Please help me on progressing trough NM...(conc barb)

[DeLuXSKiLLZ2004]

Nightmare Act 1 quest 4
Concentrate Barbarian
Lvl 44
Str 100
Dex 99
Vit 104
Eng 17

Def 795
Stam 272
Life 411
Mana 54

Fire resist 49
Cold resist 37
Lightning resist 51
Poison resist 75

Skills:(without power ups from items
Bash:1
Leap:1
Double swing:8 (started using 2 weapons changed to 1 and shieldafter getting Sigon's Guard)
Stun:1
Leap Attack:1
Concentrate:9
Berserk:1
Sword Mastery:1(don't ask)
Mace Mastery:4(thinking about changing to axes)
Increased Stamina:1
Iron Skin:2
Increased Speed:1
Natural Resitance:5
Howl:1
Shout:4
Battle Orders:7
Battle Command:1

Weapon:
Bloodrise
One-hand dmg: 15-35
+10% increased attack speed
+120% enhanced dmg
50% bonus to attack rating
5% life stolen
25% chance of open wound
+3 to Sacrifice(paladin only)
+2 to light radius
+50% dmg to undead

Helm:
Sturdy Avenger Guard of the Mind
Defense: 63
+2 to Battle Orders
+1 to Increased Speed
+24% Enhanced Defense
+5 to Energy

Shield:
Sigon's Guard
Defense: 23
Chance to block:69% (life saver!)
+1 to all skills
20% Increased chance of blocking

Armor:
Glorious Ancient Armor of the Jackel
Defense: 348
+49% Enhanced Defense
+1 to life
Replenish Life +5
Regenerate Mana 19%
Socketed(1) [Perfect Skull]

Gloves:
Dead Grasp
Defense: 21
10% chance to cast Lvl 3 Nova when hit
+10% faster attack speed
+17 to attack rating
+37% Enhanced Defence
Fire Resistance +15%
Half Freeze Duration

Boots:
Beast Brogues
Defense: 22
+41% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resistance +11%
Poison Resistance +33%
80% Extra Gold
20% Magic Find

Belt:
Strong Plated Belt of Wealth
Defense: 16
+40% Enhanced Defense
72% Extra Gold

Amulet:
Grim Noose
+14 to attack rating
Cold Resist +23%
Lightning Resist +26%
19% Magic Find

Rings:
Ghoul Finger
+10 to attack rating
+2 to Energy
+3 to Mana
Magic Dmg Reduced by 2
36% Extra Gold
8% Magic Find

Rune Loop
+1 to max dmg
+98 to attack rating
+1 to dex
Poison Resist 28%
13% Magic Find

some charms but they don't do much

so now to the point of this post, i want to know what to do with my barb, it's my first time getting to nightmare without using cheats(i played diablo when it came out but i was just playing for the story now i don't feel like cheating and actually acomplish something)
i'm aiming for a Breath of the Dying and an Enigma in the end, but i wouldn't have a clue on where to get the socketed weapons/armors for these two later on in the game, i know where to get the runes because i'm thinking about pit running when i get to hell but also don't know how to get proper gear with enough MF and defense to survive, back to the main point what would you do with this barb? what kind of items should i get and how to obtain them, an estimate lvl to be when i finish nightmare and practically just how to make an uber barb that will survive trough nightmare with little or no problems, also a stormshield would be really nic eventually i really think a shield is heaven sent, ever since i got my sigon guard, act 4 and 5 on normal had become a walk in the park
i have a crappy cold merc from act 3 normal but i'm gonna get one from act 2 nm when i get there also i don'r play on bnet well....not yet that is

[skilledlord]

well...I will try to find out wat kind of mastery u want to do...is ur weap a mace? I generally think swords are better but if u don't have good swords or don't think u will get one, still pick a mastery and pump points into it...it's very important. Even though u wasted some skill points, i dink i will still go with concentrate skill. U'll need a stronger weapon of course, and try getting something with good leech life, u can socket pskulls. also since conc is pretty much a 1v1 skill, i would use howl and have some of the monsters scatter first...i dunno too much about the conc barb, maybe u should look at some guides in the stragety place. ^^

[DeLuXSKiLLZ2004]

well...I will try to find out wat kind of mastery u want to do...is ur weap a mace? I generally think swords are better but if u don't have good swords or don't think u will get one, still pick a mastery and pump points into it...it's very important. Even though u wasted some skill points, i dink i will still go with concentrate skill. U'll need a stronger weapon of course, and try getting something with good leech life, u can socket pskulls. also since conc is pretty much a 1v1 skill, i would use howl and have some of the monsters scatter first...i dunno too much about the conc barb, maybe u should look at some guides in the stragety place. ^^

yeah my weapon is a mace but i heard axes are the strongest one hand damage weapons in the game, if i don't go on with concentrate i will have wasted 10 skill points on it so i think i'll stick to conc but thnx for the advise i think i'll wait a little longer for a barb player to comment on my questions, so far i'm slaughtering enemies pretty easily with an occasional healing potion and lots of mana potions to keep hacking away i really want a good weapon preferably the best available on nightmare but don't have a clue on where to begin

