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**************************\\BARBARIAN GUIDE//**************************
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
DIABLO II
EVERYTHING A BARBARIAN WOULD WANT TO KNOW
BY VINCENTO
Version 1.0 - Completed Barbarian Guide
===Table of Contents===
1. Introduction
2. Barbarian Skills
a. Combat Masteries
b. Combat Skills
c. Warcries
3. Good Skills, and Bad Skills
4. What you should put Stat Points into
5. General Tips and Comments
6. My Barbarian
7. Closing Statements
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 1=== Introduction
The Barbarian for Diablo 2 is a very good character to be. I think the
Barbarian is the best character simply because it is so much fun to
play with the Barbarian. Many people argue with me online saying that
the Barbarian is the least fun to play, well they are wrong. Using
certain skills and wiping out hoards of enemies is what I call fun and
that's what you do with the Barbarian. If you have any questions
regarding the Barbarian or anything in general about Diablo 2 email me
at firm1315@aol.com. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 2=== Barbarian Skills
PART A
==COMBAT MASTERIES==
SKILL- Sword Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Sword Mastery increases the attack and the damage of any
Sword type weapon by a +%. I put the maximum of 20 skill points into
my sword mastery and it helps a lot increasing the damage by 123% and
the attack by 180%! Swords are usually the best weapons but it is your
choice on which weapons to use.
SKILL- Axe Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Same thing as Sword Mastery only it works for all Axe type
weapons.
SKILL- Mace Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Mace Mastery increases the damage of your Mace type weapon
more than Axe or Sword Mastery does by 3%.
SKILL- Spear Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Don't even bother with this skill. Leave the spears for the
Amazon.
SKILL- Throwing Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Again don't even bother. Leave the throwing job for
Amazons.
SKILL- Polearm Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Polearms are for Amazons, not Barbarians.
SKILL- Increased Stamina
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your maximum Stamina. It starts out by
adding 30% to your Stamina and then with each skill point put into it
the percent goes up 15%. If you run out of Stamina often, you should
put a skill point into this skill.
SKILL- Iron Skin
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your overall defensive rating. The
skill starts out by adding 30% to your defense and increases by 10%
with every skill point you put into it.
SKILL- Increased Speed
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your Speed. Only put a maximum of 3
skill points into this skills because the more skill points you put
in it, the less the percentage goes up.
SKILL- Natural Resistance
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- You definitely will want to put skill points into this
skill. Put no more than 5 skill points into it. If you put 5 in it,
you'll have resistances +40%.
PART B
==COMBAT SKILLS==
SKILL- Bash
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This is good to use throughout the game. It increases your damage
your attack rating. Put no more than 2 skill points into this skill. If you
have Mana stealing rings or a weapon, use this skill all the time instead of
normal attack.
SKILL- Leap
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- Not a very good skill to invest your skill points into. Only put one
skill point into this skill just so you can use Leap Attack.
SKILL- Double Swing
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This is a great skill to invest a skill point into if you find two
very good one-hand weapons. Only put one skill point maximum into this skill
however. Regardless of what the weapons speed is, like a War Hammer that has
slow attack speed, Double Swing is always fast.
SKILL- Stun
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- The attack modifier goes up 5% for every skill point you put into
it, but don't even bother. Only but one skill point into this.
SKILL- Double Throw
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- Don't even waste your time on this skill unless you want to be a
throwing Barb.
SKILL- Leap Attack
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 9
INFO/TIPS- This is a great skill for jumping out of trouble, or jumping into
trouble. This skill does a good amount of damage so it is worth using for a
while.
SKILL- Concentrate
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This skill allows your attack to not be interrupted. On top of that,
it modifies attack, and defense. A pretty good skill for the Barb.
SKILL- Frenzy
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- When you have this skill, after you hit an enemy, the attack speed
goes up for your weapon. You may not want to waste skill points on this.
SKILL- Whirlwind
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- starts at 25, goes up each higher level by 1
INFO/TIPS- This is the Barbarian's best skill. Use it as a crowd controller
against many enemies, after level 7, the damage is greater than a normal
attack. Invest your skill points into this skill.
