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Grimiku
Fresh Meat N' Greet - Phantom#11548(1)Category: BarbarianMarch-2-2015 9:32 AM PST (9 years ago) Go to Blizzard forum post
The world of Sanctuary is a BIG place, defended by hundreds of thousands of heroes each and every day. To help you get to know some of these fellow nephalem a little better, we've created the Fresh Meat N' Greet.

The Fresh Meet N' Greet is a recurring series of interviews featuring you, our community. A few times each month, we'll sit down and chat with six different community members, one for each class, and then post our Q&As right here in these forums.

Up this week for Barbarians: Phantom#11548

Read on below to find out more about your fellow ally in battle!

General Info
Bul'Kathos Guides My Hand
Who's Up Next?
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Grimiku
Fresh Meat N' Greet - Phantom#11548(2)March-2-2015 9:32 AM PST (9 years ago) Go to Blizzard forum post
[GENERAL INFO]

Grimiku: Tell us a bit about yourself.

Phantom: I'm a long time PC gamer and the game that finally tore me away from the shackles of consoles was the 1st Diablo game. I absolutely played that game till my eyes fell out of my head. I build and tweak all my own gaming rigs from the ground up and like to stay current with the PC gaming market.


Grimiku: Got any cool hobbies or talents?

Phantom: I play the guitar and have been in several hard rock and heavy metal bands. Started playing when I was 15 and have been playing for well over 20 years now. It's my release when you have a bad day at work to come home and shred some riffs.


Grimiku: What’s your history as a gamer, and with the Diablo franchise?

Phantom: As a gamer I was hooked early when my uncle brought home a Intellivision in '83 with a copy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I loved it I was only 6 but I would sit there and play that game for hours.

As for the DIablo series. Like I said earlier the 1st Diablo game was what ripped me away from being a console only gamer. I didn't have a gaming PC at the time but a good friend did and I would spend all day over at his house playing that game with him. I loved the hack and slash action and easy to pick up nature of the game yet it had underlying complexity. It wasn't till the 1st expansion of Hellfire that I was able to save up enough money to afford a PC of my own to play it on and from there when they introduced the Barbarian and his reckless abandon and savage gameplay style, I knew this was the class for me.


Grimiku: What are some of your favorite games?

Phantom: Legend of Zelda series, Call of Duty series, Street Fighter series, Metroid series, Diablo series (obviously lol) and Half Life series.


Grimiku: Do you play any other classes?

Phantom: I actually play all classes in Diablo 3. After I hit paragon 100 (back when that was actually a big deal) I decided to branch out and see what they other classes had to offer. My 1st alternate was a Demon Hunter. I turned out liking the class very much with it's emphasis on heavy damage and high mobility but very little defense and its "be quick or be dead" gameplay.


Grimiku: Are you in a great clan or community? If yes, tell us about them!

Phantom: Nope, I don't do clans. All clans are to me is an extended friend list. I hope you guys add more incentive to be in a clan in the future. (HINT: clan trading)


Grimiku: What's your most embarrassing moment while playing?

Phantom: Being embarrassed would admit weakness. I am I barbarian! I have no weakness! TO THE DEATH!!!!!!


Grimiku: Okay, what about your most AWESOME moment while playing?

Phantom: Well being a barbarian I and just generally AWESOME to begin with so picking a particular moment of awesomeness is difficult. But in this game it was when Uber fights were 1st introduced and I finally learned how to solo them as a HOTA barb. I then honed my craft to the point I could carry entire teams even if they wiped. I then wrote the "HOTA barb Handbook: Soloing Ubers" guide that was on the forums here and shared my strategies with others.
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Grimiku
Fresh Meat N' Greet - Phantom#11548(3)March-2-2015 9:33 AM PST (9 years ago) Go to Blizzard forum post
[BUL'KATHOS GUIDES MY HAND]

Grimiku: What drew you to the Barbarian?

