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MotE Seismic Slam Barbarian Guide

Last Updated: January 10th 2024

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Introduction

MotE Seismic Slam Solo Push

With Reapers of Souls release, Might of the Earth got introduced to the game and instantly became one of the strongest Barbarian builds out there for T6 farming. In conjunction with its supporting item Lut Socks, the build quickly earned its gimmicky "Leapquake" nickname.

While the set was originally intended for Earthquake builds, Seismic Slam got incorporated into Might of the Earth to create a new build variation using the set.

Unfortunately, while offering a very unique ranged playstyle, MotE Seismic Slam has never been the top dog on the Barbarian leaderboards, despite holding a decent potential with a (6) Bonus granting a whopping 20,000% damage multiplier since Season 16.

Most recently with Season 19, Fjord Cutter got reworked and Bracers of Destruction buffed. Season 23 offered unconditional MotE players the chance to shine with the addition of Set specific leaderboards! Finally, Season 30 nearly doubled the (6) Bonus damage multiplier to help out the set be competitive!

This is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Seismic Slam can proc it. This is further enhanced by the high damage multiplier from Bracers of Destruction (see Mechanics) in combination with the crazy Attack Speed granted by Fjord Cutter, allowing for great burst damage. This guide will explain everything there is to know for you to master this unique ranged Barbarian and conquer the Might of the Earth leaderboards!

Flavourful ✔
Fast Paced ✔
Ranged Playstyle ✔
Have Fun Leaping Around! ✔

Static Playstyle
Limited Item Options
❌ Band of Might Dependency
❌ Damage Caps at 10 Monsters

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • The Might of the Earth (6) Bonus is where the majority of our damage comes from.
  • We add that up with Bracers of Destruction, Fury of the Vanished Peak and the relatively new Fjord Cutter to further increase the damage, attack speed and reduce resource costs.
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings set is used for a great damage buff and the crazy cooldown reduction it provides for our Wrath of the Berserker (WotB).
  • Echoing Fury is nice to have for additional Attack and Movement Speed.
  • Mortick's Brace is a nice overall stat boost with Life per Fury Spent and additional toughness.
  • Convention of Elements for multiplicative damage and Band of Might for toughness.
  • Endless Walk for good offense and defense
  • Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac can be a nice alternative for cooldown reduction but you have to drop the damage multiplier from either Captain Crimson's Trimmings set or Convention of Elements to equip it.


Season 30 Soul Shards

Soul Shards are powerful socketable items that initially dropped during Season 25 but they are returning for Season 30! There are 4 available for Weapons based on the Lesser Evils, with another 3 for Helmets based on the Prime Evils. They drop at Rank 0 and be upgraded three times with the brand new Hellforge Embers to unlock additional powers, or be used in the Kanai's Cube as Augments. Here's how they progress:

  • Rank 0: Soul Shards begin with a unique static Legendary Power. Creates a Rank 50 Augment.
  • Rank 1: Gives all powers from the normal gems. Creates a Rank 75 Augment.
  • Rank 2: Grants one additional powerful stat. Creates a Rank 100 Augment.
  • Rank 3: Unlocks 1 of 3 bonus Legendary Powers unique to that Soul Shard. Creates a Rank 125 Augment.

Warning: Leoric's Crown and Broken Crown do not work with Soul Shards!

Read our Soul Shards Guide written by Chewingnom for full details on how they work. What you should prioritize on them for Solo Pushing is the following:

  1. The Correct Soul Shard & Rank 3 Power
    The best shards for Solo Pushing are:
    • Helmets: We want to use Sliver of Terror for the massive damage buff from our abilities on cooldown. For the Rank 3 power take the Ring of Fire to unleash a devastating AoE blast for big leaderboard pushes!
    • Weapons: We want to use Essence of Anguish for the Movement Speed and Cooldown Reduction. For the Rank 3 power take the 50% increased Poison Damage, which actually applies to all damage done! Hint: Make sure to get a Poison Damage Range on your Weapon so it can proc the shard automatically.
  2. The Rank 2 Stat
    The stats that come from the second upgrade are not equal. Here's what we're looking for on them:
    • Helmets: We want either Main Stat for damage or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction to survive. Avoid Armor and All Resistance as their stat ranges are far too low compared to the other options.
    • Weapons: We want Cold Damage to boost our character's power the furthest, although Critical Hit Chance is not too far behind. Avoid Attack Speed and % Damage because they only buff one of our two Weapons.
  3. The Stat Ranges on the Rank 1 and 2 Powers
    This is just icing on the cake because the ranges will not make or break your build. Still, look for the Soul Shards with the best stat ranges, especially on the offensive stats.