SKILL- Berserk
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- 5
INFO/TIPS- This adds Magic and increases your attack rating when used. The more
skill points you put in it however, the less the duration of the skill will be.
PART C
==WARCRIES==
SKILL- Howl
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill makes monsters run away. Not a good investment.
SKILL- Find Potion
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- You may want to put one skill point into this skill so you can use
it to find potions on corpses if you run out of potions.
SKILL- Taunt
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 3
INFO/TIPS- This skill makes monsters come and fight you. It also brings down
the accuracy and damage of the target. Not a very good investment once again.
SKILL- Shout
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 6
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases the defense rating of your Barbarian for a
duration of seconds.
SKILL- Find Item
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 7
INFO/TIPS- Use this skill if you need money to loot the corpses of enemies you
have defeated.
SKILL- Battlecry
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill reduces the defensive rating of the enemies inside the
radius of this skill. This skill also decreases the amount of damage the enemy
will give to you if he attacks you.
SKILL- Battle Orders
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 7
INFO/TIPS- This skill helps in Multiplayer because it increases the Life, Mana,
and Stamina of you and your party for a small Mana cost and a somewhat long
duration.
SKILL- Grim Ward
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill turns a corpse into a totem pole that scares away nearby
enemies.
SKILL- Warcry
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- Starts at 17 and goes up 1 per skill level
INFO/TIPS- This skill damages and stuns nearby enemies. A pretty good
investment in skill points if you are a Warcry Barbarian (a Barbarian who
invests his skills in the Warcry area).
SKILL- Battle Command
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- N/A
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases all of the Barbarian's skill levels for a
duration of seconds. This is extremely helpful in Multiplayer and gives the
Barbarian a huge advantage.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 3=== Good Skills and Bad Skills
There are some very good skills that you will want to invest skill points in
for the Barbarian and then there are some very bad ones that you shouldn't
waste your time with.
GOOD COMBAT MASTERIES
In my opinion all of the Combat Masteries except for one are good for the
Barbarian. They are all extremely helpful in the game. Natural Resistance is
imperative to have for Nightmare and Hell difficulties where your Resistances
go down -20 and -50. With two skill points invested in Increased Stamina you
will barely ever run out of Stamina and you will never have to stop and walk.
Iron Skin is a huge plus with the defense bonus it gives you, and with
Increased Speed the Barbarian is extremely fast and just cruises across
sections with ease.
GOOD COMBAT SKILLS
Bash, Double Swing, Leap Attack, and Whirlwind are the skills that really help
in fighting crowds. With a Mana stealing weapon or jewelry, you can use Bash or
Double Swing instead of a normal attack. Leap Attack serves great for attacking
and dishing out damage, moving around anywhere, and getting out of a crowd.
Whirlwind is the best crowd controlling Skill in the game for any character.
Once you get past level 7 with it, you will be practically invincible.
GOOD WARCRIES
Regrettably, there are no good Warcries for Single Player. For Multiplayer,
Warcry and Battle Command will be very sweet and helpful. Those two skills are
both descent in Single Player also, but you don't want to waste your skill
points in them.
BAD COMBAT MASTERIES
The only bad Combat Mastery is Throwing Mastery. Who would want to be a
throwing Barb??
BAD COMBAT SKILLS
Frenzy can be a big waste, and Double Throw is just a pitiful excuse for a
skill. The rest of the Combat Skills are pretty descent.
BAD WARCRIES
All of the Warcries are pretty bad and you shouldn't really waste your time on
them unless you are a big Multiplayer Guru. The main purpose for Warcries is
Multiplayer play not Single Player.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 4=== What to put your Stats into
With my Barbarian I will usually keep Strength the most powerful Stat, the
Vitality a little weaker than strength, and then Dexterity just about the same
as Vitality. YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER PUT ANY STAT POINTS INTO ENERGY BECAUSE IT
IS THE BIGGEST WASTE IMAGINABLE. Here's how I will usually do my level ups:
Strength: +2
Dexterity: +1
Vitality: +2
Energy: +0
Or
Strength: +2
Dexterity: +2
Vitality: +1
Energy: +0
You always want to put at least 2 points into Strength, and you should always
consider how much life you have, and what your percentage to hit monsters is.
