Hey guys, I finally picked up a D2 Battle chest a few weeks ago as a early Christmas gift for myself. I quickly looked through the characters and instantly knew that I wanted a barbarian. Before I started to play the game I looked through some forums really quickly to see what kind of barbarians there are to deal with the placing of my skill points, and I picked a frenzy barb. So I finished normal mode a few days ago at level 30, and I've been running through killing the bosses of each Act just to level up and chances of better gear in the acts before I go nightmare. I read somewhere that when you transition to a higher level, you can reset your Stats/Skill points after you complete the first quest, and I was considering doing that to make my Barbarian more, roundabout you might say. I was looking for some help/advice on what I wanted to do
Base Strength - 94 (106 after items)
Base Dexterity - 74 (100 after items)
Base Vitality - 99 (99 after items)
Base Energy - 10 (10 after items)
Charms
Grand Charm of Greed (30% more gold from monsters, got this like, 5 minutes into Act 1 and kept it, will most likely get rid of it really soon since I have like 800mil stashed)
Snake's Grand Charm of Dexterity (6 to Dexterity 24 to mana)
Grand Charm of Dexterity (6 to dexterity)
I was going to try something like this, hoping that It would work? Would this build work in Nightmare, or would I not do enough damage/attack fast enough
I understand that I need 20 in the Wep mastery but I have bounced between Axes and Swords too many times in Normal mode to dump points on that yet. Right now I'm using HellPlague and I'm stuck deciding between Gleamscythe(Tir) and Blood Crescent.
Thanks for reading, sorry this is a lengthy first post and all so I apologize, hopefully someone is nice enough to read it over and help me
I'll link my armor if I need to but I didn't want to make this longer than it already is
20 Frenzy
20 Taunt
1 Berserk
20 Axe Mastery (or other weapon mastery if you want to use another)
1 Iron Skin
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed
1 Natural Resistances
10 Shout
10 Battle Orders
1 Battle Command
1 War Cry
1 Requirements
You still have some little points left. You can spend then in many different places, depending on your gear and your playstyle.
Double Swing: For even better frenzy damage.
Berserk: If you want better non physical damage to deal with physical immunities.
Natural Resistances: If your gear don't give enough +skills or +resistances. But beware of the dimish returns.
Shout: The best option imo. Further increase your defence and your survability.
Battle Orders: If you really need more attack rating.
War Cry: Some little points may drastically increase the effect of this useful skill. I usually spent some points here too since i'm not a fan of +warcries charms.
About items... I suppose you're playing SP so this is irrelevant. Just use w/e you find. Just try to find a little bit of life and mana stolen per hit, damage reduction and then focus on damage and resistances. Crushing Blow is a good investment if you can stack enough.
Also, you can replace the mastery for another type of weapon. On Axe is not a good choice actually cause the amount of one handed good axes are very limited. Swords and maces are actually better.
id actually max battle orders and double swing. 1-5 in natural resists depending on lack of res in hell, and definitely 1 to berserk so you can kill phys immunes. the wsb allows you to hit max attack speed with your glove side weapon, so make sure you hit the breakpoint which i think is 40 ias, the best endgame combo imo is botd/death axes but some prefer grief/grief pbs for more damage. once you get good leech options, just taunt mobs and hold down frenzy for fast killing
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I appreciate the replies but I don't think you guys understand that I am only dealing with 41 skill points since I'm level 38, that I am playing Single Player, and that I am making the switch from Normal mode to Nightmare. That's why I suggested a build (The second one) and listed what I am currently using. I appreciate the replies though, do I need to show/link my armor or does it not matter o.o
Edit: Actually ital knew I am playing SP sorry no offense meant
I appreciate the replies but I don't think you guys understand that I am only dealing with 41 skill points since I'm level 38, that I am playing Single Player, and that I am making the switch from Normal mode to Nightmare.
Switching to Nightmare is not at all as hard as think. With the beginnings of a solid build, even melee characters can handle it well, even with sub-par gear.
Something like this might work, with as many points in Frenzy as is possible for your level. Early Nightmare is easier than Act V on Normal, so it shouldn't be too hard.
PlugY for Diablo II allows you to reset skills and stats, transfer items between characters in singleplayer, obtain all ladder runewords and do all Uberquests while offline. It is the only way to do all of the above. Please use it.