For the other game modes, other Soul Shards can be used. Check the Variants below to see what's used there.

What about extra Soul Shards? Either salvage them for gems, or upgrade and use them in Kanai's Cube for Augments.

Seismic Slam Attack Speed Breakpoints

Global Stat Priorities

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Cooldown Reduction, Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Attack Speed, Area Damage as well as Cold Damage and Seismic Slam Damage. Make sure to optimize your Attack Speed to reach certain Breakpoints. A single 7% Attack Speed roll on your gear allows you to land on the 13 / 14 frames Breakpoints thanks to Echoing Fury.

Aim for around 55-60% Cooldown Reduction to ensure a decent Wrath of the Berserker uptime using Boon of Bul-kathos and potential complementary items like Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac. Area Damage is still very decent in this build and should be stacked on items like Shoulders and Weapons if possible.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
Echoing Nightmare
Group or Solo Speed Greater Rift

Concept
This build can be played both for solo or for lower group speed Greater Rifts. We play a ranged Barb and can either have a teammate group up enemies for us and keep them at distance or we do it our self by using Leap Call of Arreat and hit them with long ranged Seismic Slam Permafrost.

Gameplay
With In-Geom and Furious Charge Merciless Assault combined we are able to move around quickly! Start by grouping up a bunch on monster with Leap Call of Arreat and use Call of the Ancients Ancients' Fury to regain Fury. Once monsters are grouped up activate Wrath of the Berserker for more damage. Run or Leap out to create some distance for No Escape and Zei's Stone of Vengeance for an additional maximum 2,34x damage multiplier. Now burst them with Seismic Slam Permafrost on your Cold rotation of Convention of Elements.

Setups
Feel free to switch Threatening Shout Falter into Battle Rage.

Solo Push

Concept
Here we focus mainly on trash monsters while we damage and drag Elites along in open maps to finish them off with a sick Conduit Pylon enhanced by The Flavor of Time. Of course we have to add Bane of the Stricken to be able to kill the Rift Guardian.

Gameplay
Keep Battle Rage up at all times and create huge pulls by using Leap Call of Arreat. Run to create some distance for No Escape and Zei's Stone of Vengeance for an additional maximum 2,34x damage multiplier. Now attack the enemies with Seismic Slam Permafrost for massive Area Damage. Keep Wrath of the Berserker active as often as you can and avoid to move around to much to keep the offensive buff from Endless Walk.

Setups
Feel free to to drop Captain Crimson's Trimmings to take Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac for cooldown resets and add a Pride of Cassius together with Ignore Pain instead of Threatening Shout Falter for more toughness.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is good for this game mode. This Build utilize the Speed Greater Rift setup with a one tweak.

Changes

  • No changes needed.

Gameplay

  1. Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
  2. Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
  3. After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
  4. At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

With In-Geom and Furious Charge Merciless Assault combined we are able to move around quickly! Start by grouping up a bunch on monster with Leap Call of Arreat and use Call of the Ancients Ancients' Fury to regain Fury. Once monsters are grouped up activate Wrath of the Berserker for more damage. Run or Leap out to create some distance for No Escape and Zei's Stone of Vengeance for an additional maximum 2,34x damage multiplier. Now burst them with Seismic Slam Permafrost on your Cold rotation of Convention of Elements.

Mechanics

Bracers of Destruction

Summary

  • Lack of large AOE damage due to Bracers of Destruction limitations.
  • A half decent trash killer with nice benefits to the entire group with the different Shouts.
  • Fun and unique ranged Barbarian playstyle with Leap.
  • The Earthquake version of the build is not very viable at the moment.

The Seismic Slam build can be fun to play but is far behind the other top Barbarian builds like the Whirlwind Rend Barb. Let us hope we can get some nice additions to the set in future patches!

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Wrath of the Wastes set.
  • Overall very powerful build that can be used to farm anything in the game without changing gear too much!
  • Very tanky and hardcore friendly especially with the Band of Might setup!
  • The strongest solo push build Barb currently has!
  • Easy to play the base version but difficult to master in Solo Pushes!

Credits

Written by Rob. Introduction by Chewingnom.
Reviewed by Northwar & Raxxanterax.
Shoutout to Rage for additional insights on mechanics and endgame push variants.
Updated by Rob.

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