New to Barbs...

[TheHeretic]

I have read the the listing up top of the forum. I have never done a barb before and was more looking at what you guys think is a better barb for someone to try out with.

I have Sorc and Amazons in Hell and Assasins and Necro's in nightmare. I was just curious as to what is some of the better ways to do do this type of character.

Thanks for any info that you are willing to give.


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[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

It really depends on what kind of character you want to try out. The safest of the barb builds listed is probably the Concentrate Barb described in Hal's guide. However, that is a rather slow build, and you may become frustrated with it given the much quicker killing speeds attainable with your sorceress or amazon.

Whirlwind Barbs are a pretty good mix between killing speed and survivability, especially if you chose to go with a shield and a high block rate. Using two weapons or a two handed weapon ups the killing speed but decreases the survivability - it's up to you to decide whether or not it is worth it.

Frenzy Barbs do some serious damage and are very fast. They don't have quite the survivability of the previous two, but make up for that in the sense that they usually kill quicker.

Berserker barbs utilize the barbarian's most potent single enemy attack. However, they also get hit a lot due to berserk lowering your defense to zero. Damage Reduction gear is pretty mandatory with a berserker, and so that's probably not your best choice without some twinking gear.

[Ed from Russia]

I'd go for a Frenzy / Vita Barb to start with. They're don't require exceptional gear and are fun to play.

The skill setup is something as follows: 20 Frenzy, 20 Double Swing (synergy), 20 BO, 20 Sword/Axe/Mace Mastery, 5-10 Natural Resistance, rest in Taunt (synergy).

For stats, the trick is to get as much as possible in Vitality. Because the Barb gets 4 hits points per point in Vitality this will give you an insane amount of life (with BO). You're not using a shield so Dex stays low, and energy stays at base (you need leech). Strength depends on the gear you are using. At this moment I have an untwinked Frenzy Barb with strength 125 (enough for Naga withouth improvement, and Berzerker Axe with some +strength from equipment). I'm still in mid-NM but its life (without BO) is already 1200. With BO it will be about 2000.

[sirwhere]

Damage Reduction gear is pretty mandatory with a berserker.

That's only if you never heard of skills like warcry or battle cry. Spam a lev 15warcry in the middle of a bunch of monsters and whack away happily ever after.

You can get away with 2000 life, 0 block and 0 reduce if you put 15 into warcry. If you prefer battle cry, then I recommend -DR items (not -DR%!!).

[canudig]

frenzy or WW...I'd go WW because it is pretty simple and easy

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

That's only if you never heard of skills like warcry or battle cry. Spam a lev 15warcry in the middle of a bunch of monsters and whack away happily ever after.

You can get away with 2000 life, 0 block and 0 reduce if you put 15 into warcry. If you prefer battle cry, then I recommend -DR items (not -DR%!!).

Hmmm... Yes I suppose that's true. Although you probably would need both war cry and battle cry, as the former doesn't work against bosses/champs/uniques. Then again battle cry is useful even with just a point.

I also generally agree that -DR would be more useful than -DR%, unless you can get a lot of -DR%. If you can get up near the 50% cap, it's quite useful. If you don't have the gear to start with, it is probably easier the get -DR% too. Of course, nothing prevents you from using both types of DR gear. Since damage reduced by X is taken before %DR, the more damage reduced by X gear you get, the less important %DR becomes.

[sirwhere]

Well, I can assure you warcry works very well. Got a goldfind berzerker with 60% block and no -DR or -DR% and he's never in trouble. With synergized prayer/insight merc, even hitting the juvie key is rare ;)

[Majaii]

My vote's for frenzy, just get as much life leech as you can, and follow what Ed from Russia said, and you'll do fine. Imo it's also the most fun barb build as well, you get to whack at stuff really fast, kill fast, and run really fast too. Great fun.

-Majaii

[SicHalo]

imo shield is a waste of time in pvm all u need is a little pdr which can be got at items like shaftshop etc or vapire gaze or verdongos/ string of ears.

As barbs usally tend to have high hps 4-5k + etc meaning u have enough survivabilty.

Also once u use items with mana and life leech u should be ok.

Frenzy does do more dmg and is also usefull i find for mobility without enigma due to fast running speed as well as u can do uber runs.

Whirlwind is easier and more controled and is better for pack control, i.e in cow lvl whirlwind deals with crowds much easier and does alot of dmg, again duelwield ww is better.