Couple of Frenzy questions

[Dravok]

I've have read Ash's guide about Frenzy barbs (thank you for coming up with the guide Ash before I get started) but I still have a couple of questions. I'm going to go with swords for my barb and was wondering what is the least amount of points I should place in Dex and Str for this build. Also does this build look right or should I try something else:
20 Frenzy
20 Double swing
20 Battle Orders
10 Taunt
10 Sword Mastery
1 Battle Command
1 Beserk
1 Iron Skin
1 Natural Resistance
I'm not sure if Warcry is worth using on a SP or SPL game that I will be playing. Anyway thanks for the advice.

[Herald of Doom]

I made several Frenzy barbs, and imo it's best to use the low str/dex build. Since you don't have a shield, you'll get hit a lot, so you need LOTS of hp. I just took the highest str+dex of my equip (something like 130/100, its been a while), only calculating my anni as an extra source of strenght because I hate it when my weapons dont auto-equip after dying (so my weapon goes in my inventory or remains on the floor, I often didnt notice that, so i was hitting with one empty hand). You can also calculate every +str you have, and then puzzle it, but thats more for pvp chars. Whatever you do, don't pump str/dex for extra dmg/AR ;)

And I think less points in double swing, more in shout. Shout is a lifesaver in some situations.

HoD

[henryshi]

I've have read Ash's guide about Frenzy barbs (thank you for coming up with the guide Ash before I get started) but I still have a couple of questions. I'm going to go with swords for my barb and was wondering what is the least amount of points I should place in Dex and Str for this build. Also does this build look right or should I try something else:
20 Frenzy
20 Double swing
20 Battle Orders
10 Taunt
10 Sword Mastery
1 Battle Command
1 Beserk
1 Iron Skin
1 Natural Resistance
I'm not sure if Warcry is worth using on a SP or SPL game that I will be playing. Anyway thanks for the advice.

Well for one thing, I would max sword mastery. Depending on what weapons u use, the 10 pts into taunt may be a little too much. Be sure to get 1pt into Battle Cry and War Cry. For a barb w/ no shield, those two skills are not only crucial lifesavers but are becoming a staple for frenzy barbs.
I've made quite a lot of frenzy barbs and my latest one, a lvl 90 WW/Frenzy hybrid is my favorite to play with.

He's got
20 WW
20 Frenzy
20 BO
20 Mastery
1 - inc stamina, inc speed, iron skin, nat. resist
1 - leap, leap attack, bash, double swing, double throw
1 - taunt, war cry, battle cry, shout

I didn't put any points into shout because since I had no shield, it would be pointless for me to raise my defense.

i also agree that you should go for a low amount of Str and Dex just to pump Vit.
around 100-120 str
not more than 100 dex
all the rest into vit
base energy

[skygoneblue]

I personally think that with a Mace barb, you could get away with no Dex with the Frenzy build. With a maxed mastery and frenzy/ds, your attack rating will be sky-high anyway.
Plus, like the other guy said, with no shield, you're going to get smacked around anyway. Use the points for a bit of STR and VIT!!!
Also, don't underestimate Warcry. Stunning enemies is very nice for a shield-less character.

[riplix]

warcry, howl and taunt rock so much for an frenzy barb and are also very funny skills to use.

i'd love to try combining grim ward and shout and trap monsters between be and grimward. while they are running in panic u could frenzy them.
might be lil tough but sure a cool barb.
might prolly work better with a pole-barb and max berzerk or ww?
=>
"scary barb"
10+ howl (with +skills u keep em running for a loooong time, but also pretty fast i guess; however your hits will stop em anyway)
10-15 grim ward for good radius
20 berzerk
20 ww
10 weap-mastery

could be kind a fun :cheesy:

[kuza]

Warcry is awesome when mixed intot he frenzy build. at least 8-10 points.

[Dravok]

I may go axe with my frenzy barb too. How much DEX should I invest if I go axe and what are some good axes and swords for a frenzy barb? Also as I level, how should I allocate my stat points? 2 Str, 2 Dex, 1 Vit? 3 Str, 2 Dex, and alternate til I hit the level I need? 2 Str, 1 Dex, 2 Vit?

[troxejas]

Henryshi,

Higher Def=getting hit less often. Since you don't have a shield, wouldn't you want to raise your defense with shout?

Troxey

[Herald of Doom]

I may go axe with my frenzy barb too. How much DEX should I invest if I go axe and what are some good axes and swords for a frenzy barb? Also as I level, how should I allocate my stat points? 2 Str, 2 Dex, 1 Vit? 3 Str, 2 Dex, and alternate til I hit the level I need? 2 Str, 1 Dex, 2 Vit?