Your life goes up 4 every time you put one Stat point into Vitality, so always
be thinking about how much life you have or how much life you need. Strength is
important because without it, you won't be able to wear good armor or use good
weapons. I almost always do the 2,1,2 with my Stat points but it depends on how
much life I need, or if I need to have a better to hit percentage.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 5=== General Tips and Comments
Many people ask me online what they should use as weapons. Well my advice would
be to stick to Swords, Axes, or Maces. Decide in the early stages of the game
what type of Barb you want to be. If you decide to be a Sword Barb then you
will probably want to put 20 skill points into Sword Mastery. Never ever put 10
skill points in one weapon type mastery and then 10 more skill points in
another weapon type mastery. Always stick to one weapon type mastery.
One great strategy for the Double Swing skill is to use two, slow Axe or Mace
type weapons with it. Regardless of the speed of the weapon, like a slow War
Hammer, Double Swing makes the weapons go fast. My friend has two awesome War
Hammers and uses them with Double Swing and he absolutely destroys everything
in a matter of seconds.
Having a lot of Life is key to the Barbarian. Without life, you will die a
whole bunch of times in places like the Chaos Sanctuary. Always consider to put
Stat points into Vitality since your Life will go up 4 points for each Stat
point put into it. Mana is also important. You don't want to put any Stat
points into Energy, but you do want Mana so you can use skills like Whirlwind.
My advice to you is to try and find Mana stealing weapons or jewelry and hold
on to them all the way through the game.
When you get level ups, you will always want to check your life out. If you die
a lot, it's probably because you don't have enough life. A great way to avoid
this is to but 2 stat points into Strength, 1 into Dexterity, and then 2 into
Vitality. If you don't hit monsters enough switch Dexterity with Vitality and
put 2 into Dexterity.
Warcries are a waste of time and skill points. If you want to have a successful
Barbarian stick to Combat Masteries and Combat Skills for all your Skill
Points. Trust me when you get to Hell and Nightmare there will be no need for
Warcries. They're definitely a waste of time and skill points in Single Player.
For my last tip I urge you Barbarians out there not to use Polearms, Spears, or
anything that has to do with throwing weapons. That stuff is for the Amazons
and should stay with the Amazons.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 6=== My Barbarian
As you can see I did make some mistakes.
RavMonsta: Level 40
Strength: 126
Dexterity: 80
Vitality: 96
Energy: 10
Life: 619
Mana: 126
Stamina: 236
Combat Masteries
Sword Mastery: 20
Axe Mastery: 0
Mace Mastery: 0
Polearm Mastery: 0
Spear Mastery: 0
Throwing Mastery: 0
Increased Stamina: 1
Iron Skin: 2
Increased Speed: 1
Natural Resistances: 3
Combat Skills
Bash: 3
Leap: 0
Double Swing: 2
Stun: 1
Double Throw: 0
Leap Attack: 3
Concentrate: 1
Frenzy: 0
Whirlwind: 8
Berserk: 0
I have no Skill Points into Warcries
Inventory
NAME- King's Zweihander of the Glacier
TYPE- Zweihander (Magical)
ONE HAND DAMAGE- 40 to 72
TWO HAND DAMAGE- 59 to 103
DURABILITY- 50
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 125
REQUIRED DEXTERITY- 94
REQUIRED LEVEL- 22
EFFECTS- +145 to Attack Rating
Enhanced Damage
+4 Minimum Cold Damage
+11 Maximum Cold Damage
NAME- Armageddon Veil
TYPE- Winged Helm (Rare)
DEFENSE- 192
DURABILITY- 40
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 115
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist 32%
Poison Resist 24%
+32 to Life
NAME- Stone Master
TYPE- Amulet (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 22
EFFECTS- +1 to all Paladin Skills
+34 to Life
Replenish Life +3
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Poison Resist 40%
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
NAME- Havoc Carapace
TYPE- Mesh Armor (Rare)
DEFENSE- 417
DURABILITY- 45
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 92
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- Enhanced Defense
+25 to Life
+18 to Mana
Fastest Hit Recovery
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
NAME- Bloodfist
TYPE- Heavy Gloves (Unique)
DEFENSE- 5
