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DO NOT POST "HELP ME WITH MY GEAR" QUESTIONS IN THIS THREAD
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Many things have changed since I've wrote my original "Budget barb Shopping list", as this post was named. Patches, crafting and economy shifts influenced whole game drastically, legendaries became incredibly cheap (just one example, believe it or not cheapest, most crappy IK's chest back then were 20M. Now it's 400K) but also gold got much cheaper, and chances of farming something proper diminished. As result many barbs gear for few billions from day one. This guide will adapt to new reality, it's still great resource for new players with minimal budget, but now suited to advanced gearing as well.

Hello my fellow Barbs.

Since I love to stick on forums and answering lot of questions I keep finding myself in writing same responses again and again. That's why I decided to sum most important things up in one informative post, keeping things as short as possible not to scare you off by wall of text - yes, there is more to it but this basic guidelines should help you make generally usable character. This guide will help you gear your barb properly, you will also find in here: minimal stats you need, how to search/use AH, abbreviations and their meaning, tips and tricks, link to post where nice guys offer free gear to newcomers, YT link to mostly used barb build (still ww), how to gear your barb extremely cheap etc.

TIPS AND TRICKS SECTION____________________________________________

ABBREVIATIONS
STR, VIT - strength, vitality - your primary stats
AR - all resist
BiS - best in slot, best possible
IAS cc chd - attack speed, critical hit chance, critical hit damage
LoH, LS - Life on hit, Life Steal
PuR, MS - Pickup radius, movement speed
IK's - Immortal King's legendary set
EHP - effective health pool - in short you health value combined with your other defenses as Armor and AR
ww, HotA - two most popular barb builds, both love high cc but ww needs IAS as well
dw, 2H - dual wield (usually EF and rare), two hander (usually skorn)
"black weapon" weapon with no elemental damage (dps value is written in common black, no elaborate effects)
Gz, Grz - congratulations
GG, GL, HF - good game, good luck, have fun

TIP - when searching AH don't use round numbers (STR 100, VIT 50) because most ppl do exactly the same. Breaking up round numbers could do wonders on item price and availability(like: AR 48, STR 142, VIT 66), play with parameters, often just a little change can result massive changes results and prices.

RARES - stick to rares if you are on tight budget. They are incredibly cheap and abundant. Your first upgrade from good rare will cost 5 x more, and will bring you 10% of upgrade, if you're lucky.

Amu's, Rings - although cc is still your most important parameter, don't disregard added damage (search for +23 at least or more) it's equally important dps-wise as chd or IAS. Cc is fuel for all barb builds so combine it with either good primary stats, chd or IAS, don't look for all good stats in one item because price of those skyrockets high. Minimum cc I accept on amu is 8.5, on ring more the better.

SET ITEMS - getting 2 of some set may be very good idea because some sets like IK (Immortal King's) or Blackthorne offer good bonuses even with only 2 items - IK's gets you +60% AR and BT gets you +100 VIT. Getting full set is often more trouble then it's worth.

GEMS - don't overdo in quality of armor gems - basic star or flawless star is most you'll ever need. If your budget is good you could go with perfect stars. Radiant stars are only if you want to show off. In helm is slightly more important - but in weapons get as best gem you can find or make - it matters much more there. Making gems yourself is (usually) cheaper then buying them on AH.

PRIMARY STATS- Combining primary stats is important, many of gear you want will have STR and VIT combined. Here is how I do the math, firstly enter VIT blank, then assign minimal STR (like 180) then see what best vit can you get with given str (VIT as search parameter, empty value, arrange by VIT first). Repeat with 170STR, 160STR, 150 STR etc. Memorize combined values of STR+VIT (150/225, 160/212, 170/188 ...) and you'll quickly realize pattern when it becomes inefficient to buy more STR. Most of times, you will get better overall results if you choose lower STR, but for you as barb STR is also slightly more important so you need to balance it out. Most of items I get have STR/VIT combined (helm, belt, boots...etc) so that I can choose most offensive weapons (never pick VIT there, unless perhaps with skorn) jewelry, gloves....