[klago]

yeah my weapon is a mace but i heard axes are the strongest one hand damage weapons in the game, if i don't go on with concentrate i will have wasted 10 skill points on it so i think i'll stick to conc but thnx for the advise i think i'll wait a little longer for a barb player to comment on my questions, so far i'm slaughtering enemies pretty easily with an occasional healing potion and lots of mana potions to keep hacking away i really want a good weapon preferably the best available on nightmare but don't have a clue on where to begin

Don't be afraid to start over.... Usually your first real character is wasted figuring out what skills you want to use...

K.

[marshaldwm2]

It looks like you did waste a few skill points, but don't worry too much about it. Master the character, and try a lot of different things until you figure out waht you like and hten remake the guy. I screwed up my trapsin badly so now I am remaking him fromthe ground up.

[Origin]

wow you seriously need to redo this character.. far too many wasted points :/
for a good conc barb try maxing shout battle command and concentration and also putting some points in warcry (and using one point wonder skills like battlecry taunt howl grim ward and a few points in your mastery)

if you do continue with this one i believe you will have serious problems in hell :/

[c64flash]

I agree with the posters above that you this will not be a über barb because of the wasted skill points, however I also agree that it is not a complete waste since you can experiment a little bit before building that über barb.

What I would do if I were you: at least try to get to act 3 and get an Act 2 defensive merc or offensive merc. After finishing the first 4 quests do some Travical runs in order to gain some levels. If you can kill Mephisto relatively easy, try to get a 3 or 4 socketed armour and a 3 socketed helm (prefarably a barb helm) and put perfect topazes in them for extra MF %. Then start doing Mephisto runs. Nm mephisto can drop some really good items. After you've gathered nice items either proceed or start a new character.

Have fun !

If you play online, what realm do you play on ?

[DeLuXSKiLLZ2004]

I agree with the posters above that you this will not be a über barb because of the wasted skill points, however I also agree that it is not a complete waste since you can experiment a little bit before building that über barb.

What I would do if I were you: at least try to get to act 3 and get an Act 2 defensive merc or offensive merc. After finishing the first 4 quests do some Travical runs in order to gain some levels. If you can kill Mephisto relatively easy, try to get a 3 or 4 socketed armour and a 3 socketed helm (prefarably a barb helm) and put perfect topazes in them for extra MF %. Then start doing Mephisto runs. Nm mephisto can drop some really good items. After you've gathered nice items either proceed or start a new character.

Have fun !

If you play online, what realm do you play on ?

thnx everyone for taking the time to tell me what i did wrong, i think i'll focus on this character a lil longer before i create a new one, i've played so many hours with this barb i really don't wanna dump him just yet i'll try the travincal/meph runs when i get to act 3 i really feel that i can still make a pretty nice charachter out of this but if he really gets slaughtered i'll start a new one or maybe a hammerdin i'm reading good things about this guy

[Stormie]

for a good conc barb try maxing shout battle command and concentration and also putting some points in warcry (and using one point wonder skills like battlecry taunt howl grim ward and a few points in your mastery)
I'll assume this was a typo and you meant to recommend that he max Battle Orders, not Battle Command? Since Battle Command gives nothing for more points except extra duration, whereas Battle Orders gives more life, more mana, more stamina, more duration, more duration for Battle Command, and is a synergy for Concentrate giving another +10% damage per point.

A point in Taunt is invaluable. My Concentrate barb would find Hell 100x harder if I hadn't mastered the art of careful Taunting.

[Stormie]

thnx everyone for taking the time to tell me what i did wrong, i think i'll focus on this character a lil longer before i create a new one, i've played so many hours with this barb i really don't wanna dump him just yet
Yep, stick with it.. you've wasted a few points but I've wasted that many or more and still come up with a usable character. :) What's hurting you isn't your skills, it's the fact that your equipment is really not that great. But, if you're playing untwinked, that can be a fact of life - all you can do is play on, and if it gets too hard to progress, pull back a bit and do some MF'ing to try to improve your gear.

Since you're mostly kitted out in rare gear, it might be worth looking into doing some crafting, if you have the ingredients. Check out http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/crafteditems.shtml for details. I'm sure you could improve your belt and armour with a bit of crafting.

[Origin]

I'll assume this was a typo and you meant to recommend that he max Battle Orders, not Battle Command? Since Battle Command gives nothing for more points except extra duration, whereas Battle Orders gives more life, more mana, more stamina, more duration, more duration for Battle Command, and is a synergy for Concentrate giving another +10% damage per point.

A point in Taunt is invaluable. My Concentrate barb would find Hell 100x harder if I hadn't mastered the art of careful Taunting.

mem... battle orders.. yes.. sorry ^_^