Mozzy
03-06-2006, 06:42 AM
I've heard people say that frenzy is pretty lame for a barb and i never made one. I've made dozens of WW barbs and eventually you get sick of that thing. Here's an idea for a frenzy barb that can make it through hell pretty good. This is single player with no dupes or godly gear. (unless you're lucky enough to find some of course.)
150-170 str depending on what items you find early to give str bonuses
130-150 dex this is with blessed aim merc and AR bonuses
rest vit
no mana of course
15 - 20 to frenzy - 5 points isn't all that helpful here so feel free to save some points because you won't be 1-2 hit killing in hell with this build unless you luck up and find a grandfather or some such in act I hell. and unless your AR is sky high you won't make it to max speed all that often. using balanced weapons helps with this though. ie, two very fast swords types.
Fkeys... set frenzy to left side, unumbered.
F1 double swing F2 Stun cry F3 war cry
F4 - 6 standard barb cries, def skill and life.
F7 TP
1 double swing
2-4 natural resist 2 should be enough until you get to hell.
1 increase speed
1 iron skin
5-10 war cry (the one that stuns, i forget the name it might be battle cry) this skill needs at least 3 seconds of stun time to make it worth while. don't bother boosting to 20 because it's only about 5 seconds. 3.5 is plenty
10 battle order (battle orders is an iffy skill for this build, you'll need at least 1500 hps. if you have great resists and life bonuses then you won't need as much bo. put extra bo points into defense shout)
1 berserker (obviously for physical immunes)
this is the basic skill set you'll need. use other points for requisites and your weapon mastery. don't bother putting extra skills into double swing or taunt. taunt is very useless i think, if you boost it to 20 it only reduces enemies by 45% or some such. using the stun cry and battle cry (if neccesary) is more than enough.
equipment - remember this is all what you find, no trading or cheating whatsoever
this is the equipment i finished with
tal rasha's headgear. or rare barb helm
barb ammy with resist life and mana
smoke runeword armor - (this armor is reletively easy to make and is great for eithe ryou or your merc)
crescent moon - great for the static bonus so you don't need crushing blow.
aldurs mace - good STR and DEX and AR bounes when used with boots.
any rings with good AR life mana and resist.
rare belt with life mana and resist
hellmouth gloves or demonhide gloves ( i didn't find any good gloves )
aldurs boots
merc gear - Normal Mode Blessed Aim merc leveled
tal's mask
shaftstop or duriel's
honor lance
note: this merc is terrible against bosses but he can hold his own against regular monsters.
this barb relies on AR and the stun attack in hell. you won't need FHR or FAS since the monsters will be stunned and not hitting you and frenzy builds attack speed with successfull attacks. attack speed will start you off faster but if your AR is good then even with normal or fast attack speed you will catch up to max speed in no time. you won't need to use the stun attack probably all throughout nightmare as frenzy and decent weapons will be enough to murder masses of foes. nightmare cows and hell are a lot tougher though and from here on out stun is your best friend.
keep an eye out for toadsfelle sword (spelling?) this sword grants enchant which gives a 100% bonus to AR, very very good for frenzy. keep this in secondary weapon slot. Smoke armor grants weaken which is good against bosses. gamble coronets until you find one that has teleport charge on it, this is also very very handy. if you mf longer than i did i'm sure you can come up with better gear and make a super player, if you're real lucky but this is what i used and it worked. i was lucky enough to make some good runewords and that's what kept me alive. my damage was pathetically low but crushing blow and static field kept me killing. i know this gear is poor but again this is single player with no cheats.
one thing i noticed about single player is that any item can drop in Act 1 Hell mode. i've found a HOZ in cold plains and i found other high items from fallens and such. this is a good incentive to play single player because you don't have to do runs in the same old places all the time. and if things get too lonely adventuring all by yourself feel feel to give yourself a fire golem for some extra company with your hero editor, hehehe.
all in all this build is fairly weak but the stun keeps things going nicely. you won't be knocking out a pack of venom lords in 10 swings but then again neither will a WW barb. give it a shot if you want. tell me what you think.
