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Peter James wrote:
> I've been playing Diablo II as a SP for the past month, using a
> Barbarian built by luck and by chance. I've been reading up on the
> various builds and have got myself very confused. So far I have come
> across references to the following builds:
> Concentrate Barbarian
> Frenzy Barbarian
These two are simply named after the primary attacks they use, which in 1.10
are probably the only ones suited for such. Concentrate barbarians probably
are better for a relative beginner, since you can use a shield, and probably
will want to.
Frenzy barbs use Frenzy as the primary attack and cannot use a shield
because of the nature of the attack. Many of us, including me, thought for
a time that 1.10 had pretty much killed off using Frenzy, but this isn't the
case--it simply took a bit of a different playstyle than what we'd become
used to, and probably is better suited for somebody with quite a bit of barb
playing experience.
> Immortal King Barbarian
This is simply a barb who uses the Immortal King (IK) set. I find the use
of the term "build" somewhat laughable, since the only "build" really needed
is to make sure you can meet the requirements to wear the set. Once it's
equipped it puts a barb in about the closest thing to god mode there is in
this game without cheating, or using some of the even more overpowered
runeworded items available. Of course, this is for 1.10--before this, the
complete set wasn't even considered that desirable.
All builds will use Berserk and Leap Attack, although you probably won't
want or need more than a single point in each. Some also use Whirlwind as a
secondary attack, which up until 1.10 was used by many as a primary. 1.10
nerfed it a bit, but mostly added hordes of mana burners in NM and Hell
which makes using it sort of an iffy proposition most of the time. It's
still very good in selected instances though--and if you know you're going
to have some very good gear to grow into.
> Now as a relative noob at this game what I want to do is to build a
> character that will give me a good chance of playing through to all of
> the levels.
> So I gues my questions are:
> 1. It the barbarian a good choice of character for my requirements?
Welllll, just exactly what *are* your requirements? I don't see that you've
mentioned any in this post anywhere.
> 2. If the answer is no, what would be a good character for a noob?
A lot of people don't like the "in your face" playstyle. I do, and I think
a Concentrate barb's fine for a noob, but only if you don't mind the
relatively slow killing speed. That's probably the main reason a lot of
people don't like barbs. Only non-elemental druids kill slower, as a rule.
Lots of folks like to start out with sorcs--they kill fast and aren't as
equipment dependent as any of the melee types. Necs are a good choice if
you're a management type.
> 3. If the answer is yes, that what build should I go for?
A Concentrate barb is probably easiest for a beginner, but slow. In
addition to what I mentioned earlier, all barbs will want to max out the
Battle Orders skill, and at least one point in a few others like Taunt and
Howl. You'll also want to max a weapon skill but don't go for that one
early on. At least 7-8 points or so in Natural Resists are also a must.
Don't put points in energy at all. None.
Only put enough points in Dexterity to use your equipment, at least for a
long time. This is mostly true for Strength, too, but you can fudge a
little extra here from time to time.
Most of the "extra" points need to go into Vitality, at least until you get
your life in the 2800 range or so with maxed Battle Orders. Some like even
more than that, but I played several barbs to hardcore Guardian with about
that much and never had any real problems--at least none where a couple
hundred or so more life points give or take would have made much difference.
> I find this game very absorbing, but very difficult to come to terms
> with. Thanks.
>
That's been true of most of us here to some extent at one time or another.
Good luck and have fun!
--
chainbreaker
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