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General Strategies
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Barbarian Strategies |
Get two good one handed melee weapons of the same type that will be your #1 set weapons. These will be your main fighting weapons. You're number two weapons should be a two handed weapon that does big damage first of all, and has alot of stats second. It should be of the same weapon class aas your two number one set weapons. Put a lot of points into the mastery of this type. Your main attack for the two single handed weapons should, or course, be frenzy. Leap Attack out of the way if you get surrounded. The main attack should be berserk for the #2 weapons. Carry around a good shield with high defense and resistances. A Also have throwing weapons because some monsters need to be killed with ranged attacks (monsters that are fire enchanted, cold enchanted, aura enchanted (thorns or holy freeze), and lightning enchanted). You should put points into throwing mastery for these situatuions. I been playing only my barb for a long time, perfecting it. It is level 94 so far and focuses on axes. My two single handed weapons are the Razor's Edge Tomahawk, and the Rune Master Ettin Axe (with a perfect skull, a perfect emerald, a thul rune, a perfect sapphire). I have the Canebeak War Spike, but I don't usually use it. My ranged weapons are the Gimmershred Flying Axe (which is pretty good at harnd-to-hand too), and the Lacerator Winged Axe, the best two in the game. I dont know if they get points from axe mastery and throwing mastery, because it says axe class on the weapons, but it is definitly a throwing weapon. My two handed weapon is the Hellslayer Decapitator, but I also have the Frostwind Champion Axe with a perfect skull, two perfect emeralds, and a Um rune. I have a runeword war axe, Breath of the Dying, and I have a rare Ward, which adds 54 to all resistances (after I put two perfect diamonds in it), and has a defense of 210, among other stats. These are other good weapons for the barbarian strategy above. A good sword is the The Grandfather Colossus Blade (600+ max. damage) and good maces are the The Cranium Basher Thunder Maul (600+ max. damage) and the Earth Shifter Thunder Maul (700+ max. damage), even though it is really a druid mace. Another good shield is The Ward Gothic Shield, or a runeword ancient pledge in exeptional or elite shield. |
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This guide is about the imortal king berserker barbarian my favorite class. I suppose your first question is: Ik maul is 2 handed so i can`t wield a shield and i will get killed instantly because my defense is always zero. how can i play then? Belive me you don`t want a shield! Since your defence drops to zero, blocking might look like a good way of protection, but it causes more problems. Firstly, potentially lower damage. What takes you 2 hits now might take 3-4 to die. Secondly, enemy chance to hit is directly based on your defence and blocking. Basically, it will check your defence first, then if it bypasses defence, it will check blocking. Since berserk = zero defence, all attacks will automatically end up to your shield. This will cause Blocklock, and it's not a good thing to be blocklocked while surrounded by a horde of monsters. Also, notice that little stun around your barbarian's head ? This little thing f around your head, will cause subsequent attacks to make your barb go into STUNLOCK (hit- recovery animation, most often seen if your barb takes a big hit). Being both blocklocked and having a good chance to be stunlocked isn't a good thing at all. So let`s talk about eqipment. you have the ik set. + I suggest the highlords wrath amulet + the raven frost and the manald heal ring. STATS -- Energy: none, dextery: 110 should be enough (with items) as mauls have no dex requirment., Strength: 232 so you can wield the ik armor, Vitality: All left at level 99 should be about 350 SKILLS:-- mace mastery: 20, natural resistance: 3-5 (3 if you have resistance charms), berserk: 20, battle orders: 20, leap attack: 1 (for escaping), howl: at least 5 (crowd control), The rest goes to shout and howl for berserk synergies and for boosting party members an crowd control. You could spend some points into increased speed too, if you want faster running speed. BASIC STRATIGES AND TIPS.--Avoid to get surranded. Get a nightmare act 2 defensive aura mercenary (with holy freeze). (realy helps) Use concantrate or leap attack on magic imunne monsters. Eromort |