Phantom: It's savage nature, it's unyielding punishment of being a walking instrument of destruction. Wading in through the front lines hundreds of monsters deep and mercilessly pummeling them into the dirt with Hammer of the Ancients.


Grimiku: What type of Barbarian are you: sword-and-board, in-your-face melee master, long-distance damage dealer?

Phantom: Wait, you mean there is another way to play barbarian? If you need to hide behind a shield go play Crusader! If you want to run away and fight from a distance go play a Wizard! I am 100% in-your-face, take no prisoners, everything must die, melee master!


Grimiku: What's your favorite skill (or skill rune), and why?

Phantom: Hammer of the Ancients. What's not to like about smashing monsters with a giant spiked hammer? I love the idea and the savagery of standing face to face and smashing monsters to death.


Grimiku: What build are you running currently?

Phantom: I have 2 barbarians, one I play a leap-quake HoTA variant that I use in regular rifts and when running with friends and the other is a Raekor barb that I run in Greater Rifts because unfortunately HOTA and leapquake just don't have the damage output and survivability of Raekor.


Grimiku: If there was one thing you could change about the Barbarian, what would it be?

Phantom: Give us innate fury on crit. Not anything crazy like the 15 fury per crit of the old Battlerage rune "Into The Fray" but something like 5 fury on critical hits. It would open up so much more for the barbarian and make us actually want to use our spenders. For instance with HOTA if we had 5 fury on crit it would make us want to ground stomp a group of enemies to stun them and round them up (wrenching smash) so we could unload with HoTA. If we got 3 or more enemies together we could potentially regain enough fury to be able to sustain fury and keep buffs like Berserkers Rage up more to help with damage output.


Grimiku: If you could build a set around a skill, what skill would you pick and what would the set do?

Phantom: Hammer of the Ancients (bet you didn't see that coming? lol) The set would grant you 5 fury on crits from HoTA and HoTA damage would be increased by 200% for every enemy you hit and stack 3 times and last 5 seconds and can be refreshed by attacking another enemy. This would grant you a maximum buff of 600%

it would be a 5 piece set with set bonuses something like:

2 piece: 500 Strength

4 piece: Hammer of the Ancients returns 5 fury per critical attack

5 piece: Hammer of the Ancients damage increased by 200% per enemy hit, this effect stacks 3 times.

This would make it perform similarly in damage output to a Monk's Monkey King's Garb set with Wave of Light. But it would reward a more active playstyle.


Grimiku: Are you currently chasing a specific item? What is it, and why are you after it?

Phantom: I want a nicely rolled Ancient Furnace. Why? Because it's a giant flaming mace to bash things with! Do I need to say more?


Grimiku: Name one piece of advice that you think every Barbarian should know:

Phantom: Know your build and when to use your skills. Group enemies up for your team with Ground Stomp or "Cave in" from Earthquake. Make sure you aren't pulling monsters out of other teams skills or damage dealers.


Grimiku: Pick a Barbarian quote!

Phantom: When the Barbarian says to the Enchantress "I don't even like magic, I just put up with yours" it so epitomizes barbarians. They are savage front-line warriors that are most at home with a giant axe or mace in their hands while bathing in the blood of those foolish enough to take them on face to face.
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Grimiku
Fresh Meat N' Greet - Phantom#11548(4)March-2-2015 9:33 AM PST (9 years ago) Go to Blizzard forum post
[WHO'S NEXT?]

Grimiku: Which Barbarian should we interview next?

Phantom: Det0x#2856 he is another skilled barbarian veteran. There are many more but most have hung up their axe by now sadly.


Grimiku: Pick a question to ask in the next interview!

Phantom: Why did god create the platypus?


Grimiku: Pri wanted to ask you: “ If you were a fruit in a fruit basket… which one would you be and why?”

Phantom: Seriously? This is the best that clown could think of? lol Well I have to be a Coconut since they are hard and strong. You can definitely use a coconut to bludgeon Pri to death so that's why :)


Got any questions yourself for Phantom? Post them below!
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