DURABILITY- 70
EFFECTS- +40 to Life
Fastest Hit Recovery
+5 to Minimum Damage
NAME- Chaos Coil
TYPE- Ring (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 26
EFFECTS- +77 to Mana
Lightning Resist 37%
Poison Resist 11%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
+3 to Minimum Damage
NAME- Grim Touch
TYPE- Ring (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 18
EFFECTS- Poison Resist 42%
Lightning Resist 33%
Fire Resist 32%
+2 to Mana
+1 to Life
5% Mana Stolen Per Hit
NAME- Bladebuckle
TYPE- Plated Belt (Unique)
DEFENSE- 30
DURABILITY- 120
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 60
EFFECTS- +20 to Defense
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
Damage Reduced by 3
+10 to Dexterity
+5 to Strength
NAME- Soul Greave
TYPE- Light Plated Boots (Rare)
DEFENSE- 14
DURABILITY- 18
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 50
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- +17 to Strength
Enhanced Defense
+18 to Mana
+5 to Life
Lightning Resist 17%
33% Better Chance of Getting Magical Item
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 7=== Closing Statements
I hope this FAQ answered any questions anyone had about their Barbarian. Right
now GameFAQs.com is the only site that has permission to put this FAQ up on
their website. Special thanks to Blizzard for making such an awesome game and
that's about it.
=======================================================================
**************************\\BARBARIAN GUIDE//**************************
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
DIABLO II
EVERYTHING A BARBARIAN WOULD WANT TO KNOW
BY VINCENTO
Version 1.0 - Completed Barbarian Guide
===Table of Contents===
1. Introduction
2. Barbarian Skills
a. Combat Masteries
b. Combat Skills
c. Warcries
3. Good Skills, and Bad Skills
4. What you should put Stat Points into
5. General Tips and Comments
6. My Barbarian
7. Closing Statements
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 1=== Introduction
The Barbarian for Diablo 2 is a very good character to be. I think the
Barbarian is the best character simply because it is so much fun to
play with the Barbarian. Many people argue with me online saying that
the Barbarian is the least fun to play, well they are wrong. Using
certain skills and wiping out hoards of enemies is what I call fun and
that's what you do with the Barbarian. If you have any questions
regarding the Barbarian or anything in general about Diablo 2 email me
at firm1315@aol.com. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 2=== Barbarian Skills
PART A
==COMBAT MASTERIES==
SKILL- Sword Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Sword Mastery increases the attack and the damage of any
Sword type weapon by a +%. I put the maximum of 20 skill points into
my sword mastery and it helps a lot increasing the damage by 123% and
the attack by 180%! Swords are usually the best weapons but it is your
choice on which weapons to use.
SKILL- Axe Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Same thing as Sword Mastery only it works for all Axe type
weapons.
SKILL- Mace Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Mace Mastery increases the damage of your Mace type weapon
more than Axe or Sword Mastery does by 3%.
SKILL- Spear Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Don't even bother with this skill. Leave the spears for the
Amazon.
SKILL- Throwing Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Again don't even bother. Leave the throwing job for
Amazons.
SKILL- Polearm Mastery
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- Polearms are for Amazons, not Barbarians.
SKILL- Increased Stamina
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your maximum Stamina. It starts out by
adding 30% to your Stamina and then with each skill point put into it
the percent goes up 15%. If you run out of Stamina often, you should
put a skill point into this skill.
SKILL- Iron Skin
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your overall defensive rating. The
skill starts out by adding 30% to your defense and increases by 10%
with every skill point you put into it.
SKILL- Increased Speed
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases your Speed. Only put a maximum of 3
skill points into this skills because the more skill points you put
in it, the less the percentage goes up.