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hi to everyone! i am gonna give u what i think is a quite good str 4 an pvm barb.First of all,u should not rush!!!!!!!!!! it is of vital importance that u do allll the quests.not only u get more experience,but u may also find good items.for the first 30 lvls, of course after u have decided what kind of barb u wanna make,the strategy is vey simple.ldont put any skillpoints into masteries because u may change your weapon preferances later on in the game.So,use mostly the common recipe : a good 2 hand and 2 medi 1 hands1.... Now,4 skiills destribution: ithink that its better if u use the 3 warcries shout,BO,and (only 2-3 lvls) battle command. Put at about 7-10 to bo and the same amount to shout. Of course,the above mentioned will be around lvl 50 together with the folowing....Dont waste many skills to double swing,only 3-4 to boost up frenzy,in which i think u should gather arround 13-15 lvls!!!put 10 lvls into n r,and then start using the barbs powerpoints,BERSERK AND WW!!!!!!!!! Those 2 bad chicks,give u lots of sweetness..........berserk either with 1 hand or with 2 hand,deals great amounts of dmg,while ww is good in high lvls 4 fighting large numbers of foes!! Anyway,by this time u should b around lvl 55-60, and u r finally able to choose yr own way of building yr barb!! when u finally find good items, try to stick with them as much as u can!!!! Then of course, is the time to start maxing out masteries and increase yr dmg in high lvls.....my opinion is that 4 2handed, swords r the best especially if u find the sol called barbarian set bul kathos!!!ANY WAY GOOD LUCK Slayer Beorthdast.lvl60 barb 1.5k dmg Europe...... |
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Heres a great PvM or a great way to have fun with melee chars. Its called the Whirl Barb. Max these skills (Sword Mastery, Battle orders, Shout) Put 10 points into whirlwind because more points doesnt improve that much more, put 5 points into natural restances and put 1 point into increase speed/stamina 1 point into iron skin to get natural resitance and 1 point into battle cry to reduce damage and defence to monsters. Stats are easy, 160 str, 150 dex, Rest Vitality, 50 energy. Equipment is not so godly. Sword is either Botd Cb or Last Wish CB, Last wish is better, more damage 50-70% crushing blow, and ingnores targets defence, but slower than botd. Helm is arreats with a 15% ias in it, Ammy is anyting that adds Barb skills +resitances and stats, Shield is Storm Shield with a Pdiamond in it, boots is marrowalks, Gloves is lavagouts for increase speed, belt is verdungos for 40 vit and 15% damage reduce, and rings is 1 raven and 1 manald for mana leech. and charms can be an anny, some Barb charms, resitances, life, and faster hit recovery. Trust me you'll own through hell in any quest with people and you'll be an exellent tank. |
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A FUN barb to play (not an uber tank or a strong dueler, but fun none the less) is a pure Berserk Barb. Raise your weapon mastery (axe is best due to highest one hand damage weapons like ebotd zerker) and shout both till you reach 30. Then put 1 pt into WW and 1 into Berserk (BC and Natural Res with 1 pt also sooner or later). Next step, max berserk. Now the downfall to berserk is that there is no leech with berserk and you have 0 defense no matter what when that little white thing is above your head. That means you will die some to hard hitters. Sooner or later you will have Berserk, Weapon Mastery, Shout, Battle Orders and around 10 into Natural Res. Then whatever you want after that. I have put my last few points into WW. Stats wise, go with what half the people on here say, strength and dex to use your gear, no mana, lots of health…blah blah blah. Gear should be…well…..something good. Leech won’t matter to much when using berserk it has no leech. If I get low, I normal whack or WW a mob for health/mana (hence why I have WW), so a little leech is good. You’ll need a shield that reduces damage. Armor should be enigma or CoH (enigma little better). I went axe and use Ebotd zerker. I also carry lots and lots of poison charms. So I gain a lot of damage from that, plus my bersker does a crap load. Fun, but not the best way to go. Decent in duels, but not the best. DtB_Havoc lvl 94 Barb (US West – Nonladder) |
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shepard barbarian strategy guide: ok, so youve wondered what to do with that large amount of monsters that everyone is having problems with? heres the answer, become a sheperd and herd the monsters. to do this you need to put all your skill points into health for your first 10 levels, then in strength for the next ten, after that put it into mana for the next 15 levels and strength and life every other level. as for special abilities you need to max jump, taunt and howl. get battle cry and whirlwind to 5 then put one into grim ward, increased speed and iron skin. the way to herd is to taunt to make them go away, jump to spred them out, battle cry to make them easier to controll and whirlwind so you have a chance to cut them down to size. grim ward to help with howl and taunt to get a boss off of someone. increased speed to get away from thos eextra fast ones and iron skin so you dont die too fast. get the best armour you possibly can and something to boost your skills, the more the better! |
