Hell_SpawN
2003-05-12, 06:39 PM
As a advid Barb user i feel left out of the loop..great sadness overwhelms me:( I want a barb guide pwease:killgrin:
To get the credit issue out of the way, most of this I learned from Darius, skitril, and the rest of the Diabloii.net barb forum. Those guys are geniuses.
I am not going to list iths/hacks/bugged items as potential items. Use them if u like, but they are not a part of the original game, so I don't count them.
The goal of a tweaker is to be able to compete in all forms of PvP. A specialized barb might be able to duel well against other barbs, so a barb dual weilding lightsabres, raven frosts, rising sun, guardian angel, etc., might take out sorcs well, while a barb with an inventory full of max/str charms, 160/60max armor will be good against other barbs. However, a tweaker is a single barb meant to duel against all classes.
Stat spread:
Strength: Minimum required for items. Remember that certain items give strength bonuses, so factor those it too. Later on, if you feel that your damage is lacking, adding a few more points into strength might help.
Dexterity: Enough to max block with the shield you use. For stormshield, that means 222 dexterity at level 99, and 2 less per level, so 204 at level 90, 182 at lvl 80, etc. Factor in bonuses from items before making the barb.
Vitality: Rest. Life is very important when dueling most classes, especially when youre lagging or first learning to duel, as it gives you more room to make mistakes.
Energy: leave at base.
Skills: Max battle orders, the mastery of your weapon (generally sword, but I have seen decent mace and axe barbs as well), and whirlwind. Berserk is a very useful skill, and while it is hard to hit a moving target with, its damage is magical so it is nearly impossible to resist. Adding more points add great damage bonuses, but this skill should be one of the last to add points to. Increased speed is worth getting to slvl 14 after items, after which point the returns make it not worthwhile. Natural Resistances can come in handy, I put around 10 or so onto my barb, it has diminishing returns, so if you notice youre only getting 1 resistall from a skill point, it might not be worth your while. Shout, Iron skin, etc. are not really that useful because most melee duelers use eth rune or some form of ITD.
Equipment: This can vary, depending on the build. I will list the basic build, and then list what I use.
standard tweaker:
09 arreats face: great bonuses including fhr, skills, and resistances.
vampire gaze: PDR and dual leech.
shaftstop: PDR and life bonus.
08 valor: Expensive and very duped, I wouldn't recommend buying this since chances are very high that it will disappear on you.
War traveler: frw, dual stats, and 15-25 damage make these ideal boots. D2C boots also work well, but the mods they add are more easily obtained from charms than those of war travelers.
IK gloves: good, huge stat bonuses as well as easy to find.
Dual stat LL glove with resists, ML, IAS, etc.: Can be far superior to ik gloves, but would cost a hell of a lot more. The best I've seen are 20%ias (good for berserk) 6% LL 3% ML 15 str 5 dex gloves. Very nice, and the other mods make up for the stats lost from IK.
String of ears: Life leech, PDR, MDR. Good against barbs.
Thundergod's Vigor: Lightning ABsorb, +max light resist, great strength and vit bonuses. Good against Sorceresses and Traps assasins, against other classes its up to you. I like to use against everything but barbs, since it gives nice damage bonus and nice life bonus.
Amulet: Corruption Heart is probably one of the best out there. For zons, a Cat's eye is another good choice. For BvB I like Crescent moon (get one with 6LL, the ML is so high even a low % will be sufficient) most people disagree with me but with 300 mana I have never run out, even against dodgers, because of the % damage goes to mana.
Rings: raven frost is a must for its Cannot be frozen mod. The second ring should be a good ring with life leech, and good other mods such as resists, damage, stats, etc.
Shield: Storm is by far the best. Some people like 08 gerkes, but it has a slower block IIRC and no DR. Whitstans is a lower cost substitute with great blocking speed and %.
Sword: This is the most variable part of the build. Many people use fury balrog blades because of their relative cheapness, speed, and ITD. Important factors to consider are 1) speed: whirlwind only factors in speed on the sword itself. Any sword should hit the -35%ias breakpoint first and foremost. For colossus blades, this means 40%ias, for colossus swords, this means 45%ias, for balrog blades and berserker axes, this means 35%ias. 2) damage. Damage is important also, of course. After hitting the speed breakpoint, damage should be the next concern. 3) if its ethereal, make sure its zodded (duh).
My barb uses .08 arreats socketed with BER rune (gives ITD and great +max damage, but doesn't give FHR or resistall like the 09 version) for fighting physical duelers and a .09 6% LL arreats face for vs casters and traps assasins. He uses a 415%ed cruel colossus sword of butchery +23 max with 45%ias, 136-387 damage 1hand, a stormshield socketed with 40ed/8min jewel, war traveler, IK gloves, a crescent moon amulet vs barbs, a rare barb ammy with 5 ML, 2 barb skills, 33 cold resist, +59 life for sorcs and assasins, and the Cats Eye for vs zons and melee. For rings I use an 11% life leech ring with resists, 7 strength, and life, as well as a raven frost. I use a shaft socketed with a 40ed/4-7cold damage jewel, and string vs barbs, and tgods vs everyone else.
Charms are the most expensive part of the build. 20 or so Faster run charms are important, and are better with useful second mods like max damage or resists. 20life small charms are also good, again with useful second mods if you can afford it.
If you have further questions, just ask away.