SKILL- Natural Resistance
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- 0
INFO/TIPS- You definitely will want to put skill points into this
skill. Put no more than 5 skill points into it. If you put 5 in it,
you'll have resistances +40%.
PART B
==COMBAT SKILLS==
SKILL- Bash
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This is good to use throughout the game. It increases your damage
your attack rating. Put no more than 2 skill points into this skill. If you
have Mana stealing rings or a weapon, use this skill all the time instead of
normal attack.
SKILL- Leap
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- Not a very good skill to invest your skill points into. Only put one
skill point into this skill just so you can use Leap Attack.
SKILL- Double Swing
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This is a great skill to invest a skill point into if you find two
very good one-hand weapons. Only put one skill point maximum into this skill
however. Regardless of what the weapons speed is, like a War Hammer that has
slow attack speed, Double Swing is always fast.
SKILL- Stun
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- The attack modifier goes up 5% for every skill point you put into
it, but don't even bother. Only but one skill point into this.
SKILL- Double Throw
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- Don't even waste your time on this skill unless you want to be a
throwing Barb.
SKILL- Leap Attack
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 9
INFO/TIPS- This is a great skill for jumping out of trouble, or jumping into
trouble. This skill does a good amount of damage so it is worth using for a
while.
SKILL- Concentrate
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- This skill allows your attack to not be interrupted. On top of that,
it modifies attack, and defense. A pretty good skill for the Barb.
SKILL- Frenzy
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- When you have this skill, after you hit an enemy, the attack speed
goes up for your weapon. You may not want to waste skill points on this.
SKILL- Whirlwind
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- starts at 25, goes up each higher level by 1
INFO/TIPS- This is the Barbarian's best skill. Use it as a crowd controller
against many enemies, after level 7, the damage is greater than a normal
attack. Invest your skill points into this skill.
SKILL- Berserk
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- 5
INFO/TIPS- This adds Magic and increases your attack rating when used. The more
skill points you put in it however, the less the duration of the skill will be.
PART C
==WARCRIES==
SKILL- Howl
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill makes monsters run away. Not a good investment.
SKILL- Find Potion
MINIMUM LEVEL- 1
MANA- 2
INFO/TIPS- You may want to put one skill point into this skill so you can use
it to find potions on corpses if you run out of potions.
SKILL- Taunt
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 3
INFO/TIPS- This skill makes monsters come and fight you. It also brings down
the accuracy and damage of the target. Not a very good investment once again.
SKILL- Shout
MINIMUM LEVEL- 6
MANA- 6
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases the defense rating of your Barbarian for a
duration of seconds.
SKILL- Find Item
MINIMUM LEVEL- 12
MANA- 7
INFO/TIPS- Use this skill if you need money to loot the corpses of enemies you
have defeated.
SKILL- Battlecry
MINIMUM LEVEL- 18
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill reduces the defensive rating of the enemies inside the
radius of this skill. This skill also decreases the amount of damage the enemy
will give to you if he attacks you.
SKILL- Battle Orders
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 7
INFO/TIPS- This skill helps in Multiplayer because it increases the Life, Mana,
and Stamina of you and your party for a small Mana cost and a somewhat long
duration.
SKILL- Grim Ward
MINIMUM LEVEL- 24
MANA- 4
INFO/TIPS- This skill turns a corpse into a totem pole that scares away nearby
enemies.
SKILL- Warcry
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- Starts at 17 and goes up 1 per skill level
INFO/TIPS- This skill damages and stuns nearby enemies. A pretty good
investment in skill points if you are a Warcry Barbarian (a Barbarian who
invests his skills in the Warcry area).
SKILL- Battle Command
MINIMUM LEVEL- 30
MANA- N/A
INFO/TIPS- This skill increases all of the Barbarian's skill levels for a
duration of seconds. This is extremely helpful in Multiplayer and gives the
Barbarian a huge advantage.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 3=== Good Skills and Bad Skills
There are some very good skills that you will want to invest skill points in
for the Barbarian and then there are some very bad ones that you shouldn't
waste your time with.