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The Barbarian is the strongest class in straightforward melee combat. His weapon mastery skills supplement this method of warfare nicely. His Warcries add strength, as well as aiding his allies, making him an effective member of the party as well. Additionally, his Combat Skills aid his natural proclivity to melee combat, particularly his ability to wield two weapons and his abilities in leaping. The Barbarians characteristics can be confusing. Certainly adding to his damage by developing his prodigious strength is always a temptation. Energy would seem to be less of a concern. However, he needs enough energy to use the skills he requires, and it is the least developed of his characteristics. Dexterity is necessary for his attack rating, as well as supplementing his defense rating. He has a strong vitality, but developing it further extends his ability to remain in combat and strengthens his stamina. When looking for items, the Barbarian enjoys a greater flexibility than the other character classes. Starting with a higher strength makes armament less of an immediate problem. As for weaponry, the only weapon he requires is the one for which he has developed skill. Here the only choices are to do more damage with two weapons, retain a shield for magical resistance. Skills - berserk(max), Wirlwind-lv15, sword mastery(max), Battle Orders(max), Battle Command-lv10, Shout-lv10. (make sure u do all the skill quest) i.e den of evil. (if u have any skills left over put them on SHOUT) Stats - str - enough 4 items, - dex - fare bit (for defence), - vit - (max), - ener- (none) Items - armour - Arkaine's Valor, - Enigma (AWSOME), - weapon - Grandfather, - Breath of the dieing (sword only), (have 2 weapons on at once), - helm - Halaberd's Reign (perfect only), - Harlequin Crest (not recemmended), - rings - bk's (for health and cheaper than soj), - amulet - Mara's Kaleidoscope, - 3+ barb skills with resistance, - boots - War Traveler, - belt - Arachnid Mesh, - Verdungo's Hearty Cord, - gloves - random (unless there are gloves that do somtething to barb skills that i havent heard of), Charms - 10 warcry charms, 1 Annihilus, 9 health charms with resistance |
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Poor Man's Godly Barb (it can be done!) -- Heres the barb that can solo hell as easily as normal. Skill points: 20 to a mastery (axe or mace, no sword) 20 to frenzy, 20 to double swing or taunt, 20 to howl, 20 to battle orders, 4 to taunt or double swing depending what you maxed, 1 to bash, shout, increased speed, incresed stamina, iron skin and natural resistance. The only equipment that is vital for this build is a beserker axe or a legendary mallet with the rune word doom. The build is easy scare them away with howl and than kill them in any order you choose with your increased speed and the holy freeze aura catching them is no problem and with the cold damage provided immune to physical isnt usually that big of a deal if your worried about it try and make your other weapon a hand of justice. Battle orders is only needed for boss fights you can get through the thone of destruction (in hell) with only 900 life points with this build provided you have good resistances. Armor means nothing to you always go for resistances. This last bit is if your not that poor of a poor man if you are dont worry about it with just the runeword doom you will already be godly but if you can afford it hire an act 2 offensive merc (nightmare) and give him the runeword pride that way you are affected by a might and a concentration aura at all times and if you choose maces you can add a fanaticism aura by using the runeword beast as your second weapon. You can also hire an act one merc and give her the runeword faith that way you can have a better second weapon but then all you get is a fanaticism aura but at least its a higher level than the other way. |
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Okay its me again AddyisBarb and i have found a way for any barbarian to be godly, USE WOLFHOWL!! If u get it perfect, you are very lucky, but still if u get it at all, u are also very lucky. I have found that using Maras Kalidiscope with Nigma and 2 bk rings (or Soj's if u prefer) can also up the feral rage, werewolf, and lynconthropy skills that come with this godly helmet. If u get all of these with say a 3-werewolf, 4-lyconthropy, and 3-feral rage, u have just made it so u now have a lvl 9 werewolf, lvl 10 lynconthropy, and lvl 9 feral rage. The damage u give plus the life steal, and uped faster/run walk can also be very godly and the attack speed is almost as fast as frenzy is. people say that im crazy because i don't use arreats and i actually have for a while and i realized that wolfhowl with used with the right equipment, can be better than any skill a barb uses (no offends) and delivers the most damage. AddyisBarb, Lvl 87 Druidic Barbarian |
