Horde of the Ninety Savages

Horde of the Ninety Savages

The Horde of the Ninety Savages is a Barbarian set that puts your Shouts and the stacking effect of Frenzy front and center. The first bonus doubles the effect of your Shouts and punishes crowd-controlled enemies with double damage. With the further tiers, Frenzy lasts longer, lowers the damage you take per stack and finally drives your damage output per stack through the roof.

The result is a fast-paced melee Barbarian who builds up stacks, forces enemy hordes under crowd-control effects and then crushes them. The set rewards active play with constant shouting and steady pressure. Practical tip: Keep your Frenzy stacks up at all costs by attacking without interruption, because if they drop off, both your damage and your damage reduction collapse. You should use your Shouts proactively rather than only in emergencies.

Frenzy stacks up close

Frenzy is a quick weapon swing for 220% weapon damage that generates 4 Fury per successful attack. Each attack raises the skill's attack speed by 15% for 4 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Those are exactly the stacks the set counts: at four pieces each stack reduces damage taken by 6% and the effect lasts twice as long – so a brief step back does not cost you everything at once. At six pieces every stack adds 2000% Frenzy damage.

Making crowd control work for you

The double damage from the 2-piece bonus applies to enemies that are Feared, Frozen or Stunned. The Smite rune provides some of that on its own: with a 30% chance, lightning strikes from the sky and stuns the target for 1.5 seconds.

The remaining runes shift the focus. Maniac adds 2.5% damage per stack and turns Frenzy into Fire damage, while Vanguard grants 5% movement speed per stack. Berserk raises the Fury generated to 6, and Sidearm has a 25% chance to throw a piercing axe at another nearby enemy.

Cube powers beside the Horde

The set is often combined with Bastion's Revered, the Ring of Royal Grandeur, Depth Diggers and The Furnace.

by eRnstl