GOOD COMBAT MASTERIES
In my opinion all of the Combat Masteries except for one are good for the
Barbarian. They are all extremely helpful in the game. Natural Resistance is
imperative to have for Nightmare and Hell difficulties where your Resistances
go down -20 and -50. With two skill points invested in Increased Stamina you
will barely ever run out of Stamina and you will never have to stop and walk.
Iron Skin is a huge plus with the defense bonus it gives you, and with
Increased Speed the Barbarian is extremely fast and just cruises across
sections with ease.
GOOD COMBAT SKILLS
Bash, Double Swing, Leap Attack, and Whirlwind are the skills that really help
in fighting crowds. With a Mana stealing weapon or jewelry, you can use Bash or
Double Swing instead of a normal attack. Leap Attack serves great for attacking
and dishing out damage, moving around anywhere, and getting out of a crowd.
Whirlwind is the best crowd controlling Skill in the game for any character.
Once you get past level 7 with it, you will be practically invincible.
GOOD WARCRIES
Regrettably, there are no good Warcries for Single Player. For Multiplayer,
Warcry and Battle Command will be very sweet and helpful. Those two skills are
both descent in Single Player also, but you don't want to waste your skill
points in them.
BAD COMBAT MASTERIES
The only bad Combat Mastery is Throwing Mastery. Who would want to be a
throwing Barb??
BAD COMBAT SKILLS
Frenzy can be a big waste, and Double Throw is just a pitiful excuse for a
skill. The rest of the Combat Skills are pretty descent.
BAD WARCRIES
All of the Warcries are pretty bad and you shouldn't really waste your time on
them unless you are a big Multiplayer Guru. The main purpose for Warcries is
Multiplayer play not Single Player.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 4=== What to put your Stats into
With my Barbarian I will usually keep Strength the most powerful Stat, the
Vitality a little weaker than strength, and then Dexterity just about the same
as Vitality. YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER PUT ANY STAT POINTS INTO ENERGY BECAUSE IT
IS THE BIGGEST WASTE IMAGINABLE. Here's how I will usually do my level ups:
Strength: +2
Dexterity: +1
Vitality: +2
Energy: +0
Or
Strength: +2
Dexterity: +2
Vitality: +1
Energy: +0
You always want to put at least 2 points into Strength, and you should always
consider how much life you have, and what your percentage to hit monsters is.
Your life goes up 4 every time you put one Stat point into Vitality, so always
be thinking about how much life you have or how much life you need. Strength is
important because without it, you won't be able to wear good armor or use good
weapons. I almost always do the 2,1,2 with my Stat points but it depends on how
much life I need, or if I need to have a better to hit percentage.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 5=== General Tips and Comments
Many people ask me online what they should use as weapons. Well my advice would
be to stick to Swords, Axes, or Maces. Decide in the early stages of the game
what type of Barb you want to be. If you decide to be a Sword Barb then you
will probably want to put 20 skill points into Sword Mastery. Never ever put 10
skill points in one weapon type mastery and then 10 more skill points in
another weapon type mastery. Always stick to one weapon type mastery.
One great strategy for the Double Swing skill is to use two, slow Axe or Mace
type weapons with it. Regardless of the speed of the weapon, like a slow War
Hammer, Double Swing makes the weapons go fast. My friend has two awesome War
Hammers and uses them with Double Swing and he absolutely destroys everything
in a matter of seconds.
Having a lot of Life is key to the Barbarian. Without life, you will die a
whole bunch of times in places like the Chaos Sanctuary. Always consider to put
Stat points into Vitality since your Life will go up 4 points for each Stat
point put into it. Mana is also important. You don't want to put any Stat
points into Energy, but you do want Mana so you can use skills like Whirlwind.
My advice to you is to try and find Mana stealing weapons or jewelry and hold
on to them all the way through the game.