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I have read all the strategies posted on this site and have found them to be little help.... except by one guy named Jeremy or something. Anyway, this specific strategy is for BARBARIAN VERSUS BARBARIAN ONLY!!! 1. First, raise stats to equp necessary weapon; but if u have gear that will increase your stats then don't raise your stats to the exact amount of that weapon. For example if your weapon of choice is an executioner sword, which requires 170 strength and 110 dexterity, and if you are going to use a Twitchthroe then raise your stats to 160 strength and 100 dexterity because the twitch will take care of the extra points. (Same idea if you have many pieces of gear that increases stats). Once you have gotten enough dexterity and strength, put the rest of your points into vitality. 2. DO NOT PUT ANY POINTS INTO ENERGY!!! MANA LEECH WILL BE REQUIRED!!! 3. Leech in duels is very useful. 4. MAX OUT WHIRLWIND, MASTER (WEAPON OF CHOICE), BATTLE ORDERS, 1 INTO BATTLE COMMANDS, 1 INTO NATURAL RESIST, 1 INTO INCREASED SPEED, MAX IRON SKIN, AND MAX SHOUT. IF you say that there is not enough points to max all these skills, then your wrong and you are forgetting the skill point quests in all acts. 5. Right now, I have a level 67 barb on classic, and I waste level 80 and up barbs. Earlier I mentioned I played classic and my gear is the following Skull Bramble Sycthe, Amethyst Havoc Visage, Shadow Necklace, 2 Bitter Holds, Imp Touch, good legit belt, 10 fhr, 55 life, 10 mana, 15 strength, and resistances, goblin toe, and swordback shield when i'm bored i use ame bramble barb and skull bramble sythe and i still rape higher level barbs than me. Keep in mind, when using whirlwing, u have to remember that attack speed does matter with your weapon and if you equip two weapons you will attack 50% faster kevin Arch_Descent barb Arch_Jedah |
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ok start with bash and get it to around level 12 while putting up sword mastery and mace mastery ( you will find out later) and try and find and ok wepon for act 1, dont bother with warcries until you have maxed out whirlwind at leval 50, you dont need bash higher than about level 12 and get about 12 mace mastery and and 10 sword mastery, this isn't based on anyone else's strategy, this is mine that i created as i played and i turned out to be ownage against othre barbs (hammerdins, dont even try to kill them, you wont even touch them) this chaar type wont be the best in hell till about lvl 80 wen you can do battle command and battle orders and shout, they are all nesscesary, i use bitter torc ammy +2 barb skills +17 dex, without it being boosted get str to about 185 by lvl 80, youdont need a high vital cause ik armour will boost it if you can get it, dont worry bout leech items ik does 10% both and you can socket so dont bother, leave mana, dont touch it, my energy is still 10 and i have 150+ mana, whirwind uses like 34 mana a shot at max so you have to get at least all the ik but but body armour to have life and mana leech, for rings i used raven frost (dwarf star) and just a crappy platnum ring (+110+ to attack rating) my str is 185 dex is 145 vital 165 and energy 10 (keep it there) ik sacred armour is a bitch to find and if you do even harder to buy, i use courpsemourn ornate plate (1181+def) and that does me good and the rest is ik for leech and stuff, the ik maul will be ure best wepon if u get even most of set but plate stadard damage is 213 318 or summin like that but wen u put the other ik on you get fire cold poison and lightning damage added, if u cant get ik plate get leviathan also expansive but verygood (1500+def) it dont have may attributes though, ammys i suggest bitter torc, mahim oak curio (i have used both) i use bitter torc for the skill bonus so if you loosely follw this then you should be pretty good around lvl 80+ and even inbetween you will ownage in nightmare against everything, you attack rating may not hitmthe highest but u hit heaps with whirlwind so have fun Milkys_magik lvl 84 whirl barb, 74 hammerdin, 76 fire sorc, 41 summon necro and a noob amazon |
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OK if your are a staring Barb, then here is what you should put your skills into.(Up to lvl 30). Ok so when you start to level, put your skill points in EFFECTIVE attacks. (I've seen Barbs lvl 70-up who still use leap) anyway, you probably want to be a maul Barb because Mauls deliver that most damage when compared to other weapons such as swords or axes. Even though they have a slow attack speed, they prove effective when using WhirlWind or other good attacks. Anyway, if your a starting Barb, put your first 3 levels in mace mastery(you will need it trust me) for the next three levels because you probably wont use them again unless you feel like being a Newbish Barb for the rest of your life. Then, once you reach level 6, put a skill point in shout, which is a warcry incase you didn't know, because it can be really effective online and in story mode. Then keep putting your experience in warcries and just live what you have with your combat skills. Then once you reach level 18, put quite a few experience points in Leap Attack because you can get out of a battle really quickly and if someone is where you are going to land, they will also be attacked. OK for now, just keep putting points in mace mastery, and warcries until you reach level 30. The Move WhirlWind is probably the most used combat skill for a Barbarian. Although if someone attacks you and you might die because you can't use a potion in the middle of a WW and its got the worst attack bonus, it will prove most effective. For now, just keep putting your masteries in mace, Combat in WhirlWind, and Warcries in Battle Orders, Shout, and Battle Command. You should have a pretty good barb when you have a good mace and have maxed WW and mace mastery. AddyisBarb Lvl 60 Barbarian |
