Building a barb

[Psychic_sumo_ninja]

Hey all, I’ve been playing D2 Exp for at least a month now, so I’m still quite a newb
I started a Barb yesterday and am in Kurast right now. He’s lvl 22 and is majoring in axes.

Skill pt distribution:
Axe mastery:10 pts(coz they just look so cool ;) )
Shout: 2 pts(+ 1 prerequisite)
Concentrate:1 pt(+ 2 prerequisites)
Leap attack: 1 pt(+1 prerequisites)
Increased stamina: 1 pt
Iron skin: 4 pts

As you can see, I have no clear idea as to what I’m doing and need help. :blink: I just need help on the following. Bear in mind that I only play SP:
>What exactly does concentrate do? I didn’t quite understand it.
>Can I go for some whirlwind build? Isn’t the mana cost way too high?
>What are the advantages of a berserk build? I believe it gives massive Magic damage.
>I just don’t want to go for a warcry barbarian or a frenzybarb. What choices are left?
>How can I increase my resistances? Those Flayer shamans are burning me to a crisp…


In short I just need some help in building a decent barb.

Oh yeah my skill pt allocation:
Strength: 3 pts per lvl
Dexterity: 1 pt per lvl
Vitality: 1 pt per lvl
Energy: zero

I was planning to continue like this till lvl 30 and then concentrate more on vitality. Anything wrong I’m doing?

Thanks in advance.
Cheers :ph34r:

[Minionman]

>How can I increase my resistances? Those Flayer shamans are burning me to a crisp…

That early in the game, look around the shops for armor, belts, etc. with high resistances. Eventually, you'll put some stuff together that will protect the barbarian. Later in the game you will just find stuff that has good resistances. Also for shamans:

Oh yeah my skill pt allocation:
Strength: 3 pts per lvl
Dexterity: 1 pt per lvl
Vitality: 1 pt per lvl
Energy: zero

You need more vitality. Barbarians get more life per vitality than other characters, but in close combat characters need a lot more life. I would guess something like 2 or 2.5 vitality per level would be good, so for the next few level put a lot into vitality. The points could come from strength since skills increase damage more than strength and less per level will get enough strength for equipment.

I don't know about builds for barbarians, but all this information comes from playing other characters.

[gimlisam]

Two things. First: when you hit level 30, put points into Natural Resistance. That will immediately help you to counteract your lack of resistances. Second, and this is personal preference, I absolutely love Leap Attack. I would use it against the shamans (and everything else, for that matter). But against the Shamans, you can start your leap from outside of Inferno range, and then smack them before they can start to fry you. As a bonus, nothing can hit you while you are leaping! It is basically, imo, a ranged attack for a melee barb.

Also, are you dual-wielding or not? It really affects what you do with the build.

GimliSam

[Guest]

Concentrate is a very handy skill, but I wouldn't use it in single player. Concentrate makes it so that your attack cannot be interrupted, and enhances damage. I'm sure you've been in a situation where you are just about to attack, and then an enemy smacks you, and your avatar grunts. Your attack just got interrupted. Concentration makes it so that your attacks will ALWAYS go through, and gives you more defense.

In multiplayer, a barb with maxed out concentrate is a barb that everybody in their party loves. They stand their, taking all the hits, and dealing massive damage, why his friends own the monsters from afar. In single player however, you won't have a party to help you out, and your killing speed will be so slow that it's not a viable skill (IMO).

I think that whirlwind is probably the best way to go, as it's the Barb's fastest killer. In 1.10, you can buy mana potions, so just WW then chug a pot.

Also, what is your chance to hit? I like to keep my chance to hit in the 90's at all times until it becomes unreasonable.


Berserk is an essential skill, especially for the solo barb. It converts all of your damage into magic damage, meaning that you don't have to worry about physical immunes. It does reduce your defense however, meaning you will get hit more often and have more interrupted attacks.

[Caaroid]

I think that whirlwind is probably the best way to go, as it's the Barb's fastest killer

In most situations a well-built frenzy kills faster.

[Psychic_sumo_ninja]

Also, are you dual-wielding or not? It really affects what you do with the build

.

I'm not Dual Weilding. I have a Great axe of the bat as one weapon choice.
On switch I have an axe with 50% enhanced damage and a Shimmering tower shiled of deflecting.

Btw, I'm not in Kurast any longer. I'm now in act V. The battle against Diablo was very annoying (partly because i went into it with 20 lightning resistance :o )

Thanks a lot for all the help. I'll try the whirlwind or beserk build as soon as I hit 30. I'm lvl 28 now, so not long.