BUDGET RATIOS - Leave 30-40% of budget for weapons. Divide rest by eleven, that is your per piece budget. Save some gold on items you plan to craft (usually shoulders, amu, bracers, gloves) and get basic cheaper versions.

BUILDS - Most popular builds are ww and HotA (and their variations) It would be smart to know what build do you prefer before gearing yourself up, possibly spending hard earned gold. For now let's only mention that ww build needs speed primarily, if you're gearing for ww, get IAS on as many items you can. Also, if you plan to play HotA with skorn, or use ww-rend IAS is recommended (not mandatory though). Otherwise pick ChD rather, because it'll get you better dps for cheaper, still you need sturdy cc to utilize it (over 50% recommended). Ww build is usually done with dw weapons (although there is ww-skorn sub-build which kills with rend skill) and HotA is good with dw or skorn, skorn being naturally most suited but easier permazerking and fast attack speed attract many HotA users as well.

COMPROMISES (PuR and MS) Pickup radius and Movement speed will force you to do some compromises with your barb. In short - you would have better stats and fare cheaper if not for these two. In general you need one item with PR (I prefer 7 but 5 will do as well) because it's pain playing without one and it hurts your farming speed. Plan that purchase ahead and remember then PR items cost 3 - 5 x more then comparable non PR items. Minimum MS bonus to have is 12%. Some people consider that enough, others (like me) don't. If you want another MS item (cap is at 25% btw) you will need to get it either on Lacuni bracers, Inna pants or even Tyriel's chest. First two are best and to find quality versions you'll need 20M gold at least, just to know. For starters 12% is enough.

DEFENSE FIRST - Defense is key to your success as any barb class. Do not chase high DPS without building solid foundation. I would say that 40K health is minimum as a rule of thumb. On high MP or ubers close to 50K health is very nice to have. AR is recommended at 500+ and Armor at least 5K. For survivability LS/LoH is important too. Some stats in this will help you get killed far less.

GEAR SECTION______________________________________________

HELM
Mempo is still nr. 1 choice for barbs, it fits well in ww build, very sturdy offensive and defensive stats. STR versions are very cheap (budget gearing) otherwise combine STR and VIT if you can afford it. Pick IAS 9% if you can, it's pretty important. Don't consider cc version if your budget is not above 4B btw ;) Alternative is IK's helm which has comparable stats but trades IAS damage for cc damage which is more suited for HotA build. Still it doesn't roll ar naturally, so if you want ar version it wil cost you considerably more. Andariel helms actually rolls IAS and cc, weaker on defense but can be great beginners offensive helmet /pick one with as little of "added fire damage" as possible (8% or less) . You can choose between double STR roll (str 250+) AR roll, socket roll, up to you.

CHEST (can be crafted)
Nr 1. pick for almost every barb (except lucky bast ... guys with excellent crafted chest :) is still IK's chest, set bonuses there are hard to pass by. Generally you want 120-170 STR (or more), depending on budget and as more VIT as you can afford. Armor if stat difference is not too high (you usually lose some VIT because of armor, they can have close to 800 or above 600 as is on standard issue) Blackthorne is cheaper, more tanky set alternative with similar stats as rares(BT has nice pants which can fit with budget tanky - ww builds nicely) - and good rare chest is still fit for budget builds. You can get chest like 50-80 STR, 200+ VIT, 60 AR, 200 Armor and three sockets very, very cheaply.

BELT
If you have somewhat better budget and plan ahead you can get famous witching hour belt here. It's especially suited for ww build but it will raise dps of any build. Still losing set bonus possibly and LS point is not small price to pay. Do it only if you have sturdily build and good EHP barb. Alternatively, IK's belt with 190-250 STR + VIT (if you can afford it) is good choice because of IK's set bonus I've mentioned. Budget version is AR Lamentation. Don't forget - LS on belt is a must for a Barb. If you need EHP/Health get some Rare belt with AR, LS and good primary stats, they can have more STR/VIT then legendary belts at lower price. Belt can be good place to get PuR (you can get it on boots, shoulders, even gloves and pants).

(continues in second post...)