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Something like this might work, with as many points in Frenzy as is possible for your level
I wouldn't waste points in Increased Stamina/Speed since Frenzy provides a massive movement speed bonus on its own. I know you're not level 99, but this is basically what a 99 Frenzy Barb's skills are going to look like, so it may be helpful to look at that and see what you can manage at your level. It also gives you something to build towards, even though you won't ever reach 99 in SP. I'd recommend reading the Frenzy Barb guide on our wiki if you haven't already; it's very good.
Gear
As far as gear goes, the most popular rune words for a frenzy barb will be impossible to make (EBOTD, Death) on single player. I would recommend going with as much life leach gear as possible. You can easily craft some of it using the blood recipes: Blood recipes
So save any rubies you find and cube them up to a perfect ruby and save all the junk jewels you can find. If you are lucky you may even make an ammy with +barb skills. Also look for a Magic Heavy Gloves/Sharkskin Gloves/Vampirebone Gloves to craft some gloves with life leach and crushing blow. Do the same for a belt with a Magic Belt/Mesh Belt/Mithril Coil and you will be much better off. Of course it is possible to find uniques with LL that are better than anything you can craft but it's not very likely on SP.
Stats
If you decide to put a lot of points into battle orders you can get away with putting less points into your health and more into your strength or dex. In the end you will probably want to have ~2500 life (after BO) depending on your gear and how high you get your life leach. Put at least one in battle command and use it before battle orders.
Other
Pick up a Act2 offensive merc from Nightmare. This will give you the might aura which increases your damage pretty significantly. Alternatively if you are dieing a lot get a defensive merc from normal or hell for the defiance aura. Put any unused LL gear on him to keep him alive.
Thanks for the responses guys, sorry been without internet didn't want you to think I forgot or something :x
@Phrozen. Appreciate the build, will most likely be trying this out
@Kickin Thanks for the links! I will be reading these over and be using them to make my build
@Asyn Sorry, I'm really new to the game. What's a runeword o.o Is it a bunch of Runes stringed together to make armor/weapons? Or do you add them to armor/weapons o.o I'll start saving my rubies (If i am lucky enough for them to drop...) and spare junk jewels. Also for the gloves and boots, are the names Magic Gloves/Magic Belt or is that the kind of description you get underneath the name of the belt. Sorry just trying to understand :x. Is any merc from Act2 Offensive? I'm using a Cold merc from Normal act 3 just for the frozen attack he does
Also what is Plugy. Sorry for so many questions, but I appreciate the help guys
PlugY is a mod that works on single player mode. It allows you to have infinite stash and it allows you to respec skills and stats. It also gives you more information on your stats. You can transfer gear from one character to another. It is allows the Ubers and Diablo Clone. It only works on the PC.
Runewords work on normal socketted gear (Grey color) you have to place the needed runes in the right order.
For the crafts you will need to use the exact magic item such as the Magic Heavy Gloves or the exceptional/Elite version of the gloves.
The Act 2 Mercs will give different auras depending on the Difficulty hired and the type. To get the merc to have Might you will need to buy one an Offensive Act 2 merc in Nightmare Difficulty.
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@Asyn Sorry, I'm really new to the game. What's a runeword o.o Is it a bunch of Runes stringed together to make armor/weapons? Or do you add them to armor/weapons o.o I'll start saving my rubies (If i am lucky enough for them to drop...) and spare junk jewels. Also for the gloves and boots, are the names Magic Gloves/Magic Belt or is that the kind of description you get underneath the name of the belt. Sorry just trying to understand :x. Is any merc from Act2 Offensive? I'm using a Cold merc from Normal act 3 just for the frozen attack he does
Also what is Plugy. Sorry for so many questions, but I appreciate the help guys
Yeah that's basically what a runeword is, a set of runes placed into an armor or weapon in a specific order. Check out the Wiki for some examples.
As for the crafting, the names won't say "magic gloves" or "magic belt" it will be the names of the items in blue like: Vampirebone Gloves or Mithril Coil before you identify it. It doesn't matter what the prefix or suffix is, just put the item, p-ruby, jewel and the appropriate rune in the cube and go.
