Questions About The Conc Barb

[tmorrow]

I've played a few characters, but never a barb before. I recently started a barb, following Halciet's excellent Conc Barb Guide at http://www.unc.edu/~jpurvis/conc/main.html. There were a couple of key points I couldn't follow.

Firstly, under the weapons section Hal states "Regardless of what mastery you go with, you’re going to want two echoing weapons on the switch for using your warcries". In the next paragraph he refers to good main weapon choices like "Crescent Moon" or the godly "Breath Of The Dying" runewords (oh if I could ever find the runes for this baby).

The implication here is that you can switch to your 2 echoing weapons, cast your warcries, then switch back to your main weapon(s) without the effect being lost. Is this interpretation correct? Also, at what clvl do echoing weapons start appearing in shops?

Secondly, under gameplay tips Hal says "Enter the battlefield, cast Battle Command twice, then Battle Orders and Shout, and go to it". Why cast Battle Command twice? Under the Battle Command section there is an explanation I couldn't follow. Can someone explain in more detail what is happening and how it works?

Thirdly, I've made it to Lvl 20, half way through Act 2 Normal. Following the guide I haven't put any Stat points into Energy. After casting Shout and swinging with Concentration, I run out of mana real quick. Will this problem go away at higher levels or am I doing something wrong?

[Halciet]

1. Yes, you are understanding this correctly. You can start to shop echoing weapons off vendors once you get to around 65 or so, if I recall correctly. usually, by the time you get to hell difficulty (act 4 or 5 usually), you'll be able to shop them.

2. I say cast it twice, because on the first cast, BComm will raise all your skills by one. Then, when you cast BComm again, it will be cast as one level higher, netting you a few extra seconds on duration. It doesn't really make much of a difference, I just do it out of practice.

3. Putting points into energy is going to get you ONE mana per point. ONE. That's not going to help you at all. Your mana problems will be solved once you get ahold of an item with mana leech on it and start to do a fair amount of damage; mana leech will restore your mana on each hit, meaning you'll never run out of mana unless you get hit by mana burn. Even then, you're attack skill only costs two mana, and your warcries will be lasting 5-8 minutes or so, so you'll be fine.

If you're on the realms, check around in the trade channels for a ring called "Manald Heal." It only requires level 15, and has a good amount of mana leech on it. It's also very common, so you should be able to get one very, very cheap.

-Hal

[tmorrow]

Thanks for the explanation Halciet, it makes perfect sense to me now. I found a 3 socket interim Crystal Sword that I socketed with a skull and high damage jewel while I wait for a decent unique/rare to come along. The life and mana leech made Duriel a pushover. On the quest drop Duriel gave me the best items ever for that point of the game - 2 uniques (Darkglow and Swordback Hold), 1 set (the common Isenhart's Horn) and 1 rare - me and my merc are wearing all of them now. It's not often that all of the drops are perfectly suited for your characters.

I'm now in Act 3 and War Axe's are now available in the shops, so things are looking up.