Another question- I managed to create the malice rune word. What does life drain mean? Does it drain your life? :blink:

Thanks :ph34r:

[devzero]

Works like negative replenish life i think. You loose life, but rather slowly, 1 life is minimum i think, but have not tested.

[gimlisam]

First, I would go with the ED axe/Shield lineup, especially if you are going to wait on Natural Resistance. That skill is something that all barbarians, IMO, should have. The first point of Natural Resistance gives you a permanent +12% resist all. The next level brings it up to +21%. Reach level 5, and you've counteracted the negative resists that accompany entering Nightmare. However, due to a steep curve on what you get out of it, 10 points is about all you should invest in it. After that, skill adders shoud take care of the rest. True, if you want massive damage, then this isn't the skill for you, but survivability is, IMHO, more important than lots and lots of damage.

GimliSam

[Psychic_sumo_ninja]

Thanks for all the help.

I didn’t want to start a new thread for this, but the question is related to my barb. I bought a glorious full plate mail from Larzuk and got it socketed. I just wanted to know if I could create a runeword out of it. If not, what are the best choices to socket it with for a whirlwind barb? (I tried ww and fell in love with it. I’m maxing that) Are perfect skulls a good choice? To make up for the mana loss.

Thanks again and
Cheers :ph34r:

[Guest]

You might want to start putting more points into dexterity, if you are going to be a blocking character. Have you completed the Que-Hyugunigun (whatever) quest? I've found that shield to be invaluable untwinked.

[Minionman]

You might want to start putting more points into dexterity, if you are going to be a blocking character. Have you completed the Que-Hyugunigun (whatever) quest? I've found that shield to be invaluable untwinked.

The what quest? Is it in act 5, 4, or 3? If you're talking about the rescue the barbarians, it's Qual-kek, or something pronounced like that, and the shield's block doesn't change. Mephisto is also in the Que-Hagan of the zakarum religion, but he doesn't always give you a shield, so that's probably not it.

[Munkay]

The what quest?  Is it in act 5, 4, or 3?  If you're talking about the rescue the barbarians, it's Qual-kek, or something pronounced like that, and the shield's block doesn't change.  Mephisto is also in the Que-Hagan of the zakarum religion, but he doesn't always give you a shield, so that's probably not it.

I beleive he is indeed talking about the "Qual-Kek" quest in act 5. Or alternatively known as the 'Save the Barbarian' quest.

Between his name, the act 3 area and its subsiquent unique armor (Que-Hagen Wisdom is it?) its a easy mistake to make.

As far as the block rate, you are correct that a shields block doesn't change, but I beleive Unreal was refering to boosting the stat dex to increase the character's chance to block with whatever shield that is used.

-Munk

[Guest]

Yea I'm talking about the "Qual-Kek" quest, sorry for the confusion.

I'm not calling you a noob or anything, but from your post it kind of sounded like you didn't understand blocking, so a very basic explanation (you probably do, but I've got nothing better to do):

Each shield type has a set 'chance to block' dealie. There is some formula that involves this number, your character level, and your dexterity. I forget the formula, but basically, putting points into dex increases your chance to block capping at 75%. In theory, this means you block 3/4 times, giving you what could be thought of as a 75% physical resistance.

If you knew all this (hope so), what were you refferring to?

[Minionman]

Actually, I do understand blocking. The quote was talking about how the runes from the quest and the runeword don't give any extra blocking, and what blocking the shield does have is the same as whatever one was picked up. If you were saying get dexterity so he can use a shield for blocking, than that's where the blocking comes in. If not, you should go check out the runeword again because it doesn't give block.

[gimlisam]

I bought a glorious full plate mail from Larzuk and got it socketed. I just wanted to know if I could create a runeword out of it.

Since nobody mentioned it, I will. You can't make a runeword from a magic item. For mana, I'd use Perfect Sapphires (+38 mana) and maybe a Tir (+2 mana after each kill) or 2 in it.

[bernard shakey]

without dual weild I think concentrate and ww are the only viable skills
(although I'd love to try a fully synergized bash barb!)
i hope the only reason you put a point to stamina was to get to increased speed (1 maybe 2 points)
maxed battle orders is a must for any melee barb (esp. sp.)
invest heavily in your mastery
throw some points in iron skin,nat res, berserk.
have fun with the rest

[Brista]

Monkeycid´s guide to the Barbarian in D2: LOD

http://www.monkeycid.tk/

before the last patch but very good coverage of the class