150-170 str depending on what items you find early to give str bonuses
130-150 dex this is with blessed aim merc and AR bonuses
rest vit
no mana of course
15 - 20 to frenzy - 5 points isn't all that helpful here so feel free to save some points because you won't be 1-2 hit killing in hell with this build unless you luck up and find a grandfather or some such in act I hell. and unless your AR is sky high you won't make it to max speed all that often. using balanced weapons helps with this though. ie, two very fast swords types.
Fkeys... set frenzy to left side, unumbered.
F1 double swing F2 Stun cry F3 war cry
F4 - 6 standard barb cries, def skill and life.
F7 TP
1 double swing
2-4 natural resist 2 should be enough until you get to hell.
1 increase speed
1 iron skin
5-10 war cry (the one that stuns, i forget the name it might be battle cry) this skill needs at least 3 seconds of stun time to make it worth while. don't bother boosting to 20 because it's only about 5 seconds. 3.5 is plenty
10 battle order (battle orders is an iffy skill for this build, you'll need at least 1500 hps. if you have great resists and life bonuses then you won't need as much bo. put extra bo points into defense shout)
1 berserker (obviously for physical immunes)
this is the basic skill set you'll need. use other points for requisites and your weapon mastery. don't bother putting extra skills into double swing or taunt. taunt is very useless i think, if you boost it to 20 it only reduces enemies by 45% or some such. using the stun cry and battle cry (if neccesary) is more than enough.
equipment - remember this is all what you find, no trading or cheating whatsoever
this is the equipment i finished with
tal rasha's headgear. or rare barb helm
barb ammy with resist life and mana
smoke runeword armor - (this armor is reletively easy to make and is great for eithe ryou or your merc)
crescent moon - great for the static bonus so you don't need crushing blow.
aldurs mace - good STR and DEX and AR bounes when used with boots.
any rings with good AR life mana and resist.
rare belt with life mana and resist
hellmouth gloves or demonhide gloves ( i didn't find any good gloves )
aldurs boots
merc gear - Normal Mode Blessed Aim merc leveled
tal's mask
shaftstop or duriel's
honor lance
note: this merc is terrible against bosses but he can hold his own against regular monsters.
this barb relies on AR and the stun attack in hell. you won't need FHR or FAS since the monsters will be stunned and not hitting you and frenzy builds attack speed with successfull attacks. attack speed will start you off faster but if your AR is good then even with normal or fast attack speed you will catch up to max speed in no time. you won't need to use the stun attack probably all throughout nightmare as frenzy and decent weapons will be enough to murder masses of foes. nightmare cows and hell are a lot tougher though and from here on out stun is your best friend.
keep an eye out for toadsfelle sword (spelling?) this sword grants enchant which gives a 100% bonus to AR, very very good for frenzy. keep this in secondary weapon slot. Smoke armor grants weaken which is good against bosses. gamble coronets until you find one that has teleport charge on it, this is also very very handy. if you mf longer than i did i'm sure you can come up with better gear and make a super player, if you're real lucky but this is what i used and it worked. i was lucky enough to make some good runewords and that's what kept me alive. my damage was pathetically low but crushing blow and static field kept me killing. i know this gear is poor but again this is single player with no cheats.
one thing i noticed about single player is that any item can drop in Act 1 Hell mode. i've found a HOZ in cold plains and i found other high items from fallens and such. this is a good incentive to play single player because you don't have to do runs in the same old places all the time. and if things get too lonely adventuring all by yourself feel feel to give yourself a fire golem for some extra company with your hero editor, hehehe.
all in all this build is fairly weak but the stun keeps things going nicely. you won't be knocking out a pack of venom lords in 10 swings but then again neither will a WW barb. give it a shot if you want. tell me what you think.