Act 2 Mercenaries come in 3 flavors, Defensive, Offensive and Combat which is stated in the description. The Hell and Normal versions provide the same auras while the nightmare one is different. Full description here: http://www.diablowiki.com/Hirelings_(Diablo_II)
I have about 1k life with BO up, and about 150 Mana. I switch between Shout/Battle Orders/Taunt on the Right Hand side (The box by the mana globe) and I use Frenzy on the left hand Side (The box by the Health globe)
Wanted to give an update/make sure I'm doing it all correctly for now/say thanks to everyone that helped me. I appreciate it
Put a point in Battle Command - you'll only want to put 1 point there ever - and then when you're buffing, use that first to give a skill bonus to BO/Shout. Otherwise, you're looking good, but make sure to pick up a point in Berserk by the time you hit Hell, since you'll start seeing some Physical immunes then.
Put a point in Battle Command - you'll only want to put 1 point there ever - and then when you're buffing, use that first to give a skill bonus to BO/Shout. Otherwise, you're looking good, but make sure to pick up a point in Berserk by the time you hit Hell, since you'll start seeing some Physical immunes then.
Agreed.
Also once you decide whether you want to use axes or swords put at least 1 (or more) points into the appropriate weapon mastery.
On a side note, I use berserk or double swing on left click and frenzy on right. If you right click on empty space with frenzy and hold down the button you can just move the mouse around to direct him and he attacks automatically. Less clicking that way. But whatever works best for you, there isn't one right way to do it.
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Current Build: 41 Points (Level 38)
Bash - 20
Double Swing - 16
Howl - 1
Shout - 1
Battle Orders - 1
Iron Skin - 1
Natural Resistances - 1
Base Strength - 94 (106 after items)
Base Dexterity - 74 (100 after items)
Base Vitality - 99 (99 after items)
Base Energy - 10 (10 after items)
Charms
Grand Charm of Greed (30% more gold from monsters, got this like, 5 minutes into Act 1 and kept it, will most likely get rid of it really soon since I have like 800mil stashed)
Snake's Grand Charm of Dexterity (6 to Dexterity 24 to mana)
Grand Charm of Dexterity (6 to dexterity)
I was going to try something like this, hoping that It would work? Would this build work in Nightmare, or would I not do enough damage/attack fast enough
Bash - 1
Double Swing - 5
Double Throw - 1
Frenzy - 20
Howl - 1
Shout - 1
Battle Orders - 10
Iron Skin - 1
Natural Resistances - 1
I understand that I need 20 in the Wep mastery but I have bounced between Axes and Swords too many times in Normal mode to dump points on that yet. Right now I'm using HellPlague and I'm stuck deciding between Gleamscythe(Tir) and Blood Crescent.
Thanks for reading, sorry this is a lengthy first post and all so I apologize, hopefully someone is nice enough to read it over and help me
I'll link my armor if I need to but I didn't want to make this longer than it already is
20 Taunt
1 Berserk
20 Axe Mastery (or other weapon mastery if you want to use another)
1 Iron Skin
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed
1 Natural Resistances
10 Shout
10 Battle Orders
1 Battle Command
1 War Cry
1 Requirements
You still have some little points left. You can spend then in many different places, depending on your gear and your playstyle.
Double Swing: For even better frenzy damage.
Berserk: If you want better non physical damage to deal with physical immunities.
Natural Resistances: If your gear don't give enough +skills or +resistances. But beware of the dimish returns.
Shout: The best option imo. Further increase your defence and your survability.
Battle Orders: If you really need more attack rating.
War Cry: Some little points may drastically increase the effect of this useful skill. I usually spent some points here too since i'm not a fan of +warcries charms.
About items... I suppose you're playing SP so this is irrelevant. Just use w/e you find. Just try to find a little bit of life and mana stolen per hit, damage reduction and then focus on damage and resistances. Crushing Blow is a good investment if you can stack enough.
Also, you can replace the mastery for another type of weapon. On Axe is not a good choice actually cause the amount of one handed good axes are very limited. Swords and maces are actually better.
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
Edit: Actually ital knew I am playing SP sorry no offense meant
Something like this might work, with as many points in Frenzy as is possible for your level. Early Nightmare is easier than Act V on Normal, so it shouldn't be too hard.