When you get level ups, you will always want to check your life out. If you die
a lot, it's probably because you don't have enough life. A great way to avoid
this is to but 2 stat points into Strength, 1 into Dexterity, and then 2 into
Vitality. If you don't hit monsters enough switch Dexterity with Vitality and
put 2 into Dexterity.
Warcries are a waste of time and skill points. If you want to have a successful
Barbarian stick to Combat Masteries and Combat Skills for all your Skill
Points. Trust me when you get to Hell and Nightmare there will be no need for
Warcries. They're definitely a waste of time and skill points in Single Player.
For my last tip I urge you Barbarians out there not to use Polearms, Spears, or
anything that has to do with throwing weapons. That stuff is for the Amazons
and should stay with the Amazons.
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 6=== My Barbarian
As you can see I did make some mistakes.
RavMonsta: Level 40
Strength: 126
Dexterity: 80
Vitality: 96
Energy: 10
Life: 619
Mana: 126
Stamina: 236
Combat Masteries
Sword Mastery: 20
Axe Mastery: 0
Mace Mastery: 0
Polearm Mastery: 0
Spear Mastery: 0
Throwing Mastery: 0
Increased Stamina: 1
Iron Skin: 2
Increased Speed: 1
Natural Resistances: 3
Combat Skills
Bash: 3
Leap: 0
Double Swing: 2
Stun: 1
Double Throw: 0
Leap Attack: 3
Concentrate: 1
Frenzy: 0
Whirlwind: 8
Berserk: 0
I have no Skill Points into Warcries
Inventory
NAME- King's Zweihander of the Glacier
TYPE- Zweihander (Magical)
ONE HAND DAMAGE- 40 to 72
TWO HAND DAMAGE- 59 to 103
DURABILITY- 50
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 125
REQUIRED DEXTERITY- 94
REQUIRED LEVEL- 22
EFFECTS- +145 to Attack Rating
Enhanced Damage
+4 Minimum Cold Damage
+11 Maximum Cold Damage
NAME- Armageddon Veil
TYPE- Winged Helm (Rare)
DEFENSE- 192
DURABILITY- 40
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 115
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist 32%
Poison Resist 24%
+32 to Life
NAME- Stone Master
TYPE- Amulet (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 22
EFFECTS- +1 to all Paladin Skills
+34 to Life
Replenish Life +3
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Poison Resist 40%
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
NAME- Havoc Carapace
TYPE- Mesh Armor (Rare)
DEFENSE- 417
DURABILITY- 45
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 92
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- Enhanced Defense
+25 to Life
+18 to Mana
Fastest Hit Recovery
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
NAME- Bloodfist
TYPE- Heavy Gloves (Unique)
DEFENSE- 5
DURABILITY- 70
EFFECTS- +40 to Life
Fastest Hit Recovery
+5 to Minimum Damage
NAME- Chaos Coil
TYPE- Ring (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 26
EFFECTS- +77 to Mana
Lightning Resist 37%
Poison Resist 11%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
+3 to Minimum Damage
NAME- Grim Touch
TYPE- Ring (Rare)
REQUIRED LEVEL- 18
EFFECTS- Poison Resist 42%
Lightning Resist 33%
Fire Resist 32%
+2 to Mana
+1 to Life
5% Mana Stolen Per Hit
NAME- Bladebuckle
TYPE- Plated Belt (Unique)
DEFENSE- 30
DURABILITY- 120
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 60
EFFECTS- +20 to Defense
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
Damage Reduced by 3
+10 to Dexterity
+5 to Strength
NAME- Soul Greave
TYPE- Light Plated Boots (Rare)
DEFENSE- 14
DURABILITY- 18
REQUIRED STRENGTH- 50
REQUIRED LEVEL- 27
EFFECTS- +17 to Strength
Enhanced Defense
+18 to Mana
+5 to Life
Lightning Resist 17%
33% Better Chance of Getting Magical Item
_______________________________________________________________________
===Section 7=== Closing Statements
I hope this FAQ answered any questions anyone had about their Barbarian. Right
now GameFAQs.com is the only site that has permission to put this FAQ up on
their website. Special thanks to Blizzard for making such an awesome game and
that's about it.