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Another suggested on this site that a barbarian can benefit from wearing two sets at one time. apparently it works (at least in normal). also i think that many barbarian fans underestimate the usefullness of barbarian warcries. but no one has been able to explain to me why they don't use them. if that's the case, then where are you guys putting all of your skillpoints? did you max out on muliple weapons masteries? did you put twenty into natural resistance? come on! even two or three points in shout or battle command will benefit you more than maxing out on whatever combat skill that is your specialty. some of you may think that there is no time to pull up the appropriate warcry because the fighting happens so fast. as for myself, i configured my hotkeys and only rely on four different warcries (wist an eye towards skills synergies). then again, some will argue that the battlecry taunt and warcry are not as effective against unique boss monsters. fine. so dont use them. you can still use the others. even if your warcries are only effective against your everyday run-of-thee-mill demons, which i find to be untrue, then there is still use for them. it allows you to be successfull through the game with a one-on-one dueling style barb( good for killing bosses) when otherwise (without the warcries) you would have to create a well rounded and balanced hero with no real specialty. A jack of all trades and a master of none. not good for hell mode, im sure. as for myself, i use warcries to gain an edge when the monsters try to gang up on me (i also equip two weapons with doubleswing) and pull out my favorite two handed sword when fighting bosses. with this approach i am very effective. instead of maxing out on whirlwind i went for shout and berserk. i do not run out of mana because i put stat points into energy, which some of you do not reccomend. well see who gets the last laugh... |
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You know i never see a throwing barbarian on any of these stratageys and they are actually quite effective throwing weapons get bonuses from both strength and dex so you dont have to worry about where to spend points you only need enough strength to use you weapons than use the rest in dex so you hit more often. The skills you will want to use are throwing mastery (as many points as you desire at first max far later) double swing (max) double throw (max) grim ward (5) and frenzy (as many as you want) the idea behind this is that you kill one and use grim ward to keep you safe frenzy gets you attacking fast enough you can kill any normal monster (even in hell) before your ward runs out the only problem is with bosses so a few points in increased speed and natural resistance will take care of that and on side note a few points in leap never hurt anyone (if you have any to spare, its nice but not needed unless your hardcore) and against immune to physical even some basic shocking javelins will make easy work of them. |
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Hi my name is Tyler and i'm going to be giving you strategy to making a Dueling Barbarian for multiplayer online use! 1.)First to start off go through th first couple of quests, get some Experience points. 2.)Next Save up all of your skill points that you get and put them into Shout, Shout increases your defence raiting by a large amount of %. 3.)Next put a few into Any kind of mastery, preferibly the mastery of the kind of weapon you like. 4.)Than with your character points for strength,Vitality exc. Put them all into Strength and Vitality, Vitality will give you a lot of health and stamina. Strength increases your power. 5.)Keep doing those 4 steps until your about level 30. 6.)At level 30 Start using all of your skill points to WhirlWind. Your barbarian spins attacking your enemy many times. 7.)Get the best armor you can find. 8.)For weapons you should get a leech weapon or in other words it takes health or mana away from your opponent. 9.)Get many leech items and be sure to get the ones with the mastery you have. 10.)Finally you should just complete all the quests in sequencial order and do not skip or rush through them, that gives you less exp. points! This is the best strategy for making a Dueling Barbarian! |
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All right for a great DUELER barb you want to do this, Start and Max your weapon mast. Most likely swords or axes(botdzerker). From there u want to put Max Shout, Max WW , Max Bo, and put 1-10 pnts in Iron Skin, 1-5 pnts in Nat resist and 1 point in battle command. Now as far as this stat things go this is a DUELER and so you need DUELER stats. i usually put 90 str (gear gives me the rest from botd ss enigma areats verds) 60-90 dex, the rest in Vitality and No Energy. Then the perferable Gear for a poor person: areats, shaft or levi, ss, doom/flamebellow/ccb/, 2 ravens,string, gore riders, highlords or a rare 1, drac's/soul drainers/ lava gout. Now the Rich person or Well played setup Arreats, Highlords, 2 ravens, Ebotd axe or sword based on your mastery, ss, Enigma, Verds, Steelrends, and Gores or Sands. Booty on East Hc Sadi on West Sc 93 Sorc MediumHotsauce 80 Baba bootys-dueler |
