip is wrong?)

Greater Corrupt Black Ice Enchantment:

Chance to give 800 Power and 1.25% AP gain for 8 seconds.

Two of the same does not stack, but using two different ones do stack.

Alternatives:

Greater Corrupt Piercing Enchantment:

Chance to give 800 Armor Penetration and 1.25% AP gain for 8 seconds.

Greater Corrupt Lethal Enchantment:

Chance to give 800 Critical Strike and 1.25% AP gain for 8 seconds.

Consumables

For consumables you want to increase Power and Crit Sev as much as Possible. You are only allowed to use one of each of the following groups:

• Elixirs
• Potions
• Stronghold Food
• Event Food
• Scrolls of Fate

These are my choices:

Wild Storm Elixir grants 10% Crit Sev – There are no real other options.

Superior Flask of Potency +1 grants 7.5% Crit Sev + 440 Power. This is a 2.2% + 0.15% damage increase for me.

The other option would be Potion of Power Rank 10, +1 that grants 3450 Power which gives 1.15% damage increase for me.

Prime Rib grants 5714 HP + 1143 Power – Both stats are great and the best pick for me.

Watermelon Sorbet grants 10% more Power and Accuracy – Clearly better than 5% Crit Sev from Squash Soup.

Event foods does not persist through death.

Scroll of Fate: Power grants 560 Power

Credits

I would like to thank the Academy, err wait this ain’t the Oscars…

There are a few I would like to thank:

• Firstly, my wife for allowing me some time to play Neverwinter and to write this guide.
• My South African group of guys and gal: Hayden, Quinn, Darkrose, Toonban, Speechless “007” and Jabberwocky for helping and putting up with my dry sense of humor. Mutantgun for always being willing to help test stuff and helping with the formatting and editing of the guide.
• Sharpedge for pointing out some missing info, making a few suggestions and answering the same questions hundreds of other people ask him everyday.
• Janne for making a few suggestions, providing the numbers as I needed them and for hosting this guide on her website.
• Aria for pointing out a mistake or two.
• Everybody for taking the time to read it all the way. Hopefully the guide ended better than Game of Thrones: Arya went West, Drogon went East, Jon went North and the writing went South…