I have a lvl 30 singl player hardcore barb, need help

[JoeSKolnik]

I really dont know where im going. Here are my stats

strength: 90
Dex: 60
Vit: 75
NRG: base

Skills
Howl 1
Shout 20
BO: 3
Iron Skin / Nat Res / stamina / speed: 1 each (no weapon masteries yet)
leap/ bash / stun / conc / berserk: 1 each


Right now Im in act 4 normal, just killed Izzy. Im using conc as my main killer, and with defiance merc, concentration, and shout my defence is like 2000.

Should I go concentration or berserk for hardcore? Can I go both? I was gonna max BO next, and max a weapon mastery last, and somewhere in betwee either berserk or concentration.

BTW I have no problem killing things, just some bosses take a little long (especaily in players 8)

[yetidiah]

I recommend getting battle cry and taunt ASAP, my experience is from softcore, but I think berserk is an alright choice, concentrate can work but its damage is kind of lacking. With berserk you get no leech so be prepared for that, and a lvl 1 concentration with maxed BO gives 275% enhanced damage but only gets 5% each level after that. Unless your entirely against it, I think WW/Berserk(10pnts WW and 10-20berserk) might be ok too.

[tigercan]

I'd be tempted to go with Berzerk as I don't have the patience to slowly chip away at enemies like you'd be doing with Concentrate.
Of course if you're maxing berzerk it's also a good idea to have a high level of War Cry to help keep you safe.

I wouldn't bother too much with a weapon mastery if you do go berzerk as it does pretty decent dmg on it's own. If you go concentrate then you'll need all the extra dmg you can get.

Keep in mind that you're not leeching with berzerk, so you need a decent source of mana to keep it going. Crafted items with + to mana when you get hit are handy, or if you're using RWM to enable ladder only runewords I'd definitely get a hold of an Insight polearm for your merc. That'll solve all your mana issues (until your merc dies on you anyway)

Nightfish has a fantastic berzerker guide somewhere - probably in the SPF build guide stickies. I'd recommend checking that out if you do end up going the zerk route