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Hi to all. I am not master of the game but I can help you with some advices. First dont beleive everybody here. If somebody want to say that have perfect strategy than need to have at least 5 barbarians 70+ levels. Than he can say that he knows what he is doing. So i will tell you few advices that i am sure in. I cannot tell you to use ww or frenzy, is battle command good or not. I have my opinion in that but i am not the best here to say that. But there are few things that are really important. Here are a list of things you MUST have: 1. Choose one mastery (only one) and max it - I think (almost sure) that swords are the best 2. Put at least 10 points in Natural Resistances - I like defence so i have 20 3. Put at least 10 points in Iron Skin - I have 15 4. Put 1 point in stamina and 2-3 in speed 5. Never add any point to Magic (you will always have enough) - barbarian is not sorcerer That was 45 point in passive skills that you must have. And now few tips that you can try if you want: * Maxing Natural Resistances will help you much. If you have 20 in resistances you dont need to have armor, sheild or jewelery with resistances. It's better to have good life stealing, added damage or whatever you like. * Same thing for speed. If you have good passive speed you dont need to wear fast walking speed boots. That's wasting of attributes. * Think about of weapon damage (damage and speed). Everything less than fast attack speed is not good. * Till level 50 for every level put points 2-1-2 (2 strength - 1 dexterity - 2 vitality). After level 50 it's up to you. If you like attack then max strength. But i think vitality is what is the most important. But if you think other way dont listen to me. I hate warcries and other spells. I dont say not to use them, but i just like barbarian and his strength, i would like that there is only one tab for barbarian, for passive skills. I use battle orders. But if you want to use that than you will have at least 5-6 points on it. WW, Frenzy and other things are up to you. Try it and and find yourself what you think is good. Listen to others but do what you think. You will cry when you find that you are level 60 and have 10 points wasted for nothing. |
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Ok if your a dueling barb i have probably the ultimate dueling strategy for your barb. First what you should do is max out certain skills nothing else. Max out shout, battle orders, whirlwind, and your mastery ex. (sword). Ok thats ultimate for using in dueling. Now what i would recomend for use in dueling as in weapons in stuff is this. As your sword i would recomend either bramble scyth, doom cleaver and Bramble Barb. As armor definitely a twitch. As a Helmet I would recomend either spirit shell, havoc visage, or beast cowl all ruby socketed. As ammy probably Sneck. Shield is no matter what a Sback. The 2 rings have to be either raven spiral, or bitter hold. Boots i use imp shanks and they work wonders for me. Finally the cloves i would recomend cruel fists, or bloodfists, that is probably the best strategy for a barb items and skills. Now remember this is a barb verse barb i don't know if it's good against pally's and sorcs. Jeremy |
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Wow, I think I've got it!!! I can't believe it took me this long to find it, but I believe the answer to a kick-ass barb is to build it backwards, and use synergies to carry the load!!! What?? You say. Am I on crack?? Nope, here is my strategy. 1) - This strategy if for a player who wants to start fresh, do all the campains (no rushing), and does not have a stash to draw from from other characters. 2) - Concentrate is my main attack. Everything else is built around this. Every strategy I've read stresses maxing a mastery. But I found, that after level 1, you can get the same if not better results from other skills and synergies. If you don't mind using your belt, and having to hit monsters a few more times at early levels, this strategy rocks. 1st 30 levels.... 1 point into a weapon mastery, or even 1 point into 2 masteries for flexibility. 1 pt into Bash, Leap, Stun. Leap Attack, Concentrate, Berserk. 1 pt into Stamina, Speed, Iron Skin, Natural Resistance, 1 pt into Howl, Find Potion, Battle Command. 12 points into Shout!!! The rest into Battle Orders After level 30.. max out Battle Orders, Shout, Iron skin, and add 2 or 3 to natural resistances I know, you still think I'm crazy!!! But here's how it works. 1st, maxed howl and Battle Orders gives you 5 minutes in each, and 3 minutes in Battle Command. Shout adds 10% damage per level to Berserk (for those immune to physical monsters) Battle Orders adds 10% damage per level to Concentrate!! (Compared to 5% for extra mastery levels) Next step is to max Concentrate. My goodness, and you never maxed one mastery, but you can deliver damage with the best, and your defence is 2nd to none. Finally, you can divy up your remainig points between masteries or Leap attack, depending on you style of play. I currently given up on my level 73 and 65 barbs, and am finding this strategy to be a walk in the park. Believe it or not, I'm finding the further I go, the easier it gets! Try it, you might like it! |