I wouldn't waste points in Increased Stamina/Speed since Frenzy provides a massive movement speed bonus on its own. I know you're not level 99, but this is basically what a 99 Frenzy Barb's skills are going to look like, so it may be helpful to look at that and see what you can manage at your level. It also gives you something to build towards, even though you won't ever reach 99 in SP. I'd recommend reading the Frenzy Barb guide on our wiki if you haven't already; it's very good.
As far as gear goes, the most popular rune words for a frenzy barb will be impossible to make (EBOTD, Death) on single player. I would recommend going with as much life leach gear as possible. You can easily craft some of it using the blood recipes: Blood recipes
So save any rubies you find and cube them up to a perfect ruby and save all the junk jewels you can find. If you are lucky you may even make an ammy with +barb skills. Also look for a Magic Heavy Gloves/Sharkskin Gloves/Vampirebone Gloves to craft some gloves with life leach and crushing blow. Do the same for a belt with a Magic Belt/Mesh Belt/Mithril Coil and you will be much better off. Of course it is possible to find uniques with LL that are better than anything you can craft but it's not very likely on SP.
Stats
If you decide to put a lot of points into battle orders you can get away with putting less points into your health and more into your strength or dex. In the end you will probably want to have ~2500 life (after BO) depending on your gear and how high you get your life leach. Put at least one in battle command and use it before battle orders.
Other
Pick up a Act2 offensive merc from Nightmare. This will give you the might aura which increases your damage pretty significantly. Alternatively if you are dieing a lot get a defensive merc from normal or hell for the defiance aura. Put any unused LL gear on him to keep him alive.
Chances of finding the runes will still be quite low.
@Phrozen. Appreciate the build, will most likely be trying this out
@Kickin Thanks for the links! I will be reading these over and be using them to make my build
@Asyn Sorry, I'm really new to the game. What's a runeword o.o Is it a bunch of Runes stringed together to make armor/weapons? Or do you add them to armor/weapons o.o I'll start saving my rubies (If i am lucky enough for them to drop...) and spare junk jewels. Also for the gloves and boots, are the names Magic Gloves/Magic Belt or is that the kind of description you get underneath the name of the belt. Sorry just trying to understand :x. Is any merc from Act2 Offensive? I'm using a Cold merc from Normal act 3 just for the frozen attack he does
Also what is Plugy. Sorry for so many questions, but I appreciate the help guys
Runewords work on normal socketted gear (Grey color) you have to place the needed runes in the right order.
For the crafts you will need to use the exact magic item such as the Magic Heavy Gloves or the exceptional/Elite version of the gloves.
The Act 2 Mercs will give different auras depending on the Difficulty hired and the type. To get the merc to have Might you will need to buy one an Offensive Act 2 merc in Nightmare Difficulty.
Yeah that's basically what a runeword is, a set of runes placed into an armor or weapon in a specific order. Check out the Wiki for some examples.
As for the crafting, the names won't say "magic gloves" or "magic belt" it will be the names of the items in blue like: Vampirebone Gloves or Mithril Coil before you identify it. It doesn't matter what the prefix or suffix is, just put the item, p-ruby, jewel and the appropriate rune in the cube and go.
Act 2 Mercenaries come in 3 flavors, Defensive, Offensive and Combat which is stated in the description. The Hell and Normal versions provide the same auras while the nightmare one is different. Full description here: http://www.diablowiki.com/Hirelings_(Diablo_II)
Happy to help.
*edit - just realized hans already answered...
Skill Build: http://www.diablofans.com/page/tools/skill/d2-Barbarian.html#101100z00000000011011010100z00l0l0l0l0l0l100100100l00
Stats 95 Strength, 75 Dexterity, 110 Vitality
I have about 1k life with BO up, and about 150 Mana. I switch between Shout/Battle Orders/Taunt on the Right Hand side (The box by the mana globe) and I use Frenzy on the left hand Side (The box by the Health globe)
Wanted to give an update/make sure I'm doing it all correctly for now/say thanks to everyone that helped me. I appreciate it
Agreed.
Also once you decide whether you want to use axes or swords put at least 1 (or more) points into the appropriate weapon mastery.
On a side note, I use berserk or double swing on left click and frenzy on right. If you right click on empty space with frenzy and hold down the button you can just move the mouse around to direct him and he attacks automatically. Less clicking that way. But whatever works best for you, there isn't one right way to do it.