There are a lot of options, imo maces are the best for a pvm frenzy barb (schafers+stormlash are really, really nice). Axes, your best weapon would probably be a berzerker axe which would be 59 dex. The highest your dex would have to be for axes would be 67 (tomahawk), the rest is lower.
As for swords:
-Phase Blade requires 136 dex
-cryptic sword 109
-legend sword 100
-Balrog Blade 87
-Champ sword 103
-Col sword 95
-Col Blade 110

I listed all of these because if you use swords you'll want to use a Crescent Moon runeword (shael um tir) , because imo a frenzier needs static, other wise it takes to long to kill a group. I myself really liked the combo stormlash+Nords Tenderizer (both near perfect), they are both really fast and freeze effect+static is sooo tasty.

EDIT: I can't think of anything right now, but perhaps some other piece of equipment needs higher dex then your weapons (not sure , but it could be). You aim ofcourse for the highest dex you'll ever need, not just the weapons (kicking in open doors here, I know)

HoD

[henryshi]

Henryshi,

Higher Def=getting hit less often. Since you don't have a shield, wouldn't you want to raise your defense with shout?

Troxey

Yeh, you are right, but since I never intended to have a high level of defense for my barb, I didn't put any into shout. Since I have a high amount of life (Over 4.5) I don't really die as often. He's lvl 90 w/ 3 skill points left.. any suggestions anyone?

[Dravok]

The reason for my choice for Mastery, Taunt, and Double Swing is that Taunt and Double Swing are the synergies to Frenzy. With each additional point in them, you get an extra 8% to Franzy where Mastery gives 5%. I may just go with Ash's guide and do 20 Mastery, 10 Taunt, 10 Double swing for the extra AR. His guides seem good and I like his Iron Frenzy build. I'm just going to stick with 1 point in shout and Warcry cause I'm sure I'll pick up + barbarian skill items in the game.

[kuza]

You want to max mastery because it gives you AR as well. And your damage is going to suck with frenzy no matter how many points you put into it's syns. Having an 8-10 level warcry means the monsters are stunned for 4 seconds, which means they can't block, run, hit you or pretty much do anything.

I warcry, battlecry, warcry again, then whoop the monsters. And yes, battle cry works with warcry, you'll see them with 2 different curses on them.

[Dravok]

Thanks for the help guys. I was thinking of just using one of Ash's build and was wanting to get a opinion on which of the 3 is a good build. Here they are so you don't have to relook on his sticky:

Iron build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 shout
20 mastery
10 taunt/double swing

Singing build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 mastery
10 double swing
10 taunt
10 War Cry

Max damage build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 taunt/double swing
20 mastery
10 double swing/taunt

The Iron build and Singing build look pretty nice. He doesnt list using Berserk, Iron Skin, or Nat Resistance on them but I hear a point in each is a good idea. Comments?

[troxejas]

Thanks for the help guys. I was thinking of just using one of Ash's build and was wanting to get a opinion on which of the 3 is a good build. Here they are so you don't have to relook on his sticky:

Iron build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 shout
20 mastery
10 taunt/double swing

Singing build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 mastery
10 double swing
10 taunt
10 War Cry

Max damage build
20 frenzy
20 battle orders
20 taunt/double swing
20 mastery
10 double swing/taunt

The Iron build and Singing build look pretty nice. He doesnt list using Berserk, Iron Skin, or Nat Resistance on them but I hear a point in each is a good idea. Comments?


I really like the singing barb. Warcry and Taunt are great skills if you use them right. Run in, warcry, start hacking or run in, warcry, run away, taunt one at a time.
And yes, Iron skin, NR, beserk are all one point wonders.

hope this helps

[Hadriel]

There are a lot of options, imo maces are the best for a pvm frenzy barb (schafers+stormlash are really, really nice). Axes, your best weapon would probably be a berzerker axe which would be 59 dex. The highest your dex would have to be for axes would be 67 (tomahawk), the rest is lower.

HoD

Actually you'll find the Small Crescent axe has a dex requirement of 83.

[Dravok]

Or maybe this build is the way to go:

20 Frenzy
20 Mastery
20 Battle Orders
20 Taunt or Double Swing
1 Double Swing or Taunt (I'm not sure which to choose if maxing one and not going 10 and 10 into each is a good idea)
1 Berserk
1 Iron Skin
1 Natural Resistance
5-10 War Cry

[Dravok]

sorry to bump this up but I'm new to the barb character and would like some advice on this build or maybe get a cookie cutter build I could work from.