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A few suggestions and comments on building barbs. All these suggestions are for Barbs that are starting from ground zero, and are playing the quests either alone or in groups. If you are rushing your character you can skip this posting entirely. A monkey can rush a character, but can you do all the quests? General 1) - Decide before you even leave the Rogue Encampment for the first time exactly what kind of Barb you are going to have. Nothing worse than not knowing where to put a skill point, then finding out later you wasted one. I separate my barbs into these characters. Weapon/Shield or 2 handed Weapon, Dual Weapon, Throwing Barb. I have the weapon/shield and 2 handed weapon barbs in the same category because the strategy for both is the same, one gives you better defense, the other greater damage. I tend to have a 2 handed weapon as 1 set, and a weapon/shield as my alternate weapon set. 2) - Pick a weapon and STICK WITH IT. Basic stuff here. I'm not going to argue which weapon is the best, because we all have our preferences. The point is you definitely want to max out ONE mastery. 3) - DO NOT try to be too well rounded, I find the barbarian (and most other characters) are at their peak when you narrow down your range of tactics, and focus on the few rather than the many. Skill Points (where should your skill points go?) 1) - Put zero points into a skill that you will never use. Sounds simple, but it amazes me how many people waste points on stuff that they never use. IE -If you use a 2 handed weapon, why waste points on double swing or frenzy??? 2) - As mentioned, always max out one mastery, and one only. 3) - Warcries??? Here is where I find the range of opinions amazing. Some hate 'em, some swear by them. I'm convinced that detractors of warcries simply hate having to do extra actions!!! Warcries can be effective, but for heavens sake set up your keyboard so that you use keystrokes to activate warcries. Find Potion - Even if you hate warcries, put 1 point into find potion, even if only to keep dead guys dead! I personally did not feel the need to add any more points. If I want more potions, I kill more monsters, plain and simple. There are many places to go and mine for rejuvs if you need them, and whether you have to kill 50 or 100 monsters to fill you belt really is a small point. I simply can't believe the amount of post I have read suggesting you max out Iron Skin, but ignore warcries. OK, here's some simple math for you. 20 points into iron skin adds 220% to defensive rating. Those same 20 points can be used this way... 1 into iron skin. 1 into Howl, 1 into Battle Orders, 1 into Battle Command and 16 into SHOUT!! This gives you +250% defense from shout, and another 30 from 1 level Iron skin. Plus you get BO and BC to boot. At level 16 (plus bonuses for BO and BC) should lasts for 3 minutes, so complainers of having to activate defences can be mollified. Also, with level 16 shout, BC and BO now have bonuses that make them last for 2 minutes. Also, if you ever play in a party, shout will make you a hero!! For the life of me, I can not figure out why anyone would ever put more than one point into Battle Command. All extra points do is add duration, but if you have enough points in shout (or Battle Orders) duration is taken care of. Battle cry is nice, but I never found it lasted long enough to suit my needs. 4) - Masteries For the third time I'll say this, pick one weapon and max out the mastery on it. Iron skin is great, you absolutely need the first level here. I recommend additional points into Iron Skin after Shout is maxed. See above strategy for reasoning behind this. Natural resistance. I would not put more than 2 or 3 points into this, as later on it just becomes less and less worth it. Once into nightmare and beyond, you will find items that increase your skills. Stamina and Speed. 1 point only. Nice to have, but you are a barb, you have stamina coming out you wazoo in no time! 5) Combat skills (where the real decision making is done!) Bash, Leap, Stun. You need them as prerequisites, but I see no need for more than one. Double swing/Double throw. 1 point each. Maxing out your masteries is far more benificial. After that, you will have juicier skills to put points in. Leap attack. I love it, I use it a lot, I max it!!! Concentrate. In my mind, this is the best skill for single weapons. At only 2 mana to use, this should be your normal attack at all times. Frenzy. The goal of the dual wielding barb should be a maxed out frenzy, else why bother with 2 weapons? Whirlwind and Berserk. Cute, nice, but not for me. I find Concentrate and Frenzy more effective in the 1v1 battles vs bosses, and I have no problem picking off mobs 1 by 1. The first time I reached Hell I found out wasting points on these skills prevented me from being able to do REAL damage! I was a level 72 barb, and couldn't even get past Blood Raven in Hell. Now, I have a level 65 barb who is far tougher than that, simply because I focused more on concentrate, 6) Monster Immunities. Fairly simple to deal with actually. Simply hang on to an extra weapon or two, and switch to it when you face a monster with a particular immunity!!! As a barb, your nastiest foe will be immune to physical. So, really, all you need to focus on is saving a weapon (or 2) that can deal with this. Berserk can deal with this, and if you like berserk kudos to you, but it's not my bag. That's about it. Now pick your poison and have at it!!! Notice I spent no time on items??? That's right, because you character should be item proof!!! I've read a lot of posts detailing which items you should get and why, but they all fail to adress the fact that those said items are NOT for sale, and require a lot of effort to find. Remember, we are taking the long, hard route here, and need a characted that can endure all the acts. Other questions like do I opt for a damage weapon, or do I use a leeching weapon. Should I focus more on offence, defence or balance both?Blah blah blah!!! Simple, decide which one you LIKE the best, and go with it. There is no definite better or worse for offense or defense, it's simply up to you and the style you play! My LVL65 Barb has the following, and I have never been happier with a character. 1 point into each of the following. Bash, Leap, Increased Stamina, Increased Speed, Iron Skin, Find Potion, Howl, Battle Orders, Battle Command, 3 points into Natural resistance, 11 points in Leap Attack, 15 points in Shout, 15 points in Concentrate. I basically use leap attack and concentrate, and seldom find myself wanting. Good luck and good hunting! |
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This is for thrower barbs only You obviously max out throwing mastery. For Combat skills you max out double swing, NOT DOUBLE THROW. maxing out double throw only gives you more attack rating, and thanks to the synergy skills, double swing adds damage to double throw. Plus, at max level, double swing costs no mana and will almost never miss. you can max out frenzy if you want but the essential skills to max out are THROWING MASTERY AND DOUBLE SWING. |
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Whirl wind is only good if ur using dual swords or pole axe. put max out your mastery and concentrate (with good sword does 200 - 800 at level 14). Max out natural resistance and only 10 to iron skin. and put a few to berserk because its a pure magic attack and some monsters are imune to physical |
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I got a level 74 barb and here's what i did.... Max Mastery (I went with polearm)... Max BO, 1 point to Battle Command, WW at lvl 17... but max eventually, put 1 point to everything on the combat masteries section (excluding weapon masteries except for your main weapon which should be maxed), later, add to stone skin and get resistance up to 10 (after 10, you get very little from adding to it). 1 point to leap attack. I put NOTHING to double swing and that section of the tree.... the other stuff is better.. use your skillpoints for the other stuff instead. Strength, enough to use your gear... mine is 190 before added bonus's... Dex, enough to use your gear AND keep your AR above 2,000. Energy = NONE, Vitality = everything else. Start out putting everything to Strength until you get it to 70... then spit it up after that between Str, Dex, and Vit. Gear, I use Bonehew Axe currently, IK Belt, Gloves, and Helm.... but just get what you can for now... it's not easy to get all the perfect gear. Just worry about gear later once you have built the barb more and know what you need. Lvl 74 Barb USWest Ladder (season 2) |
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well, hi all, now to tell you i really like d2 and specialy barbs....OK, to make *THE* ultimate barb u need these: about 190+ str 120+dex 250+vit N~O ene serious...with leechs no probs. u need that str cuz more str = more dmg but not that much (ne wayz with storm shield gives 30 str its gonna go coo) now skillz.... MAX- ww // MAX- masterie(preferably swords) // MAX- bo // 15- nat res // 10-15 stone skin // reste split in running and other war cry's OK now the ITEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there 2 sets 1 is for poor ppl other for rich bastards poor one helm*arreat* // armor *shaft* // shield*storm* // belt*string* // sword* ccb/doom/fury // gloves*venom* // boots*gore riders / war traves // OK rich set....helm*ber'd perf vamp // armor*0.8 valor // sword*ith cb) // reste same as poor one o and rings and ammy's sry.... LL rings (8+)and cresent mooon :) OK FOKX that all good luck dueling and good luck with all 91 barb, 99sorc, 79 zon, 99 zon (bow) |
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Click here to read previously posted Barbarian strategies |
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